journalist and civil rights activist
Nationally syndicated columnist, radio host, civil rights activist; host of The Hutchinson Report, a weekly radio program, and of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, a nonpartisan public policy forum; author of several books, including The Emerging Black GOP Majority, Crisis in Black and Black and How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge
Four SoCal men have been killed by police in less than a week An 18-year-old man named Carnell Snell Jr. was shot and killed by police Saturday afternoon in South Los Angeles. LAPD said that Snell and another man ran from a car that police suspected was stolen, and that Snell had a gun and was turning toward police when he was shot. Witnesses say that Snell, or CJ as he was known, was shot in the back as he was running away. Protesters demonstrated around the Snells’ South LA neighborhood, and in front of Mayor Garcetti’s house in Hancock Park, which police say was egged. Then Sunday afternoon, news came in of another fatal shooting involving police in South LA – the fourth Southern California man to die in a confrontation with police in less than a week. Activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson spoke with Press Play about his Sunday meeting with the Snell family.
Police Shooting in Los Angeles Monday night, cops in South L.A. shot and killed Ezell Ford, an unarmed, 25-year-old black man. The LAPD says Ford attacked an officer and tried to grab his gun. Ford’s family says he was lying on the ground, following police orders, when he was shot three times. In the wake of what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, activists here are pressuring the LAPD to prioritize the investigation.
LA NAACP Before Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA over racist remarks, he was supposed to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles NAACP next month. Now, the organization is canceling the award and returning Sterling’s recent donation, but critics say it’s too little, too late. People are questioning why the NAACP didn’t cut ties with Sterling earlier, and exactly how much money Sterling has given them.
Is the LAPD Stepping Backwards? Since the Rodney King beating and the riots of 1992, new police chiefs and commissions have earned high marks for reforming the Los Angeles Police Department. But lately, there's been a string of jury verdicts for abuse and misconduct. It's usually the taxpayers who are on the hook but, in one case, jurors assessed punitive damages against an individual officer.
Meryvn Dymally, Trailblazing Black Politician, Dies at 86 Mervyn Dymally was born in Trinidad in the West Indies, and went on to come one of California's most enduring politicians. In 1962, he became the first foreign-born black person elected to the State Assembly. He served in the State Senate and became Lieutenant Governor, the first black to serve in a statewide elected office. From there, he went on to Congress, and then — at age 76 — went back to the Assembly again, finally losing a State Senate election at the age of 82. Dymally died yesterday at the age of 86.
LAPD Shooting of Reggie Doucet Reginald Doucet, who played football at El Comino College and Middle Tennessee State, was shot to death Friday morning near his home on the west side of Los Angeles. The LAPD had been called because the Playa Vista resident was naked and disruptive. Two officers talked him into putting on shorts, but he allegedly became combative and tried to seize their weapons. One officer shot twice and Doucet died at a nearby hospital. The LAPD says the cops were " fighting for their lives ," but civil rights activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson is not satisfied with that explanation.
Maxine Waters Breaks Her Silence The Congressional Ethics Committee has said there is "substantial reason" to believe Maxine Waters may have violated House ethics rules, but has not made public the charges against her. It has been reported that she helped set up a meeting between former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the National Bankers Association , which was looking for help from TARP, the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The Association includes One United Bank of Massachusetts. Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, resigned as a director of One United five months before the meeting took place, although he still held stock in the bank. Three months after Waters' request, One United received $12 million in bailout funds. The Congresswoman has demanded that charges against her be made public now and that a hearing be held before the November election. (Earl Ofari Hutchinson will interview Congresswoman Waters on KTYM, 1460AM on August 6, 9:30-10am.)
LAUSD's Superintendent Brewer: Should He Stay or Should He Go? Retired Navy Admiral David L. Brewer became Superintendent of the LA Unified School District just over two years ago. The school board wanted its own manager, partly to head off Mayor Villaraigosa's effort to take control of the District. Recent elections have produced a board majority that's supportive of Villaraigosa, and it's reportedly considering buying out Brewer's contract. The Mayor has no role in the process but, as the Los Angeles Times put it today, "key civic leaders have lost confidence" in Superintendent Brewer. Will he be out of a job?
How is Obama victory playing out in Los Angeles? Hillary Clinton's looking for a big win tomorrow in West Virginia, and she claims she'll have totaled more popular votes than Barack Obama by the time it's all over. That would have to include votes from Florida and Michigan, which are still in legal limbo. In any case, most surveys say that Obama now has more elected delegates and super delegates, and that he’s wrapped up the nomination.
Barack Obama in Los Angeles Nobody's surprised when a presidential candidate comes to California almost a year before the primary voting begins--looking for money. What's rare is the candidate who's also looking for votes. But this year is different. California's about to move its own primary up from June to February, which means that Golden State voters will be important for the first time in decades. Tonight, Illinois' Democratic Senator Barack Obama will be at a Hollywood fundraiser in Beverly Hills. This afternoon, presidential candidate Obama was scheduled to speak at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex in the West Adams District of Los Angeles.
Is Long Beach Hate-Crime Trial Getting the Attention It Deserves? Last Halloween night, the Long Beach Police say three white women were attacked coming out of a haunted house in the upscale neighborhood of Bixby Knolls. One victim suffered broken facial bones and the partial loss of sight in one eye. Ten black juveniles—nine of them girls-- are on trial. Police say they yelled racial epithets during the assault, including "we hate whites" and "white bitches." Because of that, the District Attorney has accused eight of the defendants of hate crimes. That could mean a "first strike" on their adult criminal records. It's a potentially sensational story, including claims of intimidation against witnesses. But there are questions about whether it's getting the attention it really deserves.
The Emerging Black GOP Majority After Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, it took 15 years to declare his birthday a national holiday--and Republican President Ronald Reagan signed the bill. Since then, the GOP has tried to persuade African American voters that the Democrats take their loyal support for granted. One civil-rights activist/commentator thinks it's working and he's presented those thoughts in The Emerging Black GOP Majority .
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
