The trial for the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy has begun and officers are testifying their perception and true events resulting from the policy. Two key police officers testified that their supervisors heavily enforced the stop-and-frisk quotas and if they complained, both officers would be labeled “rats.” Adhyl Polanco, the initial officer who exposed the unconstitutional quotas, said, “We were handcuffing kids for no reason. I don’t want my kids to get shot by a cop who’s chasing them to write a ‘250.’” The trial continues today, just one week after the five-millionth stop-and-frisk was made since Mayor Bloomberg took office. [Gothamist]
Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, 82, has passed away in his home state of Anambra. The author is most famous for the book Things Fall Apart, which focuses on the traditions of Igbo society and the struggle between Western and traditional values. The book has sold more than 10 million copies and has been translated into over 50 different languages. In 2007, fellow African author Nadine Gordimer said Achebe was the “father of modern African literature.” [BBC]
Olympian track runner Ronell J. Mance and MVP indoor track and field champion Stephen Newbold, have been suspended by Florida State officials in connection with a shooting in an off-campus student apartment. Mance was arrested for unauthorized use of identification and resisting without violence, where as Newbold, who initially fled, was arrested for discharging a firearm in public and resisting without violence. [DailyMail]
A Canadian man had a pestering itch in his back and after three itchy years, he managed to scratch away his discomfort. To his dismay, the man discovered a knife blade allegedly stuck in his back since 2010. Billy McNeely, 32, lives near Yellowknife and vividly remembers the night he got stabbed at his birthday party when an arm-wrestling contest turned ugly. McNeely says doctors stitched him up but never ordered any X-rays, which explains the lodged knife. Doctors removed a seven centimeter long blade from McNeely’s back. [Gawker]
