The Take: Will police brutality end in Kenya as protests reignite?
In this episode:
Irungu Houghton (@irunguhoughton) – Executive Director, Amnesty International Kenya
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Chloe K Li, Sonia Bhagat, Amy Walters, Marcos Bartolomé, and Haleema Shah, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Kisaa Zehra, Remas AlHawari, Marya Khan, and our host, Manuel Rapalo. It was edited by Kylene Kiang and Sarí el-Khalili.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US police officer in Breonna Taylor death sentenced to 33 months in prison
A judge in the US state of Kentucky has sentenced a police officer involved in the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor to 33 months for violating her civil rights. The sentencing of officer Brett Hankison was announced on Monday at the Louisville court and represents a repudiation to prosecutors, who had requested he receive a one-day sentence. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was killed in her apartment in the early hours of March 13, 2020, after police executed a so-called no-knock warrant, attempting to storm Taylor's apartment unannounced, based on faulty evidence that her apartment was involved in a drug operation. Thinking they were experiencing a home invasion, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot at the suspected intruders. Police responded with approximately 22 shots. A federal jury in November 2024 found Hankison responsible for using excessive force in violation of Taylor's civil rights. But last week, Department of Justice lawyers asked that Hankison be given a one-day sentence, plus three years of supervised release, arguing that a lengthy sentence would be 'unjust'. Hankison shot 10 bullets into the apartment, though the shots he fired did not hit her. Death was a catalyst for calls for racial justice Taylor's death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer, led to racial justice protests across the United States over the treatment of people of colour by police departments. During former President Joe Biden's administration, the Justice Department brought criminal civil rights charges against the officers involved in both Taylor and Floyd's deaths. Hankison was convicted by a federal jury in November 2024 of one count of violating Taylor's civil rights, after the first attempt to prosecute him ended with a mistrial. He was separately acquitted on state charges in 2022. The Justice Department's sentencing memo for Hankison downplayed his role in the raid at Taylor's home, saying he 'did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death'. The memo was notable because it was not signed by any of the career prosecutors – those who were not political appointees – who had tried the case. It was submitted on July 16 by Harmeet Dhillon, a political appointee by Trump to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and her counsel, Robert Keenan. Keenan previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where he argued that a local deputy sheriff convicted of civil rights violations, Trevor Kirk, should have his conviction on the felony counts struck and should not serve prison time. The efforts to strike the felony conviction led several prosecutors on the case to resign in protest, according to media reports and a person familiar with the matter. The department's sentencing recommendation in the Hankison case marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to put the brakes on the department's police accountability work. Earlier this year, Dhillon nixed plans to enter into a court-approved settlement with the Louisville Police Department, and rescinded the Civil Rights Division's prior findings of widespread civil rights abuses against people of colour. Lawyers for Taylor's family called the department's sentencing recommendation for Hankison an insult, and urged the judge to 'deliver true justice' for her.
Qatar Tribune
3 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Syria evacuates Bedouins from Suwayda
Agencies Damascus The Syrian government is evacuating hundreds of Bedouin families trapped inside the southern city of Suwayda, where a fragile ceasefire is holding after Druze and Bedouin fighters fought for a week. The first Bedouin families left on Monday on buses and trucks accompanied by Syrian Arab Red Crescent vehicles and ambulances. They were taken to nearby Daraa as the government plans to evacuate 1,500 people. 'At least 500 people have already left on 10 buses this morning, and more are expected to exit Suwayda in the next few hours,' Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall said about noon (09:00 GMT) on Monday in a report from the capital, Damascus. The clashes between the Druze minority and Bedouin clans, which began on July 13, killed nearly 260 people and threatened to unravel Syria's post-war transition. The violence also displaced 128,571 people, according to the United Nations International Organisation for Migration. Israel intervened and launched air attacks on Syria's Ministry of Defence buildings in the heart of Damascus. Israeli forces also hit Syrian government forces in Suwayda province, claiming it was protecting the Druze, whom it calls its 'brothers'. 'There are seven districts of Suwayda that are inhabited partly or … mostly by Arab Bedouins, and they are all under threat – or they feel under threat – and some of them are willing to leave [on their own],' he said. Syrian Interior Minister Ahmad al-Dalati told the SANA news agency that the evacuation process will also allow displaced civilians from Suwayda to return as efforts for a complete ceasefire are under way. 'We have imposed a security cordon in the vicinity of Suwayda to keep it secure and to stop the fighting there,' al-Dalati told the agency. 'This will preserve the path that will lead to reconciliation and stability in the province.' According to the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, the ceasefire agreed on Saturday says the Bedouin fighters will release Druze women they are holding captive and leave the province. After talks for a captives swap fell through late on Sunday, the observatory and activist groups in Suwayda reported hearing what they said were Israeli air strikes and helicopters over villages where some skirmishes took place between the Bedouins and the Druze. The Israeli military said it was 'not aware' of any overnight strikes in Syria.
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia launches major aerial attacks on Kyiv
Russia launches major aerial attacks on Kyiv NewsFeed Ukraine says Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Kyiv in months, killing one and injuring seven. Strikes hit a metro station used as a shelter and sparked fires, including at a kindergarten. Al Jazeera's Rory Challands reports from Kyiv. Video Duration 00 minutes 58 seconds 00:58 Video Duration 01 minutes 18 seconds 01:18 Video Duration 02 minutes 24 seconds 02:24 Video Duration 00 minutes 58 seconds 00:58 Video Duration 01 minutes 01 seconds 01:01 Video Duration 00 minutes 36 seconds 00:36 Video Duration 01 minutes 06 seconds 01:06
