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Search Results for: betts
The $1,686,170 Slap: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
It is hard to understand the magnitude of the restitution fine imposed on Urbana resident Shamar Betts as anything other than the persecution of one young black man. Despite a recent stay on collection of the debt pending a response … Continue reading
1,499 total views
Posted in African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice
Tagged African Americans, BLM, George Floyd protests, unequal justice
Comments Off on The $1,686,170 Slap: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts
I, Shamar Betts, incited a riot through a Facebook post encouraging my people to join alongside the rest of the world in an attempt to express our feelings on the tragic death of George Floyd in May of 2020. Although … Continue reading
1,045 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, Court System, incarceration, January 6 insurrection, Justice, Prisoners, Racism, Trump, Voices of Color, Youth
Tagged African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Trump
Comments Off on Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts
Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court
On April 8, the case of Urbana resident Shamar Betts moved to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Betts was arrested in June, 2020 in the midst of a national crackdown on protests against the murder … Continue reading
1,579 total views
Posted in African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Racism
Comments Off on Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court
Debt Peonage in the 21st Century: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
On August 19, Shamar Betts was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison (minus 12 for time served) for authoring a Facebook post. The sentencing also made Betts personally responsible for repaying $1.5 million for damage committed by others at … Continue reading
1,827 total views
Posted in African American, Justice, Police
Comments Off on Debt Peonage in the 21st Century: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
Shamar Betts: Caught in a Legal Drama that Started Before He was Born
No one wants to be the poster child for a Supreme Court challenge. However, finding his case before the Supreme Court could not only help Urbana resident Shamar Betts resolve his own situation, but it could redraw the legal lines … Continue reading
Posted in African American, BLM, Champaign County, civil rights, Court System, Justice, News, Racism, Women
Comments Off on Shamar Betts: Caught in a Legal Drama that Started Before He was Born
D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief
The Editorial Collective of the Public i has decided to periodically republish past articles written for us by our late colleague and cofounder Belden Fields. We will also be publishing a special memorial issue for Belden around May, traditionally the … Continue reading
187 total views
Posted in January 6 insurrection, subversion, Trump
Tagged January 6 insurrection, second Trump administration, Shamar Betts, Trump, unequal justice
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The Prison Economy from the Inside
Nineteen-year-old Shamar Betts of Urbana had no previous criminal record when he was arrested for “inciting a riot” via a Facebook post he wrote after witnessing the video of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He was sentenced to three years … Continue reading
1,033 total views
Posted in African Americans, incarceration, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged incarceration, local African American voices, memoir, prison life
Comments Off on The Prison Economy from the Inside
At the Feds
Shamar Betts had no previous criminal record but was sentenced to three years in federal prison for “inciting a riot” through a Facebook post he wrote after witnessing the video of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He was also made … Continue reading
630 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, Arts, BLM, incarceration, Prison Arts, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged BLM, George Floyd protests, incarceration, memoir
Comments Off on At the Feds
Diesel Therapy
The odyssey of Urbana resident Shamar Betts continues. Betts was arrested for authoring a Facebook post at age 19 in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and charged … Continue reading
1,160 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged African Americans, Black Lives Matter, incarceration, US Marshals
Comments Off on Diesel Therapy
How The Issue of Representation Impacts Central Illinois
The issue of unequal representation of cultures has plagued the nation since its birth, often resulting in the perversion of people’s natural rights. In central Illinois, it extends that perversion through aggressive discrimination. Although minorities have seen more representation on … Continue reading
1,102 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, bigotry, Media, Racism, Section, Violence, Voices
Tagged African American, discrimination, media stereotypes, racism, violence
Comments Off on How The Issue of Representation Impacts Central Illinois
The Public i: Countering Hegemonic Mass Media Narratives
I have always wondered how the Public i, which operates under one of the few Independent Media Centers (IMCs) that still exist in the United States—the UCIMC—has been sustainable for two decades despite the growing dissolutions of Indymedia centers worldwide. … Continue reading
920 total views
Posted in Community, Corporate media, IMC, Media, UCIMC
Tagged alternative media, corporate media, Indymedia, Public i, UCIMC
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What’s Understood Need Not Be Explained
I’m curious to know, as a reading eye and listening ear, what are you expecting to hear from me? That the feds were somehow wrong, and Shamar was right? Or that he was justified in putting out some call to … Continue reading
1,013 total views
Posted in African American, African Americans, Arts, BLM, Justice, Local Arts, Police brutality, Racism, Section, Voices
Comments Off on What’s Understood Need Not Be Explained
Scapegoating and the 2020 Marketplace Mall Riots
I watched the legal machinery eat further into the life of a young man this past month. On June 14, I joined others at the sentencing hearing for Shamar Betts at the federal courthouse in Urbana. Betts is accused of … Continue reading
3,117 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African Americans, Justice, Police
Comments Off on Scapegoating and the 2020 Marketplace Mall Riots
D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief
The federal anti-riot law (18 U.S. Code § 2101) was originally enacted in 1968 to silence and punish civil rights and anti-Vietnam War activists, but has been amended after constitutional challenges since then. It now states: Whoever travels in interstate … Continue reading
Posted in January 6 insurrection, subversion, Trump
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