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Sasha Johnson, one of Britains best-known Black Lives Matter activists, has been shot in the head and is in critical condition, according to a statement released by her political party on Sunday.

Ms Johnson, 27, the self-styled Black Panther of Oxford and a mother of three, according to her party, or a mother of two, according to the BBC, reportedly sustained a gunshot wound to the head in the early hours of Sunday morning in the Southwark area of London.

A statement from the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP) said: It is with great sadness that we inform you that our own Sasha Johnson has sustained a gunshot wound to her head. She is currently hospitalised and in a critical condition. The incident happened in the early hours of this morning, following numerous death threats.

Sasha has always been actively fighting for black people and the injustices that surround the black community, as well as being both a member of BLM and a member of Taking the Initiative Partys Executive Leadership Committee. Sasha is also a mother of 3 and a strong, powerful voice for our people and our community.

Lets all come together and pray for Sasha, pray for her recovery and show our support to her family and loved ones.

In a statement believed to be referring to Ms Johnson,Londons Metropolitan Police said that the shooting is thought to have occurred near a house party in Southwark.

While the investigation is at an early stage, there is nothing to suggest that the woman who was shot was the subject of a targeted attack or that she had received any credible threats against her prior to this incident, the Met said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jimi Tele added:I recognise that this incident will have shocked those in the local community and further afield. I would ask people to avoid speculating as to the motive or the circumstances behind it.

If anyone does have information, the most responsible and helpful action is to share it with the police or, to remain anonymous, with Crimestoppers.

The Met has not officially confirmed the shooting victims identity as of the time of publication, however.

It is with great sadness that we inform you that our own Sasha Johnson has sustained a gunshot wound to her head. She is

Posted by Taking The Initiative onSunday, May 23, 2021

Sasha Johnson gained national attention following the publication of aviral videowhich showed her declaring that British police are no different than the KKK and that the formation of a Black Militia was necessary to combat racism in Britain. She has also called for the creation of arace offenders register which could impact the jobs people can hold and the areas where they can live, and called for the hanging of what she called house negroes after a British government report led by a black academic found that the United Kingdom is not an institutionally racist country.

While not affiliated with the Twitter-verified Black Lives Matter UK organisation, Johnson has frequently appeared at BLM rallies in London and helped establish an autonomousBlack Lives Matter group in Oxford.

Responding to the reports of her shooting, BLM UK wrote on social media: We are saddened to hear that Sasha Johnson is fighting for her life after a critical wound and following numerous death threats. While Sasha wasnt part of our organisation, she impressively founded a new Black-led political party and was dedicated to resist anti-Black racism.

Any attempt to intimidate or silence her, is an attack on all of us. Touch one, touch all. We pray that she will pull through this and those who threatened her life are held accountable, the organisation added.

At a so-called Million People March in London in August of last year, Johnson announced the formation of theTaking The Initiative Party (TTIP), which she claimed at the time was the the first black-led political party in the UK although she would later clarify that the party was merely black founded.

In March of this year, Sasha Johnson promoted the creation of theNew Black Panther Party UKon her social media, but she remains involved with TTIP as well, and is stilllistedas a member of its executive leadership committee.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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British Black Lives Matter Activist Sasha Johnson Shot in ...

Eight years ago this month, a hashtag on social media led to a global movement against systemic racism and police brutality.

In 2013, #BlackLivesMatter was created by three Black women Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Last year proved to be a watershed moment for the BLM movement when protests erupted across the country and the world after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota by former police officer Derek Chauvin. The moment sparked a racial reckoning in the United States.

Melina Abdullah, a Black scholar, activist and co-founder of Los Angeles' Black Lives Matter chapter, says theres been steady progress in growing BLM worldwide.

When we first convened to form Black Lives Matter, she says, our pledge was to build a movement, not a moment.

TheLAnd magazine labeled Abdullah the scourge of the LAPD, one of her most coveted titles, she says. Abdullah doesnt view herself as a BLM spokesperson but rather as an organizer who collaborates with thousands of other people in Los Angeles and beyond to transform public safety.

In the U.S. alone, 15 to 20 million people participated in Black Lives Matter protests last year. More than 4,400 cities and towns around the globe have held BLM demonstrations since May 2020. The massive swaths of people who showed up to demand change is encouraging, Abdullah says, but protests are just the start of the work.

We have to not just say Black lives matter, but do work to make Black lives matter, she says.

For nearly a decade, BLM has been working to end systems of state-sanctioned violence, including reducing police departments budgets and rerouting the funds to build mental health, education and housing systems that actually make communities safe, she says.

The murder of Floyd also came at a pivotal time, she says. His tragic death represents more than a thousand murders that are on record that happen at the hands of police every single year in this country, she says.

Abdullah remembers the tenacity of 17-year-old Darnell Frazier, who filmed the viral video of Chauvin on Floyds neck and made sure the world saw what happens at the hands of this kind of violent form of policing that plagues our community.

In another eight years from now, Abdullah hopes BLM has fundamentally transformed policing systems such as qualified immunity and powerful police associations. She believes reinvesting the funds will make communities safe.

Jeannette Muhammadproduced and edited this interview for broadcast withTodd Mundt.Serena McMahonadapted it for the web.

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'A Movement, Not A Moment': Black Lives Matter Marks 8 Years - Here And Now

Portland police Chief Frank Clark on Friday reacted to an independent report on the police departments response to Black Lives Matter protests last year.Clark said the 64-page report validates the work his officers did t respond to the most violent night of the protests in the weeks following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.On June 1, 2020, a small group mixed with hundreds of peaceful protesters in downtown Portland. It was four hours after the protest began and 90 minutes after organizers told everyone to go home, according to the report."We had at least three cruisers, I believe, where we had people, protestors jump on the car, trying to break windows, Clark said.Stores, such as Urban Outfitters, saw their windows smashed. Old Port Spirits & Cigars was vandalized and looted. More than 20 buildings were tagged with graffiti.Police arrested 22 people. None complained about their treatment by officers, according to the report.Clark said he considers his department to be a guardian of public order and the Constitution."How can we make sure that this group, however many there are, wherever they're gonna be, is able to exercise their First Amendment rights and peacefully demonstrate, Clark said.Black Portland Organizers Working to End Racism, a successor group to Black Lives Matter Portland, issued a statement to WMTW in response to the report saying, "The actions of PPD on June 1 caused several peaceful protestors to suffer from major panic attacks as well as several reports of peaceful youth protestors going into respiratory distress from use of pepper spray."Clark said the protests led him to tweak crowd control training for his 158 officers."It's been a demoralizing year for law enforcement, Clark said.Nationwide, police agencies are currently filling only 93% of jobs. Clark said the Portland Police Department is looking to fill 13 positions."My hope is that we're going to able to better engage with our community, we're going to bring people together again, because it's not us versus them. It's just got to be us. It's all of us, Clark said.

Portland police Chief Frank Clark on Friday reacted to an independent report on the police departments response to Black Lives Matter protests last year.

Clark said the 64-page report validates the work his officers did t respond to the most violent night of the protests in the weeks following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

On June 1, 2020, a small group mixed with hundreds of peaceful protesters in downtown Portland. It was four hours after the protest began and 90 minutes after organizers told everyone to go home, according to the report.

"We had at least three cruisers, I believe, where we had people, protestors jump on the car, trying to break windows, Clark said.

Stores, such as Urban Outfitters, saw their windows smashed. Old Port Spirits & Cigars was vandalized and looted. More than 20 buildings were tagged with graffiti.

Police arrested 22 people. None complained about their treatment by officers, according to the report.

Clark said he considers his department to be a guardian of public order and the Constitution.

"How can we make sure that this group, however many there are, wherever they're gonna be, is able to exercise their First Amendment rights and peacefully demonstrate, Clark said.

Black Portland Organizers Working to End Racism, a successor group to Black Lives Matter Portland, issued a statement to WMTW in response to the report saying, "The actions of PPD on June 1 caused several peaceful protestors to suffer from major panic attacks as well as several reports of peaceful youth protestors going into respiratory distress from use of pepper spray."

Clark said the protests led him to tweak crowd control training for his 158 officers.

"It's been a demoralizing year for law enforcement, Clark said.

Nationwide, police agencies are currently filling only 93% of jobs. Clark said the Portland Police Department is looking to fill 13 positions.

"My hope is that we're going to able to better engage with our community, we're going to bring people together again, because it's not us versus them. It's just got to be us. It's all of us, Clark said.

Read this article:
Portland police react to report on its response to Black Lives Matter protests - WMTW Portland

Britons are more likely to view Black Lives Matter as a force for good than ill, polling suggests.

Nearly half (46 per cent) of voters saw the movement as a force for good compared to 35 per cent who saw it as negative, the YouGov survey suggested.

The exclusive polling was carried out for a More In Common paper on the culture wars, a section of which has been seen by i ahead of the reports launch on Tuesday.

The organisation, set up in the wake of the extremist murder of MP Jo Cox, also found through focus groups that unlike the way in which BLM is discussed by those fighting culture wars, the public can and do make a distinction between the movement and the political organisation.

That distinction has been at the heart of recent rows over England footballers taking the knee before matches, in a gesture popularised by the BLM movement.

The players said they were doing it to protest against racism and discrimination, but several prominent right-wing figures denounced their stance.

Tory MP Lee Anderson boycotted all England games on the teams run to the Euro 2020 final this month because he believed taking the knee amounted to supporting an organisation with quite sinister motives.

But More In Commons seven focus groups across England last month found that people were able to distinguish between the political organisation, where they often disagreed with tactics and ideology, and the ethical argument of BLM, which found broad support.

The data also showed a more nuanced picture, with certain socioeconomic groups viewing BLM as a more negative force.

The report characterises Britons in seven socioeconomic groups: progressive activists, civic pragmatists, disengaged battlers, established liberals, loyal nationals, disengaged traditionalists and backbone conservatives.

The activists, civic pragmatists who are turned off by division in politics, battlers who feel they are just keeping their heads above water, and liberals all viewed BLM as a force for good to varying degrees.

Loyal nationals who are patriotic and anxious about threats facing Britain, traditionalists and conservatives all viewed BLM as a more negative force.

Overall though, 60 per cent of Britons said they felt exhausted by political divisions, and voters tended to dislike radical activism and tearing things down, instead preferring evolving and building on existing cultural norms, according to the paper.

This is also reflected in climate debates where most people support action to reach net zero but do not believe Extinction Rebellion has been a force for good.

Luke Tryl, UK director of, More in Common, said: In our conversations with Britons from across the country, they spoke passionately about the need to do more to tackle racism both on and offline and there was strong support for the message Black Lives Matter.

That doesnt make Britons Marxists or mean that they support all of BLMs tactics.

In fact, what was striking was that unlike the way in which BLM is discussed by those fighting culture wars, the public can and do make a distinction between the movement and the political organisation.

Most Britons want tackle prejudice and discrimination, but they want that to happen in a way that builds on our national story and looks at how we learn from the past, rather than tearing things down.

YouGov polled 2,000 Britons online in January 2021, in an exclusive poll commissioned jointly by More In Common and MHPC. More In Common carried out six CRD recruited focus groups in June 2021 in Stoke, Tyneside, Manchester, Bristol, London and Sussex.

More here:
Britons are more likely to view Black Lives Matter as a force for good than ill, data shows - iNews

NORTH CLARENDON A recent School Board decision to display the Black Lives Matter flag at Mill River Union High School is not sitting well with some community members.

At Wednesday evenings meeting of the Mill River Unified Union School District Board, 26 people spoke during a public comment session that lasted nearly 90 minutes. Many of those who spoke took issue with the flag, with a number of them contending that the action is a violation of district policy.

Last month, the School Board voted 8-3 to approve a student proposal to display a version of the BLM flag that also features a rainbow on one edge to denote Black LGBTQ+ pride.

The flag was the first to be approved under a new district-wide policy for vetting flag display requests adopted by the board last fall. The policy was developed after efforts by the board last summer to raise the BLM and Pride flags were met with public backlash and threats of legal action.

During discussion prior to the approval of the request last month, board member Bruce Moreton argued that approving the flag might be a violation of MRUUSD Policy E4, which is related to risk management.

The policy reads: It is the policy of the district to minimize risk to the district as it discharges its responsibility for properly managing the resources of the school system. This responsibility includes concern for the safety of students, employees and the public, as well as concern for protecting the systems property from loss. No new program, policy or procedure will be adopted or approved by the board without first giving careful consideration to the school systems risk exposure.

At the time, both Superintendent David Younce and District Business Manager Stan Pawlaczyk clarified that the policy was related to fiscal risk only.

At Wednesdays meeting, Board Chair Adrienne Raymond addressed the potential policy violation, reading a statement from the boards legal counsel that said the district was not exposing itself to any uninsured risk by adopting the flag policy.

Raymond added that she also contacted the districts insurance provider whom she said informed her that the district would almost certainly be covered for any property and liability damage under its policy.

I think this puts peoples minds at rest, she said.

Yet that was not the case for some district residents.

I want this board ... to tell me where in your meetings youve ever talked about the many risks associated with this flag? asked Rep. Arthur Peterson, R-Clarendon, after reading Policy E4 aloud.

Peterson cited a decline in student enrollment over the last school year and the fact that the Clarendon Select Board has been openly discussing withdrawing from the school district as risks associated with displaying the BLM flag.

Peterson was a vocal critic of the districts efforts to raise BLM and Pride flags last year. However, in an interview with the Herald last September, he said he would honor the decision if either of those flags cleared the vetting process established by the board.

I personally wont be happy, but if it makes it through the process, it makes it through the process, he said.

Nonetheless, Peterson appears to be continuing his campaign against the BLM flag.

Earlier this month, he appeared before the Clarendon Select Board and he urged members to attend Wednesdays School Board meeting, citing the alleged policy violation.

On Wednesday, Select Board Chair Mike Klopchin and Selectman Robert Bixby addressed the School Board, telling them that the town is considering putting a nonbinding article about withdrawing from MRUUSD on the March Town Meeting Day ballot.

In my opinion all lives matter, said Klopchin.

Several other members of Petersons family spoke against the flag, including his wife, Barbara Peterson, who said that seven of her grandchildren are unwilling refugees from the school district because youre trying to put up communist ideals with the American flag.

Pay attention to education, stop with the indoctrination, she said.

Richard Ley, of Clarendon, read an excerpt from the districts equity policy, claiming the school board has failed students.

These policies expose concern not only for our students and our community, I believe they violate our moral responsibility to our students, he said. When we decide to create division and preferential treatment for any reason whether its skin color, religion, gender or a flag we fly we create peril, not only in our school but everywhere we send these students.

But while a number of speakers echoed the same concerns about the risk management policy as well as raised related concerns about the districts equity policy and the alleged teaching of critical race theory several others voiced their support for the flag.

Clarendon resident Madison Akin thanked the board for deciding to raise the BLM flag, asserting that the conversation has encouraged people to become more engaged and politically active.

However, she questioned the motivations of those who have been citing the risk management policy, stating, It seems odd to me that flying a flag is a safety concern yet caring for our Black and Brown students doesnt seem to evoke the same kind of safety concern.

Former School Board member John McKenna, who lost his bid for re-election in March, said risk was absolutely discussed in policy committee meetings related to the adoption of the flag policy.

It has been addressed, it has been considered to be acceptable risk, he said.

Heather Kent, of Clarendon, fought back tears as she recalled the suicide of her brother, who was gay.

She addressed the people in the room who spoke about their grandchildren, stating, Statistically, one of your grand-kids is gay, and they are hearing this.

Kent maintained that the BLM and Pride flags are not a political statement.

They are a statement to those kids, saying, We see you, we hear you, hold on. Please, hold on, she said, arguing that if the flag prevents one child from committing suicide, then it was worth it.

Clarendon resident Dave Potter suggested that its time the board put the BLM flag matter into the rear-view mirror, noting that the board has taking testimony from all sides and made its decision.

Mill River is not the first district in Vermont to have done that and life seems to have gone on just fine in those other locations, many of which are right here in Rutland County, he said.

Carol Geery, another resident of Clarendon, asserted that opposition to the BLM flag is more detrimental to the community than displaying it.

I worry more about my property value declining because of the cultivation of intolerance than because the school will be flying the Black Lives Matter flag, she said.

Riley Usher a recent MRUUHS graduate from Clarendon, said the BLM flag is non-issue among students.

I dont see why it has to be such a big issue to the parents and to the staff if its not an issue for the students, she said.

In other business, the board heard a request to adopt a district-wide statement of inclusion, but took no action.

It also received an update on the districts equity work in light of recent national attention around critical race theory.

CRT is a theory developed by legal scholars in the 1970s that looks at race as a social construct. Political conservatives have seized on the concept in recent months, alleging its being taught in K-12 schools.

MRUUSD equity coordinator Jodie Stewart-Ruck stated that CRT is not being taught in Mill River schools and there is no plan to do so.

(CRT) is a graduate-level theory taught in graduate schools and law schools. We do not have the expertise to teach that to Mill River public school students, and it wouldnt be appropriate for their age level, she said. We do believe that teaching kids to be critical thinkers is central for providing them with the education they need to be responsible community members and our future neighbors.

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BLM flag remains an issue at Mill River - Rutland Herald