protest

Oliver Baines was the only African American serving on the Fresno City Council during his two terms in office starting in 2010. Prior to that, he spent nearly 12 years as a Fresno police officer. Yesterday it was announced that he will lead a new commission for police reform in Fresno, tasked with making a recommendation to the council in 90 days. FM89's Kathleen Schock spoke with Baines about his experience with police brutality as a young man, and his vision for Fresno’s future. 

The Fresno County Public Defender's Office held a protest Monday against police brutality and in honor of George Floyd. About a hundred protesters started at the public defender’s office and walked to the Fresno Police Department. 

Organizers said this protest had a specific message for police officers. Camille Slack, a paralegal, said the organization is calling for police to intervene when they see other officers abusing their power.  

Two videos that surfaced this week of a Fresno police officer shooting a 16-year-old boy in the back of the head have caused local and national outrage. 

“We have to reform our policing system to end the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality that ends far too many black & brown lives,” presidential candidate Julián Castro tweeted Thursday evening. “The fact that these officers weren’t held accountable is shameful—and more evidence that the system is broken.”

Dozens of people lined up in front of Congressman Devin Nunes’s Clovis office on Tuesday as part of a national protest to close immigration detention centers. 

The #CloseTheCamps protests around the state and country come a day after several Democratic members of Congress visited detention centers at the southern border. There were reports of no running water, overcrowded facilities, people sleeping on floors, drinking out of toilets, and parents not knowing where their children were placed. 

People in cities across the country marched and rallied over the weekend against separation of families at U.S. borders. On Saturday, nearly one thousand individuals participated in the Families Belong Together march and rally in Downtown Bakersfield.

California is instituting what some are calling the toughest regulations in the nation for the controversial oil extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  But some environmentalists say the regulations don’t go far enough to protect air and water quality.

Several local governments have enacted moratoriums; others are calling for an outright ban on fracking. As Amy Quinton reports from Sacramento, the politics are beginning to take center stage.