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In 1979 a peaceful protest by Communist workers in Greensboro NC turned into a massacre by the Klan. The police were nowhere to be found. This episode examines the incident and the investigation of who was ultimately to blame. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on May 23, 2016 - 0 comments

Ed Crawford had never been to a protest until he heard about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Robert Cohen, a staff photographer with the St. Louis Post Dispatch, ended up taking a photograph of Ed that would be seen around the world, and change both of their lives.
posted by Potomac Avenue on Dec 12, 2015 - 2 comments

Police officer John Edwards was patrolling a quiet neighborhood in Bellaire, Texas when he saw an SUV driven by two young African-American men. It was just before 2am on December 31, 2008. Edwards followed the SUV and ran the license plate number. When his computer indicated that the SUV was stolen, Edwards drew his gun and told the two men to get down on the ground. It wasn't until later that he realized he'd typed the wrong license plate number into his computer. He was off by one digit. By the time he realized his mistake, one of the men had already been shot in the chest at close range. But there's a major difference between this shooting case and so many others that we've heard about recently. This is the story of Robbie Tolan.
posted by Potomac Avenue on Apr 7, 2015 - 2 comments

On July 17th, 1889, the residents of Clayton County, Iowa woke up to news of the worst crime in their history. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Mar 2, 2015 - 4 comments

In June 2014, authorities released information about a massive child pornography ring being conducted in North Carolina.  Four suspects had already been arrested, and the police were asking the public for help finding a fifth suspect. But they didn't need to look very hard -- the suspect was about to turn himself in, almost by accident.
posted by Potomac Avenue on Jan 13, 2015 - 3 comments