Cops Killed Marcus Smith 3 Years Ago, Fueling Outrage Over Police Hog-Tying truthout.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from truthout.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As City Mulls Independent Investigation Into Marcus Smith’s Death, Tensions Run High by David Ford
3:28pm May 06, 2021 The Smith family in downtown Greensboro in 2015. From left to right: Marcus Smith, Mary Smith, George Smith, and Marcus’ brother Leonard Butler. Photo courtesy of Kim Smith.
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Greensboro’s City Council is weighing whether to open an independent investigation into the death of Marcus Deon Smith. The 38-year-old Black man died in police custody in 2018 after being wrestled to the ground, hands and feet bound together, face down on the pavement. Since his death, activists in the community have demanded justice calling him “Greensboro’s George Floyd.” The case has prompted some councilmembers to more closely examine the city’s broader policing practices.
Greensboro Joins Four N.C. Communities In Reinstating LGBTQ Protections by Neal Charnoff Greensboro City Council members. Photo courtesy Greensboro-nc.gov.
Greensboro has joined four other North Carolina cities in passing nondiscrimination ordinances for LGBTQ people.
The actions followed the recent expiration of a ban on such rules by local governments. The moratorium that expired last month was implemented in 2017 as the result of a compromise between Republican legislators and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to get rid of HB2, the state’s 2016 so-called “bathroom bill.”
Greensboro’s resolution essentially reinstated protections that had been nullified by the state. Language was added that further defines sexual orientation and gender, and protects people from discrimination based on hairstyles.