207-815: Red Power Groups Armed Groups Unarmed Groups [REDACTED] Government of the United States The Red Power movement was a social movement which was led by Native American youth who demanded self-determination for Native Americans in the United States. Organizations that were part of the Red Power Movement include the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC). This movement advocated
414-409: A San Francisco State student. The two agreed to and told sympathetic media outlets about their plan to take over Alcatraz at a dinner party hosted by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tim Findley. They threatened that if there were any leaks of the story early, the plan to occupy Alcatraz would be called off. Their first attempt, on November 9, 1969—the date the media had been told—resulted in circling
621-580: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through
828-562: A "clearly established" constitutional or statutory right. When cases of police are investigated for crimes, the collection of evidence is typically conducted by police officers, including witness statements , and police may have been the only witnesses. Prosecutors tend to have a close working relationship with police officers, which creates another conflict of interest, and they are often reluctant to aggressively pursue cases against law enforcement. Furthermore, courts tend to sympathize with police officers over civilians, who are often viewed as
1035-675: A "dangerous" class, and they experienced discrimination by nativists . Meanwhile, organized crime and political parties were often intertwined, and police typically cast a blind eye toward gambling and prostitution, if managed by politically influential figures. After the Civil War, industrialization and urbanization grew rapidly in the United States. This was accompanied by a rising organized labor movement , in which workers formed unions and joined in organized actions, such as strikes . Between 1880 and 1900, New York City had 5,090 strikes and Chicago had 1,737 strikes. The economic elites of
1242-550: A 1969 FBI raid at Hampton's apartment in Chicago. In the United States, race and accusations of police brutality continue to be closely linked, and the phenomenon has sparked a string of race riots over the years. Especially notable among these incidents was the uprising caused by the arrest and beating of Rodney King on March 3, 1991, by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department . The atmosphere
1449-655: A 2006 Department of Justice report, which showed that out of 26,556 citizen complaints made in 2002 about excessive use of police force among large U.S. agencies (representing 5% of agencies and 59% of officers), about 2,000 were found to have merit. Other studies have shown that most police brutality goes unreported. In 1982, the federal government funded a "Police Services Study", in which over 12,000 randomly selected civilians were interviewed in three metropolitan areas. The study found that 13.6 percent of those surveyed claimed to have had cause to complain about police service (including verbal abuse, discourtesy and physical abuse) in
1656-672: A 2021 article published in The Lancet . For 2023, Mapping Police Violence counted at least 1,247 individuals killed, making it the deadliest year on record. The US police has killed more people compared to any other industrialized democracy, with a disproportionate number of people shot being people of color. Since 2015, around 2,500 of those killed by police were fleeing. Since the 20th century, there have been many public, private, and community efforts to combat police corruption and brutality. These efforts have identified various core issues that contribute to police brutality, including
1863-512: A Black man in Kenosha , identified as Jacob Blake , was shot by police multiple times in the back. He was shot in front of his three young sons and suffered critical injuries. Later, he was reported by Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump to be in stable condition but remained in an intensive care unit. The shooting came as demonstrators continued to decry police violence in the American cities. It
2070-435: A CCRB, only 8% of the complaints were sustained. Thus, for the year 2002, the rate at which police brutality complaints were sustained was 0.53% for the larger police municipalities nationwide. The ability of district attorneys to investigate police brutality has also been called into question, as DAs depend on help from police departments to bring cases to trial. It was only in the 1990s that serious efforts began to transcend
2277-487: A CCRB, such as the Civilian Complaint Review Board (New York City), Civilian Office of Police Accountability (Chicago), Citizen Police Review Board (Pittsburgh), and Police Review Commission (Berkeley). Law enforcement jurisdictions that have a CCRB have an excessive force complaint rate against their officers of 11.9% verses 6.6% complaint rate for those without a CCRB. Of those forces without
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#17327661111312484-464: A Hawaiian Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, also in March 2014, an attorney testified that his client was raped three times by Hawaiian police before prostitution was cited as the reason for her subsequent arrest. The prevalence of police brutality in the United States is not comprehensively documented, and the statistics on police brutality are much less available. The few statistics that exist include
2691-498: A building brought Richard and his wife Anne back to the mainland. Some of the student occupiers went back to school when the Oakes' left. A problem of drug and alcohol abuse also became prominent on the island, which affected the occupations reputation. The remaining leaders were John Trudell , LaNada Means , and Stella Leach , who could not end up agreeing on a way to further develop the occupation. Electricity and water being cut off to
2898-400: A civilian, later identified to be Hughes' roommate. Officer Kisela decided to fire four shots toward Hughes and she was later treated for non-life-threatening injuries. It was later discovered that Hughes had a history of mental illness. Hughes filed a lawsuit against Officer Kisela, claiming excessive use of force and a violation of her Fourth Amendment right. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of
3105-625: A clear chain of command. New practices were put into place to recruit, train, and reward police officers. By the 1950s, police officers began to win collective bargaining rights and form unions , after a long period of not being allowed to form unions (particularly after the Boston police strike in 1919). However, these changes were not welcomed by all community members. Police departments adopted tactics that often antagonized people, such as aggressive stop and frisk . Police departments also became increasingly insular and "isolated from public life" as
3312-542: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of
3519-413: A criminal-justice system that discourages prosecutors from pursuing police misconduct vigorously; a political system that responds more readily to police than to the residents of inner-city and minority communities; and a political culture that fears crime and values tough policing more than it values due process for all its citizens. Around 1998, it was believed that without substantial social change,
3726-534: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which
3933-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating
4140-666: A global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from
4347-490: A group of mostly full-Indian women that lived on Pine Ridge Reservation had been unsuccessful in a trial to impeach Dick Wilson, who was the chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. Critics of Wilson claimed he was too close to white people, too cozy with the government, and was disrespecting his Oglala Sioux culture. Enraged that Wilson had not been impeached, OSCRO continued to gather and brainstorm
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#17327661111314554-519: A higher percentage of Black population, and low median incomes. Race was suspected to play a role in the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. Brown was an unarmed 18-year-old African American who was shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The predominately black city erupted after the shooting. Riots following the shooting generated much debate about the treatment of African-Americans by law enforcement. On 23 August 2020,
4761-502: A lack of accountability and for bias favoring officers, as they frequently declare upon review that the officer(s) acted within the department's rules, or according to their training. For instance, an April 2007 study of the Chicago Police Department found that out of more than 10,000 police abuse complaints filed between 2002 and 2003, only 19 (0.19%) resulted in meaningful disciplinary action. The study charges that
4968-490: A large audience. Authors such as Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris have earned continued recognition. Since the late twentieth century, novels by Sherman Alexie have been adapted for film as well. The Occupation of Alcatraz began on November 20, 1969 when more than 80 young, mostly college aged American Indians, who identified themselves as Indians of All Tribes (IAT) boarded boats to approach and occupy Alcatraz Island overnight. The young American Indians settled with
5175-453: A message that American Indians would not sit around peacefully as treaties were broken, unfair trials were given, and their land was ceded. Federal agents gathered around Wounded Knee while the occupiers would host events for the media to cover in order to promote their message. Throughout the occupation of Wounded Knee, the protestors and federal agents would often have shootouts at night. The Indians would be shooting from inside Wounded Knee and
5382-598: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by
5589-443: A person and can involve beatings, killing, intimidation tactics, racist abuse, and torture. In the 2000s, the federal government attempted tracking the number of people killed in interactions with US police , but the program was defunded. In 2006, a law was passed to require reporting of homicides at the hands of the police, but many police departments do not obey it. Some journalists and activists have provided estimates, limited to
5796-513: A private security firm who used attack dogs and pepper spray against water protectors who were attempting to defend sacred burial sites from being bulldozed. Several water protectors were treated for dog bites. Police observed but did not intervene. At the Stop Line 3 pipeline protests in Minnesota, militarized police have subjected water protectors to pepper spray and rubber bullets during
6003-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of
6210-536: A response. They decided to ask AIM for help in reacting to what they felt was an injustice. With AIM in the picture, occupying Wounded Knee was their final decision. Wounded Knee was chosen as a tribute to the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, where hundreds of Lakota Indians were killed by the 7th US Cavalry Regiment in reported efforts to disarm the Indians. As a historical remembrance of the massacre,
6417-459: A result of these changes, according to crime historian Samuel Walker. For these reasons, among other reasons, they were particularly unequipped to handle the cultural and social upheaval of the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement was the target of numerous incidents of police brutality in its struggle for justice and racial equality , notably during the Birmingham campaign of 1963–64 and during
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6624-484: A result, police brutality and abuse persist unabated and undeterred across the country." The culture of impunity for police is reinforced by law enforcement operations with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force , which undertakes "disruption" actions against suspects instead of investigations and criminal charges. During the "war on terror", there have been noted increases in enforcement power for officers. By 2007, discussion on
6831-420: A rise in lynchings and mob murders of African-Americans, with the police not arresting the perpetrators. It was estimated that "at least one-half of the lynchings are carried out with police officers participating, and that in nine-tenths of the others the officers either condone or wink at the mob action," as reported by Arthur F. Rapper in 1933. Meanwhile, African-Americans suffered police brutality, such as
7038-526: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,
7245-614: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of
7452-521: A series of arrests, and protesters who've been jailed have reported mistreatment from officers such as lack of proper food, solitary confinement, and denial of medications. Over 600 people were arrested between January and August 2021. Enbridge (the pipeline company) enables increased police militarization by funding an escrow account that law enforcement uses to buy equipment and to train and pay officers. Enbridge had paid $ 2 million to law enforcement agencies through escrow by August 2021. In May 2020,
7659-501: A spiral that ends in the wall remaining amidst. Police brutality can be associated with racial profiling . Differences in race , religion , politics , ability , or socioeconomic status sometimes exist between police and the citizenry. For example, in 2016, about 27% of sworn in police officers were people of color . The leadership of police department and police unions tend to be primarily white, as well. Meanwhile, police officers often work in non-white communities. Portions of
7866-605: A voice for Indians internationally—covering North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. IITC focuses on the pursuit of sovereignty and self-determination for indigenous peoples through activism, training, and unified gatherings. As the first indigenous organization to be granted Consultive Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1977, IITC was able to represent
8073-401: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in
8280-532: Is a list of occupations by Red Power activists: The Red Power movement had accomplished many of its goals by the time direct social activism declined in the late 1970s. "By the early 1980s, over 100,000 Indian studies programs had been created in the United States. Tribal museums opened." Among the most prominent of the cultural centers is the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), which
8487-591: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in
Red Power movement - Misplaced Pages Continue
8694-498: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,
8901-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through
9108-566: Is rocky and non-productive and the land does not support game. 8. There are no educational facilities. 9. The population has always been held as prisoners and kept dependent upon others. Alcatraz Proclamation: To the Great White Father and All His People During the occupation, IAT released a statement called the Alcatraz Proclamation which explained that the Indians had the right to Alcatraz Island due to
9315-552: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in
9522-603: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with
9729-553: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for
9936-817: The Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in
10143-560: The Black Panther Party was formed by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale , in order to challenge police brutality against African-Americans from disproportionately white police departments. The conflict between the Black Panther Party and various police departments often resulted in violence with the deaths of 34 members of the Black Panther Party and 15 police officers. In 1968, the American Indian Movement
10350-656: The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington D.C. The BIA had become widely associated with corruption and not acting in the best interest of the American Indians. The protestors started arriving in D.C. on November 1 with the intent of bringing a list of twenty demands to the BIA. Upon arrival, the activists and GSA security had a misunderstanding about the activists being housed in the BIA building. This resulted in
10557-549: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is
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#173276611113110764-587: The FBI in a program called COINTELPRO (1956–79, and beyond). Under this program, the FBI would use undercover agents and police to create violence and chaos within political groups, such as the American Indian Movement , Socialist Worker's Party , the Black Panther Party , and the Organization of Afro-American Unity . The police and undercover agents would harm organizers and assassinate leaders. Black Panther leaders Mark Clark and Fred Hampton , were killed in
10971-500: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in
11178-664: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what
11385-719: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along
11592-534: The House Concurrent Resolution 108 . This resolution stated that the tribes would be under US law and treated as American citizens instead of having the status as wards of the US. The affected tribes were no longer protected by the government and stripped of their right to govern their own people. The Relocation Act of 1956 resulted in as many as 750,000 American Indians migrating to cities during
11799-524: The House of Representatives , a lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had
12006-634: The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 ). Those who advocate to defund the police call for the full or partial diversion of funds allocated to police departments, which would be redirected toward community and social services. Those who advocate to dismantle the police call for police departments to be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up. Those who advocate to abolish police departments call for police departments to be disbanded entirely and to be replaced by other community and social services. In
12213-505: The LAPD , uncovered disturbing patterns of misconduct and abuse, but the reforms it recommended were put on hold. Meanwhile, media reports revealed a frustration in dealing with systemic abuse in other jurisdictions as well, such as New York and Pittsburgh. Selwyn Raab of The New York Times wrote about how the " Blue Code of Silence among police officers helped to conceal even the most outrageous examples of misconduct." Within this climate,
12420-784: The Latimer Massacre (1897), in which 19 unarmed miners were killed, and the Coal Strike of 1902 , which involved a pitched battle for five months. Ultimately, state governments decided that it would be easier to police labor with public forces, leading to the establishment of state police forces (such as the Pennsylvania State Police , formed in 1905). By the late 19th century, local and state governments began to pass Jim Crow laws . These laws enforced strict racial segregation in schools, parks, neighborhoods, restaurants, and other public places. This era saw
12627-702: The Mexico-United States border . Their work included capturing indigenous people who were accused of attacking white settlers, investigating crimes such as cattle raiding , and raiding Mexican vaquero cattle ranches. They intimidated Mexican and Mexican-American people into leaving their land and homes, in support of white colonial expansion. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Texas Rangers supported and participated in extrajudicial killings and lynch mobs , such as La Matanza (1910–1920) and Porvenir massacre (1918) . In 1838,
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#173276611113112834-596: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured
13041-568: The Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department). Data obtained by the Associated Press in 2016 showed a racial disparity in officers' use of stun guns. On 15 May 2020, Amnesty International suggested that American authorities should avoid repressive measures that unduly restrict human rights in the name of "protecting" people from COVID-19 . The videos verified by researchers and Amnesty's Crisis Evidence Lab claimed
13248-688: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
13455-600: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed
13662-508: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,
13869-539: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on
14076-504: The Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. Media coverage of the brutality sparked national outrage, and public sympathy for the movement grew rapidly as a result. Martin Luther King Jr. criticized police brutality in his speeches. Furthermore, the period was marked by riots in response to police violence against African-Americans and Latinos, including the Harlem riot of 1964 , 1964 Philadelphia race riot , Watts riots (1965), Division Street riots (1966), and 1967 Detroit riot . In 1966,
14283-409: The Southern United States , some of the earliest roots of policing can be found in slave patrols . Beginning in the 18th century, white volunteers developed slave patrols (also known as "paddyrollers"), which were squadrons that acted as vigilantes . In 1704, the first slave patrol was established in South Carolina . Eventually, all states with legal slavery had slave patrols, and they functioned as
14490-418: The Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of
14697-399: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside
14904-511: The United Kingdom resulted in physical and emotional abuse of victims, and children born without fathers when the undercover operation ended; see UK undercover policing relationships scandal ). Following initial protest from supporters of the legislation, all objections were retracted on March 25, 2014. A Honolulu police spokeswoman informed Time magazine that, at the time of the court's decision, no reports had been made in regard to
15111-574: The archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has the world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across
15318-608: The attacks of September 11, 2001 , human rights observers raised concerns about increased police brutality in the U.S. An extensive report prepared for the United Nations Human Rights Committee , published in 2006, stated that in the U.S. the War on Terror "created a generalized climate of impunity for law enforcement officers, and contributed to the erosion of what few accountability mechanisms exist for civilian control over law enforcement agencies. As
15525-700: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After
15732-593: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of
15939-445: The largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of the global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have
16146-483: The "curtain of silence", "cocoon of silence", "blue code", or "blue shield". According to this rule, police officers do not report misconduct or abuse committed by other officers, and they will not step in when their colleagues are engaging in illegal or abusive behavior. This is because police officers typically consider themselves as part of a larger "brotherhood" or family among other officers. However, when neglected, officers are influenced to further speak out against
16353-480: The "good party" in the case. In 2015, The Washington Post reported that 54 officers had been charged with fatally shooting someone while on duty over the preceding decade. In the 35 cases that had been resolved, a total of 21 officers were acquitted or their charges were dropped. There is a direction on or around correlation between rates of police union membership and number of people killed by police. Collective bargaining rights introduced by police unions from
16560-733: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration
16767-408: The 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in the dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of
16974-471: The 1930s, reached millions of readers inside and outside Indian communities. A wide variety of Indian writers , historians, and essayists gained publication following these successes and new authors were widely read. N. Scott Momaday won the Pulitzer Prize for one of his novels and Leslie Silko received acclaim. Fiction and nonfiction works about Indian life and lore have continued to attract
17181-640: The 1946 beating of Isaac Woodward in Batesburg, South Carolina . Due to the brutality of Jim Crow laws, many African-Americans fled to Northern and Western cities in the Great Migration , where they experienced police brutality, as well. In the United States, the passage of the Volstead Act (popularly known as the National Prohibition Act) in 1919 had a long-term negative impact on policing practices. During Prohibition (1919–33),
17388-529: The 1950s onward (which are negotiated largely in secret) led to a substantial increase of police killings and other abuses especially towards people from racial minorities. Unions have negotiated labor contracts that stop law enforcement agencies firing officers after egregious acts of misconduct. A University of Oxford study of the 100 largest US cities found that increased protections for officers directly correlated with increased levels of violence and other abuses against citizens by police officers. A study by
17595-520: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and
17802-596: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of
18009-948: The August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago . Some rogue police officers took off their badges, in order to escape identification, and brutally assaulted protesters. Journalists were assaulted inside the convention hall. The actions of the police were later described as a " police riot " in the Walker Report to the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence . On May 15, 1969, police opened fire on protesters in People's Park in Berkeley, California , which resulted in serious injuries for some protesters. The 1970 Kent State shootings of 13 university students by
18216-501: The BIA with exposure of corruption and misuse of the program. On November 8, the protestors left the BIA building with paintings, artifacts, and $ 2 million worth of damage. The Wounded Knee Incident started on February 27, 1973 and lasted 71 days. More than 200 Indians in support of the Oglala Sioux people of Pine Ridge Reservation took over the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO),
18423-568: The Bureau of Indian Affairs and were involved in many of the events in the Red Power Movement. Like AIM, the council believed in and fought for the recognition of tribes federally and reinstating tribal governance. Women of All Red Nations (WARN) emerged in 1974 from the main founders, Lorelei DeCora Means , Madonna Thunderhawk , Phyllis Young , Janet McCloud , and others. WARN acted as a branch from AIM that focused on American Indian women's and family rights. Main issues that WARN fought against were
18630-475: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to
18837-573: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,
19044-573: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased
19251-598: The Indian community. With the occupation of Alcatraz, a participant said, "we got back our worth, our pride, our dignity, our humanity." With young, college aged students at the center of many Red Power movement protests, the pursuit of higher education, particularly for American Indians became a main initiative. In 1970, while the Alcatraz occupation was still occurring, a group of Indian youth took over US military surplus land near Davis, California. These youth had applied for
19458-481: The Indians if they did not come out. Supporters from outside of the occupation would come to the BIA to create a human barricade keeping the police from entering the occupied building. On November 6, a judge had given an order for the occupiers to vacate the building before 6 pm that day or they would be forcibly evicted. As the Indians braced for eviction, some exited the building to create a perimeter around it with clubs, spears and other weaponry to resist. Others inside
19665-683: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect
19872-752: The National Guard have been described as the culmination of such violent confrontations. In June 1971, President Richard M. Nixon declared a War on Drugs . This new "war" brought in stricter policing and criminal laws, including no-knock warrants and mandatory sentencing . As was the case with Prohibition , the War on Drugs was marked by increased police misconduct . War on drugs policing—notably stop and frisk and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams—contributed to police brutality, especially targeting minority communities. Years later, Nixon aide John Ehrlichman , explained: "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and
20079-482: The Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people... We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either... but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on
20286-477: The Red Power movement was the resurrection of American Indian pride, action, and awareness. Many bills and laws were also enacted in favor of American Indians in response to the Red Power movement, one of the most important being the reversal of tribe recognition termination. From 1953 to 1964, the United States government terminated recognition of more than 100 tribes and bands as sovereign dependent nations with
20493-611: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of
20700-404: The U.S. ( Pittsburgh Bureau of Police , Steubenville Police Department, New Jersey State Police , Los Angeles Police Department , District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department , Highland Park, Illinois Police Department, Cincinnati Police Department , Columbus Police Department , Buffalo Police Department, Mount Prospect, Illinois Police Department, Seattle Police Department, and
20907-647: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of
21114-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under
21321-416: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with
21528-561: The United States developed its first formal police department , located in Boston . This was followed by New York City (1845), San Francisco (1849), Chicago (1851), New Orleans (1853), Cincinnati (1853), Philadelphia (1855), Newark, New Jersey (1857), Baltimore (1857). By the 1880s, all major US cities had police departments. As written by Dr. Garry Potter, "Early American police departments shared two primary characteristics: they were notoriously corrupt and flagrantly brutal. This should come as no surprise in that police were under
21735-714: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming
21942-666: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in
22149-593: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in
22356-597: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted
22563-661: The United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power , a status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following
22770-541: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,
22977-624: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has
23184-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in
23391-606: The University of Chicago found that after deputies gained collective bargaining rights in Florida sheriff's offices incidents of violent misconduct increased by around 40%. Researchers at the University of Victoria also found a 40% increase of killing when collective bargaining rights we enacted, with the overwhelming majority of people being killed being non white, the authors of the study described unions as "protection of
23598-506: The abuse of the exemption by police, while a Hawaiian senator stated to journalists: "I suppose that in retrospect the police probably feel somewhat embarrassed about this whole situation." However, the Pacifica Alliance to Stop Slavery and other advocates affirmed their knowledge of police brutality in this area and explained that the fear of retribution is the main deterrent for sex workers who seek to report offending officers. At
23805-400: The activists overpowering the security and taking over the building. The American Indians then barricaded the doors, with furniture from the BIA they had broken apart, and the occupation began on November 2, 1972. This occupation of the BIA had started the week before the presidential election, making a D.C. occupation the center of media attention. Threats of police force were used daily against
24012-422: The appropriateness of using racial profiling and force against people of color has decreased since 9/11. Racial profiling specifically increased for those of South Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim origins. An example of increased use of police use of force has been in the use of tasers . From 2001 to 2007, at least 150 deaths were attributed to tasers and many injuries occurred. People of color have been
24219-559: The author Vine Deloria, Jr , was commonly used by Native Americans who developed a growing sense of pan-Indian identity with other American Indians in the United States in the late 1960s. Some of the events which the movement was involved in throughout the era included the Occupation of Alcatraz , the Trail of Broken Treaties , the Occupation of Wounded Knee , and numerous intermittent protests and occupations. The lasting impression of
24426-688: The belief that Native Americans should have the right to implement their own policies and programs along with the belief that Native Americans should maintain and control their own land and resources. The Red Power movement took a confrontational and civil disobedience approach in an attempt to incite changes in Native American affairs in the United States compared to using negotiations and settlements, which national Native American groups such as National Congress of American Indians had before. Red Power centered around mass action, militant action, and unified action. The phrase " Red Power ", attributed to
24633-440: The building were rumored to have guns and explosives awaiting the invasion of GSA officials. The spokesman of the occupation, Russel Means , spoke on the front stairs of the BIA explaining that the occupation would end when their demands had been met, and no time sooner. The deadline for the Indians to leave was pushed back yet again to November 8. Before this date, Indian lawyers had discovered evidence that would essentially abolish
24840-529: The concerns and fight for the acknowledgement of indigenous rights to the UN. From 1969 to the Longest Walk of 1978 , the Red Power Movement highlighted issues through social protest. Its goals were for the federal government to honor treaty obligations and provide financial "resources, education, housing and healthcare to alleviate poverty." The RPM wanted to gain Indian participation in social institutions; it
25047-457: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in
25254-557: The control of local politicians." The local political ward leader, who was often a tavern owner or gang leader, would appoint the chief of police of a neighborhood. The chief would be expected to follow the orders and expectations of the ward leader, which often included intimidating voters, harassing political opponents, and ensuring that the ward's business interests remained intact. The police officers typically had little qualifications or training as law enforcement officers, and they often took bribes and kickbacks. If conflicts arose, it
25461-515: The control of police deviance was improbable at best. Police officers often still hold significant advantages in legal proceedings and in courts. Records of officer performance and misconduct are sometimes hidden from public view through laws, such as 50-a in New York (repealed in 2020). The law of qualified immunity often shields police officers from prosecution, since it only permits lawsuits against government officials when they have violated
25668-556: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under
25875-469: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington
26082-481: The country. Skillful in attracting attention from the news media, AIM inspired local chapters and writing about American Indian political issues. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was founded in 1961 by young American Indians who were college students or recent college graduates. They were one of the first militant Indian rights organizations following the conservative ways of the NCAI. NIYC were strong opponents of
26289-499: The data available to them. In 2019, 1,004 people were shot and killed by police according to The Washington Post , whereas the Mapping Police Violence project counted 1,098 killed. Statista claimed that in 2020, 1,021 people were killed by police, while the project Mapping Police Violence counted 1,126. From 1980 to 2018, more than 30,000 people have died by police violence in the United States, according to
26496-713: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt
26703-632: The difficulties of dealing with systemic patterns of police misconduct. Beyond police departments and DAs, mechanisms of government oversight have gradually evolved. The Rodney King case triggered the creation of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department , informally known as the Christopher Commission , in 1991. The commission, mandated to investigate the practices of
26910-580: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in
27117-632: The era typically characterized these strikes as " riots ", and they encouraged the police to break the strikes. Consequently, the police broke up strikes through two primary methods: extreme violence and making "public order" arrests at a mass scale. Some state governments authorized privatized police forces to repress strikes, such as the Coal and Iron Police in Pennsylvania . Private detective agencies, such as Pinkerton , often supervised these efforts. Violent confrontations came out of this system, such as
27324-763: The evening news." Throughout a series of court cases, the 4th amendment has been interpreted in differing ways. Terry v. Ohio ruled frisks constitutional if the police officer had "reasonable suspicion". As time progressed, frisks have become more similar to arrests. Stop and frisk used to not involve any handcuffs, weapons, or arrest, now they do. War on drugs has increased the amount of power police officers have. The war on drugs has been seen as responsible for police misconduct towards African-Americans and Latinos. While white people and African-Americans both use and sell drugs at roughly similar rates, African-Americans are over six times as likely to be incarcerated for drug-related charges, according to 2015 data. Specifically,
27531-549: The fact that the black population is smaller than the white population, twice as many black people are killed by police per capita than white people are. A 2019 study showed that people of color face a higher likelihood of being killed by police than white men and women do, that risk peaks in young adulthood, and men of color face a nontrivial lifetime risk of being killed by police. A 2015 study shows that racial biases in police departments are likely to occur in major metropolitan counties with greater levels of financial disparity,
27738-518: The federal agents from the outside perimeter they had formed. From these shootouts, two Indians were killed and one federal agent was permanently paralyzed. The death of the second Indian, who was from the Pine Ridge Reservation and an Oglala Sioux, Buddy Lamont, led many Indians to seek an end to the violent occupation. On May 8, 1973 the American Indians surrendered to the surrounding federal agents after 10 weeks. Russell Means, one of
27945-541: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas
28152-434: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,
28359-554: The first publicly funded police force in the South. These patrols focused on enforcing discipline and policing of African-American slaves . They captured and returned fugitive slaves , quashed slave rebellions , terrorized slaves in order to prevent rebellions (including beatings and searches of slave lodges), broke up slave meetings, and kept slaves off roadways. The patrols also administered discipline of indentured servants . The patrols had broad influence and powers; they could forcefully enter any person's house, if they suspected
28566-524: The forced sterilization of Native women and the lack of adequate health services on the reservations. WARN took action by becoming involved in Indian custody battles, protesting mining companies who were poisoning food and water sources, and collecting data on Indian women who had been sterilized without consent. The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) was founded in 1974 in Standing Rock, South Dakota. More than 98 Indigenous tribes were represented by over 5000 people at this first gathering. IITC grew into
28773-698: The inadequacies of police training and/or police academies , and the psychology of possessing police power. The US legal doctrine of qualified immunity has been widely criticized as "[having] become a nearly failsafe tool to let police brutality go unpunished and deny victims their constitutional rights ," as summarized in a 2020 Reuters report. Regarding solutions, activists and advocates have taken different approaches. Those who advocate for police reform offer specific suggestions to combat police brutality, such as body cameras , civilian review boards, improved police training, demilitarization of police forces, and legislation aimed at reducing brutality (such as
28980-441: The insular culture of police departments (including the blue wall of silence ), the aggressive defense of police officers and resistance to change in police unions , the broad legal protections granted to police officers (such as qualified immunity ), the historic racism of police departments, the militarization of the police , the adoption of tactics that escalate tension (such as zero tolerance policing and stop-and-frisk ),
29187-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as
29394-411: The island by May, and a suspicious fire that burned three buildings were further factors that led to the dismantling of the occupation. Protestors continued to depart from the island during the downward spiral. On June 11, 1971 a large number of police officers used force to remove the remaining few protestors. Although the protesters ultimately failed to achieve their specific goals, they helped catalyze
29601-456: The island in a boat with media coverage from all over the Bay Area. Although they did not begin the occupation that night, Oakes jumped off of the circling boat as others followed and swam to Alcatraz. After making it to Alcatraz, the young Indians were removed by Coast Guard that night but would be back in much larger numbers on November 20. We feel that this so-called Alcatraz Island is more than suitable as an Indian Reservation, as determined by
29808-457: The issue of police brutality saw a surge in public response following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Related protests occurred nationwide and internationally beginning in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 26, 2020. In 2016, Tony Timpa was killed in the same way in Dallas. These protests were attended by thousands of people across the United States and had a worldwide impact on the outlook of police brutality. The campaign #SayHerName
30015-409: The land but were denied access after UC Davis was granted access, regardless of UC Davis' legally incomplete application. In retaliation, the youth hopped the fences onto the property leading to the establishment and occupation of D-Q University . D-Q University became the first tribal university that was established in California, and the first that was not affiliated with a single reservation. A deed
30222-436: The legal backing of a Sioux Treaty that named any federal "out of use" land available for Indians. The US federal government had closed the Alcatraz federal prison and the island was no longer in use as of 1962. This treaty was used to send the message that treaties are still relevant and should be honored. The occupation had been planned ahead of time by Adam Nordwall , a successful Indian businessman, and Richard Oakes ,
30429-418: The main people who have been targeted the most with regards to increased taser use. A decision by the House and the Senate in Hawaii was expected in May 2014 after police agreed in March 2014 not to oppose the revision of a law that was implemented in the 1970s, allowing undercover police officers to engage in sexual relations with sex workers during the course of investigations. (A similar program in
30636-539: The militarization of the police, SWAT teams have been used more frequently in drug possession situations. SWAT teams can be armed with weapons like diversionary grenades. In cases where SWAT teams were used, only 35% of the time were drugs found in peoples' homes. African-Americans and Latinos are disproportionately the targets of these raids, and according to the ACLU , "Sending a heavily armed team of officers to perform 'normal' police work can dangerously escalate situations that need never have involved violence." After
30843-427: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw
31050-406: The more recognized leaders of the AIM, negotiated with U.S. forces to release the hostages on the premises that the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold hearings on the Indian treaties that were broken by the U.S. government as well as investigations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its members' attention to the living conditions at Pine Ridge. This event is not only significant because it
31257-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by
31464-478: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as
31671-413: The movement: United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and
31878-414: The occupation that created D-Q University highlighted the importance of higher education for American Indians to the Red Power Movement. In August 1972, the Red Power movement continued under the direction of American Indian Movement(AIM) with the trail of broken treaties . The trail of broken treaties, a play on the " Trail of Tears ," was the migration of seven caravans from areas across the west coast to
32085-723: The officer, stating that the officer had probable cause to believe that the suspect posed a serious threat to the public and to other officers. The Court ruled that Officer Kisela is entitled to immunity. Water protectors have faced police brutality at the hands of militarized law enforcement. Notable cases include the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016 when the Morton County sheriff's department (supplemented by officers from six states) attacked hundreds of water protectors with concussion grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets , and water cannons in sub-freezing temperatures. They subjected water protectors to strip searches after arrest. Energy Transfer Partners (the pipeline company) also employed
32292-539: The period from 1950-1980. This Act was implemented to encourage and provide support for American Indians to find jobs in cities and improve their lives from the poverty-ridden reservations. The government offered vocational training, housing, and financial support for those who chose to relocate. These promised amenities were often not provided or inadequately provided, resulting in American Indians distanced from their cultural lands and economically worse off than before. The Relocation and Termination era described above fueled
32499-545: The person of sheltering fugitive slaves. During the American Civil War , slave patrols remained in place. After the Civil War, in the Reconstruction period , the former slave patrol groups joined with other white militias and groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan . Meanwhile, early police forces of the South began to take on the role of policing and regulating the movement of African-Americans who had gained their freedom. New laws were put in place to restrict their rights, which were known as Black Codes . According to some historians,
32706-477: The police department's oversight body allows officers with "criminal tendencies to operate with impunity," and argues that the Chicago Police Department should not be allowed to police itself. Investigations can be conducted by civilian complaint review board (CCRB), which act as an independent agency that can investigate, conduct hearings, and make recommendations in response to complaints of police brutality. However, only 19% of large municipal police forces have
32913-414: The police misconduct provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was created, which authorized the Attorney General to "file lawsuits seeking court orders to reform police departments engaging in a pattern or practice of violating citizens' federal rights." As of January 31, 2003, the Department of Justice had used this provision to negotiate reforms in twelve jurisdictions across
33120-518: The police officer that made the offense. On the other hand, if an officer does decide to speak out against another police officer, that same police officer may be subjected to harassment and in some cases, be ostracized. The Blue Wall of Silence is ultimately held together by fear of exile, and when the police force is often treated as a "brotherhood", speaking against "brothers" gives a perceived reality of betrayal and infidelity. This perception often steers officers away from breaking The Wall, leading into
33327-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by
33534-493: The population (or a particular subset thereof) as generally deserving of punishment. Portions of the population may perceive the police to be oppressors . In addition, there is a perception that victims of police brutality often belong to relatively powerless groups, such as minorities, the disabled, and the poor. According to a 2015 and 2016 project by The Guardian , more white people are killed by police in raw numbers than black people are, but after adjusting this finding based on
33741-409: The press conferences for releases of documents such as the Alcatraz Proclamation and goals for the island which included building cultural centers, educational facilities, and recreational spaces for Indians to be together as Indians. The Occupation of Alcatraz ended after a series of disorienting events on the island. The January 1970 death of Richard Oakes' 13-year-old stepdaughter due to falling from
33948-562: The previous year. Yet only 30 percent of those filed formal complaints. A 1998 Human Rights Watch report stated that in all 14 precincts it examined, the process of filing a complaint was "unnecessarily difficult and often intimidating." Statistics on the use of physical force by law enforcement are available. For example, an extensive U.S. Department of Justice report on police use of force released in 2001 indicated that in 1999, "approximately 422,000 people 16 years old and older were estimated to have had contact with police in which force or
34155-420: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in
34362-568: The problem of police corruption was only worsened, as crime was growing dramatically in response to the demand for illegal alcohol. Many law enforcement agencies stepped up the use of unlawful practices. Police officers were commonly bribed so that bootlegging and speakeasies could continue, in addition to the flourishing organized crime underworlds of cities such as Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia. Some police officers became employed by organized crime syndicates, and they helped perform duties, such as harassment and intimidation of rivals. By
34569-438: The purpose of advocating Indian civil rights in cities. Its members monitored the practices of law enforcement agencies, and they also attempted to document and prevent acts of police harassment and brutality . AIM soon played a major role in building a network of urban Indian centers, churches, and philanthropic organizations . It helped establish the " powwow circuit ," which publicized news about protest activities across
34776-643: The resistance of American Indians. The oldest recognized National American Indian group was National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), established in 1944. NCAI set a precedent by successfully being the first multi-tribal political organization run entirely by Indians. NCAI fought against voting discrimination, against the termination of government to government relationship between the US and native tribes, and against US interference in tribal counsels. They aimed to close gaps between Indians who lived on reservations and those who had relocated to cities, elderly and Indian Youth, and different tribes from one another. NCAI
34983-428: The right to discovery. The Proclamation went on to describe the deserted prison island as comparable to the conditions of the Indian Reservations. IAT was also joined by National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) during the Alcatraz movement and the growing group of young, educated, and passionate American Indians made their presence known in the media. Richard Oakes became the public figure for the occupation and participated in
35190-447: The right to discriminate". A systemic pattern of "serious violations of the U.S. Constitution and federal law," was found by a Justice Department investigation of Baltimore's police department. A Minneapolis councilperson described the Minneapolis Police Union as a "protection racket". Police departments in the United States typically follow an unofficial cultural code, known as the "blue wall of silence". This can also be referred to as
35397-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to
35604-437: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in
35811-464: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of
36018-407: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for
36225-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has
36432-451: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system
36639-462: The termination of federal tribe recognition. This act restored the recognition and government to government status to tribes, giving them control to govern their own tribes and reservations with funding provided by the government if they followed certain guidelines. Since the termination of Indian tribe recognition was a major catalyst to start the movement, regaining recognition was considered a huge success for RPM. The following laws were passed during
36846-434: The threat of force was used." Research shows that measures of the presence of black and Hispanic people and majority/minority income inequality are related positively to average annual civil rights criminal complaints. Police brutality can be associated with racial profiling . Differences in race , religion , politics , or socioeconomic status often exist between police and the citizenry. Some police officers may view
37053-418: The three officers involved in the shooting, concluding that their "use of force… was justified, in keeping with Wisconsin Law, in keeping with the Kenosha Police Department's use of force training and policy, and widely accepted law enforcement use of force standards." In May 2010, police responded to a call of a woman, Amy Hughes, erratically hacking a tree with a large kitchen knife. Hughes began advancing on
37260-477: The time of the Hoover administration (1929–1933), the issue had risen to national concern and a National Committee on Law Observation and Enforcement (popularly known as the Wickersham Commission ) was formed to look into the situation. The resulting "Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement" (1931) concluded that "[t]he third degree —that is, the use of physical brutality, or other forms of cruelty, to obtain involuntary confessions or admissions—is widespread." In
37467-450: The town had visitor trade posts dedicated to the grave sites of the Indians that many Indians thought were disrespectful and used for commercial purposes. The owners of the trade posts would sell native Indian crafts for more than they had bought them and had a history of racism towards the local Indians. The occupiers attacked the trade posts first to accumulate the ammunitions and weaponry that were held there. The occupation formed to deliver
37674-444: The transition from slave patrols to police forces in the South was a seamless one. In 1823, the Texas Rangers was established by Stephen F. Austin . The Rangers used violence, harassment, and intimidation to protect the interests of white colonists. They worked in an area that was governed by Mexico , which later became the Republic of Texas , followed by the state of Texas . The Rangers were known to be particularly active across
37881-403: The two AIM leaders mostly in charge of Wounded Knee II, were arrested immediately after the hostages were released. However, on September 16, 1973, the charges were dropped and they were dismissed on the account that the U.S. government had unlawfully influenced witnesses and tampered with evidence. The violence of these types of protests then continued through the rest of the 1970s. The following
38088-563: The use of detention as a first resort; excessive and unnecessary use of force in the enforcement of COVID-19 lockdowns; and the imposition of mandatory quarantines in inhumane conditions. On 22 June 2020, the University of Chicago reported that the police departments in the 20 largest American cities were failing to meet even the most basic international human rights standards governing the use of lethal force. The study revealed that America's biggest police forces lack legality, as they are not answerable to human rights compliant laws authorizing
38295-509: The use of lethal force. Numerous doctrines, such as federalism , separation of powers , causation, deference, discretion, and burden of proof have been cited as partial explanations for the judiciaries' fragmented pursuit of police misconduct. However, there is also evidence that courts cannot or choose not to see systemic patterns in police brutality. Other factors that have been cited as encouraging police brutality include institutionalized systems of police training, management, and culture;
38502-568: The use of stop and frisk tactics by police have targeted African-Americans and Latinos. In looking at data from New York in the early 2000s up to 2014, people who had committed no offense made up 82% to 90% of those who were stopped and frisked. Of those people stopped, only 9% to 12% were white. People who were stopped felt that they had experienced psychological violence, and the police sometimes used insults against them. Stop and frisk tactics caused people to experience anxiety about leaving their homes, due to fears of police harassment and abuse. With
38709-436: The white man's own standards. By this we mean that this place resembles most Indian reservations, in that: 1. It is isolated from modern facilities, and without adequate means of transportation. 2. It has no fresh running water. 3. The sanitation facilities are inadequate. 4. There are no oil or mineral rights. 5. There is no industry and so unemployment is very great. 6. There are no health care facilities. 7. The soil
38916-406: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are
39123-449: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with
39330-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing
39537-423: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as
39744-492: The world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated . An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". Police brutality in the United States Police brutality is the use of excessive or unwarranted force by law enforcement against civilians. Police brutality involves physical or psychological harm to
39951-551: The years following the report, landmark legal judgments such as Brown v. Mississippi helped cement a legal obligation to respect the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . The result was the beginning of a new era in law enforcement in the United States, which aimed to professionalize and reform the industry. It was decided that police should function separately from political wards or leaders, and police precincts were altered to no longer overlap with political wards. Police departments became more bureaucratic with
40158-458: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of
40365-703: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established
40572-410: Was common for police officers to use force and brutality. In the 19th century, police brutality was often directed at European immigrant communities, particularly those from Ireland , Italy , Germany , and Eastern Europe . The different cultures of these communities were often framed as "dangerous", which called for the enforcement of law and order. For example, Irish immigrants were considered
40779-458: Was created in December 2014 by Kimberlé Crenshaw . This movement was brought about to raise awareness for the victims of police brutality that were black women. The #SayHerName movement is a social movement inside the Black Lives Matter movement. As Crenshaw told NPR, "Say Her Name is trying to raise awareness by insisting that we say their names because if we can say their names we can know more about their stories." The name of Breonna Taylor
40986-404: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in
41193-441: Was granted to the student occupation in April 1971. Since then, D-Q University became part of the Tribal Colleges and Universities and received accreditation in 1977. The curriculum of D-Q University included cultural and traditional focused education in order to educate Indians about Indians. The university struggled to keep enrollment rates up and secure funding, which resulted in the ultimate loss of accreditation in 2005. However,
41400-454: Was instrumental in supporting the founding of Indian colleges, as well as the creation of Indian studies programs at existing institutions, and the establishment of museums and cultural centers to celebrate Indian contributions. The 1960s marked the beginning of a " Native American Renaissance " in literature. New books such as Vine Deloria, Jr. 's Custer Died for Your Sins (1969) and the classic Black Elk Speaks (1961), reprinted from
41607-431: Was later determined that Kenosha police officers were responding to a domestic violence call concerning Blake made by his girlfriend, and at the time of the shooting, "Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest despite multiple Taser shots" and commands by police to drop the weapon. In a report published on January 5, 2021, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley declined to issue criminal charges against
41814-510: Was one of the first violent acts initiated first by the Natives, but it also led to generations of Indians getting involved in civil rights and tribal affairs. The Nixon administration had earlier declared that it had wanted to end the "revolutionary Indian element", but because so many Natives took notice and began to make changes in the local governments controlling their reservations, the administration failed to end their protests and stopped trying to interfere. Russell Means and Dennis Banks ,
42021-537: Was organized in Minneapolis, Minnesota , in response to widespread police brutality used against urban Native Americans . Founded by Dennis Banks , Clyde Bellecourt , Vernon Bellecourt , and Russell Means , the movement grew while 75 percent of Native Americans had moved to urban areas, becoming Urban Indians as a result of federal Indian Termination Act and other policies. A.I.M. was later accepted by traditional Elders living at Native American reservations. The Civil Rights Movement and A.I.M. were also targeted by
42228-531: Was part of the Say Her Name movement. Taylor was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky in March 2020. Police officers forced entry into her apartment, and Taylor was shot six times after her boyfriend Kenneth Walker shot officer Jonathan Mattingly. Breonna Taylor's death lead to worldwide protests and outrage. In the United States, investigation of cases of police brutality has often been left to internal police commissions and/or district attorneys (DAs). Internal police commissions have often been criticized for
42435-416: Was particularly volatile because the brutality had been videotaped by a civilian and widely broadcast afterward. When the four law enforcement officers charged with assault and other violations were acquitted, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots broke out. During the Vietnam War , anti-war demonstrations were sometimes quelled through the use of billy clubs and tear gas . One notorious assault took place during
42642-427: Was sponsored by Hawaii's senator Daniel Inouye and authorized by the US Congress in 1989. The NMAI opened on the Mall in Washington, DC in 2004. It also has a branch at the former US Customs House, on the Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan . Many laws were passed in response to the Red Power movement, one of the most notable being the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, which reversed
42849-407: Was the main political organization that preceded the Red Power Movement. At the forefront of the Red Power Movement was American Indian Movement (AIM), which was founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota . Its members belonged to and mainly represented urban Indian communities, and its leaders were young and militant. Like the Black Panthers and the Brown Berets , AIM was initially organized for
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