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In Mississippi, the police chief of Senatobia was fired Tuesday, days after news reports revealed he routinely used racist language against Black people in his text messages. In one text message, Chief Harold Vanderford said he was having a “racist moment.” In another text, he wrote that he almost “beat a man,” using a racist slur to describe a Black person. Vanderford had submitted his resignation, but the city’s Board of Aldermen voted to reject it and moved to terminate him instead. Vanderford’s police department came under increased scrutiny after a Senatobia police officer fatally shot 1-year-old Black toddler Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot while responding to an alleged shoplifting call in June.
Special guests Angela Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and more came together to celebrate 30 years of Democracy Now! at a sold out Riverside Church event in NYC on March 23, 2026.

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