the Web Editors

There has so far been no official accounting of what happened to Smith the morning of Nov. 1 on the second-floor landing of the Marbury Plaza Apartments in Southeast D.C. The Medical Examiner’s report tells part of the story, but there is still so much more unknown.

"I'm no longer stating that my son was beaten to death. My son was tortured to death. There are more injuries in the coroner’s report than I could visibly see with my eyes. There were injuries on my son’s back. He was hemorrhaging — the back. The back of his head was busted,” said mother Beverly Smith.

Prosecutors noted a tendency to target women whose credibility would be questioned by both law enforcement and society in general. During the trial, defense attorneys tried to challenge the victims’ credibility by emphasizing their criminal records to the jury and asking about their past drug use. Holtzclaw’s family also accused the victims of fabricating their stories.

An alarming wave of Islamophobia is sweeping our nation, and we are troubled by the participation of Christians. Our diverse gifts and perspectives as a community of faith and learning lead us to a common commitment to work for justice, inclusion, and equality. We repudiate the hostility and hatred aimed at Muslims in and beyond our own communities. 

We pledge to challenge Islamophobia whenever and wherever it occurs, including on our own campuses — to foster relationships with Muslims based on friendship and not fear, and to serve the common good by maintaining a firm commitment to racial and religious diversity. 

ADD YOUR NAME HERE. 

Cook County state’s attorney Anita Alvarez announced Dec. 7 that there will be no charges in the death of Ronald Johnson.

Ronald Johnson was shot and killed by Officer George Hernandez. According to Alvarez, Johnson resisted arrest and refused to drop a gun he was holding. Dashcam video of the shooting was also released. Officers had purported it shows Johnson holding a gun, but the images — dark and blurry — are inconclusive.

There is no sound on the video.

Alvarez had said she would make her decision based on "whether there was enough evidence to bring charges against the officer," reports the Chicago-Sun Times, and concluded there was not. 

Johnson’s mother has sued the city and Officer Hernandez, claiming that her son was not carrying a gun.

Read more here.

French authorities announced Dec. 2 that they shut down three radicalized mosques.

After the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, the government proclaimed a state of emergency, which grants it wide latitude to conduct searches, make arrests, and ban public gatherings.

San Bernardino Fire Department reports that local emergency units are responding to reports of a 20 victim shooting incident in south San Bernardino, Calif. The status of the victims is unclear.

The San Bernardino Police Department reports the shooter is still active, and that they have identified 1-3 suspects.

Anyone who’s ever read Pope Francis’ writings knows his flair for lyricism. Take the following passage from his “Laudato Si’”:

“Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a different plane. Water, oil, fire, and colors are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise.”

This week, the Internet decided to help the Holy Father with his lyrics, just in case he ever decides to drop a rap album (and honestly, who knows with Pope Francis? He’s full of surprises. He did release a prog-rock album recently — truly.)

The inspiration for the Internet’s collective creativity was the below picture, in which Pope Francis looks like he’s about to spit holy fire.

Rosa Parks held no elected office. She was not born into wealth or power. Yet sixty years ago today, Rosa Parks changed America. Refusing to give up a seat on a segregated bus was the simplest of gestures, but her grace, dignity, and refusal to tolerate injustice helped spark a Civil Rights Movement that spread across America. Just a few days after Rosa Parks’ arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, a little-known, 26 year-old pastor named Martin Luther King Jr. stood by her side, along with thousands of her fellow citizens. Together, they began a boycott. Three-hundred and eighty-five days later, the Montgomery buses were desegregated, and the entire foundation of Jim Crow began to crumble.

Thanksgiving and football—a hallowed American tradition. But according to Concussion, a new documentary by Sony Pictures, potatoes aren’t the only thing getting mashed this holiday.

Concussion chronicles the battle between Dr. Bennet Omalu, a scientist working to expose the dangers of concussion, and the NFL’s powerful attempts to discredit Omalu’s research. When it comes to silencing its critics, wrote Danny Duncan Collum in “America’s Blood Sport” (Sojourners, December 2015), “the NFL may have even more power than Big Tobacco.”