Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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Keller, 38, is facing three counts: obstructing law enforcement, knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. -
At least a dozen people died and more than 80 people fell ill after untreated water from the Flint River caused lead to leach from old pipes, poisoning the water system city residents relied on.
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The number represents an uptick in National Guard troops that will be deployed to the area, but it could still fluctuate. -
A Minnesota judge cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as reason to have Derek Chauvin's trial start on March 8, while the other officers involved in Floyd's death will have their trial in August. -
Twitter has suspended more than 70,000 accounts spreading the QAnon conspiracy theory since Friday. Facebook is removing content with the phrase "stop the steal." -
Roy Austin Jr. will fill the new position, which was created by Facebook after a scathing audit released in July 2020 concluded the company's policies had caused "serious setbacks for civil rights." -
Pittman is the first woman and the first African American to lead the law enforcement agency, U.S. Capitol Police confirm to NPR. She has served with the force since April 2001. -
Brian Sicknick was a 42-year-old military veteran who had served in the U.S. Capitol Police for 12 years, according to a lawmaker, who said he "gave his life in the line of duty to keep us safe." -
Police yielded to the almost entirely white mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists as they stormed the Capitol. Protesters for racial justice see a contrast with how their demonstrations were policed. -
Detective Joshua Jaynes, who secured the search warrant for Taylor's apartment, and Detective Myles Cosgrove, who federal investigators said fired the shot that killed her, have been terminated.
