title: Dog fighting

text: In 1817, the bull and terrier crossbreeds were brought to America and dog fighting slowly became part of American culture. Yet, though historical accounts of dog fighting in America can be dated back to the 1750s, it was not until the end of the Civil War (1861–1865) that widespread interest and participation in the blood sport began in the United States. For instance, in 1881, the Mississippi and Ohio railroads advertised special fares to a dog fight in Louisville; public forums such as Kit Burns' Tavern, "The Sportman's Hall," in Manhattan regularly hosted matches. Many of these dogs thrown into the "professional pits" that flourished during the 1860s came from England and Ireland — where citizens had turned to dogs when bull-baiting and bear-baiting became illegal in their countries.


title: Dog fighting

text: In 20th century America, despite the expansion of laws to outlaw dog fighting, dog fighting continued to flourish underground. Aiding in the expansion of dog fighting were the police and firemen, who saw dog fighting as a form of entertainment amongst their ranks. In fact, the Police Gazette served as a go-to source for information about where one could attend a fight. When Henry Bergh, who started the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), witnessed police involvement in these fights, he was motivated to seek and receive authority for the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents to have arresting power in New York. Additionally, Bergh's 1867 revision to New York's animal cruelty law made all forms of animal fighting illegal. However, According to the ASPCA website, the Humane Law Enforcement department of ASPCA has been disbanded and NYPD has taken over its duty. As laws were passed to outlaw the activity, high-profile organizations, such as the United Kennel Club, who once endorsed the sport by formulating rules and sanctioning referees, withdrew their endorsement.


title: Dog fighting

text: On July 8, 2009, the ASPCA also participated in one of the largest federal dog fighting raids in U.S. history. Most of the dogs rescued were pit bulls (over 400 of them). This raid took place in eight states and had 26 arrests, of which two defendants are required to spend at least 10 years in prison.


title: Dog fighting

text: According to one scholar, Richard Strebel, the foundation for modern fighting dogs came from five dog types: the Tibetan Mastiff, the English Mastiff (out of which came the Dogue de Bordeaux, the Bulldog, and the Pug), the Great Dane (out of which came the Broholmer and the Boxer), the Newfoundland, and the Saint Bernard (out of which came the Leonberger). However, Dieter Fleig disagreed with Strebel and offered the following list as composing the foundation of modern fighting dogs: the Tibetan Mastiff, the Molossus, the Bullenbeisser, the Great Dane, the English Mastiff, the Bulldog, the bull and terrier, and the Chincha Bulldog. Other early dog types used for fighting included the Blue Paul Terrier, the Cordoba Fighting Dog, and the Dogo cubano.


title: Dog fighting

text: The foundation breed of the fighting dog was, in its outward appearance, a large, low, heavy breed with a powerful build, strongly developed head, and tremendously threatening voice. Additionally, these foundation breeds were also bred for a powerful jaw that would enable them to defend and protect humans, to overpower and pull down large animals on a hunt, and to control large, unmanageable domestic animals. These dogs were also sometimes equipped with metal plates, chains, and collars with sharp spikes or hooked knives in order to be used in wars throughout history.


title: Dog fighting

text: When bull-baiting became popular in England due to the shortage of bears, bull-baiters soon realized that large fighting dogs were built too heavy and too slow for this type of combat. When fighting a bull, dogs were trained to grab onto the bull's nose and pin the bull's head to the ground. If the dog failed to do this, the bull would fling the dog out of the ring with its horns. The British therefore decided to selectively breed fighting dogs for shorter legs and a more powerful jaw. These efforts resulted in the Old English Bulldog.


title: Dog fighting

text: However, when countries started outlawing bull- and bear-baiting, dog fighters started pitting dogs against other dogs. With the prevalence of such combat, dog fighters soon realized Bulldogs were inadequate and began to breed Bulldogs with terriers for more desired characteristics. Terriers were most likely crossbred with Bulldogs due to their "generally rugged body structure", speed, aggression, and "highly developed gameness". Yet, there is a debate over which type of terrier was bred with Bulldogs in order to create the bull and terrier. For instance, Joseph L. Colby claimed that it was the old English White Terrier that the bull and terrier is descended from, while Rhonda D. Evans and Craig J. Forsyth contend that its ancestor is the Rat Terrier. Carl Semencic, on the other hand, held that a variety of terriers produced the bull and terrier.


title: Dog fighting

text: Eventually, out of crossbreeding Bulldogs and terriers, the English created the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. When the Staffordshire Bull Terrier came to America in 1817, Americans began to selectively breed for gameness and created the American Pit Bull Terrier (originally known as the Pit Bull Terrier), which is a unique breed due to its absence of threat displays when fighting. Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, and American Staffordshire Terriers, are all breeds that are commonly labeled as "pit bulls". The fact that pit bulls were historically bred to fight dogs, bulls, and bears has been used as justifications in some US cities to implement breed-specific legislation. Other breeds in which dogs at various stages of the breed history have sometimes been used as fighters include the Akita Inu, the Boston terrier, the Bully Kutta, the Ca de Bou, the Dogo Argentino, the Gull Dong, the Gull Terrier, the Neapolitan Mastiff, the Presa Canario, the Spanish Mastiff, and the Tosa.


title: Dog fighting

text: After interviewing 31 dogmen and attending 14 dog fights in the Southern United States, Evans, Gauthier, and Forsyth theorized on what attracts men to dog fights. In their study, Evans, et al., discussed dog fighting's attractiveness in terms of masculinity and class immobility. In the United States, masculinity embodies the qualities of strength, aggression, competition, and striving for success. By embodying these characteristics, a man can gain honor and status in his society. Yet, working class occupations, unlike middle or upper class occupations, provide limited opportunities to validate this culturally accepted definition of masculinity. So, working class men look for alternative ways to validate their masculinity and obtain honor and status. One way to do this is through dog fighting. This is supported by the Evans, et al. findings: the majority of committed dogmen were mostly drawn from the working class, while the middle and upper classes were barely represented. Men from middle and upper classes have opportunities to express their masculinity through their occupations; dog fighting, therefore, is just a hobby for them while it plays a central role in the lives of working class men. Those from the higher classes are drawn in by the thrill and excitement of the fight.


title: Dog fighting

text: Aside from enjoyment of the sport and status, people are also drawn to dog fighting for money. In fact, the average dog fight could easily net more money than an armed robbery or a series of isolated drug transactions.


title: Dog fighting

text: "Bait" animals are animals used to test a dog's fighting instinct; they are often mauled or killed in the process. Many of the training methods involve torturing and killing of other animals. Often "bait" animals are stolen pets such as puppies, kittens, rabbits, small dogs and even stock (pit bulls acquired by the dog fighting ring which appear to be passive or less dominant). Other sources for bait animals include wild or feral animals, animals obtained from a shelter or animals obtained from "free to good home" ads. The snouts of bait animals are often wrapped with duct tape to prevent them from fighting back and they are used in training sessions to improve a dog's endurance, strength or fighting ability. A bait animal's teeth may also be broken to prevent them from fighting back. If the bait animals are still alive after the training sessions, they are usually given to the dogs as a reward and the dogs finish killing them.


title: Dog fighting

text: Often associated with gang activity, street fighters fight dogs over insults, turf invasions, or simple taunts like "my dog can kill your dog". These type of fights are often spontaneous; unorganized; conducted for money, drugs, or bragging rights; and occur on street corners, back alleys, and neighborhood playgrounds. Urban street fighters generally have several dogs chained in backyards, often behind privacy fences, or in basements or garages. After a street fight, the dogs are often discovered by police and animal control officers either dead or dying. Due to the spontaneity and secrecy of a street fight, they are very difficult to respond to unless reported immediately.


title: Dog fighting

text: Hobbyists and professionals often decry the techniques that street fighters use to train their dogs. Such techniques include starving, drugging, and physically abusing the dog.


title: Dog fighting

text: Hobbyists fight dogs for supplemental income and entertainment purposes. They typically have one or more dogs participating in several organized fights and operate primarily within a specific geographic network. Hobbyists are also acquainted with one another and tend to return to predetermined fight venues repeatedly.


title: Dog fighting

text: Professional fighters breed generations of skilled "game dogs" and take great pride in their dogs' lineage. These fighters make a tremendous amount of money charging stud fees to breed their champions, in addition to the fees and winnings they collect for fighting them. They also tend to own a large number of dogs — sometimes 50 or more. Professionals also use trade journals, such as "Your Friend and Mine", "Game Dog Times", "The American Warrior", and "The Pit Bull Chronicle", to discuss recent fights and to advertise the sale of training equipment and puppies. Some fighters operate on a national or even international level within highly secret networks. When a dog is not successful in a fight, a professional may dispose of it using a variety of techniques such as drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method. Sometimes professionals and hobbyists dispose of dogs deemed aggressive to humans to street fighters.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While dog fighting statutes exist independently of general anti-cruelty statutes and carry stiffer penalties than general state anti-cruelty statutes, a person can be charged under both or can be charged under one, but not the other — depending on the evidence. In addition to felony charges for dog fighting, 48 states and the District of Columbia have provisions within their dog fighting statutes that explicitly prohibit attendance as a spectator at a dog fighting exhibition. Since Montana and Hawaii do not have such provisions, a person can pay an entrance fee to watch a dog fight in either state and not be convicted under these statutes. Additionally, 46 states and the District of Columbia make possessing, owning or keeping a fighting dog a felony.


title: Dog fighting

text: While dog fighting was previously seen as isolated animal welfare issues — and therefore rarely enforced, the last decade has produced a growing body of legal and empirical evidence that has revealed a connection between dog fighting and other crimes within a community, such as organized crime, racketeering, drug distribution, and/or gangs. Within the gang community, fighting dogs compete with firearms as the weapon of choice; indeed, their versatile utility arguably surpasses that of a loaded firearm in the criminal underground. Drug dealers distribute their illicit merchandise, wagers are made, weapons are concealed, and the dogs mutilate each other in a bloody frenzy as crowds cheer them on. Violence often erupts among the usually armed gamblers when debts are to be collected and paid. There is also a concern for children who are routinely exposed to dog fighting and are forced to accept the inherent violence as normal. The routine exposure of the children to unfettered animal abuse and neglect is a major contributing factor in their later manifestation of social deviance.


title: Dog fighting

text: Animal advocates consider dog fighting to be one of the most serious forms of animal abuse, not only for the violence that the dogs endure during and after the fights, but because of the suffering they often endure in training, which ultimately can lead to death.


title: Dog fighting

text: According to a filing in U.S. District Court in Richmond by federal investigators in Virginia, which was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and published by "The Baltimore Sun" on July 6, 2007, a losing dog or one whose potential is considered unacceptable faces "being put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method".


title: Dog fighting

text: Some of the training of fighting dogs may entail the use of small animals (including kittens) as prey for the dogs.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting has been popular in many countries throughout history and continues to be practiced both legally and illegally around the world. In the 20th and 21st centuries, dog fighting has increasingly become an unlawful activity in most jurisdictions of the world, despite the fact that in cultural practice it may be common.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is illegal throughout the entire European Union and most of South America. The American Pit Bull Terrier is by far the most common breed involved in the blood sport. The Dogo Cubano and Cordoba Fighting Dog were used for fighting a century ago, but both of these breeds have become extinct.


title: Dog fighting

text: Previously banned by the Taliban during their rule, dog fighting has made a resurgence throughout Afghanistan as a common winter weekend pastime,


title: Dog fighting

text: especially in Kabul, where the fights are public and often policed to maintain safety to the spectators. Dogs are not fought to the death, but to submission. Top dogs are worth as much as a new car.


title: Dog fighting

text: Article 3.8 of Law 14.346 on the Ill-Treatment and Acts of Cruelty to Animals of 1954 explicitly prohibits 'carrying out public or private acts of animal fights, fights of bulls and heifers, or parodies [thereof], in which animals are killed, wounded or harassed.'


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting and the possession of any fighting equipment designed for dog fighting is illegal in all Australian states and territories. The illegal nature of dog fighting in Australia means that injured dogs rarely get veterinary treatment, placing the dog's health and welfare at even greater risk. "Restricted Breed Dogs" cannot be imported into Australia. These include the Dogo Argentino, the Tosa, the Fila Brasileiro, the Perro de Presa Canario and the American Pit Bull Terrier. Of these, the American Pit Bull Terrier and the Perro de Presa Canario are the only breeds currently known to exist in Australia and there are strict regulations on keeping these breeds, including a prohibition on transferring ownership.


title: Dog fighting

text: In Brazil, Federal Decree 24.645 promulgated in 1934 by president Getúlio Vargas specifically prohibited 'to cause an animal to fight with another'. Additionally, article 32 of the Federal Environmental Crimes Law (9.605 of 12 February 1998) prohibits abuse and cruelty against animals under the penalty of imprisonment from three months to one year, and a fine.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting has been illegal in Canada since 1892; however, the current law requires police to catch individuals during the unlawful act, which is often difficult.


title: Dog fighting

text: In Costa Rica, dog fights were illegal for decades as a misdemeanor; since 2014 and after a legal reform, they became a felony and are punished with up to three years of imprisonment.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is extremely common, and it can be found in some parts of Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern India. The practice is illegal as defined by Indian law. Dog fighting rings are becoming increasingly popular and have grown into a pastime for India's rich.


title: Dog fighting

text: According to historical documents, Hōjō Takatoki, the 14th shikken ("shōgun"s regent) of the Kamakura shogunate was known to be obsessed with dog fighting, to the point where he allowed his samurai to pay taxes with dogs. During this period, dog fighting was known as .


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting was considered a way for the samurai to retain their aggressive edge during peaceful times. Several "daimyōs" (feudal lords), such as Chōsokabe Motochika and Yamauchi Yōdō, both from Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), were known to encourage dog fighting. Dog fighting was also popular in Akita Prefecture, which is the origin of the Akita breed.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting evolved in Kōchi to a form that is called . Under modern rules, dogs fight in a fenced ring until one of the dogs barks, yelps, or loses the will to fight. Owners are allowed to admit defeat, and matches are stopped if a doctor judges that it is too dangerous. Draws usually occur when both dogs will not fight or both dogs fight until the time limit. There are various other rules, including one that specifies that a dog will lose if it attempts to copulate. Champion dogs are called yokozuna, as in sumo. Dog fighting is not banned at a nationwide level, but the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama and Hokkaidō all ban the practice. Currently, most fighting dogs in Japan are of the Tosa breed, which is native to Kōchi.


title: Dog fighting

text: In 2019, an investigation by Hidden-in-Sight for the League Against Cruel Sports and the BBC highlighted a global trade in fighting dogs centered in Bulgaria.


title: Dog fighting

text: Subsequently, in April, a raid took place where 58 people were arrested at the site of two fighting pits.


title: Dog fighting

text: In October 2018, Vice.Gr released an exposé into dog fighting in Greece and the Balkans. This covered how dog fighting is linked to serious organised group in the country. The piece was advised by Hidden-in-Sight.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting has been illegal in Ireland for over 150 years, although the sport is still popular in underground circles.


title: Dog fighting

text: Article 62 §h of decree no. 5-2017 – Animal Protection and Welfare Act of Guatemala, enacted in April 2017, explicitly prohibits the promotion of, participation in and organisation of shows that include fighting between dogs.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting had previously been popular for decades amongst the poorest people of Honduras. The most common dog of choice for trainers was the American Pit Bull Terrier. Matches were held in the shanty towns of Tegucigalpa, with fights taking place in a simple sand pit surrounded by bleachers, often with only a few dozen spectators. Dog Fighting was more of a spectating pastime for those living in poverty than a form of gambling for locals. Dog Fighting On The Rise Among Poor Of Honduras | The Seattle Times


title: Dog fighting

text: On November 12, 2015, the Honduran National Congress approved the Animal Welfare Act which banned the use and ownership of fighting dogs. Anyone found subjecting a dog to, assisting in the management or organization of any form of dog fight training, matches or breeding programs can be imprisoned for 3–6 years.Honduras Bans Use Of Animals In Circuses And Dog Fighting


title: Dog fighting

text: Some breeds of dog previously imported from France on the black market are now illegal. However, dogfighting as an activity has not been specifically banned.


title: Dog fighting

text: In accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 1999, dog fighting is illegal within New Zealand. Breeding, training or owning dogs for fighting is also illegal.


title: Dog fighting

text: Even though it has recently been banned by law, it is still being practiced in rural Pakistan, especially in provinces such as Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. Now Karachi.Sindhi is the most popular city about pit bull fighting with the proper rules. There can apparently be as much as millions of rupees at stake for the owners of winning dogs, so different breeds have carefully been bred and selected specifically for the purpose, such as the Bully Kutta.


title: Dog fighting

text: Law 308 on the Protection of Animals was approved by the National Assembly of Panama on 15 March 2012. Article 7 of the law states: 'Dog fights, animal races, bullfights – whether of the Spanish or Portuguese style – the breeding, entry, permanence and operation in the national territory of all kinds of circus or circus show that uses trained animals of any species, are prohibited.' Horse racing and cockfighting were exempt from the ban.


title: Dog fighting

text: Organising fights between all animals, both in public and private, is prohibited in Paraguay under Law No. 4840 on Animal Protection and Welfare, promulgated on 28 January 2013. Specifically:


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is illegal in the Philippines, with those involved being convicted under animal cruelty laws.


title: Dog fighting

text: Although animal cruelty laws exist in Russia, dog fighting is widely practiced. Laws prohibiting dog fights have been passed in certain places like Moscow by order of that city's mayor. In much of Russia, dog fights are legally held, generally using Caucasian Shepherd Dogs, Georgian shepherds and Central Asian Shepherd Dogs. Temperament tests, which are a common and relatively mild form of dog fighting used for breeding purposes, are fairly commonplace. Most dog fights are traditional contests used to test the stamina and ability of working dogs used to protect livestock. Unlike fights with pit bulls and other fighting breeds, a veterinarian is always on hand, the contests are never to the death, and serious injuries are very rare. Most fights are over in minutes when it is clear which dog is superior. At the end of three rounds, the contest is declared a draw.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting has been declared illegal in the Republic of South Africa. However, it is still very popular in the underground world, with dog fighting being a highly syndicated and organized crime. The NSPCA (National Council of SPCAs) is the largest animal welfare organization in Africa, and has been the organization that has conducted the most raids and busts, of which the most recent was in 2013, where 18 people were arrested, and 14 dogs were involved. Dog fighting is practiced throughout the country, in the townships area where gangs and drugs are mostly associated with dog fighting.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting has been well documented in South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape region of Stellenbosch. The Stellenbosch Animal Welfare Society (AWS) frequently responds to complaints of nighttime dog fighting in the town of Cloetesville, in which hundreds of dogs fight. Young children may be used to transport fighting dogs to avoid the arrest of the owners.


title: Dog fighting

text: In November 2013, the NSPCA arrested 18 suspects who were caught in the act of illegal dog fighting in Tsakane in the East Rand. The suspects were arrested and charged for illegal dog fighting. Dog fighting is a criminal and prosecutable offence in South Africa. 14 pit bull-type dogs were confiscated from the property and were used for fighting purposes. Some of the dogs were badly injured as a result of the fighting and had to be humanely euthanised. On 5 February 2018, a guilty verdict was handed down on 17 of the suspects by the presiding Magistrate in the Nigel Regional Court. 10 men were found guilty of being spectators at this dog fight and were sentenced to two years under strict house arrest (Benedict Ngcobo, Gift Nkabinde, Sabelo Mtshali, Thabiso Mahlangu, Bongani Skakane, Lehlohonolo Nomadola, Thulane Dhlosi, Mxolisi Khumalo, Nkosana Masilela, Sipho Masombuka). All the convicted men were found unfit to possess firearms and found unfit to own dogs and, if found to be in possession of a dog, would be liable to 12 months direct imprisonment. Further to the life-changing conditions of house arrest, the 10 spectators were also sentenced to 360 hours of community service and a total of R50 000 to be paid to the NSPCA. During the course of this trial, one of the accused chose to plead guilty and was sentenced to R20 000 or 20 months imprisonment, which was suspended for five years on the condition that he did not re-offend.


title: Dog fighting

text: Five people have been convicted and sentenced to jail for 2½ years each for their involvement in illegal dog fighting and ill-treatment of animals. A sixth person was sentenced to one year in jail for watching a dog fight. Kamogelo Mpiyane, Tshepo Aubrey Sejabatho, Enos Makhamatha, Jabu Phillip Mabena and Samuel Mashilo Mothiba were all sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment - with no option of a fine - and Samuel Ribane was sentenced to 12 months of direct imprisonment for his part of merely watching a dog fight unfold by the Atteridgeville Magistrate's Court. The NSPCA rescued 14 pit bull-type fighting dogs from atrocious conditions in Atteridgeville last year. The six individuals who appeared in the Atteridgeville Court were found guilty for their part in dog fighting and cruelty to animals offenses and were all sentenced to years of direct imprisonment by Magistrate J.C. Kruger for the possession of dogs for the purpose of dog fighting and for the dreadful living conditions they were subjected to.


title: Dog fighting

text: According to Article 10 of the Taiwan Animal Protection Law, any "fights between animals or between animals and people through direct or indirect gambling, entertainment, operation, advertisement and other illegitimate purposes" is prohibited and carries a fine ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$250,000.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is illegal in the United Arab Emirates according to Federal Law No. 16 of 2007 on animal welfare and its amendments in Federal Law No. 18 of 2016. It is considered an 'act of animal cruelty' that is punishable by either imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or a fine of 200,000 United Arab Emirates dirham, or both.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting remains illegal under U.K. law. Despite periodic dog fight prosecutions, however, illegal canine pit battles continued after the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 of England and Wales. The Protection of Animals Act 1911 was specific in outlawing "the fighting or baiting of animals".


title: Dog fighting

text: Sporting journals of the 18th and 19th centuries depict the Black Country and London as the primary English dog fight centers of the period.


title: Dog fighting

text: On 13 February 2019, the BBC News released an exposé on global dog fighting with strong U.K. links. The investigation started in June 2016, run by Hidden-in-Sight for the League Against Cruel Sports and latterly with the BBC. The exposé centred on a dog fighting group out of Bulgaria, who had been shipping fighting dogs around the world to over 20 countries. This exposé was the final piece of the Project BLOODLINE campaign that was set up to raise awareness of this cruel sport, the current weak sentencing options in the U.K. and show how animal crime links closely to existing policing priorities.


title: Dog fighting

text: Dog fighting is a felony in all 50 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In most of the U.S., a spectator at a dog fight can be charged with a felony, while some areas only consider it a misdemeanor offense. In addition, the federal U.S. Animal Welfare Act makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, buy, possess, train, transport, deliver, or receive any dog for purposes of having the dog participate in an animal fighting venture. The act also makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly use the mail service of the United States Postal Service or any instrumentality of interstate commerce for commercial speech for purposes of advertising a dog for use in an animal fighting venture, promoting or in any other manner furthering an animal fighting venture, except as performed outside the limits of the states of the U.S.


title: Dog fighting

text: In the second largest dog fighting raid in U.S. history in August 2013, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama handed down the longest prison term ever handed down in a federal dog fighting case: eight years.


title: Dog fighting

text: According to a Michigan State University College of Law study published in 2005, in the U.S., dog fighting was once completely legal and was sanctioned and promoted during the Colonial period through the Victorian and well into the 20th century. In the second half of the 19th century, dog fighting started to be criminalized in the U.S.


title: Dog fighting

text: There is a US$5,000 reward for reporting dog fighting to the Humane Society of the United States From the HSUS: How to spot signs of dog fighting in your community: an inordinate number of pit bull-type dogs being kept in one location, especially multiple dogs who are chained and seem unsocialized; dogs with scars on their faces, front legs and stifle area (hind end and thighs); dog fighting training equipment, such as "breaking sticks" or "break sticks" used to pry apart the jaws of dogs locked in battle, which are a foot long, flat on one side and appear to be sharpened; tires or "spring poles" (usually a large spring with rope attached to either end) hanging from tree limbs; or unusual foot traffic coming and going from a location at odd hours.


title: Dog fighting

text: CNN in 2007 estimated that in the U.S., more than 100,000 people are engaged in dog fighting on a non-professional basis and roughly 40,000 individuals are involved as professionals in the sport of dog fighting as a commercial activity. Top fights are said to have purses of $100,000 or more.


title: Linda Park

text: Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series "".


title: Linda Park

text: Park was born in South Korea and raised in San Jose, California. She participated in a number of theatrical productions in her teens at Notre Dame High School and Bellarmine College Preparatory.


title: Linda Park

text: In 2000, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boston University. During her college career, she spent a semester in England, studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her college stage credits included "Mad Forest", "Lysistrata", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Richard III", and "The Trojan Women".


title: Linda Park

text: In 2001, Park had a small role in the feature film "Jurassic Park III" (2001) as Ellie Satler's assistant.


title: Linda Park

text: Also in 2001, less than a year after graduation, she was cast in the role of Hoshi Sato in the sixth series of the "Star Trek" franchise, "Star Trek: Enterprise", which premiered in September 2001. Sato is the ship's communications officer, with a natural gift for translating alien languages. Park herself is fluent in English and Korean, and also speaks some French.


title: Linda Park

text: In October 2003, she starred in UA's world premiere of the Mary Fengar Gail’s play "Fuchsia". From October 19 to November 11, 2005, she played Clytemnestra in a New York City production of "Agamemnon". In 2011, she played the role of Anne Deever in a production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" at the Matrix Theater in Los Angeles. She is also the co-founder of the theater company Underground Asylum.


title: Linda Park

text: In 2009, Park became a series regular in the second season of "Crash", playing the role of Maggie Cheon on the Starz Network; she co-starred in thirteen episodes. The show was subsequently cancelled after the death of Dennis Hopper.


title: Linda Park

text: Park married actor Daniel Bess on October 11, 2014. On June 17, 2018, she gave birth to their first child, a son.


title: Linda Park

text: Park is an active student of dance, remarking that "dancing has always been my second love". She has continued to study and practice ballet, among other dance forms.


title: Birce Akalay

text: Akalay, who had her breakthrough with a role in the TV series "Yer Gök Aşk" as Havva, has appeared in various TV series and movies to this date. In 2017, she was cast in the play "Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz", directed by Müjdat Gezen. In 2020, she had a leading role in the play "Keşanlı Ali Destanı" and portrayed the character of "Zilha". At the same time, she continued her career on television with a leading role in Star TV's series "Babil", which premiered in January 2020.


title: Birce Akalay

text: Akalay was born on 19 June 1984 in Istanbul. She started ballet at the age of four and was injured at the age of sixteen. She graduated from theatre department of Pera Fine Arts High School in 2003. She then enrolled in Istanbul University with a major in theatre analysis but left the school at third grade to pursue her dream of becoming a theatre actress. Since she had reached the age of twenty, she lost the chance to win a place in state conservatory but instead won a seat in Haliç University Conservatory for theatre studies and finished her education there. As of 2020, she is a lecturer at Haliç University's theatre department, teaching acting courses. In 2004, she completed in Miss Turkey and finished in the 3rd place. Subsequently, she represented her country in Miss Europe. In 2007, she made her television debut with a supporting role in the TV series "Asi". She had her first cinematic role in the same year with a part in the movie "". She got her first leading role in television with the series "Kader", playing the character of Lamia, and was then cast in the series "Senin Uğruna" in the same year.


title: Birce Akalay

text: After playing supporting roles in "Alayına İsyan" and "Kış Masalı" in 2009, her breakthrough came with her role as Havva in 2010 series "Yer Gök Aşk", which was well received by critics and fans. In 2013, she joined the cast of "Ben Onu Çok Sevdim" , portraying the character of Ayhan. She continued her TV career with roles in "Küçük Ağa" (2014–2015), "Evli ve Öfkeli" (2015–2016), "Hayat Bazen Tatlıdır" (2016–2017) and "Siyah Beyaz Aşk" (2017–2018). After playing a leading role in the TV series "Ağlama Anne" in late 2018, she didn't appear in any productions for 1 year.


title: Birce Akalay

text: In the meantime, she started teaching as a lecturer at Haliç University Theater Department and took part in the music program "Benimle Söyle" as the chief judge. In January 2020, she began portraying İlay in Star TV's series "Babil". Akalay has also continued her career on stage and in 2020 appeared as "Zilha" in the play "Keşanlı Ali Destanı". Her cousin, Barış Murat Yağcı, is also an actor.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: Jalen Armand Reagor (born January 2, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: Reagor was born January 2, 1999, to Ishia Johnson and former NFL defensive end Montae Reagor. He grew up in Waxahachie, Texas and attended Waxahachie High School, where he became a star in both football and track & field for the Indians.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: On the football field, Reagor produced back to back 1,000-yard receiving seasons for Waxahachie head coach and former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and was selected to play in the 2017 Under Armour All-America Game. His track & field career culminated with a gold medal in the long jump at the 2017 Texas High School state meet.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: Reagor enrolled at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas in the summer of 2017 and made his collegiate debut in the Horned Frogs' season opener against Jackson State with two receptions in TCU's 63–0 victory. He scored his first collegiate touchdown two weeks later when he caught a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Kenny Hill on the last play of the first half in a victory over SMU. He scored touchdowns in each of the last four games of the season, which included TCU's first-ever appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game and a win in the 2017 Alamo Bowl over Stanford. For his efforts, he was named Co-Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: Prior to his sophomore season, Reagor switched to jersey number 1 from the 18 he'd worn in 2017. That fall, he became the Frogs' go-to receiver in a season in which they used three different starting quarterbacks, becoming the first TCU receiver to top 1,000 yards since Josh Doctson. He had a streak of 7 straight games with a receiving touchdown, which included a win against Oklahoma State in which he also recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game. After the season, he was named 2nd-team All-Big 12. In his 2019 season, he had 43 catches for 611 yards. Reagor declared for the 2020 NFL Draft after this season, forgoing his final year of eligibility.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: Reagor was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round with the 21st overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, becoming the highest-drafted wide receiver to come from TCU since former All-American Josh Doctson in 2016. On July 20, 2020, Reagor signed a 4-year $13.3 million contract with the team, with a fifth-year team option. Reagor sustained a shoulder injury in training camp but recovered enough to play in Week 1.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: On September 13, 2020, Reagor made his NFL debut against the Washington Football Team, finishing with one reception for 55 yards in the 17–27 loss. He was placed on injured reserve on September 30, 2020, after suffering a ligament tear in his thumb. He was activated on October 31, 2020.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: In Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football", Reagor recorded his first career touchdown reception during the 23–9 win.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: In Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers, Reagor returned a punt for a 73-yard touchdown during the 30–16 loss. This was Reagor's first career punt returned for a touchdown.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: In Week 12 of the 2021 NFL Season, Reagor dropped two passes, including a touchdown, in the final drive against the New York Giants in the 13–7 loss.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: In the Wild Card round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Reagor muffed two punts, losing one, in the Eagles' 31–15 loss.


title: Jalen Reagor

text: On August 31, 2022, Reagor was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a 2023 seventh-round pick as well as a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick. After the trade, Reagor decided he would change his number to 5. He stated on Twitter: "The number 5 symbolizes Spiritual growth, Self confidence, Freedom, Curiosity, and Change. #5 it is, let’s go crazy!"


title: University of Denver

text: The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – very high research activity". DU enrolls approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. The main campus is a designated arboretum and is located primarily in the University Neighborhood, about five miles (8 km) south of downtown Denver. The 720-acre Kennedy Mountain Campus is located approximately 110 miles northwest of Denver, in Larimer County.


title: University of Denver

text: In March 1864, John Evans, former Governor of the Colorado Territory, appointee of President Abraham Lincoln, founded the Colorado Seminary in the newly created (1858) city of Denver, which was then a mining camp. Evans, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Colorado Territory, was partially culpable for the November 1864 Sand Creek massacre (which was carried out by Colonel John Chivington, later a member of the university's original board of directors). The school had originally been planned as the Denver Seminary, but the name was changed before the charter was secured.


title: University of Denver

text: At its founding the seminary was non-sectarian and operated by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It struggled in the early years of its existence. In 1880 it was renamed the University of Denver. The first buildings of the university were located in downtown Denver in the 1860s and 1870s, but concerns that Denver's rough-and-tumble frontier town atmosphere was not conducive to education prompted a relocation to the current campus, built on the donated land of potato farmer Rufus Clark, some seven miles (11 km) south of the downtown core. The university grew and prospered alongside the city's growth, appealing primarily to a regional student body prior to World War II. After the war, the large surge in G.I. Bill students pushed DU's enrollment to over 13,000 students, the largest the university has ever been, and helped to spread the university's reputation to a national audience.


title: University of Denver

text: The heart of the campus has a number of historic buildings. The longest-standing building is University Hall, which has served DU since 1890, and was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The cornerstone to this building is exactly one mile above sea level. Just a few blocks off campus sits the historic Chamberlin Observatory, opened in 1894. Still a fully operational observatory, it is open to the public twice a week as well as one Saturday a month.


title: University of Denver

text: The central campus area also includes Evans Memorial Chapel, an 1870s-vintage small church which was once located in downtown Denver, and was relocated to the DU campus in the early 1960s. Buchtel Tower (1913) is all that remains of the former Buchtel Chapel, which burned in 1983.


title: University of Denver

text: The administrative offices are located in the Mary Reed Building, a former library built in 1932 in the Collegiate Gothic style. Margery Reed Hall (named for the daughter of Mary Reed) was also built in the collegiate gothic style in 1929. Margery Reed Hall houses the Undergraduate Program for the Daniels College of Business; an $8 million overhaul and renovation was completed early 2014. The building was updated to include more classroom space, a larger hall to host guest speakers, as well as mechanical and technical improvements.


title: University of Denver

text: F.W. Olin Hall opened in 1997, housing Biological and Natural Sciences. The 40,000 square foot structure was the first building on campus constructed to meet a new set of design and aesthetic standards emphasizing load-bearing masonry, organic designs, and timeless architectural features. Olin Hall includes a two-story rotunda topped with an elliptical copper dome, a sentinel in the university skyline.


title: University of Denver

text: The Daniels College of Business was completed in September 1999 at the cost of $25 million. The business school has been nationally recognized by organizations such as "Forbes" magazine, "Business Week", and the "Wall Street Journal" where it is ranked second in the nation for producing students with high ethical standards.


title: University of Denver

text: In 2002, the university opened the $70 million Robert and Judi Newman Center for Performing Arts, which houses the acclaimed Lamont School of Music. The center includes the June Swaner Gates Concert Hall, a four-level opera house seating just under 1,000, the Frederic C. Hamilton Family Recital Hall, a 222-seat recital hall with the largest (2,850 pipes) "tracker" organ in the region, and the Elizabeth Ericksen Byron Theatre, a flexible theatre space seating up to 350. The Newman Center serves as home to many professional performing arts groups from the Denver region as well as the university's "Newman Center Presents" multi-disciplinary performing arts series.


title: University of Denver

text: Nelson Hall, opened in 2002, is a LEED residence hall housing sophomores in dorm- and apartment-style suites. Its castle-like design and gold leaf-topped tower anchors the south end of campus.


title: University of Denver

text: In autumn 2003, DU opened a new $63.5 million facility for its College of Law, later named the "Sturm College of Law." Donald and Susan Sturm, owners of Denver-based American National Bank, had given $20 million to the University of Denver College of Law. The gift is the largest single donation in the 112-year history of the law school and among the largest gifts ever to the university. The building includes a three-story library.


title: University of Denver

text: In 2005 the Graduate School of Social Work completed the renovation and significant expansion of its building, renamed Craig Hall. The building features extensive stained glass artwork and a large events space.


title: University of Denver

text: In January 2006, DU opened a new building for the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management (Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management), later named the Joy Burns Center. The building contains classrooms, a large wine cellar, meeting rooms, and an all-purpose dining room that hosts numerous city and university events, weddings, and formal parties. The school helps DU rank near the top of all hotel schools in the United States. The program had its first graduating class in 1946.


title: University of Denver

text: Nagel Hall was completed in the Fall of 2008 to house sophomores and upperclassman, and offers a wide collection of art throughout the building donated by the Nagel family. In 2012, the building was certified Gold in LEED standards in recognition of its environmentally friendly and sustainable design. The building also houses offices for the Department of Psychology and a bike repair shop in its lower level.


title: University of Denver

text: DU completed the first ever (Peter S. Barton) lacrosse-only stadium that was specifically designed for the sport in 2005, as well as the Ciber Field Soccer Stadium (2010) on the northern end of campus, adjoining the Nagel studio space for the School of Art, as well as the Pat Bowlen varsity sports weight training facility underneath the stands.


title: University of Denver

text: At the beginning of the summer of 2011, the 41-year-old Penrose Library closed for a $32 million renovation, and reopened in the Spring of 2013 as the Anderson Academic Commons, a 21st-century high-tech collaboration and study space - one of the most advanced and technologically capable libraries among universities throughout the country.


title: University of Denver

text: In May 2016, the 47,000 square foot Anna & John J. Sie International Relations Complex opened as an addition to Cherrington Hall. The addition rises five stories, and includes classrooms, offices, and an expansive event space and deck on the fifth floor. The building also features a blue-tiled tower prominent in the university's skyline.


title: University of Denver

text: In 2016, the university opened the 130,000 square foot Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science on the southern end of campus, adjacent to Olin Hall. The building features classroom, laboratory, and office spaces for faculty, as well as a cafe on the first floor. The structure is notable for its zinc and limestone dome rising five floors above the main entrance.


title: University of Denver

text: In 2018, then-Chancellor Rebecca Chopp and university architect Mark Rodgers introduced the Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan, which aimed to provide a path forward for the university's physical campus.


title: University of Denver

text: In September 2020, the Dimond Family Residential Village opened to house first-year students, and the Burwell Center for Career Achievement opened to house alumni engagement and career services offices, replacing the Leo Block Alumni Center. Both are on track to achieve LEED certification and are the first structures completed under the Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan.


title: University of Denver

text: In January 2021, the new Community Commons opened to students, on the previous site of the Driscoll North student center. The building serves as a student union and houses the Rebecca Chopp Grand Central Market, the central campus dining hall. The building features a copper-clad exterior, a rooftop deck, and extensive suites for offices and student engagement.


title: University of Denver

text: The university has six residence halls, Johnson McFarlane Hall (JMac), Centennial Halls, Centennial Towers, Nelson Hall, Nagel Hall, and the Dimond Family Residential Village (DFRV). Johnson McFarlane Hall was energy star certified in September 2011 as one of the most energy efficient buildings on campus, and is the oldest co-ed dorm in the western United States.


title: University of Denver

text: The university developed a robust response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including weekly and bi-weekly saliva testing for undergraduates and faculty, staff and graduate students, respectively. Vaccine mandates, testing, contact tracing and masks are all helping keep transmission low on campus.


title: University of Denver

text: In October 2021, the establishment of the James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus was announced with a $26 million gift from a university alumnus.


title: University of Denver

text: The undergraduate business program, The Daniels College of Business, was ranked 87th best in 2016 by "BusinessWeek", and it was ranked the 71st best program by U.S. News in a 2008 ranking.


title: University of Denver

text: In a 2012 survey performed by the College of William and Mary and published by "Foreign Policy Magazine", the Josef Korbel School of International Studies ranked 11th in the world for its graduate masters program, ahead of such schools as Syracuse, Yale, Stanford, University of California-Berkeley, Oxford and MIT.


title: University of Denver

text: Aside from the Sturm College of Law, the university operates on a quarter system, sometimes known as trimester academic calendar, in which an academic year is divided into three academic quarters lasting 10 weeks per each quarter. This academic system allows students to take more classes each year than students in a more traditional 15-week semester system.


title: University of Denver

text: Offering students a learning experience abroad, the Cherrington Global Scholars program offers every undergraduate the chance to study abroad at no cost above the normal university tuition, room and board.


title: University of Denver

text: In the 2017–18 academic year, DU had a 77.5 percent of participation leading them to be third in national rank. The director of the Office of International Education, Denise Cop, acknowledged that there is an increase in cultural self-awareness and knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks of the students that go study abroad. The top destinations of DU students are United Kingdom, Spain and Italy, however many students go to universities in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. DU's Office of International Education also offers to their students support and advice for all undergraduate students who want to study abroad.


title: University of Denver

text: The University of Denver Magazine is published four times a year, in fall, winter, spring, and summer.


title: University of Denver

text: Denver Quarterly founded in 1966 by novelist John Edward Williams. "Denver Quarterly" is published jointly by Department of English & Literary Arts at University of Denver. Denver Quarterly published poems by many poets, including: Dobby Gibson, Seyed Morteza Hamidzadeh, Emily Fragos, Donna L. Emerson, Heather Hughes, L. S. Klatt, Victoria McArtor etc.


title: University of Denver

text: DU's athletic teams are known as the Denver Pioneers. The school has been fielding athletic teams since 1867, winning 33 NCAA Division One titles since 1949—among the top 15 of all schools. Denver is best known as a major power in winter sports, in particular, skiing and ice hockey. DU has won 24 NCAA national team skiing championships (more than any other school). Ice hockey is DU's flagship spectator sport, with nine NCAA titles (tied for first among all schools), most recently in 2022 and including back-to-back crowns in 2004 and 2005. The program has produced 75 NHL players and regularly sells out the 6,000 seat Magness Arena on campus, the showpiece of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness.


title: University of Denver

text: The Pioneers' major conference affiliations changed in July 2013. Denver moved its primary affiliation from the Western Athletic Conference to The Summit League, hockey moved from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, and men's lacrosse moved from the ECAC Lacrosse League to the Big East Conference. The women's lacrosse team also moved from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) to the Big East Conference in 2017 and in 2019 they reached the Elite 8 (quarterfinals) of the NCAA tournament. In addition, the women's gymnastics team joined the newly formed Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference in 2013 and later moved to the Big 12 Conference in July 2015.


title: University of Denver

text: The Pioneers won the national championship in men's lacrosse in 2015, beating Maryland, 10–5. They were the first Division I men's team west of the Appalachians to win a men's lacrosse NCAA national championship. The 2016 men's soccer team advanced to the NCAA College Cup.


title: University of Denver

text: The school has identified itself as the Pioneers since 1925. Previous mascots were Pioneer Pete (1920s to 1968), Denver Boone (1968 to 1998), and Ruckus the red-tailed hawk (1998 to 2007). A 2013 task force generated three new mascot options, but none of them carried enough votes from the university community to merit selection.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On April 11, 2021, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop and attempted arrest for an outstanding warrant in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, United States. After a brief struggle with officers, Potter shot Wright in the chest once at close range. Wright then drove off a short distance, but his vehicle collided with another and hit a concrete barrier. Officers administered CPR, but were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Potter said she meant to use her service Taser, shouting "Taser! Taser! Taser!" just before firing her service pistol instead.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The shooting sparked protests in Brooklyn Center and renewed ongoing demonstrations against police shootings in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, leading to citywide and regional curfews. Demonstrations took place over several days, and spread to cities across the United States. Two days after the incident, Potter and Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon resigned from their positions.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Potter was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter on December 23, 2021, at a jury trial in Hennepin County. On February 18, 2022, she was sentenced to sixteen months in prison, with credit for time served. Wright's family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the City of Brooklyn Center on June 21, 2022, for $3.25 million. The events led to several changes in Taser policies, in Brooklyn Center and elsewhere in the U.S.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Daunte Demetrius Wright was a 20-year-old living in Minneapolis, having recently moved there from Chicago. He was the son of a Black father and a White mother. Wright played basketball in high school, but according to his father, he dropped out due to a learning disability about two years before the shooting. He worked in retail and fast-food jobs to support his almost-two-year-old son, and had enrolled in a vocational school.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: At the time of the shooting, Kimberly Ann Potter, a White woman from Champlin, Minnesota (born June 18, 1972), was a 48-year-old police officer in the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and a mother of two sons. She had worked for the department since 1995, shortly after finishing Saint Mary's University of Minnesota a year prior in 1994. Potter, a field training officer, was training a new officer at the time of the incident.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Alayna Albrecht-Payton, a 20-year-old resident of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Wright's girlfriend, was sitting in the passenger's seat of the vehicle and was injured in the crash. Two other Brooklyn Center police officers were involved in the traffic stop. One of them was a trainee working with Potter who also participated in the attempted arrest.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On April 11, 2021, Wright was driving with his girlfriend in a white 2011 Buick LaCrosse that was registered to his brother. They were on their way to a car wash. Kimberly Potter was a passenger in a patrol car with a trainee officer who observed Wright's vehicle signaling a right turn while it was in a left-turning lane. The trainee officer also noticed that the vehicle had an expired registration tag on its license plate and had an air freshener hanging from the car's rearview mirror, a violation of Minnesota state law. At 1:53p.m. local time, the trainee officer initiated a traffic stop of Wright's vehicle on 63rd Avenue North and called for backup.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: After pulling the vehicle over, the trainee officer approached Wright's vehicle. Wright provided his name but did not have a driver's license or proof-of-insurance card. The trainee officer returned to his squad car. Meanwhile, Wright phoned his mother. Potter's supervisor arrived on the scene, and the officers ran Wright's name through a police database. They learned he had an open arrest warrant for failing to appear in court on a gross misdemeanor weapons violation for carrying a gun without a permit, and that there was a protective order against him by an unnamed woman. The officers decided to arrest Wright and ensure the passenger was not the same woman who had the protective order against him.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Police body camera footage showed Potter, her supervisor, and the trainee officer approaching the car. The trainee officer approached the driver's side door and the supervisor approached the passenger's side door. Potter, who was acting as a field training officer, initially stood back. The trainee officer informed Wright that there was a warrant for his arrest. He opened the driver's side door and Wright stepped out of the car. The car door remained open while Wright put his hands behind his back and the trainee officer attempted to put on handcuffs.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: After several moments, Potter approached Wright and the trainee and unsnapped her handgun holster. She grabbed a piece of paper from the trainee with her right hand, then moved it to her left hand. Wright, who was unarmed, began to resist arrest, struggled with the officers, broke free, and stepped back into his car. The supervisor had the passenger's side door open, and reached inside to grab the gear shift to prevent Wright from driving away. The trainee officer on the driver's side attempted to prevent Wright from obtaining control of the steering wheel. Potter, who had her Taser holstered on her left side and her gun on her right, said, "I'll tase you," and then yelled, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" The supervisor released his hands from attempting to restrain Wright. Potter then discharged her firearm, instead of her Taser, a single time using her right hand, and subsequently said, "Oh shit, I just shot him."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Potter's pistol, a Glock 9 mm model, was entirely black, partially made of metal, and weighed when loaded. Her Taser, made of plastic, was mostly yellow, and weighed . Potter was holding her gun for 5.5 seconds before discharging it. Immediately after shooting Wright, she was still holding the piece of paper with her left hand.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Wright drove off after being shot at close range. The vehicle travelled for about when it collided with another vehicle near the intersection of 63rd Avenue North and Kathrene Drive. Officers administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but Wright was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:18 p.m. Albrecht-Payton, the passenger in Wright's vehicle, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and no one in the other vehicle was injured.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The Hennepin County medical examiner's office released a report on April 12 that determined the manner of death to be homicide and concluded that Wright had "died of a gunshot wound of the chest."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On the morning of April 12, Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon held a press conference and played a clip of the body camera footage. He said Potter intended to use a Taser on Wright, but pulled out and discharged her gun instead. Potter was placed on administrative leave by the Brooklyn Center police pending further investigation.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On April 13, Potter and Gannon submitted their resignations from the Brooklyn Center police department, with Potter's resignation stating it was in the "best interest of the community" and effective immediately. The Brooklyn Center City Council had recommended their firing during an emergency meeting on April 12. According to "The Independent", Potter fled her home for safety reasons after her address was leaked on social media.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) launched an investigation into the killing of Wright on April 12, per standard procedure, and released Potter's name as the officer who shot Wright. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, although the incident took place in Hennepin County, it was reviewed by the Washington County Attorney's Office per an agreement with metropolitan counties to handle officer-involved shootings. Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott called on Governor Tim Walz to reassign the case to the office of the State Attorney General Keith Ellison. On April 13, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said he was planning to complete a "thorough yet expedited" review of potential criminal charges in the case.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On April 14, Potter was charged by the Washington County Attorney's Office with second-degree manslaughter, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 609.205, a felony offense entailing "culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk" that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration and/or a $20,000 fine. The criminal complaint against Potter stated that she caused Wright's death "by her culpable negligence," whereby she "created an unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm" to Wright.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: After her indictment, Potter was arrested, booked into the Hennepin County Jail and released a few hours later after posting a $100,000 bail bond. Potter briefly made her first court appearance via Zoom on April 15 before Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu. Potter was represented by Earl Gray, a Saint Paul-based attorney who also defended Thomas Lane and Jeronimo Yanez, who were involved with the killings of George Floyd and Philando Castile, respectively.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Attorney General Ellison's office took over the prosecution on May 21. On May 24, Imran Ali, the assistant criminal division chief at the Washington County Attorney's Office, resigned from his job after several activist groups demonstrated outside Orput's home demanding that the charges be raised to murder. Ali's resignation letter cited "vitriol" in public discourse about the case that made his job difficult. Ali had been serving as the prosecution's Washington County co-counsel, with Orput, prior to the state Attorney General's office taking over the case.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On September 2, Ellison's office added the charge of first-degree manslaughter, predicated on reckless use/handling of a firearm, a more serious charge than second-degree manslaughter and carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Following the shooting, mourners and protesters gathered near the scene to demand justice for Wright. Several protesters came from another rally against police violence, organized by families of people who had been killed, earlier in the day in nearby Saint Paul, Minnesota. Officers with riot control equipment arrived, formed, a line, and moved in when demonstrators began climbing on police vehicles and throwing bricks. Police fired tear gas into the crowd and used non-lethal ammunition. There were also reports of looting, damaged property, and vandalized police vehicles. After the crowd moved to outside a police precinct, the police announced that the gathering was an unlawful assembly, and threatened arrest for anyone who did not leave. When the people did not disperse, police fired tear gas, flashbangs, and rubber bullets. Mayor Mike Elliott imposed a curfew until 6 a.m. the next morning and closed schools for the following day. The next day, April 12, protests spread to nearby locations in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area and then to other cities in the United States. Governor Tim Walz implemented another curfew in several counties spanning the night of April 12 through the morning of April 13 and deployed the Minnesota National Guard while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a state of emergency and a citywide curfew.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Protests, civil unrest, curfews, and clashes with police continued for the next several days in Brooklyn Center and around Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Law enforcement in Brooklyn Center established a heavily fortified barrier area and periodically clashed with demonstrators over several days. Air fresheners became a symbol at protests and rallies over Wright's death, referring to one of the violations police alleged Wright committed the day of the shooting. Protesters demanded justice for Wright's death and made several demands of public officials, including a murder charge for Potter, an independent investigation of the shooting, and enactment of police reform measures. In media interviews, Wright's family thanked people for protesting and advocating for justice and encouraged people to protest peacefully.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said in a tweet the evening of April 11, "The officer shooting in Brooklyn Center today is tragic. We are asking the protesters to continue to be peaceful and that peaceful protesters are not dealt with with force." Elliott said on April 12 that Potter should be fired. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a tweet at 10:00 p.m. on April 11, "I am closely monitoring the situation in Brooklyn Center. Gwen and I are praying for Daunte Wright's family as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan said, "As a child advocate, I am grappling with the stark reality: Minnesota is a place where it is not safe to be Black." Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota said on the morning of April 12, "A difficult night in Minnesota. We mourn with Daunte Wright's family as another Black man's life is lost at the hands of law enforcement."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said at an April 12 press conference, "I have watched the video myself, and there is nothing I can say to lessen the pain of Mr. Wright's family, friends loved ones of that feeling of loss they must have. That pain is shared by the community and all those involved in the incident." On April 13, Gannon announced his resignation, alongside that of Potter.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: City manager Curt Boganey, speaking at an April 12 BCPD press conference: "All employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline." The same day, the Brooklyn Center City Council fired Boganey and gave Mayor Elliott command authority over the city police force


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: President Joe Biden said about the incident and unrest, "Peaceful protest is understandable. And the fact is that we do know that the anger, pain and trauma that exists in Black community in that environment is real – it's serious, and it's consequential. But that does not justify violence. We should listen to Daunte's mom who is calling for peace and calm." Vice President Kamala Harris said "Daunte's family ... needs answers" on Twitter.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The NAACP released a statement saying "Whether it be carelessness and negligence, or a blatant modern-day lynching, the result is the same. Another Black man has died at the hands of police." Referring to controversy surrounding traffic stops due to small objects dangling from rear-view mirrors, the American Civil Liberties Union said it had "deep concerns that police here appear to have used dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do all too often to target Black people."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Former President Barack Obama said of the incident, "Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police. It's important to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but this is also a reminder of just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis offered prayers and condolences to all parties concerned, adding: "While early indications point towards the shooting being accidental, I encourage allowing investigators from the [BCA] to complete a thorough investigation before coming to any personal judgments as to what occurred."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Al Sharpton said: "You can die for having expired tags or for a phony 20 dollar bill or you may have not even known it was a phony 20 dollar bill. It wouldn't happen in any other community."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Although earlier in the day the Minnesota Twins had issued a statement postponing their Target Field home game, after the announcement of the curfew, the Wild postponed their home game in Saint Paul's Xcel Energy Center and the Timberwolves postponed their game in the Minneapolis Target Center. The Minnesota Vikings released a statement which said in part: "This avoidable situation is yet another tragic reminder of the drastic need for change in law enforcement." At their game back on April 13, the Timberwolves and the visiting Brooklyn Nets observed a moment of silence for Daunte Wright before the game while most players wore shirts that read "With Liberty and Justice FOR ALL".


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Chuck Valleau, head of the Brooklyn Center police union, said, "The death of Daunte Wright is terrible. And the loss of our co-worker Kimberly Potter is also terrible for what she's going through as well."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Soon after the incident, Wright's mother spoke with reporters and said her son had phoned her during the traffic stop. She said she had overheard what sounded like a scuffle and an officer saying, "Daunte, don't run" before the phone hung up, and that her son said he had been pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Wright's mother talked about seeing her son's body over FaceTime at a press conference on April 13. The girlfriend of George Floyd was also one of Wright's former teachers, and attended the press conference for support. Floyd had been murdered during an arrest by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police department on May 25, 2020. Relatives of at least six Black men killed by the police and a family member of Emmett Till, who had been lynched in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, were also present.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Earlier that day, both parents appeared on "Good Morning America", his father saying: "I lost my son, he's never coming back ... I can't accept that—a mistake, that doesn't even sound right," he added. "This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can't accept that." The mother of Wright's son said: "His dad won't get to see him for his second birthday or for any of his birthdays. And I'm just so messed up about it because I feel like they stole my son's dad from him."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The evening of April 11, 2021, mourners and protesters held an evening vigil for Wright near the Brooklyn Center location were he was killed. On April 14, 2021, protesters put up a large, wooden sculpture of a raised fist at the 63rd Avenue North and Kathrene Drive intersection where car driven by Wright collided with another vehicle. The sculpture had been displayed previously at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, but it was replaced there by a version made of metal. People also placed memorials for Wright at the location he was shot and the location where he was pronounced dead.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Wright's funeral was held in Minneapolis on April 22, 2021. In attendance were relatives of Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, and Oscar GrantBlack Americans who had been killed by police over the past dozen yearsand the family of Emmett Till, a Black American who was lynched in 1955. The eulogy was delivered by Al Sharpton. Jazz musician Keyon Harrold played an instrumental piece. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar attended the service. Walz issued a Minnesota proclamation that declared a moment of silence to coincide with the 12 p.m. start of the funeral.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Prosecutors filed the criminal case in Hennepin County District Court on April 14 as the "State of Minnesota vs. Kimberly Potter." Prior to the start of the case, on November 2, Judge Chu ruled that defense attorneys will be allowed to introduce evidence of "slip and capture" errors, a kind of human error that occurs in times of high stress. Trial proceedings began on November 30 in Minneapolis, at a Hennepin County Government Center courtroom Chu presiding.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The Minnesota Attorney General's office served as the prosecution with Matthew Frank, an assistant attorney general, as the lead prosecutor. Frank was also the lead prosecutor for the trial of Derek Chauvin. Erin Eldridge, an assistant attorney general who also participated in the Chauvin trial, joined Frank. Amanda Montgomery, Paul Engh and Earl Gray represented Potter. Engh and Gray were part of the legal defense fund supplied by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Minnesota Statutes required that all parties in a trial to agree to the use of courtroom cameras. At the request of Potter's attorneys, Chu ruled on August 5 that cameras would not to be permitted in the courtroom. On November 9, Chu reversed her earlier ruling to ensure "meaningful access" to the trial, as the courtroom was subject to attendance restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Chu also said her revised ruling was unrelated to a November 6 demonstration that occurred outside a house that protesters believed was Chu's.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Selection for the trial's twelve jurors and two alternative jurors took place from November 30 to December 3. Nine of the twelve jurors seated were White, similar to the demographics of Hennepin County, one was Black and two were Asian, with the jury evenly split between men and women.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Opening statements in the trial began on December 8. Throughout the trial, the prosecution argued that Potter neglected training on use of her Taser and discharged her gun recklessly when she killed Wright. The defense argued that Wright resisted arrest, which contributed to a "slip and capture" error. Expert witnesses for the defense testified that Potter had the legal authority to fire either a gun or Taser. Potter testified in her defense, claiming that she mistook her gun for a Taser and admitting to fatally shooting Wright. She also said that she never observed Wright with a gun and that he was not being violent or making verbal threats during the arrest.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Attorneys gave closing arguments on December 20 and the jury, which was ordered to be sequestered, began deliberations by midday.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: After deliberating for 27 hours over four days, the jury found Potter guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter on December 23. Following the verdict, Potter was taken into custody and transferred to the state's Women's Correctional Facility in Shakopee.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Potter's sentencing hearing was held on February 18, 2022. Wright's mother, father, two siblings and the mother of his only child gave victim impact statements prior to Potter's sentencing being read. Wright's mother, Katie, said, "she [Potter] never once said his name. And for that I'll never be able to forgive you," addressing Potter. She continued, "I'll never be able to forgive you for what you've stolen from us." Potter, during her statement prior to the sentencing being read, apologized to Wright's family and to the community of Brooklyn Center, saying Wright "is not more than one thought away from my heart, and I have no right for that, for him to be in my heart."


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Potter was sentenced to two years in prison, serving sixteen months with eight months of supervised release. The typical sentence for first-degree manslaughter in Minnesota is more than seven years in prison, with a maximum set at fifteen years. To pursue a longer sentence than what is typical requires the prosecution to demonstrate Blakely factors, or elements of a crime which make it particularly egregious. Despite initially arguing that the case had such factors which would justify a longer sentence, the prosecution stated in court on the day of the sentencing that the typical sentence would be appropriate. In explaining her sentencing decision, Chu said the case was unusual, and that Potter made a "tragic mistake" of thinking that she drew her taser instead of her firearm while in a chaotic situation. Chu expressed that it was "one of the saddest cases I’ve had on my 20 years on the bench".


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: On April 12, 2021, Wright's family hired civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. They also obtained representation from attorneys Tony Romanucci and Jeff Storms. The City of Brooklyn Center settled the lawsuit on June 21, 2022. The city agreed to pay $3.25 million to Wright's family, the third largest civil rights wrongful death settlement in Minnesota, and the largest outside of Minneapolis. The lawsuit also required the city to make changes to policing policies and improve office training, and to establish a permanent memorial to Wright at the site of a temporary one that emerged in the aftermath of his death.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Alayna Albrecht-Payton, the passenger in Wright's vehicle during the incident on April 11, 2021, filed a $150,000 civil lawsuit against the city of Brooklyn Center in mid 2022. Albrecht-Payton had suffered a broken jaw when Wright's vehicle crashed. Her lawsuit said she experienced permanent physical injuries and psychological distress.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Wright's death was one of several instances in which a police officer admitted to firing a handgun when intending to draw and discharge a Taser, such as a 2002 shooting in Rochester, Minnesota, the fatal 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer in Oakland, California, and the deadly 2015 shooting of Eric Harris by a volunteer reserve deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: In 2018, an officer coming to assist a policeman being assaulted during a traffic stop shot and wounded the arrestee in Lawrence, Kansas. After discharging her gun, startled, she yelled, "Oh, shit, I shot him." Though that officer was charged, a judge dismissed the charges. In 2019, a scuffle in a jail cell led to another accidental shooting by a backup officer in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The Bucks County, Pennsylvania District Attorney declined to press charges against the officer, saying state law excused the officer's conduct from criminal prosecution because of his "honest but mistaken" belief he was firing his Taser when he shot the wounded prisoner. In both cases, the officers shouted "Taser" before firing.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Including Potter's killing of Wright, there had been 16 known cases when a police officer in the United States fired a pistol at someone but claimed to have intended to use a Taser instead.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: The killing of Daunte Wright led to several changes in policing policies in Brooklyn Center and elsewhere. In Brooklyn Center, the city council passed an ordinance in May 2021 named after Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler, another Black man who had been killed in an encounter with city police prior to Wright. The ordinance created unarmed traffic enforcement and community response teams, and it prohibited arrests or vehicle searches in certain traffic-related encounters. Wright's family believed that had the policy been in place when he was stopped by police, he would not have been killed. In September 2021, Brooklyn Center officials announced a new policy to cite and release criminal offenders for misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor charges rather than take people into immediate custody. Under the policy, police officers would still be able to make an arrest if an offender posed a safety threat. In December 2021, the city council passed a $1.3 million plan for alternative public safety programs, such as the use of unarmed workers to enforce nonmoving traffic violations and mental health response teams. $303,114 of the programs' budget came from eliminating three police officer positions.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Local officials in Minnesota called for measures to better distinguish Tasers and firearms, as part of comprehensive police reform. In August 2021, Minneapolis, Minnesota, police announced they would not make traffic stops for minor infractions, such as expired vehicle tabs or having objects hanging on mirrors.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: Several other policing changes were made outside of the U.S. state of Minnesota in response to Wright's death. The police departments of Roeland Park, Kansas, and St. Ann, Missouri, made changes to their Taser policies, with Roeland Park police saying they would cross draw Tasers with "no exceptions", and St. Ann police saying they would only use yellow Tasers and require officers to carry them opposite their main weapon. The Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1267, which will create a statewide office to investigate use-of-force incidents by July 2022, and Senate Bill 5259, which will create a statewide database of use-of-force incidents.


title: Killing of Daunte Wright

text: A broad public safety and police reform plan put forward by Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot in the aftermath of Wright's death became a source of political controversy as it ultimately failed to be enacted into law. Elliot was defeated in a re-election bid in the 2022 Minnesota elections by April Graves who largely ran on the issue.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war. British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States to integrate electric street lights into its infrastructure. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley, as early as 1881.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River, on the farm "De Kalk" leased from local Griquas, near Hopetown, which was his father's farm. He showed the pebble to his father, who then sold it. The pebble was purchased from Jacobs' father by Schalk van Niekerk, who later sold it on again. It proved to be a diamond, and became known as the Eureka. Three years later, in 1869, an diamond, which became known as the Star of South Africa, was found nearby (). This diamond was sold by van Niekerk for £11,200, and later resold in the London market for £25,000.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Henry Richard Giddy recounted how Esau Damoense (or Damon), the cook for prospector Fleetwood Rawstorne's "Red Cap Party", found diamonds in 1871 on Colesberg Kopje after he was sent there to dig as punishment. Rawstorne took the news to the nearby diggings of the De Beer brothers – his arrival there sparking off the famous "New Rush" which, as historian Brian Roberts puts it, was practically a stampede. Within a month, 900 claims were cut into the hillock, which were worked frenetically by two to three thousand men. As the land was lowered, so the hillock became a mine – in time, the world-renowned Kimberley Mine.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: The Cape Colony, Transvaal, Orange Free State and the Griqua leader Nicolaas Waterboer all laid claim to the diamond fields. The Free State Boers in particular wanted the area, as it lay inside the natural borders created by Orange and Vaal Rivers. Following the mediation that was overseen by the Governor of Natal, the Keate Award went in favour of Waterboer, who placed himself under British protection. Consequently, the territory known as Griqualand West was proclaimed on 27 October 1871.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Colonial Commissioners arrived in New Rush on 17 November 1871 to exercise authority over the territory on behalf of the Cape Governor. Digger objections and minor riots led to Governor Barkly's visit to New Rush in September the following year, when he revealed a plan instead to have Griqualand West proclaimed a Crown Colony. Richard Southey would arrive as Lieutenant-Governor of the intended Crown Colony in January 1873. Months passed however without any sign of the proclamation or of the promised new constitution and provision for representative government. The delay was in London where Secretary of State for the Colonies, John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, insisted that before electoral divisions could be defined, the places had to receive "decent and intelligible names. His Lordship declined to be in any way connected with such a vulgarism as New Rush and as for the Dutch name, "Vooruitzigt" … he could neither spell nor pronounce it." The matter was passed to Southey who gave it to his Colonial Secretary J.B. Currey. Roberts writes that "when it came to renaming New Rush, [Currey] proved himself a worthy diplomat. He made quite sure that Lord Kimberley would be able both to spell and pronounce the name of the main electoral division by, as he says, calling it 'after His Lordship'." New Rush became Kimberley, by Proclamation dated 5 July 1873. Digger sentiment was expressed in an editorial in the "Diamond Field" newspaper when it stated "we went to sleep in New Rush and waked up in Kimberley, and so our dream was gone."


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Following agreement by the British government on compensation to the Orange Free State for its competing land claims, Griqualand West was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1877. The Cape Prime Minister John Molteno initially had serious doubts about annexing the heavily indebted region, but, after striking a deal with the Home Government and receiving assurances that the local population would be consulted in the process, he passed the Griqualand West Annexation Act on 27 July 1877.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: As miners arrived in their thousands the hill disappeared and subsequently became known as the Big Hole (or "Kimberley se Gat" in Afrikaans) or, more formally, Kimberley Mine. From mid-July 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. Beneath the surface, the Kimberley Mine underneath the Big Hole was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. A popular local myth claims that it is the largest hand-dug hole on the world, however Jagersfontein Mine appears to hold that record. The Big Hole is the principal feature of a May 2004 submission which placed "Kimberley Mines and associated early industries" on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative Lists.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: By 1873 Kimberley was the second largest town in South Africa, having an approximate population of 40,000.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: The various smaller mining companies were amalgamated by Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd into De Beers, and The Kimberley under Barney Barnato. In 1888, the two companies merged to form De Beers Consolidated Mines, which once had a monopoly over the world's diamond market.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Very quickly, Kimberley became the largest city in the area, partly due to a massive African migration to the area from all over the continent. The immigrants were accepted with open arms, because the De Beers company was in search of cheap labour to help run the mines. Another group drawn to the city for money was prostitutes, from a wide variety of ethnicities who could be found in bars and saloons. It was praised as a city of limitless opportunity.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Five big holes were dug into the earth following the kimberlite pipes, which are named after the town. Kimberlite is a diamond-bearing blue ground that sits below a yellow colored soil. The largest, The Kimberley mine or "Big Hole" covering , reached a depth of and yielded three tons of diamonds. The mine was closed in 1914, while three of the holesDutoitspan, Wesselton and Bultfonteinclosed down in 2005.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: On 14 October 1899, Kimberley was besieged at the beginning of the Second Boer War. The British forces trying to relieve the siege suffered heavy losses. The siege was only lifted on 15 February 1900, but the war continued until May 1902. By that time, the British had built a concentration camp at Kimberley to house Boer women and children.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: The hitherto separately administered Boroughs of Kimberley and Beaconsfield amalgamated as the City of Kimberley in 1912.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Although a considerable degree of urban segregation already existed, one of the most significant impacts of Apartheid on the city of Kimberley was the implementation of the Group Areas Act. Communities were divided according to legislated racial categories, namely European (White), Native (Black), Coloured and Indian – now legally separated by the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act. Individual families could be split up to three ways (based on such notorious measures as the 'pencil test') and mixed communities were either completely relocated (as in Malay Camp – although those clearances began before Apartheid as such) or were selectively cleared (as in Greenpoint which became a 'Coloured' Group Area, its erstwhile African and other residents being removed to other parts of town). Residential segregation was thus enforced in a process which saw the creation of new townships at the northern and north-eastern edges of the expanding city. Institutions that were hard hit by the Group Areas Act, Bantu Education and other Acts included churches (such as the Bean Street Methodist Church) and schools (some, such as William Pescod and Perseverance School, moved while the Gore Browne (Native) Training School was closed down). Other legislation restricted the movement of Africans and some public places became 'Europeans Only' preserves in terms of the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act. The Native Laws Amendment Act sought to cleave church communities along racial lines – a law rejected on behalf of all Anglicans in South Africa by Archbishop Clayton in 1957 (in terms of which this aspect of apartheid was never completely implemented in churches such as Kimberley's St Cyprian's Cathedral).


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Resistance to apartheid in Kimberley was mounted as early as mid-1952 as part of the Defiance Campaign. Dr Arthur Letele put together a group of volunteers to defy the segregation laws by occupying 'Europeans Only' benches at Kimberley Railway Station – which led to arrest and imprisonment. Later in the year, the Mayibuye Uprising in Kimberley, on 8 November 1952, revolved around the poor quality of beer served in the beer hall. The fracas resulted in shootings and a subsequent mass funeral on 12 November 1952 at Kimberley's West End Cemetery. Detained following the massacre were alleged 'ring-leaders' Dr Letele, Sam Phakedi, Pepys Madibane, Olehile Sehume, Alexander Nkoane, Daniel Chabalala and David Mpiwa. Archdeacon Wade of St Matthew's Church, as a witness at the subsequent inquiry, placed the blame squarely on the policy of apartheid – including poor housing, lighting and public transport, together with "unfulfilled promises" – which he said "brought about the conditions which led to the riots."


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: A later generation of anti-apartheid activists based in Kimberley included Phakamile Mabija, Bishop Graham Chadwick and two post-apartheid provincial premiers, Manne Dipico and Dipuo Peters.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Other prominent figures of the struggle against apartheid who had Kimberley connections include Robert Sobukwe, founder of the Pan Africanist Congress, who was banished (placed under house arrest) in Kimberley after his release from Robben Island in 1969. He died in the city in 1978.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Benny Alexander (1955–2010), who later changed his name to Khoisan X, and was General Secretary of the Pan Africanist Congress and of the Pan-Africanist Movement from 1989, was born and grew up in Kimberley. Another leading figure in Coloured politics in the apartheid era was Sonny Leon.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: The Northern Cape Province became a political fact in 1994, with Kimberley as its capital. Some quasi-provincial infrastructure was in place from the 1940s, but in the post-1994 period Kimberley underwent considerable development as administrative departments were set up and housed for the governance of the new province. A Northern Cape Legislature was designed and situated to bridge the formerly divided city. The Kimberley City Council of the renamed Sol Plaatje Local Municipality (see below) was enlarged. A new coat of arms and Motto for the city were ushered in.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: With the abolition of apartheid previously 'whites only' institutions such as schools became accessible to all, as did suburbs previously segregated by the Group Areas Act. In practice this process has been one of upward mobility by those who could afford the more costly options, while by far the majority of Black people remain in the townships where poverty levels are high.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Major township residential developments, with 'RDP housing', were implemented – not without criticism concerning quality. There has been an increase in Kimberley's population, urbanization being spurred on in part by the abolition of the Influx Control Act.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: Also added to the city is the settlement of Platfontein created when the !Xun and Khwe community formerly of Schmidtsdrift and originally from Angola/Namibia acquired the land in 1996. Most of the community had moved to the new township by the end of 2003.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: In 1998 the Kimberley Comprehensive Urban Plan estimated that Kimberley had 210,800 people representing 46,207 households living in the city.


title: Kimberley, Northern Cape

text: The shifts from frontier farm names to digger camp names to the established names of the towns of Kimberley and Beaconsfield – which duly amalgamated in 1912 – are outlined above. The only traces of any precolonial settlement within the city's boundaries are scatters of Stone Age artefacts and there is no record of what the place/s might have been called before the first nineteenth century frontier overlay of farm names. It lay beyond the areas occupied by Tswana people in the precolonial period. Sites such as the nearby Wildebeest Kuil testify to a Khoe–San history dating up into the nineteenth century.