A suburban Chicago family filed suit against the local police Thursday alleging that a SWAT team shot and maimed a 12-year-old in his bed during an early morning raid. The incident took place in May at the in Markham, Ill. home of Crystal Worship and her three young sons, all of whom are black and were in bed at the time. According to the civil suit, it was around 5 a.m. when nearly two dozen police officers barged into the house with automatic rifles, throwing flash-bang grenades, and shouting “police, police, police,” while executing a warrant against Worship’s boyfriend Mitchell Thurman, who was also at the house at the time. Thurman was arrested and charged with drug possession and possessing a gun with an expired Illinois state Firearm Owner’s Identification card, but the criminal case against him was dismissed weeks later.

The raid, however, had a far more lasting impact on Worship’s sons, particularly 12-year-old Amir Worship. The Washington Post describes the scene in the young boy’s bedroom:

… the sounds of the raid had roused Amir. Seconds later, the door of his bedroom flew open. An officer barged in, aiming a flashlight and automatic rifle at the boy, shouting at him to put his hands up, the suit claimed… As that officer searched the room, another one came in with his weapon trained on Amir, the lawsuit said. The second officer, described in the complaint as Caucasian, ordered Amir to put on his shoes. But when the boy tried to obey, the officer snatched one shoe away and examined it with his flashlight, all while keeping his gun aimed at Amir, the suit claimed.

The gun was allegedly not on the “safety lock position” even though “the room had already been cleared … and it was obvious that Amir was a child who was no threat to officers,” the lawsuit said. Then, as the officer was giving Amir the shoe back, he “quickly moved his right hand back to the handle and trigger of his rifle, grabbing it and firing it…”

The Beatles‘ 1969 album Abbey Road will be reissued for its 50th anniversary in September. All six physical formats offer a brand new Giles Martin (& Sam Okell) stereo mix and for the first time all the bonus sessions are available on vinyl and CD. Full format details below…

The 3CD+blu-ray super deluxe edition delivers Giles Martin’s new stereo mix on CD 1 with two further CDs of outtakes and unreleased rarities (‘sessions’). A blu-ray audio is the fourth and final disc and it delivers two separate surround sound mixes – a standard 5.1 and a Dolby Atmos mix (along with a hi-res stereo version of the new Giles Martin stereo mix).

The super deluxe is packaged as a luxury hardcover book which slots into an outer slip case. There’s plenty of text with some wonderful photos (many by Linda McCartney). Unlike The White Album package this is a square 12? x 12? set.

Yesterday, a Tweet I posted in reaction to the horrific mass shootings in America over the previous 48 hours, killing 34 people, spawned mixed and highly critical responses.

If you missed it, I offered a short list of largely preventable causes of death, along with their average two-day death toll in the United States. They significantly exceeded the death toll from the two days of mass shootings, including the number of people (40) who on average die from handgun homicides every two days.

I then noted that we tend to react emotionally to spectacular incidences of death, with the implication that more common causes of death trigger milder responses within us.

My intent was to offer objectively true information that might help shape conversations and reactions to preventable ways we die. Where I miscalculated was that I genuinely believed the Tweet would be helpful to anyone trying to save lives in America. What I learned from the range of reactions is that for many people, some information –-my Tweet in particular -- can be true but unhelpful, especially at a time when many people are either still in shock, or trying to heal – or both.

So if you are one of those people, I apologize for not knowing in advance what effect my Tweet could have on you. I am therefore thankful for the candor and depth of critical reactions shared in my Twitter feed. As an educator, I personally value knowing with precision and accuracy what reaction anything that I say (or write) will instill in my audience, and I got this one wrong.

Respectfully Submitted
Neil deGrasse Tyson