Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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Police are searching for those responsible in the death of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner. She was shot over the weekend near the Wendy's restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was killed last month. -
That brings the total to 25. Put another way, that's 7% of the league. The news comes as games are scheduled to resume later this month. Team staff has fared better — 10 positive tests out of 884. -
The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System set a record in June with 3.9 million background checks. The previous record of 3.7 million background checks was set in March. -
The New York City Council passed a new budget overnight. Advocates and the council's speaker say the cuts didn't go far enough, as President Trump says they will "further antagonize" the police. -
The NAACP's president called the move an "exceptional opportunity." He said it will allow the organization to "amplify the voices of the Black people as we fight for the crucial policy changes." -
The police department is investigating allegations that surfaced in an anonymous blog post. It details current and retired San Jose officers posting racist messages in a private Facebook group. -
Gregory and Travis McMichael, a father and son, along with William "Roddie" Bryan, face nine counts, including malice murder, felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. -
A Democratic state senator was assaulted after snapping a photo of protests. The unrest was sparked by the arrest of a Black man after he brought a bat and bullhorn into a restaurant. -
"Rayshard Brooks is the latest high-profile casualty in the struggle for justice and the battle for the soul of America wasn't just running from the police," the Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor said. -
"It is time to move the Statue and move forward," the 26th U.S. president's great-grandson says. It depicts Roosevelt on horseback with a Native American man and a man of African descent on foot.
