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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The family's attorney says the man killed is Robert Fuller's half brother, Terron Jammal Boone. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department says the man fired several rounds at deputies first.
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A Georgia county prosecutor has charged a white Atlanta police officer who shot a 27-year-old black man in the back last week in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant.
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The lawsuit says the rally, which is to take place at a 19,000-seat indoor arena, could act as a superspreader event for the coronavirus.
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The NAACP event coincided with lawmakers return after a three-month hiatus due to COVID-19 fears. The march took on added urgency after Rayshard Brooks was killed by police over the weekend.
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The car's driver says it honors first responders. Last week, NASCAR banned the Confederate battle flag from its events. A black driver recently unveiled a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
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David McAtee was killed at his restaurant on June 1 when National Guard and Louisville Metro Police officers were called to disperse a crowd. State officials say a Guardsman fired the fatal shot.
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Gen. Charles Brown was confirmed to lead the U.S. Air Force. Brown said his nomination "provides some hope but also comes with a heavy burden," given the nation's current focus on matters of race.
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George Floyd's death at the hands of police sparked protests around the world. His family's private service Tuesday follows public memorials that drew thousands of mourners.
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This is the last of Floyd's public memorial services, which have previously been held in Raeford, N.C., and in Minneapolis, where he was killed by police on May 25.
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In a late Sunday night tweet, President Trump said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "was intimating that it would now be O.K. for the players to KNEEL ... thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?"