SAFIYAH RIDDLE

Statehouse reporter

Riddle covers the Alabama statehouse with a focus on law enforcement. She is based in Montgomery, Alabama.

Gunshots at Tuskegee University sent terrified students running for their lives

A Tuskegee University student says he hid under a car when he heard the gunshots that ripped across his Alabama campus.

Amazon workers in Alabama will have third labor union vote after judge finds illegal influence

Amazon workers in Alabama will have the opportunity decide whether to unionize for the third time in three years.

Local sheriff asks FBI to investigate death of Black man found hanging in Alabama

The FBI is investigating the death of a Black man in Alabama who was found hanging in an abandoned house.

A federal judge halts an Alabama program that purged thousands of legal voters

A federal judge is halting an Alabama program that made thousands of legal voters inactive ahead of the November elections.

Figures and Dobson trade jabs in testy debate, Here are the key takeaways

Congressional hopefuls Shomari Figures and Caroleene Dobson clashed in a sometimes heated debate Thursday.

Alabama jailers to plead guilty for failing to help an inmate who froze to death

Two former corrections officers in Alabama have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges in the death of a mentally ill inmate.

For small cities across Alabama with Haitian populations, Springfield is a cautionary tale

ENTERPRISE, Ala. (AP) — The transition from the bustling Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to a small Alabama city on the southernmost tip of the Appalachian mountain range was challenging for Sarah Jacques.

Court revives lawsuit of Black pastor who was arrested while watering his neighbor’s flowers

A federal appeals court says that the Alabama police officers who arrested a Black pastor while he watered his neighbor’s plants can be sued.

Federal government to roll back oversight on Alabama women’s prison after nine years

The federal government is rolling back almost all oversight over an Alabama women’s prison on Thursday, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.

Alabama police officer shot and killed a 68-year-old knife wielding man with dementia

Authorities say a police officer in northern Alabama allegedly shot and killed a 68-year-old man who had dementia and was wielding a kitchen knife.

A city proud of its role in facing down hatred confronts a new wave of violence

There was a time when the city of Birmingham, Alabama, earned the nickname “Bombingham,” renowned for senseless violence and its strength in confronting the racial hatred that fueled it.

Birmingham, Alabama, leaders plead for information on mass shooting and announce reward money

Officials in Birmingham, Alabama, are pleading with members of the public for information leading to arrests in a weekend mass shooting that killed four people and injured more than a dozen others.

Renowned Alabama artist Fred Nall Hollis dies at 76

Award-winning, world renowned artist Fred Nall Hollis has died. Hollis was 76 years old and a local arts center in his home state of Alabama says he died on Saturday.

Alabama university ordered to pay millions in discrimination lawsuit

A jury says a public Alabama university and an employee should pay millions in penalties in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by an Iranian-born cancer researcher.

Mayor of Alabama’s capital becomes latest to try to limit GOP ‘permitless carry’ law

The mayor of Alabama’s state capital has signed a local ordinance into law requiring anyone carrying a concealed firearm to also carry a photo ID.

Youth football safety debate is rekindled by the same-day deaths of 2 young players

The recent same-day deaths of two young football players have rekindled a debate about the sport’s safety risks.

Alabama anti-DEI law shuts Black Student Union office, queer resource center at flagship university

The University of Alabama shuttered the offices of the Black Student Union and a queer resource center last week in compliance with a state law that bans public universities from allocating resources to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Alabama high school football player who died after suffering game injury is remembered

An Alabama high school football player who died after being critically injured in a game has been remembered at a memorial service.

Family agrees to settle lawsuit against officer whose police dog killed an Alabama man

The family of a man who was killed by a police dog in Alabama six years ago has agreed to settle its lawsuit against the dog’s handler.

Alabama election officials make voter registration inactive for thousands of potential noncitizens

Alabama’s secretary of state says more than 3,200 voters in the state may not be U.S. citizens. Wes Allen’s office said in a statement Thursday that it had cross-referenced a list of noncitizen identification numbers provided by the Department of Homeland Security with local voter registration data.

Alabama lawyer accused of sexually assaulting handcuffed inmate, lawsuit says

A lawsuit accuses an Alabama lawyer of groping and sexually assaulting an incarcerated woman. The lawsuit filed Tuesday claims former state senator Doug Ghee tried to coerce the woman into being his “sex slave” and promised to use his friendship with the judge and assistant district attorney on her

The last known intact US slave ship is too ‘broken’ and should stay underwater, a report recommends

An investigation funded by the state of Alabama says the last known U.S. slave ship is too broken and decayed to be extracted from the murky waters of the Gulf Coast without dismembering it.

Two couples drop wrongful death suit against Alabama IVF clinic and hospital

Two couples who sued an Alabama hospital and in-vitro fertilization clinic where their embryos were accidentally destroyed have dropped their wrongful death lawsuit.

Alabama taps state and federal agencies to address crime in Montgomery

A coalition of state and local law enforcement officials announced a new task force in Alabama’s capital called the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit.

Families describe assaults and deaths behind bars during hearing on Alabama prison conditions

Families of people incarcerated in Alabama prisons have described assaults, rapes, extortions, deaths and rampant drug availability and overdoses behind bars at a legislative public hearing.

Alabama birthing units are closing to save money and get funding. Some say babies are at risk

One of the last remaining birthing units in southern Alabama is slated to close to qualify for federal funding that will save the hospital’s emergency services.