The Kansas City Defender

The Kansas City Defender Black news, politics, arts & culture.

BREAKING 🚨 Exclusive Video: Horrifying Bodycam Footage Reveals Missouri Cop Firing 9 Shots at Unarmed Black Teen, Contin...
09/18/2026

BREAKING 🚨 Exclusive Video: Horrifying Bodycam Footage Reveals Missouri Cop Firing 9 Shots at Unarmed Black Teen, Continues Shooting As Lifeless Body Lays on Ground

The Kansas City Defender has obtained exclusive video footage of the horrific slaying of Black nineteen-year-old Saveion McConnell. The haunting footage vastly contradicts the police statements that have been disseminated to the media thus far, and it arrives two days after Johnson County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Russell announced that the deputy who killed Saveion will never see a courtroom.

McConnell’s family, and the broader Black community across the Kansas City region, are demanding justice, a reopening of the case, and accountability for the white cop who shot Saveion multiple times, watched his body fall to the ground, and continued shooting the teen at least six times after he lay incapacitated and lifeless on the ground.

“Trying to find a Black kid at night, that’s always fun,” one of the two officers on the recording can be heard saying on body camera in the minutes before Lafayette County Deputy Kenneth Lewie shot nineteen-year-old Saveion McConnell to death on the shoulder of U.S. 50.

In the months since Saveion’s brutal killing, hundreds of students, community members, family, and community organizations have continued to rally for charges to be brought against the cop who killed him, but until now there has been no video evidence of what occurred that night.

Now there is.

And the state’s own memo, which The Defender has also obtained, turns out to be a second piece of evidence, one the prosecutor may not have intended to release into the hands of people who would read it closely.

READ THE FULL STORY ON OUR WEBSITE HERE: https://kansascitydefender.com/justice/saveion-mcconnell-bodycam-video/

09/18/2026

BREAKING 🚨 Exclusive Video: Horrifying Bodycam Footage Reveals Missouri Cop Firing 9 Shots at Unarmed Black Teen, Continues Shooting As Lifeless Body Lays on Ground

The Kansas City Defender has obtained exclusive video footage of the horrific slaying of Black nineteen-year-old Saveion McConnell. The haunting footage vastly contradicts the police statements that have been disseminated to the media thus far, and it arrives two days after Johnson County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Russell announced that the deputy who killed Saveion will never see a courtroom.

McConnell’s family, and the broader Black community across the Kansas City region, are demanding justice, a reopening of the case, and accountability for the white cop who shot Saveion multiple times, watched his body fall to the ground, and continued shooting the teen at least six times after he lay incapacitated and lifeless on the ground.

“Trying to find a Black kid at night, that’s always fun,” one of the two officers on the recording can be heard saying on body camera in the minutes before Lafayette County Deputy Kenneth Lewie shot nineteen-year-old Saveion McConnell to death on the shoulder of U.S. 50.

In the months since Saveion’s brutal killing, hundreds of students, community members, family, and community organizations have continued to rally for charges to be brought against the cop who killed him, but until now there has been no video evidence of what occurred that night. Now there is. And the state’s own memo, which The Defender has also obtained, turns out to be a second piece of evidence, one the prosecutor may not have intended to release into the hands of people who would read it closely.

Meet Our Artist Of The Month: a’sean 🦢 🎤This month we are celebrating A’Sean and his music that is deeply influenced by ...
09/16/2026

Meet Our Artist Of The Month: a’sean 🦢 🎤

This month we are celebrating A’Sean and his music that is deeply influenced by Kansas City’s jazz roots.

We’re thrilled to highlight his creative abilities and share his music with you! His new album ‘A Do Right Man’ is being released October 1st. ✨

Photos by: WHO DID THAT?!!
Written by: Keira Kinner

Black Feast Week returns to Kansas City October 7–11, celebrating the Black chefs, restaurants, and culinary entrepreneu...
09/02/2026

Black Feast Week returns to Kansas City October 7–11, celebrating the Black chefs, restaurants, and culinary entrepreneurs shaping the city’s food culture.

It’s a chance to try somewhere new, return to a longtime favorite and put your dollars behind the Black-owned businesses feeding Kansas City.

Lock in the date and share this with your people! Participating restaurants and more details coming soon.

Black Feast Week
October 7–11, 2026
Kansas City, MO & surrounding areas

FOR OUR FINAL FREE ‘EM FRIDAY POST We honor our ancestor and predecessor in the movement, the great Assata Olugbala Shak...
08/28/2026

FOR OUR FINAL FREE ‘EM FRIDAY POST We honor our ancestor and predecessor in the movement, the great Assata Olugbala Shakur. Assata was a revolutionary through and through who gave her life to the revolution unto exile after escaping from prison in 1979.

If you do not know who Assata Shakur is (which is wild, tbh) our Director of Political Education suggests you read her autobiography ASSATA or watch the documentary “Eyes on The Rainbow” (It’s Free on Youtube).

And with that, we hope you had a Black Ass, Revolutionary Ass, Informative Ass August!

WHAT’S THE CALL?!
FREE EM ALL!!!

THE HAMER FREE FOOD PROGRAM NEEDS YOU THIS SATURDAY.This Saturday, we’re mobilizing to get fresh, Black farm-grown produ...
08/25/2026

THE HAMER FREE FOOD PROGRAM NEEDS YOU THIS SATURDAY.

This Saturday, we’re mobilizing to get fresh, Black farm-grown produce directly into the hands of Black elders in Kansas City FOR FREE, and we’re calling on our people to join us.

Why now, you may ask? Look at the world around us: parasites spreading through corporate lettuce and sickening thousands, global wars sending grocery prices soaring, food wielded as a weapon of war against our communities, we should never forget food is a primary weapon of war.

But in the face of all of it, our self-sustainability and our sovereignty are being grown right here, right now, in Kansas City soil, by hands we know and trust.

This Saturday, August 29, you can join us to pack and distribute food directly to Black elders, sourced directly from Black farms. You do NOT have to give up your entire Saturday. Some roles take as little as an hour.

If you’ve been looking for a concrete way to build with Black people, meet other Black community members, and put Black self-determination into practice, this is it.

SIGN UP NOW, JUST DM US “HAMER”

WHAT IS THE HAMER PROGRAM?

In 2025, Sun Fresh shuttered, SNAP & WIC were slashed, and thousands of Black folks in our city were plunged into extreme food insecurity.

Shortly after, we announced the launch of a historic project to FEED THE PEOPLE. The Defender, KC Black Urban Growers, the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Association, and every major Black farm in the KC metro, united to launch the Hamer Free Food Program, a first-of-its-kind Black-led mutual aid program that distributes fresh produce from Black farms straight to Black families within a one mile radius of 31st and Prospect at ZERO COST.

This Free ‘Em Friday (on a Monday, IYKYK) we are bringing your attention to a political prisoner who was imprisoned 2 YE...
08/24/2026

This Free ‘Em Friday (on a Monday, IYKYK) we are bringing your attention to a political prisoner who was imprisoned 2 YEARS AGO, right in our neighboring city of St. Louis, Missouri. Elijah Gantt is a pastor and organizer who showed up and showed out in the streets for Michael Brown on the ten year anniversary of his death. While there, he was targeted for the use of his VOICE. At some point he made contact with an already injured officer and was convicted as the perpetrator who harmed that officer.

He receives his sentencing on NOVEMBER 20TH at 10 AM! So St. Lou… you know what to do. Show up and show your support for him and his in this time if you can make it!

You can send money for Elijah’s commissary if you venmo: kaitceleste and/or cashapp: $kaitceleste with “Free Elijah” in the messages.

We, at The Defender, need you to understand that the violence of jailing political prisoners will only increase as the Swine-In-Chief is allowed to continue his rampage unchecked and not being held accountable for his actions. Earlier this year he signed and ANTIFA bill, targeting leftist organizations and individuals who dare to speak out against the multiple atrocities and inhumane conditions people across the globe and in our own neighborhoods are facing every day!!

Please get connected, tap in, lock in, because, honestly y’all– THIS IS OUR TIME!

Thank you to freeelijahstl for providing the write up on Elijah Gantt!

The photo in the slide is accredited to: Lacretia Wimbley STLPR

Black August is rooted in political education, discipline and the history of Black resistance. For those looking to deep...
08/24/2026

Black August is rooted in political education, discipline and the history of Black resistance. For those looking to deepen their understanding of that tradition, we put together a reading list examining incarceration, state violence, revolutionary movements and the ideas that have shaped Black liberation struggles across generations.

Start with one, then keep reading.

It has been a month since Argentina defeated its former colonial power, Spain, in the World Cup final.And while the spec...
08/21/2026

It has been a month since Argentina defeated its former colonial power, Spain, in the World Cup final.

And while the spectacle is gone, the racial and political tensions it exposed are not.

Argentina’s run reignited scrutiny over racist chants, fan abuse and a national identity built around whiteness, even as Black Argentines and African migrants have fought erasure, police harassment and exclusion for generations.

Under far-right President Javier Milei, activists say those tensions have become even more visible. His rise echoes the broader global surge of far-right politics, accelerated by Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States: weaponizing resentment, scapegoating marginalized communities and eradicating institutional protections against anti-Black racism.

Read the full story by Jon Jeter and Mili Mansaray, two Black journalists who reported from Argentina 16 years apart, at The Kansas City Defender.

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