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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Trump's defense used roughly three of their 16 hours to push back on House impeachment managers' case that Trump should be convicted for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. -
A Minnesota judge cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as reason to have Derek Chauvin's trial start on March 8, while the other officers involved in Floyd's death will have their trial in August. -
Detective Joshua Jaynes, who secured the search warrant for Taylor's apartment, and Detective Myles Cosgrove, who federal investigators said fired the shot that killed her, have been terminated. -
Kenosha, Wis., police Officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white, shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back in August after Blake slowly walked away from officers and toward a parked vehicle. -
The new curfew for El Paso County, Texas went into effect just after midnight Wednesday and runs through Monday. The judge who issued the order said it was "not as rigid" as he wanted. -
"The Morgue Attendant will be provided maximum PPE, will be tasked with physically moving bodies, and will require the ability to lift between 100-400 lbs. with assistance," the job listing states. -
The judge's order calls for the closure of hair salons, gyms and restaurant dine-in services. The Texas attorney general says the judge has "no authority" to impose the shutdown. -
The judge said he was "left with no choice" but to impose a countywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. He noted El Paso County has seen a 160% increase in its positivity rate in the last three weeks. -
Former Wolfe City police Officer Shaun Lucas faces a murder charge in the killing of Jonathan Price. Price reportedly extended his hand to Lucas for a handshake shortly before he was shot dead. -
Texas state officials announced the arrest of Wolfe City police officer Shaun Lucas for shooting and killing Jonathan Price. Officials said the officer's actions "were not objectionably reasonable."
