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 suit names Gregory and Travis McMichael, as well as William "Roddie" Bryan, who are all facing felony murder charges in connection with Arbery's death. -
Amy Cooper had been facing a charge of falsely reporting an incident to police, after she told them Christian Cooper, who is not related to her, threatened her in a New York City park. He did not. -
The Republican from Nebraska speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, the future of the GOP and working with the Biden administration. -
Austin's near-unanimous confirmation came despite concerns raised on both sides of the aisle that he hadn't been out of uniform for the legally mandated minimum seven-year period. -
Austin, a retired four-star Army general, served in the military for 40 years including as the first Black general to lead U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. -
At least a dozen people died and more than 80 people fell ill after untreated water from the Flint River caused lead to leach from old pipes, poisoning the water system city residents relied on. -
"I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards of beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia," D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said. -
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. -
Twitter has suspended more than 70,000 accounts spreading the QAnon conspiracy theory since Friday. Facebook is removing content with the phrase "stop the steal." -
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.
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Thirty-six people stationed at the General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base had tested positive for the virus, Chilean officials said this week.
