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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Taylor was shot and killed in her apartment by Louisville police last March. "I can't believe it's a year later and we're still just asking people to do the right thing," her mother said recently. -
The new three-member investor group which purchased the team includes former Dream player Renee Montgomery, making her the first retired player to have become both a co-owner and a WNBA executive. -
The parliamentarian is often called the referee of arcane Senate rules. MacDonough has been thrust into the spotlight for ruling against adding a minimum wage hike to the coronavirus relief package. -
John Geddert, 63, who coached the women's gold medal team in the 2012 Summer Olympics, was charged Thursday with two dozen criminal counts. An official says he took his life later the same day.
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The Tokyo Organizing Committee are urging spectators to only clap, not cheer, when the Olympic torchbearers make their way through Japan starting March 25. -
Robert Stewart was among the first Black officers hired by the LAPD. He spent 11 years on the force before he was unjustly terminated, according to the Los Angeles Police Commission. -
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. -
Dominion is seeking damages of $1.3 billion. According to the complaint, Lindell knowingly spread disinformation that Dominion's voting systems rigged the 2020 presidential election. -
Nearly 3 million Texas electricity customers are enduring extreme cold and some cities say tap water must be boiled. One utility says its repair crews have been harassed by angry residents. -
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. -
As she takes the helm of the World Trade Organization, the former Nigerian finance minister faces challenges from COVID-19 response to navigating trade frictions between the U.S. and China.
