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.
-
Banning cruise ships is not the first step Seychelles has taken to mitigate the spread of the virus. Its international airport shut down in March is not scheduled to reopen until June 1. -
Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, is released to home confinement early Wednesday due to concerns of exposure to COVID-19, his lawyer tells NPR. -
Chris Carr has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate two district attorneys who previously oversaw the case. "Unfortunately, many questions and concerns have arisen," Carr said. -
Joyette Holmes is the first African American woman to serve as Cobb County, Ga., district attorney. She will be the fourth prosecutor to lead the Ahmaud Arbery case since he was killed in February. -
Two men, Gregory and Travis McMichael, have been charged with murder in connection with the killing of an unarmed black man in February. State officials say the investigation remains open. -
While the Transportation Security Administration is not mandating that passengers wear face coverings, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is requiring all travelers at LAX to do so starting May 11. -
After a five-week delay, the league had its opening day on Tuesday. It came just hours after ESPN signed a deal to broadcast six games per week, starting between 1 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. ET. -
Noting that trials are still in the early phase, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the plan is to develop a vaccine that is safe and effective — and can be quickly scaled up for distribution. -
Voters return Kweisi Mfume to the seat he held for five terms; he was replaced by the late Elijah Cummings in 1996. -
There will be restrictions, including no practices and no more than four players at a facility at one time.
