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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State officials say the overnight twisters damaged buildings and roads across multiple counties. Thousands are without power, and a state of emergency remains in effect.
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Sun is accused of violating doping rules by smashing a vial containing his blood sample when anti-doping officials came to his home to retrieve it. He is expected to appeal the ban.
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Former Mayor Catherine Pugh was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to federal fraud, tax and conspiracy charges last year involving sales of her self-published children's books.
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In an essay, Sharapova says she is stepping away from the sport she's been playing for 28 years. She's a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, who also served a 15-month ban for doping.
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The Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive for the jetliner that stems from a faulty component that could make the aircraft vulnerable to lightning strikes.
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Some 20,000 people got tickets to say farewell to NBA great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. People without tickets were being urged to watch at home.
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Tribes had sued because the law required voters to present identification with their home's street address — which often doesn't exist on reservations. Emergency rules will broaden the ID allowed.
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Four state Senate Democrats broke ranks in tabling a bill that would have banned the sale or transfer of certain assault-style weapons. It also would have banned magazines with more than 12 rounds.
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U.S. officials said the people infected with the virus were isolated from the other passengers. The two evacuation flights landed at military bases in California and Texas.
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In a notice sent to Congress Thursday, the Pentagon said it is shifting billions from fighter jets and other weapons to help pay for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.