Rich Oppel is a national enterprise and investigative correspondent based in New York.
Mr. Oppel grew up in the South and in Michigan, went to high school and college in North Carolina (where, as an 11-year-old, he sold newspapers at Nascar races.) After school, he spent a year as a stringer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, then moved to Texas to take a job as a metro reporter for the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. He then covered business and government at the Dallas Morning News. He joined The New York Times as a business reporter in 1999, but returned to Texas a year later to become the Dallas correspondent, covering the nation’s energy crisis and other business stories. In 2002, he joined the Washington bureau.
Mr. Oppel did rotations for The Times to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and in one case, Israel-Lebanon. He has done more than 20 embeds with Marines and soldiers, and one with Israel’s Golani brigade.
He is a graduate of Duke University.
Much about the shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr. by a sheriff’s deputy has been disputed — what led to it, why it happened and where exactly on his body Mr. Goodson was shot.
By Lucia Walinchus and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
The shooting and its aftermath were guaranteed to ratchet up tensions in a country already on edge. Debates about how to improve police accountability have been complicated by looting.
By Jon Hurdle, Campbell Robertson and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
This was featured in live coverage.
By Dionne Searcey and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Gun buyers say they are motivated by a new destabilizing sense that is pushing them to purchase weapons for the first time, or if they already have them, to buy more.
By Dionne Searcey and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
The 15 hours of recordings include interviews with witnesses, audio of 911 calls and other evidence — but few statements from prosecutors.
By Will Wright, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and John Eligon
Demonstrators marched downtown without police intervention a day after a grand jury decided not to charge the officers who fatally shot Ms. Taylor. After curfew, protesters took refuge at a church.
A grand jury didn’t charge any officers with killing Ms. Taylor in her apartment, prompting protests nationwide. A former detective was indicted on three counts of “wanton endangerment.”
By The New York Times
Rank-and-file officers in hundreds of police departments are considerably more white than the communities they serve, according to a New York Times analysis of new federal data.
By Lauren Leatherby and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
As right-wing groups increasingly move to confront unrest in cities, clashes are breaking out between demonstrators with starkly different views on how to keep cities safe.
By Mike Baker, Julie Bosman and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
The authorities said an earlier sexual assault charge was the reason for the restraints, which were removed on Friday.
By John Eligon, Sarah Mervosh and Richard A. Oppel Jr.