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Peaceful protesters continued to gather in cities across the country for a seventh night on Monday, in spite of curfews, escalating police violence, and President Trump’s threats to unleash military force on the American public. Protesters in Washington, DC, also had to contend with low-flying military helicopters, which is a combat-zone tactic. Makes sense!
- Attorney General Bill Barr personally ordered law enforcement to attack peaceful protestors to clear a path for Trump’s campaign-propaganda photo shoot yesterday, having evidently been activated very strongly. Political and religious leaders alike have condemned both Trump’s tear-gas-assisted church photo-op, and his inflammatory threat of military invention. The criticism hasn’t been universal, of course—here’s a fun thread of Republican senators pretending they hadn’t seen the news, or were desperately late to lunch. (Special disingenuousness shout-out to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for pretending to believe that it was protesters who abused their power.)
- Joe Biden dismantled Trump’s incendiary response to the protests in a speech this morning at Philadelphia City Hall, denouncing Trump’s racist rhetoric and his efforts to turn the country “into a battlefield.” In his first formal public address since the coronavirus lockdowns began, Biden spoke to the pain the country is experiencing, called on Congress to enact policing reforms, and drew a stark contrast between himself and Trump: “Nobody will get everything right. And I won’t either. But I promise you this. I won’t traffic in fear and division. I won’t fan the flames of hate. I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country—not use them for political gain.”
- Trump’s authoritarian little stroll to St. John’s Church was reportedly a compromise to make him feel Strong after he felt humiliated by news reports about him hiding in a bunker. Advisors spent Monday morning talking him out of sending troops to states, instead of just DC. If Trump follows through on dramatically escalating the situation by deploying the military to stop peaceful protests outside the capital, he could only do so legally by invoking the Insurrection Act. That’s an 1807 law that gives the president authority to send the military into U.S. cities and towns to tamp down domestic unrest, for limited legal purposes. Unless governors request military intervention, which none have, Trump can only deploy troops to protect federal property or enforce federal law. It should be noted that Pentagon officials consider this to be a very bad idea.
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If Trump hoped to charm Christians by walking to a church and holding a bible very strongly weirdly, that masterstroke may have backfired.
- Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, was Old Testament-style pissed: “Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese, without permission, as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.” Then the Potomac River turned to blood, which was cool. While clearing the church patio before the photo op, police tear gassed at least one priest, who was also incensed.
- Trump triggered more religious criticism today with a visit to a Washington, DC shrine honoring Pope John Paul II. Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory issued this extraordinary statement ahead of his arrival: “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree.”
There’s no real way to deny that Trump demanding a violent assault on peaceful protesters for the sake of a political photo op was a disgusting abuse of power. To quote Joe Biden, it encapsulated his greater interest in “power than in principle,” which makes him completely unsuited to meet this moment, let alone to hold the office of the presidency. As protests and curfews continue, the remaining question is whether the episode was a preview of a larger authoritarian assault on Americans’ safety and constitutional rights ahead of the election. Votesaveamerica.com.
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Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms talks to Jon Favreau about the George Floyd protests, what the public hopes to achieve by protesting, and how we can implement police reform for a better future. Take a look→ youtube.com/crookedmedia
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Louisville, KY, has fired its police chief over the fatal shooting of David McAtee during a Sunday night protest, after officials learned that the two police officers involved had not activated their body cameras. The protests in Louisville have centered on the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was herself fatally shot by police in her home in March. McAtee was shot as police and the National Guard returned fire at armed protesters, while trying to disperse the crowd. Police Chief Steve Conrad had already announced his retirement, and in spite of his firing, will still receive his pension and pay for unused days off. Today Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer released security camera footage that city officials claimed shows McAtee firing first, but noted that without audio on the videos and with police interviews still pending, they don’t have all the answers. McAtee’s nephew said he was shot while trying to protect his wounded niece, and was known to feed policemen at his BBQ joint for free.
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- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for an investigation into a police attack on two Australian journalists outside the White House on Monday. The journalists were part of the crowd police officers violently dispersed during President Trump’s Rose Garden statement.
- Six Atlanta police officers have been charged after forcibly pulling two college students out of a car. The students were driving past a protest when the officers smashed the car’s windows and used a taser while pulling them from the car.
- Twitter said it has shut down multiple accounts that were run by white supremacists posing as Antifa and other liberal groups, while encouraging violence at protests. Not a soul on Earth, let alone Donald Trump, Jr., could have seen this coming.
- Civil rights leaders said they were stunned by Mark Zuckerberg’s “incomprehensible explanations” for allowing Trump’s posts to stay up on Facebook, following a Zoom call on Monday night. Today Zuckerberg told his employees that he stands by decision in a staff-wide call. At least two Facebook employees have resigned in protest, and employees’ top voted question ahead of their call was, “Can we please change our policies around political speech? Fact checking and removal of hate speech shouldn’t be exempt for politicians.”
- Protesters have been toppling Confederate statues all over the south. On Monday night protestors took down Confederate monuments in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, and vandalized statues in Virginia and South Carolina.
- Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore has faced a flood of calls to resign after saying that George Floyd’s death was as much on the hands of looters “as it is on those officers.” Moore has repeatedly apologized, but, y’know. A monumental yikes.
- Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich has been running the $3 trillion coronavirus bailout, of which his family’s investment firm has been a major beneficiary. Muzinich himself still has financial ties to that firm.
- Tiffany Trump joined the “Blackout Tuesday” social media trend, which is intended to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. (BLM activists have pointed out that the trend actually hides useful information and therefore sucks, so probably skip it unless you are the president’s passive-aggressive child.)
- Carol Baskin has gained control of Joe Exotic's former zoo. We haven't seen Tiger King and do not know if this is good or bad. Sound off in the comments.
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Eight states and Washington, DC, held primary elections today, something we all remembered was happening. The presidential primary results won’t be particularly thrilling, but there are a couple of things to keep an eye on.
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First, today is something of a dry run for a vote-by-mail election in November. Today’s elections in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island were postponed from April and May dates, giving voters time to request absentee ballots. Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and DC have largely shifted to become mail-in primaries. In Pennsylvania, more than twice as many Democrats have requested absentee ballots than Republicans, which some Republicans (quite reasonably) worry is the result of Trump’s sustained attacks on vote-by-mail as a concept.
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You’ll particularly want to watch Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) primary, which he just might lose after nine terms in office. You may remember King from such career highlights as: putting a Confederate flag on his office desk, vocally defending white nationalism, saying vile things about immigrants, and arguing that rape and incest have been essential to the survival of humanity. Those remarks have collectively done a number on his popularity, for some reason, and he’s facing his toughest primary challenge yet. Iowa…please. We need this.
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The Minnesota Department of Human Rights will launch a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.
A Minneapolis school asked for groceries to help families in areas impacted by looting, and was overwhelmed by thousands of donations.
Rahul Dubey, a Washington, DC, resident, opened his home to nearly 100 protesters after police corralled them onto his block with pepper-spray.
The Brands have begun pledging donations to bail funds and anti-racism organizations.
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