Crooked Media - What A Day: Blunt, ready to roll

A conviction for one murderous police officer marked an unusual moment of accountability, but it won’t do much if anything to address the systemic issues that perpetuate police violence in the first place. So what happens next?
 

• First, a quick well-deserved ratio-ing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Then, some federal action: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department has launched a civil investigation into whether the Minneapolis police department “engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional, unlawful policing.” We’ll just helpfully point them to this finding that Minneapolis cops have used force against Black people at rate at least seven times higher than they have against white people, and boldly predict that the answer is “yes.” Interestingly enough, retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) is all for the probe, citing his positive impression of the pattern and practice investigation the DOJ conducted in Ferguson. 
   
• On Tuesday evening, President Biden urged Congress to get moving on federal police reform. The George Floyd Justice in Police Act passed the House in March, but Republicans have filibustered it in the Senate—primarily over a provision to change qualified immunity, the doctrine that protects law enforcement officers who brutalize people from civil liability. The bill would also ban deadly chokeholds and no-knock warrants, restrict the flow of military-grade equipment to state and local agencies, and create a national police-misconduct registry, among other measures. 
   
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the Senate’s lone Black Republican, said on Wednesday that he plans to reintroduce his alternate police reform bill, which has the distinction of being toothless: Scott opposes ending qualified immunity. He’s discussed a potential compromise with Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), but until Senate Democrats nuke the filibuster, the most important provisions that would make it easier to sue and prosecute violent police officers are almost certainly out of reach.

Nothing underscores the need for structural change quite like another horrific police killing on the very day of Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
 

• Columbus, OH, police officer Nicholas Reardon shot and killed Ma'Khia Bryant, a Black 16-year-old girl, on Tuesday afternoon—just minutes before the jury rendered its verdict in Minneapolis. The Columbus police department quickly released partial body camera footage that they said shows Bryant trying to stab another girl with a knife, to explain why Reardon felt it necessary to open fire on a child within seconds of his arrival. Bryant called 911 for help after she was threatened, according to her aunt, and another officer reportedly yelled “blue lives matter” at her neighbors and family members, after the shooting.
   
• The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has opened a probe into the shooting. In a Wednesday press conference, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther called Bryant’s death “a failure on the part of the community”: “Bottom line—did Ma’khia Bryant need to die yesterday? How did we get here?” Reardon has been on the force for less than two years, but Columbus didn’t just stumble into police violence yesterday: Franklin County has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings in the U.S., with a disproportionate number of Black victims.

There’s plenty of room for argument over what structural changes in policing should look like. Where the fight absolutely can’t end is with the occasional prosecution of a police officer who brazenly murdered someone for 10 long minutes on camera—a hard-won bare minimum that won’t save the next Ma’khia Bryant.

Right now, Senate Democrats have the power to stop the wave of voter suppression laws sweeping the country by passing the For the People Act. But first, they have to come together and eliminate the filibuster.

To do your part to end the filibuster, head over to votesaveamerica.com/forthepeople and use our new whip count to find out where your Senator stands. If they’re on the fence, give them a call using our call tool.

Together, we can unbreak the Senate and save our democracy. Check out votesaveamerica.com/forthepeople today.

A Nebraska study on asymptomatic coronavirus infections in schools suggests that school infection rates may be higher than we thought. In the first phase of a pilot program that screened students and staff without symptoms weekly, participating schools had infection rates that were two and a half times higher for staff and nearly six times higher for students at schools using conventional, limited testing. The program also found school infection rates that were 10 times higher than reported within the surrounding counties. The study didn’t look at whether those infections were contracted at school or brought in from outside, but the findings make pretty clear that ramping up proactive testing at schools should be a priority either way.

• The Senate has confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all Democrats as the only Republican to support her nomination.
   
• The Arizona House just passed a voter-suppression bill that could purge thousands of voters from the state’s permanent early voting list, preventing them from voting by mail. The bill will now go back to the state Senate for final approval. 
   
• House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has spun the Big Wheel of Nonsensical Reasons Washington, DC, Can’t Become A State and landed on “it’s got crimes.” Great spin, Steve.
   
• Joseph Cuffari, the DHS inspector general, blocked proposed investigations into the Secret Service last year, both around the agency’s role in clearing protesters from Lafayette Square on June 1, and its possible flouting of coronavirus protocols. Staffers in the IG office reportedly complained that Cuffari was reluctant to pursue investigations that might criticize Donald Trump.
   
• The Postal Service's law enforcement arm has been surveilling Americans' social media posts, for some reason. Hey USPS, stick to your strength: Arresting Steve Bannon on boats.
   
• The Wisconsin Foxconn factory that Trump bragged would create 13,000 jobs will ultimately employ just 1,454 people, in a state Trump lost by more than 20,000 votes anyway. A sparkling triumph from every angle.
   
• Former New Jersey Bridge Obstructor Chris Christie is reportedly considering a run for president in 2024. Everyone get some sleep, it’s gonna be a dumb four years.
   
• OAN has fired a producer who told the New York Times that employees knew the network’s coverage was harmful bullshit.
   
• RIP, European Super League. We hardly knew ye, but soccer fans sure did immediately hate ye.

Global coronavirus case numbers have hit a new record high, according to the WHO, with 5.24 million new cases reported last week. That surge has largely been driven by India’s devastating second wave: Authorities reported nearly 300,000 new cases on Wednesday alone, and in cities like New Delhi, hospitals are overwhelmed and running low on oxygen. At least 22 people died at a coronavirus hospital in Western India after an oxygen tank ruptured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed major Hindu festivals and huge political rallies to go forward, as cities and states increasingly implement their own lockdowns. India’s surge has already had a ripple effect on the global vaccine rollout, as the country scales down vaccine exports to vaccinate as many people domestically as possible. India’s Serum Institute has urged the U.S. to lift an export ban on the raw materials it needs to ramp up vaccine production.

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The USDA announced that it will extend free lunches for all students through the 2021-2022 school year.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced that it will no longer prosecute people arrested for consensual sex work. 

Virginia has officially become the first southern state to legalize marijuana. 

Yellow Owl Workshop, the business that made Kyrsten Sinema’s quirky “Fuck Off” ring featured in a regrettable viral photo, will donate all profits from sales of that ring to National Employment Law Project, which is fighting to raise the federal minimum wage.