Tag: George Floyd

Top newspapers deliver scathing rebukes of Trump’s absence as nation protests: ‘He had nothing to say’

AlterNet logoThe Washington Post and The New York Times served up hard-hitting news articles Sunday night rebuking President Donald Trump’s absence on the sixth day and night of protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

“Never in the 1,227 days of Trump’s presidency has the nation seemed to cry out for leadership as it did Sunday, yet Trump made no attempt to provide it.” The Washington Post‘s Philip Rucker reported, adding that “Trump stayed safely ensconced inside and had nothing to say, besides tweeting fuel on the fire.”

Rucker, the Post’s White House Bureau Chief, did not stop his clear recriminations there. Continue reading.

Minnesota AG Keith Ellison to take over case in Floyd killing

In an unusual legal maneuver, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will take the lead in the prosecution of the fired Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week in police custody.

Gov. Tim Walz said Sunday that he concluded Ellison needed to take over the case from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office at the urging of Floyd’s family, community activists, and some members of the Minneapolis City Council seeking a vigorous prosecution of the officer, 44-year-old Derek Chauvin.

“This decision is one that I feel takes us in that direction and the step to start getting the justice for George Floyd,” Walz said Sunday. “When I spoke to the Floyd family they were very clear: They wanted the system to work for them. They wanted to believe that there was trust and they wanted to feel like the facts would be heard and justice would be served.” Continue reading.

The Memo: Strife turns up heat on Trump

The Hill logoThe gravest civil unrest in half a century is piling pressure on a president who has usually been more adept at exploiting America’s divisions than healing them.

Protests sparked by the death of George Floyd a week ago in Minneapolis have touched at least 75 cities.

Throughout the weekend, cable news broadcasts showed near-constant footage of disorder. Viewers saw gratuitously aggressive policing, nihilistic vandalism on the part of some protesters and everything in between. Continue reading.

President Obama: How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change

As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice, many people have reached out asking how we can sustain momentum to bring about real change.

Ultimately, it’s going to be up to a new generation of activists to shape strategies that best fit the times. But I believe there are some basic lessons to draw from past efforts that are worth remembering.

First, the waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States. The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation — something that police in cities like Camden and Flint have commendably understood. Continue reading.

Facebook staff anger over Trump post

Facebook staff have spoken out against the tech giant’s decision not to remove or flag a controversial post by US President Donald Trump last week.

Mr Trump took to Facebook to repeat a tweet about the widespread protests in Minneapolis, following the death of George Floyd in police custody.

Twitter had placed a warning over the content, which it said “glorified violence”, but Facebook said it did not violate its company policy.

Some staff said they were ‘ashamed’. Continue reading.

George Floyd’s brother on Trump’s condolence call: ‘He didn’t give me the opportunity to even speak’

AlterNet logoSince Donald Trump is about as soothing as a ghost pepper enema, this is no surprise. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be outraged.

The Rev. Al Sharpton interviewed George Floyd’s brother Philonise on MSNBC earlier today, and guess what? Trump flubbed his condolence call, coming off as neither empathetic nor particularly interested.

I know. Shocking.

White supremacy groups are hoping to leverage George Floyd’s death into their longed-for ‘race war’

AlterNet logoThe protests that have spread across the nation in the wake of the murder of George Floyd have attracted a diverse group of supporters that go beyond local Black communities and national organizations. At events in Washington, New York, Minneapolis, and elsewhere, community activists have been joined by allies, by groups supporting Latinos, Indian groups, and even groups of Mennonite farmers speaking out in support and showing up for protests.

But, with dozens of buildings burned and Donald Trump preparing to bring in the military, there’s a growing sense that the violence in many cases isn’t originating from within the local Black community. In multiple instances, there have been incidents that seemed to spring up on the periphery of peaceful protests, leading to violent confrontations and property destruction. And increasingly, there are reports that these events are not originating organically from the protests or from confrontations between protesters and the police. There is a very real feeling that white supremacists are using this moment to create incidents designed to justify still more violence and suppression.

With dozens of protests across the nation, not every event is the same. For example, it’s not hard to see what sparked this incident Atlanta, where a police officer slams a bicycle into a Black woman for having the audacity to wave a finger at him while saying “Don’t touch me.” It’s clear that the violence in this particular moment originated direct from the police. Continue reading.

Their Minneapolis Restaurant Burned, but They Back the Protest

New York Times logoThough a Bangladeshi family lost their business in the uproar over the death of George Floyd, they support demonstrators and helped medics treat them.

On Friday morning, as dawn broke through the smoke hanging over Minneapolis, the Gandhi Mahal Restaurant was severely damaged by fire. Hafsa Islam, whose father owns the Bangladeshi-Indian restaurant with members of his family, woke at 6 a.m. to hear the news.

“At first, I was angry,” said Ms. Islam, 18. “This is my family’s main source of income.”

But then she overheard her father, Ruhel Islam, speaking to a friend on the phone. “Let my building burn,” he said. “Justice needs to be served.” Continue reading.

Trump envisioned ‘American carnage.’ Now, he’s got it.

Analysis: The president has met protests against state violence with calls for more of it.

WASHINGTON, DC — When President Donald Trump first addressed the nation as its president on Jan. 20, 2017, he depicted the nation’s cities as domestic combat zones and declared “this American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

Back then, it was hyperbole at best. But it’s become reality on his watch, and he has encouraged further violence.

More than 100,000 Americans have lost their lives, and another 40 million their livelihoods, amid a coronavirus pandemic to which Trump was slow to react. Against that backdrop, cities across the country are now combustible cauldrons of fear, anger, fire and tear gas as Trump has responded to the violence with threats and little evidence of understanding its cause. Continue reading.

Atlanta Mayor: Trump’s Response To Protests ‘Like Charlottesville All Over Again’

“He speaks and he makes it worse,” Keisha Lance Bottoms said of the president’s remarks about protests over George Floyd’s death.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Sunday condemned President Donald Trump’s response to the nationwide protests sparked by George Floyd’s death, calling it reminiscent of his response to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“He should just stop talking,” Bottoms said during an appearance on CNN’s “State Of The Union.” “This is like Charlottesville all over again. He speaks and he makes it worse.”

“There are times when you should just be quiet, and I wish that he would just be quiet,” she added. “Or if he can’t be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of the teleprompter and pray that he reads it and at least says the right things.” Continue reading.