Tag: racial injustice

Texas GOP Officials Smear Soros As Protest Paymaster

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a statewide elected Republican official, has posted multiple memes and comments on his Facebook page in recent days falsely claiming that billionaire George Soros orchestrated nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd.

The posts are similar in nature and tone to some of the racist posts by local GOP officials in recent daysthat suggested the killing of Floyd in Minneapolis police custody was done with the intent of starting a race war or to erode black support for President Donald Trump. The posts from those local officials have prompted calls for resignation from the state’s top GOP officials.

One post from Miller on Sunday included an image of Soros with accompanying text that read, “Climate change didn’t work. Impeachment didn’t work. The virus didn’t work. Start the race war.” Continue reading.

Faith community takes center stage as thousands again gather for 10th day of protests in D.C.

Washington Post logoAcknowledging that their voice had been missing, the Washington region’s faith community stood front and center Sunday as thousands of protesters again converged in the nation’s capital in the 10th straight day of protests against racism and police brutality.

After Saturday’s demonstration in the District drew more than 10,000 participants — the biggest crowd since protests in the city began May 29 — Sunday brought still more peaceful mass gatherings, underscored by the presence of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) marching outside the Capitol as people around him chanted, “Do justice! Do justice!”

Asked why he was there, Romney, the first GOP senator to attend the protests that have been disparaged by President Trump and several other members of his party, embraced the week’s mantra, saying he wants to find “a way to end violence and brutality and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.” Continue reading.

America is besieged by multiple threats — and the president is failing catastrophically on all fronts

AlterNet logoThe human brain has a hard time focusing on too many things at time. So it’s more than understandable that the all-encompassing fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its drastic economic effects would take a back seat during the historic wave of protests against police violence. Living through more than one once-in-several-generations events at a time can make the head spin.

But that’s why we have governments with specialized tasks. What might be overwhelming to an individual should not be impossible for a competent government. It should be possible for an effective administration to soothe the nation and begin to address police unaccountability, while mobilizing a pandemic response and shoring up the economy.

Unfortunately, we do not have a competent or effective president. Worse, the Trump Administration’s malpractice, in fact, extends far beyond benign neglect to actively corrupt malevolence. Continue reading.

White House almost completely surrounded by more than a mile of fencing

Washington Post logoProtesters arriving in the nation’s capital for the ninth consecutive day of demonstrations found the White House encircled by more than a mile of tall metal fencing.

The previous day, work crews had erected enough fencing — reinforced by white concrete barriers — to bar entry to Lafayette Square and to outline half of the Ellipse, the sloping green lawn that abuts the executive residence. But between Friday night and Saturday afternoon — on a day expected to draw tens of thousands to protest in the District — they added enough fencing to block the rest of the Ellipse.

In total, Google Maps analysis suggests, roughly 1.7 miles of fencing now surrounds the White House, forming a gigantic metal cocoon. There are only two portions of the White House perimeter, on the northeast and northwest corners, that do not have additional fencing and concrete barriers. Continue reading.

Fox News Chart: Killing Black People Boosts Stocks

On Friday evening, Fox News displayed a bar graph showing how well the stock market performed after historical instances of attacking and killing black people. It’s a somewhat ghoulish graphic to release following the murders of George Floyd and Jamel Floyd (no relation) by police and the nationwide protests that have received even more police violence.

“Historically there has been a disconnect between what investors focus on and what happens in the rest of the country,” the Fox News anchorwoman said of the graphic. “For instance in 1968, the week after the tragedy of Martin Luther King, the S&P 500 rose over two percent. Also, up the week of the Rodney King ruling.”

The chart’s data seems to have been taken from a Fortune article entitled, “The stock market has a long history of ignoring social upheaval” in which investment research CEO David Trainer said, “Social unrest issues have very little long-term impact on markets.” The article went on to say that the stock markets tend to look ahead to fiscal responses to international trade conditions and support from the federal government rather than immediate civil unrest. Continue reading.

Wichita State Cancels Ivanka Trump’s Commencement Speech—And She Blames ‘Cancel Culture,’ ‘Discrimination’

TOPLINE:

Wichita State University Tech nixed a virtual commencement speech from Ivanka Trump because of the George Floyd protests, prompting Trump, a White House senior advisor and the president’s daughter, to decry “cancel culture” and “viewpoint discrimination.”

KEY FACTS

  • Hours after WSU Tech announced that Ivanka Trump’s would give a commencement speech on Saturday, the university abruptly canceled her address.
  • In response to complaints from some students and faculty, the university’s president Sheree Utash said the timing of the announcement was “insensitive” because of “social justice issues brought forth by George Floyd’s death.”

Continue reading.

Thousands gathered across city to protest death of George Floyd

Washington Post logoThousands of demonstrators streamed into the nation’s capital on Saturday, in the largest local protests so far over police brutality and racial oppression in the United States. On a hot and humid day, people carrying protest signs marched, many with their children, toward the area around the besieged White House, where authorities used tan military Humvees and dump trucks to cordon off large sections to vehicle traffic.

Here are some significant developments:

• Organizers with Black Lives Matter in the District painted “Defund the Police” on 16th Street NW near the section in front of the White House that D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza” a day earlier. Continue reading.

Minneapolis’ ‘long, hot summer’ of ‘67 – and the parallels to today’s protests over police brutality

The scene was intense. Black residents of Minneapolis angered over an incident of police brutality fought with officers in the streets and set buildings ablaze. Many were injured; dozens were arrested. Eventually the National Guard, called in to patrol the streets, ordered black citizens back into their homes.

This may sound a lot like a scene from the past week, but it’s actually a flashback to 1967, when African Americans took to the streets of north Minneapolis after a series of abuses that, like today, culminated in days of unrest.

It took place in one of the “long, hot summers” of the 1960s, when black Americans in cities across the country protested and rioted over police abuse and segregation. While our history books remind us of famous riots in major cities like Los Angeles, Newark and Detroit, what took place in Minneapolis – where the black population back then was just 8% – is often forgotten. Continue reading.

Trump claimed no ‘tear gas’ was used on White House protesters — now a US official says that was based on a ‘mistake’

AlterNet logoU.S. Park Police walked back its claim on Friday that no “tear gas” was used to clear protesters in front of the White House before President Donald Trump crossed the street for his ill-fated photo-op on Monday.

The president and his allies had used the claim that there hadn’t been any tear gas used to hit back against critics in the media and elsewhere, who argued it was inappropriate and abusive to clear the street of peaceful protesters. (Trump supporters also argued, with little supportive evidence and extensive reporting to the contrary, that the protest had become violent.)

But Sgt. Eduardo Delgado of the Park Police told Vox on Friday that it was a “mistake” for the department to have previously claimed that tear gas wasn’t used, in addition to the smoke bombs, brute force, and rubber projectiles that struck protesters. Continue reading.

National Guard investigating helicopter use on D.C. protesters

The Guard said Wednesday that it is looking into the use of a medical evacuation helicopter as part of its response to civil unrest in D.C.

The commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard has ordered an investigation into the use of helicopters flying low over protesters on Monday, the branch announced.

The probe is in response to reports and videos of National Guard helicoptershovering over crowds, blowing dust and falling branches. One Army helicopter reportedly snapped a tree that nearly hit several people during a pass over protesters.

The Guard said Wednesday that it is looking into the use of a medical evacuation helicopter as part of its response to civil unrest in the nation’s capital. Continue reading.