Category: News

Posted on

Trump Addresses Nation Over George Floyd Protests

Donald Trump addressed the nation tonight regarding the ongoing protests in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd of Minneapolis by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes until he lost consciousness. But the president spent barely 15 seconds on the death of Mr. Floyd. Instead, while declaring himself an “ally of peaceful protesters,” police across the street from the White House fired tear gas on a peaceful protest so he could attend a photo op at the nearby St. John’s Church, where there was a parish house basement fire Sunday night. Watch a split-screen view of Trump’s speech and the police moving on the peaceful protesters all at once, with no provocation. Make sure you get to the 2-minute mark where you see the police move en masse, firing tear gas out of nowhere.

During his short speech, he called demonstrations in reaction to the death of George Floyd in police custody were “acts of domestic terror.” He also announced an “overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled.” Trump added, “If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” After walking to the nearby church, Trump was handed a bible for a photo opp. He didn’t visit the church or its damaged parish house. The protesters were cleared out so he could pose with a bible. What Trump missed amid all of this today is that the vast majority of those protesting across the country are calling for ‘law and order’ as well. Those protesters are calling for an end to episodes where a white police officer kneels on a suspect’s neck until they die just because they are black. The Trumpster seems to think that ‘dominating’ black people, dominating peaceful protesters is ‘law and order.’ It’s not. The country waited days to hear from its president, and this is what we got. What we are witnessing is a failure of presidential leadership at a critical time in the country’s history. Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued the following statement:

“What we heard from the Rose Garden tonight could have come from Bull Connor or George Wallace. Instead, they were the words of Donald Trump. As a reminder, Mr. President, we have a Constitution. We have the right to peacefully protest, even if it interferes with your photo op. We have the right to free speech, even if you don’t like it. We have the rule of law, even if you continue to try to thwart it and deny its application to all. We have the right to liberty and justice for all.

“You cannot silence us, Mr. President, because you don’t like the message or the speaker. This country is not governed by authoritarian rule, despite your best efforts. We are going to advocate and fight for our country and the freedoms our forebearers died for. You will hear us — tonight, tomorrow and on Election Day.”

Posted on

ACLU: Know Your Rights If You Attend Public Protests

The ACLU wants you to know your rights if you consider taking part in public protests

  1. The right to protest is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment.
  2. If you get stopped, ask if you are free to go. If the police say yes, calmly walk away.
  3. You have the right to record. The right to protest includes the right to record, including recording police doing their jobs.
  4. The police can order people to stop interfering with legitimate police operations, but video recording from a safe distance is not interfering.
  5. If you get stopped, police cannot take or confiscate any videos or photos without a warrant.
  6. If you are videotaping, keep in mind in some states, the audio is treated differently than the images. But images and video images are always fully protected by the First Amendment.
  7. The police’s main job in a protest is to protect your right to protest and to de-escalate any threat of violence.
  8. If you get arrested, don’t say anything. Ask for a lawyer immediately. Do not sign anything and do not agree to anything without an attorney present.
  9. If you get arrested, demand your right to a local phone call. If you call a lawyer for legal advice, law enforcement is not allowed to listen.
  10. Police cannot delete data from your device under any circumstances.

Posted on

Trump Repeats Proposal To Reinstate Russia To G-7

Donald Trump continues to shill for Russian President Vladimir Putin
On Saturday, Donald Trump proposed to expand the G-7 by adding four non-member nations, including Russia. The other countries on Trump’s longer invitee list were India, Australia and South Korea. The group suspended Russia’s membership in 2014 over its annexation of Crimea in Ukraine. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Monday that Russia should not be welcomed back. The U.K. has also signaled that it would veto any such plan.

“Its continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms is why it remains outside of the G-7 and it will continue to remain out,” said Trudeau, who later added in French: “It will not be acceptable to accept it within the G-7.”

Decisions on membership must be backed unanimously by the G-7 members.

Trump also proposed reinstating Russia ahead of the 2018 G-7 summit, which was hosted in Canada by Trudeau.

(via Politico)

Posted on

Grindr Deletes Ethnicity Filter, Stands With #BlackLivesMatter

gay dating app Grindr

In response to the ongoing protests across the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died face down on the ground, handcuffed with a knee on his neck for several minutes, the gay dating app Grindr says “We will not be silent.” In posts to the company’s social media accounts, Grindr has announced the ethnicity filter on its app is history. Gone.⁣

View this post on Instagram

We will not be silent. Black lives matter. ⁣ ⁣ We were planning to announce our #PridePerseveres initiative today, but in light of the ongoing violence and injustices against our POC family, that no longer feels appropriate. How can we launch a month of celebration when so many of us are hurting? How can we celebrate Pride without acknowledging that we wouldn’t even HAVE a Pride month if it weren’t for the brave black, brown, trans, and queer folks whose uprising against the police at Stonewall gave birth to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement? It is our responsibility to speak out against the hate and violence that such a vital part of our community continue to face.⁣ ⁣ We stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the hundreds of thousands of queer people of color who log in to our app every day. We will not be silent, and we will not be inactive. Today we are making donations to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute @mpjinstitute and Black Lives Matter @blklivesmatter, and urge you to do the same if you can (links in bio). We will continue to fight racism on Grindr, both through dialogue with our community and a zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform. As part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release.⁣ ⁣ Tomorrow, we will announce our #PridePerseveres calendar, but in a different light. Yes, we can still come together in the spirit of Pride, but Pride this year has an added responsibility, a shifted tone, and a new priority that will be reflected in our programming—support and solidarity for queer people of color and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

A post shared by Grindr (@grindr) on

“We were planning to announce our #PridePerseveres initiative today, but in light of the ongoing violence and injustices against our POC family, that no longer feels appropriate,” begins the statement on Instagram. “How can we launch a month of celebration when so many of us are hurting?” “How can we celebrate Pride without acknowledging that we wouldn’t even HAVE a Pride month if it weren’t for the brave black, brown, trans, and queer folks whose uprising against the police at Stonewall gave birth to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement?” Announcing the company stands “in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the hundreds of thousands of queer people of color who log in to our app every day,” the dating app says it will not be silent nor be inactive. “Today we are making donations to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and Black Lives Matter, and urge you to do the same if you can.” “We will continue to fight racism on Grindr, both through dialogue with our community and zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform,” the statement continues. “As part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release.” Grindr goes on to mention their previously announced #PridePerseveres calendar, a series of Pride events taking place each day of June, will go on but “in a different light.”

Noting that Pride this year “has an added responsibility, a shifted tone, and a new priority,” the programming for the series will be amended to show “support and solidarity for queer people of color and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.”
Posted on

Independent Autopsy Shows George Floyd Died Of Asphyxiation

L-R George Floyd (screen capture), Derek Chauvin (mug shot)
An independent autopsy found George Floyd died of asphyxiation diverging from the official report released last week. From the LA Times:

An autopsy commissioned for George Floyd’s family found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes and ignored his cries of distress, the family’s attorneys said Monday.

The autopsy by a doctor who also examined Eric Garner’s body found the compression cut off blood to Floyd’s brain, and weight on his back made it hard to breathe, attorney Ben Crump said at a news conference.

The family’s autopsy differs from the official autopsy as described in a criminal complaint against the officer. That autopsy included the effects of being restrained, along with underlying health issues and potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system, but also said it found nothing “to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”

Floyd, a black man who was in handcuffs at the time, died after the white officer ignored bystander shouts to get off him and Floyd’s cries that he couldn’t breathe.

Posted on

Don Lemon Calls Out Hollywood For Not ‘Doing More’ During Protests

CNN anchor Don Lemon (screen capture)
Out CNN anchor Don Lemon wondered aloud on-air this weekend why there have been so few celebrities speaking out during the protests and riots happening across the nation in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer. On Saturday, lamenting the lack of leadership from the White House (“When did we lose control of this country?”), Lemon asked about the wealthy people who have made it but not showing up now. “What about Hollywood?” asked Lemon. “I see them on Twitter saying, ‘Oh, I’m loving what Don’s doing’ but they got to do more than that. Especially Black celebrities and Black leaders — and white celebrities and rich Hollywood.” “Why aren’t they helping these young people?,” he continued. “These young people are out there standing on the platform, the edge of an abyss, by themselves.” Lemon then addressed his celebrity friends directly: “Stop texting me and asking me, ‘Oh my god, Don, what is happening to our country?’ Get on television and do something and help these young people instead of sitting in your mansions and doing nothing and have some moral courage and stop worrying about your reputation and your brand.”

Ratcheting up the pressure, Lemon started naming names like Oprah, Jay-Z, Drake, Ellen DeGeneres, Anthony Anderson, Diddy, Jane Fonda, Tyler Perry, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kim Kardashian West. Admitting that donating money is appreciated, Lemon pushed for more. “Visibility is extremely important because young people need to see people who have made it so that they can understand that they have made it, too, and they can know publicly, that you have their backs.” He added, “Beyoncé released a message. You can’t?”

While Lemon’s passion may be admirable, for the record there were several celebrities stepping up and out during the weekend’s protests. The Washington Post reports celebs like Anna Kendrick, J. Cole, Nick Cannon, Tinashe, Kendrick Sampson, Emily Ratajkowski, Sophia Bush, Machine Gun Kelly and Paris Jackson took to the streets joining protesters. And Jamie Foxx joined the protests in Minneapolis Friday night after speaking at a news conference earlier in the day. Bisexual pop star Halsey shared on social media that police “opened fire of rubber bullets and tear gas multiple times on us” and that she was “hit twice. Once by pellets and once by shrapnel. We were gassed repeatedly for hours.” She added, “I will be returning.”
(screen capture)
Rappers T.I. and Killer Mike addressed protesters during the Atlanta mayor’s news conference Friday, urging protesters not to destroy property.

Posted on

Trump Urges Governors To ‘Dominate’ Protesters Or Look Like ‘Fools’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump to governors during race riots: “You have to dominate!”
It has been one week since George Floyd died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into the 46-year-old black man’s neck for more than eight minutes, and the protests continue across the nation with no leadership from Donald Trump. From the Washington Post:

During a conference call Monday, Trump berated the state leaders, calling them “weak,” and urged them to “dominate” protesters, according to officials familiar with the president’s remarks. The conference call followed another turbulent night across the nation, as protests that began peacefully exploded into mayhem.

Trump also called on them to take back the streets and use force to confront protesters and said if they did not, they would look like “fools,” alarming several governors on the call as they communicated privately, according to the officials.

“If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” Trump said, according to a person on the call.

Demonstrators clashed with police outside the White House for a third consecutive night as the unrest spread from Boston to Sioux Falls, S.D. More than half of the nation’s governors have called in the National Guard to help quell the unrest, and at least 45 million Americans were under a curfew on Sunday night.

In some cities, law enforcement officers were seen marching and kneeling with protesters. But elsewhere, police in riot gear continued to increase their use of force, which added to the disorder. On Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) ordered a state investigation after a man was fatally shot during an overnight confrontation with Louisville police and the National Guard.

Some conservative commentators are urging the president to address the nation, but the White House press secretary said Trump is focused on the far-left “antifa” movement that he believes is behind the violence. “A national Oval Office address is not going to stop antifa,” Kayleigh McEnany said.

At this point, we’re basically the ‘States of America.’

Posted on

NYPD Vehicles Drive Through Crowd Of Protesters

From CBS News:

A large protest in Brooklyn on Saturday sent a shock through social media when video emerged of two New York Police Department vehicles driving through a group of protesters. The protest was one of dozens nationwide over the death of George Floyd.

The videos show dozens of protesters gathered in a street holding up a small barricade, appearing to stop an NYPD SUV from continuing to drive. A bag is seen to be thrown on the car as protesters throw objects at the vehicle.

Seconds later, a second NYPD vehicle approaches, and drives through part of the crowd, directly hitting at least half a dozen people. As it drove through, the initial vehicle hit the gas and rammed through the people who were standing in front of it, causing several people to collapse on the ground.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the incident at a late-night press conference saying that although it was “upsetting,” it’s also “inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers.” “That’s wrong on its face,” de Blasio said. “I’m not going to blame officers who are trying to deal with absolutely impossible situation … If a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation. The video was upsetting, and I wish the officers hadn’t done that, but I also understood that they didn’t start the situation.”

Posted on

Pelosi: Trump Should Unify Our Country, Not Fuel The Flame Of Division

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on ABC This Week
During an appearance on ABC News’ This Week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was asked by George Stephanopoulos what President Donald Trump should be doing during the ongoing riots and protests over the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. “The president of the United States should bring dignity to the office that he serves,” said Pelosi. “He should be a unifying force in our country.” “We have seen that with democratic and republican presidents all along. They have seen their responsibility to be the president of the United States, to unify our country, and not to fuel the flame, not to fuel the flame. “I think to take his bait time and time again is just a gift to him because he always wants to divert attention from what the cause of the response was.”