Police

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump courted controversy on Monday – and perhaps sought to deflect attention from reports about Russia placing bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan – by retweeting news footage of a white couple in St Louis, Missouri who pointed guns at protesters marching for police reform. The president’s action came a day after he retweeted footage of …

The New York Times reports: A New York City police officer was arrested on Thursday morning and charged with illegally using a chokehold to subdue a man on the boardwalk at a Queens beach, officials said. The officer, David Afanador, was suspended on Sunday hours after cellphone video was posted on social media that showed him holding his arm around …

The Associated Press reports: Three members of a North Carolina police department have been fired after a department audit of a video recording captured one of the officers saying a civil war was necessary to wipe Black people off the map and that he was ready. The Wilmington Police Department took the action on Tuesday against Cpl. Jessie Moore, and …

The Independent reports: Police have arrested a woman wearing a shirt that reads “I Can’t Breathe” outside of Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma after the president warned “lowlifes” against showing up and demonstrating at his controversial event. “Somebody has to do this,” the woman said as she sat on the floor of an empty area outside of the president’s …

The Daily Beast reports: In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President Trump essentially said the fact that Martin Gugino has a brain injury and can’t walk is his own fault. “These police, they meant business,” he said of the night in question. “They were walking and he puts himself right there. And you could tell they knew him. …

The Phoenix New Times reports: A Republican sheriff in Arizona who said he would not enforce the state’s emergency coronavirus orders has come down with COVID-19. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb announced on Facebook on Wednesday that he had tested positive, likely from attending a campaign event on Saturday. He says he found out when he was called on Tuesday …

Atlanta’s ABC News affiliate reports: Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced that warrants have been issued in the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks. Now former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe will be charged with felony murder, among the 11 charges filed. He faces up to life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. Howard said Rolfe kicked Brooks …

CNN reports: Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old protester who was pushed to the ground by two Buffalo, New York police officers earlier this month, has a fractured skull and is not able to walk, his lawyer said in a statement provided to CNN. In her press statement, Gugino’s attorney Kelly Zarcone passed along a message from the senior protester: “I think …

Chicago’s CBS News affiliate reports: The men in the picture identify themselves online as Lasalle police officers Matthew Kunkel and Mark Manicki. Both officers say they attended the re-open Illinois rally in Springfield. They were apparently off at duty at the time, wearing vests with the letter Q, which stands for QAnon. The Anti-Defamation League’s David Goldenberg describes QAnon as …

PBS NewsHour reports: President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order that will lay out several new initiatives focused on police reform, including the creation of national standards for use-of-force as well as tracking police misconduct, according to a civil rights lawyer who plans to be at the signing and testify before the Senate this week. S. Lee …

Atlanta’s ABC News affiliate reports: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields has resigned following the death of a black man at the hands of an Atlanta police officer last night. Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot and killed after a confrontation with police outside an Atlanta Wendy’s. Video released by the GBI appears to show Brooks …

CBS News reports: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed police reform legislation into law on Friday, more than two weeks after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparked a nationwide movement. The governor signed into law a bundle of police reform bills passed by the legislature this week. Among them are a repeal of law 50-A, a statewide ban on chokeholds, …

Florida Today reports: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bert Gamin, who drew national media attention this week for a Facebook post encouraging officers involved with violent incidents against protesters in Buffalo and Atlanta to come to Florida, has resigned from the agency, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Friday. An internal review of his personnel file showed “previous forms of corrective actions” …

“Sometimes if you’re alone and you’re fighting somebody, it’s tough. We have some real bad people. You saw that in the last couple of weeks. I think the concept of chokeholds sounds so innocent, so perfect, and then you realize if it’s a 1-on-1. Now if it’s 2-on-1 that’s a little bit of a different story. Depending on the toughness …

“A civilized society has to have rules and someone to enforce them. I don’t believe that the 18,000 police forces that we have in this country are endemically racist,” Kennedy said. “I think there are some racist cops and we need to weed them out. “And finally, to the governor and the mayor of Seattle, who I think are holding …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump praised the use of tear gas and other force to disperse Minneapolis protesters, calling it a “beautiful scene” and describing the National Guard’s actions “like a knife cutting butter.” “I’ll never forget. You saw the scene on that road … they were lined up. Man, they just walked straight. And yes, there was some …

“I look at him and I really do think that could have been me. That could be me, pulled over for speeding five miles over the speed limit. That could be me with a busted tail light. “That could be me who is just seen as a black man and not as the surgeon general of the United States — …

Seattle’s NBC News affiliate reports: On Wednesday night, President Trump tweeted to Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, telling them “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will.” Trump was referring to what Seattle protesters are calling the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). After several days of violent clashes between police and demonstrators on …

Variety reports: A&E has canceled its flagship series and one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable. A week after Live P.D. was pulled in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the reality series’ hiatus has been made permanent. The decision was made jointly by A&E and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment, which produces the series. “This is a critical time …

TMZ reports: Thomas Lane, the rookie ex-cop charged in George Floyd’s murder case is out of jail after posting his $750k bail. Lane’s family was seeking donations via a website they set up to raise money for his legal defense after he and 2 other ex-cops were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder, and aiding and abetting …