Tag Archives: civil unrest

Trump: “Chokeholds Sound So Innocent, So Perfect”

“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 …

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Johnson Condemns Protests: “Stay Away From Them”

The New York Times reports: Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain on Friday made a series of critical comments about large anti-discrimination protests that were prompted by the death of George Floyd, and said people “should not support” the demonstrations. With more rallies planned in London and across the country this weekend, Mr. Johnson risked drawing outrage, as he urged …

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Trump Attributes “Looting” Quote To Late Philly Mayor

The Insider reports: President Donald Trump definitely picked it up somewhere: the saying, tweeted out earlier this month, that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” But in an interview today, the US president falsely attributed that quote to a “very tough mayor,” Frank Rizzo of 1970s Philadelphia, to whom he has often been compared. Trump also contended that he …

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POLL: Vast Majority Back Sweeping Police Reforms

Reuters reports: Most Americans, including a majority of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, support sweeping law enforcement reforms such as a ban on chokeholds and racial profiling after the latest death of an African American while in police custody, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released today. For example, 82% of Americans want to ban police from using chokeholds, 83% …

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TEXAS: Trump To Meet With Cops Ahead Of Fundraiser

The Dallas Morning News reports: President Trump plans to announce a plan for “holistic revitalization and recovery” during a trip to Dallas on Thursday built around a high-dollar fundraising dinner expected to bring in $10 million. It’s his first campaign foray since the COVID-19 pandemic began three months ago. Ahead of the dinner, the president and several senior administration officials …

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Trump’s Job Approval Slides To 39% Amid Civil Unrest

Just in from Gallup Polling: President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has fallen to 39% amid nationwide protests about racial injustice. His ratings this year had been the best of his presidency but are now back near his term average of 40%. The latest reading is from a May 28-June 4 poll, conducted as protests occurred throughout the country after …

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REPORT: Trump Aides “At Wits End” Over Buffalo Tweet

Jonathan Swan reports at Axios: My phone blew up yesterday with texts from White House aides, current and former, who seemed at their wits’ end over President Trump’s tweet that the 75-year-old Buffalo protester who was rushed to the hospital after being shoved by police last week “could be an ANTIFA provocateur.” Why it matters: They rarely register the president’s …

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FL Cop Suspended Over Offer To Hire Abusive Officers

USA Today reports: Bert Gamin, the president of a Fraternal Order of Police chapter in Florida has been suspended with pay from his position with a local sheriff’s office, pending an internal affairs investigation into the “unprofessionalism” of a Facebook post recruiting officers disciplined and charged in violent incidents, an official announced Tuesday. “Yesterday afternoon I authorized an internal investigation …

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Biden Delivers Emotional Message At George Floyd’s Funeral: “We Cannot Turn Away From Systemic Abuse”

USA Today reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden recounted a wrenching conversation with George Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, in a video message delivered during Tuesday’s funeral for the man who died in police custody last month. Gianna told him she missed the bear hug that only Floyd could give, the joy of riding on his shoulders, the countless hours they spent …

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Metal Fence Around WH To Come Down Tomorrow

The Washington Post reports: The National Park Service will remove most of the tall metal fencing surrounding Washington’s Lafayette Square by Wednesday, the agency said. Officials erected the fence early last week to bar access to the park near the White House, which sits south of it. The fencing first appeared shortly after police aggressively cleared a crowd of largely …

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NYPD Officer Charged In Violent Shoving Of Protester

The New York Times reports: A New York City police officer surrendered to face criminal charges on Tuesday, over a week after he was recorded on video shoving a woman to the ground and cursing at her during a protest against police brutality, the police commissioner and law enforcement officials said. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office plans to charge the …

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FL Police Union Offers To Hire Cops Fired For Brutality

CNN reports: As the cries for police reform grow louder across the nation, some police departments are holding their officers accountable, firing or suspending those accused of excessive force during recent protests. One Florida police organization has said it will re-hire those very officers accused of misconduct, and that offer is prompting outrage. On Saturday, the Brevard County chapter of …

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MINNESOTA: Police Admit To Slashing Tires On Dozens Of Cars Belonging To Press, Medics, Protesters [VIDEO]

Mother Jones reports: After long nights of tear gas and rubber bullets, some protesters, news crews, and medics in Minneapolis last weekend found themselves stranded: The tires of their cars had been slashed. In a city upended by protests about police brutality after the death of George Floyd, many assumed protesters were to blame. But videos reveal a different culprit: …

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Piers Morgan: Trump Should Kneel On Live Television

Onetime Apprentice contestant Piers Morgan writes: From the start of the protests, the President has done nothing but pour ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ fuel onto the flames, acting as a divisive lightening rod with his incendiary rhetoric.  Now we’re told he’s so unsettled by this reaction that he is planning to make an address to the nation …

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Ex-NYPD Head: Blacks Are The Ones Who Need Reform

“Everything is about reforming the police. How about reforming the community? How about teaching young black men and women, in these communities of color, things like don’t run from the police when you get stopped. Keep your hands on the steering wheel when you get stopped in a car stop. “Don’t make furtive moments, don’t put your hands in your …

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Obamas Address Unrest In Message To Class Of 2020

Deadline reports: As in previous public statements of late, Obama never said the name Donald Trump, but left no one unclear who he was spotlighting as gaslighting the divisions in America for personal and ideological gain. “Democracy isn’t about relying on some charismatic leader to make changes from on high,” he proclaimed. “It’s about finding hope in ourselves, and creating …

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Seattle Man Drives Into Crowd And Shoots Protester

The Seattle Times reports: Just as Seattle’s mayor and police chief were wrapping up a Sunday night news conference about ongoing protests against police brutality, a 27-year-old man at a demonstration on Capitol Hill was shot by a gunman who drove into the crowd. The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, and …

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Minneapolis City Council Backs Defunding Local Police

Minneapolis’s Fox News affiliate reports: Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council announced their support for de-funding the Minneapolis Police Department and replacing it with a community-based public safety model at a rally in Powderhorn Park Sunday afternoon. With the support of the nine council members, they have created a veto-proof supermajority in support of disbanding the police department. However, …

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Ex-FDA Chief: “No Question” Protests Will Spike COVID

Reuters reports: “We’re certainly going to see transmissions coming out of these gatherings, there’s no question about that,” former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” noting that the prevalence of infection in the U.S. was currently about one in 200 people. Gottlieb said that the closest parallel for which there is available scientific data is a …

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Barr Denies Systemic Racism Exists In Law Enforcement

CNBC reports: “The president can use regular troops to suppress rioting,” Barr said on CBS, citing the Insurrection Act, which was last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of three police officers who violently beat Rodney King, black man who was unarmed. Asked if he thinks there is systemic racism in law enforcement, Barr said he …

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