Tag Archives: civil unrest

Fox Hosts Spread Lie About Protesters Planting Bricks

Vice News reports: On Wednesday morning, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea posted a video on Twitter of an NYPD officer on a street corner, facing what look like several blue plastic bins full of bricks or concrete chunks. “This is what our cops are up against,” he wrote. “Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC.” …

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US Army Urges Troops: Treat Protesters With Respect

Posted to the website of the US Army: Over the past week, the country has suffered an explosion of frustration over the racial divisions that still plague us as Americans. And because your Army is a reflection of American society, those divisions live in the Army as well. We feel the frustration and anger. We felt it this week while …

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Tall Metal Fences Go Up Around White House [VIDEO]

Newsweek reports: Metal fencing has been installed around the White House complex as protests continue in Washington, part of the widespread Black Lives Matter demonstrations taking place across the U.S. Video taken by CNN’s Betsy Klein showed a pallet truck stacked with fence panels and a team of workers in high-visibility clothing installing the new perimeter. “More fencing going up …

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Large Protests Continue But Stay Relatively Calm

The Associated Press reports: Demonstrations in cities across the U.S. to condemn racism and police abuses remained large but turned notably more subdued on the eve of a Thursday memorial service for George Floyd that kicks off a series of events to mourn the man whose death empowered a national movement. The calmer protests came on the same day that …

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“Boogaloo” Extremists Busted In Protest Terror Plot

The Associated Press reports: Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government have been arrested on terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas. Federal prosecutors say the three white men with U.S. military experience are accused of conspiring …

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Jimmy Carter Laments Tragic Racial Injustices And Civil Unrest: We Need A Government As Good As Its People

Just in from former President Jimmy Carter: Rosalynn and I are pained by the tragic racial injustices and consequent backlash across our nation in recent weeks. Our hearts are with the victims’ families and all who feel hopeless in the face of pervasive racial discrimination and outright cruelty. We all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination. …

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Esper Visits WH, Reverses Plan To Send Home Troops

Somebody really wants to keep his job: In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the reversal …

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LIVE VIDEO: Obama Speaks On Racism And The Police

CBS News reports: President Obama is set to encourage Americans to make “real change” in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing wave of protests. The former president’s hope is “that we can turn protest into policy,” a person familiar with his plans tells CBS News. Mr. Obama is poised to be a brief part of a …

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Tom Cotton: Send In The Troops, Use “Overwhelming Show Of Force To Disperse, Detain, Deter” Protesters

Sen. Tom Cotton writes in the New York Times: These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further. One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show …

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Active Duty Troops Deployed To DC Begin To Leave

The Associated Press reports: Active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capitol are beginning to return to their home base, after two days of more peaceful demonstrations in Washington, D.C., senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The active-duty troops were available, but were not used in response to the …

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Snapchat Demotes Trump Account For Inciting Violence

Digital Trends reports: Snapchat announced it would no longer promote President Donald Trump’s account on the video-sharing platform. “We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” a Snap spokesperson told Digital Trends. “Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek …

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DEA Given Temporary Permission To Surveil Protesters

Buzzfeed News reports: The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News. Floyd’s death “has spawned widespread protests across the nation, which, in some instances, have included violence and looting,” the …

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Voter Optimism In US Direction At Record Low Of 31%

The Morning Consult reports: Two major crises playing out at the same time in the United States — the deadly coronavirus pandemic and social unrest over the deaths of black people that has erupted into nationwide demonstrations — have helped erode voters’ confidence in the direction of the country to its lowest point of Donald Trump’s presidency. A new Morning …

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Esper Breaks With Trump On Using Troops On Protests

CNN reports: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort, directly contradicting President Donald Trump. “The option to use active …

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Atlanta Mayor: I Can’t Protect My Own Son From Cops

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms writes: I frantically screamed into the phone to my teenage son: “Lance, WHERE ARE YOU?!” Social media posts were swirling that protests were being planned in Atlanta in response to the death of George Floyd, a black Minnesotan, while a police officer knelt on his neck. Although as mayor, the chief of police reports to me, …

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Tear Gas Likely Elevates Risk Of Contracting COVID

The New York Times reports: The billowing clouds of tear gas that the authorities are sending through protest crowds across the United States may increase the risk that the coronavirus could spread through the gatherings. Along with the immediate pain that can cause watering eyes and burning throats, tear gas may cause damage to people’s lungs and make them more …

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Saks Wraps Flagship Manhattan Store In Razor Wire

The New York Post reports: Saks Fifth Avenue surrounded its flagship Manhattan store with razor wire on Tuesday to keep thieves from smashing their way in and making off with troves of expensive merchandise, The Post has learned. The luxury retailer has also hired private security guards with specially trained dogs to protect the premises in the wake of Monday …

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Pope Francis To US: “Don’t Turn A Blind Eye To Racism”

Reuters reports: In his first public remarks on the U.S. protests, Pope Francis urged people not to “tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form” and called for “national reconciliation and peace.” “Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these …

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NYT Does Deep Dive Into Trump’s Bible Photo Op

The New York Times reports: After a day in which he berated “weak” governors and lectured them to “dominate” the demonstrators, the president emerged from the White House, followed by a phalanx of aides and Secret Service agents as he made his way to the church, where he posed stern-faced, holding up a Bible that his daughter pulled out of …

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Surgeon General Expects COVID Surge After Protests

Politico reports: There will likely be a new rash of coronavirus cases following widespread protests this weekend over racism and the death of George Floyd — but people’s concerns need to be heard, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in an interview. “I remain concerned about the public health consequences both of individual and institutional racism [and] people out protesting in …

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