05 June 20
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05 June 20
RSN: Norman Solomon | Solidarity Includes Wearing a Mask at Protests
Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
Solomon writes:
he nationwide outpouring of protests during the last 10 days has provided a historic moral response to the murder of George Floyd. In one city after another, people braved tear gas, pepper spray, clubs and other weaponry – as well as mass arrests – to nonviolently challenge racist police violence. Those same people were also risking infection with the coronavirus.
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Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
Solomon writes:
he nationwide outpouring of protests during the last 10 days has provided a historic moral response to the murder of George Floyd. In one city after another, people braved tear gas, pepper spray, clubs and other weaponry – as well as mass arrests – to nonviolently challenge racist police violence. Those same people were also risking infection with the coronavirus.
Photos from around the country show that a large majority of protesters have been wearing masks, often under very difficult conditions. By doing so, they aren’t only protecting themselves to some extent – they’re also protecting people nearby. As The New York Times just noted, “most experts now agree that if everyone wears a mask, individuals protect one another.”
In other words, wearing a mask is about solidarity.
Unfortunately, some protesters have not worn masks, perhaps unaware that they were putting others at risk. Meanwhile, some police officers have disregarded orders to wear masks.
With latest research indicating that about 35 percent of infected people have no symptoms at all, unwillingness to wear a mask jeopardizes the health of others. That jeopardy is far from evenly distributed. Older people and those with underlying health problems are at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus. African Americans and other people of color are also dying at much higher rates, due to structural racism.
“UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford described the protests as a kind of uncontrolled experiment, one that will test what happens when people are wearing masks in an outdoor setting, but yelling and not maintaining their distance,” the Los Angeles Times reported this week. Said Rutherford: “If you have breakdowns in social distancing and don’t have masks on, then you’re deeply in trouble.”
Addressing the chances of exposure to the virus while protesting, California’s Department of Health is urging caution: “Even with adherence to physical distancing, bringing members of different households together to engage in in-person protest carries a higher risk of widespread transmission of COVID-19…. In particular, activities like chanting, shouting, singing, and group recitation negate the risk-reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing. For this reason, people engaging in these activities should wear face coverings at all times.”
Also, if you’re headed to a protest, you might want to consider giving away some masks.
“The virus seems to spread the most when people yell (such as to chant a slogan), sneeze (to expel pepper spray), or cough (after inhaling tear gas),” The Atlantic reported as this week began. “It is transmitted most efficiently in crowds and large gatherings, and research has found that just a few contagious people can infect hundreds of susceptible people around them. The virus can spread especially easily in small, cramped places, such as police vans and jails.”
In Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported, “state health officials will be encouraging people protesting the death of George Floyd to seek COVID-19 testing – regardless of whether they feel sick – due to the increased risk of the disease spreading at mass gatherings.” The newspaper added that “a key recommendation will be when asymptomatic protesters should seek testing, because the incubation period of the virus following infection is around five days – with a range of two to 14 days.” Testing too early could miss the virus.
Protesting is crucial at a moment like this. But protesting must be done without ignoring the pandemic.
While some hazards probably can’t be avoided at demonstrations, wearing a mask remains vital. The reality that it’s difficult if not impossible to maintain six-foot social distancing at a protest makes wearing a mask all the more important. The life you save may not be your own.
At campaign rallies last fall and winter, Bernie Sanders struck a chord when he asked: “Are you willing to fight for that person who you don’t even know as much as you’re willing to fight for yourself?” It was a powerful statement that resonated deeply and became a viral rallying cry. The ethical core remains. And by speaking out and protesting in the wake of George Floyd’s death, large numbers of people have been answering that question with a resounding Yes.
At the same time, those who wear a mask at protests are making clear that they’re willing to undergo some discomfort to protect people they don’t even know.
There are many things we have no control over as we keep pushing to change the political direction of the United States. Whether we wear a mask isn’t one of them.
Norman Solomon is co-founder and national director of RootsAction.org. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Solomon is the author of a dozen books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He is the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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People walked down 16th Street after volunteers, with permission from the city, painted 'Black Lives Matter' on the street near the White House on Friday. (photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty)
ALSO SEE: DC Mayor Has 'Black Lives Matter' Painted on Street Leading to White House
Washington DC Mayor Calls on Trump to Pull Troops and Federal Forces Out of City
Julian Borger, Guardian UK
Borger writes: "Washington's mayor has called on Donald Trump to withdraw thousands of national guard soldiers and federal law enforcement officers from the capital, complaining about unidentified units operating outside the police chain of command."
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Julian Borger, Guardian UK
Borger writes: "Washington's mayor has called on Donald Trump to withdraw thousands of national guard soldiers and federal law enforcement officers from the capital, complaining about unidentified units operating outside the police chain of command."
On Friday morning, the 200-strong Utah national guard contingent were packing their bags and preparing to leave their hotel by noon. Mike Lee, a Republican senator from the state, said they, and hundreds of other national guard troops, were being kicked out of their hotels by the Washington mayor, Muriel Bowser. There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Bowser’s office.
Lee’s office said it was unclear where the Utah troops, who include Green Berets, would go, but they would not be leaving Washington.
“Lodging and accommodations are still up in the air for this evening,” a spokeswoman said.
On Trump’s order, about 4,500 national guard troops from around the country were flown to Washington early this week, and a wide assortment of special units from the Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the US Marshal’s Service.
Several of those units – including military police, United States park police and Secret Service – were involved in violent scenes on Tuesday when officers fired teargas and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters from outside the White House.
Since then, groups of uniformed officers in helmets and body armour – often without identifying insignia – have appeared in Washington, expanding a security perimeter around the White House into the city’s commercial district – and prompting questions about who was in control of the streets and the public right of way.
When reporters asked one group about their affiliation, an officer replied “DoJ”, the Department of Justice, but would not be more specific. All the federal law enforcement agencies deployed in Washington are reporting to the attorney general, William Barr, who has been the architect of the heavy military presence and who told state governors on Monday: “Law enforcement response is not going to work unless we dominate the streets.”
In a letter to the president, Mayor Bowser, said: “I continue to be concerned that unidentified federal personnel patrolling the streets of Washington DC pose both safety and national security risks.
“Our police and incident command have clear channels of communication and roles, and it is important to note that these additional unidentified units are operating outside of established chains of command,” Bowser wrote. “This multiplicity of forces can breed dangerous confusion.”
The presence of elite units such as the Green Berets has raised concern because of the symbolism of sending combat troops, and the unsuitability of their training for responding to protests.
Other units sent on to Washington streets included the FBI’s hostage rescue team and prison riot control officers.
The Bureau of Prisons director, Michael Carvajal, argued that federal prison guards were “often called upon to assist during crisis situations within our communities”.
But Deborah Golden, a Washington lawyer specialising in prisoners’ rights said that correctional officers are trained in a completely different environment from public demonstrations. Protests are restricted in prisons and officers are entitled to use much greater force.
Golden said on Twitter: “They aren’t trained for the job they’ve been put in. And it’s a set up for disaster.”
On Thursday evening, the federal presence was much lighter than the previous two days, but there were still national guard armoured patrol vehicles parked every few blocks of the commercial district.
An 8ft metal fence has been erected around the White House grounds, held in place by concrete barriers.
Groups of unarmed DC national guard and air national guard were present around the Lincoln Memorial, but not the massed phalanx on the monument’s steps that had caused alarm on Wednesday.
In her letter, Bowser pointed out that the Washington metropolitan police had not carried out a single arrest at the demonstrations since Wednesday night, and she was ending the state of emergency in the district.
“Therefore I’m requesting that you withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence from Washington DC,” the mayor told Trump.
The mayor underlined her defiance of the president by giving permission for the words “Black Lives Matter” to be painted in giant yellow letters on the road leading to the White House. The painting began in the early hours of Friday morning and was finished before noon.
She told journalists the last block of 16th St before the White House, would officially be renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza”.
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An elderly man falls after appearing to be shoved by riot police during a protest against the death of George Floyd, in Buffalo, New York, U.S., June 4, 2020, in this still image taken from video. (photo: VIA Reuters TV)
Two Buffalo Officers Suspended After Shoving 75-Year-Old Protester to the Ground, Where He Lay Bleeding, Motionless
Meagan Flynn and Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Two officers with the Buffalo Police Department have been suspended without pay after video surfaced showing them shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground Thursday evening, causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and suffer a serious injury, officials said."
Meagan Flynn and Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Two officers with the Buffalo Police Department have been suspended without pay after video surfaced showing them shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground Thursday evening, causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and suffer a serious injury, officials said."
The footage, shot by local NPR affiliate WBFO, shows the man walking up to uniformed officers in Buffalo’s Niagara Square during an anti-police-brutality demonstration after George Floyd’s death. The officers, who had begun enforcing curfew, yell what sounds like “move!” and “push him back!” One officer can be seen pushing the man with an outstretched arm, while another shoves a baton into him. A third officer appears to shove colleagues toward the man.
The man falls to the ground. His head whips backward onto the pavement, and then he lies motionless.
“He’s bleeding out of his ear!” someone yells as blood pools beneath the man’s head.
The officers then keep walking, leaving the man on the ground, before two state police officers step in to render aid.
The man, identified as Martin Gugino by the group People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo, was taken to a hospital, where he is in “stable but serious condition,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said. Buffalo police spokesman Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said he believes the man’s injuries include a laceration and “possible concussion,” while Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said it was a “serious head injury.”
Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood launched an internal affairs investigation into the officers after seeing the video, Rinaldo said. He declined to identify the officers who were suspended.
Video of the incident provoked widespread condemnation online, as police in cities across the country fall under intensifying scrutiny for using excessive force against peaceful protesters. Poloncarz said the incident “sickened me,” while New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said it was “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful."
“Police Officers must enforce — NOT ABUSE — the law,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that he fully supported the officers’ suspensions.
A Buffalo police statement initially said that a man was injured when he “tripped and fell” during “a skirmish involving protesters,” in which several people were arrested. That language only amplified the criticism, as the video soon showed it was false.
Rinaldo said the claim that the man “tripped” came from officers who were not directly involved and were standing behind the two officers who shoved the man. Rinaldo said that once the video surfaced, it was brought to Lockwood’s attention, leading to the officers’ immediate suspension without pay.
Brown said he and Lockwood were “deeply disturbed” by what they saw.
“After days of peaceful protests and several meetings between myself, Police leadership and members of the community, tonight’s event is disheartening,” Brown said. “I hope to continue to build on the progress we have achieved as we work together to address racial injustice and inequity in the City of Buffalo. My thoughts are with the victim tonight.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James said her office was aware of the video.
Harper S.E. Bishop, a Buffalo resident who is the deputy director of People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo, told The Washington Post that Gugino is a longtime member of the group and community organizer, who works on issues including affordable housing and racial justice.
“Martin shows up for his people, our community, to dismantle systems of oppression,” Bishop said. “That’s what he was doing tonight at City Hall. He shouldn’t have been met with police violence for showing up and demanding accountability for the ongoing brutality and murder of Black lives.”
Thursday marked the second time since last month that a viral video led to an internal affairs investigation of a Buffalo police officer. On May 10, an officer was filmed repeatedly punching a black man in the face during a traffic stop arrest, leading the Erie County District Attorney’s Office to open an investigation into the officer.
Nationwide, video footage has played a key role in exposing police abuses during the protests that ignited over Floyd’s death after a Minneapolis officer was captured pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck.
In Philadelphia on Wednesday, a Temple University student was released from jail on charges of assaulting a police officer during a protest after video emerged showing that a police officer was the one beating him in the head with a baton, while another used his knee to press the student’s face onto the pavement, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
A Salt Lake City police officer in riot gear was captured on video last week using his shield to knock down a man who was shuffling slowly with a cane, after ordering him to clear the sidewalk outside of a public library. He fell to the ground face-first. The police chief called the incident “inappropriate” and said it is under investigation, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
In Fort Lauderdale, Fla. last Sunday, an officer was suspended after shoving a black woman who was kneeling on the concrete behind him with her hands up. That incident inflamed an otherwise largely peaceful protest, as outraged demonstrators threw water bottles, the Miami Herald reported. Police soon responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. One officer ended up striking a woman in the face with a rubber bullet, cracking her skull and leaving her bloodied and bruised about the face, the Herald reported.
As in the Fort Lauderdale case, police tactics have regularly turned peaceful protests into violent confrontations this week. Most infamously, federal officials on Monday forcibly removed protesters from Lafayette Square using pepper balls, batons and rubber bullets, sending hundreds running, crying from the chemical agents, so President Trump could have a photo op outside St. John’s church.
After the suspension of the two Buffalo officers Thursday, the New York Civil Liberties Union demanded that demonstrators be allowed to gather “without the threat of police brutality on the street tomorrow.”
“Police officers cannot continue to hide behind the lie that they are protecting and serving,” the NYCLU said in the statement. “City leaders need to take this as a wake-up call and seriously address the police violence during this week’s protests and the culture of impunity that led to this incident. There is no place for military-geared police to enforce curfew by inflicting violence on the very people they are supposed to protect.”
Protests turned violent in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, after police officers attack demonstrators with tear gas in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd. (photo: Mario Tama/Getty)
Tear Gas Is Banned in International Warfare - Why Are Police Using It on US Civilians?
Janea Wilson, In These Times
Excerpt: "Police say they're using tear gas to clear crowds, but the chemical agent's effects can cause long-term physical damage."
Janea Wilson, In These Times
Excerpt: "Police say they're using tear gas to clear crowds, but the chemical agent's effects can cause long-term physical damage."
EXCERPT:
Aside from international regulations that limit tear gas use in warfare, the United States has no regulations on the use of tear gas domestically, nor does it require training for officers who do use it.
The CDC reports that “prolonged exposure [to tear gas], especially in an enclosed area, may lead to long-term effects such as eye problems including scarring, glaucoma and cataracts, and may possibly cause breathing problems such as asthma.” ProPublica also reports that the chemical may make people “more susceptible to contracting influenza, pneumonia and other illnesses.”
Despite these risks, on Monday night federal law enforcement officers tear-gassed peaceful protesters in front of a church in Washington, D.C., to make way for the president’s photo-op. The White House has since claimed that a “pepper irritant” was used rather than tear gas; yet the CDC still defines the irritant as a type of tear gas because of the physical damage it can cause. As we enter day 10 of protests against police violence, and despite first-amendment rights to peacefully gather, tear gas continues to be used on protesters.
Armed men, one carrying a 'The Boogaloo stands with George Floyd' sign, are seen in Detroit, Michigan, as protesters there rally against the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (photo: Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
What Is the Far-Right 'Boogaloo' Movement?
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "A new movement of armed, far-right adherents is gaining attention in the United States, not just for its seemingly strange name, but for its alleged links to the violence that has taken place across the country following largely peaceful protests over police brutality."
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "A new movement of armed, far-right adherents is gaining attention in the United States, not just for its seemingly strange name, but for its alleged links to the violence that has taken place across the country following largely peaceful protests over police brutality."
A new far-right movement may be stoking tensions in US protests. Who are its adherents, and what do they want?
Adherents of the loosely organised "Boogaloo" movement appear to believe in armed, anti-government actions that could lead to a second US civil war.
While it is impossible, authorities say, to point to a singular group for the unrest that has come as part of protests against the police killing of George Floyd, officials claim that much of the violence can be pinned on "outside agitators" who are seeking to distract from the main message of the demonstrations.
One movement authorities have blamed is the Boogaloo movement. On June 4, three men who allegedly belong to the Boogaloo movement were arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on charges related to "terrorism" and involving plots to accelerate violence at protests.
What's in the name?
The "Boogaloo" movement, a newcomer grouping, is hard to label but exists largely on the far-right of the political spectrum, and has aims to accelerate the US towards a second civil war.
Its members, known as "Boogaloo Boys" or "Boogaloo Bois", are typically seen with assault rifles and tactical gear. Some adherents of the movement have also been spotted in Hawaiian shirts in recent days, according to reports, though not all wear them.
There are examples of adherents claiming they want to support protesters in the face of heavily armoured police, while others appear to have connections to "extremist ideology", according to reports.
The loose movement borrows its name from Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, a poorly-received 1980s sequel film that is regarded as nearly identical to the first.
The term "Electric Boogaloo" has come to be used to describe things of low quality, especially on message boards and social media. "Electric Boogaloo" is not commonly used in a political or violent fashion by most.
But some far-right elements use it as a code word for a second civil war, presumably as a sequel to the first. The use of the term seems to have gained prominence among some with far-right views around October 2019.
"A range of boogaloo-related phrases also emerged this year, as the term became more popular, including: 'showing up for the boogaloo,' 'when the boogaloo hits,' 'being boogaloo ready' and 'bring on the boogaloo', the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish NGO based in the US that tracks the far-right, wrote in a report on the movement.
"Big Luau" is another term reportedly used by some in the movement, which has mixed with another symbol that has emerged: an igloo.
As watchdog groups and experts point out, however, not all Boogaloo adherents use these symbols.
Lockdown protests
The phrase "Electric Boogaloo" has also become a common platform among some individuals involved in armed protests against stay-at-home orders.
Like other movements that once largely inhabited corners of the internet, it has seized on the social unrest and economic calamity caused by the coronavirus pandemic to publicise its violent messages.
The pandemic became a catalyst for the "boogaloo" movement because the stay-at-home orders "put a stressor on a lot of very unhappy people," JJ MacNab, a fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, told the Associated Press news agency.
MacNab said the movement's rhetoric goes beyond discussions about fighting virus restrictions - which many protesters brand as "tyranny" - to talking about killing FBI agents or police officers "to get the war going".
An April 22 report by the Tech Transparency Project, which tracks technology companies, found 125 Facebook "boogaloo"-related groups that had attracted tens of thousands of members in the previous 30 days. The project pointed to the coronavirus crisis as a driving factor.
"Some boogaloo supporters see the public health lockdowns and other directives by states and cities across the country as a violation of their rights, and they're aiming to harness public frustration at such measures to rally and attract new followers to their cause," the project's report said.
In April, armed demonstrators passed out "Liberty or Boogaloo" fliers at a statehouse protest in Concord, New Hampshire.
A May 9 demonstration in Raleigh, North Carolina, promoted by a Facebook group called "Blue Igloo" - a derivation of the term - led to a police investigation of a confrontation between an armed protester and a couple pushing a stroller.
Further, it is unknown whether the Boogaloo movement has a unifying ideology. Purported members have been seen at protests bearing signs saying "The Boogaloo stands with George Floyd". While many far-right groups have a supremacist element, it isn't always the case.
"Care must be taken when evaluating boogaloo-as-civil-war references, as some people - even those in extremist movements - still use the phrase jokingly, or to mock some of the more fanatical or gung-ho adherents of their own movement", the ADL wrote.
Palestinians gather to protest against Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. (photo: AFP)
Palestinian Authority Steps Up Protests Against Israel's Annexation Plans
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that it would no longer accept tax monies that Israel collects for it after previously announcing that Palestinian security cooperation with Israel would end."
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teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that it would no longer accept tax monies that Israel collects for it after previously announcing that Palestinian security cooperation with Israel would end."
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Blue jay. (photo: Getty)
Trump Administration Moves Forward With Plan to End Wild Bird Protections
Matthew Brown, Associated Press
Brown writes: "The Trump administration moved forward Friday with plans to scale back a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species despite warnings that billions of birds could die as a result."
Matthew Brown, Associated Press
Brown writes: "The Trump administration moved forward Friday with plans to scale back a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species despite warnings that billions of birds could die as a result."
Officials said in a draft study of the proposal that it could result in more deaths of birds that land in oil pits or collide with power lines or other structures.
More than 1,000 species are covered under the law, and the changes have drawn a sharp backlash from organizations that advocate on behalf of an estimated 46 million U.S. birdwatchers.
The study did not put a number on how many more birds could die but said some vulnerable species could decline to the point where they would require protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe and independent scientists have said the change could could cause a huge spike in bird deaths — potentially billions of birds in coming decades — at a time when species across North America already are in steep decline.
The proposal would end the government’s decades-long practice of treating accidental bird deaths caused by industry as potential criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Industry sources kill an estimated 450 million to 1.1 billion birds annually, out of an overall 7.2 billion birds in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and recent studies.
The 1918 migratory bird law came after many U.S. bird populations had been decimated by hunting and poaching — much of it for feathers for women’s hats.
It was one of the country’s first major federal environmental laws, enacted just after the conservation movement embodied by President Teddy Roosevelt had emerged as a new force in American politics.
Over the past half-century, as new threats to birds emerged, the law also was applied against companies that failed to prevent foreseeable bird deaths, such as oil companies that did not put netting over toxic waste pits despite warnings from federal officials.
However, the Trump administration has said the deaths of birds that fly into oil pits, mining sites, telecommunications towers, wind turbines and other hazards should be treated as accidents not subject to prosecution.
A final decision is expected following a 45-day public comment period.
A Department of Interior legal decision in 2017 already had effectively ended criminal enforcement under the act during Trump’s presidency. The pending proposal would cement that interpretation of the law into government regulation, thus making it harder to reverse by subsequent administrations.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials said the proposal was meant to match up with the 2017 legal decision.
“We believe this is the only viable alternative in line with this legal conclusion,” the agency said in a statement.
National Audubon Society President David Yarnold said the administration was ignoring the potential devastation to some species from scaling back protections and siding with corporations over the environment.
“While America is in turmoil, the Trump administration is continuing its relentless war on nature,” Yarnold said.
Eight states led by New York and numerous conservation groups including Audubon have challenged the 2017 decision in U.S. District Court.
They contend birds already are being harmed by the administration’s policies, most notably in the destruction last fall of nesting grounds for 25,000 shorebirds in Virginia to make way for a road and tunnel project. State officials had ended conservation measures for the birds after federal officials advised such measures were voluntary under the new interpretation of the law.
The highest-profile enforcement case bought under the migratory bird act resulted in a $100 million settlement by BP, after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 killed approximately 100,000 birds.
Federal courts have been split on whether companies can be prosecuted, with appeals courts ruling in favor of industry three times and siding against companies twice.
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