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17 April 21
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Reader Supported News
Police Officers Shouldn't Be the Ones to Enforce Traffic Laws
Sarah A. Seo, The New York Times
Seo writes:
Automated technology and unarmed monitors could do most of the job more efficiently and more safely.
hen Daunte Wright was fatally shot by an officer during a traffic stop near Minneapolis this week, he joined a long list of people who have died at the hands of the police after being pulled over for a traffic violation. Traffic stops should not be harrowing or dangerous experiences, but too often they are for people of color.
One way to address this problem is to reduce the number of encounters that drivers have with police officers. At the same time, any responsible reform must account for the fact that accidents involving motor vehicles are a leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 54. Road safety is itself a serious problem, one that requires laws and regulations that must be enforced.
How can we reduce traffic stops without undermining public safety? The solution is to decrease our reliance on human enforcement. Having police officers implement traffic laws is not the only way to promote road safety. Indeed, the evidence suggests that it is not even the optimal way to do so.
Protesters in Chicago during a peaceful protest in response to the video release of the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo. (photo: Shafkat Anowar/AP)
Protests Erupt in US Cities Over Police Violence as Riot Declared in Portland
Oliver Laughland, Guardian UK
Laughland writes: "After a heated week of police violence, protests erupted in several US cities on Friday, at times turning tense."
Thousands marched in Chicago where 13-year-old Adam Toledo was killed while about 100 arrested in Brooklyn Center
fter a heated week of police violence, protests erupted in several US cities on Friday, at times turning tense.
In the wake of the killings of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old shot by police after being pulled over, and unarmed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, thousands took to the streets to demonstrate, sometimes into the night.
In Chicago, where Adam was killed, thousands marched in Logan Square after the video of the 13-year-old being shot with his arms raised was released this week. The protesters planned to march to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home, some of them calling for her resignation.
The event was largely peaceful, though some police and protesters scuffled as the night drew to a close.
In the Minneapolis, Minnesota suburb of Brooklyn Center, protesters staged the sixth straight night of demonstrations outside the police headquarters. Smaller demonstrations also occurred in downtown Minneapolis.
Authorities had initially declined to declare an evening curfew, after quieter protests on the previous two nights. But after clashes between protesters and police in Brooklyn Center, during which authorities claimed a fence around the heavily fortified police headquarters was breached, an unlawful assembly was declared and 100 arrests were made.
Earlier in the evening, a US district judge ruled that Minnesota state patrol could not arrest, threaten or target journalists after an ACLU complaint that law enforcement was unfairly cracking down on working reporters.
But on Friday night a number of reporters documented being detained by police and released only after being photographed by officers with their press identification badges.
Meanwhile, a protest that began peacefully in California ended with multiple fires set, several cars damaged and numerous windows shattered.
The protest against police brutality in Oakland began calmly Friday night, news outlets reported. A subsequent march drew about 300 people.
People in the crowd threw bottles and other objects at officers during the march, Oakland police said in a statement. One officer suffered an injury from being struck in the head. A community member was also assaulted, police said.
But later, authorities declared an unlawful assembly and instructed demonstrators to leave. Police said the protesters dispersed peacefully. There were no arrests or citations issued.
In Portland, Oregon, police declared a riot on Friday night after demonstrations that followed police fatally shooting a local man while responding to reports of a person with a gun.
Some witnesses said the man was mentally ill, but Portland’s new street response team – created after last year’s protests to respond to mental crises without armed police – was not called.
Chris Davis, deputy police chief, told reporters earlier in the day that a white man in his 30s was shot and killed by police officer Zachary Delong, who opened fire with a gun and weapons that fire non-lethal projectiles. The man was pronounced dead at the scene in Lents Park, which is in a leafy, residential neighborhood of the city.
Two officers fired a 40mm device that shoots non-lethal projectiles, and one officer – an eight-year veteran – fired a gun, police said in a statement. The officer is on paid administrative leave, and his or her name will be released Saturday, authorities said.
As investigators scoured the scene and documented evidence, nearly 100 yards (91 meters) away, a crowd of more than 150 people – many dressed in all black and some carrying helmets, goggles and gas masks – gathered behind crime scene tape, chanting and yelling at the officers standing in front of them.
As police began to finish on-scene investigation around 3pm the crowd marched through the park, ripped down police tape and stood face to face with officers dressed in riot gear. Police left the park around 3.30pm, and the crowd remained and eventually stood in a nearby intersection, blocking traffic and chanting.
Police said later Friday they had used pepper spray on protesters in order to disengage. Some people hit officers with sticks and chased officers as they were leaving, police said in a news release. Officers deployed smoke canisters and then used a rubber ball distraction device, police said.
The Portland mayor, Ted Wheeler, has decried what he described as a segment of violent agitators who detract from the message of police accountability and should be subject to more severe punishment.
“We’ve had to summon just about every police officer in Multnomah county to keep this group far enough away to preserve what we refer to in our business as the integrity of the scene, so that nobody who shouldn’t be in there goes in there,” Davis said, adding that deputies with county sheriff’s office were also helping.
A migrant mother and her baby. (photo: AP)
White House Walks Back Order on Refugee Limits After Backlash
Barbara Sprunt, NPR
Sprunt writes: "The White House has walked back its announcement that it will keep this year's historically low refugee ceiling of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, saying its earlier statement Friday, which was panned by fellow Democrats, was meant only to ease restrictions from countries from which refugees are currently banned."
READ MORE
Immigrant children in a detention center. (photo: Ross D. Franklin)
'Nobody Would Tell Me Anything': Immigrant Parents Struggle to Find Children in US Custody
Dasha Burns and Julia Ainsley, NBC News
Excerpt: "Every night for the past three weeks, after finishing a long day of work, a Guatemalan father of two living in Kansas dials the same number, hoping to find his two daughters."
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A rally for LGBT rights. (photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
The Science Behind Those Anti-Trans Healthcare Bills Is Bullsh*t, According to Experts
Aviva Stahl, BuzzFeed
Stahl writes: "In late March, before Arkansas lawmakers officially blocked minors from obtaining gender-affirming medical care, Willow Breshears, an 18-year-old trans woman in Little Rock, spoke of her fears to a local news outlet: 'The people who are legislating [against] these trans kids have no grasp of what a trans experience is.'"
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Medical staff attend to a patient infected with COVID-19. (photo: Thomas Samson/AP)
Covid-19 Deaths Pass Three Million Worldwide
BBC
Excerpt: "The milestone comes the day after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the world was 'approaching the highest rate of infection' so far."
READ MORE
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. (photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)
Secretary Deb Haaland Creates Climate Task Force With Interior Department; Orders Tribal Consultation
Native News Online
Excerpt: "U.S. Dept. of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday issued two Secretarial Orders that will prioritize action on climate change throughout the Department."
The first Secretarial Order, SO 3399, establishes a Climate Task Force to coordinate work across the Interior Department, including accelerating renewable energy development and identifying actions to foster investments in energy communities. The Order also provides guidance on how science should be used in the decision-making process and improves transparency and public engagement in the Department’s decision-making process.
One key component of SO 3399 is the directive for the Interior Department to engage with tribes to seek their input through tribal consultation. The Order says, “Tribal consultation is a means to rectify this by recognizing the government-to-government relationship and considering Tribal interests in decision making.”
The Order additionally provides policy instruction to ensure that the level of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis across DOI bureaus is not diminished, that climate change is appropriately analyzed, and that Tribes and environmental justice communities are appropriately engaged.
"From day one, President Biden was clear that we must take a whole-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis, strengthen the economy, and address environmental justice,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. “At the Department of the Interior, I believe we have a unique opportunity to make our communities more resilient to climate change and to help lead the transition to a clean energy economy. These steps will align the Interior Department with the President’s priorities and better position the team to be a part of the climate solution.”
The second Secretarial Order, SO 3398, seeks to rectify the reckless Secretarial Orders issued during the Trump administration. SO 3398 revokes a series of Secretarial Orders issued in recent years that are inconsistent with the Department’s commitment to protect public health; conserve land, water, and wildlife; and elevate science. Collectively, those Orders tilted the balance of public land and ocean management without regard for climate change, equity, or community engagement. The new Order does not impact the Interior Department’s ongoing review of proposals for oil, gas, coal, and renewable energy development on public lands and waters.
“I know that signing Secretarial Orders alone won’t address the urgency of the climate crisis. But I’m hopeful that these steps will help make clear that we, as a Department, have a mandate to act,” added Secretary Haaland. “With the vast experience, talent, and ingenuity of our public servants at the Department of the Interior, I’m optimistic about what we can accomplish together to care for our natural resources for the benefit of current and future generations.”
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