June 2020, United States: The Unfolding

[JackRiddler]

.

June 4 at 11:17 PM

I’m back home, we marched for four hours straight changing direction at every turn and forcing NYPD to chase us. In the end they managed to kettle us but decided to let us go home, probably because of the outpouring of solidarity from every single building in every single street in which we marched. People were getting out of their house while we marched, breaking curfew in solidarity and staying there and watching and cheering to make sure the police would not attack us. It was beautiful.

There has been good news amid the developments. We don't always have to be cautiously pessimistic. Not everything in the following list is a victory. Some items are provisional, some are symbolic, some are minor or cosmetic or attempts to coopt... but this all shows that the situation is fluid, that the authorities are not a monolith, or impossible to push or overcome, and that more than this is possible.

I'll hazard three takeaways that should shock no one: 1. Without the protests, the four who killed George Floyd would not be under arrest and indictment. 2. Debates have opened up that were unthinkable last week, starting with the idea (to put it in its simplest terms) that yes, you CAN cut police budgets. 3. Most people in this country in their 20s have had enough.

Uprisings accelerate the pre-existing slow meticulous organizing and struggles, & break ground for future organizing and struggles

A RUNNING CROWDSOURCED LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY 2020 UPRISING SINCE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD (5/25):

5/26 - 4 officers fired for murdering George Floyd - Minneapolis, MN
5/28 - Univ of Minn cancels contract with police - Minneapolis, MN
5/28 - 3rd Precinct Police station neutralized by protestors - Minneapolis, MN
5/28 - ATU Local 1005 refuses to bring police officers to the protests, or transport arrested protesters, Minneapolis, MN
5/29 - Activists commandeer hotel to provide shelter to homeless - Minneapolis, MN
5/29 - Officer Chauvin who killed George Floyd arrested - Minneapolis, MN
5/29 - Louisville Mayor suspends "no-knock" warrants in response to police's 3/12 #BreonnaTaylor killing and subsequent protests - Louisville, KY
5/30 - US Embassies across Africa condemn police murder of George Floyd - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo
5/30 - MN AG Ellison takes over prosecution of the murdering officer (and possibly the other officers) - Minneapolis, MN
5/30 - TWU Local 100 Bus Operators refuses to transport arrested protestors - NYC, NY
5/31 - 2 abusive officers fired for pulling a couple out of car and tasing them - Atlanta, GA
6/1 - Minneapolis public schools end contract with police - Minneapolis, MN
6/1 - Confederate Monument removed - Birmingham, AL
6/1 - CA Prosecutors launch campaign to stop DA’s from accepting police union money - CA
6/1 - Tulsa Mayor Bynum agrees to not renew Live PD contract - Tulsa, OK
6/1 - Louisville police chief fired after shooting of #DavidMcatee at BBQ joint - Louisville, KY
6/1 - Confederate statue ordered to be removed - Bentonville, AR
6/1 - Dems and Reps begin push to shut down a Pentagon program that transfers military weaponry to local law enforcement departments - Nationwide
6/2 - Minnesota AFL-CIO calls for the resignation of Bob Kroll, the president of the Minneapolis police union - Minneapolis, MN
6/2 - ATU Local 85 announces refusal to transport police officers or arrested protesters - Pittsburgh, PA
6/2 - Racist Ex-Mayor Rizzo statue removed - Philadelphia, PA
6/2 - 6 abusive officers charged for violence against residents and protestors - Atlanta, GA
6/2 - Confederate soldier statue removed - Alexandria, VA
6/2 - Robert Lee statue removed - Fort Myers, FL
6/2 - Civil Rights investigation of Minneapolis Police Dept launched - Minneapolis, MN
6/2 - Resolution to prevent law enforcement from hiring officers with history of misconduct announced by San Fran DA Boudin and Supervisor Walton - San Francisco, CA
6/2 - Survey indicating 64% of polled sympathetic to protests, and 47% disapprove of police handling + 54% think burning down of precinct fully or partially justified
6/2 - NJ AG announces policing reforms
6/2 - Minneapolis City Council members publicly call for disbanding the police and replace with community-oriented, nonviolent public safety and outreach capacity - Minneapolis, MN
6/3 - 1 officer fired for tweets promoting violence against protestors - Denver, CO
6/3 - Minneapolis Institute of Art, First Avenue, Walker Art Center end use of MPD for events - Minneapolis, MN
6/3 - Officer Chauvin charges upgraded to 2nd Murder, and remaining 3 officers also charged and taken into custody - Minneapolis, MN
6/3 - VA Governor announces removal of Robert E Lee statue - Richmond, VA
6/3 - Richmond VA Mayor Stoney announces RPD reform measures: establish “Marcus” alert for folks experiencing mental health crises, establish independent Citizen Review Board, an ordinance to remove Confederate monuments, and implement racial equity study
6/3 - County commissioners deny proposal for $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail - Atlanta, GA
6/3 - Minneapolis Parks and Recreation cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Dept - Minneapolis, MN
6/3 - US Army tells soldiers to disobey any orders to attack peaceful protestors - Nationwide
6/3 - LA Announces $100-150 million cut from LAPD budget, Reinvested into communities, moratorium on gang database, sharper discipline against abusive cops, in effect immediately - Los Angeles, CA
6/3 - Seattle changes mind and withdraws request to end federal oversight/consent decree of police department - Seattle, WA
6/4 - #BreonnaTaylor case reopened? - Louisville, KY
6/4 - Portland schools superintendent ‘discontinues’ presence of armed police officers in schools - Portland, OR
6/4 - MBTA (Metro Boston) board orders that buses won’t transport police to protests, or protesters to police - Boston, MA
6/4 - King County Labor Federation issue ultimatum to police unions, to admit to and address racism in Seattle PD, or be removed - Seattle, WA

6/4 - Mural of racist ex-Mayor Frank Rizzo to be removed, replaced with new artwork - Philadelphia, PA
6/5 - City of Minneapolis bans all chokeholds by police - Minneapolis, MN
6/5 - Racist ex-Mayor Hubbard statue removed - Dearborn MI
6/5 - NFL condemns racism and admits it should have listened to players protests - National
6/5 - California Gov. Newsom calls for statewide use-of-force standard, crafted with community leaders, and ban carotid hold - California
6/5 - 2 Buffalo police officers suspended within a day of pushing 75 year old protestor to ground causing blood to pour out (and lying about it) - Buffalo, NY

Ongoing - ##? of police vehicles neutralized [definitely: so the fuck what]
Ongoing - ########? people politicized
Ongoing - ########? relationships of solidarity and mutual support formed

TRENDS
- #DefundPolice has for first time become a national and a mainstream conversation, with several leadership in cities pushing it forward
- #AbolishPolice has for first time become a mainstream conversation, with Minneapolis considering to disband MPD and re-imagine and rebuild an alternative
- Elected officials are for first time publicly admitting that police departments and unions routinely sabotage police reform efforts
- Protests against police and for #BLM have for first time emerged in rural, suburban, and small towns in the country
- Accountability of abusive officers is growing in the form of immediate actions (suspensions, arrests, charges), but also more drastic changes being considered for oversight and discipline systems

(Please suggest any addition updates - in above format and with links if possible)

#UprisingsAreLabor
#MassesMakeHistory
#DefundPolice

...

When has Counterpunch endorsed and linked a list of actions to take published by the editors of New York magazine?

I post this as FYI, showing a civil society (uh oh) framework that is partly supporting, partly conditioning the #BLM movement. Some of these are dubious in my view. If you want to and can give, however, I think the bailout fund have to be the first stop.

JUNE 4, 2020
115 Ways to Donate in Support of Black Lives and Communities of Color

The Editors
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/wh ... atter.html
[FOLLOW FOR 115 LINKS]

A young girl stands before at a memorial to Ahmaud Arbery, near the Georgia site where two white men, one a retired police officer, shot and killed him in February. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The protests against police brutality and the recent unjust murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and Tony McDade have mobilized millions to take action toward dismantling both overtly and subtly racist ideologies and policies entrenched in American life. This action can take different forms, including (but not limited to) protesting, educating, listening, consciously shopping, and, of course, donating.

When it comes to the latter, over the past week, you’ve probably seen a lot of people donating to a lot of things. Here, we’ve compiled and vetted as many of those things as we could to create a guide for anyone with the means and interest in donating as a form of taking action today or everyday. (To jump straight to the guide, click here.) It should go without saying that while expansive, this guide is nowhere near complete, and will be updated as we identify and vet new entities (or see others — like the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, and Minnesota-based North Star Health Collective — directing potential patrons elsewhere because they have all the money they need right now).

In addition to sourcing entities from lists already created by our sister sites the Cut and the Verge, this guide includes other funds, organizations, and individual activists collecting donations that we’ve vetted after seeing them on social media or in resource documents being widely shared (including this one created by graduate students at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health; this one created by leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement; this one shared by influencer-activist Patia of Patia’s Fantasy World; and this one that was created by Margaret McCarron).

We’ve confirmed that any entities on here, at the time of publication, are still taking donations right now, and that those doing so less formally (like via Venmo or CashApp) are providing receipts or are legitimate, based on reputable social-media sources vouching for them. If you want to donate to or read more about each entity, simply click on a name.

We’ve also broken up the various ways to donate by how recipients promise to use any money received, whether that’s to post bail/bonds for demonstrators arrested at protests, to purchase protective equipment to protesters on the front lines, to invest in rebuilding black communities where protests have occurred, or to invest in community enrichment programs for black and brown youth. While many of the entities on this list operate nationally, we’ve noted which operate on a state or local level, in case you’re looking to make more targeted contributions.

Victim memorial funds | Bail funds | Megafunds | Frontline funds | Community restoration organizations | Community enrichment organizations | Youth-oriented community organizations | Policy reform organizations | Political organizations | Police reform organizations | Incarceration reform organizations | Legal defense funds and organizations | Black LGBTQ funds | Black LGBTQ organizations | Black and brown media organizations | Mental health organizations | Health-care funds and organizations

Donations will go toward supporting the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, James Scurlock, Tony McDade, David McAtee, and Breonna Taylor.

• George Floyd Memorial Fund

• I Run With Maud

• James Scurlock Memorial Fund

• Tony Mcdade Memorial Fund

• David McAtee Memorial Fund

• Gianna Floyd Fund

• Justice for Breonna Taylor

Donations will go toward paying bail/bonds to release protesters jailed in states with bail/bond systems. If you’d like to make a localized contribution to a bail fund in a city or state not shown below, the National Bail Fund Network lists the funds you can donate to in all states with bail/bond systems.

• The Bail Project

• National Bail Out

• National Bail Fund Network COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund

• Atlanta Solidarity Fund

• Louisville Community Bail Fund

• Chicago Community Bond Fund

• Philadelphia Bail Fund

• Nashville Community Bail Fund

• Dallas Bail Fund for Protesters

• People’s Program Bail Out Fund; Oakland, California

• Columbus Freedom Fund; Columbus, Ohio

Single donations will be split between multiple organizations, with the ability to adjust what goes where.

• Act Blue Bail, Mutual Aid, and Racial Justice Organization Funds

• Act Blue Racism and Police Brutality Funds

• Act Blue Bail Funds

Donations, made via Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, will go directly into the pockets of activists and organizers on the front lines of protests.

• Mitch Gayns’s community supplies fund; donations go to Gayns, the host of Those People podcast and a Boston-based protester who is using the funds for supplies — such as snacks, Band-Aids, and flashlights — for protesters, and providing receipts for purchases on his Twitter feed.

• Isak Douah Minneapolis Gas Mask Fund; donations go to Douah, who is using the money to buy gas masks for black youth activists on the front lines to protect them against tear gas used by the police.

• Black Earth Farms Food Delivery Fund; donations go to Oakland, California–based Black Earth Farms, which is cooking and delivering food to black protesters who have been arrested, bailed, or injured.

Donations will go toward rebuilding businesses and other parts of black communities where protests have occurred and/or have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

• Mutual Aid

• Minnesota Rapid Response Coalition; Twin Cities, Minnesota

• The Lake Street Council; Minneapolis, Minnesota

• Pimento Relief Fund; Minneapolis, Minnesota

• West Broadway Business & Area Coalition; Minneapolis, Minnesota

• Rebuilding Oakland Black Businesses Fund; Oakland, California

• My Block My Hood My City; Chicago, Illinois

Donations will go toward arts, technical, or other programs for black and brown people.

• Black and Brown Founders

• Black Table Arts

• Embrace Race

• Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities

• Assata’s Daughters; Chicago, Illinois

• Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha; Twin Cities, Minnesota

• Twin Cities Recovery Project; Twin Cities, Minnesota

• Black Feminist Project; New York City

Donations will go toward funding initiatives for educating black and brown youth, such as programs for coding, activism camps, and providing books for schools.

• Integrate NYC

• GirlTrek

• Black Girls Code

• Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp

• The Conscious Kid

• Pretty Brown Girl

• Gyrl Wonder

Donations will go toward legislative efforts to overturn systemically racist policies at either national, state, or local levels.

• American Civil Liberties Union

• Black Lives Matter Global Network

• Reclaim The Block

• Color of Change Education Fund

• Advancement Project

• Moms Demand Action; donations will be matched dollar for dollar by Everytown, Moms Demand Action’s parent organization

• Black Visions Collective: Minnesota

• Faith in Texas

• Take Action Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, North Carolina

• Austin Justice Coalition; Austin, Texas

• Dallas Alliance Against Racial and Political Repression; Dallas, Texas

• Pull Up or Shut Up

Donations will go toward black-voter education initiatives and supporting black political candidates.

• Fair Fight; National, but mainly Georgia

• Black Voters Matter Fund

• Woke Vote

• Higher Heights

• The Collective Political Action Committee

Donations will go toward police reform initiatives, including efforts to redistribute police funding to other social services.

• The National Police Accountability Project

• Campaign Zero

• Communities United for Police Reform

• Communities United Against Police Brutality

• Equality for Flatbush; Brooklyn, New York

Donations will go toward prison reform efforts to stop excessive punishment, mass incarceration, incarceration in general, and the creation of new jails and prisons.

• Release Aging People in Prison

• No New Jails NYC

• Equal Justice Initiative

• Prison Book Program

• Dream Defenders

Donations will go toward legal aid and education for black, brown, and other minority groups.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Legal Rights Center

Amistad Law Project

Transgender Law Center Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project

Moral Governance; San Diego, California

Restoring Justice; Texas

Donations will go toward providing immediate mental health and health-care support, monetary support, and education to black LGBTQ communities.

• The Nina Pop and Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund

• Homeless Black Trans Women Fund; Atlanta, Georgia

• Black Trans Travel Fund; New York City

• Emergency Release Fund; New York City

• F2L Relief Fund; New York State

• Black Trans Advocacy Coalition COVID-19 Community Response Grant

• For The Gworls Party; donations are collected through Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App

Donations will go toward providing ongoing mental health and health-care support, monetary support, and education to black LGBTQ communities.

• House of GG; Arkansas

• Trans Justice Funding Project

• Youth Breakout; New Orleans, Louisiana

• Solutions Not Punishment; Atlanta, Georgia

• Black AIDS Institute

• Trans Cultural District; San Francisco, California

• The Audre Lorde Project; New York City

• The Marsha P. Johnson Institute

• Vocal New York; New York State

• Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society

• Princess Janae Place; New York City

• The Okra Project

Donations will go toward supporting black and brown media outlets and journalists.

• The Marshall Project

• Unicorn Riot

• Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting

• Migizi

Donations will go toward providing mental health care and education to black communities and individuals.

• The Loveland Foundation

• Black Girl in Om

• Sista Afya

• Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective

• You Good Sis Yoga Collective

• National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network

• Peoples Oakland; Oakland, California

Donations will go toward providing medical aid, including COVID-19 and reproductive care, to black, brown, and other minority communities.

• National Black Disability Coalition

• BET and United Way COVID-19 Relief Fund

• Mobile Outreach and Outdoor Drop-In

• Sister Song

• COVID-19 Bail Out NYC; New York City

• EMW Women’s Surgical Center

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[JackRiddler]

Okay, enough now.

SAY THEIR NAMES

Black sons & daughters cannot:

go jogging (#AhmaudArbery).

relax in the comfort of our own homes (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson).

ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride).

have a cellphone (#StephonClark).

leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards).

play loud music (#JordanDavis).

sell CD's (#AltonSterling).

sleep (#AiyanaJones)

walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).

play cops and robbers (#TamirRice).

go to church (#Charleston9).

walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin).

hold a hair brush while leaving our own bachelor party (#SeanBell).

party on New Years (#OscarGrant).

get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland).

lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile).

break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones).

shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) .

have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher).

read a book in our own car (#KeithScott).

be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover).

decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese).

Cant ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans).

can’t cash our check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).

can’t take out their wallet (#AmadouDiallo).

can’t run (#WalterScott).

can’t breathe (#EricGarner).

can’t live (#FreddieGray).

*** what life liberty or pursuit of happiness!***

[liminalOyster]

Jack, thank you for all this. I've shifted today from resignation to at least little waves of mind-boggling optimism. And this adds to it. What are the sources for the two excellent lists?

edit: The accomplisments list and the black lives can't do xyz list?

Also: new variation on an old theme:

Burn the police precinct in your mind.

[JackRiddler]

kristen.png

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t3mJ0B ... WtCvnewukE

The failure of this state is the result of starving the public sphere, starving the commons. This is the youth in the streets and they are different. Another world is possible and deserves to be hyped.

I see no fault in my friend Kristen's overflowing, strategic enthusiasm greater than those of the cautiously-pessimistic and soberly-doomsaying realisms found on RI, including my own.

Jack, thank you for all this. I've shifted today from resignation to at least little waves of mind-boggling optimism. And this adds to it. What are the sources for the two excellent lists?

edit: The accomplishments list and the black lives can't do xyz list?

Also: new variation on an old theme:

Burn the police precinct in your mind.

The "accomplishments" list is being compiled provisionally on someone's FB page as things develop. I saw enough of these items covered elsewhere that I consider it provisionally reliable, with all the caveats I list about cooptation attempts and fluid situations. The other two have been circulating, I cannot say. The one with the names, I am familiar enough with more than half of the cases listed to consider reliable with the usual caveat that action comes before perfection. The other's a manifesto, so take it as you will.

[BenDhyan]

Hmmm, I hadn't noted the similarity before...

George Floyd protests are just like US-backed color revolutions abroad, says leading Russiagate journalist

7 Jun, 2020 11:47

There is no need to speculate any longer about the odd similarities between ‘color revolution’ regime change operations overseas and the current protests across the US, when a leading purveyor of ‘Russiagate’ outright admits it.

What the US is experiencing now is “more like the nonviolent movements that earned broad societal support in places such as Serbia, Ukraine, and Tunisia,” the Atlantic’s Franklin Foer said on Saturday, in a piece titled ‘The Trump Regime Is Beginning to Topple’.

What’s happening in the streets—and with officials refusing to cooperate—is a lot like the revolutions that toppled dictators in Serbia, Ukraine, and Tunisia. https://t.co/vc36MMqG0q
— Franklin Foer (@FranklinFoer) June 6, 2020

Foer doesn’t go into the details of the events in Serbia and Tunisia, and he only brings up Ukraine in the context of the 2013-14 protests that turned violent and resulted in armed militias taking control in Kiev. In his telling, these were all genuine popular movements that overthrew ‘dictators’, which just so happened to be guided by a 93-page pamphlet written by US political scientist Gene Sharp.

He makes no mention of the US government’s role in any of these events – even in Ukraine, where US diplomats handed out cookies to “protesters,” and senators like John McCain shared the stage with their leaders.

Nor does he gush about a US operation of “engineering democracy through the ballot box and civil disobedience” emerging as a “template for winning other people’s elections,” as the Guardian described the 2004 turmoil in Kiev, and directly linked with the 2000 events in Serbia.

Instead, Foer says it’s “astonishing” that the events in the US over the past week have “traced the early phases” of Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolt. He cites Sharp’s advice to revolutionaries to focus on destroying the “regime” by turning the media, business elites, and police against it. Twitter’s censorship of Trump was a “hinge moment,” he says, and other major corporations followed when it turned out “there was little price to pay for the choice.”

This was then followed by state and local authorities rejecting Trump’s call to bring out the National Guard, the public denunciation by former generals, culminating when Trump’s own secretary of defense “explicitly rejected” the threat of deploying the military to the streets. (Fact check: Not true.)

Foer’s self-professed astonishment is interesting, given that the Atlantic actually provided the platform for retired Admiral Mike Mullen and retired General Jim Mattis to denounce the president.

cont....

https://www.rt.com/news/491102-floyd-protests-color-revolution/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

[liminalOyster]

kristen.png

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t3mJ0B ... WtCvnewukE

The failure of this state is the result of starving the public sphere, starving the commons. This is the youth in the streets and they are different. Another world is possible and deserves to be hyped.

I see no fault in my friend Kristen's overflowing, strategic enthusiasm greater than those of the cautiously-pessimistic and soberly-doomsaying realisms found on RI, including my own.

Jack, thank you for all this. I've shifted today from resignation to at least little waves of mind-boggling optimism. And this adds to it. What are the sources for the two excellent lists?

edit: The accomplishments list and the black lives can't do xyz list?

Also: new variation on an old theme:

Burn the police precinct in your mind.

The "accomplishments" list is being compiled provisionally on someone's FB page as things develop. I saw enough of these items covered elsewhere that I consider it provisionally reliable, with all the caveats I list about cooptation attempts and fluid situations. The other two have been circulating, I cannot say. The one with the names, I am familiar enough with more than half of the cases listed to consider reliable with the usual caveat that action comes before perfection. The other's a manifesto, so take it as you will.

I'm surprised not to have seen either on Twitter but simply cannot bring myself to return to Facebook. Thanks. I definitely oscillate between a lot of the feelings that your friend's video captures and the pessimism and terror of what will follow if this revolution fails.

[kelley]

Where should this post belong? I'm curious as it may be on one of three or four threads.

However . . .

Is it time to mention the 'Fed-induced crisis' for which REX-84 was designed to uh um er 'contain'?

And contemporary parallels?

Or is this mention just '80s-style paranoia rearing its head again?

[Elvis]

Is it time to mention the 'Fed-induced crisis' for which REX-84 was designed to uh um er 'contain'?

"the Federal Reserve is acting like the kid in his car seat who keeps turning his toy steering wheel as much as it takes to turn the car."
—Marshall Auerback

I doubt the Federal Reserve is a witting inciter in REX-84 schemes, but I can't say for sure.

[kelley]

I should clarify

it's rumored the 2008 financial crisis provoked conversation in the corridors of power about possible civil insurrection

and about if a REX-84 type deployment would be necessary to contain it

at least I recall this being said by one banker or another? the chairman of Chase or Citibank or one or the other

my memory is foggy

[Elvis]

Part of the unfolding should be the folding of police unions.

Police union power has come up and it occurred to me...

While rates of union membership have dropped by half nationally since the early 1980s, to 10 percent, higher membership rates among police unions give them resources they can spend on campaigns and litigation to block reform. A single New York City police union has spent more than $1 million on state and local races since 2014.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/p ... kroll.html

This is generally associated with the overall rise of public-employee union membership, but police unions seem to present the biggest concern

I couldn't find a handy graph to show specifically the rise of police union membership (hm, strange?), but here's some data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (no laughing!):

Highlights from the 2019 data:

--The union membership rate of public-sector workers (33.6 percent) continued to be more than
five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers (6.2 percent). (See table 3.)

--The highest unionization rates were among workers in protective service occupations (33.8
percent) and in education, training, and library occupations (33.1 percent). (See table 3.)

Of course the American Enterprise Institute hates labor unions, so it's funny to see them expansively defending private sector unions to attack public sector unions. They even invoke FDR in making what are actually some good points along the way:

Government and Private Unions Are Not the Same
...
This is why FDR believed that “the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service,” and why even George Meany, the first head of the AFL-CIO, held that it was “impossible to bargain collectively with the government.”

Then this from publicintegrity.org:

As protests grow, big labor sides with police unions

Police unions have a fraught relationship with the wider U.S. labor movement.

Labor historians trace the tension back to the late 1800s, before police unions even existed. City officials would dispatch cops to break up frequent labor strikes, and they often arrested union leaders and beat workers with batons.

“Police were seen as tools for repressing unions,” Freeman said.

We've heard how cities' budgets are often dominated by policing...

US cities percent spent police.jpg

Some data on the rise of pubic sector unions.

US industry members by sector 2018.png

https://www.justfacts.com/unions.asp

Overall growth/decline of union membership, all US sectors:

US union membership 1897-2017.png

(https://www.justfacts.com/unions.asp)


Union membership by sector—again the state & local segments are likely to be dominated by police unions:

US union composition 2018.png

Relative growth/decline of private & public sector unions:

us-union-membership-private-public.jpg

(Ooops, I didn't save all the sources for the graphs.)


We all know Officer Chauvin's salary is over $100,000 right?

[Elvis]

I should clarify

it's rumored the 2008 financial crisis provoked conversation in the corridors of power about possible civil insurrection

and about if a REX-84 type deployment would be necessary to contain it

at least I recall this being said by one banker or another? the chairman of Chase or Citibank or one or the other

my memory is foggy

Oh okay! I too would have to dig out some 30-year old papers on REX-84 to remember the details. Might be a good time to do that, or someone more familiar might comment or fill us in here.

[JackRiddler]

.

It's no exaggeration, as I suggested above, that De Blasio and civilian government in NYC are hostage to a highly policitized, permanently aggrieved, routinely insubordinate and always aggressive NYPD. Whether or not the civilian leadership plays a willing role in this, political kayfabe or not -- the cops are the oversize tail that wags the City dog, as seems to be the case all over the country.

The curiously named Lynch, head of the Patrolmens Benevolent Association, the top cop union in NYC, has been attacking De Blasio since the beginning. But if you want to see a really hard-core base for our incipient fascism, check out the head of the second cop union in New York City, the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

Jun 5
Bruce Springsteen’s song “American Skin (41 Shots)” is a tender, moving ode to Amadou Diallo. Diallo was a 23 year old Guinean immigrant who was shot 19 times by 4 plain clothes cops outside his NYC apartment in 1999. 41 shots were fired. He was unarmed. The cops were acquitted.

When Bruce debuted the song in Atlanta in 2000 it was considered controversial. The largest police union in NYC was like “That’s it! The Boss is cancelled!” They called for the NYPD to boycott Bruce and refuse to offer security for his upcoming shows at Madison Square Garden. [1]

Listening to the song now, it’s hard to imagine what made them so mad. It isn’t angry or accusatory, just sorrowful. It offers up the simple, powerful refrain...

“You can get killed just for living in your American skin.”

It is a stunning song. Give it a listen.

The fact that it made the NYPD so mad tells us a lot about why they are doing what they are doing right now. The party line has always been the same...

Question our authority and become our enemy. It doesn’t matter if you’re a famous rockstar or a citizenry demanding reform.

Last Sunday, Ed Mullins, president of the second largest police union in NYC, tweeted Chiara de Blasio’s arrest record after she was arrested protesting. It included her license info and address. Chiara is the Mayor’s daughter. She’s 25. Mullins has been on the force since 82.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association’s account was briefly suspended because posting people’s private information without their knowledge, also known as doxxing, is a dangerous violation of Twitter Rules. The tweet was removed and Mullins quickly regained control of the account.

In February, Mullins tweeted that members of the NYPD were “declaring war on Mayor de Blasio and did not respect him.” He also tweeted a video that referred to black people as “monsters” and public housing as “war zones.” This is the head of NYC’s second largest police union.

This week he put out a statement praising officers for their recent performance during protests. He proclaimed that the NYPD answered to a “higher power” and will “win the war on New York City.” Then he went on Fox News and begged Trump to call in the National Guard to occupy us.

He told Laura Ingraham that the NYPD was “losing the city of New York.” I guess I’ve been naive all this time because I didn’t realize it belonged to them.

Yesterday the NYPD sought and was granted the right to arrest anyone and hold them for more than 24 hours in crowded jail cells without arraignment while the covid-19 pandemic still looms. This is a rare and stunning suspension of habeas corpus.

To recap, the president of the second largest police union in New York City publicly declared war on both its mayor and its citizens in the last four months. It’s not making many headlines right now but it seems like a red flag and a pretty big deal to me!

The thing about Mullins is, cops love him! He’s been a union boss since 2002. They love that he visits Trump in D.C. and trashes the Dem Mayor and owns the libs on his divisive, partisan Twitter account. How do you change that? How do you fix what doesn’t see itself as broken?

Make no mistake. The police are in full on revenge mode now and it will only get uglier. If a Springsteen song can get under their skin and set them off then surely they are fuming at having their absolute power and immunity threatened and defied so brazenly on the world stage.

But what did we expect? In 2017, our POTUS gave a speech on camera in which he gleefully encouraged New York cops to be violent when performing arrests as rows of uniformed police officers laughed and applauded from the bleachers behind him. Where did we think this would lead us? [2]

If you would like to learn more about Amadou Diallo there is a great episode of the
@netflix series TRIAL BY MEDIA, that tells his story. You can also donate to the Amadou Diallo Foundation here.

[1] I REMEMBER THIS TOO

[2] "LEAD?" TO THE SAME PLACE WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN, BUT WORSE, AS YOU WROTE ALREADY ABOVE: "Question our authority and become our enemy."

.

[JackRiddler]

Killology

MAY 28, 2020
Minneapolis Banned Warrior-Style Police Training. Its Police Union Kept Offering It Anyway.
The union’s resistance to reform is coming under renewed scrutiny after the killing of George Floyd.

INAE OH


Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, at a Trump rally in October 2019.Richard Tsong-Taatarii/AP

George Floyd’s killing on Monday at the hands of a white police officer is sparking intense scrutiny of the Minneapolis Police Department—an institution long plagued by allegations of misconduct and racist abuse—and the controversial restraint tactic that led to Floyd being suffocated to death while pinned to the ground, as he repeatedly told officers he could no longer breathe.

While an investigation is underway over the use of the chokehold in Floyd’s death, it’s worth taking a look at the “warrior-style” police training that for years had been popular with the city’s top police union. For the unfamiliar, the training, as we reported in 2017, generally espouses a “killology” vision of law enforcement that’s frequently likened to “fear porn.” Experts say the training, which has been linked to high profile police-related killings around the country, including Philando Castille’s 2016 shooting death, also in Minnesota, often runs the risk of the use of unnecessary, and sometimes, fatal force:

This approach to policing is outdated and ineffective, says Stoughton, and, “some of it is dangerously wrong.” Samuel Walker, a criminal-justice professor and expert on police accountability, says the “Bulletproof Warrior” approach is “okay for Green Berets but unacceptable for domestic policing. The best police chiefs in the country don’t want anything to do with this.”

Citing the “killology” mentality, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey ultimately banned the training last year but the move infuriated Minneapolis Police Union President Lt. Bob Kroll. Shortly after the decision was announced, Kroll called the ban illegal and said that the union would continue to make the training available to any interested officers. “It’s not about killing, it’s about surviving,” Kroll said at the time.

Though it’s not clear if anyone actually took up the offer for additional training, Kroll’s resistance to police reform should take on new significance after Floyd’s killing. So too should his comments on “the handcuffing and oppression of police.”

“The Obama administration and the handcuffing and oppression of police was despicable,” Kroll said while speaking at a Trump rally in October. “The first thing President Trump did when he took office was turn that around…he decided to start let cops do their job, put the handcuffs on the criminals instead of on us.”

Unidentified Shock Troops
I saw a whole bunch of photos of these federal security forces going around DC, but cannot find them right now. They were taken into service from various agencies, organized into ad-hoc squads, and equipped for riot and mayhem. They do not wear personal badges and their uniforms do not usually identify their agency. Barr calls this "flooding the zone."

Barr seeks to subdue D.C. protests by ‘flooding the zone’ with federal firepower

By Devlin Barrett
June 3, 2020 at 9:08 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... story.html

From an FBI command center in Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood, Attorney General William P. Barr has orchestrated a stunning show of force on the streets of the nation’s capital — a battalion of federal agents, troops and police designed to restore order, but one that critics say carries grim parallels to heavy-handed foreign regimes.

Barr was tapped by President Trump to direct the national response to protests and riots over police misconduct since the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The attorney general has focused much of his attention on the District, where unrest and arrests swelled over the weekend before a jarring clash Monday to clear peaceful protesters from outside the White House — an order Barr issued personally. By Tuesday night, as he sat in the FBI command center until nearly midnight, the city’s mood seemed to have calmed.

Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd

One Justice Department official said Barr’s strategy is to “flood the zone” by putting “the maximum amount of law enforcement out on the street. . . . The peacefulness is in large part due to the large law enforcement presence.” Like others, this official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

While large protests Tuesday night included thousands of people breaking the city’s curfew, Barr and his advisers reason that as long as such activities are peaceful, they are not going to be challenged by federal enforcers.

Still, while Barr may be restoring order, his outsize role in the administration has made many uncomfortable. Monday’s episode outside the White House has proven especially galling for some, including Trump’s former defense secretary, Jim Mattis, who on Wednesday issued a pointed rebuke.

“We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square,” the retired general wrote. “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

Barr patrols downtown Washington, D.C., after city leaders implemented a curfew on Monday.
Barr patrols downtown Washington, D.C., after city leaders implemented a curfew on Monday. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
The display of federal might — in the District and other restive cities where protests have turned destructive — includes military vehicles at many intersections, helicopter flyovers, federal law enforcement agents assigned to patrol and investigate possible crimes, street closures and checkpoints. Troubling to some has been the presence of personnel, some heavily armed, clad in tactical attire bearing no identifiable insignia. The Justice Department itself has in the past criticized such a lack of transparency, saying it foments mistrust.

On the night he took charge of the effort, Barr walked the streets to see for himself how personnel were deployed.

Some law enforcement experts contend the dramatic scenes are counterproductive in the long run, affirming the very criticism leveled by protesters — that police and government officials treat citizens unjustly.

“The heavy hand is a smack in the face, and the danger is that it may make things worse,” said Dennis Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York with expertise in police response to protests. “It really does communicate something about where those who are in charge think our society sits right now. We’re in the process of demonstrating to the people who are out in the streets that they are right to be there.”

Kenney said he was struck by the president’s walk Monday to a church near the White House, under a phalanx of armed guards. It reminded him of when he advised a government minister in Yemen that he should use a soft touch on protests. The minister refused and, in six months, could not safely travel anywhere beyond his home and his office.

Police turn aggressive against protesters and bystanders, adding to disorder

The Justice Department official said such criticism was unwarranted. “What would be the alternative, letting people burn down the city?” the official asked. “The force is necessary to restore order and civility so people can go ahead with their lives because, prior to this, things were really getting out of hand. This only benefits everyone.”

Barr has said the government must “dominate” the streets to restore order and put an end to the looting, rioting and vandalism that has marred Washington, New York, Minneapolis and elsewhere.

From the FBI command center, the attorney general coordinates with the Pentagon and a variety of federal agencies fanned out across the capital. Tennessee and Florida announced Wednesday they were sending National Guard troops to the city to further beef up those efforts. Barr has also ordered agents with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and the Bureau of Prisons to help protect the city.

Aides said Barr has also logged hours at FBI headquarters, overseeing the national response efforts, focused not just on the broad efforts but the minutiae of the government response.

Justice Department officials took the sharp drop in arrests Tuesday night as a sign that the strategy is working. While the crowds of protesters were as large or larger than previous nights, there was far less property destruction or violence compared with previous evenings.

A second Justice Department official said Wednesday that that there has been “a tremendous amount of restraint” shown by D.C. police and the other law enforcement agencies. The official said that that so far, none of those arrested have been accused of being part of extremist groups, but investigators are still examining the backgrounds of some and scrutinizing social media posts for evidence of anyone who may be organizing, orchestrating or encouraging violence amid the protests.

“We can exploit phones, data communications to see if there is a coordinated command and control. That’s what we’re looking for,” the official said.

Cities increasingly turn to curfews to quell protests

A central focus in Barr’s effort is steering criminal cases into the federal system, where suspects are likely to face stiffer prison sentences. As part of that push, two Minnesota men were charged Tuesday with firebombing a local court office building.

According to a criminal complaint, Garrett Patrick Ziegler, 24, and Fornandous Cortez Henderson, 32, were charged with arson and possession of molotov cocktails after detectives in Apple Valley, Minn., found a set of car keys near the crime scene that led them to the suspects.

The case was turned over to federal prosecutors and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

As in the Minnesota case, ATF is helping local police departments with arson investigations related to the unrest, while other agents are helping patrol public spaces. Other federal agencies are also taking up cases involving violence or vandalism related to the protests. About a dozen people have been charged federally in such cases, and scores more are under investigation, according to officials.

On Wednesday evening, authorities announced the arrest of three men in Las Vegas on charges of conspiring to cause destruction at protests in that city. Federal authorities said the three men identified with the “boogaloo” movement, a far-right extremist ideology that seeks to spark a civil war.

In New York, acrimony and finger-pointing as NYPD struggles to stop looting and violence

The DEA has received special permission to go beyond its standard legal mandate of investigating drug-related crimes to also investigate crimes related to the protests, according to an internal document first reported by BuzzFeed News.

The Justice Department authorization, which lasts for 14 days, allows the DEA to conduct “covert surveillance” and share intelligence with state and local officials, as well as patrol public places and make arrests for non-drug crimes as officials see fit. A DEA spokeswoman declined to comment.

It is unusual for federal agents to engage in such duties, but they have been pressed into service by Barr, who has called the public vandalism and violence surrounding the protests “domestic terrorism.”

Some of the federal agents deployed around Washington have been wearing military-style tactical gear with no markings to indicate their names or the agencies for which they work. Six years ago, the Justice Department criticized the Ferguson, Mo., police department for allowing its officers to work without wearing nameplates.

“Officers wearing name plates while in uniform is a basic component of transparency and accountability,” the Justice Department’s civil rights division wrote at the time. “It is a near-universal requirement of sound policing practices. . . . Allowing officers to remain anonymous when they interact with the public contributes to mistrust and undermines accountability.”

A Justice Department official said there has been no instruction for federal agents to not identify themselves, but the mobilization happened so quickly, “they’re using the gear that’s available. . . . There is so much surveillance that’s going on that I feel confident nothing is going to happen here that isn’t video recorded.”

FBI charges Illinois man with rioting, handing out ‘bombs’ in Minneapolis

Kenney, the policing expert, said federal law enforcement agents are a poor fit for what should be the twin goals of government: using National Guard troops to protect the protesters and using police in reserve to pursue any lawbreakers.

“What the DEA and all the other federal law enforcement agencies are going to contribute is totally beyond me,” said Kenney. “They’re of little value and should be cleared out.”

Democrats have also criticized Barr’s handling of the crisis, particularly the decision to clear Lafayette Square of protesters just before the president’s walk to get his photo taken outside a church. On Wednesday, four senior House Democrats wrote to Barr seeking answers about that decision and declaring that “the use of federal personnel to prevent American citizens from exercising their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble represents a direct threat to our democracy.”

The FBI’s Washington Field Office, which holds the command center where Barr oversees the government response, issued a statement saying it “respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. We are working actively and closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners and are committed to apprehending violent instigators who are exploiting legitimate, peaceful protests and engaging in violations of federal law.”

The attorney general has also instructed the FBI’s joint terrorism task forces to assist in the efforts. Officials said agents in the JTTFs have been assigned to gather video and photo evidence of possible lawbreakers, as well as take tips from local police departments about particular suspects or cases. One official said the JTTFs’ work on identifying criminal activity related to the protests does not mean the agency has changed its rules for how it uses surveillance powers toward Americans — the legal limitations around national security intelligence authorities still apply, the official said.

The government’s show of force has not been welcome or necessary everywhere. As part of the Justice Department effort, Barr ordered special riot control teams from the Bureau of Prisons to deploy in Washington and Miami, where the situation has been relatively calm. Another law enforcement official said the team had not been needed there and would depart.

Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.

"Driving Around Shooting People In the Face"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcgICmLJXOg


High-Ranking Member of the Force
(Follow link for video)

www.inquirer.com
‘Police just went nuts’: Charges dropped after video surfaces of police beating student, other protesters with batons

William Bender
June 5, 2020
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelp ... 00604.html

A Temple University student arrested during protests Monday was released from custody Wednesday after video surfaced of one police officer striking him in the head with a baton and another using his knee to pin the student’s face to the street.

Prosecutors dismissed the charges against Evan Gorski, 21, an engineering student, after viewing the YouTube and Twitter videos, according to his attorney, R. Emmett Madden.

Madden said Thursday that he had been told by court personnel that Gorski was being held on allegations that he assaulted a police officer by pushing him off a bike, causing him to break a hand.

Eight seconds into the 36-second video, Gorski — with a ponytail and wearing the Eagles jersey — appears to reach in to separate an officer and a protester, and immediately retreats when another officer raises his baton.

That officer then strikes Gorski sharply on or near his head and tackles him, while another officer presses Gorski’s face to the pavement by placing his knee on the back of his head and neck. Madden said Gorski required medical treatment.

Police sources say that the baton-wielding officer is a high-ranking member of the force, Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna. He earns $126,339 a year, according to city payroll records. The sources said Bologna was taken off street duty Thursday evening after this article was published. He handed in his gun pending an investigation. He has not been charged with a crime or departmental violation.

Bologna could not immediately be reached for comment Friday morning.

Inspector Sekou Kinebrew, a police spokesperson, declined to comment Thursday on the circumstances of Gorski’s arrest, but said the incident is being investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Division. “The propriety of the tactics employed will be included in that investigation,” Kinebrew said.

“The police were lying,” Madden said. “We had a protest against police brutality, and then police brutalize my client and try to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit.”

Gorski could not be reached Thursday.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner on Thursday evening said: “The video is concerning in more than one way. The District Attorney’s Office and District Attorney Krasner himself carefully reviewed the case presented by the police, other evidence, and then declined it.”

Police clash with protesters early Monday evening near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Here is Temple University student Evan Gorski just before an officer strikes him with a baton.
Matthew VanDyke

Police clash with protesters early Monday evening near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Here is Temple University student Evan Gorski just before an officer strikes him with a baton.

Matthew VanDyke, a former documentary filmmaker who captured footage of the clash, said protesters on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway had been peaceful, and that police started pushing them onto the Park Towne Place property.

“We didn’t even know where exactly they wanted us to go,” VanDyke said. “They just started beating people. It was a bizarre escalation of force that came out of nowhere. The police just went nuts.”

Brendan Lowry, founder of the @Peopledelphia Instagram account, also captured video. He said the small group of protesters were peaceful and that the beating and Gorski’s arrest “felt unprovoked.”

“Their job is to deescalate violence and protect our right to protest,” Lowry said of police. “In this case, they did the opposite.”

Video shows officers striking several people with batons. The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m., shortly after protesters on the Vine Street Expressway had been teargassed.

“I’ve been in plenty of conflict zones,” VanDyke said, “but I’ve never seen anything like this in America with my own eyes.”

Gorski is arrested. He was held for two days before charges were dropped.
Matthew VanDyke

Gorski is arrested. He was held for two days before charges were dropped.

City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart announced Thursday that she would hire an expert to review the city’s response to the civil unrest. “Teargassing our people is not something we’re used to seeing here in Philadelphia,” she said.

Rhynhart, who viewed the video of Gorski’s arrest, called it “disturbing.” She said her report would be made public and would examine the city’s operational and resource deployment, as well as police tactics during the protests.

Staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.

Jesus H, Warzone
Seriously disturbing footage of kid shot in head with "non-lethal" round in Austin, TX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BGyTi-KdKc

[JackRiddler]

Rage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb9_qGOa9Go


Coincidence

Black Lives Matter, ACLU sue Trump, Barr for 'unprovoked criminal attack' on protesters

By Jeff Mordock - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 4, 2020
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... william-b/

Black Lives Matter and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Trump administration, saying it violated the constitutional rights of demonstrators who were cleared out of a park Monday so President Trump could walk to a historic church for a photo op.

The lawsuit accuses officers of attacking protesters without warning and using excessive force in an “unprovoked criminal attack.”

“Defendants had no legitimate basis to destroy the peaceable gathering. Defendants professed purpose - to clear the area to permit the President to walk to a photo opportunity at a nearby church — was a wholly illegal reason for abridging the constitutional rights of the Plaintiffs and others assembled in Lafayette Square,” the lawsuit said.

SEE ALSO: Court documents: Black Lives Matter, ACLU sues Trump

It is the first lawsuit filed over Monday’s events in Lafayette Square, which sits across the street from White House. Both Mr. Trump and Attorney General William Barr are named as defendants in the suit, which was filed in a D.C. federal court.

Demonstrators had gathered in the park as Mr. Trump began to deliver remarks from the White House about the need to keep peaceful the nationwide protests in the George Flood killing.

The U.S. Park Police and other federal law enforcement agencies deployed smoke canisters, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, according to the lawsuit.

After the crowd was cleared from the park, Mr. Trump walked from the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church where he was photographed holding a Bible. The church had taken fire damage when it was burned by protestors over the weekend.

The U.S. Park Police has defended its methods for clearing the park, saying the demonstrators were unruly and throwing bricks and frozen water bottles at officers. It has also maintained that three warnings were given over a loudspeaker before officers took action.

But Black Lives Matter and the ACLU said that simply isn’t true.

“This case is about the President and Attorney General of the United States ordering the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators who were speaking out against discriminatory police brutality targeted at Black people,” the lawsuit said.

Mr. Barr on Thursday defended his directive to clear the park, alleging some of the protesters had become increasingly violent and government buildings had been set afire and vandalized the night before.

Rioters used crowbars to dig out pavement and throw it at federal officers, resulting in 114 injuries to federal law enforcement officers and 22 had to be hospitalized with serious head injuries or concussions, Mr. Barr said.

“I made the decision that we would try to move our perimeter northward by a block to provide additional protections,” he said.

Mr. Barr also told reporters that protesters were asked three times to move back before the authorities began to push them back. He said the rioting was interfering with the government’s functions.

The attorney general also defended Mr. Trump’s decision to walk across the park to St. John’s Church.

“The president should be able to walk outside the White House and walk across the street,” he said. “I don’t view it as a political act, I think it is entirely appropriate for him to do that.”

“There was no correlation between our tactical plan to move the perimeter out by one block and the president going over to the church,” Mr. Barr continued.

[JackRiddler]

Always interesting. Also, the most insanely prolific historian I know.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf51ypu1wDs