2020-06-18: News Headlines

Eds. (2020-06-18). Revolutionary ideals of the Paris Commune live on in Black Lives Matter autonomous zone in Seattle. mronline.org The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle—or Chaz as it has come to be known—was set up on June 8 in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It came about as a result of BLM protesters moving in after the Seattle police abandoned the precinct due to clashes with protesters.

Eds. (2020-06-18). Abolition will not be randomized. mronline.org In the wake of the current uprising in support of Black Lives Matter, there has been increasing interest in the use of mainstream empirical methods in economics—like randomized control trials (RCTs) and administrative data evaluation—to address issues of racism and violence in the institution of policing.

Ed Rampell (2020-06-18). If Black Lives Matter, must 'Gone with the Wind' be gone? peoplesworld.org In 1953 author Simone de Beauvoir asked Must We Burn De Sade? regarding the French Marquis and his sadomasochistic books. Today, as the multiple plagues of COVID-19, widespread economic displacement and police brutality disproportionately ravage the African-American community, we're likewise asking: Must Gone with the Wind be gone? On June 10, the birthday of Hattie …

_____ (2020-06-18). Reporter Sues Newspaper For Prohibiting Her Coverage Of Protests. popularresistance.org A reporter in Pittsburgh is suing the newspaper she works for after the company prohibited her from covering the city's Black Lives Matter protests because of a tweet concerning the issue. The suit claims that Ms. Johnson was prevented from pursuing stories on jailed protesters or social-media efforts to raise bail funds after she posted a tweet on 31 May highlighting the different treatment black and white people regarding property damage. | "Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don't care about this city!!!!!" the tweet says. "…. oh wait sorry. "No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney…

_____ (2020-06-18). What Would The Black Panthers Think Of Black Lives Matter? popularresistance.org The U.S. ruling class, whose capitalist system is the historical midwife of modern racism, is not threatened by the racialist and black-capitalist BLM. But just to make sure that black anger is kept within safe political boundaries, a critical, cash-rich arm of concentrated wealth agreed last year to lavishly fund the group and a significant number of black middle class-led policy and advocacy groups coming in under its rubric. | In August 2016, when I first heard that BLM had scored $100 million from the Ford Foundation and other elite philanthro-capitalists (including the Hill-Snowden Foundation, the NoVo Found…

_____ (2020-06-18). Community Control Of The Police — And A Whole Lot More. popularresistance.org The wave of people's protests across the nation, backed by solidarity actions in cities around the world, has caused the corporate oligarchy and its servants to make promises they can't keep and give lip service to programs they have always resisted. The Congressional Black Caucus, the vast bulk of whose members backed militarization of local police and elevation of cops to the status of "protected" class, now claims to favor limits on police arsenals, less legal immunities for cops and a grab-bag of other reforms they previously dismissed out of hand. Mayors that know damn well they will have to cut spending acr…

Al Jazeera (2020-06-18). Planet Earth Police Department Blew Up Seven Innocent Black People in Somalia, Including a Child. anti-empire.com The United States military has not adequately investigated two air raids in Somalia earlier this year that have killed at least seven civilians, including a child, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW). [HRW is a major lobbyist for regime-change wars, and as such they're very tame on the Pentagon. If they say seven there was likely more.] | In a report released on Tuesday, the rights group said the killing of the civilians was in apparent violation of the laws of war. The HRW was referring to incidents on February 2 and March 10 in Jilib and Janaale, where no evidence of a military target involving the al-Sha…

RT (2020-06-18). 'Independent' Facebook fact-checker exposed as partisan smear factory packed with CNN alumni. rt.com Facebook fact-checker Lead Stories is a biased outfit bristling with ex-CNN staffers that presents itself as neutral, despite most of its employees having donated to the Democratic Party, a conservative outlet has revealed. | The National Pulse (TNP), whose story about supposed financial links between Black Lives Matter, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and fundraiser ActBlue was flagged as "partly false" by Lead Stories on Facebook, did some

Sit.Walk.Listen. and SF Sanghas (2020-06-18). Sunday 6/21: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (Polk & McAllister)…

Palo_Alto_Action_4 _Justice (2020-06-18). Friday 6/19: Defend Black Lives Event in Palo Alto. indybay.org Palo Alto City Hall's King Plaza | 250 Hamilton Ave. | Palo Alto 94301…

Milestone in History (2020-06-18). Columbus Statue Finally Removed from Telegraph Hill. indybay.org After decades of protest, going back in memory to 1992, the 500th Anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas, when we were able to move the Columbus Genocide Parade from Market to Fisherman's Wharf, the latest anti-racism movement, Black Lives Matter, finally moved the City & County of San Francisco to take down the Columbus monument outside Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill today.

Movement for Black Lives (2020-06-18). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: Nationwide M4BL Actions to Defend Black Lives Juneteenth Weekend. indybay.org SF Bay Area, across the USA, & Online…

Nestor Machno (2020-06-18). Millions of Black People slaughtered in Congo – for cellphones! indybay.org BLM is a pretty cool movement but why is it stopping in the 1st World? | Are smartphones more important than African Lives?>

NLG-SF (2020-06-18). Civil Rights Class Action Filed in Reponse to Oakland Police Abuses of George Floyd Protesters. indybay.org "It was so heartening to see so many young Black people expressing their outrage and wanting to be part of the change, and they were attacked by our police department, that tells them 'don't come out here, because we will make your life hard, we will hurt you if you organize, we will hurt you if you say that there is anything wrong with society.'" | — Walter Riley…

Susan Price (2020-06-18). Eyewitness: Seattle Black Lives Matter protests. greenleft.org.au

Liberation staff (2020-06-18). Milwaukee Pride for Black Lives Matter. liberationnews.org Well over 3,000 people turned out to a "March with PRIDE for #BLACKLIVESMATTER" rally and march, brought together in only a couple days by members of the Black and Brown LGBTQ community in Milwaukee. Signs such as "White Silence is Violence," "Queer and Trans for Black Lives Matter," and "Black and Brown Unity," put the …

Aquatic Park Swimmers Group (2020-06-18). Friday 6/19: Swimmers Floating Protest for BLM. indybay.org San Francisco's Aquatic Park…

SIREN & other groups (2020-06-18). Thursday 6/18: #HomeIsHere: Car Caravans for DACA SCOTUS Decision & BLM in SF Bay Area. indybay.org Caravans in San Fransisco, San Jose, Oakland and throughout CA…

Staff (2020-06-18). Rashad Robinson on Recent Spike in Hanging Deaths, the Cancellation of "Cops" & Boycotting Facebook. democracynow.org For more than a decade, the racial justice organization Color of Change led a push to cancel the long-running TV show "Cops," which glorifies police aggression. Now the show has been cancelled, along with A&E's "Live PD." "The thing about these shows is that they call themselves reality programming, but they are only from the vision of the police officers," says Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. "These shows have served as a PR arm for law enforcement." He is now calling on Netflix to cancel "Border Security: America's Front Line."

Susan Price (2020-06-18). United States: Seattle socialist councillor — 'Our fight is for systemic change'. greenleft.org.au

Revolutionary United Front (2020-06-18). Tuesday 6/23: Community Meeting on Police Brutality and the George Floyd Protests Pt. 2. indybay.org Willow Park | Oakland, CA 94607…

Staff (2020-06-18). Headlines for June 18, 2020. democracynow.org Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Charged with Murder, Rayshard Brooks Described Struggles with Criminal Justice System in Video Recorded Before His Killing, Trump Calls Protesters "Anarchists, Terrorists and Looters" as Vigilantes Attack Peaceful Marches, George Floyd's Brother Calls on United Nations to Probe U.S. Racism and Police Brutality, Coronavirus Infection Rate Hits Record in States That Eased Social Distancing, Florida COVID-19 Cases Surge as Gov. DeSantis Promises to Keep Restaurants Open, Tulsa Mayor "Not Positive That Everything Is Safe" as 19,000 Plan to Attend Trump Rally, Bra…

Betsey Piette (2020-06-18). Too late to reform, time to disband Philly police. workers.org Philadelphia The Philadelphia Police Department, the fourth largest in the U.S., is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, founded in 1854. Its history has been marked by patterns of police brutality, intimidation, coercion and disregard for constitutional rights. Philadelphia protest, June 6. Recently, a statue of former Police Commissioner . . . |

Red Friday (2020-06-18). Military COIN Experts Claim They Can End US Unrest in Just 17 Years. anti-empire.com Military experts in counterinsurgency and nation-building claim they can bring nationwide protests against police brutality under control in just 17 years, sources report. | "The unrest in our country is something we can fix, no problem," Bob Egon, CEO of the Center for Perpetual War, said today. "We have a civilian population upset at their government. They're overwhelmingly peaceful, and they have a positive view of the US Military. This is a situation we've dealt with many times before." | "If we send in the troops now, we can have these protesters making IEDs inside a week." | "We had some random guy in the o…

Staff (2020-06-18). "Movements Work": As Activists Occupy Seattle's Capitol Hill, City Bans Tear Gas, Expels Police Union. democracynow.org In Seattle, the fight to demilitarize and defund the police continues as the King County Labor Council voted to expel the Seattle police union Wednesday, following weeks of protest. Seattle police sparked outrage for responding to massive protests against police brutality by using pepper spray, tear gas and flashbangs on demonstrators and reporters. Activists then formed an autonomous zone in response to the police department's abandonment of a precinct building. On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to send troops into Seattle to dismantle the community-run Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, which extends over se…

Eds. (2020-06-18). Persecuted Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazy dies of suicide. mronline.org 30-year-old Sara Hagezy was in exile in Canada since her release from jail in 2018. She was arrested after she waved a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo…

Abayomi Azikiwe (2020-06-18). Ballots, Bullets and the African American Struggle in Georgia. globalresearch.ca Continuing problems with voter suppression and the brutal execution of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta highlights racism and national oppression in the contemporary South | *** | "This is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet. It's liberty or it's death. …

Jeff Cohen (2020-06-18). Let Us Name the System: "Racial Capitalism" zcomm.org At every stage in U.S. history — beginning with the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and continuing through modern methods of injustice from redlining to mass incarceration and private prisons — U.S. racism has been inextricably embedded in the system of profiteering.

William rivers Pitt (2020-06-17). From Trans Rights to Black Lives Matter, Trump Supporters Are Outnumbered. zcomm.org An F-5 tornado has roared through Trumpland, the rural/exurban village where Trump's base resides with Fox News playing on one channel and OANN on the other…

Ipek S. Burnett (2020-06-17). Bringing America to the Knee. counterpunch.org When Black Lives Matter protesters join together in Minneapolis, Louisville, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, and take a knee to leverage their despair and outrage in quest for racial justice, to lay bare the instability of a deeply broken system, to take part in a movement, they evoke much of the aforementioned—from reverence and love, to the memories of violence and resistance.

Afroze Fatima Zaidi (2020-06-17). Idols must fall. We can't address racism in the present without condemning Britain's colonial past. thecanary.co As the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement continues to make waves and hold racist power structures to account, the marketplace of ideas is thriving. People wanting to reduce racism to a debate and consider 'both sides' insist that while racism is bad, vandalising statues is arguably The prime minister

Ellen Knickmeyer (2020-06-17). Near Trump's rally site, African American Tulsa lives with fiery legacy. peoplesworld.org TULSA, Okla. (AP) — In the real world, 74-year-old Donald Shaw is walking on the empty, parched grass slope by Tulsa's noisy crosstown expressway. He's on the other side of the city's historical white-Black dividing line from where President Donald Trump will hold a rally Saturday with his overwhelmingly white supporters. But Shaw can conjure …

Arielle Robinson (2020-06-17). Atlanta's Black community demands: Justice for Rayshard Brooks! workers.org June 13 — Amid existing protests in support of Black people murdered by police and white supremacists in Georgia and elsewhere, Atlanta protesters continue to brave the streets to fight for Rayshard Brooks — murdered by Atlanta police on Friday night, June 12. June 17 — Fired Atlanta cop Garrett . . . |

Grist staff (2020-06-17). Black environmentalists are organizing against worldwide injustice. peoplesworld.org

Eleanor Goldfield (2020-06-17). Struggle Theater: Don't Let Theatrics Shroud the Reality of Systemic Oppression. mintpressnews.com America's power brokers are hoping murals, kente cloth, and a series of half-baked legislative reforms will appease activists into giving up the fight for real change.

Howard Lisnoff (2020-06-17). Nonviolent and Violent Protest. counterpunch.org Author, activist, and intellectual Chris Hedges referred to an often quoted statement by the late Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture): "In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none." The former leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panthers Party's observation was made in reaction to Black

_____ (2020-06-17). FBI Misled Congress: Black Activists Still Under Investigation. popularresistance.org As Black activists around the country lead protests for racial justice, following the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people, MediaJustice and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still surveilling Black activists using a dated designation they testified to Congress was no longer in use. Of one million pages of documents, responsive to a FOIA request filed by MediaJustice and the ACLU, up to one-third of the pages are on open investigations of Black people as "domestic terrorist" threats for potential "Black identit…

sputniknews (2020-06-17). Anti-Racism Protest Against Police Brutality Takes Place in Atlanta – Video. sputniknews.com Amid the Black Lives Matter movement, protests against police brutality and racial injustice have spread across all 50 of the Unites States. In Atlanta, they have been reignited with the killing of Rayshard Brooks, shot dead by a police officer in a drive-thru line at a Wendy's fast food restaurant.

Susan Price (2020-06-17). United States: High stakes in Trump's attacks on Black Lives Matter protests. greenleft.org.au Most of…

Raul Diego (2020-06-17). Murderous US Military Agents and Left-wing Extremists Share Stage in the Fake News Sweepstakes. mintpressnews.com A USAF sergeant with ties to a Second Amendment group has been charged with murdering a federal security officer at a George Floyd protest to bring about police reform while Fox News deems Antifa and BLM'ers seeking the same "domestic terrorists."

Max Parry (2020-06-17). Beware the hijacking of U.S. Protests into a "Color Revolution" dissidentvoice.org The May 25th killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota shocked the world and set off mass protests against racism and police brutality in dozens of cities from the mid-western United States to the European Union, all in the midst of a global …

John Bachtell (2020-06-17). Support grows in Chicago for a new approach to police accountability. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO—This city is the national epicenter of police torture of African-American men. So, it's not surprising tens of thousands have taken to the streets following the police execution of George Floyd. "The wounds run deep here. Many protests make this an uprising," Jazmine Salas, 28, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression …

Eds. (2020-06-17). "And This Happened in Los Angeles:" Malcolm X describes police brutality against members of the Nation of Islam. mronline.org There was police brutality and there was atrocity, and the press was just as atrocious as the police. Because they helped the police to cover it up by propagating a false image across the country, that there was a blazing gun battle which involved Muslims and police shooting at each other.

RT (2020-06-17). Atlanta cop charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks shooting may face DEATH PENALTY, after partner turns witness. rt.com Police officer Garrett Rolfe is facing eleven charges, including felony murder and aggravated assault, in the killing of Rayshard Brooks, after his partner turned state's evidence. Rolfe faces a possible death sentence. | Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced the charges, which include three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly firing his weapon "recklessly" in the effort to bring down Brooks, on Wednesday. In addition to felony murder, Rolfe has been charged with violating his oath as a police officer, for not properly arresting Brooks and for standing on his body af…

Alan Macleod (2020-06-17). "Most Overpaid Cops in the Country" Seattle Police Rake in up to $300k per Year. mintpressnews.com As the Seattle City Council begins its inquest into cutting police funding, it could start with the massively bloated salaries of its top cops.

Alan MacLeod (2020-06-17). "It Will Take Me Just Under Twenty Five Years to Pay off the First Surgery" — Journalist Blinded by Cops Speaks Out. thealtworld.com "The only reason I'm dealing with this so well is I think poverty and low wage work …

Staff (2020-06-17). Adalah backs warning from UN human rights experts: Morning after Israel's West Bank annexation will be 'vision of 21st century apartheid'. imemc.org 17/06/2020: ADALAH — The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights In Israel: UN experts:…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Turkish police arrest 34 over suspected links to FETàñ. yenisafak.com At least 34 suspects were arrested Wednesday for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.Local police in the central Nigde province carried out simultaneous operations in 10 provinces in coordination with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, according to a security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The operation against the terror group's infiltration into the judiciary covered the provinces of Nigde, Elazig, Aksaray, Afyonkarahisar, Adana, Kahramanmaras, Zonguldak, Tokat, Kayseri, as well as…

Joe Reedy (2020-06-16). NFL Commissioner now encourages teams to sign Kaepernick. peoplesworld.org (AP) Roger Goodell would like to see Colin Kaepernick back in the NFL this season. And, quite honestly, it took too damn long, and cost too many Black lives, to get to this point. The NFL commissioner said during ESPN's "The Return of Sports" special on Monday that he is encouraging teams to sign the 32-year old …

Nick Turse (2020-06-16). The Black Lives Matter Protests Are a Tipping Point in US History. thenation.com The Black Lives Matter Protests Are a Tipping Point in US History…

Fréa Lockley (2020-06-16). A powerful call to rename streets that are 'still littered with slave traders' names'. thecanary.co On 7 June, Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol

John Catalinotto (2020-06-16). Conflict arises over renaming military bases. workers.org June 14 — The massive Black Lives Matter uprising has aroused demands that the U.S. Armed Forces rename the 10 military bases named for Confederate generals and ban the use of racist symbols — such as the Confederate battle flag. For the second time in weeks, top military officers must . . . |

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2020-06-16). The Uprising Is Only Beginning: Building Power To Win Our Demands. dissidentvoice.org The current uprising against police violence and racism is just beginning. It is rapidly shifting public consciousness on issues of policing, violence against Black people and others, and systemic racism. The movement is deepening and becoming broader as well as putting forward solutions and making demands. The confluence of crises including recent police violence, the COVID-19 …

Nicolas J S Davies (2020-06-16). Bigotry and the War Machine. progressive.org Violence against Black people mirrors U.S. foreign policy.

Staff (2020-06-16). Civil Rights Activist Annie Chambers Is Marching Again Against Police Brutality. therealnews.com Reverend Annie Chambers marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the 60s. This month she took to the streets to demand an end to police brutality when Baltimore City joined the nationwide movement calling for justice for George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minnesota. | The lifelong organizer says that while history repeats itself, racism is even worse than in her youth. "In the 50s and 60s we were taught to suffer. We got beat and shot and attacked by dogs. And you heard what Donald Trump say—get the dogs out on them," Chambers said in a phone interview with The Real News on…

Robtel Neajai Pailey, Amy Niang (2020-06-16). The Long Blue Line Connecting Police Brutality to Drone Strikes. thenation.com The Long Blue Line Connecting Police Brutality to Drone Strikes…

_____ (2020-06-16). Corporations Now Love 'Black Lives'—But What About Their Own Black Workers? popularresistance.org Never underestimate US business community's capacity for hypocrisy. | That's one of the lessons to be drawn from the explosive reaction to George Floyd's murder. As demonstrators began flooding streets, corporate PR departments flew into rapid response mode, issuing a flurry of agonized, apologetic pledges to do more to combat racism and inequality. | Such statements may, on a personal level, be sincere: the depth of righteous pain and anger expressed by African Americans has induced widespread soul-searching, even in executive suites. Yet this high-profile hand-wringing is used to uncouple the outpouring of outr…

_____ (2020-06-16). UN Should Establish A Commission Of Inquiry On Systemic Racism And Law Enforcement In The US. popularresistance.org On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an "Urgent Debate" on systemic racism in law enforcement. The proximate catalyst for this debate is the recent police killing of George Floyd and many other Black people in the United States, and the breath-taking national and transnational uprising of the past two weeks against systemic racism in law enforcement. | The Urgent Debate is more than opportunity for discussion—it's an opportunity for meaningful action. In a letter to the President of the UN Human Rights Council, I, along with the UN Working Group of Experts on People…

_____ (2020-06-16). Parallels Between Minneapolis And Jerusalem Are More Than Skin Deep. popularresistance.org It is hard to ignore the striking parallels between the recent scenes of police brutality in cities across the United States and decades of violence from Israel's security forces against Palestinians. | A video that went viral late last month of a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, killing a black man, George Floyd, by pressing a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes has triggered a fortnight of mass protests across the US — and beyond. | The footage was the latest disturbing visual evidence of a US police culture that appears to treat Black Americans as an enemy — and a reminder that rog…

sputniknews (2020-06-16). Photo: US Bar Owner Apologizes After 'Drunk Wives Matter' Shirt Causes Uproar. sputniknews.com The owner of Parallel Wine and Whiskey, a bar based in Ashburn, Virginia, recently issued a public apology after its merchandise was widely criticized for appearing to be insensitive toward the Black Lives Matter movement.

sputniknews (2020-06-16). Canadians' Confidence in Police Drops Amid Black Lives Matter Protests, Poll Reveals. sputniknews.com TORONTO (Sputnik) – Canadians' faith in law enforcement has decreased amid the Black Lives Matter protests that swept Canada and much of the Western world, a Leger and Association for Canadian Studies poll revealed.

RT (2020-06-16). No defunding: Trump's police executive order to ban chokeholds, urge safer policing. rt.com US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order urging police departments across the country to "adopt the highest professional standards," including increased use-of-force training and a partial ban on chokeholds. | Trump announced the order at the White House on Tuesday, after meeting with several Black Lives Matter families. It would ban chokeholds — except for when the police officer's life is at risk — and prioritize federal funding to departments that meet high standards on use of force and de-escalation training. | Police would also be encouraged to use new nonlethal weapons, and sh…

RT (2020-06-16). Good vibes by day, wild west by night: CHAZ is an anarchist camp with a split personality (VIDEO). rt.com The Left says it's a peaceful community of activists and rebels. The Right says it's an anarchic dystopia ruled by a warlord. The truth is that the experience in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone differs from day to night. | For more than a week now, a collection of Antifa types, anarchists, 'Black Lives Matter' activists and leftists of all stripes have occupied a six-block area around an abandoned police precinct in downtown Seattle. The 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ, is a district without police, in which the ideas of the radical Left can bloom, and in which the occupiers hope to demonstrate…

Staff (2020-06-16). Henry Giroux: Black Lives Matter Rebellions Are Pushing for Structural Change. truthout.org A protester kneels and holds up a fist as he and others demonstrate against the death of George Floyd by closing down and blocking traffic on I-395 in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2020.Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images | In this interview, Henry A. Giroux argues that the current rebellions taking place across the globe offer new hope for both educating people about the interrelated registers of racism, militarism, neoliberalism and scandalous inequality. This is a diverse political rebellion in…

Lee Siu Hin, Immigrant Solidarity Network (2020-06-16). Summer 2020 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Immigrant News Alert! indybay.org Justice for George Floyd, Black Lives Matter! Multi-Ethnic Unity Against Racism & Police Brutality!

Staff (2020-06-16). Headlines for June 16, 2020. democracynow.org In Long-Awaited Victory, SCOTUS Rules LGBTQ Workers Protected by the Civil Rights Act, Atlanta Mayor Orders New Police Rules After Killing of Rayshard Brooks, 911 Dispatcher Raised Concerns About Police Treatment of George Floyd During His Arrest and Killing, Protester Shot in Albuquerque While Toppling Racist Statue; Right-Wing Militia Members Arrested, 19-Year-Old BLM Protester Oluwatoyin "Toyin" Salau Found Dead One Week After Disappearance, Mourners Demand Justice for Killing of Black Teenager Na'Kia Crawford in Ohio, FBI, DOJ to Review Probes into Two Black California Men Found Hanging from Trees, U.N. Human…

Fight Back (2020-06-16). After Rayshard Brooks murder by Atlanta police, NAARPR demands community control of the police. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Frank Chapman, Executive Director of the recently formed National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, today, June 15, called for immediate passage of legislation establishing democratic community control of the police in every city and town across the nation. | Chapman stated, "This is really the only way the people will have the power to make the changes that everyone is demanding in the wake of countless murders by police. This is the only way to stop the killings, torture and brutality — a virtual war against Black and brown communities." | "What is it going to take? How many…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-16). Unions launch massive car caravan for racial, economic justice. peoplesworld.org The nation's unions will launch a massive car caravan on June 17 — and not just in the Nation's Capital — for racial and economic justice. "Facing front line worker deaths, record unemployment and continued racial injustice, working people from coast to coast are demanding action," the AFL-CIO, which led the caravan organizing, says. From …

pip.hinman (2020-06-16). Stop the brutality: Abolish prisons. greenleft.org.au

Fight Back (2020-06-16). Tampa protesters claim partial victory, vow to continue struggle. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On Monday, June 15, State Attorney Andrew Warren announced he would be dropping criminal cases against 67 protesters arrested in downtown Tampa on June 2. | On the previous day, June 14, over 200 protesters gathered at Joe Chillura Courthouse Square in downtown Tampa and demanded State Attorney Warren drop the charges against protesters arrested at Justice for George Floyd rallies in recent weeks. The protest also joined with the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repressions call for a day of action against police crimes. The protest raised demands for community control of the police, def…

Geoff Kelly (2020-06-16). Buffalo's Police Brutality Didn't Start With Martin Gugino. thenation.com Buffalo's Police Brutality Didn't Start With Martin Gugino…

Sarah Lahm (2020-06-16). Midwest Dispatch: When Bill Clinton Came to Minneapolis. progressive.org Once referred to as "Murderapolis," the city is now home to an uprising spurred by demands to end mass incarceration and police brutality.

_____ (2020-06-16). Nightly Rally To Seattle's West Precinct Takes Detour, Shuts Down I-5. popularresistance.org Every night around 7 pm, demonstrators now march from the Capitol Hill Organized Protest to the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct. The downhill rally culminates with a handful of speakers who speak out against police brutality. Tonight, the rally ended with an unexpected detour—onto I-5. Speakers spoke on the steps of the West Precinct on Virginia Street for around 30 minutes. There were no police in sight, only a barricade set up in anticipation of the rally. | Demonstrators spoke on a bullhorn about SPD's use of tear gas, calling it a war crime and demanding justice. Organizer David Lewis talked a…

Lynda Carson (2020-06-16). Fatal encounters with the cops in Oakland. indybay.org Protest Against Police Brutality and Killer Cops:…

Anand Naidoo (2020-06-16). The Heat: U.S. protests and politics. america.cgtn.com Tensions on the rise in Atlanta after an African-American man is shot and killed by a white police officer. And, protests for racial justice continue across the United States.

Joe Sims (2020-06-16). The uprising against racism must result in Trump's removal. peoplesworld.org Joe Sims, Co-Chair of the CPUSA, presented this keynote at the National Committee meeting on June 6, 2020. Watch the report here or read on. Our country is in the midst of an unprecedented uprising. Initiated by the African-American people and joined by our Asian, Latinx, Native American, and white sisters and brothers, millions are saying, "hell …

sputniknews (2020-06-16). Dems Push Foreign Meddling Narrative Amid Floyd Protests, Demand Secretive FBI Briefing. sputniknews.com Be it local or global issues, including the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the failure of the Democratic party at the 2016 presidential elections or the ongoing anti-police-brutality protests sweeping the country, some US officials still attempt to put the blame on foreign actors.

RT (2020-06-16). WATCH police brutally detain Covid-19 nurse as clashes erupt at Paris health workers protest. rt.com A video has emerged showing several French police officers round up a woman in a white medical robe during a health workers protest in Paris. Officers can be seen dragging her by the hair as she begs for help. | The shocking video, filmed at protest in the French capital on Tuesday, shows a policeman in full riot gear pulling the middle-aged woman by the hair and slamming her repeatedly against a tree in an apparent attempt to take her into custody. | Une femme en blouse blanche, tirée par les cheveux, durant une interpellation, finira évacuée le visage en sang durant la manifestation aux Invalides. Elle récla…

Staff (2020-06-16). Goodbye, Columbus: Bree Newsome Bass on the Movement to Topple Racist Statues Across the Globe. democracynow.org As protesters worldwide continue to topple monuments to racists, colonizers and Confederates as part of the wave of demonstrations against racism and state violence, we speak to Bree Newsome Bass, artist and antiracist activist based in North Carolina, who five years ago was arrested at the state Capitol in South Carolina after scaling a 30-foot flagpole to remove the Confederate flag. She says the current backlash against racist symbols reflects "impatience with the pace of incremental progress" both in the United States and elsewhere. "People are tired of centuries of colonialism and white supremacist ideology.

pip.hinman (2020-06-16). Stop the brutality. Abolish prisons. greenleft.org.au

RT (2020-06-16). 'Blood-soaked' New York Giants star Rosas arrested after high-speed hit-and-run. rt.com Aldrick Rosas, the kicker for NFL's New York Giants, has been arrested in California after a high-speed crash involving another car. Rosas is said to have been found on a highway with blood covering his hands and legs. | Rosas, considered to be among the league's most dependable kickers, allegedly fled the scene after smashing into another car while travelling at an estimated 100 miles per hour, according to a report issued by California Highway Patrol. | Per police, Rosas was driving at high speed at around 8.25am local time in Chico, California before he allegedly 'T-Boned' a vehicle after failing to stop at…

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-16). Convicted US Spy, Sentenced in Moscow on Charges of Espionage. globalresearch.ca On Monday, a Moscow court sentenced US spy Paul Whelan to 16 years imprisonment. | Charged with espionage, he was caught red-handed in December 2018 and arrested after accepting a flash drive with sensitive information from an undercover Russian Federal Security …

Pan Africanism Today Secretariat (2020-06-16). 1976 Soweto Uprising: Youth rebellion and the burning desire for freedom. peoplesdispatch.org Today marks the 44th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, a watershed moment in the anti-apartheid struggle and an event that drew much of the world's attention to the atrocities committed by the apartheid regime in South Africa…

Staff (2020-06-15). Activists Paint 'Defund Police' In Front Of Baltimore City Hall. therealnews.com Black Lives Matter activists are demanding Baltimore cut half its police budget to fund schools and violence prevention programs.

Brett Heinz (2020-06-15). Rio de Janeiro: Police Violence and Solidarity. cepr.net On May 31, hundreds of people in Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil, joined protesters around the world in marching against police brutality. While the protest was in solidarity with the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the US following the killing of George Floyd, Brazilian protesters were marching against their …

Project Censored (2020-06-15). Dan Kovalik and Chris Finan. projectcensored.org Author Dan Kovalik joins the program to explain why the "humanitarian" wars of the U.S. and its allies | only make life even worse for the people they ostensibly protect. Then free-press advocate Chris Finan | produces evidence that police around the US are deliberately attacking journalists covering the recent | Black Lives Matter demonstrations. | Notes: | Dan Kovalik is a law professor and author; his latest book, "No More War," is from Skyhorse Publishing. | Chris Finan is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship,

Dennis Broe (2020-06-15). Statues also die as racist memorials come down in Europe. peoplesworld.org PARIS—The first week of European and particularly French and Francophone protests in the wake of the U.S. Black Lives Matter movement concerned parallel police actions against French minorities, including the death on his birthday of Adama Traoré, held down by three French cops in a hold similar to that executed on George Floyd. Traoré was …

Elie Mystal (2020-06-15). We've Protested for Black Lives Before—and We'll Have to Protest Again. thenation.com We've Protested for Black Lives Before—and We'll Have to Protest Again…

Eds. (2020-06-15). Statement of Support for Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police. mronline.org Between 1963 and 1972, there were more than 750 Black-led urban revolts in the United States in 525 cities. How did sociologists react?>

WSWS (2020-06-15). Washington, DC's Democratic mayor renames city street "Black Lives Matter Plaza" wsws.org Mayor Muriel Bowser's co-option of the slogan as protests surge throughout the US and internationally is an attempt to cover up the record of the Democratic Party.

A Guest Author (2020-06-15). Black Lives Matter in Alpine, Texas. workers.org This protest march and rally, in the small town of Alpine, Texas, might have been a common scene in the tumultuous summer of 1968, but this was June 6, 2020. Not Dallas or Houston or San Antonio, but in Alpine. Hundreds mobilized in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and against . . . |

teleSUR (2020-06-15). UN to Hold Hearing Over 'Systemic' US Racism, Police Brutality. telesurenglish.net The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) agreed Monday to hold an emergency debate Wednesday on "systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests" in the United States and elsewhere. | RELATED: | UNHRC's decision followed a request last week by Burkina Faso on behalf of 54 African countries in response to the killing on May 25, of George Floyd, a black U.S. citizen, under the knee of…

_____ (2020-06-15). Unfinished Revolution: Where Do The George Floyd Protests Go From Here? popularresistance.org Will we release some steam for a few days, be satisfied with the prosecution and (if we're lucky) conviction of a few cops, accept a few reforms of a police system that will never be accountable to anyone else but their maker — the ruling class? Will we settle for mere survival, be content not to be killed, so that we can live under the peace of everyday violence and robbery forced upon our communities, our health, and our lives? | Will we hang onto illusions that equate equal opportunity with being as exploited as a vanishing group of white, middle-class workers are or as a few black and brown faces rising…

sputniknews (2020-06-15). Anti-Racism Protest in Atlanta Over Rayshard Brooks' Death – Video. sputniknews.com Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by police near a drive-through restaurant after making an attempt to use a Taser against an offcier. His death has intensified Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by police earlier in May.

RT (2020-06-15). Trump to sign policing executive order on Tuesday — aide. rt.com US President Donald Trump is likely to sign an executive order on policing on Tuesday, his deputy assistant Ja'Ron Smith told reporters outside the White House, as Black Lives Matter protests continue across the country. | Smith said that family members of victims of police violence may attend the signing, but that he did not want to get "ahead" of Trump on who may or may not attend. | The executive order is expected to contain a number of new initiatives focusing on police reform, such as the creation of national standards for the use of force and tracking police conduct, civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt…

RT (2020-06-15). Seattle's anarchist utopia breaks down, residents report 'screams of terror' on the streets. rt.com "An anarchist is someone who doesn't need a cop to make him behave," American anarchist Ammon Hennacy once wrote. Based on the scenes playing out in Seattle's Antifa-occupied 'autonomous zone', Hennacy was dead wrong. | A ragtag collective of Antifa types, anarchists, socialists, and 'Black Lives Matter' activists have occupied a six-block area around an abandoned police precinct in downtown Seattle for a week now. Roads into the 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' (CHAZ) have been blockaded, and the would-be revolutionaries inside have set in motion a bold experiment: to prove that a cop-free society, based on "mu…

RT (2020-06-15). Black people are 'terrified' of US cops who can pull trigger & walk free due to 'qualified immunity' — activists to RT. rt.com The black community in the US lives in constant fear of trigger-happy officers who routinely avoid responsibility for misconduct, activists told RT, insisting that real change can only be brought by action, not words and retweets. | "We keep hearing about how difficult the jobs of the officers are, but we don't hear enough about how scared black people are right now… What's getting lost in all this is the fact people are hurting right now," community advocate Dontaye Carter told RT. | We're terrified. | "I don't condone these riots, I don't condone these acts, but the reality is there's a lot of pain," he s…

The Canary (2020-06-15). Johnson's racial inequality commission written on 'back of a fag packet' says Lammy. thecanary.co Boris Johnson's pledge to establish a cross-government commission on racial inequality is a "back of a fag packet" plan designed to "assuage the Black Lives Matter protest", Labour has claimed. | Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said there have been several reviews into racism in the UK in recent years — and the announcement of another makes it feel like "we want figures, data — but we don't want action". | Johnson, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities would look at "all aspects of inequality — in employment, in health outcomes, in academic and a…

Staff (2020-06-15). When White People Call the Cops on Black People, They Lay Bare Classic US Racism. truthout.org By now, everyone should be familiar with the incident in Central Park, when a white woman named Amy Cooper confronted a Black man named Christian Cooper (no relation) and called the police on him, claiming that he was threatening her. The incident was captured on a video that went viral, and the retribution to Amy Cooper was swift. She was excoriated on social media, fired from her job, temporarily had her dog taken from her (the same dog she refused to put on a leash), and now, Gov. Andre…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-06-15). UN Human Rights Council Agrees to Hold Hearing Focused on 'Racial Inequality and Discrimination' That Characterizes American Society. commondreams.org "The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterise life in the United States for black people." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Shelby Seth (2020-06-15). Dismantling a Complex Ideology: Thoughts on the BLM Movement. counterpunch.org On Sunday, May 31, 2020, over 700 people joined me and my friends in solidarity to fight against white supremacy and the institutions that uphold them in the United States. The sun was shining, the wind was there to keep us cool, and love was reigning for all of us. This day all came about

news.un (2020-06-15). Human Rights Council picks up again after COVID suspension, to hold racism debate. news.un.org After a three month long COVID-19-enforced break, the Human Rights Council resumed on Monday, giving the green light to a rare Urgent Debate on racism, alleged police brutality and violence against protesters sickened by the killing of American George Floyd in police custody.

Steve Sweeney (2020-06-15). Minnesota Cops 'Trained by Israeli Forces in Restraint Techniques'. globalresearch.ca Officers from the US police force responsible for the killing of George Floyd received training in restraint techniques and anti-terror tactics from Israeli law-enforcement officers. | Mr Floyd's death in custody last Monday, the latest in a succession of police killings …

sputniknews (2020-06-15). 'Call Me a Snitch': New Audio Reveals 911 Dispatcher Reported US Cops Involved in Fatal Floyd Arrest. sputniknews.com Minnesota's Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) has come under additional scrutiny for its handling of George Floyd's in-custody death, following the Monday release of a recording between a Minneapolis police dispatcher and a sergeant.

RT (2020-06-15). 'Seismic shift in policing': NYPD disbands controversial plainclothes 'anti-crime' unit. rt.com The New York Police Department has liquidated its anti-crime unit, reassigning some 600 plainclothes cops to neighborhood policing and detective work as protesters nationwide demand reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing. | NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced the disbanding of the unit in a press conference on Monday, calling it "a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city." Heralding the move as "closing one of the last chapters of 'Stop, Question and Frisk'" — the controversial policing tactic beloved by ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized by civil rights gr…

WSWS (2020-06-15). Residents protest after woman dies in police custody in Harper Woods, Michigan. wsws.org Priscilla Slater was found unresponsive in a holding cell in Harper Woods on the east side of Detroit this week amid international protests against police brutality.

sputniknews (2020-06-15). New Online Database of Police Brutality Videos Highlights 'Casual Cruelness' of Law Enforcement. sputniknews.com As attempts to collect videos of police violence quickly became unwieldy, two activists created a public database comprising what has become hundreds of cases. However, one technologist told Sputnik the list is just a drop in the bucket, and the practice is much older than cellphone videos.

RT (2020-06-15). US Supreme Court refuses to hear challenges to qualified immunity doctrine shielding police from lawsuits. rt.com The US law doctrine, protecting police and other public officials from lawsuits, is not going to be reexamined by the country's Supreme Court. The decision comes amid nation-wide protesting against police brutality. | The US Supreme Court issued an unsigned order on Monday announcing its decision to decline hearing any further cases that seek to reconsider the doctrine of 'qualified immunity'. According to the doctrine, a police officer cannot be personally liable — and thus cannot receive a civil suit — unless their actions violate "clearly established" law or court rulings. Conceptually, the idea w…

April Rodriguez (2020-06-15). We Won't Address Our Mass Incarceration Crisis Until We Rethink Our Approach to "Violent Crime" aclu.org During the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons have become

Staff (2020-06-15). Police Anti-Bias Trainer Shot in Groin by San Jose Cops at Protest: "It's Clear This Isn't Working" democracynow.org As protests against racism and police violence continue across the United States, we speak with Derrick Sanderlin, a San Jose community organizer who has spent years training police on avoiding implicit bias toward people of color, but an officer from the same police department shot him in the groin with a rubber bullet during a May 29 protest against racism and police violence, rupturing Sanderlin's testicle and possibly affecting his ability to have children.

Fight Back (2020-06-15). Thousands march for third straight weekend in Jacksonville, demand community control of the police. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL – For the third Saturday in a row, June 13, thousands flooded the streets in downtown Jacksonville to demand police accountability and community control of the police, uniting with the National Alliance against Racist and Political Repression's call for a day of action. | After a historic turnout of 10,000 people earlier this month, and feeling the pressure from the mass demonstrations, Mayor Lenny Curry mandated the removal of Confederate statues across the city and State Attorney Melissa Nelson dropped the charges for the majority of protesters arrested. Also, the state attorney issued a memo…

WSWS (2020-06-15). Maquiladora workers demand release of labor lawyer arrested in Matamoros, Mexico. wsws.org Despite our sharp political differences with Susan Prieto, the World Socialist Web Site unequivocally opposes the arrest of the labor lawyer and demands her immediate release.

news.un (2020-06-15). Children caught in conflict facing 'brutality and fear while the world watches'. news.un.org Boys and girls used and abused in armed conflict have had their childhoods replaced by "pain, brutality and fear while the world watches", the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said on Monday.

Ali Salam (2020-06-15). Eight Palestinians, Including one Minor Detained by Israeli Forces in West Bank. imemc.org Israeli forces arrested seven Palestinian civilians across the occupied West Bank, on Sunday at dawn, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society. Israeli soldiers abducted three Palestinian civilians from the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, identified as; 1. Osaid Al-Din Abu Shaira, 17, from Aida refugee camp, 2.

Ali Salam (2020-06-15). Fourteen Palestinians Detained by Israeli Forces across West Bank. imemc.org Israeli forces, on Monday, abducted 14 Palestinians from several areas of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian WAFA News Agency reported. Local sources said that Israeli police arrested five Palestinians after ransacking their houses in the al-Tur neighborhood of East Jerusalem, southern West Bank. Sources added that police assaulted two brothers …