In the simplest of years, training a racehorse is “like…
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The post The clash over Kenosha: Biden flips script on Trump as campaign heats up appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Biden went first. In a major speech in Pittsburgh, he offered a sweeping indictment of Trump’s America, highlighting failures in his handling of the coronavirus and portraying the president as so desperate to hold on to power that he is resorting to fear and hatred as a campaign strategy.
“He keeps telling us if he were president you would feel safe. Well he is president, whether he knows it or not,” Biden said. “Does anyone think there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected?”
After days of Trump contending that Biden was a tool of a radical movement sowing discord in American cities, Biden tried to put the president on his heels. Biden called on Trump to denounce all forms of violence and accused him of fanning unrest with streams of tweets, including some that seemed to support confrontations in the streets.
“The road back begins now, in this campaign. You know me. You know my heart, and you know my story, my family’s story,” Biden said in the speech, which was carried live on several cable networks. “Ask yourself: Do I look to you like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?”
He added, “I want a safe America — safe from Covid, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops. And, let’s be crystal clear: Safe from four more years of Donald Trump.”
Biden spoke on the eve of Trump’s Tuesday trip to Kenosha, Wis., the site of deadly clashes and destruction after the shooting of Jacob Blake last week. The president is planning to meet with law enforcement officials, ignoring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ plea to stay away, lest Trump ratchet up tensions further.
Trump has claimed credit for bringing calm to Kenosha, even though it was Evers who initially deployed the National Guard. Some local Democrats, however, have complained that Biden took too long to denounce the violence. They fear that Trump’s law-and-order message might sway swing voters who want an end to the mayhem.
But Trump seemed to cede whatever ground he might have gained when he turned to social media and not only refused to condemn violence from some of his own supporters, but retweeted a video of his supporters attacking protesters. His spokesperson later said he hadn’t watched it.
Biden, in his speech, dared the president to reject violence perpetrated by his own supporters. Yet hours later at a White House briefing, Trump refused to do so, even when he was asked about his supporters shooting pepper spray and paint balls at protesters.
Biden’s Monday speech took on Trump directly in a way the Democrat had not during his convention speech two weeks ago, when he did not utter the president’s name. The Democrat called out Trump by name, insisting the president owned the violence in Kenosha, Portland and other American cities, after four years of fanning racial tensions. In doing so, he also defended the Obama administration’s record on crime.
After months of test-driving ways to brand Biden, Trump and his allies have settled on painting him as an unwitting instrument of socialists and left-wing radicals. They say Biden is too oblivious to understand he’s being exploited, and too weak to buck their orthodoxy in the rare times when he does.
But each time Trump has tried to tag Biden, the Democrat emerged with the upper hand and his lead in polls has grown.
The run-ins follow a familiar pattern. Trump bet that Biden could not defy growing calls from the left to defund the police. In response, Biden said he not only opposes defunding police but wants to spend more on law enforcement. Trump said Biden supports banning hydraulic fracturing. Biden said unequivocally he does not.
And Trump has repeatedly returned to the idea that Biden would refuse to condemn rioting so as not to offend liberal voters. But Biden has repeatedly denounced the people rioting, looting and setting fires to property.
“None of this is protesting — it’s lawlessness, plain and simple,” Biden said Monday.
When Trump took the podium at the White House later, he tried to blame Biden and his party for the violence wracking cities. But Trump refused to condemn all of the actors contributing to the chaos, including right-wing supporters of his campaign. He said the men wielding paintball guns were using the substance as “a defensive mechanism.”
“Paint is not bullets,” he said.
But when asked about Kyle Rittenhouse — the 17-year old charged with five felonies after shooting three people last week in Kenosha, two fatally — Trump said Rittenhouse was attacked so violently that he could have been killed.
“You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away,” Trump said. “It’s under investigation, but I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would’ve been killed.”
Rittenhouse has been charged as an adult with two counts of first degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide.
Trump also said he declined to meet with the family of Blake because he was uncomfortable with their request to have lawyers present.
Trump has been highly critical of Biden for having not yet visited Wisconsin. Amid the pandemic, Biden moved his acceptance speech from Milwaukee to Wilmington, Delaware, citing safety concerns.
“Joe Biden has refused to travel to Wisconsin for over 670 days, so it should not come as a surprise that he is refusing to visit the Badger State and address the ongoing riots and violence,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Samantha Zager. “Despite claiming he would actually start campaigning for president, it’s clear Biden prefers to hide from his failed record and the Democrat failures to protect our cities.”
Biden is preparing for a more robust travel schedule after Labor Day but might visit Wisconsin later this week, according to the campaign.
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]]>The post Clash with Russians in Syria renews debate on U.S. mission appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>It has been nearly two years since President Trump first announced a full military withdrawal from Syria.
Instead, U.S. troops, first sent to battle the now-defunct Islamic State group’s “caliphate,” are still there and last week found themselves in a dangerous confrontation with Russian forces that left at least four Americans injured after a vehicle collision in a disputed part of the country.
The stunning incident — video footage of which took social media by storm and left the White House and Pentagon scrambling to explain what happened — has raised fresh questions about the role of U.S. forces in Syria, exactly what the administration hopes to achieve, and what metrics U.S. commanders will use to finally declare victory and follow through on the president’s repeatedly expressed determination to bring all American troops home.
Administration officials stress that the roughly 500 U.S. troops still in Syria are desperately needed to continue the fight against ISIS remnants, protect oil fields, train and assist Kurdish-led allies and act as something of a buffer between the host of actors involved in Syria’s decade of civil war.
What’s unclear, critics say, is exactly how a continued presence there benefits U.S. national security, particularly when tensions between Washington and Moscow are escalating rapidly and could spiral out of control.
“Playing bumper cars with Russians in the Levant serves no vital U.S. national interest. As in numerous past incidents, America was lucky not to lose a soldier in a wholly unnecessary confrontation,” said Gil Barndollar, a senior fellow at the Washington think tank Defense Priorities, a group broadly skeptical of U.S. military missions abroad.
“U.S. troops, together with their Syrian partners and NATO allies, destroyed the Islamic State’s last stronghold in Syria nearly 18 months ago,” said Mr. Barndollar, who served for seven years as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. “Neither counterterrorism raids nor confiscating Syrian oil is a valid reason to maintain this mission. There is no remaining strategic or legal rationale for U.S. forces to remain in Syria. They are long overdue to come home.”
Throughout his term, Mr. Trump has shown that he largely agrees with that view. In late 2018, the president first announced plans to bring home the roughly 2,000 troops stationed in Syria to battle the Islamic State. By that time, the terrorist group had lost nearly all of its physical territory and was a shell of the powerful pseudo army that years earlier controlled huge swaths of land in Syria and Iraq.
Mr. Trump’s decision led to the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, who argued that a pullout would leave America’s Kurdish allies at the mercy of a hostile Turkey. Mr. Mattis has gone on to routinely criticize the president’s policy choices in Syria.
Military leaders and conservative members of Congress ultimately persuaded the president to keep some forces in the country.
In October, Mr. Trump again tried to hasten a U.S. exit from Syria when he ordered American troops to pull back from the Turkish-Syrian border. That decision allowed Turkey to launch its own invasion in order to wage attacks on Syrian resistance groups allied with the U.S. but elements of which Ankara considers to be terrorists.
The president faced widespread criticism for what critics said was the abandonment of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have been loyal American allies in the yearslong fight against ISIS. The pullback and repositioning of American personnel also paved the way for Russian troops, who have been backing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, to seize suddenly unoccupied U.S. military bases in Syria. Critics say the developments have only emboldened Moscow’s forces inside the country.
“None of this was possible before Trump ordered U.S. forces to abandon their facilities, leaving them for the Russian military,” Brett McGurk tweeted last week after the incident between U.S. and Russian forces. Mr. McGurk served as the State Department’s envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS from 2015 to 2018.
“Reminder: these incidents have been ongoing for months. Trump has apparently never raised the issue in multiple calls with Putin. He leaves our troops to fend for themselves,” he said.
Syria’s state-controlled media reported over the weekend that new U.S. convoys of military vehicles and tanker trucks from Iraq had reportedly been seen crossing into Syria to resupply American posts there.
‘Dangerous and unacceptable’
The incident Tuesday was the latest close encounter between U.S. and Russian forces in Syria, which operate in close proximity to each other but are expected to adhere to “deconfliction” protocols meant to keep them apart and keep both nations’ troops out of harm’s way.
Pentagon officials said Russian forces violated those protocols and sent vehicles across the established boundaries. One of the Russian vehicles then collided with an American vehicle, as Russian helicopters flew low overhead.
The two countries traded blame in harshly worded statements that suggest neither Washington nor Moscow wants to be seen as backing down.
“The U.S. troops attempted to block the Russian patrol,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement last week. “In response to that, the Russian military police took the necessary measures to prevent an incident and to continue the fulfillment of their task.”
Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had another message for the U.S. He said at the military forum in Moscow that Russia was testing a new anti-drone system that, if effective, would be deployed in Syria.
The Pentagon quickly shot back with its own version of events and stressed that American forces won’t sit idly by if they are put in danger.
“We commend our personnel on the ground for de-escalating this unfortunate encounter through professionalism and restraint, which are hallmarks of the U.S. military,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said. “We have advised the Russians that their behavior was dangerous and unacceptable. We expect a return to routine and professional deconfliction in Syria and reserve the right to defend our forces vigorously whenever their safety is put at risk.”
The administration has argued that it has several tangible objectives in Syria, though there does not appear to be a clear time frame to achieve them. The “enduring defeat” of ISIS, officials have said, is the top priority and necessitates at least a small troop presence inside Syria to train and assist allies such as the Syrian Democratic Forces.
In addition, U.S. forces provide security for oil fields in northeastern Syria that are now sources of revenue for the Kurdish-led SDF.
The administration also wants to have leverage in talks on a lasting political settlement that ends a decade of civil war and brings at least some semblance of stability to the country. Another of its tangible goals is to rid Syria of all proxy forces backed by the Iranian government, which has allied itself with Russia and Mr. Assad.
Top administration officials note that the messy situation inside Syria — with numerous militaries, terrorist groups and proxy forces operating in close proximity — can be resolved only through peaceful political processes.
“This is an extremely volatile, extremely dangerous situation,” Ambassador James Jeffrey, the administration’s special representative for Syria and envoy to the global anti-ISIS coalition, told reporters this month. He argued that a Geneva meeting last week of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, a group formed to amend the country’s constitution, is a key step forward. The group includes representatives from the Assad regime, civil society and opposition forces.
“We will urge all sides, including the regime, to continue this process,” Mr. Jeffrey said. “This is the way out of the terrible predicament — economic, military, diplomatic — that they find themselves in.”
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]]>The post Protesters in the US clash with police over Trump’s ‘surge’ of federal agents plan appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Police have clashed with protesters in Seattle, Oakland and Richmond amid a wave of public anger over President Donald Trump’s planned “surge” of federal agents into major cities.
Police in Seattle used flashbang grenades and pepper spray against protesters who set fire to construction trailers outside a youth jail
The sounds of repeated small detonations rang out in the streets of the city in Washington state, and smoke rose from an area where demonstrators had set fire to trailers by a construction site for the youth detention facility.
Demonstrators slashed car tires and smashed trailer windows.
Police in riot gear faced off against the demonstrators, some of whom held up umbrellas against falling pellets of pepper spray.
The Seattle Times newspaper quoted police as saying 16 people were arrested on suspicion of assault against officers, obstruction and failure to disperse.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he expanded the deployment of federal police to Seattle, enraging local officials.
Seattle Police said on Twitter they were working to secure access to the fire for the city’s fire department. Police said that about a dozen people who were part of a large group of demonstrators had set the fires at the King County facility.
By 10 p.m.(0500 GMT), police had “made 45 arrests in connection with today’s riot in the East Precinct,” the Seattle Police wrote in a Twitter post.
It said “21 officers sustained injuries after being struck by bricks, rocks mortars/other explosives. Most officers were able to return to duty. One was treated at a hospital for a knee injury.”
The protests in Seattle were being carried out in part to show solidarity with demonstrations in Portland, where anti-racism protests have been running for nearly 60 straight days.
“We saw what was happening in Portland and we wanted to make sure in our city we were standing in solidarity with other mums,” said Lhorna Murray, who attended on behalf of the newly formed Wall of Moms Seattle, replicating a tactic from the Portland protests where mothers dressed in yellow form a human wall between protesters and law enforcement.
A city dump truck was set on fire as protesters faced off with police in Virginia’s capital during a demonstration which was also in support of protesters in Portland.
Virginia State Police and Richmond police worked to clear the crowd of a several hundred demonstrators late on Saturday. City police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11 pm, and what appeared to be tear gas was deployed to disperse the group.
Saturday’s protest in Richmond started at a park and then demonstrators marched to police headquarters, according to news outlets.
Police tweeted a photo of rocks, batteries and other items the department said were thrown at its officers during the protest. A video also showed an officer extinguishing a mattress on fire in the middle of a road.
Glass windows were also shattered at a Chipotle restaurant and a Virginia Commonwealth University dorm, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
In California, protesters set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified late on Saturday, Oakland police said.
Demonstrators broke windows, spray painted graffiti, shot fireworks and pointed lasers at officers, the Oakland department said on Twitter. Several tweets called for peace and asked organisers to “help us provide safe spaces and safe places for demonstrators.”
The protest began earlier on Saturday evening with groups such as the “Wall of Moms” as protesters faced off with US agents deployed to that city to guard a federal courthouse.
The protest in Oakland began peacefully, but turned violent later into the night. An “unlawful assembly” was declared by police around 11:30pm and officers asked the crowd to disperse.
The fire broke out at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse and was contained a short time later, news outlets reported. Police said protesters at one point were “breaking windows and chanting racial slurs at residents”. Photos tweeted by the department showed broken glass and paint splattered at a police building.
The heavy handed tactics of federal officers in Portland has drawn the ire of local leaders and Democrats in Congress, who say those officers are using excessive force and complain of overreach by the Trump administration.
US Attorney for the Western District of Washington Brian Moran said in a statement on Friday that federal agents are stationed in Seattle to protect federal properties and the work done in those buildings.
The Trump administration has also sent federal police to Chicago, Kansas City and Albuquerque over the objections of those mayors.
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]]>The post Feds clash with Portland protesters again, hours after judge denied Oregon’s request to restrict agents’ ac… appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>A persistent crowd of protesters remained outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, into the early hours of Saturday as fireworks were shot at the building and plumes of tear gas, dispensed by U.S. agents, lingered above.
Thousands of people gathered in Portland streets hours after a U.S. judge denied Oregon’s request to restrict federal agents’ actions when they arrest people during protests that have roiled the city and pitted local officials against the Trump administration.
By 8 p.m. hundreds of people, most wearing masks and many donning helmets, had already gathered near a fountain, one spot where groups meet before marching to the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the federal agents there. They chanted and clapped along to the sound of thunderous drums, pausing to listen to speakers.
Among various organized groups, including Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the “Wall of Moms,” was Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who spoke to protesters outside the Justice Center.
KEN CUCCINELLI: DEMS’ ‘NAZI’ AND ‘STORMTROOPER’ LABELS FOR FED OFFICERS MAY BE LIBELOUS
A Black Lives Matter protester uses a shield as federal officers use chemical irritants to disperse demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Friday, July 24, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Since federal officers arrived in downtown Portland in early July, violent protests have largely been limited to a two block radius from the courthouse.
(AP)
By 9 p.m. the crowd grew to several thousand. People, pressed shoulder to shoulder, packed the area and overflowed into the streets as they chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “Feds go home” to the sound of drums.
As the night carried on protesters vigorously shook the fence surrounding the courthouse, shot fireworks towards the building and threw glass bottles. Many times these actions were met by federal agents using tear gas and flash bangs.
The flow of tear gas caused protesters to disperse, some becoming sick as others remained towards the front of the courthouse with leaf blowers directing the gas back to the courthouse. Federal agents had leaf blowers of their own to counteract.
Daniel Pereyo was one protester who was tear-gassed.
LAWRENCE JONES: BIG-CITY ‘ANARCHISTS’ USING GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH ‘AS A SHIELD’
Pereyo said he had been at the nearby park watching drummers and fireworks being shot, when his face and eyes began to burn.
A medic treats Black Lives Matter protester Lacey Wambalaba after exposure to chemical irritants deployed by federal officers at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Friday, July 24, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Since federal officers arrived in downtown Portland in early July, violent protests have largely been limited to a two block radius from the courthouse.
(AP)
“It’s extremely painful,” he said. “It’s not the worst pain ever, but it is discomforting and it’s distracting.”
As the clouds of gas floated down the street, protesters would swiftly regroup and return to chant and shake the fence that separates the people on the street from federal agents and the courthouse.
Federal Protective Service declared the gathering as “an unlawful assembly” and cited that officers had been injured.
The federal agents, deployed by President Donald Trump to tamp down the unrest, have arrested dozens during nightly demonstrations against racial injustice that often turn violent. Democratic leaders in Oregon say federal intervention has worsened the two-month crisis, and the state attorney general sued to allege that some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles.
DHS CHIEF SLAMS PELOSI FOR CALLING FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ‘STORMTROOPERS’
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because the lawsuit was a “highly unusual one with a particular set of rules.”
A federal officer fires crowd control munitions at Black Lives Matter protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Friday, July 24, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Since federal officers arrived in downtown Portland in early July, violent protests have largely been limited to a two block radius from the courthouse.
(AP)
Oregon was seeking a restraining order on behalf of its residents not for injuries that had already happened but to prevent injuries by federal officers in the future. That combination makes the standard for granting such a motion very narrow, and the state did not prove it had standing in the case, Mosman wrote.
Legal experts who reviewed the case before the decision warned that he could reject it on those grounds. A lawsuit from a person accusing federal agents of violating their rights to free speech or against unconstitutional search and seizure would have a much higher chance of success, Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University, said ahead of the ruling.
“The federal government acted in violation of those individuals’ rights and probably acted in violation of the Constitution in the sense of exercising powers that are reserved to the states, but just because the federal government acts in ways that overstep its authority doesn’t mean the state has an injury,” he said.
The clashes in Portland have further inflamed the nation’s political tensions and triggered a crisis over the limits of federal power as Trump moves to send U.S. officers to other Democratic-led cities to combat crime. It’s playing out as Trump pushes a new “law and order” reelection strategy after the coronavirus crashed the economy.
Protesters in Portland have been targeting the federal courthouse, setting fires outside and vandalizing the building that U.S. authorities say they have a duty to protect. Federal agents have used tear gas, less-lethal ammunition that left one person critically injured and other force to scatter protesters.
The lawsuit from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum accused federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause and using excessive force. She sought a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from unlawfully detaining Oregonians.”
David Morrell, an attorney for the U.S. government, called the motion “extraordinary” and told the judge in a hearing this week that it was based solely on “a few threadbare declarations” from witnesses and a Twitter video. Morrell called the protests “dangerous and volatile.”
Rosenblum said the ramifications of the ruling were “extremely troubling.”
“While I respect Judge Mosman, I would ask this question: If the state of Oregon does not have standing to prevent this unconstitutional conduct by unidentified federal agents running roughshod over her citizens, who does?” Rosenblum said in a statement. “Individuals mistreated by these federal agents can sue for damages, but they can’t get a judge to restrain this unlawful conduct more generally.”
Before the federal intervention, Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local leaders had said a small cadre of violent activists were drowning out the message of peaceful protesters. But the Democrat, who was tear-gassed this week as he joined protesters, says the federal presence is exacerbating a tense situation and he’s repeatedly told them to leave.
Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents were inflaming the situation in Portland and said Wheeler legitimized criminality by joining demonstrators, whom Trump has called “anarchists and agitators.”
In the lawsuit, Oregon had asked the judge to command agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Protective Service and the U.S. Marshals Service to stop detaining protesters without probable cause, to identify themselves before arresting anyone and to explain why an arrest is taking place.
Agents have arrested 28 people in Portland this week, including seven from Thursday night’s protests, when they used tear gas to force thousands of demonstrators from crowding around the courthouse. Protesters projected lasers on the building and tried to take down a security fence. They scattered as clouds of gas rose up and agents fired crowd control munitions.
The Department of Homeland Security said that during Thursday’s demonstrations one federal officer was injured and that “no injuries to protesters or rioters have been reported.”
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Wolf said Tuesday that at least 43 people have been arrested on federal charges at that point.
They face federal charges including assaulting federal officers, arson and damaging federal property, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said. All the defendants are local and were released after making a court appearance.
U.S. officers “working to protect the courthouse have been subjected to nightly threats and assaults from demonstrators while performing their duties,” according to a statement from Williams’ office.
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]]>The post Coronavirus clash hands Mitch McConnell his ‘toughest challenge as majority leader’ appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has navigated his way out of predicaments before, but internal party divisions over coronavirus aid and an unpopular president may have put him in his toughest jam yet as Republican leader.
In one wing, he faces a mutiny from conservatives who are dead set against new spending and the $1 trillion price tag on another round of aid to prop up the stagnant economy.
In direct opposition, he must satisfy a group of anxious incumbents who face tough re-election fights in the fall and are desperate to deliver relief for their ailing states.
Further complicating matters, he has to deal with a mercurial President Donald Trump’s throwing a wrench into his efforts.
McConnell’s results will be judged by voters up and down the ballot as the crisis rages on, with coronavirus cases in the U.S. topping 4 million and the economy crippled. He has struggled to get Republican to agree to even begin negotiations with Democrats.
“This may be McConnell’s toughest challenge as majority leader,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute who is former chief economist for Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
The disagreements are delaying an expected rollout of a $1 trillion coronavirus package until early next week, McConnell said, all but guaranteeing that benefits for millions of jobless Americans will shrink. And the proposal is sure to face opposition from Democrats, who are skeptical and have the power to block it.
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There’s a lot on the line for McConnell, including his job. Control of the Senate hangs in the balance, with concerns that Trump’s falling poll numbers threaten to take Republicans down with him.
McConnell, a senator for 35 years, is also up for re-election in a Republican-friendly state against Democrat Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who is painting him as eager to help big businesses but not ordinary Kentuckians.
Some Republicans say the last time McConnell faced such a daunting task was during the 2017 effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which failed in the Senate.
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That effort, Riedl said, as well as the 2013 push by conservatives to defund the law, caused a “civil war” among Republicans that McConnell lost.
“Other than that, he has been remarkably good at uniting the conference,” Riedl said.
‘He holds his cards close to the vest’
Many colleagues don’t fault McConnell for the fractiousness.
“He’s very good in moments like this. He listens. He’s very quiet. He holds his cards close to the vest,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “We’ll find openings. It’s in everybody’s interest to continue to help people with the virus.”
McConnell’s past political victories give his members confidence that he will ultimately prevail.
“He’s generally got a good handle on what’s achievable,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “It’s a very, very important issue. But I expect that he will acquit himself.”
Still, McConnell’s move to tightly control the drafting of legislation sparked some complaints Thursday from senators who say they remain in the dark.
“Mitch told us discussions were ongoing. That’s the furthest we got into it,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has clashed with McConnell in the past. “That’s unfortunately a pattern we see a lot. Bills are drafted behind closed doors and then thrown at the conference at the last minute.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., criticized the direction of the McConnell-backed proposal, saying, “I’m not going to agree to authorize a dime until we have clearly understood what we’ve already done.”
But he didn’t blame McConnell, saying he’s “not going to get into personal evaluations” when asked how McConnell has handled the issue.
‘He’s got this’
Colleagues see McConnell as an effective strategist who is keenly attentive to members’ concerns and deft at reading the politics of the moment. Critics say he uses those talents cynically to accumulate power.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen any equal in terms of strategy,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas. “And I’ve been around here a long time.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., piled on the pressure Thursday, accusing McConnell of crafting “a partisan bill” that he described as “un-unified, unserious, unsatisfactory.”
“The Republican disarray and dithering has seriously, potentially deadly consequences for tens of millions of Americans,” Schumer told reporters as details were emerging.
A Senate Republican leadership staffer acknowledged that the new round of relief is a challenge because some members are content not to fund extra COVID-19 aid after the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.
But the staffer, who discussed internal dynamics on condition of anonymity, argued that a bigger challenge for McConnell was unifying the conference against voting on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland in 2016, which had “more on the line” for his legacy.
Allies say McConnell has overcome other difficult challenges — like averting the so-called fiscal cliff of late 2012, managing government funding battles during the ascent of the tea party and rescuing financial institutions during the 2008 crash.
Brian McGuire, a former speechwriter for McConnell, said McConnell has handled many complicated challenges, and the COVID-19 relief push is one. He argued that confirming Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018 was an even tougher task.
“He’s got this,” McGuire said.
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Protesters working to topple a statue of Christopher Columbus were met with police force in Chicago, Illinois, on July 17.
Storyful
CHICAGO – Hundreds of protesters attempting to topple the city’s Christopher Columbus statue faced off with dozens of Chicago police Friday evening in an encounter that turned violent.
Twelve people were arrested and could “potentially face charges,” including battery to an officer, mob action or other felonies, police said, after some protesters began throwing objects at officers, who hit protesters with their batons.
About 18 officers were injured, police said. Some were treated on the scene by paramedics while others were transported to the hospital.
Photos and videos of the incident shared to social media showed protesters bleeding from the mouth. At least one protester – 18-year-old Miracle Boyd with GoodKids MadCity, an anti-gun violence group – had her teeth knocked out when an officer punched her, according to video of the assault shared by the organization.
Boyd went to the hospital Friday night and was doing better Saturday morning, said Kofi Ademola, a Black Lives Matter organizer and spokesperson for GoodKids MadCity.
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The protesters gathered in Grant Park on Friday afternoon for a “Black, Indigenous Solidarity Rally” organized by more than a dozen Chicago-based organizations. The event called for “the abolishment of police and the redistribution of funds to the people of Chicago,” according to the Facebook event page.
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“We built this country as Black and Indigenous peoples. Our knowledge and labor has been exploited for too long,” the organizers wrote on the event page.
After the rally, some protesters moved south toward the statue, where police had gathered to protect it. Dozens of protesters, many holding black umbrellas, attempted to hurdle the short stone wall encircling the statue, according to dozens of videos shared to social media.
This is not the way, a man shouts as someone throws something incendiary at the cops pic.twitter.com/AtOUAqFXAM
— Alice Yin (@byaliceyin) July 18, 2020
“Some members of the crowd turned on police and used the protest to attack officers with fireworks, rocks, frozen bottles, and other objects,” police said in a statement early Saturday.
In their official statement, police did not say what happened after protesters began throwing objects.
“We do not want to engage in violent clashes with protesters, but when the law is being broken, our oath demands that we act to uphold the law,” Chicago Police Superintendent wrote on Twitter Saturday afternoon.
According to dozens of videos shared to social media, police began to beat back protesters with batons and fired what appeared to be teargas. Amika Tendaji, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Chicago, said she saw people’s heads “gushing with blood.”
“With incredible rage and brutality, they pepper-sprayed until the air was thick with teargas. They beat young people – we’re talking about students,” Tendaji said in a Saturday morning press conference, wearing a face mask baring the words “defund the police.”
Anthony Tamez-Pochel, co-president of the Chi Nations Youth Council, said Saturday that the protest was “a beautiful display of Black and Indigenous solidarity that was met with pepper spray and batons by gun-holding police officers.”
Police reinforcements arrived on the scene, and protesters dispersed Friday evening.
Shootings are on the rise: Children are paying the price
At least one reporter said he was assaulted by officers while covering the protest.
“I was just assaulted by an officer for crossing the road to my bicycle while holding up my press badge and he called me a ‘smart ass’ for doing so, accused me of wanting to start a problem. I yelled help, he said ‘you’re gonna need help’ before throwing me,” Block Club Chi reporter Colin Boyle wrote on Twitter, where he posted video of the encounter.
Woman on stretcher headed for ambulence. She was holding her bandaged head. @cbschicagopic.twitter.com/iIv2jdTduc
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) July 18, 2020
Another journalist, CBSChicago reporter Marissa Parra, said on Twitter that an officer used his baton to swat her phone out of her hand while she was doing a live hit, and that he kicked it after it landed on the street. She also posted video of the incident.
Chicago police said in a statement that the department “strives to treat all individuals our officers encounter with respect.”
“We do not tolerate misconduct of any kind and if any wrongdoing is discovered, officers will be held accountable,” police said.
Images and videos of the statue shared to social media following the encounter showed the statue covered in graffiti.
“This is a difficult moment in our history. I know Chicagoans are frustrated and impatient for change,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “It is my sincere hope that we can strike the right balance to ensure people can rightfully express themselves & their First Amendment rights, but do so in a way that does not put anyone’s physical safety at risk. That would be consistent with our long history of peaceful protest.”
Fight over monuments: Who is an American hero and who is a ‘symbol of hate’?
Lightfoot said she supports the rights of protesters and that “the history and stories of the lives of Indigenous People here in Chicago need to be lifted up and celebrated.”
But Lightfoot condemned the “violent acts” of protesters, saying that throwing objects at officers was “unacceptable and put everyone at risk.”
Lightfoot said the reports of excessive force by police are “also unacceptable” and that she had spoken to the director of the city’s civilian police oversight agency, which “stands ready to address these complaints and will ensure that each of these is dealt with and investigated.”
“We will not spare any resources to do so,” Lightfoot said.
The debate around which historical figures deserve to be memorialized has intensified in recent weeks, since the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd launched a national reckoning on racial inequality.
Groups of protesters in some cities have taken it upon themselves to remove the statues before states and localities intervene. Protesters toppled a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, and ripped a brass cast of Charles Linn, a captain in the Confederate Navy, from its base in Birmingham, Alabama.
Many groups also have turned their attention to other prominent historic figures, including Christopher Columbus. More attention has been given in recent years to Columbus, who many say should be remembered as a violent colonizer responsible for countless deaths of indigenous Americans.
A statue of Columbus was removed from outside the city hall of Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month, after the mayor called for its removal. In Baltimore, Maryland, protesters on the Fourth of July pulled down a statue of Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor.
“That statue is a symbol of a history that we need to acknowledge but divorce ourselves from. That statue has nothing to (do) with where Chicago is going, and our future. And the world has spoken on that,” Tendaji said. “We cannot have our youth being brutality beaten over a statue that shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Chicago Ald. Daniel La Spata, who said three of his four grandparents came from Italy, said he supported the protesters’ desire to take down the statue of Columbus.
“I would tear down that statue with my two hands if I could,” he said Saturday morning. “I say to Mayor Lightfoot, on behalf of the Italian American community … tear down this statue. In our name, tear down this statue.”
Contributing: Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY
Follow USA TODAY NOW reporter Grace Hauck on Twitter @grace_hauck
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Published on Jun 23, 2020
Protesters fighting for racial justice clashed with police in Washington, D.C. again as they targeted a public monument honoring former President Andrew Jackson. Demonstrators attempted to topple the statue, citing Jackson’s ownership of slaves and treatment of Native Americans. Police dispersed the crowd using pepper bullets and President Trump suggested demonstrators could be arrested. Kris Van Cleave reports.
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]]>The post Man shot as protesters clash with ‘vigilantes’ in New Mexico appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>June 16, 2020 | 1:29am | Updated June 16, 2020 | 2:18am
Protesters attach a chain to a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate in Albuquerque, N.M.
AP
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group.
AP
Albuquerque police detain more militia members.
AP
A man was shot at a protest aimed at toppling a conquistador statue in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Monday amid clashes between demonstrators and an armed militia group, reports said.
One person, who is believed to be the gunshot victim, was taken to the hospital in critical condition after the gunman opened fire on a group of demonstrators attempting to remove a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate, according to NBC News.
The shooting took place as a group of six heavily-armed members of a militia group called the New Mexico Civil Guard began to clash with protesters, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier said that the department was looking into the possibility that the militia group escalated the tension.
“We are receiving reports about vigilante groups possibly instigating this violence,” Geier said on Twitter late Monday. “If this is true [we] will be holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law, including federal hate group designation and prosecution.”
A person at the protest tweeted an image of a man he identified as the shooter being detained by police. The suspect allegedly said his father works for the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office.
A police spokesperson said officers used tear gas and flash bangs to protect officers and detain those involved in the shooting. He said they were disarmed and taken into custody for questioning as police worked to secure the scene.
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]]>In New York City, protesters leapt onto police vehicles in Manhattan parks and marched down main Brooklyn thoroughfares on Saturday evening, as demonstrations around the country over the death of George Floyd entered another night.
The protesters spanned several city blocks as they marched down Flatbush Avenue in central Brooklyn, chanting, “No justice, no peace” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Similar chants were heard on the streets of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as mayors of major cities issued curfews on Saturday evening and pleaded with residents to stay home.
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver and Cleveland were among the cities that enacted curfews. California, along with 11 other states and Washington, D.C., had activated National Guard troops in response to protests.
New York: ‘A lot of anger and frustration’
Protesters near Barclays Center arena blocked an NYPD vehicle, which then accelerated into the crowd; one person jumped on the hood. Demonstrators also threw trash at a police vehicle. After police saw viral video of the incident, multiple law enforcement officials say the officers decided to push the barrier into the crowd instead of confronting the protestors outside the car.
“It’s inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten officers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday night. “The video was upsetting and I wish the officers hadn’t done that but they had to get out of that situation.”
Unrest also edged into violence around Manhattan’s Union Square, according to several videos broadcast on television or posted on social media. A large vehicle was shown to be ablaze outside the Regal Cinemas movie theaters a few blocks from the park and later several people appeared to jump on top of a police vehicle with smashed windows.
The New York City Police Department arrested more than 100 people as of Saturday evening, a senior police official said, adding that 15 police vehicles have been burned in Manhattan and in Brooklyn.
In Brooklyn, hundreds of people held up their fists outside the Barclays Center while staring down the NYPD officers who stood in front of the subway station entrance. Protesters participated in a moment of silence for Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground for more than eight minutes.
Nella Mueier, a black Brooklyn resident, said she joined the protests for the first time on Saturday.
She held a sign that said, “Good cops speak up” and said she came out because too many black men and women had been killed by police.
“I know there have to be some good ones out here but they should be out here with us protesting against what we’re seeing,” she said of the police officers guarding the subway station. “We need them to keep our communities safe, but we don’t feel safe because they don’t see us as human beings.”
She continued, “A lot of people are out here for different reasons. There’s a lot of anger and frustration. There’s a lot of people wanting to stand in solidarity.”
The marchers had come from south Brooklyn and shutdown Atlantic Avenue, a major city thoroughfare, to traffic. Many drivers held up by the demonstration honked their horns in solidarity — some even holding up their fists in solidarity.
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Full coverage of George Floyd’s death and protests around the country
Alicia Fox, white Brooklyn resident, held a sign that read, “Defund the police.”
“It’s ridiculous I can’t even remember everyone’s name anymore,” she said of all the people who had been killed by police. “The chant and idea is always remember his name, remember her name, but who can? That’s a genuine question because so many people have died at the hands of police.”
Protesters moved from the Barclays Center to the Target at Atlantic Terminal where an argument broke out between demonstrators, as organizers pushed back against attempts to do damage to the store. Some yelled, “Why are we protecting corporations?” before a sudden police movement drove protesters away from the store’s entrance north toward Fort Greene.
As marchers moved toward that neighborhood, where the protest devolved into violence on Friday night, some residents cheered the demonstrators on from their windows.
Earlier in the day, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said police in New York City had already seen some violence, some of which involved bricks. Shea cautioned that they were still sorting out the addresses of those who had acted violently, but “at least 20 percent are from out of town,” he said.
“It’s probably higher, maybe much higher,” Shea said, adding that he suspected some of those taken into custody might have given false Brooklyn addresses.
Las Vegas: ‘I could only take so much’
In downtown Las Vegas, hundreds of people arrived at Container Park, where they stood outside the shopping center built from old shipping containers and held signs that read “silence is complacent” and “no justice, no peace.” Demonstrators marched from the shopping center down Las Vegas’ famed Fremont Street, walking pasts the neon signs, bars and restaurants. They chanted Floyd’s name along with “I can’t breathe,” raising their fists in the air.
The demonstration, organized by a local Black Lives Matter group, began around 7 p.m.
Las Vegas resident Jasmine Wharton, 23, was among those outside Container Park. She said she’s been posting on social media about the injustice of Floyd’s death — but it wasn’t enough.
“You really need to come out and represent,” Wharton said. “I could only take so much.”
Christian Williams, 9, stood on a downtown Las Vegas sidewalk near the county jail, holding a sign that read, “Stand up for Floyd.” The march was Christian’s first.
He said the scene was a lot at times, with the chanting crowds and honking cars, but it felt good. “Because maybe when the cops see this, they will know not to do this again,” he said.
Christian came to the protest with his mother, Dee Young, 29. She said she brought her son to educate him about Floyd’s death and police shootings.
“He’s got to see this because he’s a little black boy in America and he needs to be aware,” Young said.
She looked over at the crowd of hundreds of protesters, then she turned to her son.
“Look at this,” she said to him. “All these people from all these different races coming together for the cause.”
Los Angeles: ‘I want to live in a world…’
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an 8 p.m.-to-5:30 p.m. curfew Saturday night for downtown, where businesses were damaged, looted and vandalized Friday night.
BREAKING: LA Sheriff tells me 1,000 National Guard soldiers have been requested to respond and their ETA to Los Angeles is 4-5 hours from now. @FOXLA
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 31, 2020
Hours before the curfew, Jo Nesha Kelly, 43, said she joined protests out of frustration and the desire to do more than comment on social media.
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“I feel great about what I’ve seen, the part of the rally I was a part of was very peaceful,” she told NBC News while in the Fairfax neighborhood. “It wasn’t until I came down other streets where I saw a little bit more of the anger and frustration.”
“What’s great about being here is that there are so many different ethnicities and cultures out here participating for change,” Kelly, who is from Palmdale in Los Angeles County, said. “And it’s not just black people. It’s brown people, it’s white people, Asian people, and it’s really great to see.”
Nearby, Andrina Dominguez said she had joined the demonstrations out of concern for her family, particularly for her sister, step dad and others who had darker skin tones than her. “I want to live in a world where I don’t have worry about if they’re going to go home and be safe at the end of every day,” she said.
Buddy Burch, 26, meanwhile she said felt a particular obligation as a white American.
“As a white person living in the United States … like I’m physically sick from police violence,” Burch said. “It’s important for me to put my body between police and people of color.”
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