North of the border

Trudeau takes a knee at anti-racism demonstration
Jim Bronskill, Colin Perkel and Liam Casey



TORONTO -- By the time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived, streams of people clutching signs had made their way on to Parliament Hill and through surrounding streets Friday to protest black lives lost to police.

The Ottawa demonstration was one of multiple events in Canada following days of rallies against racism and police brutality in numerous American cities.

Lori Seale-Irving brought her two teenage sons to the Ottawa march and was pleased to see many young people supporting diversity and inclusion.

"That comes down to what we, especially Canadians, represent," she said. "We're trying to treat everyone fairly and equally. I think there's hope for the younger generation."

The Ottawa event was organized by No Peace Until Justice, formed by a young black woman. The goal was to bring together black activists and organizations and allies to stand in solidarity against police brutality and societal racism.

Trudeau came to Parliament Hill with security guards, wearing a black cloth mask.

He clapped and nodded in response to speakers at the front of the crowd, including one who said there is no middle-ground on the issue.

"You are either a racist or an anti-racist," the speaker said.

The demonstrations followed protests across the U.S. after a video showed a white Minneapolis officer kneeling on the neck of a black man, George Floyd, for nearly nine minutes, even as he pleaded that he couldn't breathe.

Floyd fell still and died, the officer's knee still on him.

At one point, the crowd in Ottawa went silent for the time Floyd was held down. Trudeau put one knee to the ground, his head bowed, as others also took a knee around him.

The Ottawa march was not supposed to go to the U.S. Embassy but wound up there anyway. The mission's Twitter account promised the building's lights would be dimmed for nine nights in Floyd's honour, acknowledging that the gesture was small and not enough.

Demonstrators peacefully chanted, clapped and clutched signs that said ...

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With White House effectively a fortress, some see Trump’s strength — but others see weakness
Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Matt Zapotosky and Josh Dawsey

The security perimeter around the White House keeps expanding. Tall black fencing is going up seemingly by the hour. Armed guards and sharpshooters and combat troops are omnipresent.

In the 72 hours since Monday’s melee at Lafayette Square, the White House has been transformed into a veritable fortress — the physical manifestation of President Trump’s vision of law-and-order “domination” over the millions of Americans who have taken to the streets to protest racial injustice.

The White House is now so heavily fortified that it resembles the monarchical palaces or authoritarian compounds of regimes in faraway lands — strikingly incongruous with the historic role of the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, which since its cornerstone was laid in 1792 has been known as the People’s House and celebrated as an accessible symbol of American democracy.



This week’s security measures follow nighttime demonstrations just outside the campus gates last weekend that turned violent. White House officials stressed that Trump was not involved in the decision to beef up security or to increase the fencing around the compound’s perimeter, with one senior administration official saying that the precautions are not unique to the Trump administration.

Nevertheless, the resulting picture is both jarring and distinctly political — a Rorschach test for one’s view of Trump’s presidency. His supporters see a projection of absolute strength, a leader controlling the streets to protect his people. His critics see a wannabe dictator and a president hiding from his own citizenry.

Trump — who has long gravitated toward strongman leaders abroad and has sought to bathe himself in military iconography — likes the images of police and troops enforcing order, believing they symbolize his toughness and communicate that his crackdown has largely controlled unrest in the streets of Washington, according to White House officials.

“Washington is in great shape,” Trump said Wednesday in a Fox News Radio interview. “I jokingly said, a little bit jokingly, maybe, it’s one of the safest places on earth. And we had no problem at all last night. We had substantial dominant force and it — we have to have a dominant force. Maybe it doesn’t sound good to say it, but you have to have a dominant force. We need law and order.”

Deborah Berke, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, said the White House barricaded as if it were a military base, with multiple layers of black fencing surrounding the limestone Georgian structure, conveys the opposite message and represents a physical violation of democracy.

“I think the need to fortify your house — and it’s not his house; it’s our house — shows weakness,” she said. “The president of the United States should not feel threatened by his or her own citizens.”



The campaign of former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, says Trump’s desire to project toughness will not work with many voters.

“Firing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at peaceful demonstrators outside the People’s House doesn’t make anyone safer or Donald Trump seem tougher, and it certainly doesn’t address the systemic racism and inequality that has plagued our country for generations,” Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo wrote in an email.

Security around the White House has ratcheted up over the years, with Pennsylvania Avenue closed to vehicular traffic following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and a taller permanent fence constructed a few months ago in response to several breaches during the Obama administration.

This week, however, the security perimeter was expanded. Two north entrances along Pennsylvania Avenue NW were closed, with staff and visitors routed to a southwest gate on 17th Street NW.

On Wednesday, a Secret Service agent ...

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What's he afraid of? His own people?

Who else?

Maybe he should be. Remember Mussolini?

Who on earth thought this was a good idea?

Minnesota cops 'trained by Israeli forces in restraint techniques'
Steve Sweeney

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 of African Americans, has sparked continuing protests and rioting in US cities.

At least 100 Minnesota police officers attended a 2012 conference hosted by the Israeli consulate in Chicago, the second time such an event had been held.

There they learned the violent techniques used by Israeli forces as they terrorise the occupied Palestinian territories under the guise of security operations.

The so-called counterterrorism training conference in Minneapolis was jointly hosted by the FBI.

Israeli deputy consul Shahar Arieli claimed that the half-day session brought “top-notch professionals from the Israeli police” to share knowledge with their US counterparts.

It is unclear whether any of the officers involved in the incident in which Mr Floyd was killed attended the conference.

But in a chilling testimony, a Palestinian rights activist said that when she saw the image of Derek Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck, she was reminded of the Israeli forces’ policing of the occupied territories.

Neta Golan, the co-founder of International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said: “When I saw the picture of killer cop Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd by leaning in on his neck with his knee as he cried for help and other cops watched, I remembered noticing when many Israeli soldiers began using this technique of leaning in on our chest and necks when we were protesting in the West Bank sometime in 2006.

“They started twisting and breaking fingers in a particular way around the same time. It was clear they had undergone training for this. They continue to use these tactics — two of my friends have had their necks broken but luckily survived — and it is clear that they [Israel] share these methods when they train police forces abroad in ‘crowd control’ in the US and other countries including Sudan and Brazil.”

The training of US police officials by Israeli forces is widespread.

Even Amnesty was compelled to report that hundreds of police from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington state and Washington DC had been flown to Israeli for training.

Thousands more have been trained by Israeli forces who have come to the US to host similar events to the one held in Minneapolis. According to the somewhat selective rights organisation, many of these trips are taxpayer-funded, while others are privately funded.

Since 2002 the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs have paid for police chiefs, assistant chiefs and captains to train in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), it said.

The Minneapolis Police Department was contacted for comment.

SOURCE

Some interesting stuff coming out all of a sudden.

You mean like this?

Videos Show Cops Slashing Car Tires at Protests in Minneapolis
Julia Lurie



After long nights of tear gas and rubber bullets, some protesters, news crews, and medics in Minneapolis last weekend found themselves stranded: The tires of their cars had been slashed.

In a city upended by protests about police brutality after the death of George Floyd, many assumed protesters were to blame. But videos reveal a different culprit: the police.



In the videos, officers puncture tires in a K-Mart parking lot on May 30 (below) and a highway overpass on May 31 (above). Both areas briefly turned into police staging grounds near protest hot spots.

Mogelson was among many journalists who came back to flat tires after ...

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The pressure needs to be maintained or it'll be back to same ol', same ol'.

Denver police ordered to stop using tear gas on protesters
Sophie Lewis

A federal judge ordered police in Denver on Friday to temporarily stop using tear gas, rubber bullets and other "less-than-lethal" forces like flash grenades during protests. The order comes following a class-action lawsuit against the city of Denver and the Denver Police Department.

The plaintiffs in the suit alleged the Denver police used excessive force against activists protesting police brutality in the city. Protests have erupted nationwide for more than a week following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The ruling cited examples, captured on video, of police injuring mostly peaceful protesters and journalists without giving any warnings to disperse, violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

The judge's order temporarily prevents police officers from using chemical weapons or projectiles, unless approved by a superior on the scene in response to acts of violence or destruction of property.

The order specifically prohibits officers from aiming projectiles randomly into crowds or at an individual protester's head, pelvis or back. Pepper spray, tear gas and other chemical agents cannot be used under any circumstances until after protesters are given time to comply with police orders.

It also instructs officers to record using a body camera at all times and specifically prohibits obstruction of the camera. The order applies to all agencies responding to protests in Denver.

The Denver PD said on Twitter late Friday night that they will comply with the restrictions. However, the department also tweeted that it is asking for modifications to the order for the use of body cameras.

A spokesperson for the department told CBS Denver that officers typically use body cameras on what is considered an on-needed basis due to limits over the battery life of the devices. They said ....

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Of course:

Fencing made from "chicken" wire, no doubt.

Two thumbs up for that one

This is a 1964 protest song that was banned in several southern states. Still relevant today

From Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/donovan.farley ... 8494229158

Donovan Farley

Tonight I was seriously assaulted by the Portland Police Department in the course of covering the protests. If you've been following my work you know this is not the first time. This was very different. Nothing that I have experienced was close to tonight. At the end of the protest, when the police charged and forced everyone to disperse, I was doing a journalist's duty: observing and staying out of the way of the phalanx of law enforcement and clouds of gas. All of the protesters had scattered, the park was essentially empty minus the police.

Suddenly I heard a man shouting those words that by now should be so familiar to us all: "Officer! Officer! I can't breathe man!" I jogged about ten feet away to a scene of three cops with their knees on a man—and one, of course, had his knee on the man's neck. As the man sputtered and spit and gasped, I, for reasons that I'm sure are clear, shouted to get the fuck off his neck. This is the moment a fourth officer approached, reaching for his baton.

We exchanged the usual "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" and "I'm press!" with an added "Get off that fucking guy!" For this, I was absolutely crushed in the lower thigh by the cop's baton. Three inches lower and my knee explodes, but this sort of blow is to be expected. However as I turned to hobble-run away, he began swinging his baton at the back of my shoulder, neck and head area. As I am very familiar with American law enforcement, their techniques (the actual ones) and their feelings of impunity when it comes to violence, I expected a couple of blows and tensed my shoulders so when they came I was fine. What I did not expect was the cop to keep chasing me—we had now traversed about 15 feet, he was chasing me—and to start doing sword type stabs at my head and neck. When he finally landed one it hit me directly between my shoulders where your neck meets your back. As everyone who has ever had a neck injury or almost had one knows, every cell in my body tensed up involuntarily as that sort of injury can end you. Though egregious, this was not the issue. The issue was as soon as I involuntarily spun around and said "Hey my nec—"the officer shot me directly in the face with not the handheld can of mace, but the crowd control mace that looks like a fire extinguisher and is meant for, well, a crowd. He was so close—one inch from my eyes—and the burst was so intense that for the first second I thought he had taken out the big canister and punched me with it.

He definitely did not have the mace out when he first struck me, so as he was following me he reached for it. This was not a reaction under pressure, I was no threat. He thought this out.

I stumbled away through the park and have no recall of how I did so or how I crossed two streets without getting hit by a car, but I eventually fell over on a side street where I poured two containers of tear gas solution mix into my face and then vomited into my face mask. As I sat there totally blind and in the most unbelievably searing pain of my life a different cop started screaming at me to get the fuck up and move, and I, from my grotesque puddle, shouted "I'm press and I can't fucking s—" before vomiting again.

Fortunately some antifa kid, who I could not see, ran over to me despite being warned not to and scooped me up and helped me away from the cops. I was so covered in tear gas he said he couldn't see after helping me, and be touched me for all of five seconds. Before he ran off he said "Man are you sure they didn't hit you with a baton in the face? Holy shit your eyes!"

I stumbled around downtown in that state for awhile, 95% blind and holding my arms out mumbling ohfuckohfuckohfuck until a random photographer (SHOUT OUT TO JEFF!) corraled me, gave me water and drove me home. That was two hours ago. I still can't see right and the pain remains tremendous.

I have a video of the man with cops on him, and I'll share more about this after speaking with my editor, but I got a taste of what law enforcement across America is doing to the press. Simply: I was chased and assualted because I was a journalist who caught law enforcement behaving in the exact illegal fashion that started this nationwide uproar. There can be no equivocations about it. I was purposefully harmed to send an extremely painful message of intimidation.

Well those dumb bastards should have shot me, because I'm not going anywhere. This has only redoubled my determination.

if sooz were here, she would say this is a long time coming.

I miss her.

We all do.

"Mitt Romney can say three words outside on Pennsylvania Avenue, but I would note this -- that President Trump won 8% of the black vote." ~ WH Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on "Black Lives Matter"

Apparently being a lawless thug is a necessary qualification in at least one police union.

Florida police organization offers to hire cops who were fired or resigned over police misconduct
By Alicia Lee

As the cries for police reform grow louder across the nation, some police departments are holding their officers accountable, firing or suspending those accused of excessive force during recent protests.

One Florida police organization has said it will re-hire those very officers accused of misconduct, and that offer is prompting outrage.
On Saturday, the Brevard County chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police posted a message on Facebook addressed to the "Buffalo 57" and "Atlanta 6," saying that it was "hiring."



"Buffalo 57" appears to refer to the 57 police officers in Buffalo, New York, who resigned from the force's emergency response team following the suspension of two officers who were captured on video pushing a 75-year-old protester to the ground.

"Atlanta 6" refers to the six Atlanta police officers who were booked, five on felony charges, after being accused of using excessive force on two black college students who were leaving a protest in their car. In a video recording of the incident, the officers are seen breaking the vehicle's windows, pulling the female student out of the car and tasing the male student.

"Buffalo 57" appears to refer to the 57 police officers in Buffalo, New York, who resigned from the force's emergency response team following the suspension of two officers who were captured on video pushing a 75-year-old protester to the ground.

"Atlanta 6" refers to the six Atlanta police officers who were booked, five on felony charges, after being accused of using excessive force on two black college students who were leaving a protest in their car. In a video recording of the incident, the officers are seen breaking the vehicle's windows, pulling the female student out of the car and tasing the male student.



"Minneapolis officers... we will not disband our agencies or give in... we are hiring in Florida," the post said.

The two posts garnered hundreds of angry comments, with many saying that the posts just proved why the police need to be defunded.
"You supporting police brutality and offering this state as a safe haven for bad cops will not be tolerated. This is why police should be defunded and disbanded," one comment read.

Both posts have since been deleted and the Brevard County F.O.P did not return CNN's request for comment.

But in comments to Florida Today, Brevard County F.O.P. President Bert Gamin claimed responsibility for the post regarding the Buffalo and Atlanta police officers and defended them.

"The police had the legal authority in both cases," Gamin said in an email to Florida Today. "At the time the warnings were provided, the citizens were already breaking the law. Those citizens chose to disregard the warnings. It led directly to escalations and confrontations with the police. When we issue lawful commands/warnings, citizens have a responsibility to comply. The reality is failure to comply leads to escalation."

Gamin, according to his LinkedIn page, has been a lieutenant with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office for 26 years, but Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey distanced his office from the union.

"The 'Brevard County F.O.P.' page and organization has no official affiliation with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and was not authorized in any capacity by me or our agency to recruit or comment on our behalf!!" Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a statement posted to the sheriff's office's Facebook page.

Ivey added that the comments made by the union were "extremely distasteful and insensitive" to "critical issues that are occurring across our country," and that his office "does not condone" the content in any way.

Tod Goodyear, spokesman for the sheriff's office, told CNN that the department is currently trying to determine whether Gamin violated any policies.

"Although we find the comments he made disturbing, there are still some protections provided by the constitution on free speech," Goodyear said. "If there was a violation of policy, I'm sure it will be dealt with."

The Fraternal Order of Police, which is the nation's largest organization of law enforcement officers with more than 330,000 members, did not return CNN's request for comment.

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