U.S. charges 18 Portland protesters as it sends tactical police to Seattle

(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday unveiled charges against 18 Portland, Oregon protesters ranging from assaulting police to arson and trespassing, a day after the Trump administration expanded the deployment of tactical police to Seattle.

A protester throws a canister of teargas back toward federal law enforcement officers during a demonstration against police violence and racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, U.S., July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

The arrests came this week during clashes with specially equipped federal police agents sent to Portland, where 56 straight days of antiracism demonstrations have captured national attention.

The federal forces have drawn criticism from Democrats and civil liberties groups who allege excessive force and federal overreach by President Donald Trump.

The deployment of federal officers has also drawn the scrutiny of the Justice Department inspector general, who announced an investigation of their use of force, and prompted a federal judge to issue a temporary order limiting their use of force and blocking them from arresting journalists and legal observers of street protests.

The Trump administration sent a tactical team to Seattle on Thursday in anticipation of protests this weekend despite the objections of the Seattle mayor and Washington state governor, who warned of a Portland-like escalation of tensions.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Brian Moran said in a statement that federal agents are stationed in Seattle to protect federal properties and the work done in those buildings.

“Let’s not let the violence that has marred the Portland protests damage peaceful movements here for a more just society,” Moran said. “My hope is our community will speak with one voice to discourage those who seek to hijack peaceful protests with damage and destruction.”


The Trump administration has also sent federal police to Chicago, Kansas City and Albuquerque over the objections of those mayors.

Trump, who is running for re-election on Nov. 3 in part on a campaign of law and order, has threatened to deploy federal forces in more cities run by Democratic mayors, who he accuses of being soft on crime.

The Portland team of tactically equipped, camouflaged officers fired tear gas canisters at Black Lives Matter demonstrators in central Portland early on Friday, taking on a policing role typically reserved for local law enforcement.

“I made clear to Acting Secretary (Chad) Wolf that deployments in Seattle - like we have seen in Portland - would undermine public safety and break community trust,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said on Twitter late on Thursday, referring to the acting secretary of Homeland Security.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee warned that federal officers might “make the thing worse and throw gasoline on a fire.”

Portland has been rocked by nearly two months of demonstrations for racial equality and against police brutality, part of a movement that has swept the United States since the May 25 death of George Floyd, an African American, in the custody of Minneapolis police.

The Justice Department said all 18 of those charged in Portland had made a first appearance in federal court and were released pending trial or other proceedings.


Five people were charged with suspicion of assaulting a federal officer, trespassing and creating a disturbance during protests on the night of July 20-21, said Billy Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Seven people have been charged in connection with criminal conduct during a July 21-22 night protest, including one person charged with arson. Another six were charged over events from the night of July 22-23.


Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by David Gregorio, Matthew Lewis and Daniel Wallis

USA 

IMWA Machinists union president rallies striking shipyard workers

Striking Bath Iron Works shipbuilders march in solidarity, Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Bath, Maine. The production workers went on strike June 22 after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s final contract proposal. The dispute centers on subcontractors, work rules and seniority.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)


BATH, Maine (AP) — The international president of the Machinists union rallied striking workers at Bath Iron Works on Saturday, urging them to stay strong and proclaiming “there’s no way in hell we are backing down from this fight.”

Robert Martinez Jr. delivered a message of unity to Machinists Local S6 during a strike that passed the one-month mark this week. He accused the shipyard, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, of “corporate greed.”

“This is the largest strike in the United States of America right now,” he told the crowd of hundreds outside the union hall, across the street from the shipyard. “The eyes of the nation are upon us.”
Striker's signs are gathered near Bath Iron Works, Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Bath, Maine. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local S6 is in its fifth week of the strike over a new contract. The shipbuilder and union remain at odds over issues of seniority and subcontractors. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Sara Gideon, Democratic speaker of the Maine House, speaks at a rally for striking Bath Iron Works shipbuilders, Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Bath, Maine. Gideon is challenging U.S.Rep Susan Collins, R-Maine, in the November election. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The group, which included some spouses and children, marched from the shipyard’s north gate to the south gate in a show of solidarity.

The 4,300 production workers went on strike on June 22 after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s final contract proposal.

The strike is centered around subcontractors, work rules and seniority, with wages and benefits being less of a concern. The company’s offer contained 3% pay raises in each of the three years covered by the proposal.

A picketer stands in front of a union office near Bath Iron Works, Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Bath, Maine. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local S6 is in its fifth week of the strike over a new contract. The shipbuilder and union remain at odds over issues of seniority and subcontractors. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Both sides have been meeting separately with a federal mediator but there have been no face-to-face negotiations since the strike began.

Martinez asked Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who visited workers on the picket line the day before, to press the company to return to the negotiating table. Collins’ opponent in the November election, Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon, spoke at the event on Saturday.

The union also accused the company of hiring “scab” workers from Alabama and Mississippi and putting them up in local hotels.

Martinez called it a “slap in the face” for workers.

Bob Martinez, the international president of the machinist union representing striking Bath Iron Works shipbuilders, speaks at a rally Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Bath, Maine. The production workers went on strike June 22 after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s final contract proposal. The dispute centers on subcontractors, work rules and seniority.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)The company has said it’s ready to return to the negotiating table when directed to do so by the mediator. A company spokesperson had no further comment on Saturday.


It’s the first strike in 20 years at Bath Iron Works, which is one of the Navy’s largest shipbuilders and a major employer in Maine, with 6,800 workers.

The shipyard builds guided-missile destroyers, the workhorse of the fleet, and the strike threatens to put production further behind at a time of growing competition with Russia and China.

Striking Bath Iron Works shipbuilders march in solidarity, Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Bath, Maine. The production workers went on strike June 22 after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s final contract proposal. The dispute centers on subcontractors, work rules and seniority. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The company was already about six months behind schedule when the strike began. The company needs to be able to hire subcontractors to get caught up, the shipyard’s president contends.

US Groups push to remove proposed funding for nuclear testing

FILE - In this April 22, 1952 file photo a gigantic pillar of smoke with the familiar mushroom top climbs above Yucca Flat, Nev. during nuclear test detonation. A defense spending bill pending in Congress includes an apology to New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and other states affected by nuclear testing over the decades, but communities downwind from the first atomic test in 1945 are still holding out for compensation amid rumblings about the potential for the U.S. to resume nuclear testing. (AP Photo,File)


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Deep within a multibillion-dollar defense spending measure pending in Congress is an apology to New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and other states affected by radiation from nuclear testing over the decades.

But communities downwind from the first atomic test in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, are still holding out for compensation for health effects that they say have been ongoing for generations due to fallout from the historic blast.

So far, their pleas for Congress to extend and expand a federal radiation compensation program have gone unanswered. The program currently covers workers who became sick as a result of the radiation hazards of their jobs and those who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site.
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Those excluded from the program include residents downwind of the Trinity Site in New Mexico, additional downwinders in Nevada, veterans who cleaned up radioactive waste in the Marshall Islands and others.

Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor and co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said the excuse always has been that the federal government doesn’t have enough money to take care of those affected.

She said the need is even greater now since the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting those with underlying health conditions and downwinders fall into the category because of their compromised health.

“When you talk about enhancing plutonium pit production and defense spending in the trillions, you can’t tell us there’s not enough money to do this,” she told The Associated Press. “You can’t expect us to accept that any longer and that adds insult to injury. It’s as if we count for nothing.”

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, the New Mexico Democrat who advocated for the apology, continues to push for amendments to the radiation compensation program. His office recently convened a meeting among downwinders, uranium miners, tribal members, other advocates and staff in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

“The congressman believes that the need for medical and monetary compensation has never been more urgent,” said Monica Garcia, a spokeswoman for the congressman.

The concerns of Cordova and other advocates are growing amid rumblings about reported discussions within the Trump administration about whether to conduct live nuclear weapons testing.
FILE - This July 16, 1945 photo, shows an aerial view after the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site, N.M. A defense spending bill pending in Congress includes an apology to New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and other states affected by nuclear testing over the decades, but communities downwind from the first atomic test in 1945 are still holding out for compensation amid rumblings about the potential for the U.S. to resume nuclear testing. (AP Photo/File)

The discussions come as the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia nears expiration in 2021. Russia has offered to extend the nuclear arms control agreement while the Trump administration has pushed for a new pact that would also include China.

While the U.S. House has adopted language that would prohibit spending to conduct or make preparations for any live nuclear weapons tests, a group of senators has included $10 million for such an effort in that chamber’s version of the bill.

The Union of Concerned Scientists, nuclear watchdogs and environmentalists all are pushing for the funding to be eliminated. They sent letters this week in opposition and plan to lobby lawmakers.

“A U.S. resumption of nuclear testing would set off an unpredictable and destabilizing international chain reaction that would undermine U.S. security,” reads one letter.

Kevin Davis with the Union of Concerned Scientists’ global security program said resuming live testing would be unnecessary because the U.S. has been able to do sub-critical experiments and use its super computers along with data from past testing to run simulations on the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

The last full-scale underground test was done Sept. 23, 1992, by scientists with Los Alamos National Laboratory at the Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. Less than two weeks later, then President George H.W. Bush signed legislation mandating a moratorium on U.S. underground nuclear testing.

Democrat Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah is among those leading the effort to ban spending for testing. He said thousands of residents in his state are still dealing with trauma and illness as a result of previous testing.

Dozens of groups also signed on to a letter sent to congressional leaders in May advocating for the expansion of the radiation compensation program.

“We can’t continue to allow the government to walk away from their responsibility,” Cordova said.

Fight for police-free schools has been years in the making

By ASTRID GALVAN

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Shyra Adams stands outside James Madison Memorial High School Friday, July 17, 2020,in Madison, Wis. Adams helps lead a parent-driven movement to get police out of schools in Madison, including her high school, James Madison Memorial. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)


PHOENIX (AP) — The group of protesters started out small, just a handful of students who told officials at school board meetings why they wanted police out of Madison, Wisconsin, schools.

Over four years, their numbers grew but not their results. So they took to yelling from the audience and making emotional pleas about how police make students, especially those of color, feel unsafe.

But officers remained at four high schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District until George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police ushered in a national reckoning over police brutality and racial injustice.

That’s when the school board president, who had long resisted removing police, had a change of heart. Madison quickly joined cities like Minneapolis, Phoenix, Denver and Portland, Oregon, in abandoning partnerships with police on campuses.

The move may seem sudden, but it follows years of well-organized, student-driven action. Only now, more grown-ups are listening.

Police officers assigned to schools wear a uniform, carry guns and get specialized training. Critics say having armed police on campus often results in Black students being disproportionately arrested and punished, leading to what they call the schools-to-prison pipeline.

Supporters say police make schools safer and that having someone trained to deal with young people is more effective than having random officers respond to large fights and other problems.

At the Madison school board protests, “we would basically go up there, be nice and when you would look up, when you were talking, they would be looking down at their phone or their computer. So that made us even more frustrated,” said Shyra Adams, 20, who graduated from high school in 2017 and is now a youth justice coordinator with Freedom Inc., the group behind the protests.

Adams says opponents called her and others thugs or angry protesters — “anything but youths.”

She attended nearly every monthly meeting since 2016, sharing how she was injured when two school resource officers broke up a fight between her and a boy she said was bullying her friend. Adams said the officers twisted her arm. They let the boy, who was white, go to class, and he got two days of suspension, while she got five.

“I knew there’s absolutely no way I can build a relationship with somebody like that,” Adams said of the officers.

The movement to pull police from campuses has been decades in the making but grew substantially with student activism in the last four years, said Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project National Office, a nonprofit focusing on civil rights and justice.

“We were noticing that when you have police in schools, you have a culture clash. And that culture clash is that their job is to protect people but also they enforce the criminal code, and they were enforcing criminal code on regular teen behavior,” Dianis said of the early beginnings of the movement.

Michelle Ruiz, who started the student-led movement to get police out of schools in the Phoenix Union High School District, shown here at the Puente offices Thursday, June 18, 2020, in Phoenix. School districts around the country are voting to eliminate police from public schools. But this isn’t a sudden reaction to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but to a years-long movement led by students who say they feel unsafe with police on campus.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Recent national data on arrests at schools is hard to come by, but studies from a few years ago show that Black students are disproportionately punished both in schools and by law enforcement.

During the 2015-2016 school year, Black students accounted for 15% of total enrollment but 31% of students referred to law enforcement or arrested, according to the Civil Rights Data Collection put out by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Students of color are also more likely to be enrolled in a school with an officer. While 42% of U.S. high schools in the 2013-2014 school year had officers, 51% of high schools with large Black and Latino populations had them.

Students have spent the last several years targeting that disparity.

Michelle Ruiz, 21, protested at her Phoenix high school district as a senior, driven by concerns that officers on campus can result in students without legal status ending up in immigration custody. She struggled academically and questioned why there were so few resources but enough money for cops.

With support from immigrant rights group Puente, Ruiz began speaking out at school board meetings in 2017 with a handful of other students. Their numbers grew to 15 or 20 within a few months.

President Donald Trump’s election “brought a big momentum,” Ruiz said. But it took three years for the superintendent to announce the Phoenix Union High School District wouldn’t renew its $1.2 million contract with police.

“I feel, as a student who has been advocating this for a long time, happy, and it brings me hope that the district’s willing to change,” Ruiz said of the July 7 decision.

Activists in Madison also are celebrating a change of heart. The June 29 vote to eliminate police from high schools was introduced by school board President Gloria Reyes, a former police officer who had long resisted calls to abandon the contract.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Reyes said she understood institutional racism in police departments but believes it also exists in school administrations and that getting rid of police on campuses altogether isn’t an all-in-one solution.

After Floyd’s death, students protested outside Reyes’ home, and once the teachers union spoke out, she felt it was time for change.

“I had to step out of my own personal and professional beliefs around the issue and just reflect on the many voices and reflect on George Floyd and what was happening,” Reyes said. “And ultimately, I had to do what I felt in my heart was the right thing to do.”

The school board established a committee to create a new school safety plan. Reyes still worries about what will happen when a big fight breaks out and police who don’t know the students and lack special training show up.

That’s a major concern for Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Canady says school resource officers are carefully selected and trained to work with teenagers. They’re usually veteran officers who have volunteered with young people, such as coaching sports or leading church youth groups.

“We train our people to be really thoughtful about arrests, and we want to do everything to avoid an arrest,” Canady said.

His organization trained 10,000 school resource officers last year, which he estimates is roughly half those in the country. They usually get about 40 hours of training before they’re assigned to a school and have ongoing instruction, Canady said.

For Adams, the youth organizer in Madison, the fight isn’t over. She says she’s working to ensure that students and parents have more say in decision-making and that the district creates a transformative justice program that keeps kids out of jail.

“Folks just think that after we got cops out of schools that’s it, and it’s that simple. It’s not,” Adams said.

For racial justice protests, US taps tactical border squads

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FILE - In this July 24, 2020, file photo federal agents use crowd control munitions to disperse Black Lives Matter demonstrators during a protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore. Beyond the debate over the federal response to protests in Portland, there is the question of whether the Department of Homeland Security, with its specialized national security focus, is the right agency for a job that is traditionally the responsibility local police. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — They are the most highly trained members of the Border Patrol, agents who confront drug traffickers along the U.S.-Mexico border and track down dangerous fugitives in rugged terrain.

One day this past week, they were in a far different setting — a city park in Portland, Oregon, looking for two people suspected of throwing rocks and bottles at officers guarding the downtown federal courthouse.

Beyond the debate over whether the federal response to the Portland protests encroaches on local authority, another question arises: whether the Department of Homeland Security, with its specialized national security focus, is the right agency for the job.


It’s not just the Border Patrol Tactical Unit that has been called to duty in Portland. DHS has dispatched air marshals as well as the Customs and Border Protection Special Response Team and even members of the Coast Guard.

“The Department of Homeland Security was never intended as a national police force let alone a presidential militia,” said Peter Vincent, a former general counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is also an agency within DHS.

The deployment of DHS agents and officers is legal, both under existing law and an executive order President Donald Trump signed June 26 to protect federal property and monuments. But it has made the agency, created to improve the nation’s response to terrorism, a target of widespread criticism.

Congress plans to delve into the issue Friday, when the House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on the federal response to the protests in Portland and Trump’s announcement that he plans to send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help combat rising crime while making “law and order” a central theme of his reelection campaign.

“Americans across the country are watching what the administration is doing in Portland with horror and revulsion and are wondering if their cities could be President Trump’s next targets,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who is chairman of the committee.

As of Monday, there were 114 federal agents and officers deployed to downtown Portland, according to an affidavit from Gabriel Russell, the regional director of the Federal Protective Service, the DHS component that provides security for federal buildings.

Protests have been taking place in Portland since May 26 but the federal agents kept a “defensive posture” by staying inside federal buildings until July 3, Russell said in the affidavit, filed in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking protections for journalists and other legal observers covering the demonstrations.

That night, according to Russell, protesters attempted to set fire to the federal courthouse and DHS deployed a Rapid Deployment Force as part of “Operation Diligent Valor.”

That same night, Trump stood before Mount Rushmore and accused protesters around the country who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.” He later criticized officials in Portland for allowing demonstrations to get “totally out of control.”

The officers deploying to Portland are “highly trained,” and many wear camouflage because that’s their duty uniform on the southwest border, according to acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, responding to charges of a militarized response to the protests.

In addition to their previous training, they took a 90-minute online course on the mission and jurisdiction of the Federal Protective Service, police powers and criminal regulations, according to a course description provided to The Associated Press.

Richard Cline, principal deputy director of the protective services, told reporters that DHS officers are given additional training to ensure they act within guidelines established by the Justice Department as they assist an organization that was “quickly overwhelmed” by violent demonstrators.

In this July 21, 2020 file photo, a federal officer pushes back demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

Wolf also defended tactics such as tear gas, rubber bullets and having officers sweep people off the street into unmarked vehicles, evoking images of a secret police force.

“We are only targeting and arresting those who have been identified as committing criminal acts, like any other law enforcement agency does across the country every single day of the week,” he said.

On Wednesday, agents from the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, known as BORTAC, set out from the federal courthouse just after midnight in pursuit of two people in dark clothing and carrying makeshift shields suspected of throwing rocks and bottles at officers, according to court records.

The agents struggled with the two, eventually restraining them and turning them over to the Federal Protective Service. One, a 19-year-old man, was charged with felony assault of an officer.

In addition to rocks and bottles, agents and officers at the courthouse have been struck with ball bearings, improvised explosives, fireworks, and balloons filled with paint and feces, Russell said. Some have also had lasers shined at their eyes.


At least 28 officers have been injured and officers have made at least 43 arrests, mostly for misdemeanors.

While the use of BORTAC officers in this environment is unusual, it’s not unprecedented, said Michael Fisher, a former senior official with the agency and member of the unit.

BORTAC officers have been used to serve warrants on suspects considered dangerous, protected emergency personnel during natural disasters and were sent to Los Angeles during the 1992 riots, Fisher said.

“What was happening in Portland is the police were not enforcing ... the laws and it just escalated and that’s the reason it’s gone on well over 50 days now,” said Fisher, who now runs a security company.

Local officials have in turn accused DHS of inflaming the situation, an argument bolstered by the fact that protests grew larger as controversy intensified over the tactics of the federal agents.

Former DHS officials concede the agency has worked with state and local law enforcement before, with the consent and cooperation of local authorities. But in Oregon, officials have accused the federal government of inflaming the situation and asked it to withdraw.

Vincent, who left ICE in 2014 and now works as a consultant, said some current officials are “extraordinarily uncomfortable” with what they have been asked to do in Portland.

“I am deeply concerned as someone who believes in the mission of the agency and knows and respects its officers and agents that these activities will irreparably damage the agency’s reputation,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Ron Nixon contributed to this report.

Huge Portland protest crowds, standoff with feds go on

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and SARA CLINE

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Federal officers use ILLEGAL chemical irritants and projectiles to disperse 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 Photo/Noah Berger)


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Thousands of people gathered in Portland streets for another night of protests Friday, the same day a U.S. judge denied Oregon’s request to restrict federal agents’ actions when they arrest people during chaotic demonstrations that have roiled the city and pitted local officials against the Trump administration.

By 8 p.m. a few hundred people, most wearing masks and many donning helmets, stood near the fountain on Salmon Street Springs, 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.

By 9:40 p.m. crowds of people, pressed shoulder to shoulder, packed the streets chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Feds go home” as they carried signs and marched to the courthouse.

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.




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.”

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 again 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.”

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.

The Oregon attorney general’s motion was one of several lawsuits against authorities’ actions. A different federal judge late Thursday blocked U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at demonstrations.

Federal agents use tear gas to clear rowdy Portland protest

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and SARA CLINE

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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 Photo/Noah Berger)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, into the early hours Saturday, shooting fireworks at the building as plumes of tear gas dispensed by U.S. agents, lingered above.

The demonstration went until federal agents entered the crowd around 2:30 a.m. and marched in a line down the street, clearing remaining protesters with tear gas at close range. They also extinguished a large fire in the street outside the courthouse.

Portland has been roiled by nightly protests for two months following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. President Donald Trump said he sent federal agents to Oregon’s largest city to halt the unrest but state and local officials say they are making the situation worse.

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 he says are violent.

Late Friday a federal judge denied a request by Oregon’s attorney general to restrict the actions of federal police.

The Federal Protective Service had declared the gathering in Portland that began Friday evening as “an unlawful assembly” and said that officers had been injured.

As the crowd dispersed, someone was found stabbed nearby, Portland police said. The person was taken to a hospital and a suspect was taken into custody.

By 3 a.m., most demonstrators had left, with only some small groups roaming the streets.

Earlier Friday night, the protest had drawn various organized groups, including Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the “Wall of Moms.” As the crowd grew — authorities estimate there were 3,000 present at the peak of the protest — people were heard chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Feds go home” to the sound of drums.

Later, 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 at times, as others remained toward 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.

Pereyo said he had been at the nearby park watching drummers and fireworks being shot, when his face and eyes began to burn.

“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.

It was unclear whether anyone was arrested during the protest. The federal agents have arrested dozens during nightly demonstrations against racial injustice that often turn violent.

The state attorney general sued, saying some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled Friday the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because the lawsuit was a “highly unusual one with a particular set of rules.”

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 the judge 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.
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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.”

“Individuals mistreated by these federal agents can sue for damages, but they can’t get a judge to restrain this unlawful conduct more generally,” Rosenblum said in a statement.

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.”

Wolf said Tuesday that at least 43 people have been arrested on federal charges at that point. Charges included 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.

___

Sara Cline reported from Salem. Cline is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Associated Press writer Andrew Selsky contributed from Salem, Oregon.
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus.

'We're not yet at the point where someone can say they don't want children and people just go, 'oh right, that's cool'' - Emma Gannon on being child-free
Journalist Emma Gannon's debut novel explores one woman's decision to remain childless. Having already documented her own stance on motherhood, she tells Tanya Sweeney why we need to start a conversation about what child-free means for a new generation

Emma Gannon. Photo: Paul Storrie

July 25 2020 02:30 AM

Ask any female novelist about the most annoying question they get asked in interviews, and many will admit that they're often asked about how much of the character is written from real life. It's a question that British author Emma Gannon is having to field a lot right now.

"It definitely does annoy me a little bit," she laughs. "Other female authors have prepared me in advance about how I'll get asked this, although it's up to me how much I want to reveal."

As it stands, Gannon has much in common with the protagonist of her lively and readable debut novel, Olive. In it, the British podcaster/journalist mulls over a pertinent question: what does a life without children look like for a modern woman in her thirties?

Naturally, Gannon's own stance on wanting children has emerged. As a journalist, Gannon has already written about how much she enjoys her child-free existence.

"I felt conflicted about it," she tells me, referring to her decision to disclose her own stance on wanting kids.

"Part of me wants to do the eye-roll, and there are people who think I've pretty much written a memoir. But on the other hand, I feel I'd be doing a disservice to the reader if I didn't talk about it. We do write about what we know, and I'm not going to pretend that this is something that has nothing to do with me."

Gannon's titular protagonist finds herself at a crossroads, trying to figure out many things. Flying high in her career as a journalist, a freshly single Olive is more than aware that her 'child-free by choice' status marks her out as a bit of an outlier.

As her friends gravitate towards marriage and motherhood (and all the struggles and challenges therein), Olive is forced to check back in with herself and re-evaluate her stance on not wanting children.

Gannon handles this with élan, putting on the page the various complexities, challenges and uncertainties of the child-free existence.

"There is a sense of being a little exposed, but when you write fiction you're in a bit of an invisibility cloak, and you can wander around saying all these interesting things through the mouths of your character," Gannon smiles. "Sometimes, they do come from my deepest, darkest thoughts - works of fiction are weirdly truthful."

Though Olive is the undisputed heroine of the book, her college pals Cecily, Bea and Isla are also forging their own territory as parents; something that afforded Gannon the chance to "play with ideas of what motherhood can be".


"I suppose that sort of symbolises how I feel," she says. "I'm 31. I don't think I want children. I don't want to set it in stone as it's too soon to make any kind of definitive statement about it, but it's been fun writing the alternative."

Engaged to be married next year, Gannon hears the 'you'll be next' refrain from well-meaning types more often than she'd like. "When I'm with my nephews, I get a lot of that," she smiles. "The other one I get is, 'you'll change your mind eventually'. My favourite though is, 'who will look after you when you're older?' The one I find quite offensive is, 'maybe you've not met the right person yet'. I've met the right person - that's not the issue. We're not yet at the point where someone will say that they don't want children and people will just go, 'oh right, that's cool'.

Unlike Gannon, Olive, at 33, is absolute in her decision that she wants to remain child-free. It's not easy to find characters like Olive in today's swathe of fiction, which is exactly why Gannon decided to write the book.

"I do think it's something we need to talk about more, about what 'child-free' means for a new generation," Gannon notes.

One motif that still somehow endures is that of a 'cold war' between child-free women and mothers, and it's an idea that Gannon wanted to tease out in Olive.

"It's a weird one, isn't it? I did hear someone say that once in a workplace, they sort of hinted that the child-free should be doing more of the work. I suppose I wanted to bust the myth that child-free people always have so much time. The truth is, there's a lot going on for a lot of us. And just because you don't have children, you can still nurture and love and give back.

"I think this is a book about how we are all more similar than we think, there is no real divide there - no binary," Gannon continues.

"Womanhood comes in many forms, and the 'us and them' is just problematic. Some people would love to have children, and can't. How lovely would it be if we could all just work together and just live and let live, in a beautiful harmony?

"Ultimately, at the heart of the book, I wanted to write about friends - people who have been in the same boat, gone through school and university together, and feel they have the same benchmarks to hit. Suddenly, in your thirties, you can feel distant from them, and threatened by their new life: 'will they stop seeing you if you have a child?' I think these are very typical fears that come to mind for women.

"It speaks to the insecurities women feel - are we making the right choice? You can often tell when you're being horrible to someone or a bit mean, it's often to do with fear, and being scared of someone making judgements on you. You start to worry about things like, 'is my friend ahead in her career?' There's a real taboo around those kinds of judgements among friends.

"So many people have said, 'Olive feels so true to me, as I've had these sort of fallouts with friends'," Gannon adds. "People say they don't get invited to mum things anymore if they don't have their own child. I'm glad the novel is painting that reality. Luckily, I don't have those struggles with my own friends - we respect each other's priorities and whenever I, say, have a book launch or something, my friends are there, showing up."

Teasing apart taboos and having tricky conversations has long been part of Gannon's professional lifeblood. And her innate curiosity has made her podcast, Ctrl Alt Delete, one of the most popular business podcasts in the UK.

"I think I always knew I wanted a job where I could get to be nosy and ask a lot of questions," Gannon says. "I love having the sort of conversations that make me uncomfortable. Curiosity often leads the way - I like that it helps you learn more."

With over six million downloads, Ctrl Alt Delete has seen Gannon interview everyone from our own Sharon Horgan and US actor Ellen Page to director Greta Gerwig and Gillian Anderson about their work lives. It was also the first podcast recorded inside Buckingham Palace.

"I genuinely love every single person I've interviewed but I often think back to the interview with (philosopher) Alain de Botton, because he just comes at things from a very different angle."

Her non-fiction debut, Ctrl Alt Delete, was released in 2016, and was swiftly followed by The Multi-Hyphen Method, "a new business book for the digital age".

In it, Gannon extols the virtues of a 'portfolio career', and exploring our own entrepreneurial spirit to create many strings for our own bows. Talking to people who run blogs or run online stores in their spare time, Gannon's book suggests working less and creating more and defining your own version of success.

"I don't necessarily agree that everyone should have a side hustle - it's another plate to spin for some people, but if you have a passion project, or an idea, and have whatever it takes to get started, ask yourself, will it improve your mental health? Will it help you meet new people? Are you happier being creative? "It's not even about making more money - it's about something that brings you joy."

Although released two years ago, The Multi-Hyphen Method has even more relevance in the current climate, where people in lockdown have been re-evaluating their work lives.

"It's a strange one, isn't it?" Gannon agrees.

"Two years ago I was talking about flexible working and new ways of working, and basically how a full-time job isn't a safety net anymore, and no one really wanted to hear it. No one really believed that flexible working could be the future. There was still a sense that people must still go to their desks and work from 9 to 5.

"It's been interesting, it's like we've been thrown into this social experiment [during the pandemic]," she adds. "Two years ago I had CEOs tell me they'd never allow employees to work from home, but now they're all working from home."

In The Multi-Hyphen Method, Gannon also writes of the benefits of self-promotion: something I tell her doesn't necessarily come easily for Irish people.

"It's really hard for some people - either it comes naturally to them, or the thought paralyses them with fear," asserts Gannon.

"I tend to tell people that we're now living in a culture where self-promotion is pretty much part of the job. So much recruitment is done online, and there's a lot of competitiveness with the internet, and if you're not showing up for yourself on social media, it does have a knock-on effect. There's a way to self-promote that doesn't feel icky or boasty. Just use the way you'll tell your best friend what you're doing. It really is an extension of the job, and it will help you get more work."

With success in both the fiction and non-fiction realm, Gannon is now working, true to form, on a number of different side projects in addition to her podcast and day job.

"Maybe there's another novel [in my future], but I have another non-fiction book about self-sabotage out in September, too," she reveals. "I wrote Olive in secret, almost like an experiment. I don't necessarily want to leave non-fiction behind. I love that world far too much."

'Olive' by Emma Gannon, published by HarperCollins, is out now

Diarmuid Gavin: Giving ex-battery rescue hens a new lease of life can also benefit your garden

I'm excited to give some ex-battery rescue hens a new lease of life - and add a new dimension to my garden

A rooster and a hen in the garden.

Diarmuid Gavin
July 25 2020

I've always wanted to keep chickens but this interest was not shared by other members of the family and as I spent most of my time abroad, I'd have had to rely on an unenthusiastic home farmer to look after them.

Lockdown changed all that and focused the mind - it's now or never for many things. I've a pretty garden, and some space and the ability to give ex-battery chickens a new lease of life. I'm also making a television series called Gardening Together which needs content so despite family opposition, I've got my way.

Paul Smyth, who I work with, is from a farming background - hens were second nature to him and because gardens and plants were first nature to him, he convinced me that they were the perfect partners.

So a couple of weeks ago I took delivery of three hens who were rescued from a battery farm and installed them in the new coop. In advance I'd fenced off an area of the garden. This was to protect them from predators and to protect the rest of my garden from being hen pecked. Hens can cause damage to plants so I've been learning from experts what plants to grow and what to avoid. It's also going to be a matter of trial and error and already some plants have been trampled. However, in terms of cost-benefit analysis, I'm happy to trade some herbaceous plants for those delicious daily fresh eggs.

Rhododendron



There are other benefits to the garden. Hens are fantastic at hoovering up slugs and other pests so I'll probably let them go free range around the whole plot occasionally to do a bit of pest control. Their manure will also be a valuable fertiliser. Like other animal manure, such as horse manure, it shouldn't be used fresh as this can burn plants. It's best mixed in with other garden compost where it accelerates the composting process. Even then it tends to be quite alkaline so it's best not used around your ericaceous plants such as rhododendrons (pictured above), azaleas, camellias and any heathers.

Hens will eat almost any plant if hungry but they're not overly fond of pungent tastes, so anything herby may survive. I sited the chicken run where my herb garden is and so far they aren't tucking into any of the rosemary, sage, chives, lemon balm, mint, thyme, or bay. They have, however, quickly decimated the hostas, sweet peas and echinaceas and there's no point growing any leafy veg here as that would be simply irresistible to them.

I've been told daffodils and other spring bulbs such as crocus, snowdrops, hyacinths, blue bells and tulips should be fine so I'll be planting bulbs here in the autumn. Prickly evergreen shrubs such as holly will probably be last on their menu so could form a useful barrier in areas you don't want them to roam. There are many ornamental salvias which should be fine as well as lavender and achillea, both of which are fragrant when crushed.

I've had my three hens living here for a few weeks now and so far it's a joy. I open their coop in the morning, scatter their feed and give them fresh water. And they cluck away happily. They each produce an egg a day... which up to this point is still thrilling for me. I clean out their mess every few days and close their door at night to keep safe from the nocturnal fox.

And I find myself sticking around their enclosure for 20 minutes here and there, enjoying the sound and movement they've brought to our suburban space.
Top Tip

Littlehill Animal Rescue and Sanctuary is active on Facebook and regularly announces rehoming dates. It has a sanctuary in Co Kildare where it can arrange a hen adoption for which it charges a small fee.

Two days after I delivered my last draft, the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic' - Emma Donoghue's timely new novel is set in Ireland during Spanish Flu outbreak

Emma Donoghue's new novel The Pull of the Stars is set in Ireland during the devastating Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The Room author explains how she came to write such a timely book

Author Emma Donoghue

July 19 2020 02:30 AM

The Great Flu of 1918-19 - misnamed the Spanish Flu by the governments of nations involved in the First World War, so as not to depress morale by admitting that this new strain of influenza was cutting a swathe through their populations too - hit the whole world hard, at the end of more than four years of devastating conflict.

Best estimates say 3pc of the global population died of it - far more than in the war's battles and bombings.

In Ireland, the mortality rate was by no means that high - perhaps 0.7pc, which still meant more than 20,000 people were lost. (The typical winter flu carried off old people, but the Great Flu was known for targeting young adults instead, so a whole generation of children were orphaned by it.)

So why would I choose Dublin as my setting for a novel about that pandemic, when I began to write The Pull of the Stars on the centenary of the outbreak, back in October 2018?

One reason was authenticity: I anted to create an absolutely credible drama set in one small maternity ward where women with bad cases of the new flu would be sent if they were also heavily pregnant, because before and after labour women and their babies were particularly vulnerable to this virus's effects.

I thought I could get the voices of my protagonist Nurse Julia Power, Doctor Kathleen Lynn (the one real historical figure in the novel), and their mostly working-class patients more right, and more flavourful, if I drew on the Hiberno-English I grew up with, and its flair for loquaciousness and dark humour.

My title echoes Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars, because his plays (performed at the Abbey) were my first glimpse into the lives of the Dublin poor and those ground-down, heroic mammies.

But I also liked the idea of an Irish setting because that meant taking an already complicated situation - a pandemic, hard on the heels of a world war - and throwing in the extra complication of our lurch towards independence.


I drew a lot on two excellent histories of the crisis, Caitriona Foley's The Last Great Plague: The Great Flu Epidemic in Ireland 1918-19 and Ida Milne's Stacking the Coffins: Influenza, War and Revolution in Ireland 1918-19 (as someone who has published academic studies as well as fiction, I know how much the latter often draws on the tireless and pretty much unpaid research and analysis that goes into the former).

If (allow me to generalise wildly) my grandparents' generation was mostly shocked and unimpressed by the Easter Rising in 1916, but mostly voted for Sinn Féin in 1919, then the pace of changing opinion in those years must have been startlingly rapid, I thought. What if I took a nurse who feels she has "no time for politics" and put her through the extraordinary peak of the epidemic, working past the point of exhaustion in an understaffed, understocked hospital?

Might she begin to question both the British Government's and the Catholic Church's roles in shaping the lives of her slum-dwelling, malnourished, ever-pregnant patients?

How might she be changed, as the country around her changed?

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Emma Donoghue fills her pandemic period piece with death and historical detail

Two days after I delivered my last draft of The Pull of the Stars, the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. The novel wasn't due to come out till 2021, but my publishers decided it was so timely they should move it up to summer.

I didn't add a single echo of today to the novel, in the copy-editing process; it felt all too weirdly similar already. Maybe that's because the fear of invisible germs, weighed against the need to carry on with life anyway, is the same in any time and place.

The Pull of the Stars is called that because influenza comes from influence - Renaissance Italians thought the illness was caused by the influence of the stars.

But in researching and writing this novel, and even more as I've watched how Covid-19 has played out under different political regimes across the world, I've become more and more aware that health is political: a human right snatched away from so many, whether at the point when they're born (the most dangerous single day in a life) or later, but still too early.

Boris Johnson's notoriously vague 'Stay Alert' reminds me of the 1918 public information posters headed 'Save Yourself From Influenza': victim-blaming, across the centuries. And when I hear blustering leaders blaming the poor - especially Black communities - for what they imply are self-inflicted pre-existing conditions that leave them vulnerable to coronavirus, I think of those who died in 1918 partly because they were too tired, ill-fed or weakened by previous sickness to ward this one off. Because (like migrant farm workers today, say) they were in no position to follow useless government advice along the lines of, 'On feeling the first symptom of influenza, take to your bed and rest for a fortnight'.

This may all sound grim, but as usual I found it cathartic and even cheering to set a story in dark times, and even find some light at the end of it.

I'm glad to be publishing a novel that shines a spotlight on the astonishing courage and stamina of frontline healthcare workers (so many of them women).

I'm deeply grateful that our state of scientific knowledge is so much better than in 1918, when all doctors could offer bad flu cases was aspirin or whiskey.

This too shall pass, says the medieval Persian proverb. Or as Kathleen Lynn in my novel puts it, "the human race settles on terms with every plague in the end".

Emma Donoghue is the author of novels including Room, The Wonder and Akin. The Pull of the Stars is published on July 21 by Picador Book

A Writer's llfe: Packed with generous sympathy

Emma Donoghue was born in Dublin in 1969, the youngest of eight children. Her father was the literary critic, Denis Donoghue. She went to UCD and studied English and French, then moved to England and did a PhD at Cambridge. She has written screenplays, short stories, children's books and non-fiction as well as novels, and counts herself lucky enough to never have had an "honest job" since being sacked after a single summer month as a chambermaid.

In 2004, Publishers Weekly described her as "distinguished by her generous sympathy for her characters, sinuous prose and an imaginative range that may soon rival that of AS Byatt or Margaret Atwood".

In 2010 she published Room, an international bestseller that was shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange Prize, and won the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year, along with many other awards.

Room was very soon made into a film directed by Lenny Abrahamson, for which Emma wrote the screenplay. It won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Film, the Irish Film and Television Academy Award for Best Film, among many other awards. Emma now lives in London, Ontario, with Chris Roulston and their children, Finn and Una.

In 2011, she wrote a wise and funny piece on parenting: "If you're out in public with your kids, it can feel as though the CCTV cameras are always trained your way. Every parent I know jokes about the nightmarish possibility of being reported to Child Protection Services. You can bring down the wrath of a stranger simply by failing to keep a broad-brimmed sunhat on your child or letting her race around with a lollipop in her mouth.

"You might think that, having defied convention when it came to conception (anonymous donor, two mothers, as I tell anyone at the playground rash enough to ask 'is their dad tall?'), I'd be relaxed about what people thought of my parenting at the micro level. But no, I still get that Bad Mum Blush when our daughter bloodies her knee and I - not having a plaster - have to improvise with an old tissue."

Emily Hourican

Protests against governor’s arrest continue in challenge to Kremlin

Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since he was detained on July 9 on murder charges.

Thousands protested in support of Sergei Furgal (Igor Volkov/AP)

By Associated Press Reporter

July 25 2020

Tens of thousands of people have marched across the Russian city of Khabarovsk to protest against the arrest of the regional governor on murder charges, continuing a wave of demonstrations that has lasted two weeks in a challenge to the Kremlin.

Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his arrest on July 9, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has named an acting successor.

Protesters in Khabarovsk, near the border with China, see the charges against Furgal as unsubstantiated and demand he goes on trial at home.

The continuing large-scale protests are seen as a challenge to the Kremlin (Igor Volkov/AP)

Unlike in Moscow where police usually move quickly to disperse unsanctioned opposition protests, authorities have not interfered with the demonstrations in Khabarovsk, apparently expecting them to fizzle out over time.

But daily protests, peaking at weekends, have now gone on for two weeks, reflecting anger at what local residents see as Moscow’s disrespect of their choice of governor and simmering discontent with Mr Putin’s rule.

Authorities suspect Furgal of involvement in several murders of businessmen in 2004 and 2005. He has denied the charges, which date back to his time as a businessman with interests focusing on timber and metals.

A politician on the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party ticket, Furgal won the 2018 election even though he had refrained from campaigning and even publicly supported his Kremlin-backed rival.


 

The region’s governor Sergei Furgal was arrested on July 9 and is being held in Moscow (Igor Volkov/PA)

His victory was a humiliating setback to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, which also lost its control over the regional legislature.

During his time in office, Furgal earned a reputation as a “people’s governor”, cutting his own salary, ordering the sale of an expensive yacht that the previous administration had bought and offering new subsidies to the population.

Mikhail Degtyaryov, appointed by Mr Putin on Monday as Furgal’s successor, is also a member of the Liberal Democratic Party – a choice that was apparently intended to calm the local anger.

Mr Degtyaryov has refrained from facing the protesters and left the city on Saturday for an inspection trip across the region.


PA Media