UPDATED 

Washington Redskins in internal talks to change the team name: report

July 3, 2020 By Matthew Chapman


On Friday, the Washington Redskins football team released a statement announcing that they are undertaking an internal review of the team name.

“This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field,” said team owner Dan Snyder

Potentially big news: The #Redskins have been having internal discussions about their team name and now will conduct a formal, thorough review. Full statement, including quotes from owner Dan Snyder, on a possible name change: pic.twitter.com/49mpesZGs9
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 3, 2020

For years, Snyder has vehemently resisted any and all calls to change the team name, which is broadly considered to be an offensive slur of Native Americans and has a long history of derogatory use. Snyder has insisted that the team’s name is meant to honor Native heritage.

The announcement comes as a number of groups and organizations reconsider terminology and iconography with racially and culturally insensitive origins, from Aunt Jemima syrup to musical groups like Lady Antebellum and the Dixie Chicks.


Nike Pulls Redskins Online Merchandise, Hours After FedEx Demands a Name Change

BY SCOTT MCDONALD ON 7/2/2020

The Washington Redskins have avoided changing the team's nickname for more than 50 years of political pressure. Politicians and human rights advocacy groups could not find a way to make it happen. But in a span of a few hours on Thursday, two major corporate sponsors may have sacked the team's ability to keep moving forward with its name.
First, FedEx demanded the team change its name from Redskins. Why is that significant? FedEx holds the naming rights to the team's stadium, and the company could pull it sponsorship worth many millions of dollars if the team doesn't comply.

What Have the Redskins' Major Sponsors Said About NFL Team Name Change?
READ MORE

And on Thursday night, Nike no longer carries any Washington Redskins merchandise on its website—although all other 31 teams in the NFL are represented.

The move comes after the top three Redskins sponsors—Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo—each received a letter Wednesday signed by 87 different investors and shareholders whose total net worth is $620 billion. They all urged the companies to pull their sponsorships unless the Redskins change their nickname.

"This is a broader movement now that's happening that Indigenous peoples are part of," said Carla Fredericks, who is director of First Peoples Worldwide and director of the University of Colorado Law School's American Indian Law Clinic. "Indigenous peoples were sort of left out of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s in many respects, because our conditions were so dire on reservations and our ability to engage publicly was very limited because of that. With social media now, obviously everything is very different."

FedEx made its move on Thursday afternoon, insisting the team change its name. The Memphis-based company made it clear with just one sentence.

"We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name," FedEx said in a statement .

Then, in a particularly-quiet move, Nike removed all Washington Redskins merchandise from its website. The Redskins are not listed among the other NFL teams, nor are they listed after a search on the site.

A Washington Redskins Nike cleat and helmet is seen on the field before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on September 21, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.PHOTO BY ROB CARR/GETTY IMAGES

Native American groups in the late 1960s began efforts to end any harmful stereotypes or images of Native American life, especially in the sports world. By the early 1970s, there became a growing plea from activists for the Redskins to drop their name, or change its mascot altogether.

Although requests for sports teams to change their mascots from Indians and similar names somewhat dissipated throughout the 1980s, it began picking up steam again following the 1991 season, when the Redskins advanced to the Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis.

About 3,000 demonstrators showed up at the game to protest the Redskins name—the largest such protest at the time. Later that year, a Native American group filed a petition to have the team's nickname removed from trademark.

A federal appeals board sided with the petitioners, but the Redskins appealed the ruling. The board ruled that the team's name was belittling to Native Americans.


In 2004, a poll of 768 self-identified Indians showed that only nine percent of them were offended by Washington's nickname, and it's a survey that owner Daniel Snyder has used to this day as a way to defend the Redskins organization and brand.

READ MORE
Washington Redskins Urged to Lose Name, or Millions in Sponsorships
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Ron Rivera Dismisses Redskins Name Change as 'Discussion for Another Time'

Since then, and even before then, many colleges and universities have dropped or changed nicknames. Miami University in Ohio changed its named from Redskins to Redhawks.

Lawsuits have continuously been filed against the Washington Redskins, but the organization has never wavered. Snyder even said in 2013 that he would never change the team's name.

After the death of George Floyd on May 25 while in custody of police, protests against his death—and police brutality against Blacks, in general—swept the nation. There have also been protests for equality of all races, including Native Americans.

In the letter from the investors to Nike, it stated, "the use of the R-word as the name and mascot of the Washington National Football League team is offensive and hurtful to American Indian and Alaska Native people and causes direct, harmful effects on the physical and mental health and academic achievement of the American Indian and Alaska Native populations, particularly youth; and ... despite the team's arguments to the contrary, the R-word is not a term of honor or respect, but rather, a term that still connotes racism and genocide for Native peoples and for all others who know of this history and recognize that it is wrong to characterize people by the color of their skin."

Sponsor FedEx asks Redskins to change their name

In this Dec. 9, 2018, file photo, FedEx Field is less than full during the second half of an NFL football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants in Landover, Md. The title sponsor of the Redskins’ stadium wants them to change their name. FedEx said in a statement Thursday, July 2, 2020, “We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name.“ (AP Photo/Mark Tenally, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The title sponsor of the Washington Redskins’ stadium wants the NFL team to change its name.

“We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,“ FedEx said in a statement Thursday.

The company paid the team $205 million in 1999 for the naming rights to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.

In addition to the stadium name and sponsorship agreement, FedEx CEO Frederik Smith is a minority owner. Majority owner Daniel Snyder has shown no indications he’ll change the name since buying the team in 1999.

Amid the national debate over race, pressure has been mounting on the organization to abandon the name called a “dictionary-defined racial slur” by experts and advocates.

Investors this week wrote to FedEx, PepsiCo and other sponsors asking them to request a change. FedEx is believed to be the first to take action.

Asked about Snyder changing the name, a spokesman said recently the team had no comment. The team last week removed the name of racist founder George Preston Marshall from its Ring of Fame at FedEx Field, and a monument to him was removed from the site of the old RFK Stadium.

Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser also said the name was an “obstacle” to the team returning to the District. The team’s lease at FedEx Field expires in 2027, and it is still talking to Washington, Virginia and Maryland about building a new stadium.
___

More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Fireworks leave toxic metals lingering in the air, study finds
By Nick Lavars
July 02, 2020

A new study has found pollution from fireworks may damage the health of humans and animals deymosd/Depositphotos
Fireworks are a surefire way to create a spectacle of color and light, but research has revealed these dazzling displays could pose a health risk. A study that is said to be the first to look at the impacts of firework exposure on human cells and animals, has found a range of harmful toxins can linger in the air once the lights go out.

The research was carried out by scientists NYU Langone Health, who looked at air quality samples collected from dozens of sites across the US, spanning a timeframe of 14 years. Through this analysis, the team found particularly high concentrations of toxic metals around Independence Day and New Year’s Eve.

Fireworks give off their striking array of colors when metals contained within them are subjected to high temperatures. These commonly include lead, titanium, strontium and copper. With the knowledge that these remain in the air following a fireworks display, the team drew up some experiments to explore the potential effects on humans and animals.

“Although people are only exposed to these substances for a short time each year, they are much more toxic than the pollutants we breathe every day,” says study senior author Terry Gordon.

In the lab, the scientists detonated a handful of fireworks commonly sold in the US, including Black Cuckoo, the Color-Changing Wheel and the Blue Storm firecracker. They captured the particles these explosions emitted and then exposed human lung cells and several dozen mice to them, at doses estimated to be similar to the pollutants a New Yorker would inhale during a day in Manhattan.

In doing so, the team observed a significant increase in oxidation, a normally healthy process in the human body but one that can cause damage to cells and DNA when its activity is heightened. This was linked with lung inflammation in the mice, while the Back Cuckoo firework was found to be the most harmful, causing 10 times more damage to the human cells than a nontoxic saline solution used as a control.

“While many are careful to protect themselves from injury from explosions, our results suggest that inhaling firework smoke may cause longer-term damage – a risk that has been largely ignored,” says Gordon.

The scientists see this as early days for their research, with plans to explore the effects of repeated exposure to fireworks as opposed to a single instance. They plan to share the results of the work with public health officials to raise awareness about the risks.

The research was published in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

Source: NYU Langone Health

Nick Lavars
Nick has been writing and editing at New Atlas for over six years, where he has covered everything from distant space probes to self-driving cars to oddball animal science. He previously spent time at The Conversation, Mashable and The Santiago Times, earning a Masters degree in communications from Melbourne’s RMIT University along the way.

The violent end of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, explained

Seattle’s police-free neighborhood started experiencing violence, but locals still don’t trust the police.

By Katelyn Burns Jul 2, 2020

City crews dismantle the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area outside of the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct on July 1, in Seattle, Washington. David Ryder/Getty Images

Seattle protesters’ experiment with a police-free community and protest space has ended.

On Wednesday, dozens of officers from the Seattle Police Department arrested more than 30 people and cleared out the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), formerly known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), at Mayor Jenny Durkan’s order. The mayor’s executive order came in response to a wave of nighttime violence in the four-block area, including four shootings and several alleged sexual assaults.

Police have cleared #CHOP to Pike @KING5Seattle pic.twitter.com/0GUSkZkFA0— Michael Crowe (@MichaelReports) July 1, 2020

Katie, a local who protested in the neighborhood before and after CHOP was established, said they sobbed when they saw police clearing it out Wednesday morning. “I’m glad that people were able to see what a space like that could be,” they told Vox. “I had some complaints about it but it was beautiful to see.”

Durkan praised the mostly peaceful protest in a statement Monday, yet signaled that it was time for protesters to leave CHOP because of the late-night violence.

“[O]ver the last month thousands of people, including families, have visited the area and shown their support for the messages of equity and change,” read the statement. “Unfortunately, that message has been undermined by the violence in the area. The area has increasingly attracted more individuals bent on division and violence, and it is risking the lives of individuals.”

Drone footage of the Police clearing Cal Anderson Park this morning.#SeattleProtests #CHOP pic.twitter.com/vFfHA1P71W— Converge Media (@WWConverge) July 1, 2020

The violence at CHOP shows the difficulty in trying to create a police-free neighborhood, especially without investments in community anti-poverty efforts, out of what was primarily a protest space. It also highlights the pervasiveness of certain forms of violence — like violence against women, which some residents told Vox was a problem in the neighborhood (a nightlife hot spot in the city) even before CHOP was established. Those previous incidents were not subject to a national media microscope.

While Durkan and the Seattle Police Department used the recent violence as justification to move in and retake the area from protesters, some people who live in the area worried about the SPD’s return. “I feel marginally more dread than the early parts of the protests,” local Capitol Hill resident John McCartney told Vox. “People here seem angrier, but there also seem to be fewer protesters.”
What we know about the violence during — and before — CHOP’s existence

The “autonomous zone” idea for the protest area began as a meme after SPD vacated the nearby East Precinct building on June 8 following eight straight days of police clashes with protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. But protesters very quickly seized on the idea of creating a sustained occupation-style protest in the area, working with city personnel to block off street traffic in a six-block radius around the precinct.

In the first week of CHOP’s existence, people who were spending a lot of time at the protest told Vox they felt safe there. “Talking with my friends and talking with a couple of people on the ground, I keep hearing people say, ‘I never felt this safe walking in the city,’” Carla, who had been regularly hanging out in the area, told Vox in mid-June. “The knowledge that the police aren’t there [has created] this feeling that this is a space that belongs to everybody.”

The blocked-off entrance to the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, abandoned by police in the protests, on June 12. Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

One of the entrances to the Capitol Hill protest area on June 14. Noah Riffe/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

But what initially started as a local curiosity, drawing residents and families from the surrounding area, eventually took a turn for the worse. Over the past nine days, the area saw four shootings, two deaths, arson, and several alleged sexual assaults. According to FBI data, there were 34 homicides reported in 2018 in all of Seattle.

“It’s been a terrible week for the area,” said Justin, the publisher of CapitolHillSeattle.com who has been covering the goings-on within CHOP since its inception. “But these kinds of violent spikes do come in waves. And we’ve seen this before in other parts of the city.”

Vox spoke with 13 local residents and protesters on background — most of whom have taken part in the protests against racism and police violence that preceded CHOP, and also spent time in and around CHOP — about what’s been happening in the neighborhood over the past week and a half.

Locals paint a muddled picture of an area where confusion — and fear of far-right counterprotesters — often reigns. One person who works a block away from CHOP and asked to remain anonymous to protect her privacy, said her car was vandalized while she was at work last week, which she attributed to her left-wing political bumper stickers. Since then, management from her employer have escorted her to her car every night after her shift is over.

In speaking with locals, a tale of two CHOPs emerges: daytime CHOP and nighttime CHOP. During the day, there’s more of a community feel, with neighbors out and about inside CHOP while protests are ongoing. But most of the people who spoke with Vox didn’t feel safe walking at night in the area, especially in the past week and a half.

But that’s not necessarily a unique feeling in the area, which is a popular bar and entertainment district within the city. The type of violence has changed since CHOP was established, one local explained: In their accounting, it went from drunk white bar patrons (often men) causing havoc on Friday and Saturday nights, along with the occasional police response to a homeless person in the area, to the violence that has taken place inside CHOP recently.

“Like a lot of nightlife districts, it is not a comfortable place for female-presenting folks to be out at night,” said McCartney, who was the only local willing to be quoted by full name for this story. Several women and trans people speaking on background confirmed his statement to Vox. In August 2017, for example, a trans woman was allegedly assaulted by a group of male patrons at a bar in the neighborhood.

At the same time, McCartney said, there’s a rift between people who have lived in the area for a while and the tech workers who have moved in recently. “I feel a lot of the current ‘it’s not safe’ stuff comes from either people who aren’t living in the neighborhood itself or from affluent new arrivals, or from business owners.”

CHOP featured a seemingly unstructured organizing format, similar to the Occupy Wall Street movement of the early 2010s. Protest organizers declined to speak with Vox, as they also did for a previous story from mid-June. It’s also been difficult for journalists and the public to pin down exactly who is in charge at CHOP, and there was no central group issuing public statements. But organizers from Washington Youth for Climate Justice, who have been active on CHOP’s front lines since its establishment denounced the police clearing Wednesday morning. “We feel that the handling of CHOP’s dispersal, such as calling in officers wearing riot gear and using pepper spray on demonstrators, was completely unethical and unnecessary,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement to Vox.

Seattle Police and Washington National Guard personnel take control of an intersection near the East Precinct on June 8. David Ryder/Getty Images

Of particular concern for locals has been the recent spate of gun violence in the area. There have been four shootings in CHOP since its inception, and a shooting Sunday evening left one person dead and another hospitalized.

“It’s clear that there is gun violence associated with CHOP,” said Justin. “There are young people with weapons. There are very well-trained volunteers with weapons. There’s just a lot of guns in the area.”
But local residents won’t necessarily feel safer with police back in control of the neighborhood

Most of the people who spoke with Vox took part in the eight days of intense — and often violent — protests that preceded the abandonment of the East Precinct building and the establishment of CHOP. They largely don’t view the police as protectors of the area and worry about potential retaliation now that police are seemingly back.

One local woman who spoke to Vox on condition of anonymity had become frustrated with CHOP violence over the past 10 days, especially the latest shooting. But she also said the police likely aren’t the answer to the neighborhood’s violence problem.

“The police aren’t what make me feel safe or unsafe; I certainly didn’t feel safe when they were tear-gassing the neighborhood and shooting rubber bullets at us as we marched,” she said. “But if the police presence can disperse the people that have gathered and made camp here who are perpetuating violence, then yes, I’ll feel safer. But that’s not a guarantee.”

Another pointed out that the Seattle Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2012 following several incidences of violence against the community. One example cited in the case was the death of John T. Williams in 2011 when an SPD officer was overheard shouting a racial slur about a Latino man. Mayor Durkan, who was a US attorney at the time, led the investigation.

CHOP wasn’t the first organized protest against SPD violence either. In 1965, community leaders in the city’s central district, which borders Capitol Hill, began following police patrols around the neighborhood to observe and record their handling of the local Black population. Called “freedom patrols,” they drew both praise and criticism, though police mistreatment of the city’s Black population extended back decades. In 1938, three Seattle police officers beat a Black man, Barry Lawson, to death. They were subsequently convicted of second-degree manslaughter before being pardoned by the governor in 1939.
What can future organizers learn from CHOP?

CHOP was not the first organized protest space to experience violence. While the Occupy movement a decade ago didn’t see any killings like CHOP, both saw several allegations of sexual assault associated with the protests. According to the Seattle alt-weekly the Stranger, a CHOP medic intervened to stop a sexual assault in progress inside a tent at Cal Anderson Park, where many protesters had been camping.

That all raises questions about how such dedicated protest spaces can maintain safety — without replicating the abusive powers of the police system.

“The ‘community center block party’ vibe ended after the first week,” said one local woman. “This reminds me of NYC during Occupy Wall Street almost to a ‘T.’ Except here people are getting killed.”

The issue, she said, is that she felt the protests shifted away from police violence and Black Lives Matter into more of an anarchist message. “The people with the loudest voices are all sharing the same ‘fuck capitalism/establishment/burn it all down’ rhetoric. The camp and the early infrastructure is similar,” she said, saying that the lack of clear leadership hurt efforts to make the area safe. “Sure, burn it all down, but have a plan. The lack of a central voice, the lack of a plan, and the elevation of people who don’t even live here are very similar.”

A centralized power structure isn’t necessarily needed — Occupy protesters in New York created a de facto security team of volunteers that would deescalate conflicts. In CHOP, there were armed and organized security volunteers, according to several people who spoke with Vox.

Tents in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest on June 28. Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via Getty Images

City crews and Seattle police officers clear tents and booths. David Ryder/Getty Images

But Justin pointed out that many businesses in the area ended up hiring armed security guards to patrol property in the area anyway. “When you look at that and you start thinking, maybe in a year from now, we’re going to really wish that we didn’t defund” the police, he said. “But [instead] we did reform and that we kept these assets and resources within the city instead of having guns for hire communities to guard buildings.”

What CHOP (or Occupy) didn’t have was the type of long-term investment in anti-poverty and community-building programs that activists say is the counterbalance to defunding the police.

Part of the issue, according to Justin, is that, despite coverage to the contrary, including from Vox, CHOP was never set up to be a true police-free neighborhood. It was, above all, a protest.

“I don’t think it’s fair as a laboratory for” a police-free neighborhood, said Justin. CHOP “also lacks so many other investments and so many other resources that you’d have to have to make that world work that it’s just not fair to measure it that way.”

 UPDATED
Police clear Seattle's CHOP protest zone, at least 32 arrested

July 1 (UPI) -- Police in Seattle were deployed to clear the city's protest zone early Wednesday, following an executive order from Mayor Jenny Durkan calling for protesters to vacate the area.

Durkan signed the executive order on Tuesday night and police began issuing dispersal orders for "anyone who remains in the area or returns to the area," arresting 32 people, the Seattle Police Department wrote on Twitter.

At least 100 police officers equipped with body armor, batons, helmets and weapons entered the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, as protesters left the area.

Police said that anyone seeking to leave the area without being arrested could exit through the south end of the zone.

Protesters had barricaded several blocks near Capitol Hill and occupied the area previously known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ, for weeks after police abandoned their nearby East Precinct amid global protests against police brutality and racial injustice sparked by the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The demonstrations in the area had largely been peaceful but Durkan last week announced plans to clear protesters from the area following at least two fatal shootings in the CHOP in recent weeks.

Police Chief Carmen Best said she supports peaceful protests but on Wednesday declared that "enough is enough."

"The CHOP has become lawless and brutal," she said.

President Donald Trump has condemned the protesters, referring to them as "domestic terrorists," and Attorney General William Barr praised Best and the police department for clearing the area.

"The message of today's action is simple but significant: The Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law," Barr said.

Seattle cops start clearing ‘occupied’ zone, make arrests

JUST LIKE HONG KONG

 By MARTHA BELLISLE and LISA BAUMANN

Seattle Police, at right, look on as Department of Transportation workers remove barricades at the intersection of 10th Ave. and Pine St., Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) zone in Seattle. Protesters quickly moved couches, trash cans and other materials in to replace the cleared barricades. The area has been occupied by protesters since Seattle Police pulled back from their East Precinct building following violent clashes with demonstrators earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)


SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle police showed up Wednesday in force at the city’s “occupied” protest zone, tore down demonstrators’ tents and used bicycles to herd the protesters after the mayor ordered the area cleared following two fatal shootings in less than two weeks.

Television images showed no signs of clashes between the police, many dressed in riot gear, and dozens of protesters at the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone that was set up near downtown following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Police swarmed the zone known as CHOP at about 5 a.m. and a loud bang was heard at about 6:15 a.m. followed by a cloud of smoke. At least 13 people were arrested, said Police Chief Carmen Best.

Protesters stand on barricades a block away as Seattle Department of Transportation workers remove other barricades at the intersection of 10th Ave. and Pine St., Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) zone in Seattle. Protesters quickly moved couches, trash cans and other materials in to replace the cleared barricades. The area has been occupied by protesters since Seattle Police pulled back from their East Precinct building following violent clashes with demonstrators earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“Our job is to support peaceful demonstration but what has happened on these streets over the last two weeks is lawless and it’s brutal and bottom line it is simply unacceptable,” Best told reporters.

Police tore down fences that protesters had erected around their tents and used batons to poke inside bushes, apparently looking for people who might be hiding inside.

Most protesters appeared to have dispersed several hours after the operations started and armed officers looked on from rooftops as clean-up crews of workers arrived to break down tables and tarps that protesters had set up in the zone.

Officers were investigating several vehicles circling the area after police saw people inside them “with firearms/armor,” police said in a tweet, adding that the vehicles did not appear to have “visible license plates.”

The protesters had occupied several blocks around a park for about two weeks and police abandoned a precinct station following standoffs and clashes with the protesters, who called for racial justice and an end to police brutality.

Police said they moved in to protect the public after Mayor Jenny Durkan issued the order for protesters to leave.



An artist at left works on a piece using spray paint and chalk, Tuesday, June 30, 2020, next to a growing memorial for a 16-year-old boy who was killed nearby in a fatal shooting Monday at the CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) zone in Seattle. The area has been occupied by protesters since Seattle Police pulled back from their East Precinct building following violent clashes with demonstrators earlier in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“Since demonstrations at the East Precinct area began on June 8th, two teenagers have been killed and three people have been seriously wounded in late-night shootings,” Seattle police said on Twitter. “Police have also documented robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes.

The tweet added that “suspects in recent shootings may still be in the area, and because numerous people in the area are in possession of firearms.”

Best said she supports peaceful demonstrations but that “enough is enough.”

“The CHOP has become lawless and brutal. Four shootings–-two fatal—robberies, assaults, violence and countless property crimes have occurred in this several block area,” she said.

There had been mounting calls by critics, including President Donald Trump, to remove protesters following the fatal shootings.

Protesters have said they should not be blamed for the violence in the area.

Seattle police forcibly clear ‘lawless’ protest zone

3 of 19 https://apnews.com/aac9a186e851763d60123ad1a4a20471

Seattle Police finish their sweep Wednesday, July 1, 2020, on the north end of Cal Anderson Park, sweeping everyone off the grounds. (Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times via AP)



Protesters stand holding up their arms in front of a road blocked by police in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone early Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Seattle. Police in Seattle have torn down demonstrators' tents in the city's so-called occupied protest zone after the mayor ordered it cleared. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A protester stands with her hand up in front of a road blocked by Seattle police in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone early Wednesday, July 1, 2020. Police in Seattle have torn down demonstrators' tents in the city's so-called occupied protest zone after the mayor ordered it cleared. (AP Photo/Aron Ranen)

SEATTLE (AP) — Wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, Seattle police turned out in force at dawn Wednesday in the city’s “occupied” protest zone after the mayor ordered it cleared following two recent fatal shootings.

Officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder on several streets while others created a makeshift fence with their bicycles, using it to push dozens of protesters back away from the center of the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone just east of downtown. The group had occupied several blocks around a park for about two weeks after police abandoned a precinct station following standoffs and clashes that were part of the nationwide unrest over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A worker removes a rendering of a clenched fist from a Seattle police precinct Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Seattle, where streets had been blocked off in an area demonstrators had occupied for weeks. Seattle police showed up in force earlier in the day at the "occupied" protest zone, tore down demonstrators' tents and used bicycles to herd the protesters after the mayor ordered the area cleared following two fatal shootings in less than two weeks. The "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" zone was set up near downtown following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

As residents in the neighborhood watched from balconies, police cleared out the protesters’ tents from the park and made sure no one was left in the park’s bathrooms.

More than three dozen people were arrested, charged with failure to disperse, obstruction, assault and unlawful weapon possession.

l “Our job is to support peaceful demonstration but what has happened on these streets over the last two weeks is lawless and it’s brutal and bottom line it is simply unacceptable,” Police Chief Carmen Best said.

One protest organizer, Derrek Allen Jones II, said some demonstrators attempted to stay but were surprised by the early intervention by officers who were “trampling everything I seen in sight, flipping tables.”

“People were trying to hold their ground but you could see the cops literally storm through people’s beds while they were sleeping. And literally say ‘If you don’t get out, we will force you out or arrest you,’” he said.

One man dressed in black was peacefully led away in handcuffs and other demonstrators sat on the wet ground until their small group was handcuffed and detained.

Police also tore down fences that protesters had erected around their tents and used batons to poke inside bushes, apparently looking for people who might be hiding. One officer took down a sign saying “We are not leaving until our demands are met: 1. Defund SPD by 50% now. 2. Fund Black Communities. 3. Free all protesters.”

After police evicted the protesters, heavy equipment was used to remove concrete barriers, cart away debris from the encampments while officers strung yellow caution tape from tree to tree warning people not to reenter.

’I was just stunned by the amount of graffiti, garbage and property destruction,” Best said after she walked around the area.


Seattle police take over and re-enter the East Precinct early Wednesday, July 1, 2020 after the area around the police station was occupied by protestors for the last month. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times via AP)


“The recent public safety threats have been well documented,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. ”These acts of gun violence resulted in the tragic deaths of two teenagers, with multiple others seriously wounded. Despite continued efforts to deescalate and bring community together, this violence demanded action.”

Durkan also said while she supported the police in making arrests Wednesday, she doesn’t think many of those arrested for misdemeanors should be prosecuted. She also said she was committed to work that would dismantle systemic racism and build true community safety.

“Events in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone this morning, while necessary, should not diminish the cause of racial justice,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in an emailed statement.

Best said in addition to the fatal shootings, robberies, assaults, violence and property crimes have occurred in the area in the last few weeks. She said she wanted police to move back into the precinct so officers could better respond to needs in the area. Protesters have said they should not be blamed for the violence in the area.


Protesters hold hands in front of a line of police officers blocking a street Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Seattle, where streets had been blocked off in an area demonstrators had occupied for weeks. Seattle police showed up in force earlier in the day at the "occupied" protest zone, tore down demonstrators' tents and used bicycles to herd the protesters after the mayor ordered the area cleared following two fatal shootings in less than two weeks. The "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" zone was set up near downtown following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)



There had been mounting calls by critics, including President Donald Trump, to remove protesters. A group of local business owners sued the city, claiming that officials abandoned the area and made it impossible to run businesses because there was no police or fire protection.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr praised Best for what he called “her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle.”

“Chief Best has rightly committed to continue the substantive discussion while ending the violence, which threatens innocent people and undermines the very rule-of-law principles that the protesters profess to defend,” he said in a statement.

Seattle Black Collective Voice, which was formed by people in the protest zone, said previously that their work would continue even if they were forced out of that area. On Wednesday afternoon the group said via Twitter, “We don’t end with CHOP.”

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Full Coverage: Racial injustice

Associated Press video journalist Aron Ranen in Seattle and writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.

Police In Riot Gear Raid Seattle’s Autonomous Protest Zone At Mayor's Order

What began as a “No Cop Co-op” has “become lawless and brutal,” Seattle’s police chief said. The area has gained national attention.
By Natalie Daher
Published on 7/1/2020

People kneel in front of a line of Police officers on bicycles as Seattle Police retake the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) area, including their East Precinct, in Seattle, Washington, on July 1. | Reuters

The police-free protest zone in Seattle that has drawn the ire of President Trump was raided by police on Wednesday morning after thousands of people have occupied it since early last month.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an emergency order for cops to clear out the zone due to “unlawful assembly,” a week after she announced a forthcoming shutdown along with Police Chief Carmen Best.

The city’s police arrived in riot gear to clear out a stretch of several blocks that’s been dubbed “CHOP,” or the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area. Seattle police said that at least 23 people were arrested during the dispersal.

Seattle police were supported by local FBI and the Bellevue police department, the Seattle Times reported.

Police have cleared #CHOP to Pike @KING5Seattle pic.twitter.com/0GUSkZkFA0
— Michael Crowe (@MichaelReports) July 1, 2020


Protesters have occupied the zone since early June, when police vacated a precinct in the area and demonstrations over the death of George Floyd swept the nation. The New York Times has described CHOP as “part-commune, part-street festival,” and the scene has been reminiscent of the 2011 Occupy protest.


Early Wednesday, a Twitter account that appears to be associated with the zone wrote: “It’s time to officially end the #Seattle #CHOP. We’re commanding all protestors to leave Capitol Hill and let normal operations resume, effective immediately.”


The group’s demands have included defunding and abolishing the police, providing reparations for police brutality victims, and decriminalizing acts of protest, according to a CHOP website. (The area was previously also called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ.)

t’s time to officially end the #Seattle #CHOP. We’re commanding all protestors to leave Capitol Hill and let normal operations resume, effective immediately. Stand by for more details. #chazcomms #chopcomms #CHAZCHOP #seattleprotest
— Seattle CHAZ/CHOP Official (@CHAZSeattle1) July 1, 2020

Durkan has attributed her order to empty the zone to violence in recent weeks. Best said in a statement that at least four shootings have occurred in the area, leaving two dead. The Chief also cited other “robberies, assaults, violence and countless property crimes" in the area.


“As I have said, and I will say again, I support peaceful demonstrations,” Chief Best said in a statement. “Black Lives Matter, and I too want to help propel this movement toward meaningful change in our community.  But enough is enough. ”

Best added: “The CHOP has become lawless and brutal.”

In early June, the protests in Seattle attracted President Trump’s attention, and he clashed on Twitter with Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee after he demanded they intervene. Durkan replied: “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker.”


On June 23, Twitter flagged as abusive a tweet in which President Trump threatened “serious force” against any protesters who tried to set up an autonomous zone in Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration is targeting homeless trans people in the middle of a pandemic
The proposed rule would allow shelters to ignore a trans person’s gender identity and house them according to their birth-assigned sex.

By Katelyn Burns Jul 2, 2020

The Reclaim Pride Coalition took to the streets of Manhattan for the second annual Queer Liberation March on June 28, 2020. Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Housing and Urban Development Agency announced a proposed rule Wednesday that would allow homeless shelters that receive federal funding to discriminate against transgender people.

Though the text of the proposed rule is not yet available and the rule has not been posted on the Federal Register, the agency issued a press release announcing it, explaining that while shelters are barred from excluding people based on their transgender status, they are also allowed to ignore a person’s gender identity and house them according to their assigned sex at birth or their legal sex. In other words, a trans woman can’t be turned away from a shelter for being trans, but she can be forced to house in a men’s shelter.

Dylan Waguespack, a spokesperson for True Colors United, an advocacy group that focuses on supporting LGBTQ homeless youth, said that HUD Secretary Ben Carson is “talking out of both sides of his mouth.”

“They are trying to put forward this narrative in which transgender people are protected from discrimination, but in fact, when you read the proposal itself, it does the exact opposite,” he told Vox. “It creates unsafe conditions and unsafe barriers to housing and services for trans people in the midst of a global pandemic.”

The rule, if finalized, would not overrule state and local laws, but it would go into effect in the 38 states that do not already have housing protections for transgender people.

It’s the latest in a long line of anti-trans policies rolled out by the Trump administration. Almost immediately after he took office in 2017, the administration rolled back an Obama-era memo for schools to fairly treat trans students. Then in July of that year, Trump announced he would be ordering the military to ban trans people from serving. The administration went after trans prisoners as well in May 2018, deciding that in most cases, trans people should be housed according to their assigned sex at birth.

“This is a continual angle for the administration to try to do anything to just harm my community,” LaLa Zannell, trans justice campaign manager for the ACLU, told Vox. “With a pandemic going on, the Department of Housing and Urban Development could be focusing on making sure that [trans] people are staying in the houses that they already have, and that they’re in safe and stable housing. They should not invest in resources that could crack down on homelessness for more trans people.”
The rule will allow shelters in most states to ignore a trans person’s gender identity when making housing policies

As Waguespack noted, the text of HUD’s release is confusing. Here’s how it could affect trans people looking for shelter.

“The new rule allows shelter providers that lawfully operate as single-sex or sex-segregated facilities to voluntarily establish a policy that will govern admissions determinations for situations when an individual’s gender identity does not match their biological sex,” the agency said in a statement.

This means that the rule allows shelters to completely ignore a trans person’s gender identity and can instead choose to house them according to their assigned sex at birth, which goes against the 2016 Equal Access Rule established by the Obama administration.

The statement continues: “Each shelter’s policy is required to be consistent with state and local law, must not discriminate based on sexual orientation or transgender status, and may incorporate practical considerations of shelter providers that often operate in difficult conditions.”

What the agency is seemingly trying to do with the rule is define discrimination against trans people as based on their transgender status rather than their gender identity — but for trans people, the two are intertwined. In other words, a shelter provider cannot simply disallow all trans people from utilizing their services, but they can, for example, house trans women in men’s shelters.

There are two main problems with forcing trans homeless people into spaces that correspond with their birth-assigned gender rather than their gender identity. The first is that such a policy exposes trans people, especially trans women, to potential violence and sexual assault inside those spaces. And as a result, trans people are more likely to choose sleeping in the streets rather than risk going to a shelter.

Because of a cycle of discrimination and poverty, trans people are more likely than their cisgender peers to experience homelessness. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, 29 percent of trans people live in poverty, and one in five trans people in the US will be homeless at some point in their lifetimes. The numbers are even starker for Black trans people: A 2015 report indicated that 34 percent of Black trans people live in extreme poverty, compared to 9 percent of Black cis people.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) has been an outspoken critic of HUD’s rule change ever since the department first said it was pursuing a change last May. “Requiring trans people to be housed according to their birth gender rather than their gender identity is a recipe for harassment and sexual or physical assault,” she told Vox. “This population is already under enough attack. We can’t have them avoid staying shelters.”

Wexton recalled asking Carson during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee in May 2019 whether he had any intention of changing the Equal Access Rule. “He said he had no plans to do so. And the very next day, [HUD] announced their intention to gut the equal access rule. So they are not being honest.”

The rule’s timing, about two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that discrimination against transgender people constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex, caught the eye of both Wexton and LGBTQ advocates.

According to a letter obtained by Vox from Wexton and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) to Carson and dated June 29, HUD’s proposed rule was in process before the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County.

“The release of a potentially applicable Supreme Court decision during the period of our regulatory review is unique and raises concerns about the applicability and implementation of the proposed rule,” reads Wexton and Waters’s letter, which asked Carson to reconsider publishing the proposed rule before conducting additional legal analysis.

The proposed rule now enters a 60-day public comment period before it can be finalized. “They’re rushing to get it through before they may not be in control anymore,” said Wexton. “It’s disappointing but not surprising that they’re rushing it through in this way, especially given the broad implications of Bostock.”

Fox News host asks how mask-wearing became ‘political’ — after his network spent months politicizing it
HOPING IT WOULD PROD FOX AND FRIENDS GUEST TO BLAME THE DEMOCRATS

July 2, 2020 By Matthew Chapman


On Thursday, in the wake of President Donald Trump announcing that he actually likes the way he looks in a protective face mask, Fox & Friends co-anchor Steve Doocy bemoaned the fact that America ever let mask-wearing become a political controversy. “For some reason, over the last couple of weeks, a month, masks have become political,” said Doocy.

Writing for The Daily Beast, Justin Baragona and Maxwell Tani pointed to a key source of politicization of masks — Doocy’s own network.

“Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. months ago, Fox News hosts and guests have repeatedly criticized face coverings—either by openly mocking them or by claiming mandated mask-wearing is an infringement on personal freedom, particularly by Democratic officials eager to control the population,” said the report. “During an April 24 broadcast of Hannity, for instance, guest host Mike Huckabee and Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy — both former Republican elected officials — groused about a then-new Houston mandate that would fine residents up to $1,000 if they didn’t wear a mask in public, calling it an example of local government ‘trampling the constitutional rights of American citizens.'”

In another incident, “primetime star Laura Ingraham — who was actually an early and vocal proponent of mask-wearing — insisted that donning face masks had become a way for Democrats and liberals to enforce incessant panic. ‘Now Rush Limbaugh made a great point, as he always does, on the radio the other day and he said the virus itself as it weakens and states start reopening, the media that have been selling panic, panic, panic for weeks and weeks and weeks, they have fewer images to sell their hysteria to justify continued lockdowns,’ she said on the April 29 broadcast of The Ingraham Angle. ‘But the masks, well they’re kind of a constant reminder. You see the mask and you think, you are not safe. You are not back to normal. Not even close.'”

Fox News’ criticism of masks tracked well with President Donald Trump’s previous refusal to be seen wearing them. Two weeks ago, he even suggested state masks requirements were part of a plot to make him look bad.

Irate Neil Cavuto Confronts GOP Congressman After He Claims ‘Usefulness’ of Fauci and Birx Has ‘Expired’

By Leia IdlibyJuly 2nd, 2020

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) clashed with Fox News host Neil Cavuto in a tense Thursday interview over Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx’s handling of the coronavirus, saying the two have caused “panic and hysteria” and have “expired”

“I think that Birx and Fauci, have gone well past their — the’ve expired. Their time of usefulness has expired,” Biggs told Cavuto. “What they do is when the president comes out and makes a policy, because he is the president and he is the policymaker, when they make these statements that they make, they engender panic and hysteria and undermine what the president is doing. That’s what’s critical.”

Biggs, who called earlier in the day for the White House Coronavirus Task Force to be Andy, faulted Fauci for being “all over the ballpark” when it comes to wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, noting that he’s also been inconsistent in talking about the return of sports in the United States.

Cavuto accused Biggs of failing to handle the coronavirus in his state and pointed out the spikes in coronavirus cases in Arizona, adding that the state has the highest coronavirus caseload in terms of percentage and the highest hospital bed use.

Biggs claimed he could refute Cavuto’s claims but admitted his state had the highest number of cases on a per capita basis. “Those are mostly coming from the age 20 to 44 brackets,” he said. “We have also had over the past three weeks a reduction in hospitalizations by 50, excuse me, almost 100 percent. From 11.5 percent, down to 5.6 today. If you take a look at the case fatality, rates, we have moved from over 4 percent, just about 30 days ago now to right at 2 percent.”

Cavuto noted that despite the spike in cases in Arizona, Biggs has encouraged President Donald Trump to dismantle his coronavirus commission because he opposes what Birx and Fauci have to say about the virus.

“Doesn’t he refer to them as the health experts? Doesn’t he have a commission because he defers to them as the health experts?” Cavuto replied. “And they are citing worries and they are citing also that we can get this under control. It needn’t be a panic if people should do what they’re supposed to be doing. But isn’t that what doctors do, look at people’s lives?”

Biggs also questioned the last time Fauci treated a coronavirus patient, prompting Cavuto to ask the same question of Biggs. He noted he isn’t a health expert, so he doesn’t have to handle patients, inciting Cavuto to reply, “But you’re telling the ones who are to get out, get off the commission, ‘We don’t need you.'”

Watch above, via Fox News.    mediaite.com RIGHT WING MEDIA SITE 

Arizona Republican Accuses Fauci of Undermining Trump as His State Reports Record Spike in Coronavirus Cases

BY EMILY CZACHOR ON 7/2/20 NEWSWEEK

Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs suggested Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx's warnings about the national COVID-19 outbreak have compromised President Donald Trump's reopening efforts on Thursday.

Arizona is one of several states—including Texas, California and Florida—where health officials have confirmed rapidly increasing case counts and subsequent hospital admissions since the start of June, following the termination of its stay-at-home order in mid-May. Parts of Maricopa County, the region reporting Arizona's highest concentration of virus diagnoses, fall within Biggs' congressional jurisdiction.

In a statement released by Biggs' office, the Republican congressman pointed out that Fauci and Birx's comments "continue to contradict" the economic recovery procedures that Trump prioritizes. Biggs argued the White House's COVID-19 Task Force, of which the doctors are leading members, should be disbanded as a result.

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"As our economy is restored, it is imperative that President Trump is not undermined in his mission to return our economy to greatness," Biggs said in Thursday's statement, referencing the U.S. Department of Labor's latest report decreased nationwide unemployment rates compared to previous weeks.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx continue to contradict many of President Trump's stated goals and actions for returning to normalcy as we know more about the COVID-19 outbreak," the congressman continued. "This is causing panic that compromises our economic recovery. We can protect our most vulnerable from the COVID-19 outbreak while still protecting lives and livelihoods of the rest of the population. It's time for the COVID-19 task force to be disbanded so that President Trump's message is not mitigated or distorted."


Newsweek reached out to Biggs' office and the NIAID for comments but did not receive replies in time for publication.

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has warned about the consequences of hasty reopening plans in states reporting spikes in new cases and hospitalizations related to the novel coronavirus. Fauci addressed the relationship between loosened restrictions and elevated virus transmission during a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday.


 

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci addresses reopening efforts during a June 30 Senate Committee hearing. On Thursday, Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs suggested Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx's warnings about the novel coronavirus outbreak were compromising economic recovery plans. 

AL DRAGO/POOL/GETTY IMAGES

In a testimony before the committee, he urged leaders in states seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases to consider more moderate reopening strategies as well as ongoing virus mitigation practices.

"We are now having 40-plus thousand cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around," Fauci told the committee. "It could get very bad."

The Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed the state's highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases to date on Wednesday with 4,878 new diagnoses. According to the department's data, more than 87,400 people have tested positive for the novel virus and 1,757 have died across Arizona as of Thursday afternoon. Maricopa County has diagnosed more than 54,750 of the state's total infections.

Arizona's overall COVID-19 case count has increased by more than 65 percent over the last three weeks, with the health department's latest report indicating a statewide test-positivity ratio of 12.5 percent.

Exempted from the Caesar Act, the Kurdish-led ‘Autonomous Administration’ negotiates with the US to continue dealing with the Syrian regime

Officials from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria discuss measures related to the Caesar Act in a meeting in Hasakah province’s city of Amouda, 6/18/2020 (AA).

By Mohammad Abdulssattar Ibrahim

June 30, 2020
المقال باللغة العربية


AMMAN — Shortly before the Caesar Act went into effect, the United States announced the exemption of the region controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AA) from the sanctions imposed by the new law. It “will not target the regions of North and East Syria or the Syrian people,” Deputy Special Envoy of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ambassador William Roebuck said after a meeting with Kurdish officials in Syria on June 16. “Rather, it will target the Syrian regime only,” Roebuck added.

The AA, however, seeks to obtain an additional exemption, allowing it to deal with Damascus “since we were surprised by the mechanism of the law’s implementation,” Salman Barodo, president of the AA’s Commission on Economy and Agriculture, told Syria Direct.

“In practice, it is not possible to apply an exception to the [Autonomous] Administration’s areas from the sanctions, since they are part of Syria and we use the Syrian pound,” said Barodo. There is “economic, social and geographic intertwinement with inner Syria [the regime-held territories],” he added, “and dealings with Damascus cannot be entirely separated when it comes to importing and exporting basic and necessary goods.”

The Caesar Act, which imposes American sanctions on states, entities and individuals dealing with the Syrian government, went into effect on June 17. Afterward, negotiations were revealed between the AA and the Americans to allow the former to deal with Damascus without being subject to sanctions.

“Until now, there is no clear [American] mechanism to exempt the Autonomous Administration from the Caesar sanctions,” said economics expert Chalang Omar.

Omar told Syria Direct that any such mechanism could be expected to provide “direct financial and technical support from the American government, or by way of western governments in the [Global] Coalition [against Daesh (ISIS)], and perhaps also through companies or non-governmental organizations implementing development and infrastructure projects.”

In this context, the co-chair of the Executive Council of the AA, Berivan Khaled, said after the meeting with Roebuck that the “American party assured its continuous support of the Autonomous Administration on economic and political levels.”

Omar did not rule out the possibility of “the AA being granted exemptions or given concessions from the American administration to deal with the Syrian [regime-held territories],” particularly since interaction between the two areas “goes on under the eyes of the Coalition and everyone.” In the case that “America insists on imposing sanctions on internal collaborators,” said Omar, “then they will have to find alternative outlets, markets and sources for goods if they are serious about ensuring the stability of the AA areas.”

Preventive measures

A few days before the Caesar Act came into force, the AA announced that it had formed an economic crisis unit aimed at “avoiding the economic sanctions imposed on Syria under the Caesar Act and improving the standard of living for the workers of the Autonomous Administration,” according to a statement by Salwa al-Sayyed, co-president of the AA’s Commission on Finance.

Before that on May 28, as the Syrian lira fell sharply, The AA announced measures to prevent the exit of US dollars from its territories. The move aimed to control the exchange rate while continuing to use the Syrian lira—in contrast to areas controlled by the opposition and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in northwestern Syria, which has started replacing the Syrian lira with Turkish lira.

Still, both of the moves made by the AA must be accompanied by the“monitoring of food supplies, establishing self-sufficiency projects, developing the economy and raising the level of individual income,” according to Barodo. On June 18, the AA announced a 150 percent increase in the salaries of its workers.

Omar also expressed support for the decision not to replace the Syrian lira with foreign currency because the AA does not have enough foreign currency—like the dollar or the euro—and does not want to use “the currency of neighboring countries, such as Turkey or Iraq, [as that] would leave the AA at the mercy of their economies.”

However, Omar doubts that the moves by the AA “will make a difference in controlling the exchange rate, because this task exceeds the capabilities of the AA. It is the role of the central bank in any country, and the Administration does not have the monetary policy tools that would allow it to perform this task,” he said. Nonetheless, this step aims to “preserve the Administration’s balances of hard currencies in order to conduct its economic policy and secure its need for imported goods.”

In contrast, Suleiman Khalil, Vice President of the Qamishlo (Qamishli) Provincial Council, believes that “controlling the exchange rate can be achieved by exporting and bringing in hard currency,” and that the AA is “able to make a difference in the exchange rate between its region and the other regions in Syria.”

The presence of the “Semalka border crossing [with Iraqi Kurdistan], through which we export some goods, including agricultural products and livestock, and is an outlet that generates dollars for the region,” he explained to Syria Direct. “Additionally, [there is] freedom to deal in dollars in our areas because of supply and demand, and supply in the AA areas is greater than demand, which regulates the exchange rate.”

Pending the outcome of negotiations with the US side regarding an exemption from the Caesar Act sanctions, the AA still has some tools in its pocket to face the repercussions of the law, particularly“ oil and natural gas resources, vast agricultural areas and dams,” said Omar, “providing there is optimal investment.”

This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson. It reflects changes made on 01/07/2020 at 12:30 pm.


Authors


Mohammad Abdulssattar Ibrahim
Reporter