TRUMP USES NAZI LANGUAGE AFTER GASSING PROTESTERS

AMERIKAN FLAG OF DISTRESS NEW 10FT PROTECTIVE FENCE 
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd with an upside-down American flag, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned up the pressure on governors to quell the violence set off by the death of George Floyd, demanding New York call up the National Guard to stop the “lowlifes and losers.”

As more demonstrations began taking shape around the country during the afternoon, and cities girded for another round of scattered violence after dark, the president amplified his hard-line calls of a day earlier, in which he threatened to send in the military to restore order if governors didn’t do it.

“NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD,” he tweeted. “The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart. Act fast! Don’t make the same horrible and deadly mistake you made with the Nursing Homes!!!”

Ericka Ward-Audena, of Washington, puts her hand on her daughter Elle Ward-Audena, 7, as they take a knee in front of a police line during a protest of President Donald Trump's visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Washington. "I wanted my daughter to see the protests, it's really important. I've gotten a million questions from her because of it," says Ward-Audena, "I think the most egregious statement was 'when they start looting, we start shooting.' That crossed a line for me." Protests continue over the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

MILITARIZED PARK POLICE! WASHINGTON DC

WHITE HOUSE ATTACK UNARMED PEACEFUL PROTESTERS

JUNE 1, THIRTY MINUTE PRIOR TO CURFEW SO

TRUMP CAN USE THE TEARGAS AS A BACKDROP

FOR HIS WALK TO ST.JOHNS CHURCH TO 

HOL UP A BIBLE FOR A PHOTO OP

WILLIAM BARR ALSO APPEAR FORTY FIVE MINUTES 

EARLIER AND GAVE THE ORDER AND TIME FOR THE ATTACK

TODAY
Demonstrators pause to kneel as they march to protest the death of George Floyd, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Alex Brando

Protests were held in such places as Orlando, Florida, where more than 1,000 people gathered in the afternoon to decry the killings of black people.

“This has to change,” said 39-year-old Aisxia Batiste, an out-of-work massage therapist. “Something has to give. We’re done. This is the beginning of the end of something. It has to be.”

In New York, where crowds of people on Monday night smashed store windows and police made nearly 700 arrests, Mayor Bill de Blasio extended an 8 p.m. curfew all week.

“We’re going to have a tough few days,” he warned, but added: “We’re going to beat it back.” He pleaded with community leaders to step forward and “create peace.”

More than 20,000 National Guard members have been called up in 29 states to deal with the violence. New York is not among them. De Blasio has said he does not want the Guard, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he will not send it into the city against the mayor’s wishes.

Monday marked the seventh straight night of unrest around the country.

In Atlanta, police fired tear gas at demonstrators. In Nashville, more than 60 National Guard members put down their riot shields at the request of peaceful protesters. At a demonstration in Buffalo, New York, an SUV plowed into a group of officers, injuring three.

An officer was shot and gravely wounded as police tried to disperse a crowd outside a Las Vegas hotel and casino. Four officers were shot in St. Louis; they were expected to recover.

Philadelphia officials described a chaotic night in which one person was killed trying to use explosives to open an ATM, a gun shop owner fatally shot a would-be thief, and a 19-year-old died of injuries during looting.

About a dozen other deaths have been reported around the country over the past week. And more than 5,600 people nationwide have been arrested for such offenses as stealing, blocking highways and breaking curfew, according to a count by The Associated Press.

HOUSTON

“We have been sitting on a powder keg for some time and it has burst,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.

Some protesters framed the burgeoning movement as a necessity after a string of killings by police.

“I fear for my safety every time I get in the car to go for a drive. I fear of getting pulled over. I fear for all 10 of my brothers’ and sisters’ lives, for my parents’ lives!” 19-year-old Amari Burroughs of Parkland, Florida, said Tuesday as she prepared for another protest.

“My goal is to use my voice and my leadership to make this world safer so that one day I can bring children here and won’t have to fear for their safety.”

Outside the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul, where a youth protest was held Tuesday, 18-year-old Joseph Tawah agreed.

“It’s really hard not to feel afraid,” he said.

Meanwhile, governors and mayors, Republicans and Democrats alike, rejected Trump’s threat to send in the military, with some saying troops would be unnecessary and others questioning whether the government has such authority and warning that such a step would be dangerous.

“Denver is not Little Rock in 1957, and Donald Trump is not President Eisenhower. This is a time for healing, for bringing people together, and the best way to protect civil rights is to move away from escalating violence,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, both Democrats, said in a statement, referring to Eisenhower’s use of troops to enforce school desegregation in the South.

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the president is not rushing to send in the military and that his goal was to pressure governors to deploy more National Guard members.

Such use of the military would mark a stunning federal intervention rarely seen in modern American history.

Federal law allows presidents to dispatch the military into states to suppress an insurrection or if a state is defying federal law, legal experts said. But some state officials asserted that the president does not have a unilateral right to send in troops against the will of local governments.

Minnesota, meanwhile, opened an investigation into whether the Minneapolis Police Department has a pattern of discrimination against minorities. Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck for several minutes.

Chauvin has been charged with murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said prosecutors are working as fast as they can to determine if the three other officers at the scene should be charged too. All four have been fired.

Amid the protests, cities struggled to keep police in line and avoid instances of excessive force.

The police chief in Louisville, Kentucky, was fired after a restaurant owner was killed by police and National Guard members enforcing a curfew. In Richmond, the police chief said officers who used tear gas on a group of peaceful protesters would be disciplined. In Atlanta, six officers were charged after a video showed authorities dragging two young people from a car during protests.

LA VENICE BEACH

Sedensky reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press journalists across the U.S. contributed to this report.

https://apnews.com/697d654ea64f3370f373aacfca2da950

Tensions mar Paris protest as Floyd outrage goes global
By SYLVIE CORBET and NICOLAS GARRIG

1 of 16
Protesters kneel and react by a burning barricade during a demonstration Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. Paris riot officers fired tear gas as scattered protesters threw projectiles and set fires at an unauthorized demonstration against police violence and racial injustice. Several thousand people rallied peacefully for two hours around the main Paris courthouse in homage to George Floyd and to Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)


PARIS (AP) — Tear gas choked Paris streets as riot police faced off with protesters setting fires Tuesday amid growing global outrage over George Floyd’s death in the United States, racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics around the world.

French protesters took a knee and raised their fists while firefighters struggled to extinguish multiple blazes as a largely peaceful, multiracial demonstration degenerated into scattered tensions. Several thousand people defied a virus-related ban on protests to pay homage to Floyd and Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody.

Electric scooters and construction barriers went up in flames, and smoke stained a sign reading “Restaurant Open” — on the first day French cafes were allowed to open after nearly three months of virus lockdown.

Chanting “I can’t breathe,” thousands marched peacefully through Australia’s largest city, while thousands more demonstrated in the Dutch capital of The Hague and hundreds rallied in Tel Aviv. Expressions of anger erupted in multiple languages on social networks, with thousands of Swedes joining an online protest and others speaking out under the banner of #BlackOutTuesday.

Diplomatic ire percolated too, with the European Union’s top foreign policy official saying the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by Floyd’s death.

Floyd died last week after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The death set off protests that spread across America — and now, beyond.

As demonstrations escalated worldwide, solidarity with U.S. protesters increasingly mixed with local worries.

“This happened in the United States, but it happens in France, it happens everywhere,” Paris protester Xavier Dintimille said. While he said police violence seems worse in the U.S., he added, “all blacks live this to a degree.”

Fears of the coronavirus remain close to the surface and were the reason cited for banning Tuesday’s protest at the main Paris courthouse, because gatherings of more than 10 people remain forbidden.

But demonstrators showed up anyway. Some said police violence worsened during virus confinement in working class suburbs with large minority populations, deepening a feeling of injustice.

As the Paris demonstration wound down, police fired volley after volley of tear gas and protesters threw debris. Police were less visible than usual at the city’s frequent protests. Tensions also erupted at a related protest in the southern city of Marseille.

The demonstrations were held in honor of Traore, who died shortly after his arrest in 2016, and in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.

The Traore case has become emblematic of the fight against police brutality in France. The circumstances of the death of the 24-year-old Frenchman of Malian origin are still under investigation after four years of conflicting medical reports about what happened.

The lawyer for two of the three police officers involved in the arrest, Rodolphe Bosselut, said the Floyd and Traore cases “have strictly nothing to do with each other.” Bosselut told The Associated Press that Traore’s death wasn’t linked with the conditions of his arrest but other factors, including a preexisting medical condition.

Traore’s family says he died from asphyxiation because of police tactics — and that his last words were “I can’t breathe.”

“I can’t breathe” were also the final words of David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.

As 3,000 people marched peacefully through Sydney, many said they had been inspired by a mixture of sympathy for African Americans and to call for change in Australia’s treatment of its indigenous population, particularly involving police. The mostly Australian crowd at the authorized demonstration also included protesters from the U.S. and elsewhere.
Full Coverage: America Protests

“I’m here for my people, and for our fallen brothers and sisters around the world,” said Sydney indigenous woman Amanda Hill, 46, who attended the rally with her daughter and two nieces. “What’s happening in America shines a light on the situation here.”

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump fanned anger by threatening to send in troops on American protesters, Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau refrained from directly criticizing him, and said the protests should force awareness of racism everywhere.

“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” he said. “But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we, too, have our challenges, that black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day. There is systemic discrimination in Canada.”

More protests in various countries are planned later in the week, including a string of demonstrations in front of U.S. embassies on Saturday.

The drama unfolding in the U.S. drew increasing diplomatic concern.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of power.

Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.” He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said peaceful protests in the U.S. following Floyd’s death are “understandable and more than legitimate.”

“I can only express my hope that the peaceful protests do not continue to lead to violence, but even more express the hope that these protests have an effect in the United States,” Maas said.

More African leaders are speaking up over the killing of Floyd.

“It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism,” Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement, adding that black people the world over are shocked and distraught.

Kenyan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga offered a prayer for the U.S., “that there be justice and freedom for all human beings who call America their country.”

Like some in Africa who have spoken out, Odinga also noted troubles at home, saying the judging of people by character instead of skin color “is a dream we in Africa, too, owe our citizens.”

Follow AP’s latest news about the protests at https://apnews.com/GeorgeFloy
 
PROTEST IN TEL AVIV ISRAEL 

From Sydney to Paris, world outrage grows at Floyd’s death
By SYLVIE CORBET and RICK RYCROFT

6/2/2020

Protesters gather Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. Thousands of people defied a police ban and converged on the main Paris courthouse for a demonstration to show solidarity with U.S. protesters and denounce the death of a black man in French police custody. The demonstration was organized to honor Frenchman Adama Traore, who died shortly after his arrest in 2016, and in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against George Floyd's death. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)



PARIS (AP) — Thousands of French protesters defied a virus-related police ban and rallied Tuesday against racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics, as global outrage over what happened to George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents.

Clapping, cheering and waving signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Police Everywhere, Justice Nowhere,” the largely young, multiracial crowd streamed to the main Paris courthouse and rallied peacefully while police monitored closely from nearby corners.

Earlier, thousands marched in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, chanting “I can’t breathe,” and expressions of anger erupted in multiple languages on social networks, with thousands of Swedes joining an online protest and others speaking out under the banner of #BlackOutTuesday.

Diplomatic ire percolated too, with the European Union’s top foreign policy official saying the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by Floyd’s death.

As protests escalated worldwide, solidarity with U.S. demonstrators increasingly mixed with local worries.

“When you refuse to treat the problem of racism ... it leads to what we see in the United States,” said Dominique Sopo, head of French activist group SOS Racisme. “The case of George Floyd echoes what we fear in France.”

Floyd died last week after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The death set off protests that spread across America -- and now, beyond.


People protest outside the Palace of Justice Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. French authorities banned the protest over racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics as global outrage over what happened to George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents. Family and friends of Adama Traore, a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016, call for a protest which will also pay homage to George Floyd. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)


Fears of the coronavirus remain close to the surface and were the reason cited by the police for banning Tuesday’s protest at the main Paris courthouse. Gatherings of more than 10 people remain banned in France as part of virus confinement measures.

But the Paris protest plans drew attention online, and demonstrators showed up anyway. Similar demonstrations were held in other French cities in honor of Adama Traore, who died shortly after his arrest in 2016, and in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.

Assa Traore, sister of Adama Traore, answers reporters outside the Palace of Justice Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. French authorities banned the protest over racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics as global outrage over what happened to George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents. Family and friends of Adama Traore, a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016, call for a protest which will also pay homage to George Floyd. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People protest with posters reading "Justice for Adama" outside the Palace of Justice Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. French authorities banned the protest over racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics as global outrage over what happened to George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents. Family and friends of Adama Traore, a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016, call for the protest which also pays homage to George Floyd. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) The Traore case has become emblematic of the fight against police brutality in France. The circumstances of the death of the 24-year-old Frenchman of Malian origin are still under investigation after four years of conflicting medical reports about what happened.

The lawyer for two of the three police officers involved in the arrest, Rodolphe Bosselut, said the Floyd and Traore cases “have strictly nothing to do with each other.” Bosselut told The Associated Press that Traore’s death wasn’t linked with the conditions of his arrest but other factors, including a pre-existing medical condition.

Traore’s family says he died from asphyxiation because of police tactics -- and that his last words were “I can’t breathe.”


People protest with posters reading "Silence is violence" and "Who protects us from police" outside the Palace of Justice Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in Paris. French authorities banned the protest over racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics as global outrage over what happened to George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents. Family and friends of Adama Traore, a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016, call for a protest which will also pay homage to George Floyd. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)


AUSTRALIA

Protesters approach police on horseback as they gather in Sydney, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to support the cause of U.S. protests over the death of George Floyd and urged their own governments to address racism and police violence. Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer who put his knee on the handcuffed black man's neck until he stopped breathing. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)


“I can’t breathe” were also the final words of David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.

As 3,000 people marched peacefully through Sydney, many said they had been inspired by a mixture of sympathy for African Americans amid ongoing violent protests in the U.S. and to call for change in Australia’s treatment of its indigenous population, particularly involving police. The mostly Australian crowd at the authorized demonstration also included protesters from the U.S. and elsewhere.



“I’m here for my people, and for our fallen brothers and sisters around the world,” said Sydney indigenous woman Amanda Hill, 46, who attended the rally with her daughter and two nieces.

“What’s happening in America shines a light on the situation here. It doesn’t matter if it’s about the treatment of black men and women from here or from another country; enough is enough,” she said.

A total of 432 indigenous Australians have died in police detention since a 1991 Royal Commission — Australia’s highest level of official inquiry — into Aboriginal deaths in custody, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Australia has also never signed a treaty with the country’s indigenous population, who suffer higher-than-average rates of infant mortality and poor health, plus shorter life expectancy and lower levels of education and employment than white Australians.

People take part in a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, police violence and institutionalized racism. Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

People observe social distancing as they take part in a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, police violence and institutionalized racism. Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

People observe social distancing as they take part in a demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, police violence and institutionalized racism. Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Another protest was planned Tuesday in the Dutch capital The Hague, and more than 6,000 people attended a Sweden-organized online protest to express support with the Black Lives Matter movement. Among speakers was Aysha Jones, a Gambia-born and Sweden-based activist and fashion blogger.

Jones said the protest was important to show support to people in America, but also to remind Swedes that racism “does exist here, it’s very real and people are being harmed from it.”

Aysha Jones speaks during a digital demonstration to show solidarity with the protests in the United States in response of the death of George Floyd who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25 and to remember other black victims of police violence outside the US embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP)

More protests in various countries are planned later in the week, including a string of demonstrations in front of U.S. embassies on Saturday.

The drama unfolding in the U.S. drew increasing diplomatic concern.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of power.

Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.” He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said peaceful protests in the U.S. following Floyd’s death are “understandable and more than legitimate.”

“I can only express my hope that the peaceful protests do not continue to lead to violence, but even more express the hope that these protests have an effect in the United States,” Maas said.

More African leaders are speaking up over the killing of Floyd.

“It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism,” Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement, adding that black people the world over are shocked and distraught.

Kenyan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga offered a prayer for the U.S., “that there be justice and freedom for all human beings who call America their country.”

Like some in Africa who have spoken out, Odinga also noted troubles at home, saying the judging of people by character instead of skin color “is a dream we in Africa, too, owe our citizens.”

—-



BERLIN — Germany’s foreign minister says the peaceful protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd are “understandable and more than legitimate.”

Heiko Maas said in Berlin on Tuesday that his thoughts are with the friends and family of Floyd, who “lost his life in a truly terrible and shocking way, or one should say it was taken from him.”

Maas said that peaceful protests must always be allowed. He added that “the peaceful protest we are seeing in the United States — with many very moving gestures including by American police officers — this protest is understandable and more than legitimate.”

He added: “I can only express my hope that the peaceful protests do not continue to lead to violence, but even more express the hope that these protests have an effect in the United States.”

Maas also stressed that journalists must be able to do their jobs without risking their safety and criticized violence against them.

___

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday the death of George Floyd was the result of an abuse of power and that the 27-nation bloc is “shocked and appalled” by it.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.”

Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer in Minneapolis who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. His death set off protests that spread across America.

Borrell says law enforcement officials must not be “using their capacities in the way that has been used in this very, very unhappy death of George Floyd. This is an abuse of power and this has to be denounced.”

He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”

Borrell says “we trust in the ability of the Americans to come together, to heal as a nation and to address these important issues during these difficult times.”

___

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The Hungarian soccer federation has issued a written reprimand to a player of African origin who showed his undershirt with the words “Justice for George Floyd” after scoring for Ferencvaros in its 1-1 draw with Puskas Akademia on Sunday.

Tokmac Nguen was born in a refugee camp in Kenya to parents from South Sudan and grew up in Norway.

The federation’s disciplinary committee said in its ruling issued Monday that any similar actions by Nguen in the future would result in “actual penalties” on each occasion.

Just hours after Nguen’s reprimand, FIFA, the world soccer’s governing body urged soccer competition organizers to apply “common sense” and consider not sanctioning players demanding justice for Floyd during matches.

The German soccer federation is investigating similar actions by four players in the Bundesliga, including American midfielder Weston McKennie, who wore an armband over his Schalke jersey with the handwritten message “Justice for George.”

___
SEOUL — South Korea’s Foreign Ministry says it has far confirmed 79 cases of property damage at stores run by Korean Americans amid U.S. protests over the death of George Floyd.

The ministry, which held a teleconferencing meeting with diplomats based in the United States to review the demonstrations’ impact on Korean Americans and South Korean citizens, said Tuesday it has yet to confirm any injuries or deaths.

The ministry says 50 cases of property damage were reported from Philadelphia, 10 from Minneapolis, five form Raleigh and four from Atlanta.

___

SYDNEY — More than 1,000 protesters marched through downtown Sydney on Tuesday in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against the death of George Floyd half a world away.

Police escorted a crowd carrying banners that said: “Black Lives Matter,” “Aboriginal Lives Matter,” “White Silence is Violence” and “We See You, We Hear You, We Stand With You.”

The group marched from Hyde Park to New South Wales state Parliament with plans to continue to the U.S. Consulate.

The protest proceeded despite some organizers canceling it Monday for fear of conflict with counter protesters. But no counter protest emerged.

Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Australia’s west coast city of Perth on Monday night to peacefully protest Floyd’s death, and rallies are planned for other Australian cities this week.

Referring to the violence in U.S. streets, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said “there’s no need to import things ... happening in other countries here to Australia.”

___



Rycroft reported from Sydney. Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

—-

Follow AP’s latest news about the protests at https://apnews.com/GeorgeFloyd

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians are watching what’s unfolding in the United States with “horror and consternation” and he paused for more than 20 seconds when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump and the use of tear gas against protesters for a photo opportunity.

Trudeau has long been careful not to poke Trump as Canada relies on the U.S. for 75 percent of exports. But Trudeau dramatically paused and struggled to come up with the right words when asked about the military action’s against protesters in the U.S. Police violently broke up a peaceful and legal protest by several thousand people in Lafayette Park across from the White House ahead of a speech in the Rose Garden by Trump on Monday evening. The protesters had gathered following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a week earlier.

Afterward, Trump strolled off the White House grounds and walked to the cleared Lafayette Park to make a surprise visit to St. John’s Church. Standing alone in front of cameras, he raised a Bible but didn’t mention Floyd, the church or the peaceful protesters police had just cleared away.

Biden criticizes Trump for fanning 'flames of hate' in protests

Tyler Pager, Bloomberg Published 9:36 am PDT, Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP
IMAGE 4 OF 12 https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Biden-criticizes-Trump-for-fanning-flames-of-15311017.php#photo-19482481
Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden touches his face as he speaks to members of the clergy and community leaders at Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Del., Monday, June 1, 2020.

Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump on Tuesday for fanning "the flames of hate," and called on Congress not to wait until a new president is elected to address systemic racism and police brutality as protests continue to sweep the nation.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, decried Trump's leadership of a country beset by three crises - the coronavirus pandemic, the recession and protests over racial inequities that have often turned violent.

"The country is crying out for leadership," Biden said in his speech from Philadelphia City Hall. "Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together. Leadership that can recognize the pain and deep grief of communities that have had a knee on their neck for too long."

Biden said there should be "no more excuses, no delays" in addressing the racial inequalities underlying the protests convulsing the nation. He said Congress should pass a ban on police chokeholds, prevent military surplus equipment from flowing to police departments and improve oversight. If elected, he said, he would set up a national police oversight commission in his first 100 days.
But the former vice president acknowledged that change would take time, and he refused to promise that he could get it done in the traditional campaign yardstick of 100 days or even a full presidential term.

"I wish I could say this hate began with Donald Trump and will end with him," he said. "It didn't, and it won't. American history isn't a fairytale with a guaranteed happy ending."

- - -

Biden's address was carried live by cable news networks, making it his most high-profile opportunity to contrast his message and style with Trump's since the pandemic put his campaign in shutdown mode.

Biden made his first public appearance in months on Memorial Day last week, when he laid a wreath at a memorial with his wife, Jill Biden. On Monday, he held his first public event at a black church in Wilmington, Delaware, where he listened to community leaders speak about racial injustice. The leaders, while supportive of his campaign, pressed him to deliver for black Americans if he is elected.

Biden's speech came the morning after police dispersed peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park across the street form the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets so Trump could walk out of the White House to stand in front of the historic St. John's Church for a photo.

"The president held up a Bible at St. John's Church yesterday," Biden said. "I just wish he opened it once in a while. If he opened it instead of brandishing it, he could have learned something - that we are all called to love one another as we love ourselves."

Protests, some violent, have erupted coast to coast after the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, while in police custody. Floyd, whose death was captured on video, was telling police he couldn't breathe as Officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder, knelt on his neck.

Biden said the words "I can't breathe" are "echoing across the nation."

"They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk," he said.

Biden cut a stark contrast with Trump, who has threatened to send in the military to quell the protests and criticized the nation's governors on a call Monday for not responding with enough force.

"We will not allow any president to quiet our voice," he said. A "down payment" on that work, he said, must be made immediately.

Though Biden has kept up a regular - but virtual - campaign schedule over the past few months, he has struggled at times to break through. Thus, Tuesday's nationally televised speech marked a turning point in Biden's general election campaign as he seeks to reassure a nation on edge from economic and social unrest.

"I'll do my job and take responsibility," he said about his approach to the presidency. "I won't blame others. I'll never forget that the job isn't about me. It's about you. And I'll work to not only rebuild this nation. But to build it better than it was."

AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s move to quit WHO cites flawed facts OF COURSE

Hope Yen, Associated Press Updated 10:08 am PDT, Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Photo: Alex Brandon, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump spread a number of false and misleading claims about the World Health Organization in announcing his decision to cut U.S. ties with the agency over the coronavirus epidemic.

Trump last week said he would halt funding and a decades-long U.S. relationship with WHO, accusing it of being effectively controlled by China and misleading the world about the virus. The president referenced his May 18 letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that laid out specific allegations and demanded changes.


An AP Fact Check finds numerous inaccuracies in that letter.


Trump accuses WHO of ignoring scientific reports in December of the virus spreading in China that didn’t exist and assails the group for criticism of a U.S. travel ban on China that it never lodged. He also overstates the level of knowledge about human transmission of the virus at the time.



Trump’s escalating actions, which have drawn heated responses from China, come as his administration faces criticism for a botched U.S. response to the outbreak, including testing delays. The death toll for Americans has surpassed 100,000, the most in the world.


A look at some of his claims and reality:

US WITHDRAWAL

TRUMP: “Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds.” — remarks Friday.

THE FACTS: It’s unclear whether the president can unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from WHO without approval from Congress.


Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said in tweets Friday that Trump’s move is “unlawful” because ending funding requires Congress, which has already authorized the money. He called it “dangerous” because “we’re in the middle of a pandemic."

"Trump has no power to do it," Gostin wrote.

Congressional Democrats said in April, when the president first proposed withholding money from WHO, that it would be illegal without approval from Congress and that they would challenge it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday called the move “an act of extraordinary senselessness.”


The U.S. helped found WHO in 1948. It provides the group about $450 million a year, according to Trump.

___

VIRUS RESPONSE

TRUMP: “The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. The World Health Organization failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese government’s official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself.” — May 18 letter.

THE FACTS: No such study existed in December, according to the Lancet.

The Lancet said the first papers it published on the coronavirus came from Chinese and Hong Kong researchers on Jan. 24. There was no report in December “referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China,” the journal said.

The outbreak was detected by Wuhan doctors only in late December. Gao Fu, the head of China’s Centers for Disease Control, found out about it on Dec. 30, 2019, after notices issued by Wuhan health officials leaked online.

WHO was alerted to a “cluster of atypical pneumonia” via media reports and its own surveillance system on Dec. 31, and it requested information from China on Jan. 1.

“In the first weeks of January WHO was very, very clear; we alerted the world on Jan. 5th,” Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, told reporters on April 15. “Systems around the world, including in the U.S., began to activate their emergency management systems on January 6th.”

Retrospective studies, published in the Lancet and elsewhere, have shown that the first known patients fell ill with the virus at the beginning of December or even earlier, but those cases were not detected until much later. Health experts say it is extremely difficult to detect a new pathogen, especially during the winter flu season, and that Chinese doctors identified the new coronavirus quickly by global standards. There is no evidence that top Chinese officials or WHO were aware of the virus before Dec. 30.

WHO last month agreed to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus.

___

HUMAN TRANSMISSION

TRUMP: “By (Dec. 31), Taiwanese authorities had communicated information to the World Health Organization indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus. Yet the World Health Organization chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons.” — May 18 letter.

THE FACTS: He’s overstating the level of knowledge about human transmission of the virus at the time.

Officials in Taiwan did send an email on Dec. 31 to WHO that requested more information about the outbreak in Wuhan, but it does not mention “human-to-human transmission.” The email said "at least seven atypical pneumonia cases were reported in Wuhan, China” and noted that patients had been isolated for treatment.

The Taiwan CDC argues that public health professionals could discern from its wording about patients being isolated that there was a real possibility of human-to-human transmission of the disease, but acknowledges it did not “directly and conclusively” state that.

WHO says it never received information at the time specifically referencing human transmission.

___

TRUMP: “On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed China’s now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: ‘Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) identified in Wuhan, China.’ This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan.” — May 18 letter.

THE FACTS: He isn’t providing the full context.
It’s true that a WHO tweet cited “no clear evidence” of human-to-human transmission. But the organization also didn’t rule out the possibility. At a news briefing that same day, Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of WHO’s emerging diseases unit, allowed that there could be limited cases of human transmission.

“From the information that we have it is possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission, potentially among families, but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human-to-human transmission,” she said. “It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture.”

___

CHINA-FRIENDLY?

TRUMP, referring to China’s Xi Jinping: “On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its ‘transparency’ with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a ‘new standard for outbreak control’ and ‘bought the world time.’ You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it.” — May 18 letter.

THE FACTS: Tedros did repeatedly praise China’s transparency and pandemic response even as evidence mounted that it had failed to notify the public about a looming crisis. But Trump early on did also.

In a CNBC interview on Jan. 22, Trump was asked if he trusted information from China about the coronavirus. “I do,” Trump said. “I have a great relationship with President Xi.”

Two days later, he was even more effusive. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” he tweeted. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. ...I want to thank President Xi!”

Trump kept up the compliments when asked several times in February about whether data from China can be trusted. He called Xi “extremely capable” and said he’s “doing a very good job with a very, very tough situation.”

His praise ultimately faded as the pandemic hit hard in the U.S. and the federal response stumbled.

It’s unclear how much impact WHO would have had if it did press China for more transparency, given the United Nations agency’s inability to punish member countries. WHO is constrained by rules that rely on the goodwill of its 194 members and relies on Beijing’s cooperation to mount a global response to the pandemic.

___

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

TRUMP: “They strongly recommended against me doing the early ban from China, but I did it anyway and was proven to be 100% correct.” — remarks Friday.

TRUMP: “You also strongly praised China’s strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes.” — May 18 letter.

THE FACTS: He’s exaggerating the magnitude of his travel restrictions on China and overstating WHO’s position. WHO has cautioned against such restrictions as a general matter, saying they often prove ineffective in stemming the spread of an infectious disease, but it never publicly questioned or singled out Trump’s decision.

Trump in fact didn’t “ban” all the people infected with coronavirus from entering the U.S. from China.

His order in late January temporarily barred entry by foreign nationals who had traveled in China within the previous 14 days, with exceptions for the immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents as well as American citizens.

There were many gaps in containment and initial delays in testing, leading to the U.S. rising to No. 1 globally in the number of people infected by COVID-19 and the number of deaths last week surpassing 100,000.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.

___

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apnews.com/APFactCheck

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

TRUMP TWOFER 

Catholic Archbishop of Washington slams Trump's visit to John Paul II shrine

Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Washington Post  Tuesday, June 2, 2020

WHO IS THAT WOMAN?

Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP
IMAGE 1 OF 14
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Washington.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump visited a D.C. shrine honoring Pope John Paul II on Tuesday, a day after his appearance in front of an Episcopal church across from the White House set off a controversy because it involved aggressively clearing peaceful protesters.

In a statement Tuesday morning as the president was arriving, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory slammed the visit and the tactics Trumped had used for the photo opportunity at St. John's Episcopal Church.


"I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree," Gregory said.


The large shrine was opened as a museum to John Paul in 2001, but nose-dived financially and was bailed out in 2011 by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's religious organization that has lobbied for conservative political causes, such as opposing same-sex marriage.

In his statement, Gregory noted the legacy of Pope John Paul II, suggesting he would not have condoned Trump's actions either.

"Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth," Gregory said. "He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace."

Gregory, who was installed as the first black archbishop of Washington in 2019, previously issued a statement on the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The death was the trigger for the protests that have unfolded outside the White House and across the nation for much of the last week.

"The horror of George Floyd's death, like all acts of racism, hurts all of us in the Body of Christ since we are each made in the image and likeness of God, and deserve the dignity that comes with that existence," Gregory said last week.

According to White House guidance, the president and first lady Melania Trump were scheduled to depart late in the morning for the four-mile trip to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Northeast Washington, which is adjacent to the Catholic University of America and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Melania Trump identifies as Roman Catholic.

The visit is part of an effort by Trump to focus on international religious freedom. Upon returning to the White House early in the afternoon, he is scheduled to sign an executive order on that subject in the Oval Office.

John Paul's movement for religious freedom, including in his native Eastern Europe from communism, is considered one of his key legacies. Tuesday is the 41st anniversary of his first papal visit to Poland.

The shrine, according to its website, "is a place of pilgrimage housing two first-class relics of St. John Paul II. Here, through liturgy and prayer, art, and cultural and religious formation, visitors can enter into its patron's deep love for God and for man."

Messages to the Knights of Columbus were not immediately returned Tuesday morning. Trump's attorney, Pat Cipollone, was a top lawyer with the organization, holding the title "supreme advocate."

On Monday evening, federal authorities used flash-bang shells, gas and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters from around the White House ahead of Trump's walk across Lafayette Square to St. John's Episcopal Church, where he posed for photos while holding up a Bible. The church's rector and the region's Episcopal bishop were outraged that the crowds were forcefully removed to allow for the visit.

"I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop," the Right Rev. Mariann Budde told The Post.

She excoriated the president for standing in front of the church - its windows boarded up with plywood - while holding a Bible aloft.

"Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence," Budde said of the president. "We need moral leadership, and he's done everything to divide us."

On Tuesday, several pastors stood on the steps of the historic church calling for end to police brutality.

White House officials told The Washington Post, on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, that the president spent much of Monday discussing with his team how to show that the streets of Washington were under control.

A former Trump campaign aide, Jason Miller, told The Post on Monday that Trump's walk to the church made sense for a president who was elected in part on law-and-order themes.

"He's not the hand-holder or consoler in chief," Miller said. "He was elected to take bold, dramatic action and that's what he did."

On Tuesday, Stephen Schneck, former head of Catholic outreach for then-President Barack Obama and current executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, said he was "disgusted that the Knights would allow the Shrine to St. John Paul II to be used for what is transparently a Trump reelection campaign event."

"Pope St. John Paul II was an ardent foe of racism. In his last visit to the United States the saint begged our nation to eradicate racism from its heart. One cannot imagine a worse insult to John Paul II's memory than to hold a Trump re-election event at the saint's shrine," he told The Post in a statement.

Pax Christi USA, a left-leaning Catholic group, was planning a vigil near the shrine "to express our dismay at this visit and to pray for our country and our church."

It was unclear early Tuesday what Trump's new executive order on religious freedom might include.




Trump has signed several orders around the issue of religious freedom that have been primarily symbolic but have the potential for changing how federal departments enforce existing law, said Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious freedom at the Freedom Forum.

Early in his administration, Trump promised to abolish the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits clergy from endorsing politicians from the pulpit. But it would take an act of Congress to change the amendment. Instead, Trump issued an executive order on how his administration would enforce the amendment. In another case, he signed a rule offering protections for health-care workers who declined services that violate their religious beliefs, a move that concerned LGBTQ advocacy groups.

"Most of it is symbolic," Haynes said of the executive orders. "It reiterates the law in some cases. There already are religious liberty protections, but he wants to underscore we're upholding them or we're implementing them."


Read More

Vatican to name Atlanta archbishop to head scandal-ridden Archdiocese of Washington

Vatican announces Atlanta's Wilton Gregory as new archbishop of Washington

Wilton Gregory installed as archbishop of Washington