Mixed messages as sports world backs US protesters

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP / Kevin C. CoxUS women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe kneels in protest before an international in Atlanta in 2016

If Megan Rapinoe decides to take a knee at next year's Olympic Games, she could get a reprimand.

If she does it at the women's World Cup in 2023, she could get a round of applause.

Over the past week, athletes, sports teams and leagues have expressed solidarity with protesters demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality in the United States.

But the chorus of concern has, in several cases, highlighted a sharp contrast between the solemn statements of support and how some sports bodies view protests by their own athletes.

In Germany, three Bundesliga players including Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho and Schalke's US midfielder Weston McKennie were placed under formal investigation by the German FA (DFB) for protesting against racism during matches last weekend.

Sancho marked his goal by removing his shirt to reveal a t-shirt with the slogan "Justice For George Floyd" -- the African-American man whose death during an arrest by police in Minneapolis last week triggered the wave of US protests.

McKennie wore a black armband with the message "Justice for George."

German authorities said they were obliged to investigate the players because of longstanding FIFA regulations which forbid footballers from displaying any "political, religious or personal" messages on their kit during games.

Yet all players under scrutiny were told Wednesday they will not face punishment.

That followed a statement from FIFA which appeared to mark a clear softening of the previous stance, with the world football governing body stating that leagues should now consider the "context" of each protest and apply "common sense."

FIFA President Gianni Infantino later went even farther.

"For the avoidance of doubt, in a FIFA competition the recent demonstrations of players in Bundesliga matches would deserve an applause and not a punishment," Infantino said.

- Hard-line Olympic stance -

POOL/AFP / Lars BaronBorussia Dortmund's English midfielder Jadon Sancho escaped punishment for displaying a "Justice for George Floyd" during a Bundesliga game

That shift in FIFA's position could easily create headaches at some point in future as administrators wrestle with the subjective standards of "context" and "common sense."

The FIFA edict would already appear to contradict rules put in place by the United States Soccer Federation.

US Soccer -- which this week posted a "United Against Racism" message across social media -- introduced a regulation in 2017 requiring players to "stand respectfully" during the playing of the US national anthem.

The USSF rule was introduced after Rapinoe knelt in solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who ignited controversy in 2016 after refusing to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" in an effort to draw attention to racial injustice.

While FIFA has indicated a willingness to adapt with the times, the International Olympic Committee remains on a collision course with athletes who may be inclined to protest at next year's Tokyo Games.

In January, the IOC issued an updated set of guidelines regarding athlete activism, outlawing any kind of demonstration on the medal podium or field of play.

The ban included any display of political messaging, including signs or armbands, hand gestures or kneeling or a refusal to follow the protocol of medal ceremonies.

The enhanced regulations followed incidents at the Pan American Games in Lima last August, where US hammer thrower Gwen Berry and fencer Race Imboden protested on the medal podium.

Berry raised a clenched fist salute after winning gold in her event. Imboden knelt on the podium after winning a bronze.

Both athletes were subsequently reprimanded by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, given probation for 12 months and warned that any repeat could face harsher punishment.

- Apology wanted -

Lima 2019/AFP / Jose SOTOMAYORUS fencer Race Imboden kneels on the medal podium at the 2019 Pan-American Games in Lima

Unsurprisingly, both Berry and Imboden were scathing this week as USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland issued a statement pledging that the organization "stands with those who demand equality."

"I want an apology letter .. mailed .. just like you and the IOC MAILED ME WHEN YOU PUT ME ON PROBATION," Berry said in response to Hirshland's remarks. "Stop playing with me."

Imboden also brushed off Hirshland's statements.

"The USOC and its CEO are claiming to be supportive of Equality and supporting Black athletes," Imboden said. "I'm white, I don't want an apology. I want proof."

Global Athlete, a pressure group which advocates on behalf of athletes around the world, believes the IOC's approach to protests is already obsolete.

"From our perspective, it's humans first, athletes second," Global Athlete director general Rob Koehler told AFP. "Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right.

"To say an athlete can't use their platform when they're unpaid workers coming to the games, bringing all the revenues in, and they can't use their voice to express about a cause that is important to them, is outdated and out of touch."

Koehler said sports organizations expressing solidarity with athletes needed to back words with deeds.

"To all these sporting organizations, including the USOPC, that are coming out now -- actions speak louder than words," Koehler said.

"If you're going to come out with statements supporting athletes speaking up, then you need to back that up by changing rules, to allow them to use their voice or their actions to promote social justice or any cause they believe in."

Koehler is pessimistic that the IOC will relax its stance, unless there is concerted pressure from athletes, the public and sponsors.

"I'm not confident at all that the IOC will change," he said.

"But I think athletes will. All it takes is for the most high-profile athlete at the Olympics to do it, and let's see what the IOC does."

Charges filed against all four police officers in Floyd killing

AFP / MANDEL NGANPolice and protesters outside the US Capitol

Three Minneapolis policemen were charged Wednesday for their role in the killing of a handcuffed black man that ignited nationwide protests, while more serious charges were filed against the officer primarily responsible.

Minnesota prosecutors had announced a third-degree murder indictment Friday against 44-year-old Derek Chauvin -- the white officer filmed kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes while he pleads: "I can't breathe."

But they said they were increasing the charge, roughly akin to manslaughter, to second-degree murder, which does not involve premeditation but carries stiffer penalties.

Hennepin County Jail/AFP/File / HandoutMinnesota authorities elevated the charge facing police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd to second-degree murder

"I believe the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder," Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison said.

"We're here today because George Floyd is not here," Ellison added. "He should be here. He should be alive. But he's not."

Chauvin's three colleagues at the scene of Floyd's May 25 arrest for allegedly seeking to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit bill are accused of being complicit in the killing.

Tou Thao, 34, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Thomas Lane, 37, were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

GETTY IMAGES/AFP / SCOTT OLSONThe charred remains of a liquor store destroyed in Minneapolis, Minnesota

The arrest of all of the officers involved has been a persistent demand of protesters who have taken to the streets of dozens of US cities for the past nine days to condemn police brutality and demand racial justice.

Tens of thousands of people defied curfews in several US cities overnight to voice anger over 46-year-old Floyd's death but the protests were largely peaceful and did not feature the looting or clashes with police of previous days.

Floyd's family, in a statement, called the arrests a "bittersweet moment" and a "significant step forward on the road to justice."

AFP / Sébastien CASTERANUS anti-racism protests

"These officers knew they could act with impunity, given the Minneapolis Police Department's widespread and prolonged pattern and practice of violating people's constitutional rights," his family said.

"We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support by Americans in cities across the country, and we urge them to raise their voices for change in peaceful ways."

- 'Last resort' -

GETTY IMAGES/AFP / Drew AngererUS Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he opposes the use of active duty troops to quell protests

While condemning Floyd's death, President Donald Trump has adopted a tough stance towards the protesters, saying they include many "bad people" and "you have to have dominant force."

"We need law and order," he repeated on Wednesday.

Trump has also raised the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active duty troops to quell unrest, an option rejected by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said the National Guard should play that role when needed.

"The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations," Esper said.

"We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

AFP / MANDEL NGANA protestors holds up a sign near the US Capitol

Trump meanwhile denied media reports that he was rushed for his safety to the White House bunker while protests raged in the streets outside.

"It was a false report," Trump told Fox News Radio, before saying that he did go into the secure area for an "inspection" and only for a "tiny, little, short period of time."

Reports of Trump taking shelter sparked a wave of online mockery, which is believed to have contributed to his decision on Monday to make a controversial walk across Lafayette Park -- just outside the White House grounds -- to visit a partly damaged church.

GETTY IMAGES/AFP / BRENT STIRTONA demonstrator hugs a member of the National Guard during a protest in Los Angeles

Police violently dispersed mostly peaceful crowds of protesters to clear a path for Trump, and the photo opportunity was loudly condemned by religious leaders, the president's political rivals, and onlookers around the country.

National Guard troops have been heavily involved in controlling the unrest in several US cities and Trump threatened on Wednesday to send them to Democratic-ruled New York City if the authorities there "don't get their act together."

- 'No more' -

AFP / MANDEL NGANPeople lay down in protest near the US Capitol

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that the Insurrection Act remains "a tool available" to the president, who is facing a tough reelection battle in November.

"The president wants to protect America's streets," McEnany said. "We cannot have burning churches. We cannot have police officers that are shot. We cannot have businesses that are looted and destroyed."

Protests continued on Wednesday in several US cities and curfews remained in place in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, while slightly loosened.

Los Angeles County narrowed its curfew by four hours, from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am instead of 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the curfew in Washington would be from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am instead of starting at 7:00 pm.

Former president Jimmy Carter called meanwhile for an end to racial discrimination.

"People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say 'no more' to a racially discriminatory police and justice system, immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks, and government actions that undermine our unified democracy," the 95-year-old Carter said in a statement.

"We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this."

burs-cl/ft

Prosecutors charge 3 more officers in George Floyd’s death

By AMY FORLITI and TIM SULLIVAN

1 of 19 
People march in protest against police brutality in Boston,Wednesday, June 3, 2020, following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors filed a tougher charge Wednesday against the police officer at the center of the George Floyd case and charged three other officers, delivering a victory to protesters galvanized by a death that roused racial tensions and unleashed coast-to-coast unrest.

The most serious charge was filed against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd’s neck and now must defend himself against an accusation of second-degree murder. The three other officers at the scene — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. All four were fired last week.

The new charges were sought by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who called the protests unleashed by the death “dramatic and necessary” and said Floyd “should be here and he is not.”

“His life had value, and we will seek justice,” said Ellison, who cautioned that winning convictions would be hard and said that public pressure had no bearing on his decisions.

Hundreds of protesters were in New York City’s Washington Square Park when the charges were announced.

“It’s not enough,” protester Jonathan Roldan said, insisting all four officers should have been charged from the start. “Right now, we’re still marching because it’s not enough that they got arrested. There needs to be systematic change.”




Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Floyd’s family, called it “a bittersweet moment” and “a significant step forward on the road to justice.” Crump said Elison had told the family he would continue his investigation into Floyd’s death and upgrade the charge to first-degree murder if warranted.

Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The move powerfully punctuated an unprecedented week in modern American history, in which largely peaceful protests took place in communities of all sizes but were rocked by bouts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, rampant thefts and arson in some places.

Some of the rockiness of the days since Floyd’s May 25 death dissipated on Tuesday night, with demonstrations continuing around the country, but without major reports of violence.

Curfews and efforts by protesters to contain earlier flare-ups of lawlessness were credited with preventing more widespread damage to businesses in New York and other cities overnight.

“Last night we took a step forward in moving out of this difficult period we’ve had the last few days and moving to a better time,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

New York police said about 280 people were arrested on protest-related charges Tuesday night, compared with 700 a day earlier. Nationwide, more than 9,000 have been arrested in connection with unrest.

At least 12 deaths have been reported, though the circumstances in many cases are still being sorted out.

Some tense incidents continued Tuesday night, but were far less prevalent than in preceding days. Police and National Guard troops used tear gas, flash-bang grenades, nonlethal rounds and other means of dispersing crowds near a police precinct in Seattle, near Centennial Park in Atlanta and at demonstrations in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida.
ADVERTISEMENT

Minnesota has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the Minneapolis Police Department has a pattern of discrimination against minorities.


President Donald Trump has pushed the nation’s governors to take a hard line against the violence, saying Tuesday that “lowlifes and losers” were taking over New York’s streets.

He again tweeted Wednesday: “LAW & ORDER!”

Thousands of protesters again took to the streets again in the nation’s capital, singing “Amazing Grace” as they knelt. “We are not going anywhere!” they chanted.

Law enforcement officers in riot gear watched the crowd. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser imposed an 11 p.m. curfew after Tuesday’s peaceful protests. The Tuesday curfew had been 7 p.m.

Jade Jones, 30, said the protests would continue despite the new charges.

“That’s the least they could do,” said Jones, who had been attending Washington protests for days. “It’s not going to wipe away 400 years of pain.”

“We are glad there are additional charges, but that doesn’t mean justice has been served,” she said.

More than 20,000 National Guard members have been called up in 29 states to deal with the violence.

The protests have also taken root overseas amid growing global outrage over Floyd’s death, racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics.

In Greece, police fired tear gas after young people attacked them Wednesday outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens. Some 4,000 protesters had been peaceful until near the end of the demonstration, when some threw gasoline bombs and stones at police. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, a statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo was removed by the city early Wednesday after repeatedly being targeted by vandals. Rizzo presided over a police force widely accused of racism and brutality in the 1970s.

In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam was expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s prominent Monument Avenue, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. The statue in the former Confederate capital has been the target of vandalism during the protests.

___
Full Coverage: Days of Unrest

Associated Press journalists across the U.S. contributed to this report.

Putin declares state of emergency over Siberian fuel spill

June 3, 2020  Agence France-Presse


Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a state of emergency and criticized a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel after a massive diesel spill into a Siberian river.

The spill of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel took place on Friday. A fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk, located above the Arctic Circle, and leaked into a nearby river.

During a televised video conference, Putin lambasted the head of the Norilsk Nickel subsidiary that runs the power plant, NTEK, after officials said it failed to report the incident.

“Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact? Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media? Are you quite healthy there?” Putin asked NTEK chief Sergei Lipin in an unusually stern dressing-down.

Norilsk Nickel said in a statement that NTEK had reported what happened in a “timely and proper” way.

Krasnoyarsk region governor Alexander Uss told Putin he only “learned of the real situation” on Sunday after “alarming information appeared in social media.”

Putin said he agreed that a national state of emergency was needed to call in more resources for the cleanup effort.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which deals with major incidents, announced that it launched three criminal probes over environmental violations and detained an employee of the power plant.

It released video footage shot on a mobile phone that appears to show fuel cascading down from the reservoir and under a fence.

World Wildlife Fund expert Alexei Knizhnikov told AFP the environmental group was the one who alerted cleanup specialists after confirming the accident through its sources.

“These are huge volumes,” he said. “It was difficult for them to cover it up.”

The volume of the spill is vastly larger than a major 2007 spill in the Kerch strait of the Black Sea that involved 5,000 tonnes of oil, the WWF expert said.

The Kerch spill, which at the time was the largest Russia had experienced, required the intervention of the military and hundreds of volunteers.

– Troops could help clean-up –

Knizhnikov said diesel fuel is lighter than oil, so it is likely to evaporate rather than sink, but it is “more toxic to clean up”.

Environment Minister Dmitry Kobylkin said only the emergencies ministry could handle the cleanup, “maybe with the involvement of the military”.

He that burning the fuel, which some are suggesting, was too risky.

“It’s a very difficult situation. I can’t imagine burning so much fuel in an Arctic territory… Such a huge bonfire over such an area will be a big problem.”

The Ambarnaya river that bore the brunt of the spill will be difficult to clean up because it is too shallow to use barges and the remote location has no roads, officials told Putin.

Norilsk Nickel said the fuel tank was damaged when supporting pillars that had “held it in place for 30 years without difficulty” began to sink.

Norilsk is constructed on permafrost and its infrastructure is threatened by melting ice caused by climate change.

The company has been guilty of spillage in the past. In 2016, it admitted pollutants from a “filtration dam” at its plant washed into another local river, coloring it bright red.

It was fined less than $1,000 for the incident.

© 2020 AFP

WATCH: Protesters tackle man carrying semi-automatic rifle at Texas Black Lives Matter protest
June 3, 2020


In an incident that was captured on video in Lubbock, Texas, this Tuesday, and man who was carrying a semi-automatic rifle was tackled and detained by people attending a Black Lives Matter protest, KVEO reports.

Emmanuel Quinones, 25, was carrying a loaded Smith & Wesson .223 caliber semi-automatic firearm at the protest. The video shows numerous people imploring him to put it down. Quinones did put the weapon down when a police officer who showed up on the scene drew his gun, and was subsequently tackled by protesters.

According to police, Quinones threatened President Trump and said, “this is a revolution,” as he was taken into custody. He later admitted in an interview that he had made social media posts targeting Trump and “MAGA instigators.”

“The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. In this case, the defendant threatened multiple lives including the President of the United States and that will not be tolerated,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. “We will continue working with our local, state, and federal partners to apprehend and charge violent instigators who are exploiting legitimate, peaceful protests and engaging in violations of federal law.”

Opinion

Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops

MORE LIKE SEND IN THE CLOWNS

The nation must restore order. The military stands ready.


By Tom Cotton


Mr. Cotton, a Republican, is a United States senator from Arkansas.
June 3, 2020

MR. COTTON HEAD, IS A JINGOIST WAR MONGERING CHICKEN HAWK

THIS VIOLATES THE POSSE COMITATUS ACT, AND WHEN THIS WAS TRIED IN THE THIRTIES THE US MILITARY LEADERSHIP CONSIDERED IT, RIGHTLY SO, TREASON AND AN ATTEMPTED COUP ARRESTING ALL INVOLVED

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton calls for “an overwhelming show of force.”Credit...Pool photo by Andrew Harnik

This week, rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s.

New York City suffered the worst of the riots Monday night, as Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by while Midtown Manhattan descended into lawlessness. Bands of looters roved the streets, smashing and emptying hundreds of businesses. Some even drove exotic cars; the riots were carnivals for the thrill-seeking rich as well as other criminal elements.

Outnumbered police officers, encumbered by feckless politicians, bore the brunt of the violence. In New York State, rioters ran over officers with cars on at least three occasions. In Las Vegas, an officer is in “grave” condition after being shot in the head by a rioter. In St. Louis, four police officers were shot as they attempted to disperse a mob throwing bricks and dumping gasoline; in a separate incident, a 77-year-old retired police captain was shot to death as he tried to stop looters from ransacking a pawnshop. This is “somebody’s granddaddy,” a bystander screamed at the scene.  THIS IS OF COURSE NOT TRUE, IT IS THE BIASED POLITICAL TWISTING OF 'FACTS'.

Some elites have excused this orgy of violence in the spirit of radical chic,

ELITES DO EXIST THEY ARE KNOWN AS THE 1%, THE RULING CLASS, 

THE CAPITALIST CLASS, THE BOURGEOIS, ETC. ETC. THAT IS WHO THE ELITE IS NOT LIBERAL (EDUCATED ABLE TO READ) LATTE DRINKING FOLKS LIKE ME

AND YOU

THE RADICAL CHIC IS OF COURSE A COOL REFERENCE TO TOM WOLFES BOOK ON THE LIBERAL NY SCENE IN THE SIXTIES WHERE PARTIES WERE HELD FOR THE BLACK PANTHERS IN THE COCKTAIL SET, ALL VERY CHI CHI AND ELITE 

AND OF COURSE A REFERENCE BACK TO THE LAST TIME RACE RELATIONS WERE THIS FRONT AND CENTRE, THANKS TO THE BLACK PANTHERS.

calling it an understandable response to the wrongful death of George Floyd. Those excuses are built on a revolting moral equivalence of rioters and looters to peaceful, law-abiding protesters. 

AH THE GOOD OLD FALSE EQUIVALENCY ARGUMENT.

A majority who seek to protest peacefully shouldn’t be confused with bands of miscreants. 

TRUE BUT THE SENATOR HAS, DONE SO DELIBERATELY

Other views
Opinion | The Editorial Board
In America, Protest Is Patriotic  June 2, 2020

Opinion | Philip V. McHarris and Thenjiwe McHarris
No More Money for the Police May 30, 2020

Opinion | Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People.May 29, 2020



But the rioting has nothing to do with George Floyd, whose bereaved relatives have condemned violence.  

TRUE IT IS CAUSED BY RIOT COPS

 On the contrary, nihilist criminals are simply out for loot and the thrill of destruction,

TRUE NICE USE OF TURGENEV, VERY 19TH CENTURY RUSSIAN 'NIHILIST CRIMINALS. THIS LOADED PHRASE FROM LAST CENTURY;'THE THRILL OF DESTRUCTION' WHICH USUALLY CONFUSES IT WITH ANARCHISM WHICH IS DELIBERATE.

 with cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd’s death for their own anarchic purposes

NO ONE INFILTRATES PROTESTS YOU IMBECILE WE ORGANIZE THEM 

LEFT WING RADICALS COULD BE SUBSCRIBERS TO MOTHER JONES, THE NATION, JACOBIN, MONTHLY REVIEW, ETC ETC. MEMBERS OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST OF AMERICA OR THE NDP IN CANADA

ANTIFA IS ANTI FASCIST AKTION ORIGINALLY A GERMAN ANTI NAZI RESISTANCE MOVEMENT IN GERMANY IN THE 1930'S

SO IF YOU OPPOSE THEM THAT OF COURSE MAKES YOU A FASCIST

OF COURSE ANTIFA IS OFTEN PART OF THE LARGER INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST ORDER AS FRANK FIGLUZI OF MSNBC LIKES TO CLAIM, THIS IS FICTION USED BY 

POLICE FORCES TO GAIN MORE FUNDING, IT GOES BACK TO THE 19TH CENTURY

WAR ON ANARCHISTS WHICH LED TO THE CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE ORGANIZATION, INTERPOL BY ANY OTHER NAME 

THE MYTH OF ANTIFA BEING VIOLENT RIOTERS CAME FROM THE RIGHT WHO ARRIVE AT DEMOS WITH GUNS AND ARMOUR LOOKING LIKE ASSAULT TROOPS AND WHEN CONFRONTED BY PEOPLE WITH SHIELDS TO PROTECT DEMONSTRATORS (WHICH IS WHAT ANTIFA DOES) BEING CONFRONTED BY A LARGER ANTI FASCIST LEFT OPPOSITION THE WANKERS WENT ON ANOTHER 

WHINE CAMPAIGN CLAIMING IN THE RIGHT WING PRESS THAT STOPPING FASCISTS IS SOME HOW AN ISSUE OF FREE SPEECH.

These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further.

WHAT RIOTERS? THERE ARE NO RIOTS WITHOUT RIOT COPS.

One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.



Image

The White House, June 1.Credit...Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The pace of looting and disorder may fluctuate from night to night, but it’s past time to support local law enforcement with federal authority. Some governors have mobilized the National Guard, yet others refuse, and in some cases the rioters still outnumber the police and Guard combined. In these circumstances, the Insurrection Act authorizes the president to employ the military “or any other means” in “cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws.”

This venerable law, nearly as old as our republic itself, doesn’t amount to “martial law” or the end of democracy, as some excitable critics, ignorant of both the law and our history, have comically suggested. In fact, the federal government has a constitutional duty to the states to “protect each of them from domestic violence.” Throughout our history, presidents have exercised this authority on dozens of occasions to protect law-abiding citizens from disorder. Nor does it violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which constrains the military’s role in law enforcement but expressly excepts statutes such as the Insurrection Act.

Editors’ Picks

America, Inflamed. Join Us for a Special Conversation About Race.
People Can’t Stop Watching Videos of Police and Protesters. That’s the Idea.

Image
After thousands of whites rioted in Oxford, Miss., in 1962 to prevent integration of the University of Mississippi, President John Kennedy sent U.S. troops to quell the violence.Credit...Donald Uhrbrock/The LIFE Images Collection, via Getty Images
Image
Anti-integration protesters at the University of Mississippi awaiting the arrival of the first African-American student, James Meredith.Credit...Getty Images

For instance, during the 1950s and 1960s, Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson called out the military to disperse mobs that prevented school desegregation or threatened innocent lives and property. This happened in my own state. Gov. Orval Faubus, a racist Democrat, mobilized our National Guard in 1957 to obstruct desegregation at Little Rock Central High School. President Eisenhower federalized the Guard and called in the 101st Airborne in response. The failure to do so, he said, “would be tantamount to acquiescence in anarchy.”

ANOTHER FALSE EQUIVALENCY, THERE WERE NO RIOTS, GUARDSMEN STOOD STRAIGHT AND SILENT, THERE WAS NOT VIOLENCE WITH THE GUARD.
ALL RIOTS WERE COP RIOTS AGAINST BLACK DEMONSTRATORS DEMANDING THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS

More recently, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Army’s Seventh Infantry and 1,500 Marines to protect Los Angeles during race riots in 1992. He acknowledged his disgust at Rodney King’s treatment — “what I saw made me sick” — but he knew deadly rioting would only multiply the victims, of all races and from all walks of life.

Not surprisingly, public opinion is on the side of law enforcement and law and order, not insurrectionists. According to a recent poll, 58 percent of registered voters, including nearly half of Democrats and 37 percent of African-Americans, would support cities’ calling in the military to “address protests and demonstrations” that are in “response to the death of George Floyd.” That opinion may not appear often in chic salons, but widespread support for it is fact nonetheless.

The American people aren’t blind to injustices in our society, but they know that the most basic responsibility of government is to maintain public order and safety. In normal times, local law enforcement can uphold public order. But in rare moments, like ours today, more is needed, even if many politicians prefer to wring their hands while the country burns.

Tom Cotton (@sentomcotton) is a Republican senator from Arkansas.

Activists attack the New York Times for giving ‘fascist’ Tom Cotton editorial to call for violence against protesters

 June 3, 2020 By Sarah K. Burris- Commentary


Activists and commentators are furious that the New York Times gave the column width to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who has been advocating the violent overthrow of the protesters if necessary.

While that move is illegal and a clear violation of the Constitution and Cotton’s oath of office, he took to Twitter to encourage murdering protesters instead of arresting them

“No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters,” Cotton tweeted this week

“Quartering” means lodging or holding people, as Media Matters’ Lisa Power noted.
Sen. Tom Cotton suggests "no quarter" for rioters and looters.

Historically, it means you kill people rather than arrest them.
It's a literal war crime. pic.twitter.com/Y63ZkJWNlS
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) June 1, 2020

It was a comment that many were shocked the Times was willing to let Cotton expound on in the pages of the “paper of record.”

See the angry responses below:

Am I having a stroke or did the paper of record just publish a call to crush a popular uprising by turning the American military against the country’s citizens pic.twitter.com/9SSGK5rsew
— Abraham Riesman אברהם ריסמאַן (@abrahamjoseph) June 3, 2020

.@nytopinion neither has to seek out nor publish such racist authoritarian tripe.
Tom Cotton already has a Senate seat and all the microphones that come with it. He doesn't need the Times to amplify him further.
What an embarrassment. https://t.co/I53UGfDfBw
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton's NYT pitch boils down to "I have testicles and want to do war crimes on American streets." He is very possibly the most eager fascist who's not in the executive branch https://t.co/U2eTfz5e09 pic.twitter.com/BTbbb8aiV4
— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) June 3, 2020

You think that Cotton is using the Times' neutered bothsidesism to call for domestic massacres but in fact the Times ownership and leadership are using Tom Cotton to launder their own desire for and advocacy of domestic massacres in the name of order and getting back to Cipriani.
— Jacob Bacharach (@jakebackpack) June 3, 2020

Earlier this week: Tom Cotton tweets that protesters should be executed
NYT: [IMMEDIATELY PRINTS AN OP-ED FROM HIM] pic.twitter.com/MdEK3asm5v
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) June 3, 2020

some op-ed editor emailed tom cotton and was like, i feel like this tweet could be an essay?! pic.twitter.com/M8s5bFbfFx
— doreen st. félix (@dstfelix) June 3, 2020


This is disgusting, Tom Cotton is disgusting, and the Times should never have published it. It's a call for racialized state violence. Throw it in the trash. pic.twitter.com/hHrRJUIwBa
— Sam Thielman (@samthielman) June 3, 2020

I still believe that Tom Cotton is too much of a dead eyed bloodthirsty psycho to even compete in a GOP Presidential Primary but I don't feel great about The Paper Of Record letting him publish this deadeyed bloodthirsty psycho column! pic.twitter.com/tlKEv3WqUD
— Indiana Antifa Supersoldier Caravan Believer (@lib_crusher) June 3, 2020

Damn James Bennet really saw Tom Cotton’s tweet thread about wanting to massacre Americans citizens with the US military and sent him the “lol do you want to write this for us?” DM. An editor truly on his grind!
— Tom Ley (@ToLey88) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton is campaigning for future office by positioning himself as the most fascistic fascist.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton knows a thing or two about looting pic.twitter.com/RuKDFosB2I
— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) June 3, 2020

The fascism embraced by Tom Cotton and his fellow travelers is far more of a threat to American democracy than any of the foreign nations Cotton wants to bomb and occupy: https://t.co/RVJzJRKQuF
— Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton definitely thinks John Brown was the bad guy
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) June 3, 2020

if you're a China hawk or a Hong Kong dissident, you gotta recognize that people like Tom Cotton, who call for the crushing of civil rights by military force in their own country, *are not your friend*
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) June 3, 2020

Lots of great lines in here that are like paeans to fascist imagery https://t.co/85SXuxewg4
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton should have to declare this as an in-kind campaign donation from the NYT, but that's another law he doesn't give a shit about. Read this instead, Tom has a key supporting role in it https://t.co/U2eTfz5e09 pic.twitter.com/4ah5KH3FQq
— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton is stereotypically fash guy radicalized by his experience in imperial wars and now in a position to import those practices and frameworks back to his home country; many such cases.
— Murtaza M. Hussain (@MazMHussain) June 3, 2020

Go, and I cannot stress this enough, fuck yourself, @SenTomCotton. https://t.co/MbX8ljgOoj
— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) June 3, 2020

Remember when the USA looted Iraq?
Now lecturing about looting Nike stores in Minneapolis…
The attacks on Iraq were based on lies about Iraq having WMD by US Colin Powell/Bush.
I wonder what govt post that soldier in the top-left corner is holding now, US Senator Tom Cotton. pic.twitter.com/h1i78UnlkE
— Ratiba "Tibou" Abdessemed (@Tibou12379939) June 2, 2020

Two days ago, Senator Tom Cotton urged the military to execute Americans in the street without trial.
The New York Times’ editorial board has had nothing to say about this — instead The Times has rewarded Cotton by running a grotesque and inflammatory op-ed from Cotton. pic.twitter.com/kPfqKsHxes
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) June 3, 2020

Tom Cotton is a fascist. Hate oozes from every word of this dehumanizing screed. https://t.co/1v0uz7FjH9 pic.twitter.com/KT8vV94CDd
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) June 3, 2020


This is such an irresponsible move by the @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/pl8ILMZgf5
— Michael Bazemore (@deepwatermike) June 3, 2020

JEDI VS SITH MEME

ANTIFA DOMESTIC TERRORIST MEMES