Thursday, June 04, 2020

ENEMIES OF THE STATE 

 Opinion: Press freedom — we will not stop reporting

DW reporters often face police aggression in African countries or Russia. But being under police fire in the motherland of modern democracy is a novelty, says DW Editor-in-Chief Manuela Kasper-Claridge.

VIDEO 'You’re going to get maced!' Police threaten DW reporter
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3dCEl

Recent images of police violence directed at free and independent journalists in the US are extremely disturbing. We journalists, however, are not intimidated. Take my colleague Stefan Simons, who was apparently shot at with a rubber bullet from within a group of police officers, and who went on air live immediately afterward, commenting on the incident. The Bellingcat investigative research website says more than 100 journalists have fallen victim to police violence in the US over the past few days. One of them was Linda Tirado, a photographer, who lost an eye to a rubber bullet.

Read more: US attack on press freedom gains supporters

Those who block us journalists will fail because free and independent reporting is part of democracy's DNA — of course, this is also true in the US, which holds only the 45th place in the Reporters Without Borders ranking of freedom of the press. Journalists in the US now operate in a hostile climate, fueled by verbal attacks by the US president. This has to stop!

Regardless, attempts at intimidation and defamation will remain unsuccessful. We take risks to report on police violence, abuse of power or political failure because everyone has the right to information, even if some people don't like it. Every attack on an individual reporter is an attack on everyone's freedom. We must defend ourselves against the obstruction of free and independent reporting with every constitutional tool available.

Read more: Journalists under threat: June's 10 most urgent cases

DW Editor-in-Chief Manuela Kasper-Claridge

Deutsche Welle has lodged a formal complaint with the US Embassy over the threat to its correspondent and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is demanding the US protect the freedom of the press. Maas also announced plans to investigate the attacks. That's a good thing. In view of the abuses, it is important to keep the broader public informed. Where reporters are hindered from doing their jobs, other rights are also quickly put at risk. So we will continue to provide information about what is happening in the US, Hong Kong, Russia, Germany — and around the globe. We will not let anyone take this freedom from us

DW team in Minneapolis met with police hostility
Once again, DW reporter Sefan Simons has been threatened by police while reporting on the scene in Minneapolis. Although he repeatedly explained that he was from the press and had permission, officers directed their weapons at him, forcing him to leave.
VIDEO
https://www.dw.com/en/dw-team-in-minneapolis-met-with-police-hostility/av-53648098
VIDEO
Germany to take up DW reporter incident with US
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3dCEl

DW team confronted by Minneapolis police during nighttime curfew
A DW reporter and his camera operator have been shot at with projectiles by Minneapolis police and threatened with arrest. Reporter Stefan Simons confirmed with "absolute" certainty that the shot was fired by officers behind him as he was preparing to go live on air.

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Germany 'shocked' by George Floyd killing, calls for end to violence

Germany's government has commented on the ongoing protests in the United States, saying societies around the world need to address racism, and that Berlin believes in the strength of US democracy in overcoming unrest.


As widespread protests continued in dozens of US cities over the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, a German government spokesperson on Wednesday said Germany was "shocked" by the "horrific and avoidable" death, adding that societies around the world need to do more to address racism.

"Racism is certainly not an American problem, rather a problem in many societies, and I am sure that there is also racism in Germany," the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert, told a press conference in Berlin.

"Every society, including ours, is called upon to continually work against this," he added.

Read more: Opinion: George Floyd killing opens racism wounds for European blacks

On May 25, George Floyd was killed after a confrontation with police in the northern city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, during which an officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

The officer has since been charged with murder, and the incident has sparked violent clashes in multiple cities between police and protesters, who have taken to the streets to call for an end to police brutality and racism.

American democracy is 'strong'

Seibert said the German government is closely following the ongoing unrest in the US with "sympathy" and hopes that violence will end soon, as Germany has a close, long-standing relationship with the US.

He added that Germany was confident that the democratic values in the US and the "rule of law" would prevail.

Read more: Germany's top diplomat: George Floyd protests 'legitimate,' urges press freedom

"America is a strong democracy," Seibert said, adding that there is a vocal and pluralistic debate in US media about racism, police brutality, and the ensuing protests.

"It goes without us saying that there is a heated debate over everything that is happening now."


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#BLM: US cycle of racist violence resonates in Africa

Outrage over US racism resonates in Africa: Gambians want to kneel with black Americans, Zimbabweans are tackling the Trump administration, and South Africa is reflecting on its own police brutality. (03.06.2020)

Date 03.06.2020
Related Subjects Germany
Keywords George Floyd, police violence, Germany
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"You Don’t Think That Don’t Affect Us”: Black Cops Talk To Black Protesters About George Floyd’s Killing

“Just because we have this on doesn’t mean we don’t have an opinion about what happened. You are putting all of us in a bottle together,” one officer told protesters.
Reporting From Washington, DC Posted on June 3, 2020,

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Getty Images
Two members of the Secret Service walk toward the White House.

WASHINGTON — When a black Secret Service agent protecting the White House handed her white colleague a bottle of water, a protester yelled at her from 50 feet away, “I bet you get his lunch, too.”

That insult was not unusual. In another weekend incident, black men protecting the White House faced taunts from protesters calling them “slaves” and “house niggers.” Other protesters antagonized black law enforcement officers by calling them “Uncle Toms” for protecting President Donald Trump.

Across the country, protests have been marked by chants and confrontations, but the interactions between black protesters and black law enforcement officers have been especially complex.

One encounter during Saturday night’s protests stood out, going beyond those jabs into a deeper discussion about motives and beliefs, when four black law enforcement officers monitoring the protests near the White House told two young black men, “Everybody is not the same.”

“You’re a protester,” one of the black officers said to a young black man. “I’m not going to do anything because you’re protesting — but when you start burning stuff, doing crazy stuff, throwing stuff at people, what do you think you’re going to get back?”

The protester, who declined to be interviewed for this story, insisted the officer weigh in on the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody. “We’re talking about the incident that we’re protesting,” he said.

“Yes, we wear uniforms,” the officer responded. “Yes, we took an oath to do certain things, but we have feelings just like you. The thing about it is, just because we have this on doesn’t mean we don’t have an opinion about what happened. You are putting all of us in a bottle together. Everybody is not the same. That’s what you have to realize. You don’t know where I came from.”

A second black officer interjected.

“Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. You don’t think that don’t affect us — somebody that looks like us that’s hurt like that. But y’all come out here calling us slaves,” he said.

“We have an opinion just like you,” the first black police officer told the protesters.

At this point, each officer seemed resolved to convince the young men that not only were they insulted by some of the rhetoric coming from black protesters, but they were on the same side of the argument. “Do we think what happened was right? No.”

A third officer chimed in, “I’ve been a cop for a long time. My little brother’s a cop. My father retired as a cop. My uncle — cops all over — we got feelings too.”

One of the protesters responded that he also had police officers in his family, one of whom had left the police force because he felt he was “complicit in the wrong things,” he said.

After an officer suggested lawyers and doctors face the same scrutiny as police officers. The protester shot back. “Yeah. Sure, but if a lawyer fuck up, everyone’s going to say it’s wrong. If a doctor fuck up, other docs say it’s wrong, and they’re going to take his license. When this happens with police officers, everybody just…,” he said, his voice trailing off.

The remaining two officers left abruptly when a white officer came over. “We up,” one of the officers said to the two protesters as they walked away.


MORE ON THIS
People Are Taking To The Streets To Protest Police Brutality Amid Trump's Threat To Unleash The Military
Claudia Koerner · June 1, 2020
Kadia Goba · June 2, 2020
Adolfo Flores · May 31, 2020



Kadia Goba is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC.



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Gambia demands probe after US police shoot dead diplomat's son


BBC JUNE 3, 2020
Placard saying "stop killing black and brown people" in front of Trump tower

The Gambia has demanded a "credible" investigation after the son of a diplomat was shot dead by US police.

Thirty-nine-year-old Momodou Lamin Sisay was shot after a car chase in Georgia on Friday morning, according to the preliminary investigation by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

He was pronounced dead on the scene. The police said he had produced a gun.

The shooting comes amid widespread protests after a US police officer killed George Floyd last week.

hat happened to Sisay?

Georgia investigators said that at approximately 03:49 in the morning, a police officer in Snellville, Georgia attempted to stop his vehicle but the vehicle did not stop, and a pursuit ensued.

"Officers approached the vehicle and gave verbal commands for the driver to show his hands. The driver did not comply... the driver pointed a handgun at the officers. Officers fired at the driver and pulled back to take cover behind their patrol vehicles," investigators said.

A Swat team was called and "during the standoff, the driver pointed his weapon and fired at the SWAT officers. One GCPD SWAT officer fired his weapon", they added.

Lare Sisay, the victim's father who works at the United Nations, said the police did not do enough to peacefully resolve the situation, and also disputed that he had a gun, according to local media.

"We will do an independent autopsy and we want to get a private investigator to investigate the circumstances of his death and if necessary hire a lawyer to sue the Georgia state police. We're not going to let it go," The Point newspaper quotes him as saying.

On Tuesday The Gambia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked its embassy in Washington DC to "engage the relevant US authorities including the State Department to seek transparent, credible and objective investigation".

Mr Sisay's name has been used in social media posts this week supporting the campaign against US police brutality against black people.

Protests have been taking place across the US following the death of Mr Floyd, an African-American man, who died after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kept his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Mr Chauvin has been sacked from the police force and charged with murder.
George Floyd death
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Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Malaria drug touted by Trump fails to prevent COVID-19 in high profile study


(Reuters) - The malaria drug promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 was ineffective in preventing infection in people exposed to the coronavirus, according to a widely anticipated clinical trial released on Wednesday.

The new trial found no serious side effects or heart problems from use of hydroxychloroquine.

Vocal support from Trump kicked off a heated debate and raised expectations for the decades-old drug that could be a cheap and widely available tool in fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 6.4 million people and killed over 382,000 worldwide

In the first major study comparing hydroxychloroquine to a placebo to gauge its effect against the new coronavirus, University of Minnesota researchers tested 821 people who had recently been exposed to the virus or lived in a high-risk household.

It found 11.8% of subjects given hydroxychloroquine developed symptoms compatible with COVID-19, compared with 14.3%who got a placebo. That difference was not statistically significant, meaning the drug was no better than placebo.

“Our data is pretty clear that for post exposure, this does not really work,” said Dr. David Boulware, the trial’s lead researcher and an infectious disease physician at the University of Minnesota.
Several trials of the drug have been stopped over concerns about its safety for treating COVID-19 that were raised by health regulators and previous less rigorous studies.

“I think both sides - one side who is saying ‘this is a dangerous drug’ and the other side that says ‘this works’ - neither is correct,” said Boulware.

The results were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In March, Trump said hydroxychloroquine used in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin had “a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine” with little evidence to back up that claim. He later said he took the drugs preventively after two people who worked at the White House were diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Hydroxychloroquine - which has anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties - inhibited the virus in laboratory experiments. But these type of human trials are needed to definitively demonstrate whether the drug’s benefits, if any, outweigh the risks when compared with a placebo.

Proponents of the drug as a COVID-19 treatment argue it may need to be administered at an earlier stage in the disease to be effective. Others have suggested that it needs to be used in combination with the mineral zinc, which can help boost the immune system.

More than 20% of the trial subjects also took zinc, which had no significant effect.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned in late April against the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients with heart disease due to an increased risk of dangerous cardiac rhythm problems.

Boulware said his trial had fewer participants than initially planned because of difficulty enrolling new subjects after the FDA’s warning.

On Tuesday, the British medical journal the Lancet said it had concerns about data behind an influential article that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients, a conclusion that undercut scientific interest in the medicine.

Boulware was one of the signatories of an open letter from doctors that called attention to potential problems with that study.

Some European governments banned hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients, and U.S. hospitals have significantly cut back its use.


In the University of Minnesota trial, 40% of the those who took hydroxychloroquine reported less serious side effects like nausea and abdominal discomfort versus 17% in the placebo group.

Results of another University of Minnesota placebo-controlled trial testing hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment rather than to prevent infection is expected soon.
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Hong Kong legislature starts voting on China national anthem bill
IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES THIS WOULD BE CALLED WHAT IT IS A BLASPHEMY LAW!

Breaking with their usual policy of political neutrality, HSBC and Standard Chartered banks gave their backing to the new law on Hong Kong on Wednesday.

THEY ARE CHINA BACKED BANKS
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s Legislative Council started voting on a controversial bill on Thursday that would make disrespecting China’s national anthem a criminal offence, amid heightened fears over Beijing’s tightening grip on the city.

RELATED COVERAGE

Explainer: Hong Kong's China national anthem bill aims to legislate 'respect'

Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers protest amid anthem bill debate

The voting came just as people in Hong Kong were set to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city later in the day. Police have banned the annual vigil in which the crackdown has been usually marked, citing the coronavirus outbreak.

A final vote on the bill is expected later on Thursday.

The bill could punish those who insult the anthem with up to three years jail and/or fines of up to HK$50,000 ($6,450). It states that “all individuals and organisations” should respect and dignify the national anthem and play it and sing it on “appropriate occasions”.
Tensions in the Chinese-ruled city have ramped up after Beijing gave the green light last week to move ahead with national security laws to tackle secession, subversion and foreign interference.

The move was quickly condemned by the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, as well as international human rights groups and some business groups.

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The Shooting Of Black Americans Started Long Before The Looting

Donald Trump threatened George Floyd protesters on Twitter, but their lives have always been at risk.

By Taryn Finley, HuffPost USBLACK VOICES
05/29/2020 

KEREM YUCEL VIA GETTY IMAGES
A protester wearing a face mask holds up his hands during a May 27 demonstration outside Minneapolis' 3rd Police Precinct over the police killing of George Floyd.

I’m mad as hell.

When protests turned into civil unrest in Minneapolis as folks demanded the arrest of the four officers responsible for George Floyd’s death, I knew to prepare for the same cycle we saw in Ferguson and Baltimore just a few years ago.

Another Black life is taken by the hands of those who are supposed to protect and serve us. The cops are fired, but not arrested despite video evidence that they’re responsible for someone’s death. Folks, mostly Black people, protest. Police bring out the riot squad and throw tear gas at the protesters. Tired of a system in which their lives are always at stake, Black protesters turn to civil unrest.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you see folks running out of Target — which funded surveillance cameras around downtown Minneapolis in a move that some called predatory — with carts full of merchandise. Twitterusersallege that same Target closed its doors on them to prevent protesters from buying supplies. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct station was set ablaze. And there’s nothing novel about political analysts and folks on social media expressing more anger about destroyed property than a lost life. Protesters aren’t criminals; they’re tired of waiting for change in a system that continues to deny them justice. And this country’s leaders continue to fail them.

Early Friday, President Donald Trump sent a tweet that used racist language and threatened those engaged in civil unrest.

“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” he tweeted as protesters cheered and watched the police station burn down. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020


Shortly after, Twitter noted on the post that the president’s tweet violated the platform’s rules about “glorifying violence” but that the tweet would remain accessible in consideration of the public interest. Hours later, the White House Twitter account doubled down with a tweet repeating Trump’s earlier words.

With his phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump was evoking the words of former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley. As racial tension grew in Miami in the 1960s, Headley vowed to control Black protesters and crack down on “hoodlums.”

“We don’t mind being accused of police brutality,” he said in December 1967. “They haven’t seen anything yet.” By the time civil unrest erupted and lasted for three days in August 1968, three people died at the hands of police, 18 were wounded, and 222 were arrested, according to The Washington Post.

But what Trump gets blatantly wrong is that the “shooting” — or state-sanctioned killing in general — was going on long before the incidents at Target. Black people’s lives have long been threatened by white people with more privilege and power who still manage to see us as a threat. That holds true for Floyd, who was killed by Derek Chauvin, an officer with 18 prior complaints filed against him before he suffocated the 46-year-old unarmed Black man.

Same goes for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Philando Castile, Rekia Boyd, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Walter Scott, Terence Crutcher, Eric Garner, Samuel Dubose and so many other names we may never know. And as I write this, I learn we have to add to this list Tony McDade, who was shot and killed by police in Tallahassee, Florida, this week.

This is hell.

What Trump said should surprise no one. This is the man who placed a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the death of the Central Park Five (now the Exonerated Five). What was shocking was the fact that a president who has been notoriously quiet when it comes to Black Americans dying at the hands of cops finally said something. He was quiet after the death of Stephon Clark in Sacramento, with his press secretary at the time calling it “a local matter.”

When he finally does address a case, he calls Black protesters “thugs,” a term often weaponized against Black people to make them out to be a threat, while actively threatening their lives with the use of more state-sanctioned violence. (A totally different tone than the one he used on May 1 when addressing a heavily armed group protesting stay-at-home orders meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.)

It is unfair to deny those who built this country the freedom of knowing for sure they will make it home safe and then call them crazy when they burn it down. I would have been more content had Trump stuck with the 10 unmoving words he uttered at a press conference on Thursday: “I feel very, very badly. That’s a very shocking sight.”

In a 1966 interview, Martin Luther King Jr. was asked about some Black activists’ departure from the peaceful approach he advocated to address racial injustice.

“The cry of Black power is at bottom a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro,” he said. In that interview, he called a riot “the language of the unheard.”

Civil unrest is happening because Black people in this country are fed up with being killed. We’re tired of watching videos of our brothers and sisters die at the hands of police. We’re tired of having to deal with racism — especially amid a pandemic that disproportionately affects Black people — while some white people aren’t even aware of the mourning taking place. And it’s utterly exhausting to live under oppressive structures that expect us to stand by idly as we watch people who look like us be killed because some cop (or civilian) sees them as a thug.

We’re mad as hell. And if you care about Black people, you should be, too.
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The Racist Origins Of Trump’s ‘When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts’ Quote

A line originally used by an aggressive Miami police chief prompted Twitter to issue another content warning for the president's tweets.

By Sara Boboltz, HuffPost US

As protests intensified in Minneapolis following the death of a Black man pinned down by a white police officer, President Donald Trump issued a naked threat in a pair of tweets.

“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis,” he wrote Thursday night. “Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”

He continued in a second tweet: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

Twitter posted a content warning over the latter half of the president’s message, warning users that it violated the platform’s rules about glorifying violence but was still available out of public interest. (The same label was applied to an identical tweet from the official White House account.) It was the second time this week that the company labeled Trump’s tweets with some kind of content warning.

I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020

....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020

Later Friday, Trump attempted to backpedal with a nonsensical series of tweets, claiming that his racist call to violence was misunderstood (a reading that would require ignoring the immediate context of the threat, in which the president invoked the military to assert “control” of the situation).

“It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement. It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media,” he tweeted.

Trump did not coin the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The line is half a century old, and combative Miami Police Chief Walter Headley Jr. originally used it during the height of civil rights protests in the 1960s.

Headley led the Florida city’s law enforcement from 1948 until his sudden death in 1968. He attracted national attention and condemnation in December 1967, when he threatened to step up already severe policing practices that included use of tear gas and an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy.

“This is war,” Headley told reporters, according to a United Press International article from the time. He described his problem with “young hoodlums, from 15 to 21, who have taken advantage of the civil rights campaign.”

“We don’t mind being accused of police brutality,” Headley said. “They haven’t seen anything yet.”

The police chief then explained that he maintained order by threatening violence: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

His comments angered civil rights leaders at the time. Martin Davies, a spokesman for the NAACP, told UPI: “This man has no place in a position of public trust. If necessary, we will get a lawsuit to keep him from enforcing this type of arbitrary action.”

Headley’s news conference so alarmed residents that he was put before the Miami City Commission to explain himself, according to his New York Times obituary. He claimed his remarks had been partly misinterpreted, and the publication said he “held his ground on enforcement and gained the commission’s support.” The city council and its mayor were all white men at the time.
We don’t mind being accused of police brutality. They haven’t seen anything yet.former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley Jr., in the 1960s


It wasn’t the first time Headley would publicly use the “looting” phrase, either. Facing criticism in August 1968 for remaining on vacation while riots broke out in Liberty City, a majority-Black neighborhood in Miami, Headley said his department could handle the situation without him. “They know what to do. When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he said, according to the Times obituary.

His officers killed three people. Eighteen were wounded.

Headley’s defenders said he transformed the department, which Miami Herald columnist Charles Whited had once described as being “comprised of more beef than brains.” But it became known for brawny tactics.

In the Headley era, two cops strip-searched a Black teenager suspected of bringing a knife into a pool hall and dangled him by his feet over a bridge crossing the Miami River, according to a Washington Post article about the era’s unrest.

At the time, local leaders claimed Headley was effective, but his authoritarian policies increased distrust between the Black community and law enforcement ― a long trend that has since led to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Protesters have demonstrated across the country since George Floyd, a Black man, died Monday after a white police officer restrained him by pinning his neck to the ground with a knee. Video of the incident shows Floyd pleading for his life and saying he could not breathe.

Some of the protesters turned violent on Wednesday night, setting fire to several Minneapolis businesses. They breached a city police station on Thursday, setting it ablaze and smashing windows as officers retreated.

Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, called for the violence to end earlier this week.

“I want everybody to be peaceful right now, but people are torn and hurt because they’re tired of seeing Black men die,” he told CNN. “Constantly, over and over again
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Elizabeth May Wants Canada To Accept U.S. Asylum Seekers Now That Country ‘No Longer Safe’

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is also calling on Trudeau to denounce the U.S. president’s actions.

By Ryan Maloney

 NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks with the media following the second day of caucus meetings in Ottawa...
CP Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May and
 U.S. President Donald Trump are shown in a composite
 of images from The Canadian Press.

Elizabeth May says Canada must welcome asylum seekers wanting to flee the United States because it isn’t a secure country for racialized communities under the president’s leadership.

“We must not turn them away because Donald Trump has made the United States no longer safe,” the federal Green parliamentary leader told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday.

May called the press conference to address the protests against anti-Black racism that have erupted after last week’s police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. The situation has been made more dire by Trump’s incendiary words and actions, she said.

She noted Trump’s threat to use military action on protesters, his tweets that were flagged by Twitter as glorifying violence, and the National Guard’s use of tear gas on peaceful demonstrators in Washington, D.C. this week to clear a path for a presidential photo-op.

May reiterated her party’s position that it is time for the Liberal government to suspend Canada’s Safe Third Country agreement with the U.S.

“It’s clear that if you’re Muslim, if you’re Black, if you’re Latina, if you’re Indigenous, the United States is not a safe country,” she said.

According to the 2004 pact, Canada and the U.S. recognize each other as safe places for refugee claimants to seek protection. Both countries reject most asylum claims made at land border crossings on the basis that people should instead seek refuge in the first country they arrive in.

However, in what has been called a loophole, the Safe Third Country agreement only applies at official border points. Thousands of people have crossed into Canada from the U.S. irregularly over several years in order to make claims.

In a move that outraged refugee advocates, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in March that asylum seekers who try to come into Canada irregularly from the U.S. would be sent back as part of a “reciprocal” arrangement between the countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada has closed the border to non-essential U.S. visitors until at least June 21.

At the time, May also blasted the government for closing the border to those seeking refuge during the pandemic. “If border officials are allowed to turn away asylum seekers at unauthorized points of entry, we might as well just build a wall across the entire country. Whatever happened to our ‘welcoming’ country?” she said in a press release.

May said Wednesday that as long as those seeking asylum adhere to Canada’s COVID-19 safety protocols, they shouldn’t be turned away.

“We’ve been making this point since Trump came to office with his anti-Muslim ban,” she said, referring to the president’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations. “That you couldn’t be a Muslim in the United States and feel safe. It was no longer a Safe Third Country.”

But May said she would not criticize Trudeau or Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for refusing to call out Trump by name over the unrest south of the border.
It’s clear that if you’re Muslim, if you’re Black, if you’re Latina, if you’re Indigenous, the United States is not a safe country.Green MP Elizabeth May


The prime minister stood silent for 21 seconds Tuesday when asked by a reporter to weigh in on Trump’s behaviour. When he eventually answered, Trudeau did not reference the U.S. president by name, but said Canadians were watching what is happening in the U.S. with “horror and consternation.”

May said she wants to give Trudeau and Freeland “the space to navigate” how they deal with the Trump White House, saying they have “different jobs” and roles than she does.

“I just knew I could not stay silent as the president of the United States urged violence and in coded language has been giving… oxygen, for years now, to white supremacists,” she said.

The Green parliamentary leader is also calling for an inquiry to determine to what extent white supremacist forces could be infiltrating police and the military in Canada.

“This is a very dangerous situation. And I do think those of us in other countries should speak out,” she said. “But I won’t criticize the prime minister or the deputy prime minister because the nature of what they have to do in negotiating keeping the border closed for safety, right now, for COVID-19.”
Singh: PM must speak out on Trump’s actions

In contrast, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday that Trudeau needs to speak out forcefully against Trump. Canada cannot be a “passive bystander” as Trump inflames hatred and fuels racism, he said.

“He is acting in a way which is going to put people’s lives at risk,” Singh said of the president. “And it is wrong and it needs to be called out.

“It’s difficult to stand up to bullies. It’s difficult to call out hate. It’s hard to do but it must be done. And it takes courage and everyone has to do their part.”

The NDP leader, who a day earlier in the House of Commons suggested Trudeau was more interested in “pretty words” than concrete action on racial injustice, said the Liberal government should also move to end racially motivated policing tactics and address the over-representation of visible minorities and Indigenous people in prisons

Singh, the first racialized leader of a major federal party and a politician who has been open about the bigotry he has faced as a turbaned Sikh, recounted how some bystanders would say nothing when he was bullied as a child.

“Silence didn’t stop the blows that I felt. Silence didn’t stop the painful words,” he said.

Trudeau should condemn Trump’s conduct clearly, even if it complicates Canada-U.S. relations, he suggested.

“There are times where we have to be strategic, and there are times where we just have to stand up for what is right,” he said. “And this is one of those times where we have to stand up for what is right.”

With files from The Canadian Press
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Trudeau Took A Long Pause Before Answering Question About Trump’s Military Action

He was careful to not mention the U.S. president by name.

By Ryan Maloney
Zi-Ann Lum

06/02/2020

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood silent for more than 20 seconds at his Ottawa press briefing Tuesday after he was asked to comment on Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the military against anti-Black racism protesters.

When he finally answered, Trudeau was careful not to reference the U.S. president by name. Instead, he focused on racial injustice in Canada.

The question came one day after the National Guard used tear gas on peaceful demonstrators in Washington, D.C. to clear a path for a Trump photo-op. Demonstrations and acts of violence have erupted across the U.S. since last week’s police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in Minneapolis. Floyd died after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck for eight minutes.

CBC News reporter Tom Parry noted Trudeau’s past reluctance to weigh in on Trump’s words and actions. “If you don’t want to comment, what message do you think you’re sending?” Parry asked.

After the lengthy delay that played out like a technical glitch on TV, Trudeau said Canadians are watching what is happening in the U.S. with “horror and consternation.”
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI VIA GETTY IMAGESU.S. President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 2020.
“It is a time to pull people together, but it is a time to listen. It is a time to learn what injustices continue, despite progress, over years and decades,” 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.”

Echoing sentiments he’s already expressed publicly, Trudeau said there is systemic discrimination in this country because people of colour are treated differently than other Canadians.

“It is something that many of us don’t see but it is something that is a lived reality for racialized Canadians,” he said. “We need to see that, not just as a government and take action, but we need to see that as Canadians.”

Pressed again on why he is so averse to comment directly on Trump’s actions, Trudeau said his job is to stand up for Canadians, their values and interests.
ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
A protestor is being arrested by Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police officers during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after being pinned down by a white police officer last week.

“That is what I have done from the very beginning, that is what I will continue to do,” he said. “Canadians need a government that will be there for them, that will support them, and that will move us forward in the right direction. And I will do that.”

Another reporter pressed Trudeau on a 2017 UN report on anti-Black racism in Canada that recommended the federal government apologize for the country’s history of slavery and offer reparations.

The prime minister would not say if his government will issue a formal apology. Instead, Trudeau said his government has worked “very, very closely” with the Black community to respond to its priorities. The NDP is currently pushing the government to collect more race-based data to help shape policy decisions, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

“What we are seeing in the United States and what Canadians are speaking about here in Canada underlines the fact that we need to act,” he said.
Party leaders make statements saying racism is real in Canada

Trudeau and other federal leaders later spoke in the House of Commons Tuesday about Canada’s own issues with racial discrimination. The prime minister said horrific reports of police violence against Black men and women in the U.S. are not “elsewhere problems.”

“As a country, we are not concerned bystanders simply watching what is happening next door. We are part of it,” he said.

Trudeau also addressed his own past incidents of blackface, calling them “serious” mistakes.

“We need to be allies in the fight against discrimination. We need to listen, we need to learn, and we need to work hard to fix, to figure out how we can be part of the solution on fixing things.”

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said racism isn’t a problem exclusive to the U.S. He said he hopes the fallout from Floyd’s death has sparked conversations about racism.

Canada has had its own “dark episodes” in the past, Scheer said, noting a “troubling spike” in the number of racist anti-Asian incidents during the pandemic.

“In a peaceful and free country like Canada, there’s absolutely no room for intolerance, racism and extremism of any kind.” The words were nearly identical to a campaign-style speech he delivered last year.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism is real, and members of those communities have been killed at the hands of police in Canada. He referenced the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto last week as a latest example. The woman’s family has questioned the role of officers in her death after she fell from a 24th-floor balcony with police on the scene.
GRAHAM HUGHES/CP
A anti-police brutality protester hold a sign during a demonstration calling for justice in the death of George Floyd and victims of police brutality in Montreal on May 31, 2020.

“How many more people need to die before there is action? How many more speeches need to be made, how many more protests need to happen before something is done.”

Singh said people are done with “pretty speeches from people in power that could do something about it right now if they wanted to.” He added that he doesn’t have the answers and that “we’re going to have to come up with those solutions together.”
Bloc leader, Quebec premier deny systemic racism exists

Earlier, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters in Ottawa he doesn’t believe the Canadian government, the Quebec government, or cities in his province are racist in “any way shape or form.”

Looking back at history, some can argue that the Canadian government has been racist, he said. The Bloc leader urged citizens and elected officials to feel “sorrow and sincere friendship toward the Black people of all North America.”

Blanchet urged people to express sadness “peacefully” over Floyd’s death rather than “feeding the fire,” referencing protests against police brutality organized around the world.
GRAHAM HUGHES/CP
Protesters run from police during a demonstration calling for justice in the death of George Floyd and victims of police brutality in Montreal on May 31, 2020.

His comments pick up on Quebec Premier François Legault’s comments Monday, claiming systemic racism doesn’t exist in his province.

Legault said he found the nature of Floyd’s death “shocking,” and expressed solidarity with protesters who took to the streets of Montreal over the week.

But he downplayed the severity of racism in Quebec, despite his government’s push to pass a discriminatory law last year to ban visible religious symbols that disproportionately affects women from minority groups.

Although there are racist incidents in the province, Legault said, the level of discrimination at home isn’t comparable to what happens in the U.S.

“I think there is some discrimination in Quebec, but there’s no systemic discrimination. There’s no system in Quebec of discrimination,” he said. “And it’s a very, very small minority of the people that are doing some discrimination.”
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