US protesters pull down more statues of people with links to slavery



In the US, protesters in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina pulled down parts of a Confederate monument on Friday night and hanged one of the toppled statues from a lamp post.

Police officers earlier in the evening had foiled the protesters' previous attempt to use ropes to topple the statues.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of demonstrators had marched through downtown Raleigh and Durham to protest against police brutality and to celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

Numerous Confederate statues have been vandalized or torn down across the South in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd, a Black-American man who was killed after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.

There were similar scenes in San Francisco where protesters pulled down statues of Francis Scott Key and Junípero Serra on Friday night.

Key wrote a poem after witnessing a huge American flag being hoisted after a victory over the British during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

That poem became "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the US.

Key and his family had links to slavery.

US Protesters topple several Confederate statues nationwide overnight

The statue of a militia man is hauled away from the nearby General Robert E. Lee monument prior to a rally set for later Saturday in Richmond, Va. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

June 20 (UPI) -- Amid ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, demonstrators toppled several statues of Confederate figures and others deemed racist overnight.

A Confederate statue in Washington, D.C., was among those ripped down Friday night.

Protesters toppled the outdoor statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike by ripping it down with rope and later set it ablaze as law enforcement watched.
Pike, who was memorialized in a 27-foot-tall bronze and marble monument in Judiciary Square, was a northerner, but fought for the Confederacy as a brigadier general, championing the South's secession. After the Civil War, he supported the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry that commissioned the statue in the early 20th century.

RELATED Black caucus lawmakers revive bill to remove Confederate statues

"The D.C. Police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down and burn," President Donald Trump tweeted. "These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our country! @MayorBowser"

Trump tagged D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in the tweet, who also authorized painting a street near the White House with the words "Black Lives Matter" in huge yellow letters. The move was a rebuke to Trump for clearing peaceful protesters to stage what critics said amounted to a photo op at a church near the White House.

The protesters were calling for police reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black men, while he was in police custody on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill on Memorial Day. A Minneapolis police officer was fired and charged with murder for Floyd's death.

RELATED Virginia AG backs decision to remove Confederate monument

Controversy over the Pike statue had been brewing since the 2017 Unite the Right rally in which self-avowed white nationalists and members of the far right sought to protect the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va. Self-identified white supremacist James Alex Fields plowed his car into counterprotesters during the rally, killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 35 people.

In the wake of Charlottesville, Ronald Seale, a leader of the Washington-based Scottish Rite, agreed to the Pike statue's removal as it had become a "source of contention or strife."

More recently, U.S. House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., introduced legislation seeking its removal since it would require federal approval, but the bill hasn't advanced.

RELATED Judge blocks removal of confederate statue in Virginia

The statue is one of several that have come tumbling down in recent weeks amid ongoing BLM protests. Many were brought down Friday night.

People walk by the General Robert E. Lee monument prior to a rally Saturday in Richmond, Va. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

Five statues have been taken down in Richmond, Va. The latest is the First Virginia Regiment Monument, a memorial to a state militia regiment formed in 1754 before the Revolutionary War.

The four other statues torn down include Confederate President Jefferson Davis on Monument Avenue, Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham in Monroe Park, Christopher Columbus in Byrd Park and Richmond Howitzers Monument at the corner of Harrison Street and Grove Avenue.

In Raleigh, N.C., protesters removed two Confederate statues Friday night. One was of a cavlaryman, which they later hanged by its neck from a streetlight. The other, of an artillery man, was dragged through the streets to the Wake County courthouse, where police later carried it away.

In California, protesters ripped down two statues in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. One statue toppled near the park's de Young Museum was of slave-owner Francis Scott Key, composer of "The Star Spangled Banner," in 1814. The other in the park's music concourse, was of Junipero Serra, a missionary who has been criticized for forced conversions and destroying native culture.

A day earlier, city officials preemptively removed a statue of Christopher Columbus from San Francisco's Coit Tower and placed it in storage.

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Statues toppled throughout US in protests against racism
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and JEFFREY COLLINS

1 of 23
A statue of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote," stands after being vandalized overnight in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Saturday, June 20, 2020. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group via AP) https://apnews.com/9a01ee49102df70f10ce54ae04a46fa6


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Protesters tore down more statues across the United States, expanding the razing in a San Francisco park to the writer of America’s national anthem and the general who won the country’s Civil War that ended widespread slavery.

In Seattle, pre-dawn violence erupted Saturday in a protest zone largely abandoned by police, where one person was fatally shot and another critically injured.

On the East Coast, more statues honoring Confederates who tried to break away from the United States more than 150 years ago were toppled.

But several were removed at the order of North Carolina’s Democratic governor, who said he was trying to avoid violent clashes or injuries from toppling the heavy monuments erected by white supremacists that he said do not belong in places like the state Capitol grounds that are for all people.

The statues are falling amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the May 25 police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, the African American man who died after a white police officers pressed his knee on his neck and whose death galvanized protesters around the globe to rally against police brutality and racism.

At a campaign rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump sought to tie the destruction of monuments and statues around the country to Democratic leaders, including his likely rival in the presidential election, Joe Biden.

Trump said “the choice in 2020 is very simple. Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?”

In San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park along the Pacific Ocean, protesters sprayed red paint and wrote “slave owner” on pedestals before using ropes to bring down the statues and drag them down grassy slopes amid cheers and applause.

The statues targeted included a bust of Ulysses Grant, who was the U.S. president after he was the general who finally beat the Confederates and ended the Civil War.

Protesters pointed out that Grant and his family owned slaves. He married into a slave-owning family, but he had no problem fighting to end slavery. Grant also supported the 1868 Republican platform when he won the presidency, which called for allowing Black men to continue voting in the South.

Also torn down in the San Francisco park was a statue of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the U.S. national anthem “Star Spangled Banner.” Key owned slaves.

Protesters also pulled down the statue of Spanish missionary Junipero Serra, an 18th century Roman Catholic priest who founded nine of California’s 21 Spanish missions and is credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the Western United States.

Serra forced Native Americans to stay at those missions after they were converted or face brutal punishment. His statues have been defaced in California for several years by people who said he destroyed tribes and their culture.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvadore Cordileone criticized the pulling down of the Junipero Serra statue.

“What is happening to our society? A renewed national movement to heal memories and correct the injustices of racism and police brutality in our country has been hijacked by some into a movement of violence, looting and vandalism,” he said in a statement Saturday night.

Police officers were called out to the park, but they didn’t intervene. The crowd threw objects at the officers, but no injuries or arrests were reported, San Francisco Police spokesman Officer Adam Lobsinger said.

In Seattle, authorities were investigating what led to the shooting in the area known as CHOP, which stands for “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone. It has been harshly criticized by President Donald Trump, who has tweeted about possibly sending in the military to exert control.

Police released few other details about the shooting. Two men with gunshot wounds arrived in a private vehicle at a hospital about 3 a.m. One died, and the other was in critical condition, Harborview Medical Center spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

In Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, North Carolina, it was another night of tearing down Confederate statues. In the nation’s capital, demonstrators toppled the 11-foot (3.4-meter) statue of Albert Pike, the only statue in the city of a Confederate general. Then they set a bonfire and stood around it in a circle as the statue burned, chanting, “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!”

Trump quickly tweeted about the toppling, calling out D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and writing: “The DC police are not doing their job as they watched a statue be ripped down and burn. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our Country!”

Two statues of two Confederate soldiers that were part of a larger obelisk were torn down Friday night by protesters in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Police officers initially stopped the demonstrators. But after they cleared the area, the protesters returned an finished the job. They dragged the statues down the street and strung one up by the neck from a light post.

Saturday morning, official work crews came to the North Carolina capitol to remove two more Confederate statues. One statue was dedicated to the women of the Confederacy, and another was placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy honoring Henry Wyatt, the first North Carolinian killed in battle in the Civil War, news outlets reported.

Gov. Roy Cooper said he ordered the removal for public safety and blamed the Republican majority state General Assembly for the danger.

“If the legislature had repealed their 2015 law that puts up legal roadblocks to removal, we could have avoided the dangerous incidents of last night,” Cooper posted on Twitter. “Monuments to white supremacy don’t belong in places of allegiance, and it’s past time that these painful memorials be moved in a legal, safe way.”

Cooper’s opponent for a second term in November, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, issued a statement saying Cooper did nothing to stop the destruction of statues and was either incompetent or encouraging lawlessness.

“It is clear that Gov. Cooper is either incapable of upholding law and order, or worse, encouraging this behavior,” Forest said.

Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Lisa Baum in Seattle and Ashraf Khalil and Ashley Thomas in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.


The Latest: Religious leader criticizes toppling of statue
By The Associated Press

— San Francisco religious leader criticizes toppling of statue in Golden Gate Park.

— Trump tries to tie destruction of statues to Democrats, including Biden.

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Archbishop Salvadore Cordileone criticized the pulling down of the Junipero Serra statue in Golden Gate Park.

“What is happening to our society? A renewed national movement to heal memories and correct the injustices of racism and police brutality in our country has been hijacked by some into a movement of violence, looting and vandalism,” he said in a statement Saturday night.

Serra was an 18th century Roman Catholic priest who founded nine of California’s 21 Spanish missions and is credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the Western United States.

Serra forced Native Americans to stay at those missions after they were converted or face brutal punishment. His statues have been defaced in California for several years by people who said he destroyed tribes and their culture.
___

TULSA, Okla. — President Donald Trump is seeking to tie the destruction of monuments and statues around the country to Democratic leaders, including his likely rival in the presidential election, Joe Biden.

Speaking to supporters in Tulsa, Trump says “the choice in 2020 is very simple. Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?”

Statues have been destroyed in numerous cities amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the May 25 police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, the African-American man who died in police custody.

The statues targeted included a bust of Ulysses Grant, who was the U.S. president after he was the general who finally beat the Confederates and ended the Civil War. Also torn down in a San Francisco park was a statue of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.” Key owned slaves.

Trump says: “Biden remains silent in his basement in the face of this brutal assault on our nation and the values of our nation. Joe Biden has surrendered to his party and to the left-wing mob.”
___

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed acknowledged “the very real pain in this country rooted in our history of slavery and oppression, especially against African-Americans and Indigenous people,” but said she didn’t condone the damage done to Golden Gate Park by dozens of protesters who defaced and tore down statues.

“Every dollar we spend cleaning up this vandalism takes funding away from actually supporting our community, including our African-American community,” Breed, who is Black, said in a statement. “I say this not to defend any particular statue or what it represents, but to recognize that when people take action in the name of my community, they should actually involve us. And when they vandalize our public parks, that’s their agenda, not ours.”

Breed said city officials will work with community members to evaluate public art and make sure it reflects San Francisco’s values.

Besides the toppled bust and statues, the park’s old museum concourse was widely spray-painted, including commemorative benches, drinking fountains, pathways and balustrades. Heavy equipment operators and cleanup crews arrived late Friday and worked through the night to remove damaged statues, paint over the graffiti and power wash the area, the parks department said.
___

RALEIGH, N.C. — Crews have removed two Confederate statues outside the North Carolina state capitol in Raleigh on order of the governor.

The statues were taken away on Saturday, the morning after protesters toppled two nearby statues.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has long advocated removing the statues, said in a press release that removing the statues was a public-safety imperative.

“If the legislature had repealed their 2015 law that puts up legal roadblocks to removal, we could have avoided the dangerous incidents of last night,” Cooper said.

One of the statues is dedicated to the women of the Confederacy. The other was placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy honoring Henry Wyatt, the first North Carolinian killed in battle in the Civil War

Both statues stood for over a century.

A 2015 law bars removal of the memorials without permission of a state historical commission. But Cooper said the law creates an exception for public-safety emergencies, and he is acting under that provision.

SAN FRANCISCO — In San Francisco, a group of about 400 people tore down statues of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the U.S., Spanish missionary Junipero Serra and Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The group of protesters arrived at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Friday night and after defacing the statues with red paint and writing “slave owner” on the platforms they were on, they toppled them using ropes and dragged them down grassy slopes amid cheers and applause.

Grant led the Union Army during the Civil War and thus was a key figure in the fight to end slavery. However, like Key, he once owned slaves. Serra, an 18th century Roman Catholic priest, founded nine of California’s 21 Spanish missions and is credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the Western United States. He is also blamed by many Native Americans for the destruction of their culture and the decimation of several tribes.



ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A statue of the founder of Rochester, New York, has been vandalized.

Anti-racism messages were sprayed on the sculpture of Revolutionary War figure and slave owner Nathaniel Rochester.

The hands of the bronze statue of a seated Rochester were painted red, with “shame” written across the forehead. Other messages around the figure included “stole indigenous lands” and “abolish the police.”

Mayor Lovely Warren said Friday there’s a complexity to recognizing Rochester’s role in establishing what became the western New York city. She said the community should discuss “the best way to deal with those figures.”

The city’s new Commission on Racial and Structural Equity could decide. The sculpture was unveiled in 2008 as part of a neighborhood-revitalization effort led by volunteers.

___



People film the only statue of a Confederate general, Albert Pike, in the nation's capital after it was toppled by protesters and set on fire in Washington early Saturday, June 20, 2020. It comes on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)


WASHINGTON — Protesters have toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the nation’s capital and set it on fire.

It comes on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Cheering demonstrators jumped up and down as the 11-foot (3.4-meter) statue of Albert Pike — wrapped with chains — wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backward, landing in a pile of dust. Protesters then set a bonfire and stood around it in a circle as the statue burned, chanting, “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!”


People film the only statue of a Confederate general, Albert Pike, in the nation's capital after it was toppled by protesters and set on fire in Washington early Saturday, June 20, 2020. It comes on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Eyewitness accounts and videos posted on social media indicated that police were on the scene, but didn’t intervene.

President Donald Trump quickly tweeted about the toppling, calling out D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and writing: “The DC police are not doing their job as they watched a statue be ripped down and burn.” After the statue fell, most protesters returned peacefully to Lafayette Park near the White House. 

Owner of Eskimo Pie to change its ‘derogatory’ name

WHEN WILL THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS CHANGE THEIR NAME

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) — The owner of Eskimo Pie is changing its name and marketing of the nearly century-old chocolate-covered ice cream bar, the latest brand to reckon with racially charged logos and marketing.

“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory,” said Elizabell Marquez, head of marketing for its parent Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, the U.S. subsidiary for Froneri, in a statement. “This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values.”

The treat was patented by Christian Kent Nelson of Ohio and his business partner Russell C. Stover in 1922, according to Smithsonian Magazine

Eskimo Pie joins a growing list of brands that are rethinking their marketing in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks triggered by the death of George Floyd. Quaker Oats announced Wednesday that it will retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognizes the character’s origins are “based on a racial stereotype.”

Other companies are reviewing their name or logo. Geechie Boy Mill, a family-owned operation in South Carolina that makes locally-grown and milled white grits, said Wednesday it is “listening and reviewing our overall branding,” though no decisions have been made. Geechie is a dialect spoken mainly by the descendants of African American slaves who settled on the Ogeechee River in Georgia, according to Merriam-Webster.com.

Mars Inc. said it’s also reviewing its Uncle Ben’s rice brand. B&G Foods Inc., which makes Cream of Wheat hot cereal, also said this past week it is initiating “an immediate review” of its packaging. A smiling black chef holding a bowl of cereal has appeared on Cream of Wheat packaging and in ads since at least 1918, according to the company’s website.

Chicago-based Conagra Brands, which makes Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup, said its bottles — which are shaped like a matronly woman — are intended to evoke a “loving grandmother.” But the company said it can understand that the packaging could be misinterpreted. Critics have long claimed that the bottle’s design is rooted in the “mammy” stereotype.

Trump comeback rally features empty seats, staff infections

"WE HAVE NEVER HAD AN EMPTY SEAT IN THE HOUSE" D. J. TRUMP

By KEVIN FREKING and JONATHAN LEMIRE

1 of 24 https://apnews.com/1a59b4efe97f2249d414ae4f0b3c6495
President Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak at a campaign rally at the BOK Center, Saturday, June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Okla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — President Donald Trump launched his comeback rally Saturday by defining the upcoming election as a stark choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism. But his intended show of political force amid a pandemic featured thousands of empty seats and new coronavirus cases on his own campaign staff.

Trump ignored health warnings to hold his first rally in 110 days — one of the largest indoor gatherings in the world during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 120,000 Americans and put 40 million out of work. The rally was meant to restart his reelection effort less than five months before the president faces voters again.

“The choice in 2020 is very simple,” Trump said. “Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob, or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?”

Trump unleashed months of pent-up grievances about the coronavirus, which he dubbed the “Kung flu,” a racist term for COVID-19, which originated in China. He also tried to defend his handling of the pandemic, even as cases continue to surge in many states, including Oklahoma.

He complained that robust coronavirus testing was making his record look bad — and suggested the testing effort should slow down.

“Here’s the bad part. When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more cases,” he said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.”

“Speed up the testing,” Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, tweeted later.

In the hours before the rally, crowds were significantly lighter than expected, and campaign officials scrapped plans for Trump to address an overflow space outdoors. When Trump thundered that “the silent majority is stronger than ever before,” about a third of the seats at his indoor rally were empty.

Trump tried to explain away the crowd size by blaming the media for scaring people and by insisting there were protesters outside who were “doing bad things.” But the small crowds of pre-rally demonstrators were largely peaceful, and Tulsa police reported just one arrest Saturday afternoon.

Before the rally, Trump’s campaign revealed that six staff members who were helping set up for the event had tested positive for the coronavirus. Campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said neither the affected staffers nor anyone who was in immediate contact with them would attend the event

The president raged to aides that the staffers’ positive cases had been made public, according to two White House and campaign officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Trump devoted more than 10 minutes of his 105-minute rally — with the crowd laughing along — trying to explain away a pair of odd images from his speech last weekend at West Point, blaming his slippery leather-soled shoes for video of him walking awkwardly down a ramp as he left the podium. And then he declared that he used two hands to drink a cup of water that day because he didn’t want to spill water on his tie — and proceeded to this time drink with just one hand.

But Trump also leaned in hard on cultural issues, including the push to tear down statue s and rename military bases honoring Confederate generals following nationwide protests about racial injustice.

“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments,” Trump said. “They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new repressive regime in its place.”

Trump also floated the idea of a one-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of burning an American flag, an act of protest protected by the First Amendment. And he revived his attacks on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who emigrated from Somalia as a child, claiming she would want “to make the government of our country just like the country from where she came, Somalia: no government, no safety, no police, no nothing — just anarchy.”

“And now she’s telling us how to run our country,” Trump continued. “No, thank you.”

After a three-month break from rallies, Trump spent the evening reviving his greatest hits, including boasts about the pre-pandemic economy and complaints about the media. But his scattershot remarks made no mention of some of the flashpoints roiling the nation, including the abrupt firing of a U.S. attorney in Manhattan, the damaging new book from his former national security adviser or the killing of George Floyd..

Large gatherings in the United States were shut down in March because of the coronavirus. The rally was scheduled over the protests of local health officials as COVID-19 cases spike in many states, while the choice of host city and date — it was originally set for Friday, Juneteenth, in a city where a 1921 racist attack killed as many as 300 people — prompted anger amid a national wave of protests against racial injustice.



But Trump and his advisers forged forward, believing that a return to the rally stage would reenergize the president, who is furious that he has fallen behind Biden in polls, and reassure increasingly anxious Republicans.

But Trump has struggled to land effective attacks against Biden, and his broadsides against the former vice president did not draw nearly the applause as did his digs at his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

City officials had expected a crowd of 100,000 people or more in downtown Tulsa. Trump’s campaign, for its part, declared that it had received over a million ticket requests. The crowd that gathered was far less than that, though the rally, being broadcast on cable, also targeted voters in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.

The president’s campaign tried to point fingers elsewhere over the smaller-than-expected crowds, accusing protesters of blocking access to metal detectors and preventing people from entering the rally. Three Associated Press journalists reporting in Tulsa for several hours leading up to the president’s speaking did not see protesters block entry to the area where the rally was held.

The campaign handed out masks and hand sanitizer, but there was no requirement that participants use them and few did. Participants also underwent a temperature check.

“I don’t think it’s anything worse than the flu,” said Brian Bernard, 54, a retired IT worker from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who sported a Trump 2020 hat. “I haven’t caught a cold or a flu in probably 15 years, and if I haven’t caught a cold or flu yet, I don’t think I’m gonna catch COVID.”

___


Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers John Mone and Ellen Knickmeyer in Tulsa, Okla., contributed to this report.

Trump says he'll push forward with plans to end DACA

President Donald Trump said he plans to submit new paperwork in his bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI | License Photo

June 19 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to continue his effort to dismantle the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program one day after the Supreme Court blocked his attempts to do so.

The high court ruled Thursday, by a vote of 5-4, that the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to end DACA was arbitrary and capricious and illegal under the federal Administrative Procedure Act.

Trump took to Twitter on Friday to signal his plans to continue his challenge to the Obama-era program.

"The Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won. They 'punted', much like in a football game (where hopefully they would stand for our great American Flag)," he tweeted.

RELATED Watchdog: CBP struggled to handle migrant surge at border

"We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfil the Supreme Court's ruling & request of yesterday. I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate - They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can't make DACA citizens. They gained nothing!"

Trump announced in 2017 plans to wind down the DACA program, saying it would give Congress a chance to pass "responsible" immigration reform. He could use executive action to end DACA, as Congress has been unable to agree on any legislation on the issue.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told Fox & Friends the administration was starting the process over to end the program.

RELATED Trump administration proposes more restrictions on asylum

"We're going to move as quickly as we can to put options in front of the president," he said. "That still leaves open the appropriate solution which the Supreme Court mentioned and that is that Congress step up to the plate."

Former President Barack Obama used an executive order to create DACA in June 2012 to provide protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. It gives them the ability to obtain work permits and study in the country, provided they meet certain guidelines like graduating from high school and don't present a risk to national or public safety. Some 800,000 so-called Dreamers are protected under the program.

RELATED Federal judge blocks pandemic-based deportation of Honduran teen


Protesters rally against DACA repeal


Demonstrators protest President Donald Trump's decision to end the DACA program outside the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Photo by Erin Schaff/UPI | License Photo

https://tinyurl.com/y8dmrkw6

IMPERIALISM, ARYANISM, COLONIALISM 

ARE RACIST WHITE SUPREMACY

Anti-racism protests take place across France and the UK

By Alice Tidey with AP • last updated: 20/06/2020 - 14:33

Ramata Dieng, the mother of Lamine Dieng, a 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese who died in a police van after being arrested in 2007, during a protest in Paris. June 20, 2020. - Copyright AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh

Anti-racism protests are to be staged across the UK and France on Saturday with authorities urging people to respect social distancing rules.

Four separate protests have been allowed to take place in Paris on Saturday, two of which to denounce racism and police violence.

One of them is to pay tribute to Lamine Dieng, a 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese who died in a police van after being arrested in 2007.

Protesters marched through Paris with signs reading "Laissez nous respirer" ("Let us breathe") in reference to George Floyd, an African American who died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a police officer kneed on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Last week, it emerged that the French government agreed to pay €145,000 to Dieng's relatives, after 13 years of legal wrangling.

Three other planned protests have however been banned, including an anti-racism demonstration near the US Embassy by the Black African Defense League, and another protest linked to recent violence involving Chechens in the French city of Dijon.

George Floyd death: Police racially profile in Europe too, experts tell Euronews

The Prefecture de Police said that the risk of violence from these there protests was too high.

France's highest court, the Conseil d'Etat, sided with human rights groups and unions last week and ruled that authorities could not ban demonstrations.

The government, which started to lift lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, is still prohibiting public gatherings of more than 10 people.

Several anti-racism protests are also scheduled across the UK.

On Saturday morning, some 1,500 people gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, for a socially-distant protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Another protest will take place in London in the afternoon. It comes after anti-racism campaigners called off planned demonstrations last weekend to avoid clashing with far-right activists who were staging a counter-protest.

The Metropolitan Police is calling on people to "comply with regulations of not gatherings in groups larger than six people" due to the health crisis.

"We value democracy and the right for people to have a voice, but would ask people to do so in another way, and not come to London to demonstrate," it added on Twitter.

More than 100 arrested after far-right activists clash with police in London

It also warned that "officers will be making arrests if there is violence".

"Whilst the majority of people who have attended demonstrations over the past few weeks were not violent, there have been a small minority intent on violence against our officers and others, and this is completely unacceptable and we are working hard to bring offenders to justice," it said.

London police have carried out almost 230 arrests during protests over the past month with more than half relating to the June 13 protest when far-right activists clashed with police.

So far, twenty-four people have been charged for violent disorder, assault, criminal damage, possession of Class A or Class B drugs and offences under the Health Protection Regulations among other charges.

Extinction Rebellion sprays fake blood over Medef's Paris headquarters

Delivering the message that they had "blood on their hands," activists from the climate action group Extinction Rebellion (XR) sprayed the Medef employers' association headquarters in Paris with "fake blood."

The staged protest was help to criticise the pressure exerted by employers and agro-industrial groups on the French government to lift environmental standards as part of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

Crocodile, an Extinction Rebellion activist, said: "We poured blood on the facade because we wanted to denounce the cynicism of these lobbies but at the same time it's something dramatic.

"The deaths are already beginning. The deaths due to the climate crisis are already beginning; we have famines, we have epidemics, and so, in fact, these people have blood on their hands.

It has to be said. Because they're only working for them, against us."

Spectacular time lapse catches Northern Lights dancing across Canada

Snaking and swirling in ribbons dancing across the night sky, Northern Lights have long held people's imagination with many travelling long distances to try and spot them.

The stunning light show was captured shining through moving clouds over Thompson in Manitoba, Canada on Tuesday night in a newly-released timelapse video.

The 'aurora borealis' is a natural light phenomenon caused by electrically-charged solar wind particles entering the Earth's atmosphere. They are mostly seen in high-latitude regions around the Arctic Circle.

The Manitoba region is one of the places where the Northern Lights appear most frequently.

The peak for watching the aurora in Thompson is between January and March, but in northern parts of Manitoba especially, they are visible for up to 300 nights of the year.


https://www.euronews.com/embed/1127282

https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/18/spectacular-timelapse-catches-northern-lights-dancing-across-night-sky-in-canada?jwsource=cl

Coronavirus job cuts: Which companies in Europe are slashing their workforces because of COVID-19
By Pascale Davies • last updated: 11/06/2020

People in Spain protest the closure on the Nissan plant in Barcelona. - Copyright LLUIS GENE/AFP or licensors
Unemployment across Europe has risen due to the coronavirus pandemic with airline companies and the automobile sector making some of the biggest job cuts.

About 397,000 people in the European Union lost their jobs in April, according to data from the EU's stats agency, released in June.

The EU’s jobless rate rose to 6.6% in April, from a 12-year low of 6.4% the previous month, according to Eurostat. It's the biggest rise in several years.

While furlough schemes (putting workers on temporary leave and the government paying a percentage of their salaries) across Europe are helping some shield from the economic impact of COVID-19, others are less fortunate.

Here is our updated list of companies in Europe making job cuts either due to — or in part because of — COVID-19.
United Kingdom
British Petroleum (10,000 jobs)
BP plans to axe 10,000 jobs worldwidePAUL ELLIS/AFP or licensors

British oil giant BP announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs on Monday due to the coronavirus crisis, which has slashed the global demand for oil and in turn its prices.

In a company-wide email seen by Euronews, CEO Bernard Looney confirmed the job cuts saying that most would be made this year.

He said: “We will now begin a process that will see close to 10,000 people leaving BP – most by the end of this year.

Though the email did not specify where the redundancies would take place, it said: “The majority of people affected will be in office-based jobs. We are protecting the frontline of the company and, as always, prioritising safe and reliable operations”.
Mulberry (25% of workforce)

Even luxury fashion cannot catch a break from coronavirus. Mulberry, the UK brand known for its leather goods and costly handbags said on Monday it would cut 25% of its worldwide workforce.

t's expected most of the jobs will go in the UK, where the vast majority of its staff works.
British Airways (up to 12,000 jobs)

British Airways announced at the end of April it would cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce due to coronavirus wreaking havoc on the travel industry.

The airline's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), said it needed to impose a "restructuring and redundancy programme" until the demand for air travel returns to pre-coronavirus levels.

Job losses could also occur at IAG’s other airlines, Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Ireland’s Aer Lingus, CEO Willie Walsh has warned.
EasyJet (around 4,500 jobs)

Britain's low-cost airline EasyJet has also announced it would be cutting jobs in the wake of coronavirus.

The company said 30% of its workforce would be slashed, which amounts to about 4,500 jobs.

Ryanair, which is set to cut 3,000 jobs - 15% of its workforce - with boss Michael O'Leary saying the move is "the minimum that we need just to survive the next 12 months"
Virgin Atlantic (3,000 jobs)

The firm has announced it will cut more than 3,000 jobs in the UK and end its operation at Gatwick Airport.
Ireland
Ryanair (about 3,000 jobs)

Budget airline Ryanair said it would cut 15% of its workforce globally, about 3,000 jobs, after the pandemic grounded flights.
Budget airlines have also been impacted by COVID-19.PAUL FAITH/AFP

Chief executive, Michael O’Leary, took a 50% pay cut for April and May and has now extended it until the end of March next year.

O'Leary said the measures are "the minimum that we need just to survive the next 12 months."
France
Renault (15,000 jobs)

French automobile maker Renault announced at the end of May it would axe 15,000 jobs worldwide as it tries to ride out the drop in car sales, which have plummeted even further due to coronavirus.

4,600 of those jobs would be cut in France. However, that figure may be lower since Renault secured a government loan of €5 billion and would in exchange restructure its factories.
 

People in France protest the Renault cuts.FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP or licensors

French President Emmanuel Macron told employees at two Renault factories their future was guaranteed.

Renault, which is partly owned by the French government, was under pressure even before COVID-19 hit and posted its first loss in a decade last year. It is also trying to ride out the spectre of Carlos Ghosn.

The job cuts come as part of its plans to find €2 billion in savings over the next three years.
Airbus (up to 10,000 jobs)

The European planemaker said in May it could cut up to 10,000 jobs amid the coronavirus travel slump. Job losses could also stretch to its UK plant.

Airbus said in April it would cut the number of planes it built by a third as airlines cancelled or delayed orders as flights have been grounded.
Germany
Tui (8,000 jobs)

Anglo-German travel firm Tui announced on May 13 it would cut 8,000 jobs worldwide.

In a half-year financial report, it said the pandemic was “unquestionably the greatest crisis the tourism industry and Tui has ever faced.”

The Anglo-German company has had to halt trips.ODD ANDERSEN/AFP or licensors

In March, Tui was granted a loan of €1.8 billion by the German government to help see it through the pandemic.
Thyssenkrupp (3,000 jobs)

Industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp announced on March 25 it would cut 3,000 jobs in its steel unit in Germany as part of a COVID-19 "crisis package".

The group, which makes elevators and submarines, said it had reached a deal with Germany’s powerful IG Metall union to cut 2,000 jobs over the next three years and another 1,000 by 2026.
Lufthansa (22,000 jobs)

German airline Lufthansa said on June 11 it would cut 22,000 jobs due to travel disruptions caused by the coronavirus. The airline said half the job cuts would be in Germany.
Half of the Lufthansa jobs are expected to go in Germany.CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP or licensors
Spain
Nissan (2,800 jobs)

The Japanese carmaker announced on May 28 that it would close its factory in Barcelona, which employs around 2,800 people.

Protesters in Barcelona set tyres alight.LLUIS GENE/AFP or licensors

Protests erupted with people burning tyres to try and fight for their jobs.

The firm said coronavirus had piled pressure on the company and that it would focus on its markets in Asia and North America.

Scandinavia
Scandinavia Airlines (5,000 jobs)

While Scandinavia Airlines (SAS) also announced temporary job cuts in March, a month later it said 5,000 jobs—almost half the total number of employees—will lose their jobs permanently.

The company, part-owned by Sweden and Denmark, said that the potential reduction of the workforce would be split with approximately 1,900 positions in Sweden, 1,300 in Norway and 1,700 in Denmark.