America's unrest: why I am protesting

AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARYProtesters demonstrate on June 2, 2020, during a "Black Lives Matter" protest in New York City

A week of protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis has rocked the United States.

Tens of thousands of people, from all ethnic and demographic groups, have taken to streets in cities across the United States to demand an end to police brutality.

Below, some of them explain in their own words why they are demonstrating, their experiences of the protests so far, and what they hope America's biggest civil unrest in years will achieve.

- A student on the front lines -

Kayla Junaye Johnson is a 21-year-old criminal justice student at Grambling State University in Louisiana.

She felt "sick to my stomach" after watching the video that captured police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes and joined protests in Minneapolis.

AFP / CHANDAN KHANNAKayla Junaye Johnson (21) poses as she shows her arm which was wounded by tear gas canister during a protest on June 2, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

"We saw live murder, there's no way around it. It's awful, and every officer should be charged to the highest degree," she said.

"The first protest I made it to the front line on my knees, shouting 'Hands up don't shoot.' I jumped and dodged from at least a few flashbangs from my head. It was very scary at times.

"The one time I didn't see a flashbang coming, it struck me in the arm. I ended up getting a second degree burn from the Minneapolis police department.

"Personally around police officers, I do not feel comfortable. I hate to say it but they have so much power in the world right now that it's scary anything can happen.

"I'd never expected things to go like the way they did this week but I'm not surprised. Being black in America, this is what it does. This is how it affects us. It's sad but this is it."

- The mother educating her kids -

Michelle Evans, a forty-something who works in marketing, took her two boys aged four and seven to the scene of Floyd's death, hugging them amid a sea of flowers.

AFP / Kerem YucelMichelle Evans and her kids pose for AFP at the location of George Floyd's death, where they came to pay homage on June 2, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fearing that the protests, which turned violent, were "too dangerous," she expressed her solidarity and anger at the site which has become a memorial to Floyd's life.

"My boys, just by who they are, need to know that they have privilege, and that they need to be a part of the solution as they, as they get older," she told AFP.

Crying, she denounced the "structural" racism of America.

"It's how our country was founded, and it needs to be destroyed and built back up in a way that brings, equity, and inclusion for everyone."

- A musician who won't be silenced -

Tyqaun White, a 20-year-old musical theory major at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, has been protesting in New York.

"It's gotten to a point where black people are just asking not to be killed. It's just got to stop," he said.

"We are angry. People are here dying and in poverty every day. And you want to kill us and just tell us to be quiet? No! We have to go out.

AFP / Johannes EISELETyqaun White, 20, a black musical theory major at Point Park University, poses for a portrait on June 2, 2020, during a "Black Lives Matter" protest at Washington Square Park in New York City

"We are treated like animals, this is how black people have been treated for years and years.

"I understand why people would break the curfew and protest however they want to protest.

"We need to protest forever until this system is completely reversed and changed and built upon equality and freedom. I'm gonna keep fighting as long as I have to."

- Privileged suburbanites -

Jeff Austin, a 62-year-old cultural anthropologist and his 17-year-old high school daughter Lily Henry-Austin protested in the wealthy Washington DC suburb of Bethesda.

Large demonstrations are rare in the predominately white area, one of the richest in the country and home to power-brokers such as cabinet secretaries, White House staff, lawyers and lobbyists.

"It feels like enough is enough and we really need to work on changing our policing, we need to change our society's attitude towards race," said Jeff.

AFP / Paul HANDLEYJeff Austin and his daughter Lily Henry-Austin of Silver Spring, hold a sign reading "I Can't Breathe" as they protest police brutality against African Americans in Bethesda, Maryland on June 2, 2020

"We've had centuries to get it right. We haven't come close yet, but we'll keep trying."

"The more people that are involved in trying to counter the current racist attitudes of the nation, the better. There's a role for everyone to play," he added.

"As a white woman I have a huge amount of privilege," said Lily.

"It hurts me so much to see people who are human not treated as humans. I just couldn't sit at home and do nothing. I'm going to be out here until it changes. I'm not going away."

- The Latino ex-Marine -

Hipolito Arriaga, a 36-year-old of Puerto Rican origin born and raised in the Bronx, New York, served as a US Marine in Iraq and spoke to AFP on a march in Miami.

AFP / Ricardo ARDUENGOHipolito Arriaga, 36, marching during a rally in Miami, Florida in response to the recent death of George Floyd on June 2, 2020

"Having served in the military, I thought we were sent overseas to protect the freedom of the people here, meanwhile the police here are treating us like we're in a war zone.

"You are trained to see the people, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, as if they were animals, as if they were savages.

"The same way, now here in this country they call us thugs. The president now wants to label us as terrorists for accessing our right to speak, our fundamental human right.

"They forget that the country was founded in revolution."

chp-lbc-lm-pmh-pdh/ca

US protests defy curfews as Trump faces backlash for violent crackdown

AFP / Agustin PAULLIERA protester shakes hands with an LAPD officer during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Hollywood, California on June 2, 2020

Protesters defied curfews across the United States Tuesday as leaders scrambled to stem anger over police racism while President Donald Trump rejected criticism over his use of force to break up a peaceful rally.

Standoffs between police and demonstrators stretched into the night in cities from New York to Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man whose killing has brought once-in-a-generation protests to the nation for the past week.

But there were fewer reports of the looting and violence that had soured street demonstrations in previous nights.

AFP / Agustin PAULLIERA protester holds up a placard during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Hollywood, California on June 2, 2020

Tens of thousands gathered earlier in Houston to pay a hometown tribute to Floyd, who grew up in the Texas city and is to be buried there next week.

"Today is... about George Floyd's family -- we want them to know that George did not die in vain," Mayor Sylvester Turner told an estimated 60,000 people.

A tearful Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd's six-year-old daughter, told a news conference she wanted "justice for him because he was good.

"No matter what anybody thinks, he was good."

AFP / Ricardo ARDUENGOProtestors embrace during a rally in response to the killing of George Floyd in Miami, Florida on June 2, 2020

In New York, which on Tuesday prolonged its first curfew since World War II for the full week, AFP reporters saw hundreds refusing to go home after the 8:00 pm cutoff, instead chanting slogans and peacefully walking the streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Protestors attempting to cross the Manhattan bridge were pinned there for an extended period by police on both sides, but were finally allowed to return to Brooklyn, according to a New York Times reporter on the scene.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN it had been "much calmer" a day after several Manhattan luxury stores were looted, praising an increased and "vast presence" of police on the streets.

AFP / Olivier DOULIERYDemonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd hold up a Black Lives Matter sign by the metal fence recently erected in front of the White House on June 2, 2020 in Washington

Minnesota took one of the first concrete actions to address the grievances behind the uprising, which began after Floyd's death on May 25 in the state's largest city Minneapolis.

The state launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, looking at possible "systemic discriminatory practices" going back 10 years, Governor Tim Walz tweeted.

Former president George W. Bush called on the US to examine its "tragic failures" and to "listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving."

AFP / Angela WeissProtesters demonstrate on June 2, 2020 during a "Black Lives Matter" march in New York City

And in Los Angeles, one of dozens of cities hit by unrest, police officers and Mayor Eric Garcetti dropped to their knees in a symbolic act of solidarity as they met marchers led by African-American Christian groups.

"A black face should not be a sentenced to die, nor to be homeless, nor to be sick, nor to be underemployed, nor to be under-educated," Garcetti told them, inviting the leaders into City Hall for a discussion about the issues.

But protesters gathered outside Garcetti's residence late into the evening. An AFP reporter witnessed a group of at least 200 refusing to disperse and subsequently arrested.

- 'People liked my walk' -

In Washington DC, thousands returned to the streets Tuesday for a peaceful "Black Lives Matter" march.

Hours after the 7:00 pm curfew protesters could be heard chanting, as National Guard troops stood on the streets near the White House and helicopters hovered above. Broadcast footage showed police firing tear gas shortly after midnight, but the situation appeared to be calm overall.

AFP / Ricardo ARDUENGOProtestors chant slogans during a rally against the killing of George Floyd, in Miami, Florida on June 2, 2020

"I'm just tired, essentially, of being scared of police, of not getting justice," said Jada Wallace, an 18-year-old protester outside the White House earlier who said she was ready to risk arrest.

In the same place on Monday, federal police had abruptly opened tear gas and fired rubber bullets to break up a non-violent protest, clearing a path for Trump to stroll outside for a photo-op at a historic church damaged the previous night.

The move was loudly condemned by religious leaders, the president's political rivals, and onlookers around the country.

AFP / Brendan SmialowskiPresident Donald Trump pushed back against criticism over the use of force to clear peaceful protestors so he could pose for a photo-op outside a historic church damaged the previous night

But Trump, who has rejected the traditional presidential role of healer, voiced glee on Twitter over the response in Washington and accused the leadership of New York -- led by the rival Democratic Party -- of succumbing to "Lowlife & Scum."

"Overwhelming force. Domination," he wrote, adding: "Washington, D.C., was the safest place on earth last night!"

He pushed back against the criticism later on Twitter, writing: "You got it wrong! If the protesters were so peaceful, why did they light the Church on fire the night before? People liked my walk."

- 'Despicable looters' -

Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic rival in November elections, denounced the crackdown as an abuse of power and promised, if elected, to tackle the "systemic racism" in the country.

AFP / Agustin PAULLIERA protester holds a placard in front of a row of Army National Guard during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Hollywood, California on June 2, 2020

"Donald Trump has turned this country into a battlefield driven by old resentments and fresh fears," Biden said in a speech in Philadelphia, also hit by violence.

The United States also faced unusual, if polite, criticism from some international allies including Germany, Britain and Australia.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the anti-racism protests "understandable and more than legitimate."

AFP / Eva Marie UZCATEGUIDemonstrators during a protest against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Sunrise, Florida on June 02, 2020

"I hope that these peaceful protests won't slide further into violence, but even more than that I hope that they will make a difference in the United States," Maas told reporters.

A Las Vegas officer was in "grave condition" Tuesday after being shot during protests overnight. An armed Hispanic man was shot and killed by police after raising his gun in a separate, nearby incident.

Four officers were also shot overnight in St. Louis. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

But one retired St Louis police captain was shot dead early Tuesday outside a ransacked store.

Trump tweeted that David Dorn, who was black, was "viciously shot and killed by despicable looters."

burs-amz/mtp

UK talks to 'Five Eyes' allies about potential Hong Kong exodus

AFP / ISAAC LAWRENCESemi-autonomous Hong Kong has been rocked by months of huge pro-democracy protests

Britain's foreign minister said he has spoken to "Five Eyes" allies about potentially opening their doors to Hong Kongers if Beijing's plans to impose a national security law on the city sparks an exodus.

The revelation came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said London would not "walk away" from Hong Kongers worried by Beijing's control over the international business hub, in his most direct comments yet on the former colony's future.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has been rocked by months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests over the past year.

In response Beijing has announced plans to introduce a sweeping national security law covering secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference.

China says the law -- which will bypass Hong Kong's legislature -- is needed to tackle "terrorism" and "separatism" in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat.

But opponents, including many western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub that was supposedly guaranteed freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after its 1997 handover to China from Britain.

PRU/AFP / -ritain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had reached out to Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada about contingency plans if the law sparks a deluge of Hong Kongers looking to leave

In parliament on Tuesday, Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had reached out to Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada about contingency plans if the law creates a deluge of Hong Kongers looking to leave.

"I raised it on the Five Eyes call yesterday -- the possibility of burden sharing if we see a mass exodus from Hong Kong," Raab told lawmakers, referencing the intelligence-sharing alliance between the five powers.

Britain has said it will offer millions of Hong Kongers visas and a possible route to UK citizenship if China persists with its national security law, a commitment Johnson detailed in a column for The Times and the South China Morning Post newspapers on Wednesday.

- 'Path to citizenship' -

"Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life -- which China pledged to uphold -- is under threat," Johnson wrote.

"If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative."

AFP / John SAEKIBeijing has hit out at foreign criticism of its national security law

About 350,000 people in Hong Kong currently hold British National (Overseas) passports, which allow visa-free access to Britain for up to six months.

Another 2.5 million people would be eligible to apply for one.

Johnson said Britain could allow BN(O) holders to come for a renewable period of 12 months "and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship".

Beijing has hit out at foreign criticism of its national security law, saying the issue is a purely internal affair, and has vowed to implement "counter measures".

It says Hong Kongers will continue to keep their political freedoms -- although anti-subversion laws are routinely used to quash political dissent on the mainland.

Britain says it views the proposed law as a breach of the 1984 agreement with Beijing ahead of the handover guaranteeing Hong Kong's freedoms and a level of autonomy -- a deal that formed the bedrock of its rise as a world class finance centre.

AFP / Anthony WALLACEPolitical tensions are rising in Hong Kong once more

"Britain does not seek to prevent China's rise," Johnson wrote. "It is precisely because we welcome China as a leading member of the world community that we expect it to abide by international agreements."

His comments came as political tensions are rising in Hong Kong once more.

On Wednesday lawmakers in the city's pro-Beijing weighted legislature restarted debate on a law that would criminalise insults to China's national anthem.

The bill is likely to be passed on Thursday -- a day when Hong Kongers will also mark the anniversary of Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, despite city authorities banning the traditional annual vigil because of the coronavirus.

This Is What It Looked Like The Last Time New York City Had A Curfew

Race and police brutality were at the root of the 1943 curfew, which was issued after a white police officer shot a black soldier and protests broke out.

Kate Bubacz BuzzFeed News Photo Director Posted on June 2, 2020





The last time New York City had a curfew, it was imposed by then-mayor Fiorello La Guardia during World War II. It was in response to what was known as the Harlem riots, which started on Aug. 1, 1943, when a young Army private was shot by a white police officer in the Hotel Braddock uptown.


AP Photo



Private Robert Bandy in the Bellevue Hospital prison ward, where he was taken after being shot in the shoulder by a New York City patrol officer, Aug. 2, 1943.


Private Robert Bandy, a young black man on leave from his New Jersey posting, interfered in the arrest of a woman at the hotel and got into a fight with the white police officer. The officer alleged that Bandy tried to grab his nightstick, causing him to discharge his gun. Bandy was wounded in the shoulder and taken to the hospital, but rumors that he had been killed sparked protests.

Tensions around race were already running high, with Jim Crow laws still commonplace in the South. At the same time, black service members were being treated as second-class citizens in segregated military units, despite their contributions to the ongoing war effort. The allegation that a white officer had shot a black soldier resulted in two days of riots, during which hundreds were injured, scores arrested, and dozens of stores — primarily white-owned ones — destroyed.

According to the New York Daily News, La Guardia said the rioting had been "instigated and artificially stimulated" by "radicals." The same publication cited Adam Clayton Powell Sr., the Harlem pastor and activist, blaming "a callous white power structure." La Guardia instituted a 10:30 p.m. curfew, which until this week's protests was the last time the entire city of New York was under curfew.

Within a few days, order was restored in Harlem, Bandy made a full recovery, and the white officer was placed on probation for a year.


AP Photo



Mounted police officers patrol a street in Harlem, New York, Aug. 2, 1943.



AP Photo



Nightsticks are handed out to steel-helmeted volunteers in the police station on 123rd Street in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.


/ Associated Press



Police carry an injured unidentified man into Sydenham Hospital in Harlem during the riots, Aug. 2, 1943.


Tom Fitzsimmons / AP



Officers assist people who were injured in street battles into Sydenham Hospital in New York, Aug. 2, 1943. Six people were killed in the riots.


AP Photo
New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (center) discusses the protests at the 123rd Street police station, Aug. 2, 1943.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Imag
Crowds in front of shattered store windows in Harlem, 1943.

AP Phot
A liquor store window smashed during unrest in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.


New York Daily News Archive / Getty Image
A man covered in blood is taken to the 123rd Street precinct station, Aug. 2, 1943.


John Lent / AP Photo



A truckload of armed troops was rushed to the Harlem to get all soldiers on leave out of the neighborhood, Aug. 2, 1943. Six truckloads of soldiers patrolled the area.



Bettmann Archive / Getty Images



A young man is escorted out of a police car after being held in connection with looting and rioting in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.


AP Photo



Smoke billows from an unoccupied automobile set on fire in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.


Bettmann Archive / Getty Images



A dress shop has several signs labeled "colored store" affixed to its storefront in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.


New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images
Broken glass and damaged mannequins are strewn about this wrecked store on West 125th Street in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive
Women are arrested on suspicion of looting in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.

AP Photo
A police officer inspects a rack of lamb among the looted items that police seized from participants in the Harlem riots at the 123rd Street station, Aug. 2, 1943.


New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images
The aftermath of looting inside this store in Harlem, Aug. 2, 1943.

AP Photo
Bystanders look over a pile of merchandise scattered over the sidewalk in front of a pawnshop at 145th Street and Eighth Avenue, Aug. 2, 1943.


New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images
Damaged mannequins are strewn outside this wrecked storefront on West 125th Street, Aug. 2, 1943.






Kate Bubacz is the Photo Director for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

SHOCKER! WE ARE ALL ANTIFA NOW

The DEA Has Been Given Permission To Investigate People Protesting George Floyd’s Death

The Justice Department gave the agency the temporary power “to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of the protests over the death of George Floyd.”

Jason LeopoldBuzzFeed News Reporter

Anthony CormierBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on June 2, 2020,

Chandan Khanna / Getty Image
Demonstrators raise their fists as they gather on June 2 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd, according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News.
Floyd’s death “has spawned widespread protests across the nation, which, in some instances, have included violence and looting,” the DEA memo says. “Police agencies in certain areas of the country have struggled to maintain and/or restore order.” The memo requests the extraordinary powers on a temporary basis, and on Sunday afternoon a senior Justice Department official signed off.

Attorney General William Barr issued a statement Saturday following a night of widespread and at times violent protests in which he blamed, without providing evidence, “anarchistic and far left extremists, using Antifa-like tactics,” for the unrest. He said the FBI, DEA, US Marshals, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be “deployed to support local efforts to enforce federal law.”

Barr did not say what those agencies would do, however.

The DEA is limited by statute to enforcing drug-related federal crimes. But on Sunday, Timothy Shea, a former US attorney and close confidant of Barr's who was named acting administrator of the DEA last month, received approval from Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer to go beyond the agency’s mandate “to perform other law enforcement duties” that Barr may “deem appropriate.”

Citing the protests, Shea laid out an argument for why the agency should be granted extraordinary latitude.

“In order for DEA to assist to the maximum extent possible in the federal law enforcement response to protests which devolve into violations of federal law, DEA requests that it be designated to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of protests over the death of George Floyd,” Shea wrote in the memo. “DEA requests this authority on a nationwide basis for a period of fourteen days.”

A spokesperson for the DEA declined to comment.

“Drug enforcement agents should not be conducting covert surveillance of protests and First Amendment protected speech,” said Hugh Handeyside, a senior attorney for the ACLU. “That kind of monitoring and information sharing may well constitute unwarranted investigation of people exercising their constitutional rights to seek justice. The executive branch continues to run headlong in the wrong direction.”

Three DEA sources told BuzzFeed News they are troubled by the memo and see it as an example of the Justice Department potentially abusing its power in an attempt to smear the protests and crack down on protected First Amendment activity.

The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media.

In addition to “covert surveillance,” the memo indicates that DEA agents would be authorized to share intelligence with local and state law enforcement authorities, to “intervene” to “protect both participants and spectators in the protests,” and to conduct interviews and searches, and arrest protesters who are alleged to have violated federal law.

A day after Shea’s memo was approved, President Trump said he is “mobilizing all available federal resources — civilian and military — to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson, and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights.”

Under the Insurrection Act, the president has the authority to deploy the US military for domestic purposes. It has not been employed since 1992, when troops were sent in during the Los Angeles riots.

There is a long history of federal agencies infiltrating and surveilling protest groups. During the protests in Baltimore in 2015 over the death of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody, the Department of Homeland Security monitored Twitter and other social media platforms for "intelligence" on the protesters. In Ferguson, Missouri, during the 2014 protests over Michael’s Brown’s killing by a white police officer, DHS planned to "plug" federal officers into protests to conduct surveillance and collect intelligence. And the FBI conducted extensive monitoring and surveillance of the Occupy Wall Street protest movement that began in 2011.

It’s unknown if the ATF, FBI, or other federal law enforcement agencies have been granted the same authority as the DEA.

RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE

Jason Leopold is a senior investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles. He is a 2018 Pulitzer finalist for international reporting, recipient of the IRE 2016 FOI award and a 2016 Newseum Institute National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame inductee.


Anthony Cormier is an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. While working for the Tampa Bay Times, Cormier won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

As Thousands Of Protesters Are Arrested, “The Crimes Of The Rich Are Not Prosecuted”

At least 5,600 people have been arrested since the George Floyd protests began; just one US banker was sentenced to prison for the 2008 financial crisis.

Venessa WongBuzzFeed News Reporter
Reporting From New York, New York June 2, 2020,

David Mcnew / Getty Images

People are arrested during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd on June 1, 2020 in Los Angeles.

As state and federal politicians send a surge of police and soldiers to confront the nationwide protests that emerged over the last week, the number of people arrested has already surpassed the number of white-collar criminals federally prosecuted in all of 2019.

The quickly rising tally is a reminder that while some forms of theft and devastation are punished, others draw little response at all; the criminal justice system is designed to make it easy to prosecute some types of crimes and not others. At least 5,600 people around the country have already been arrested during the protests, while just 359 white-collar crimes were federally prosecuted in the entire month of January, down 25% from 2015 levels.

Meanwhile, President Trump told governors dealing with protests on Monday: “You have to arrest and try people.”

The number of arrests is certain to rise as the protests continue and the National Guard is deployed on the streets. The rapid surge, which happened within days of the protests beginning, contrasts with the Trump administration’s light-touch approach to enforcing financial crimes, with federal white-collar prosecutions on track to reach an all-time low this year.

“If prosecutions continue at the same pace for the remainder of ... 2020, they are projected to fall to 5,175 — almost half the level of their Obama-era peak,” according to TRAC, a research group at Syracuse University that tracks federal law enforcement patterns.

Politicians and law enforcement have declared zero tolerance for looting as protests go on. Alleged financial crimes by major corporations, meanwhile, almost always end up with no one being prosecuted, and often with the companies paying the government a settlement in return for it dropping the case. Wells Fargo, for example, agreed to pay $3 billion to settle its fake account scandal, which led to customers being charged unexpected fees and likely damaged their credit scores. Bank of America paid $16.65 billion to settle claims of fraud over its role in the economic carnage caused by the 2008 financial crisis.


Matt Dunham / AP
Former Credit Suisse executive Kareem Serageldin, the only Wall Street banker to go to jail for the 2008 financial crisis.

“People are being arrested for what — peaceful protesting and being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Getting caught breaking a window?” asked Geert Dhondt, associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The larger crimes, and the larger harm to society, goes unpunished.”

There have already been at least 5,600 arrests since peaceful protests and violent demonstrations erupted around the country in response to the death of George Floyd, according to estimates by the Associated Press. Some were arrested for failing to obey orders from law enforcement, stealing, obstructing traffic, or disturbing the peace. In Minnesota, 150 were arrested Sunday and early Monday for breaking the 8 p.m. curfew.

“Tactically a lot of the [protest] arrests are just for order keeping. So they’re not worried about prosecuting these folks, they’re arresting them to get them off the streets and trying to maintain control,” said Jesse Jannetta, senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute. “One question being put in front of us by the protests is, Who does the law tend to protect versus people who are constantly being enforced on by the law? Low-income communities, particularly predominantly African American communities, have a ton of police presence.”


John Legend@johnlegend
Meanwhile, billions of dollars of exploitation, fraud and other white collar crime happens with no arrests, no police involvement, nothing. We need to divest in our entire system of overincarceration and overpolicing. We are not made safer or closer to justice by any of it.11:59 PM - 30 May 2020
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The outsized police reaction to the George Floyd protests echoes the response to the Occupy movement that followed the 2008 financial crisis. More than 7,700 protesters were arrested, according to the site OccupyArrests.com; only one US banker was sentenced to prison for their role in the financial crisis, which led to 10 million families losing their homes.

Berkeley professor and former labor secretary Robert Reich tweeted, “More peaceful protestors and journalists have been jailed in the past week than all the bankers who were jailed for fraud during the financial collapse.”


Robert Reich@RBReich
More peaceful protestors and journalists have been jailed in the past week than all the bankers who were jailed for fraud during the financial collapse.05:33 PM - 31 May 2020
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“What happened in the financial crisis caused huge amounts of harm, but that’s not thought about the same way,” said Jannetta. “George Floyd, our understanding is he tried to use a fake $20 bill … So is there equality of protection and is there equality of enforcement? And I think when you look across these things, the answer isn’t yes.”


Dhondt said this inequality is only growing with every crisis. “Who does the real looting in society? Someone who smashes a window or private equity firms that buy up companies in crisis and sell off their parts and destroys thousands of people’s lives?”

“The crimes of the rich are not prosecuted; they’re ignored,” Dhondt added, “even though they do a lot more harm than a few broken windows.”

Venessa Wong is a technology and business reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

FBI has ‘no intelligence’ Antifa was involved in Sunday’s violence at DC protests: report

Published on June 2, 2020 By Bob Brigham

journalism today.

Attorney General Bill Barr and President Donald Trump have tried to blame Antifa — or anti-fascists — for violence in the protests against police injustice. But the public data has backed up their case, and even their on intel disputes the argument.

“he FBI’s Washington Field Office “has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence” in the violence that occurred on May 31, according to an internal FBI situation report obtained exclusively by The Nation. That same day, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would designate Antifa a terrorist organization, even though the government has no existing authority to declare a domestic group a terrorist organization,” Ken Klippenstein reported for the magazine.

“The FBI report, however, states, ‘based on CHS [Confidential Human Source] canvassing, open source/social media partner engagement, and liaison, FBI WFO has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence.’ The statement followed a list of violent acts like bricks being thrown at police and a backpack containing explosive materials, which were flagged by the FBI under a ‘Key Updates’ section of the report,” The Nation reported. “The report did warn that individuals from a far-right social media group had ‘called for far-right provocateurs to attack federal agents, use automatic weapons against protesters.’”

Read the full report.