PHOTOS: Protests spotlight racial scars around the world

Protesters march in Illinois town that once expelled black residents

23 PHOTOS

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96 REUTERS PHOTOS
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AND HERE 
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Black Lives Matter is projected onto the Houses of Parliament, in London, Friday, June 5, 2020, as part of the ongoing worldwide demonstrations following the death of George Floyd. Just like the coronavirus, racism has no borders. Across the world, disgruntled people, representing a broad spectrum of society, marched this weekend as one to protest against racial injustices at home and abroad. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)



Protestors gather at Town Hall in Sydney, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to support the cause of U.S. protests over the death of George Floyd. Just like the coronavirus, racism has no borders. Across the world, disgruntled people, representing a broad spectrum of society, marched this weekend as one to protest against racial injustices at home and abroad. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People gather to protest during a solidarity rally for the death of George Floyd Saturday, June 6, 2020, in Tokyo. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Just like the coronavirus, racism has no borders. Across the world, disgruntled people, representing a broad spectrum of society, marched this weekend as one to protest against racial injustices at home and abroad. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)


A mural by street artist Jorit, honoring George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis, USA, depicts from left, Lenin, Martin Luther King, George Floyd, Malcom X and Angela Davis, atop the roof of a building in Naples, southern Italy, Saturday, June 6, 2020. (Alessandro Pone/LaPresse via AP)

People gather during a demonstration in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, June 6, 2020 calling for justice for George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)


A young woman wears a facemark as people gather at the Alexander Platz in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA, that has led to protests in many countries and across the US. Just like the coronavirus, racism has no borders. Across the world, disgruntled people, representing a broad spectrum of society, marched this weekend as one to protest against racial injustices at home and abroad. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)


A demonstrator clenches his fist during a Black Lives Matter rally in Parliament Square in London, Saturday, June 6, 2020, as people protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)


People pose next to an artwork by French artist Dugudus depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as a police officer pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd while holding a bible, in Paris, France, Saturday, June 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)


A woman gestures after climbing on the Abraham Lincoln statue in Parliament Square during a Black Lives Matter rally in Parliament Square in London, Saturday, June 6, 2020, as people protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA. Floyd, a black man, died after he was restrained by Minneapolis police while in custody on May 25 in Minnesota. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)


A man raises his fist as people gather in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA, that has led to protests in many countries and across the US. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)



Hundreds of demonstrators gather on the Champs de Mars as the Eiffel Tower is seen in the background during a demonstration in Paris, France, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on May 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Anti-racism demonstrators take a knee near Toronto Police Headquarters during a march on Saturday, June 6, 2020, protesting the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Thousands of people demonstrate in Cologne, Germany, Saturday June 6, 2020, to protest against racism and the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA. Just like the coronavirus, racism has no borders. Across the world, disgruntled people, representing a broad spectrum of society, marched this weekend as one to protest against racial injustices at home and abroad. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)


People gather in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 7, 2020, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Protesters throw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour, during a Black Lives Matter protest rally, in Bristol, England, Sunday June 7, 2020, in response to the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, USA, that has led to protests in many countries and across the US. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

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Argentine socialist leader Celeste Fierro leads a march in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, that has led to protests in many countries and across the US. A few hundred people defied the mandatory lockdown imposed since March 20th to march in solidarity with U.S. protests over the killing of Floyd. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

People protest against crimes committed by the police against black people in the favelas, outside the Rio de Janeiro's state government, Brazil, Sunday, May 31, 2020. The protest, called "Black lives matter," was interrupted when police used tear gas to disperse people. "I can't breathe", said some of the demonstrators, alluding to the George Floyd's death. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

People protest under the slogan Black Lives Matter rally outside the US Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, Monday June 1, 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA. The recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, has led to protests in many countries, and across the U.S. 
(Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Activists of Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, June 2, 2020 in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration against the Israeli police after border police officers shot and killed Iyad al-Halak, an unarmed autistic Palestinian man, in the mixed Arab Jewish city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel, after saying they suspected he was carrying a weapon, Sunday, May 31, 2020. Protesters gathered to protest the killing of al-Halak in Jerusalem and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Protesters take part in a demonstration on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Hyde Park, London, over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Protests have taken place across America and internationally, after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd's neck while the handcuffed black man called out that he couldn't breathe. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been fired and charged with murder. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Turkish police officers, in riot gear, and wearing face masks for protections against the spread of the coronavirus, scuffle with protesters during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, against the recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Omer Kuscu)

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Exclusive: Oil major BP to cut 15% of workforce
Shadia Nasralla, Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) - BP will cut about 15% of its workforce in response to the coronavirus crisis and as part of Chief Executive Bernard Looney’s plan to shift the oil and gas major to renewable energy, it said on Monday.

Looney told employees in a global online call that the London-based company will cut 10,000 jobs from the current 70,100.

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

Reuters had earlier reported the planned job cuts, citing three company sources.

THE PERVERSITY OF THE MARKET
BP shares were up 3.3% by 1230 GMT, against a 2.2% gain for the broader European energy sector.

The affected roles will be mostly senior office-based positions and not front-line operational staff, the company said.

About a fifth of the job cuts will take place in Britain, where BP employs 15,000 people, a company spokesman said.

Like all the world’s top energy companies, BP has cut its 2020 spending plans after the coronavirus pandemic brought an unprecedented drop in demand for oil. BP has flagged a 25% cut to $12 billion this year and said it would find $2.5 billion in cost savings by the end of 2021 through the digitalisation and integration of its businesses.

On Monday, however, Looney said the company is likely to need to cut costs even further.

BP is giving no pay rises to senior employees until March 2021 and said it is unlikely to pay any cash bonuses this year.

ENERGY TRANSITION

The job reductions are also part of Looney’s drive to make the 111-year-old oil company more nimble as it prepares for the shift to low-carbon energy, the sources said.

“It was always part of the plan to make BP a leaner, faster-moving and lower-carbon company,” Looney said.

The spokesman said that the coronavirus crisis “amplified and accelerated” BP’s transition plans.

Looney last month announced a large round of senior management appointments, halving the size of BP’s leaderhip team under his plan to reshape the company’s structure.

Shortly after taking office in February, the 49-year-old CEO said that he was creating 11 divisions to “reinvent” BP and dismantle the traditional structure dominated by its oil and gas production business and its refining, marketing and trading division.

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil producer, last month said that it will cut between 10% and 15% of its global workforce as part of an ongoing restructuring.

Royal Dutch Shell, meanwhile, has initiated a voluntary redundancy programme.

(GRAPHIC - Oil majors' 2020 spending: here)



Reporting by Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Louise Heaven

Washington Mayor Bowser, 'unbought and unbossed,' challenges Trump

SHE IS A PIT BULL HE IS A POODLE DOODLE

Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has drawn a battle line right up to the White House.


Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is surrounded by clergy as she speaks during a vigil as protests continue on the streets near the White House over the death in police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, U.S., June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
WOW I ALWAYS KNEW IT, DMT IS GOD! LOOK WHERE THE UNARMORED COPPER IS WAY IN THE BACK, 

Bowser, one of seven black female mayors of America’s 100 largest cities, on Friday declared a small but symbolic patch of the U.S. capital - a section of 16th Street bounded by a church on one side and Lafayette Square opposite the White House on the other - “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”

The Democratic mayor then had the District Of Columbia’s departments of transportation and public works paint giant yellow letters spelling “Black Lives Matter” followed by the city’s flag on the street spanning two city blocks leading to plaza. To finish, Bowser posted on Twitter a video taken from a nearby roof showing the White House overlooking the results.

“There are people who are craving to be heard and to be seen,” Bowser told a news conference, “and to have their humanity recognized, and we had the opportunity to send that message loud and clear on a very important street in our city.”

Glynda Carr, president and chief executive of Higher Heights for America PAC, a political action committee dedicated to helping more liberal black women win elective office, said Bowser “showed the world that she leads, unbought and unbossed.” Carr’s organization has never raised money for Bowser.

For his part, the Republican president denounced Bowser as “incompetent.”

Washington’s status as the seat of the federal government has not always been a comfortable fit for its residents or elected leaders. The city’s population of about 700,000 people - 46.4% black and 45.6% white, according to the Census Bureau - is politically liberal and heavily Democratic.

The ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis last month, have heightened that tension and thrust Bowser - mayor since 2015 - into the national spotlight.

Bowser has supported peaceful demonstrators while denouncing violence and looting. Trump has advocated a militarized response to civil unrest and even summoned a contingent of active-duty troops to Washington, though they were never deployed on the streets. Bowser said she did not want any out-of-state military forces in Washington.

When Trump threatened protesters who come near the White House with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons,” Bowser shot back with a comment that summed up their relationship.

“There are no vicious dogs & ominous weapons. There is just a scared man. Afraid/alone. ... I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us,” Bowser wrote on Twitter.

After baton-swinging federal police fired smoke canisters, flashbang grenades and rubber bullets to drive away peaceful protesters near the White House so Trump on Monday could pose holding a Bible in front of a church near what is now “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” Bowser called the scene “shameful.”

A single mother to a toddler, Bowser is only the second woman to serve as Washington’s mayor and the first to win a second term in office.

Like other elected officials in Washington over the years, Bowser has advocated statehood for the District of Columbia, which has no voting members of Congress even as states with smaller populations have two senators and one member of the House of Representatives. Washington’s mayor was a federal appointee until the 1970s when the city was granted “home rule” and began electing its mayors.


Bowser also clashed with Trump during the federal government shutdown in 2019, over relief funds offered to the city during the coronavirus pandemic and over his plans to hold a grand military parade in the capital.

Trump castigated her on Twitter on Friday.

“The incompetent Mayor of Washington, D.C., @MayorBowser, who’s budget is totally out of control and is constantly coming back to us for ‘handouts,’ is now fighting with the National Guard,” Trump wrote.

Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Will Dunham

Tens of thousands join Black Lives Matter protest in London

Michael Holden, Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands took to the streets of London on Sunday, rallying for a second day running to condemn police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with some wearing face masks bearing the slogan “Racism is a virus”.


On Saturday, thousands gathered in central London in a demonstration that was peaceful but ended with small numbers of people clashing with mounted police near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street residence.



RELATED COVERAGE

UK anti-racism protests 'subverted by thuggery': PM Johnson

Anti-racism protests undoubtedly increase risk of coronavirus spread: UK health minister

London police chief Cressida Dick said 27 officers had been injured in “shocking and completely unacceptable” assaults during anti-racism protests over the past week, including 14 on Saturday. Two were seriously hurt and an officer who fell from her horse underwent surgery.





Authorities had urged protesters not to gather in London again on Sunday, warning they risked spreading COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But demonstrators still packed the road outside the U.S. Embassy on the south bank of the River Thames.

Protesters later marched across the river towards parliament and Downing Street, pausing on the bridge to go down on one knee and chant: “Justice, now!” In Parliament Square, many attached their placards to the railings outside parliament.

“Now is the time: we need to do something. We have become so complacent in the UK but the racism that killed George Floyd was born in the UK in terms of colonialism and white supremacy,” said 28-year-old Hermione Lake, who was holding a sign reading: “white silence = violence”.

“We need to completely gut the system ... We need massive reform, massive change.”

BRITISH COPPERS, UNARMED, BUT FOR BATONS, NO KEVLAR VESTS, HELMETS OR SHIELDS, STILL CRACK HEADS AND INJURE PROTESTERS WITH THOSE BATONS. AND UNLIKE US COPS THERE IS A LADY COPPER, IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER WITH THE PORK PIE HAT, SHE IS ALLOWED TO HIT WOMEN PROTESTERS AS WELL AS MEN. AND FINALLY NOTICE ALSO IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER

A PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE HITTING A COPPER. SEE NO DAMAGE JUST SURPRISE AND A WET SPOT. IT AIN'T A BRICK OR ROCKS SO GIMME A BREAK ABOUT BEING UNDER ASSAULT, IT'S JUST AN EXCUSE TO BEAT ON PEOPLE.

RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE

Police clash with demonstrators in Whitehall during a Black Lives Matter protest in London, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis, London, Britain, June 7, 2020. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

STATUE TORN DOWN

The May 25 death of Floyd, an African American, has sparked demonstrations around the world over police treatment of ethnic minorities. A white police officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

In Bristol in western England, demonstrators tore down a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston.

Sunday’s London protest was largely peaceful. People waved placards and chanted: “George Floyd!” and “The UK is not innocent!”

As the numbers dwindled, some protesters clashed with police outside the Foreign Office after one man was arrested. They threw bottles and flares and chanted: “Black lives matter!” as they tried to push through a line of riot police.

One police officer with a bloodied head was helped by colleagues.

Johnson said that while people had the right to protest peacefully, the demonstrations had been “subverted by thuggery”.

THUGGERY....THUG OF COURSE IS A RACIST TERM
COMING FROM THE BRITISH TERM FOR MYTHICAL
INDIAN KALI WORSHIPERS AND ASSASSINS THE THUGEE
 THUG AMERICAN SLANG FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS
WHO ARE INTO GANGSTA CULTURE OR GENERAL MAYHEM


“They are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account,” he said on Twitter.

Police said 29 people had been arrested during Saturday’s protest in London for offences including violent disorder. A further 12 people were arrested on Sunday in central London, the majority of them for public order offences.

Pauline Nandoo, 60, said she had been protesting racism since the 1970s and the images of violence at the end of Saturday’s protest had not deterred her.

“There’s children of all ages and older adults here,” said Nandoo, who was with her brother and 13-year-old daughter. “They are going to experience what we have experienced, and we have to try to make that not happen.”

Reporting by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Writing by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Peter Cooney and Stephen Coates

COMMERCIAL OVER THE COUNTER FIREWORKS USED

BY PROTESTERS 

Coronavirus: Brazil's domestic workers cut adrift in pandemic

By Katy Watson BBC South America correspondent 7 June 2020

Rosangela (pictured) is one of millions of workers suffering across Brazil
Days after Brazil registered its first coronavirus death in March, the country began to close down. Businesses and restaurants were shuttered and people were told to stay home.

That's when Rosangela Jesus dos Santos's life changed unimaginably. The 47-year-old diarista, or daily housekeeper, was fired by most of her employers.

"They said it was because of the virus," she says. "I went to a different house every day of the week and some clients are elderly, I understand."

Rosangela is scared. She hopes she can return when the outbreak is over but for now, she's been left working just one day a week. Her remaining employer gives her a mask but at no point have they told her to stay home for her safety. She's wary of the virus but she knows if she doesn't work, she won't get paid.

"I need to work - my family is big, that's the truth," says Rosangela. "I would like to be working and I'm used to it, going out early and coming home late."
Little option

Home for Rosangela is Paraisopolis, Sao Paulo's second-largest favela. Her small house is tucked away, a few hundred metres down a narrow and winding alley - so common in Brazil's poor neighbourhoods.

REUTERS

The density of the population of her local area makes it difficult to socially distance

On the way, you pass dozens of similar buildings, windows wide open on to the alleyway, families inside yet living very publicly. There is little option in these crowded neighbourhoods.

Rosangela lives with her daughter Carolina, her two-year-old grandson Erick and their little dog Samira in a two-roomed house.

Stickers inside the neighbourhood (left) urge residents to stay at home

The main room serves as a kitchen, a living space and a bedroom. And from the kitchen window, you can see down across the favela - a sea of small houses built one on top of the other.

Rosangela has seven children, six of whom are unemployed. She also helps support her nine grandchildren but these days it's almost impossible.
An unequal response?

The International Labour Organization says Brazil has nearly seven million domestic workers: more than anywhere else in the world. Most of them are women - and the majority are black.

"The virus has been democratic in the fact that that it's affecting rich and poor but the actions, the attitudes and the lack of public policy have not been democratic," says community organiser Rejane Santos who lives in Paraisopolis.

"People were let go and told by their employers to come back after the crisis. But the majority of the women are the main breadwinners, they are single mothers, they pay rent. They don't have savings."

Adopt a Housekeeper'

Such is the problem with housekeepers who have been let go - and unpaid - that Rejane set up a crowdfunding campaign called Adopt a Housekeeper. More than a thousand women have come to her for help.

The campaign is raising money to provide domestic workers with a personal care kit, a food basket and 300 reais ($58; £46) each month to keep them going through the crisis.

GETTY IMAGES

Meal donation programmes are also running in other poor neighbourhoods (file photo)

Under Brazilian law, if a domestic worker spends more than two days a week with the same family, they must be registered. But many are not and those who work for several families, diaristas, remain unregistered legally. They are the most vulnerable in these times of crisis.
'Power struggle'

Queues outside banks have become a common sight - unregistered workers trying to take advantage of government handouts worth $115 a month - but millions are yet to receive the money.

For those lucky enough to have a contract, most have had theirs suspended.

"When this pandemic passes, what will happen?" asks Janaina Mariano de Sousa, the president of the Domestic Workers' Union of Sao Paulo.

She is concerned that with the country in recession, businesses that laid off workers temporarily will permanently shut their doors. Employees will get fired and it's the domestic workers who will suffer the most.
You may want to watch:


'Why we underestimated impact of coronavirus'

She thinks the government could do more but insists that her members need to carry on working.

"It's become a power struggle," she says, referring to the stay-at-home measures implemented by governors and the view of President Jair Bolsonaro that Brazil should return to work.

"Everyone is talking about Bolsonaro but I wonder sometimes, is he really crazy?" she says. "It's become such a political fight - he wants to get the economy going again so it can flourish."
'A really surreal agreement'

While undoubtedly there are people who have had to let their domestic workers go for financial reasons - almost five million people lost their jobs between February and April - the crisis has brought into sharp focus cultural challenges too.

Middle and upper-class Brazilians rely heavily on their domestic staff - but coronavirus has shown not everyone values them.

Camila Rocha, an actress, is part of a movement called For The Lives of Our Mothers. It was created by the sons, daughters and grandchildren of domestic workers to ensure they could get paid throughout - and stay at home.

"There are lots of situations where employers refuse to pay," she says, "or they insist on a really surreal agreement, such as not working now but getting a salary but then having to work to make up for that time - so effectively working for free after."

Cristobal is now a depression, moving north toward Canada






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THERE ARE NO OUTSIDE AGITATORS

ONLY HOMEGROWN AGITATORS 

AND INSTIGATORS 

AP FACT CHECK: Trump exaggerations on blacks’ economic gains

By CALVIN WOODWARD, HOPE YEN and ARIJETA LAJKAtoday



1 of 10 https://apnews.com/16a926cc5f932d984a16646fbdf7f4ea
President Donald Trump listens as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, June 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is exaggerating economic gains for African Americans during his administration.

He claims full credit for achieving the best economic figures for blacks across the board. That’s not accurate. Black unemployment did reach a low last year, but much of the progress came during the Obama administration. Household median income also was higher for blacks prior to Trump taking office.

Trump also asserts that Friday’s unemployment report was a triumph in “equality,” making it a “great day” for George Floyd, whose death has spurred protests against racial inequality. But black unemployment actually increased, while declining for whites.

The statements came in a week of alternate realities put forth by Trump and his team.

Taking measure of the nation’s capital following demonstrations involving injured police, gagging protesters and shattered storefronts, Trump exclaimed: “Washington, D.C., was the safest place on earth last night!”

He and aides denied that authorities in Washington used tear gas against protesters, who fled from chemical clouds that looked like tear gas, stung eyes like it and met the dictionary definition of it.

And when “Mad Dog Mattis” snapped at him, Trump falsely claimed to have fired him as defense secretary and to have given him that nickname.

A look at some of his claims:

BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT

TRUMP: “What we’re announcing today is a tremendous tribute to equality. We’re bringing our jobs back.” — remarks Friday to reporters.

THE FACTS: The joblessness figures in Friday’s report did not improve uniformly across racial and ethnic groups.

The unemployment rate did decline last month for white workers, to 12.4% from 14.2% in April, as well as for Latinos, to 17.6% from 18.9%.

But joblessness actually rose slightly for African American workers, to 16.8% from 16.7%. For Asian Americans, it increased to 15% from 14.5%
___

TRUMP, on the economy before the pandemic: “We had the best numbers for African Americans on employment and unemployment in history ... best everything.” — Fox News interview Wednesday

THE FACTS: True on unemployment. Not true by a long shot on “everything” in the economy.

Black unemployment reached a record low during the Trump administration, 5.4% in August, as the longest economic expansion in history pressed ahead.

Most of the progress came when Barack Obama was president: Black unemployment dropped from a recession high of 16.8% in March 2010 to 7.8% in January 2017. Improvement continued under Trump until the pandemic. Black unemployment reached 16.8% in May, compared with 13.3% for the overall population.

Not all economic measures improved for African Americans under Trump before the pandemic. A black household earned median income of $41,361 in 2018, the latest data available. That’s below a 2000 peak of $43,380, a

ECONOMY



TRUMP: Prior to the pandemic, “we had the most people working in the history of our cou


THE FACTS: Yes, but that’s because of population growth.



A more relevant measure is the proportion of Americans with jobs, and that never came close to record highs.



According to Labor Department data, 61.2% of people in the United States 16 years and older were working in January. That’s below the all-time high of 64.7% in April 2000, though higher than the 59.9% when Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.



That figure currently stands at 52.8%



___



CONSPIRACY THEORY



WHITE HOUSE: “Antifa and professional anarchists are invading our communities, staging bricks and weapons to instigate violence. These are acts of domestic terror.” — tweet Wednesday, with a video showing collections of bricks and stones as if stockpiled for attacks.



THE FACTS: The tweet’s evidence of malfeasance was bogus.



The video contained multiple clips showing brick or stone for construction projects and the like, not for a nefarious plot. One clip captured rocks encased in wire frames. Those are actually a protective barrier outside Chabad of Sherman Oaks, a synagogue on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles, to stop vehicles from ramming the building.



“They’ve been there for about a year,” Rabbi Mendel Lipskier of the synagogue told The Associated Press. “THESE ARE SECURITY BARRIERS,” the synagogue said in a statement reassuring neighbors and friends.



Last Monday, posts had circulated on social media with photos of that gabion wall, falsely describing the stones as being left on Ventura Boulevard “for the next round of Antifa riots” and saying such “drop offs” were being repeated around the country.



That conspiracy theory fed into the White House tweet two days later as Trump and others brushed aside the peaceful nature of most of the protesting, highlighted the violence and portrayed the unrest as overwhelmingly the work of radicals. The White House later deleted the tweet and video without explanation.



___



CAPITAL CHAOS



TRUMP: “They didn’t use tear gas.” — Fox News Radio on Wednesday, referring to the previous night’s demonstrations outside the White House.



KAYLEIGH McENANY, White House press secretary: “No tear gas was used. ... No one was tear-gassed. Let me make that clear.” — briefing Wednesday.



THE FACTS: People were tear-gassed.



Authorities acknowledged using pepper compound fired in plastic balls. Scientific sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, list dispersed pepper as a tear gas. Officers also fired projectiles containing chemicals that likewise meet the common and scientific definitions of tear gas.



People scattered in the stinging fog, coughing and gagging, some with eyes red and streaming.



“Tear gas is anything that makes you cry,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, speaking of chemicals used in crowd dispersal. “Pepper spray is a tear gas. But there are all kinds of other ones, too.”



Dr. Sven-Eric Jordt, who researches tear gas agents and chemical exposure injuries at the Duke University School of Medicine, said newer compounds, categorized as OC agents, might or might not fit a traditional scientific definition of tear gas but are as potent and have the same effects. CS and CN are classic categories of tear gasses.



WUSA9, a CBS affiliate in Washington, reported that its journalists found spent OC and CS canisters on the street immediately after authorities cleared the protest; one canister was still warm.



___



TRUMP: “Washington, D.C., was the safest place on earth last night!” — tweet and Facebook post Tuesday.



THE FACTS: Obviously untrue.



The crackdown on peaceful as well as violent protesters, the injuries to police who were attacked, the fortifications around the White House, the phalanx lining the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and the threat of looting and vandalism in neighborhoods well away from the militarized scene all spoke to the dangers of the night.



More than half a dozen federal agencies joined in the effort to bring order. Among them, the U.S. Park Police said Tuesday that 51 of its members were injured over the previous four days of demonstrations.



During that time, Trump had warned that anyone getting past White House security would face “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons.” At one point early in the confrontations, Secret Service agents spirited Trump to a White House bunker.



Last Monday night and other nights, Washington was not the safest place on Earth. The White House may have been the safest place in Washington.



___



MAD DOG



TRUMP: “Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General.” — tweet Wednesday.



THE FACTS: No, what Trump and Obama have in common is that Mattis resigned under them. They did not fire him.



As Obama’s head of Central Command and Trump’s defense secretary, Mattis disagreed with elements of administration policy. This past week he also voiced anger over what he regards as Trump’s divisive, immature leadership.



The retired four-star Marine general announced in December 2018 that he would step down in as defense secretary in two months.“General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction,” Trump tweeted then, praising his tenure. Then Trump flipped his tone, cut short Mattis’ remaining time and started claiming that he’d fired him.



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TRUMP: “His nickname was ‘Chaos’, which I didn’t like, & changed to ‘Mad Dog.’” — tweet Wednesday.



THE FACTS: No, he didn’t change Mattis’ nickname to Mad Dog. Mattis had been called that for more than a decade before joining the Trump administration.



He was also known by his military call sign Chaos when he was a Marine colonel. Mattis joked that it stood for “Colonel Has An Outstanding Solution.”



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VIRUS TESTING



TRUMP: “We have incredible testing now. So we’ve done a great job.” — interview Wednesday on Fox’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.”



TRUMP, on coordination with states: “We jointly developed testing projections and goals for each state for the month of May, altogether totaling 12.9 million tests. Think of that: 12.9 million tests.” — news briefing on May 11.



THE FACTS: U.S. testing has been far from “incredible.” It was a failure in the crucial early weeks, U.S. officials acknowledged, meaning missed opportunity to limit the spread of the virus before infection and death surged.



Brett Giroir, the lead federal official on testing, said Thursday that the U.S. conducted about 12 million tests in May, falling 900,000 short of the administration’s target for the month.



Trump has repeatedly overstated the availability of U.S. testing, falsely declaring in March, in the midst of dire shortages, “Anybody who wants a test, can get a test.”



Now, the availability of tests varies widely. Some governors and local officials say they have more tests available than people who want them. Others say they can’t meet the demand. That’s the case at the Department of Veterans Affairs, for example.



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Lajka reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone, Ashraf Khalil, Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns contributed to this report.



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



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



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

U.S. News Police back off as peaceful protests push deep reforms

By JAKE SEINER, LISA MARIE PANE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI

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Khai Rieara, 10, left, and his brother Keanu Rieara, 12, of Frederick, Md., stand on the Black Lives Matter banner that is draped on the fence surrounding Lafayette Park, for a photograph as they attend a protest Sunday, June 7, 2020, near the White House in Washington over the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis. "Keanu has been talking about it a lot," said his mother, "he feels it's inhuman what happened to George Floyd, that nobody helped him and that he didn't deserve that. He wants to know if that's going to happen to him." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Calls for deep police reforms gained momentum as leaders in the city where George Floyd died at the hands of police pushed to dismantle the entire department.

Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests demanding a reckoning with institutional racism that have sometimes resulted in clashes with police, but many officers took a less aggressive stance over the weekend when demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful


Two weeks after Floyd, an out-of-work black bouncer, died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council vowed to dismantle the 800-member agenc


“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” City Council President Lisa Bender said Sunday. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”



On Monday, Derek Chauvin — the officer filmed pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck and one of four to be fired from the department in the aftermath of Floyd’s death — is scheduled to make his first court appearance since the charge against him was upgraded to second-degree murder.



This is not the first time an American city has wrestled with how to deal with a police department accused of being overly aggressive or having bias in its ranks. In Ferguson, Missouri — where a white officer in 2014 fatally shot Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old — then-Attorney General Eric Holder said federal authorities considered dismantling the police department. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms.

The state of Minnesota has launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the first concrete changes came when the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.

On Sunday, nine of the Minneapolis City Council’s 12 members vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Mayor Jacob Frey said he doesn’t support the “full abolition” of the department.

Protesters nationwide are demanding police reforms and a reckoning with institutional racism in response to Floyd’s death, and calls to “defund the police” have become rallying cries for many. A heavy-handed response to demonstrations in many places has underscored what critics have maintained: Law enforcement is militarized and too often uses excessive force.

Cities imposed curfews as several protests last week were marred by spasms of arson, assaults and smash-and-grab raids on businesses. More than 10,000 people have been arrested around the country since protests began, according to reports tracked by The Associated Press. Videos have surfaced of officers in riot gear using tear gas or physical force against even peaceful demonstrators.

But U.S. protests in recent days have been overwhelmingly peaceful — and over the weekend, several police departments appeared to retreat from aggressive tactics.

Several cities have also lifted curfews, including Chicago and New York City, where the governor urged protesters to get tested for the virus and to proceed with caution until they had. Leaders around the country have expressed concern that demonstrations could lead to an increase in coronavirus cases.

For the first time since protests began in New York more than a week ago, most officers Sunday were not wearing riot helmets as they watched over rallies. Police moved the barricades at the Trump hotel at Columbus Circle for protesters so they could pass through.

Officers in some places in the city casually smoked cigars or ate ice cream and pizza. Some officers shook hands and posed for photos with motorcyclists at one rally.

In Compton, California, several thousand protesters, some on horseback, peacefully demonstrated through the city, just south of Los Angeles. The only law enforcement presence was about a dozen sheriff’s deputies, who watched without engaging.

In Washington, D.C., National Guard troops from South Carolina were seen checking out of their hotel Sunday shortly before President Donald Trump tweeted he was giving the order to withdraw them from the nation’s capital.

Things weren’t as peaceful in Seattle, where the mayor and police chief had said they were trying to deescalate tensions. Police used flash bang devices and pepper spray to disperse protesters after rocks, bottles and explosives were thrown at officers Saturday night. On Sunday night, a man drove a car at protesters, hit a barricade then exited the vehicle brandishing a pistol, authorities said. A 27-year-old male was shot and taken to a hospital in stable condition, the Seattle Fire Department said.

Dual crises — the coronavirus pandemic and the protests — have weighed particularly heavily on the black community, which has been disproportionately affected by the virus, and also exposed deep political fissures in the U.S. during this presidential election year.

Trump’s leadership during both has been called into question by Democrats and a few Republicans who viewed his response to COVID-19 as too little, too late, and his reaction to protests as heavy handed and insensitive.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah marched in a protest in Washington against police mistreatment of minorities, making him the first known Republican senator to do so.

“We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality,” Romney, who represents Utah, told NBC News.

On Sunday, Floyd’s body arrived in Texas for a third and final memorial service, said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. A viewing is planned for Monday in Houston, followed by a service and burial Tuesday in suburban Pearland.

Seiner reported from New York, Pane from Boise, Idaho, and Kruesi from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press writers around the world contribute

UNHEARD OF 
Minneapolis City Council majority announces plan to disband police department

VIDEO BELOW

June 7 (UPI) -- A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council announced a plan to defund the city's police department on Sunday.

Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender and Council Vice President Andre Jenkins were joined by other council members and activists from Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block as they announced the plan to disband the Minneapolis Police Department through the funding process at a rally following the police-involved killing of George Floyd by an MPD officer.

"It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe," said Bender. "Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period."

Council Members Alondra Cano, Jeremiah Ellison, Steve Fletcher, Cam Gordon and Jeremy Schroder also attended the rally as they formed a nine-member veto-proof supermajority pledging their support to disband the police department and replace it with community-based public safety.

RELATED Hundreds gather at George Floyd memorial service in North Carolina

"Our commitment is to end our city's toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it and to re-create systems of public safety that actually keep us safe," said Bender.

The announcement came after the city council on Friday voted to approve a measure banning police from using choke holds and other neck restraints and requiring MPD officers to immediately report any instances of unauthorized use of force by fellow officers and attempt to intervene.

On Wednesday, Minnesota authorities escalated the charge against MPD officer Derek Chauvin, the officer seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as he gasped for air, from third-degree murder to second-degree murder.

They also arrested the other three officers present at the scene and charged them with aiding and abetting murder in the second-degree.

All four officers had been fired after Floyd was killed while they arrested him outside a Cup Foods store on May 25 when a clerk reported that he used a counterfeit $20 bill.

Global protests erupted following news of Floyd's death calling for police reforms and en end to systemic racism.

 

Minneapolis leaders vote in favor of police reforms; ban choke holds

City Council President Lisa Bender has promised to "dismantle" the Minneapolis police force.

By Don Jacobson & Danielle Haynes
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Activists rally during a demonstration Thursday against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

June 5 (UPI) -- The Minneapolis City Council voted Friday on a measure that bans police from using choke holds and other neck restraints in response to the death of George Floyd and national civil unrest.

The changes were the result of an emergency session of the city council and Minnesota Department of Civil Rights, which is conducting an investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Under the new order, MPD officers must immediately report any instances of unauthorized use of force by fellow officers and attempt to intervene. Certain crowd control weapons, including chemical agents, rubber bullets and marking rounds, can only be used with approval by the police chief. Use of such weapons must also include documentation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey immediately signed the agreement, which must also be approved by a judge.

RELATED Judge sets bail at $1M for three Minneapolis officers

"This is a moment in time where we can totally change the way our police department operates," Frey said during the meeting, which was live streamed. "We can quite literally lead the way in our nation enacting more police reform than any other city in the entire country and we cannot fail."

Minnesota Department of Civil Rights began a comprehensive investigation of the MPD this week on orders from Gov. Tim Walz.

"We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety," Council President Lisa Bender tweeted before Friday's meeting.

State authorities on Wednesday upgraded a third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin to murder in the second degree, and levied charges against the other three officers involved in Floyd's May 25 arrest.

The other former officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Chauvin's first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

Anger toward the MPD has come from local activists and politicians since Floyd's death. Some have proposed reforms to defund the department and others say community members should be allowed to participate in collective bargaining negotiations with the police union.
RELATED George Floyd autopsy shows he tested positive for COVID-19

Protesters demand justice in police killing of George Floyd


A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on June 6. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo


Minneapolis council majority backs disbanding police force today
 
In this Sept. 8, 2017, file photo, newly appointed Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo takes the oath of office as his daughter Nyasia looks on during a public swearing-in ceremony, in Minneapolis. George Floyd’s death and the protests it ignited nationwide over racial injustice and police brutality have raised questions about whether Arradondo — or any chief — can fix a department that's now facing a civil rights investigation. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city’s police department, an aggressive stance that comes just as the state has launched a civil rights investigation after George Floyd’s death.

Nine of the council’s 12 members appeared with activists at a rally in a city park Sunday afternoon and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Council member Jeremiah Ellison promised that the council would “dismantle” the department.

“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” Lisa Bender, the council president, said. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”

Bender went on to say she and the eight other council members that joined the rally are committed to ending the city’s relationship with the police force and “to end policing as we know it and recreate systems that actually keep us safe.”

Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died May 25 after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, ignoring his “I can’t breathe” cries and holding it there even after Floyd stopped moving. His death sparked protests — some violent, many peaceful — that spread nationwide.

Community activists have criticized the Minneapolis department for years for what they say is a racist and brutal culture that resists change. The state of Minnesota launched a civil rights investigation of the department last week, and the first concrete changes came Friday in a stipulated agreement in which the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.

A more complete remaking of the department is likely to unfold in coming months.

Disbanding an entire department has happened before. In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County.

It was a step that then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department was considering for Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms overseen by a court-appointed mediator.

The move to defund or abolish the Minneapolis department is far from assured, with the civil rights investigation likely to unfold over the next several months.

On Saturday, activists for defunding the department staged a protest outside Mayor Jacob Frey’s home. Frey came out to talk with them.

“I have been coming to grips with my own responsibility, my own failure in this,” Frey said. When pressed on whether he supported their demands, Frey said: “I do not support the full abolition of the police department.”

He left to booing.

At another march Saturday during which leaders called for defunding the department, Verbena Dempster said she supported the idea.

“I think, honestly, we’re too far past” the chance for reform, Dempster told Minnesota Public Radio. “We just have to take down the whole system.”

 In this May 28, 2020, file photo, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, center, listens as Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey becomes emotional during a news conference in Minneapolis, Minn. George Floyd’s death and the protests it ignited nationwide over racial injustice and police brutality have raised questions about whether Arradondo — or any chief — can fix a department that's now facing a civil rights investigation. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP, File)