‘It Was a Purposeful Trap.’ NYPD Planned Attack and Mass Arrests of Protesters, Human Rights Group Says

Melissa Chan, Time•September 30, 2020

Demonstrators after being detained by police officers during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Mott Haven, the Bronx, on June 4

Demonstrators after being detained by police officers during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Mott Haven, the Bronx, on June 4, 2020 Credit - Gabriela Bhaskar—The New York Times/Redux

Dr. Mike Pappas was marching through the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx with hundreds of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters on June 4 when he noticed a shift in behavior among the dozens of police officers who had been trailing them for the last hour.

About 10 minutes before the start of an 8 p.m. citywide curfew, Pappas says a swarm of New York City police officers in riot gear rushed to form a wall at the end of the street. They held bikes against their bodies as barriers to prevent the 300 protesters from moving forward, while another line of officers closed in on them from behind.

“We had nowhere else to go,” Pappas says. “People started to realize they were trapped.”


Panic set in as police began pushing the protesters back and arresting them en masse. Some officers got on top of police cars and swung their batons downward as penned-in protesters crashed into each other and tried jumping over one another in an attempt to escape, according to Pappas and footage captured by several other witnesses.

“It was a purposeful trap,” Pappas says.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report claiming the NYPD had planned the June 4 assault and mass arrests of the demonstrators in Mott Haven, a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood of the city. More complaints about use of force by police have been made in the neighborhood’s precinct than in any of the city’s other 76 precincts, HRW says. After interviewing 81 protesters and analyzing 155 videos, the global advocacy group said the crackdown was among the most aggressive police responses to protests in the U.S. since George Floyd’s May 25 death, and that it violated international human rights.

“It came out so clearly through the footage how unjustified and totally unnecessary this was,” says Ida Sawyer, the report’s lead researcher and acting director of HRW’s Crisis and Conflict division. “There was no provocation, no warning.”

Citywide, dozens of protesters testified in June about being shoved, kicked and violently wrangled by police, during a three-day public hearing held online by the New York attorney general. Some displayed cuts and bruises as they told investigators they were kicked in the jaw, thrown against brick walls and pushed off bikes. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea testified that hundreds of police officers were injured during the first few nights of protests as some demonstrators looted and threw bottles, bricks, trash cans and rocks at them. Others set fire to police vehicles and attacked precincts.

Sophia Guida

@sguida2010

A peaceful protest in Mott Haven last night ended in violence as police trapped the marchers on a side street and refused to let them leave. Besides protestors, members of the media, bystanders and legal observers were also arrested.

11:58 AM · Jun 5, 2020

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“This was some of the worst rioting that occurred in our city in recent memory,” Shea said, adding that it’s difficult for officers to avoid interacting with peaceful protesters while dealing with violent ones. At a June news conference addressing the Mott Haven crackdown, Shea said the NYPD had received information ahead of the protests, “regarding the intent to destroy property, to injure cops, to cause mayhem.” He said the NYPD “had a plan, which was executed nearly flawlessly in the Bronx.” In a statement to TIME about HRW’s report, the NYPD said it has reviewed its response to protests and has “enhanced training,” but it did not elaborate.

Despite identifying himself to police as a medic and wearing green scrubs, Pappas, 30, was among the more than 260 people arrested in Mott Haven on June 4. The Bronx District Attorney’s office told TIME all summonses for violating curfew issued that night have been dismissed and any order to appear in court for an arraignment will also be thrown out. “None of this had to happen,” says Pappas, who was arrested for violating curfew.

Nationwide, dozens of people have been beaten with batons, hit by cars, doused in pepper spray and critically wounded by rubber bullets, beanbag rounds and other non-lethal but dangerous weapons. More than 93% of Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. have been peaceful, according to an analysis of more than 7,750 demonstrations between May 26 and Aug. 22 by the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Yet at least 115 protesters were shot in the head, face and neck with various projectiles, including bullets and tear gas canisters, between May 26 and July 27, according to a report by Physicians for Human Rights. The nonprofit health advocacy group compiled its data from news and medical reports, social media posts and lawsuits.

Advocates warn the Mott Haven crackdown and other instances of alleged police misconduct could cost taxpayers millions of dollars in settlements from lawsuits. During the 2019 fiscal year, New York City taxpayers alone spent $220 million to settle more than 5,800 lawsuits filed against the NYPD, according to the latest data released by the city comptroller. That number could increase exponentially in 2020, a year which has seen the largest sustained mobilization in modern U.S. history. At least 98 Mott Haven protesters and observers have so far filed notice of their intent to sue the city, according to HRW.

“It just seems like an utter waste of a massive amount of resources in addition to, more importantly, the harm done to the protesters,” Sawyer says.

Left Voice

@left_voice

Mike Pappas, a doctor, was arrested by NYPD earlier in the Bronx while working as a medic during the #FTP #BlackLivesMatter protest.Frontline workers like Mike were called "heroes" by Cuomo and DeBlasio a little over a week ago. #FTP #BlackLivesMatter #FreeHealthcareHeroes

7:35 PM · Jun 4, 2020

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They Protested at a Police Station. They’re Charged With Trying to Kidnap Cops.

Kelly Weill, The Daily Beast•September 29, 2020

Courtesy Jade Crosbie, Liberation News

The July 3 protest in Aurora, Colorado, seemed, at least on the surface, like just another of the hundreds of racial justice protests that have swept the nation this year. Demonstrators sat outside a police station chanting and playing music. Although they said they wouldn’t leave until their demands were met, the protesters were cleared out by police around 4:30 a.m.

But several of the protest leaders are facing felony attempted kidnapping charges for allegedly imprisoning police officers in their own precinct during the protest—charges their fellow activists are calling absurd.

Lillian House, Joel Northam, and Whitney “Eliza” Lucero are among a group of Denver-area activists facing a slate of charges related to their protest activities this summer. Local prosecutors say the activists tried to kidnap police by holding a short-lived “occupation”-style protest outside the precinct and blocking its doors. But activists allege a crackdown on the most visible members of their movement, leading to terrifying SWAT arrests and the threat of years in prison.

“This characterization that someone quote-unquote kidnapped officers is absolutely ridiculous,” Ryan Hamby, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Marxist group with which House, Northam, and Lucero are affiliated, told The Daily Beast.

“It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious,” he added.

The July 3 protest was one of many that called for the termination of officers involved in the killing of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died in Aurora Police custody last year. McClain was not accused of any crime but became the subject of police suspicion while walking home from the convenience store when someone called 911 to report him “look[ing] sketchy.” Police placed McClain in a now-banned chokehold, causing him to vomit and lose consciousness. Paramedics later injected him with the sedative ketamine.

An autopsy did not conclusively identify a single cause of death, and two of the three arresting officers have not been fired. The third arresting officer was fired for responding “ha ha” to pictures of other officers re-enacting and mocking McClain’s death. (That officer is suing the city over his termination.)

The firings of the police who re-enacted McClain’s death were announced July 3, the same day as the protest outside the police precinct where demonstrators believed the remaining officers worked. Media reports—and even police tweets from most of the night—characterize the demonstration as peaceful, with some 600 protesters sitting around. Police ordered protesters to disperse at 2:30 a.m., tweeted a half-hour later that protesters were throwing things, and had cleared out the site by 4:30, the Denver Post reported at the time.

But a statement from the Adams County district attorney this month accused protesters of holding cops hostage. Protesters “prevented 18 officers inside from leaving the building by barricading entrances and securing doors with wires, ropes, boards, picnic tables and sandbags,” the statement read. (The district attorney was unavailable for comment. In a call with Denver’s 9News, defendant Lillian House said she was unaware of the alleged barricade.)

Those allegations come alongside serious criminal charges for six protest leaders, including three who are accused of attempted kidnapping, inciting a riot, and inciting a riot by giving commands, all of which are felonies.

The protesters and prosecutors both point to a mid-protest phone call between activist Lillian House and Aurora’s interim police chief Vanessa Wilson, which House broadcast to protesters over a microphone. House called on Wilson to fire the remaining officers involved in McClain’s death; Wilson said she didn’t have the authority to do that but thanked the protesters for not trying to enter the precinct.

“I appreciate that you haven’t breached the building and I hope that you continue to keep that promise,” Wilson said.

Activists like Hamby have pointed to the call as evidence that protesters stayed within their rights.

“Like, why would you even say that?” Hamby said of Wilson’s call. “She’s basically admitting on the phone that we have not done any of the things that they’re now claiming we did in this affidavit.”

On the phone call, House, who is also accused of a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, affirmed that the protesters wouldn’t enter the building. But they wouldn’t leave, either, until the two remaining officers in McClain’s killing were fired.

“I just want to make it perfectly crystal clear that everyone here has agreed that we are going to sit here,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re not going in, we’re not going out, we’re sure not going out, and neither are these pigs that are inside the building. So we’re not doing anything wrong. We’re standing here.” (The protesters did, in fact, reportedly leave before sunrise, when police advanced on them.)

House’s statements appear to be part of the basis for the prosecution’s claims that the protest was actually a kidnapping attempt. What followed, fellow activists allege, was a heavy-handed roundup of the protest’s most visible faces.

Hamby, who organizes with House, Northam, and Lucero, claimed the busts were an attempt to “strike fear into organizers, strike fear into the movement.”

House and Lucero were arrested by multiple squad cars—House while driving and Lucero while in her apartment—and detained in jail for eight days, Hamby said. Fellow organizers have accused corrections officers of verbally abusing the two women and failing to provide adequate COVID-19 protections. Another protester, John “Russel” Ruch, was followed from his home in unmarked cars and scooped up in a Home Depot parking lot around dawn by officers who gave him “no information” about the cause for his arrest, Hamby claimed.

In the most aggressive instance, multiple organizers claimed a SWAT team showed up to arrest protester Joel Northam, allegedly banging on the door and refusing to slide a warrant underneath. Aurora Police did not return a request for comment.

“He was on the phone with a lawyer the entire time, and the lawyer ended up telling him, ‘You need to comply with what they’re saying,’” Hamby said. “Because at that point we were worried that they were going to bust down the door and kill him.”

If convicted on all counts, the activists accused of attempted kidnapping could face decades in prison. The charges come as other activists associated with Black Lives Matter protests face heavy-handed charges, including a Utah protester who faced life in prison for allegedly purchasing paint that was used in a demonstration (the most aggressive charging enhancements in that case have since been dropped).

Hamby said protesters planned on further mobilizing around a call to drop the charges. “If anything, the fight-back will be strengthened and emboldened,” he said.

TIT FOR TAT

Germany walks away from Lockheed, Boeing cargo helicopter offers

Sebastian Sprenger,Defense News•September 29, 2020


COLOGNE, Germany — The German Defence Ministry wants to start fresh on a new heavy transport helicopter after finding that offers from American firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the Chinook and the King Stallion, respectively, were too expensive, officials announced Tuesday.

The surprise decision halts an acquisition race that was scheduled to a see a contract awarded in 2021. The two companies delivered their initial proposals for the program, aimed at replacing Germany’s aging CH-53G helicopters, in January 2020. A request for a second proposal was expected by the end of this year.

The move comes as the budget implications of the coronavirus crisis are starting to materialize, despite leaders' pledges to keep military spending high. Given that context, other programs are also expected to be on shaky ground, according to sources in Berlin.

Switzerland’s $6.5 billion fighter jet plan narrowly passes referendum

Officials canceled the helicopter race — locally known as Schwerer Transporthubschrauber, or STH — because the government deemed offers by the defense giants as “uneconomical,” a Defence Ministry statement read. The chance of meeting all requirements while adhering to the envisioned multibillion-dollar budget would be “unlikely,” officials wrote.

The STH program was initially planned to be a poster child for a no-frills, off-the-shelf purchase that’s easy on the defense budget. But acquisition officials kept piling on requirements to such a degree that it surprised some industry executives associated with the bidders, Defense News reported earlier this year. Also included in the government’s requirements was a decades-long maintenance scheme under which contractors had to guarantee certain availability rates.

Tobias Lindner, the Green Party’s point man in the Bundestag for defense issues, called the helicopter program’s a “bitter sign” for Germany’s soldiers. He argued the Defence Ministry had been naive in its approach to the much-needed acquisition. “A new competition alone won’t solve that problem,” he said.

HEY KENNEY

Green-oriented NextEra nears ExxonMobil in market value

AFP•October 2, 2020


A surge in market value by green-oriented NextEra Energy has put it ahead of Chevron and just under ExxonMobilMore

In a sign of shifting fortunes in the energy business, green-oriented power company NextEra Energy on Friday sparred with petroleum giant Exxon Mobil for market capitalization supremacy.

NextEra, which owns two Florida electricity utilities and bills itself as the "world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun," finished Friday's session with a market capitalization of $137.7 billion.

NextEra actually overtook ExxonMobil during the session, but finished at a level just under the oil giant's market value of $139.4 billion. Chevron closed the day with a value of $132.9 billion.

Shares of NextEra have risen about 18 percent this year as policies to promote green energy and address climate change gain momentum and raise doubts about the longevity of petroleum.

But NetEra Energy remains a much smaller company than ExxonMobil.

In 2019, NextEra reported profits of $3.8 billion on revenues of $19 billion and has around 14,000 employees.

During the same period, ExxonMobil reported profits of $14.3 billion on revenues of $265 billion. The oil giant has 75,000 workers.

ExxonMobil has lost more than half its market value in 2020 as oil prices have sunk amid the coronavirus downturn. The company was bumped from the prestigious Dow Jones index in August, reflecting the diminishing prestige of petroleum companies as policies to address climate change boost Tesla and other green companies.

jmb/cs

Egypt unveils coffins buried 2,500 years ago

Mohamed Abouelenen with Menna Zaki in Cairo,AFP•October 3, 2020



3 / 3
Egypt unveils coffins buried 2,500 years ago
The discovery of the coffins is the first major announcement since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Egypt, which led to the closure of museums and archaeological sites for around three months

Archaeologists in Egypt said Saturday they had found 59 well-preserved and sealed wooden coffins over recent weeks that were buried more than 2,500 years ago.

Opening one of the ornately decorated sarcophagi before assembled media, the team revealed mummified remains wrapped in burial cloth that bore hieroglyphic inscriptions in bright colours.

The dramatic find was unearthed south of Cairo in the sprawling burial ground of Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

"We are very happy about this discovery," said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Since the find of the first 13 coffins was announced almost three weeks ago, more have been discovered in shafts at depths of up to 12 metres (40 feet).

An unknown number of additional coffins may still lie buried there, the tourism and antiquities minister, Khaled al-Anani, said at the site, near the 4,700-year-old pyramid of Djoser.

"So today is not the end of the discovery, I consider it the beginning of the big discovery," he said.

The coffins, sealed more than 2,500 years ago, date back to the Late Period of ancient Egypt, from about the sixth or seventh century BC, the minister added.

Excavations in Saqqara have in recent years unearthed troves of artefacts as well as mummified snakes, birds, scarab beetles and other animals.


- Major discovery -


The discovery of the coffins is the first major announcement since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Egypt, which led to the closure of museums and archaeological sites for around three months from late March.

Dozens of statues were also found in the area including a bronze figurine depicting Nefertem, an ancient god of the lotus blossom.

Preliminary studies indicated the sarcophagi likely belonged to priests, senior statesman, and prominent figures in the ancient Egyptian society of the 26th dynasty, Anani said.

All the coffins would be taken to the soon-to-be-opened Grand Egyptian Museum on the Giza plateau, he added.

They would be placed opposite a hall hosting 32 other sealed sarcophagi for priests from the 22nd dynasty, which were found last year in the southern city of Luxor.

The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which has been delayed several times, is planned for 2021.

The museum will host thousands of artefacts, spanning multiple eras of Egypt's history, from the pre-dynastic to the Greco-Roman period.

Egypt hopes a flurry of archaeological finds in recent years and the Grand Egyptian Museum will boost its vital tourism sector, which has suffered multiple shocks since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, most recently the pandemic.

mab-mz/dv

Ancient Egyptian mummies unearthed after more than 2,600 years

Charlene Gubash and Adela Suliman,NBC News•October 3, 2020

SAQQARA, Egypt — More than 2,600 years since they were buried, archaeologists in Egypt said Saturday they had found at least 59 ancient coffins in a vast necropolis south of the country's capital Cairo, one containing the pristine mummy of an ancient priest.

The ornate sarcophagi have remained unopened since they were entombed near the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, according to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Footage shared by the ministry showed colorful sarcophagi decorated with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Other artifacts and at least 28 statues were found in the two deep wells, the ministry said.

A sealed door was also unearthed where it is expected more mummies may lie behind, said Khaled el-Anany the first Minister of Antiquities and Tourism, adding that the artifacts were in an excellent state of preservation and would be displayed in the Grand Egyptian museum next year.

Newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis in Giza (MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY / Reuters)


Mostafa Waziri, the general director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told NBC News that the find reminded him of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, because both had been discovered almost intact.

The Saqqara plateau is part of the necropolis of Egypt's ancient city of Memphis. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1970s, it includes the famed Giza Pyramids. It is also home to tombs created across thousands of years between the 1st Dynasty (2920 B.C.-2770 B.C.) and the Coptic period (395-642).

Hundreds of mummified animals, birds and crocodiles, as well as two mummified lion cubs were found in the region last year.

Egypt has heavily promoted new archaeological finds to international media and diplomats in recent years, in an effort to revive its tourism sector, which has suffered since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The sector was dealt a further blow this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

Last week, the ministry displayed a bronze statue of the god "Nefertam," one of the artifacts discovered with the ancient wooden coffins.

Inlaid with precious stones red agate, turquoise and lapis lazuli, it reached a height of 35 cm (14 in) and on its base is inscribed with the name of the owner of the statue, a priest called "Badi Amun."

"Saqqara antiquities area is still revealing its secrets," the ministry said.

Charlene Gubash reported from Saqqara and Adela Suliman from London.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Egypt unveils 59 ancient coffins in major archaeological discovery


Reuters•October 3, 2020




Egypt unveils 59 ancient coffins in major archaeological discovery
Newly discovered burial site near Egypt's Saqqara necropolis in Giza

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt on Saturday put on show dozens of coffins belonging to priests and clerks from the 26th dynasty nearly 2,500 years ago, with archaeologists saying tens more were found in the vast Saqqara necropolis just days ago.

The 59 coffins were discovered in August at the UNESCO world heritage site south of Cairo, buried in three 10-12 meter shafts along with 28 statues of the ancient Egyptian God Seker, one of the most important funerary deities.

They belonged to priests and clerks from the 26th dynasty, said Mostafa al-Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The Egyptian archaeological mission behind the discovery had been active since 2018 and previously unveiled a cache of mummified animals and a well-preserved tomb of a fifth dynasty royal priest called 'Wahtye' in the area.
'

Waziri explained the team had uncovered the three shafts where the coffins were laid in "perfect condition" due to a protective seal that preserved them from chemical reactions.

The mission will continue opening the coffins and studying their contents before their eventual display at the Grand Egyptian Museum, expected to open next year.

(Reporting by Ahmed Fahmy; Writing by Seham Eloraby; Editing by Nadine Awadalla and Clelia Oziel)

Trump Rally Draws Hundreds to Staten Island as President Remains Hospitalized With COVID-19

Joshua Espinoza, Complex•October 3, 2020


Less than two days after Donald Trump announced he had tested positive for coronavirus, hundreds of people gathered in Staten Island to show their support for the president. And, to absolutely no one's surprise, many of these Trumpers failed to comply with simple precautionary measures.

Organized by the Staten Island Republican Party, the event took place in the borough's Charleston neighborhood on Saturday afternoon, as Trump remains at Walter Reed Medical Center receiving treatment for COVID-19. Videos and photos of the rally immediately began circulating on social media, showing the a large number of attendees without proper face coverings.


"If you are going to get the virus, which is serious, you are going to get it," Staten Island attorney Joseph Sorrentino told NY1. "You can wear all the masks you want, you’re getting the virus if you’re getting the virus. The mask is not helping you ... I only wear a mask when I’m forced to."

Twitter users criticized the ralliers for their blatant disregard for safety guidelines that could significantly reduce contagion probability. According to SILive, Staten Island has tallied 15,768 positive coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic; the borough is also has the second-highest infection rate in NYC "with 3,311 positives per 100,000 residents."


You can read some of the reactions to Saturday's rally below. 

Trump/Pence OUT NOW

@RefuseFascism

Trump/Pence Must Go—NOW! Mobilizing mass sustained nonviolent protests demanding #TrumpPenceOutNow https://linktr.ee/refusefascism #OutNow

Lindsey Graham photographed with leader of white nationalist group Proud Boys

Gerren Keith Gaynor, TheGrio•October 2, 2020

The South Carolina senator recently called Proud Boys a ‘racist organization,’ however, photo shows him smiling with a known leader of the white nationalist group.

Just days after President Donald Trump appeared to support the white supremacist group, Proud Boys, during Tuesday night’s presidential debate — only to later disavow them after mounting pressure — a photograph has recently surfaced showing Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) with a member and organizer of the organization.

The photo, which has made its rounds on Twitter, shows Graham smiling for a photo-op with Joe Biggs, a known member and organizer of Proud Boys, which has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In the photo, Graham and Biggs appear to be sitting in a restaurant, as there are waiters standing behind them. Biggs is a visible organizer and leader of Proud Boys based in Florida. He’s repeatedly been photographed front and center at demonstrations.


Read More: Proud Boys take Trump’s ‘stand back and stand by’ callout as marching orders

  

(Photo: Twitter)
theGrio reached out to Sen. Graham’s press office about the photo, however, a request for comment on if or how Graham knows Biggs personally was not immediately responded to.

Proud Boys was founded in 2016 by VICE Media co-founder Gavin McInnes and self-describes as “western chauvinists” with “anti-political correctness” and “anti-white guilt” agenda. The group has also aligned itself with the alt-right movement and participated in the infamous and violent Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

President Trump made headlines this week after he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” when pressed by moderator Chris Wallace to publicly condemn white supremacist groups. After calls for him to disavow or clarify his statement, which was interpreted as a dog whistle for the white nationalist organization.

Biggs praised Trump’s “stand by” comment, writing on social media, “Trump basically said to go f–k them up! this makes me so happy.”

Joe Biggs (center) leaves after participating in a “Demand Free Speech” rally on Freedom Plaza on July 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)


Following Trump’s initial comments about Proud Boys, Sen. Graham called the group a “racist organization” in an official tweet the day after the debate.

“I agree with @SenatorTimScott statement about President Trump needing to make it clear Proud Boys is a racist organization antithetical to American ideals,” the South Carolina politician tweeted.


In a statement provided to theGrio in response to the photo of Graham and Biggs, Graham’s Democratic challenger Jamie Harrison said: “Our elected officials must be clear and unequivocal on this, particularly during this shared moment as a country,” Harrison said. “Hatred and white supremacy have no place in South Carolina, nor should the vile ideas from groups like the Proud Boys be offered safe harbor anywhere across the United States.”

Harrison, who is Black, has proved himself as a formidable opponent against Graham. A recent Quinnipiac University poll classified Harrison and Graham’s race for Senate as a “toss-up,” as they are locked in a dead heat.

Chinese state-run newspaper mocks Trump for contracting coronavirus

James Crump,The Independent•October 2, 2020

A news vendor places a copy of the Global Times for display on her newsstand in Beijing on 20 April 2009 ((AFP via Getty Images))

The editor of one of China’s biggest state-run newspapers has mocked Donald Trump, after both he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus.

Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the state-owned Chinese tabloid, Global Times, claimed on Twitter that the president and Ms Trump “have paid the price for his gamble to play down” Covid-19.

He added: “The news shows the severity of the US’ pandemic situation. It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection.”

On Thursday evening Mr Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for Covid-19, following the confirmation that his senior counselor Hope Hicks had contracted the virus.

On Wednesday, Ms Hicks travelled to Minnesota on the presidential plane Air Force One with Mr Trump and several of his aides, but none of them were pictured wearing face masks.

Following the announcement of Mr Trump’s diagnosis, Sean Conley, the White House physician, said that the president and first lady “are both well at this time,” and added that he is expected “to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering.”

After his diagnosis was announced, president Trump tweeted: “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately,” and added: “We will get through this TOGETHER!”

The Global Times has repeatedly criticised Mr Trump throughout his presidency, and in recent months Mr Hu has run stories condemning the US response to the pandemic.

In articles earlier in the year, the Global Times called the US a “barbaric and greedy” country that “doesn't care about humanitarianism” and claimed that “the US government has failed its people and also failed the world".

Conversely, Mr Trump has repeatedly attempted to blame the country for the virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, and has repeatedly referred to it as the “China virus” and “Wuhan flu”.

Concerns have been raised that the president using the phrases could lead to a rise of harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to NBC News.

In June, the US State Department labelled the Global Times, which has previously been criticised for running misinformation, and other Chinese media outlets as foreign missions “controlled by the government,” according to Business Insider.

The department also limited the amount of people who can work for the outlets in the US and justified the decision by claiming that in China there is “long-standing intimidation and harassment of journalists,” according to the New York Post.

In retaliation, China banned journalists from the The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal from working in the country.

According to Johns Hopkins University some 7.2m people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the US and the death toll has reached 207,818, while China has recorded 90,567 cases and at least 4,739 fatalities.

Michael Moore floats conspiracy theory that Trump may be faking Covid diagnosis

Graig Graziosi,The Independent•October 2, 2020

Documentarian Michael Moore suggests Donald Trump may be faking his coronavirus diagnosis to garner sympathy before the election. Trump political advisor Hope Hicks, as well as another White House staffer and two reporters working in the White House also have tested positive since Mr Trump was diagnosed. (Getty Images North America)More

Documentarian and left-wing activist Michael Moore has floated a conspiracy theory on his Facebook page that suggested Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis was faked.

Mr Moore justified his scepticism of Mr Trump's diagnosis by citing the president's many lies and incorrect statements.

"There is one absolute truth about Trump: He is a consistent, absolute, unrelenting, fearless, and professional liar. A serial liar. A factually proven liar. How many lies now has the Washington Post proven in these four years? 25,000? A lie at least twice during every waking hour? Think of all the bad people you’ve known in your life. Even the worst ones you couldn’t say that about.," he wrote.

Mr Moore then asked "so why on earth would we believe him today? Has he earned your trust now?"


He pondered why Mr Trump would "all of a sudden just start telling the truth."

"Why would you believe him now?" he asked. "...Trump has a history of lying about his health. His longtime New York doctor, Dr Bornstein, admitted a few years ago that Trump dictated his perfect ‘doctor’s letter’ during the 2016 campaign. Then there was the White House doctor who said Trump could live “200 years!” What about his lying about that emergency trip to Walter Reed “to complete his physical?”

Mr Moore said that Mr Trump may have the virus, but said the president lying about the virus had to be considered.

He went on to speculate as to why Mr Trump would fake having the virus after spending months downplaying its danger and publicly undermining guidelines meant to mitigate its spread.

Mr Moore believes the president is responding to polling data that suggests he is falling behind his campaign rival in the 2020 US election, Democrat Joe Biden. Under Mr Moore's theory, Mr Trump hopes to change the media narrative and garner sympathy amoung the public by pretending to have the virus.

"Democrats, liberals, the media and others have always been wrong to simply treat him as a buffoon and a dummy and a jackass. Yes, he is all those things. But he’s also canny. He’s clever. He outfoxed Comey. He outfoxed Mueller. He outfoxed 20 Republicans in the GOP primary and then did the same to the Democrats, winning the White House despite receiving fewer votes than his opponent," Mr Moore wrote. "He’s an evil genius and I raise the possibility of him lying about having Covid-19 to prepare us and counteract his game. He knows being sick tends to gain one sympathy. He’s not above weaponizing this."

He then went on to claim that Mr Trump may use his potentially phony diagnosis to attempt to delay or otherwise postpone the election. Mr Moore notes that the US Constitution does not grant the president the power to move the election, but says Mr Trump and his administration will simply ignore it.

"He and his thug Attorney General Barr have no shame and will stop at nothing to stay in power. He may even use this as an excuse for losing," Mr Moore wrote.

He concluded by admitting that Mr Trump "probably does" have Covid-19, and calling on voters to stick to their plans to vote and to be sceptical about what they read and hear. He then offered his well-wishes - mixed with a sizeable amount of indignation - to Mr Trump.

"Finally, on a personal note: Stay alive Mr. President. Your exit from public life must happen in the right and decent way. You have many years to live. You have a child to raise. Grandchildren who need you. A base that loves you," Mr Moore wrote. "And the families of nearly the quarter-million dead who might be alive today had you done your job, had you cared, had you not played politics with people's lives. Over 200,000 lost souls — and YOU KNEW! You told Woodward in February it was a plague. 200,000 dead because of decisions you made, because you denigrated science and ignored the doctors."

Just before Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announced their diagnosis, White House staffer Hope Hicks tested positive for Covid-19. Since their diagnosis, several other individuals in Mr Trump's orbit over the past few days have tested positive as well, including the president of Notre Dame, a White House staffer, and two reporters who work in the White House.