Rage-filled protests erupt in Minneapolis after video circulates of racially charged killing by police

Protesters are shot with pepper spray as they confront police outside the Third Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY 

Protesters clashed with riot police firing tear gas for a second night in Minneapolis on Wednesday in an outpouring of rage over the death of a black man seen in a widely circulated video gasping for breath as a white officer knelt on his neck.

The video, taken by an onlooker to Monday night’s fatal encounter between police and George Floyd, 46, showed him lying face down and handcuffed, groaning for help and repeatedly saying, “please, I can’t breathe,” before growing motionless.

The second day of demonstrations, accompanied by looting and vandalism, began hours after Mayor Jacob Frey urged prosecutors to file criminal charges against the white policeman shown pinning Floyd to the street.

Protesters disperse as they clash with police during a demonstration over the killing of George Floyd by a policeman outside the Third Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. KEREM YUCEL / AFP

Floyd, who was unarmed and reportedly suspected of trying to pass counterfeit bills at a corner eatery, was taken by ambulance from the scene of his arrest and pronounced dead the same night at a hospital.

The policeman shown kneeling on Floyd’s neck and three fellow officers involved were dismissed from the police department on Tuesday as the FBI opened an investigation.

Hundreds of protesters, many with faces covered, thronged streets around the Third Precinct police station late on Wednesday, about half a mile from where Floyd had been arrested, chanting, “No justice, no peace” and “I can’t breathe.”

The crowd grew to thousands as night fell and the protest turned into a standoff outside the station, where police in riot gear formed barricade lines while protesters taunted them from behind makeshift barricades of their own.

A car burns near the Third Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY IMAGES

Police, some taking positions on rooftops, used tear gas, plastic bullets and concussion grenades to keep the crowds at bay. Protesters pelted police with rocks and other projectiles. Some threw tear gas canisters back at the officers.

Television news images from a helicopter over the area showed dozens of people looting a Target store, running out with clothing and shopping carts full of merchandise.

Fires erupted after dark at several businesses, including an auto parts store. Eyewitnesses said the blazes appeared to be the work of arsonists. Media said a smaller, peaceful protest was held outside the home of one of the police officers.

Mayor Jacob Frey requested help from the state’s National Guard as local leaders pleaded for a peaceful resolution.

“Violence only begets violence. More force is only going to lead to more lives lost and more devastation,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., tweeted.

Outrage at Floyd’s death also triggered a rally in his name against police brutality by hundreds of people in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon.

The murderer of #GeorgeFloyd is Derek Chauvin, who lives at 7517 17th Street North in Oakdale, Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/nO0nLtxKVm— Robert P Helms (@Gpzero57Helms) May 28, 2020

That demonstration turned violent after a crowd marched onto a nearby freeway and blocked traffic, then attacked two California Highway Patrol cruisers, smashing their windows, local media reported. One protester who clung to the hood of a patrol car fell to the pavement as it sped away, and was treated at the scene by paramedics, news footage of the incident showed.

The video of Monday’s deadly confrontation between Minneapolis police and Floyd led Frey to call on Wednesday for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman “to charge the arresting officer in this case.”

The city identified the four officers as Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng. It did not say who knelt on Floyd’s neck, and gave no further information.

The local police union said the officers were cooperating with investigators and cautioned against a “rush to judgment.”

“We must review all video. We must wait for the medical examiner’s report,” the union statement said.

Protesters demonstrate against the death of George Floyd outside the 3rd Precinct Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. KEREM YUCEL/AFP

The county attorney’s office said it would decide how to proceed once investigators had concluded their inquiries.

The case was reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City who died after being put in a banned police chokehold.

Garner’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement calling attention to a wave of killings of African-Americans by police using unjustified lethal force.

Minnesota calls in National Guard to quell unrest over black man's death in police custody

Carlos Barria, Eric Miller

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Minnesota’s governor activated the National Guard on Thursday to help police restore order following two days of violent protests in Minneapolis city over the death of a black man seen in graphic video footage gasping for breath as a white officer knelt on his neck.

Governor Tim Walz ordered Guard troops to assist police as local, state and federal law enforcement officials sought to ease racial tensions sparked by Monday night’s fatal arrest of George Floyd, 46, by vowing to achieve justice in the case.

Four city police officers involved in the incident, including the one shown pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck as he lay on the ground, moaning, “please, I can’t breathe,” were fired from their jobs the next day.

The Floyd case was reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City who died after being put in a banned police chokehold as he, too, was heard to mutter, “I can’t breathe.”

His dying words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement that formed amid a wave of killings of African-Americans by police.

Protesters thronged Minneapolis streets for a third day on Thursday chanting “I can’t breathe,” as they rallied peacefully at the Hennepin County Government Center and marched through downtown, demanding the four officers be swiftly arrested.

“There is probable cause right now” to make those arrests, civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton said as he addressed the crowd. “We’re not asking for a favor. We’re asking for what is right.”

Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said Floyd’s case had renewed the trauma she suffered six years ago. “This is just opening up an old wound, and pouring salt into it,” she said.

Separately, hundreds of demonstrators milled around a police station and Target discount store that were the center of running clashes Wednesday night between rock-throwing protesters and riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

A car in the Target parking lot was set ablaze, and looters periodically ducked inside the vacant Target store to make off with whatever was left inside.

People gather outside the Hennepin County Government Center to protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, arrested by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Miller

Both gatherings began with little police presence and no immediate sign of National Guard troops.

At a morning news briefing, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo apologized to Floyd’s family, conceding his department had contributed to a “deficit of hope” in Minnesota’s largest city.

‘GIVE US TIME TO DO THIS RIGHT’

Hours later, officials overseeing investigations from the U.S. Justice Department, FBI, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and local prosecutors appealed for calm at a joint news conference, as they gathered evidence.

“Give us the time to do this right, and we will bring you justice,” County Attorney Mike Freeman told reporters. He acknowledged the policeman’s conduct depicted in the video was “horrible,” but said, “My job is to prove that he has violated a criminal statute.”

Minnesota’s U.S. attorney, Erica McDonald, pledged a “robust and meticulous investigation into the circumstances surrounding” Floyd’s arrest and death.

The federal investigation, which Attorney General William Barr had designated a “top priority,” will focus on whether the arresting officers used the “color of law” to deprive Floyd of his civil rights, a crime under U.S. law, she said.

Floyd, a Houston native known affectionately to friends as “Big Floyd” and who had worked as a nightclub security staffer, was reportedly suspected of trying to pass counterfeit money when police took him into custody.

Slideshow (20 Images)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-investigation/minnesota-calls-in-national-guard-to-quell-unrest-over-black-mans-death-in-police-custody-idUSKBN23423Q

Wednesday’s disturbances, punctuated by looting, vandalism and arson, began hours after Mayor Jacob Frey urged local prosecutors to file criminal charges in the case.

Most protesters had been peaceful, while a smaller, core contingent engaged in unruly behavior, the police chief said.

Sympathy protests erupted on Wednesday in Los Angeles and Thursday in Denver, with hundreds of demonstrators blocking freeway traffic in both cities.

In a sign the Floyd case had garnered international attention, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged U.S. authorities on Thursday to deal with “entrenched and pervasive racial discrimination” in America’s criminal justice system.

The city named the four officers involved in the encounter as Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng. Local news media have identified Chauvin as the officer seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck.

Chauvin’s attorney, Tom Kelly, declined comment in an email to Reuters.

Police department records posted online show 18 internal affairs complaints filed against Chauvin, 16 of which were closed without discipline.

Reporting by Carlos Barria and Eric Miller in Minneapolis; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Nathan Lane in Wilton, Connecticut and Maria Caspani in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles. Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Bill Tarrant and Raju Gopalakrishnan

ANTI ASIAN RACISM AND JINGOISM

U.S. planning to cancel visas of Chinese graduate students: sources

Matt Spetalnick, Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is planning to cancel the visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students believed by President Donald Trump’s administration to have links with China’s military, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The move, first reported by the New York Times, could impact 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese students and could be announced as early as this week, according to the sources, including a current U.S. official and another individual who was briefed on the administration’s internal discussions.

The United States and China are at loggerheads over China’s decision to go forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong that democracy activists in the city and Western countries fear could erode its freedoms and jeopardize its role as a global financial hub.


Chinese students who are in the United States will have their visas canceled and will be expelled, the source briefed on the plans said, while those already outside the United States will not be allowed to return.

The main purpose of the action is to clamp down on spying and intellectual property theft that some Chinese nationals are suspected of engaging in on U.S. university and college campuses, the source said, adding that the administration expected significant push back from those institutions because of their financial interests in Chinese student enrollment.

Some 360,000 Chinese nationals who attend U.S. schools annually generate economic activity of about $14 billion, largely from tuitions and other fees.


The decision on the visas is likely to further sour ties between the world’s top two economies - also at odds over the coronavirus pandemic and trade.

Deliberations on the visa move have been in the works for months, the sources said. While not directly related to the tensions over Hong Kong, the timing appears to be part of “an overall pressure campaign” against China that has intensified in recent months, the source familiar with discussions said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress China had undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy so fundamentally he could not support recertifying the city’s special pre-1997 trading status established when it was a British colony.

Mexican farmworkers crammed into border tunnel despite contagion risk

Laura Gottesdiener

MEXICALI, Mexico (Reuters) - Every night, hundreds of farm workers in Mexico crowd for hours in a cramped tunnel to a border station to reach day jobs in Imperial Valley, California, with no social distancing enforced despite coronavirus cases saturating hospitals in the region.

Mexican agricultural workers queue early morning at the U.S.-Mexico border to enter Calexico, California from Mexicali, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Mexicali, Mexico May 26, 2020. Picture taken May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ariana Drehsler

By 2 a.m. on Tuesday, tense men and women with cloth face masks and bandanas jostled for position in a line hundreds deep through the underpass leading from the city of Mexicali to the U.S. port of entry. Vendors sold tamales. A mariachi player lightened the mood. But the only hand-washing station was broken.

The daily back and forth flow to work in the United States and sleep back in Mexico, essential to both the $2 billion Imperial Valley fruit and vegetable harvests and to thousands of families in Mexico, is a testament to the deeply entwined economies on either side of the border.

But the lack of safety measures and the late night crowds stand in contrast to a curfew imposed in Mexicali this week to try to stem the city’s fast rising contagion, as well as to six-feet (1.83 meter) distancing measures in the border station itself.

While no infections have been definitively linked to the Calexico West crossing, both the documented day laborers and U.S. border agents worry the lack of social distancing on the Mexican side and the slow processing at the port of entry put them at risk.Jose Salazar, who earns $500 to $600 harvesting melon in California six days a week, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) should add agents to cut the time spent in the line.

“‘La migra’ has not taken care to put on more officers, and that makes the pandemic grow,” he said, using slang for border agents.

The stifling underground tunnel, smelling of sweat and the occasional cigarette and lined with pharmacies advertising Viagra, passes underneath the border fence to a flight of crowded stairs ending at the Calexico West port of entry gate.

Eight farmworkers told Reuters they wait two to three hours each night to cross and worry they are more exposed to the virus before the port of entry than in the fields.Fearful of spending so much time in line, some nights Salazar stays with his son in El Centro, California, rather than head home, he said.

On the U.S. side of the port of entry, CBP agents impose social distancing rules. But some officers said the measures were undermined by the conditions in the tunnel.

“It’s kind of pointless for us to be six feet apart if they (the border crossers) are all crowded up first,” said one CBP agent, waiting for a test at a Calexico clinic after relatives contracted coronavirus and his son developed a fever.

The officer, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters he was worried about on-the-job exposure.Mexico’s National Immigration Institute did not immediately respond to questions about lack of distancing enforcement and other sanitary measures in the tunnel.

A spokeswoman said CBP was “taking every available precaution to minimize the risk of exposure to our workforce and to members of the public.” In California, 84 CBP employees have tested positive for COVID-19, the agency said. It did not give data specifically for Calexico. Employers have asked for Calexico’s second port of entry to open at night to avoid bottlenecks.”We have continued to request that CBP increase the hours of its Calexico East Port of Entry as well so that our agricultural employees can utilize that border crossing,” said Brea Mohamed, executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau.

Australian court rules queen’s letters can be made public
By ROD McGUIRK

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Historian Jenny Hocking speaks to media in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, May 29, 2020, about Australia's highest court ruling to make public letters between Queen Elizabeth II and her representative that would reveal what knowledge she had, if any, of the dismissal of an Australian government in 1975. The High Court's majority decision in Hocking's appeal overturned lower court rulings that more than 200 letters between the monarch of Britain and Australia and Governor-General Sir John Kerr before he dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's government were personal and might never be made public. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)


CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court ruled on Friday to make public letters between Queen Elizabeth II and her representative that would reveal what knowledge she had, if any, of the dismissal of an Australian government in 1975.

The High Court’s majority decision in historian Jenny Hocking’s appeal overturned lower court rulings that more than 200 letters between the monarch of Britain and Australia and Governor-General Sir John Kerr before he dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s government were personal and might never be made public.

The only-ever dismissal of an elected Australian government on the authority of a British monarch created a crisis that spurred many to call for Australia to sever its constitutional ties with Britain and create a republic with an Australian president.


Kerr dismissed Whitlam’s government and replaced him with opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as prime minister to resolve a month-old deadlock in Parliament. Fraser’s coalition won an election weeks later.

The National Archives of Australia had held the correspondence, known as the Palace Letters, since 1978. As state records they should have been made public 31 years after they were created.

Under an agreement struck between Buckingham Palace and Government House, the governor-general’s official residence, months before Kerr resigned in 1978, the letters covering three tumultuous years of Australian politics were to remain secret until 2027. The private secretaries of both the sovereign and the governor-general in 2027 still could veto their release indefinitely under that agreement.

A Federal Court judge accepted the archives’ argument that the letters were personal and confidential.

An appeals court upheld that ruling in a 2-1 decision.

The archives’ lawyers argued the records were created with the “strong conception” that their character was private, and they were received by the archives under those conditions.

The convention across British Commonwealth nations is that communications between the queen and her representatives are personal, private and not accessible by the executive government, they argued.

The archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Hocking, a Monash University academic and Whitlam biographer, was to hold a news conference later on Friday in Melbourne.

Buckingham Palace and Government House have previously declined The Associated Press’ requests for comment on the case.

Hocking has been fighting to access the letters since 2016.

Shots fired during Denver protest of Minneapolis man’s death

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Protesters walk down the 16th Street mall during a protest over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Denver. Protesters walked from the Capitol down the 16th Street pedestrian mall. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)https://apnews.com/4bc4f726dade589fe2b017f5249abc30/gallery/f8f1c68e221b40168285b0bda2cfc209



DENVER (AP) — Shots were fired and protesters blocked traffic and smashed car windows during a demonstration in downtown Denver to protest the death of a handcuffed black man during a confrontation with a white police officer in Minnesota, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Gary Cutler, a spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, said the shooting happened in a park across the street from the Capitol. Most of the protesters already had left the area and were marching downtown.

Cutler said the Capitol building was locked down, and everyone inside was safe.

State Rep. Leslie Herod, who was at the Capitol, tweeted, “We just got shot at.”



Police said they don’t know if the protesters were being targeted.

“We do believe that the shots were towards the Capitol, but we do not at this point have any correlation to the protest or the protesters,” police spokesman Kurt Barnes told The Denver Post.

He said about six or seven shots were fired, and no one has been arrested.

“I want to plead to everyone, let’s demonstrate but let’s demonstrate peacefully,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said in a video posted on Twitter. “Leave the weapons at home.”

Several hundred protesters had gathered to call for justice following the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday after an officer knelt on his neck for almost eight minutes. In footage recorded by a bystander, Floyd pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.

Some among the Denver protesters carried signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and chanted, “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Racist police got to go.”

They marched through downtown Denver, snarling traffic. Aerial footage showed protesters briefly blocking traffic from moving on Interstate 25 in both directions before swarming back through the downtown streets outside the Capitol. Police fired tear gas to get them to move off of the interstate, The Denver Post reported.

Aerial footage showed several protesters smashing the windows out of at least two vehicles parked outside the Capitol, and others spray-painted graffiti on the Capitol steps.

As the protest started, The Denver Police Department tweeted a message from Chief Paul Pazen sending condolences to Floyd’s family and saying the city’s officers do not use the tactics employed by the Minneapolis officers.

He called that type of force “inexcusable.”

Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired, and the mayor has called for the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck to be criminally charged.

The death has led to violent protests in Minneapolis and demonstrations in other cities, including Los Angeles.

Police, experts condemn knee restraint used on George Floyd
By LISA MARIE PANEyesterday


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FILE - In this Monday, May 25, 2020, file frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, a Minneapolis officer kneels on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe, in Minneapolis. Police around the U.S. and law enforcement experts are broadly condemning the way Floyd, who died in police custody, was restrained by a Minneapolis officer who dug his knee into the man's neck. (Darnella Frazier via AP, File)

Police around the nation and law enforcement experts on Thursday broadly condemned the way George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody this week, was restrained by an officer who dug his knee into the man’s neck, saying no circumstances warrant such a dangerous technique.

Deeply disturbing video shot by a bystander shows Floyd handcuffed, lying on his stomach and seemingly subdued as the officer trying to arrest him pressed his knee down on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes.

Some police officials and experts said equally shocking was something not seen in the video: Other officers on the scene apparently did not try to intervene even as Floyd repeatedly cried out that he couldn’t breathe and moaned in pain.

“Any officer who abuses their power or stands by and allows it to happen does not deserve to wear the badge, period,” Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown said.

Floyd, 46, was arrested Monday after an employee at a grocery store called police to accuse him of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. The cellphone video shows Floyd, who is black, face-down on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, as officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, uses the knee restraint on his neck.

Floyd’s head is turned to the side and he does not appear to be resisting. As the minutes tick by and Chauvin continues to hold him down, Floyd’s complaints about not being able to breathe stop as he falls silent and motionless. Toward the end of the video, paramedics arrive, lift a limp Floyd onto a stretcher and place him in an ambulance.
“He wasn’t actively resisting, and he was saying he couldn’t breathe,” said Charles P. Stephenson, a former police officer and FBI agent with expertise in use-of-force tactics. “You have to understand that possibility is there (that Floyd couldn’t breathe), and you release any kind of restriction you might have on an airway immediately.”

Chauvin and the three other responding officers have been fired, and the FBI is investigating whether they willfully deprived Floyd of his civil rights. Chauvin has not spoken publicly, and his attorney has not responded to calls seeking comment.

Police recruits learn a variety of use-of-force techniques at the academy, all with the idea that any force employed may equal but not exceed the physical resistance offered by a suspect.

One technique is to restrain someone on the ground face-down, but officers are taught to press a part of the lower leg, such as the shin or top of the ankle, across the shoulders or the back. In some cases officers will “hog-tie” suspects’ legs to prevent flight or violent resistance.

But “no police academy that we know of teaches a police officer to use their knee, to put it on their neck,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which researches and advises on police practices. “That’s just not taught because that can impact their breathing and their carotid artery (a crucial vessel that supplies blood to the brain). So when police look at that video, they are shocked that those tactics were used.”

What’s more, officers are taught to get a suspect up from the ground as soon as possible, either sitting or standing, since lying on one’s stomach can cause breathing problems, especially for larger people.

“If what we saw was a continuing, ongoing fight, I could see how a leg, for example, could slip to the back of the neck. But this is not what I’m seeing,” said John Bostain, a former officer and president of Command Presence, which trains police around the country. “I’m seeing a fight that appears to be over.”

Floyd’s case and the recent shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia have once again laid bare the divide between minority communities and law enforcement that grew to a nationwide uproar following the officer killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014 and the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in 2015, among others. Videos from bystanders and police cameras have helped elevate such cases to national scrutiny.

Law enforcement officials often ask that people reserve judgment in such cases until all facts — what transpired before or after what a video shows — are known. But the Floyd case has drawn swift and widespread condemnation.

The Fraternal Order of Police, for example, issued a statement saying in part: “The fact that he was a suspect in custody is immaterial — police officers should at all times render aid to those who need it. Police officers need to treat all of our citizens with respect and understanding and should be held to the very highest standards for their conduct.”

Law enforcement experts say tempers can flare when a suspect resists arrest, but it’s incumbent upon fellow officers with cooler heads to defuse the situation and put a stop to excessive force.

But there’s no sign from the video that any of the officers at the scene with Chauvin tried to intervene. For some that had chilling echoes of the police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991 despite the presence of a supervising officer.

“That bothered me greatly,” said Stephenson, the use-of-force expert. “They all have an affirmative duty and obligation to uphold the law and uphold the procedures and to stop any violation of law or excessive use of force that they’re a witness to. ... It didn’t look like those officers were making any effort to go over or say something or do anything.”




AP

Canada's Huawei extradition ruling could unleash more Chinese backlash

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian court ruling that could permit the extradition of a senior Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] executive to the United States leaves Canada vulnerable to further retaliation from Beijing, analysts said.

Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou smiles as she leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday lost a challenge to a U.S. bid to extradite her to face bank fraud charges, a decision the Chinese embassy in Ottawa strongly denounced.

For Canada, the stakes are high. After Meng’s arrest in Vancouver in December 2018, China detained two Canadian citizens on state security charges and blocked imports of some canola seed.

This month, China’s CanSino Biologics Inc began working with the country’s National Research Council to “pave the way” for future COVID-19 vaccine trials in Canada. China has been supplying the country with personal protection equipment during the outbreak.

“If China decides to cut us off from those kinds of things, people will die,” said Stephanie Carvin, an assistant professor and security expert at Ottawa’s Carleton University.

“My very strong concern is that cooperation goes away very quickly, and it leaves us in a very bad position,” she added.

Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, forecast Beijing would announce a trial date for the two Canadian citizens it is holding, as well as taking more punitive trade measures.

Chinese President “Xi Jinping will want to appear strong and will want to be seen as acting against Canada,” Saint-Jacques told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Asked on Thursday if he feared Chinese backlash, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not answer. Instead, he noted that Canada’s judiciary system is independent, and renewed his call for immediate release of citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

“We will continue to defend our interests and our values,” Trudeau added.

“There are a lot of issues in play,” said Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau and professor of international affairs at University of Ottawa.

Managing relations with China is like “walking the razor’s edge,” he said.

“Our approach to China is one that is not naive and... we’re not afraid to take a strong line and a firm line when we need to,” said a government source in Ottawa, requesting anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

University of British Columbia professor Paul Evans predicted the two detainees would remain behind bars for some time.

The ruling “isn’t going to make life easier for the two Michaels,” he said.


China brands Canada ‘accomplice’ of US, as Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou loses bid to have extradition case thrown out

Canadian judge rules that the US fraud charges against Meng satisfy the ‘double criminality’ rule, and her extradition case must continue

China’s embassy blasts the ruling, accusing Canada of taking part in a ‘grave political incident’ and saying it should ‘not go further down the wrong path’


Ian Young in Vancouver, 28 May, 2020

VIDEO AT THE END 


Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou leaving court on Wednesday, after hearing the decision on her double-criminality application. Photo: AFP

China has accused Canada of acting as an “accomplice” to the United States in a “grave political incident”, after a judge in Vancouver rejected a bid by Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to have her US extradition case thrown out.

Justice Heather Holmes of British Columbia’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the US fraud charges against Meng satisfied the Canadian extradition requirement of “double criminality”, which demands that suspects be accused of something that would constitute a crime in Canada as well as in the requesting country.

The extradition case – which has thrown China’s relations with Canada and the US into turmoil – will therefore continue.

“On the question of law posed, I conclude that, as a matter of law, the double criminality requirement for extradition is capable of being met in this case,” Associate Chief Justice Holmes wrote in her judgment.

In a statement on social media, China’s embassy said: “China hereby expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this decision, and has made serious representations with Canada.”

“The United States and Canada, by abusing their bilateral extradition treaty and arbitrarily taking forceful measures against Ms Meng Wanzhou, gravely violated the lawful rights and interests of the said Chinese citizen,” the statement said.

“The purpose of the United States is to bring down Huawei and other Chinese high-tech companies, and Canada has been acting as an accomplice of the United States. The whole case is entirely a grave political incident.”

The statement urged Canada to “immediately release Ms Meng Wanzhou and allow her to return safely to China, and not go further down the wrong path”.

Canada’s Department of Justice had hailed “the independence of Canada’s extradition process”, in a statement after the ruling. Meng’s lawyers will continue to fight against her extradition on other grounds.

As for the question raised by the media concerning the Canadian court’s ruling on the so-called “double criminality” issue in the case of Chinese citizen Meng Wanzhou, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy made remarks as follows:
pic.twitter.com/BkhC6Yji60
— ChineseEmbassyOttawa (@ChinaEmbOttawa)
May 27, 2020

US prosecutors want Meng extradited from Canada to face trial in New York. Canadian police, acting at the request of US authorities, arrested her at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018.

The arrest set off a diplomatic firestorm amid the US-China trade war and sent Beijing’s relations with Ottawa plummeting. Meng is accused of defrauding HSBC bank by deceiving an executive in Hong Kong about Huawei’s alleged business dealings in Iran, a breach of US sanctions.

Meng’s lawyers had tried to have the extradition case dismissed by arguing that the fraud charges were in fact a “dressed up” accusation that Meng had broken US sanctions, which is not a crime in Canada.

But Holmes said that the “essence” of Meng’s alleged wrongful conduct “is the making of intentionally false statements in the banker client relationship that put HSBC at risk”.

“The US sanctions are part of the state of affairs necessary to explain how HSBC was at risk, but they are not themselves an intrinsic part of the conduct,” wrote Holmes.

Although Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has emphasised that Canada’s courts are independent from political considerations, the latest Meng ruling could further strain Ottawa-Beijing relations. Photo: Bloomberg


“For this reason, I cannot agree with Ms Meng that to refer to US sanctions in order to understand the risk to HSBC is to allow the essence of the conduct to be defined by foreign law. Canada’s laws determine whether the alleged conduct, in its essence, amounts to fraud.”

Meng, 48, will remain under partial house arrest in Vancouver, where she lives in a C$13.6 million (US$9.9 million) mansion on C$10 million bail.

Holmes said that the double criminality analysis of Meng’s lawyers “would seriously limit Canada’s ability to fulfil its international obligations in the extradition context” regarding economic crimes, noting that “the offence of fraud has a vast potential scope”.

Meng’s ‘lies’ to HSBC are a clear case of fraud, Canadian lawyer says
17 Feb 2020

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week tried to emphasise that Canada’s courts are independent from political considerations. But the case has deeply strained relations between Ottawa and Beijing.


On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry said Canada “should immediately correct its mistake, release Meng and ensure her safe return to China at an early date, so as to avoid any continuous harm to China-Canada relations”.


In the wake of Meng’s arrest, China detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, accusing them of espionage. But their treatment is widely viewed in Canada as hostage-taking, and retaliation for Meng’s arrest.



Holmes’ decision represents a major setback for Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei. However, her lawyers are continuing to contest extradition by arguing that her case has been tainted by political interference, such as when US President Donald Trump said in December 2018 that he might intervene in the case if it suited US economic interests.


Meng's lawyers have also said her Canadian rights were violated by her treatment at Vancouver’s airport, when border agents searched her belongings and questioned her in what they allege was a “covert criminal investigation” on behalf of the US FBI.


Holmes’ ruling outlined the US accusation that Meng gave “false assurances” about Huawei’s Iran business to a HSBC banker in the back room of a Hong Kong restaurant in 2013. These assurances allegedly put HSBC at economic and reputational risk by “significantly understating” Huawei’s relationship with Skycom, a company based in Iran.

Meng case embarrasses Canadian court, lawyer says, rejecting fraud claim
17 Feb 2020



Meng allegedly described Skycom as a partner. But although Huawei had sold its shareholdings in Skycom and Meng herself had resigned as a member of its board, “Huawei in reality continued to control Skycom and its banking and business operations in Iran”, wrote Holmes in her summary of the US case.


In her decision, Holmes said that although Canada did not have a sanctions regime against Iran, such US laws were “not fundamentally contrary to Canadian values in the way that slavery laws would be, for example”.


After Holmes’ ruling was released online, Meng appeared at a brief court hearing. Proceedings were adjourned until a case management conference on June 3.

Protesters hold a banner before a court hearing attended by Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters


Further hearings are scheduled until October, but appeals mean the extradition case could last years.


Huawei said in a statement that it was “disappointed” by Wednesday’s ruling.


“We expect that Canada’s judicial system will ultimately prove Ms Meng’s innocence,” the statement said.


However, the Canadian extradition hearings are not to determine Meng’s guilt or innocence, only whether the case meets a test for committal and she should be sent to the US to face trial.


Holmes’ ruling was released in stages: participating lawyers were emailed copies of the decision at 9am; Meng and Canadian and US authorities were allowed to be informed at 10am; then the ruling was finally made public at 11am.


There had been intense speculation about the ruling, heightened on Saturday when Meng was seen posing for photos on the steps of the Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver with about a dozen friends and Huawei colleagues.

Canada border officers subjected Meng to ‘chilling’ misconduct, lawyers say
25 Sep 2019



On Wednesday morning around 8am, four women who were among that group turned up at Meng’s mansion in the exclusive Vancouver neighbourhood of Shaughnessy, bustling past about two dozen waiting reporters.


Nine and 10 o’clock ticked past without the curtains at the house even flickering.


“We’re just waiting for the Navy Seals to come in,” joked a guard from Lion’s Gate Risk Management, pointing a thumb in the direction of the US consul-general’s residence, just a couple of doors from Meng’s house. The Lion’s Gate guards are tasked with preventing Meng from escaping, but also act as her de facto bodyguards. She pays their bills under the terms of her bail.


It would not be until 10.45am that Meng herself emerged from the house, greeting reporters before climbing into a black Chevrolet Suburban SUV and heading to court.



Canadian court rules against Huawei exec fighting extradition

Issued on: 28/05/2020 

Vancouver (AFP)

An executive for Chinese tech giant Huawei suffered a legal setback Wednesday when a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead.

The decision on so-called double criminality, a key test for extradition, found that bank fraud accusations against Meng Wanzhou would stand up in Canada.

The interim ruling denying Meng's attempt to gain her freedom means she will continue to live in a Vancouver mansion under strict bail conditions while her case plays out.


It also effectively dashed hopes for a quick mending of Canada-China relations, which soured following her arrest on a US warrant in 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver.

"The double criminality requirement for extradition is capable of being met in this case," British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes said in her 23-page ruling.

"Ms. Meng's application is therefore dismissed," she added.

Prosecutors accused Meng of committing fraud by lying to a bank, in this case an American one. That is a crime in both Canada and the United States.

Outside the courthouse, protestors held placards that read "Extradite Meng Wanzhou," "No Huawei in Canada" and "Canada don't let China bully us."

Inside, Meng was composed as the judge explained her decision, in contrast to a gleeful thumbs up the "Huawei Princess" had given while posing for pictures with family and friends on the steps of the courthouse days earlier.

Huawei said in a statement it was "disappointed" by the ruling, adding that it looked forward to Meng ultimately being exonerated.

- 'Grave political incident' -

China's Embassy in Ottawa, meanwhile, accused the United States of trying "to bring down Huawei" and Canada of being "an accomplice."

"The whole case is entirely a grave political incident," it said in a statement.

"We once again urge Canada to take China's solemn position and concerns seriously, immediately release Ms. Meng Wanzhou to allow her to return safely to China, and not to go further down the wrong path."

Beijing has long signaled that her repatriation was a precondition for improved bilateral ties and its release of two Canadians detained on espionage suspicions.

The arrests of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor nine days after Meng was taken into custody have been widely decried as retribution.

While the eldest daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has been out on bail, the two Canadians remain in China's opaque penal system.

China has also blocked billions of dollars' worth of Canadian agricultural exports.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has insisted on leaving it to the courts to decide Meng's fate.

He lamented last week that communist-led China "doesn't seem to understand" the meaning of an independent judiciary.

On Wednesday his foreign minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said Canada would "continue to pursue principled engagement with China to address our bilateral differences and to cooperate in areas of mutual interest."

He also said Ottawa would continue to press for the release of Kovrig and Spavor, "who have been arbitrarily detained for over 500 days," and for clemency for a third Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, facing execution.

- Iran sanctions -

During four days of hearings in January, the court heard that Meng lied to the HSBC bank about Huawei's relationship with its own Iran-based affiliate Skycom in order to secure nearly US$1 billion in loans and credit, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions.

Lawyers for Canada's attorney general on behalf of the US Justice Department pointed to a 2013 presentation in Hong Kong in which she told HSBC executives that Huawei no longer owned Skycom and that she had resigned from its board.

The Crown called this a deception, asserting that Huawei controlled the operations of Skycom in Iran and held its purse strings.

"Lying to a bank to obtain financial services is fraud," Crown counsel Robert Frater told the court.

Defense lawyer Eric Gottardi accused the US of abusing its treaty with Canada by asking it to arrest Meng as part of a campaign against China's largest international company and leader in 5G, or fifth-generation wireless technologies.

The court, however, dismissed defense arguments that the case hinged on the US sanctions against Iran that Canada had repudiated.

"The essence of the alleged wrongful conduct in this case is the making of intentionally false statements in the banker client relationship that put HSBC at risk," Holmes wrote.

"The US sanctions are part of the state of affairs necessary to explain how HSBC was at risk, but they are not themselves an intrinsic part of the conduct."

Holmes noted that her ruling in no way makes a determination on whether there is sufficient evidence to justify extradition.

That question will be decided at a later stage in the proceedings.

The case now continues to a second phase, yet to be scheduled, when the defense will challenge the lawfulness of her arrest, followed by more hearings likely in September.

Any appeals could further drag it out for years.

© 2020 AFP

Canada court ruling allows US extradition case of Huawei executive to proceed

Decision says Meng Wanzhou’s alleged actions in the US would be considered a crime in Canada, a key condition for extradition

Leyland Cecco in Toronto THE GUARDIAN Wed 27 May 2020

Following the ruling, Meng Wanzhou will have to continue living under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns two homes. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A Canadian judge has dealt a major blow to a senior Huawei executive’s attempts to evade extradition to the United States, ruling that the high-profile case against Meng Wanzhou can proceed.

The British Columbia supreme court justice Heather Holmes ruled on Wednesday that the alleged actions of Meng would be considered a crime in Canada – a key condition for extradition to proceed.

The decision, is likely to be applauded by American officials, but will further strain relations between Canada and China, which have deteriorated significantly since Meng’s arrest in December 2018.

Meng was detained on a US warrant during a flight stopover at Vancouver airport, and the ensuing spat between the United States and China has left Canada taking collateral damage in the form of punitive trade measures and the retaliatory detention of Canadian citizens in China.

US prosecutors argue that Meng committed fraud when she lied about links between Huawei and a shell company used to sell telecommunications equipment to Iran in breach of US sanctions.

At issue in Wednesday’s ruling was the question of “double criminality” – whether Meng’s alleged actions in the United States would be considered a crime in Canada.

Canadian government lawyers argued that Meng lied about her company’s dealings with Iran when speaking to prospective investors at large banks, potentially putting them at risk of breaching the US sanctions. This deception, they said, amounted to fraud.

In her ruling, Justice Holmes concurred, finding that the “essence of the alleged wrongful conduct” lay in the deliberate attempts to misled bankers. She also determined that while the alleged attempt to evade American sanctions on Iran could have harmed the bank, the act was not a central component of the offense.

Meng’s legal team had argued that her behaviour did not amount to fraud, and that Canada did not have the same sanctions against Iran.

US case against Huawei's Meng Wanzhou is 'fiction', say lawyers
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/us-case-against-huaweis-meng-wanzhou-is-fiction-say-lawyers

Her lawyers are expected to appeal against the ruling, but the case will now probably enter its next stage, in which the defence will argue that US and Canadian authorities conspired against Meng.

The Huawei executive’s lawyers argue that her rights were breached by Canadian border guards who detained her for hours before her arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

By opening multiple legal fronts, Meng’s team has all but ensured the tussle will last for years, with many experts believing the case is inevitably bound for the supreme court of Canada.

Following the ruling, Meng will have to continue living under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns two homes. While under a curfew and required to wear a GPS tracking device, she is nonetheless able to travel freely around the city. Over the weekend, she was photographed by a CBC News reporter, standing outside the provincial courthouse, smiling and posing for pictures with friends and family.

China’s embassy in Ottawa accused the US and Canada of “abusing their bilateral extradition treaty and arbitrarily taking forceful measures” against Meng. In a statement it said her lawful rights and interests had been “gravely violated”.

“The purpose of the United States is to bring down Huawei and other Chinese high-tech companies, and Canada has been acting in the process as an accomplice of the United States,” it said.

Ahead of the verdict, China’s foreign minister, Zhao Lijan, called the case against Meng a “serious political incident” that had violated her rights.

“The Canadian side should correct its mistake, immediately release Ms Meng and ensure her safe return to China so as to avoid any continuous harm to China-Canada relations,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Huawei said it was “disappointed” in the ruling, adding that it stood with Meng in “her pursuit for justice and freedom”.

“We expect that Canada’s judicial system will ultimately prove Ms Meng’s innocence. Ms Meng’s lawyers will continue to work tirelessly to see justice is served,” the statement said.

Justin Trudeau has warned against Chinese allegations that the case is politically motivated.

“Canada has an independent judicial system that functions without interference or override by politicians,” the prime minister said last week. “China doesn’t work quite the same way and doesn’t seem to understand that.”

Meng’s verdict comes amid growing frustration in Canada over the continued detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were seized in China shortly after Meng’s arrest.

Hong Kong courts groan under weight of protest trials

AFP/File / ISAAC LAWRENCE

Nearly 9,000 people have been arrested since the protests kicked off last June with 1,600 proceeding to trial so far, according to police

Hong Kong's courts are clogged with a backlog of protester trials nearly a year after an explosion of huge pro-democracy rallies, with hundreds of mostly young demonstrators facing the prospect of lengthy jail terms.

Nearly 9,000 people have been arrested since the often violent protests kicked off last June with 1,600 proceeding to trial so far, according to police.

The result is a judicial system struggling under the strain as Hong Kong lurches through a political crisis that shows no sign of ending.

"This caseload is unimaginable," said Jonathan Man, a veteran rights lawyer on a team working pro bono to defend around half of those facing charges.

AFP / Anthony WALLACE

The city's judicial system is struggling under the strain as Hong Kong lurches through a political crisis that shows no sign of ending


"Each case is only rationed a very small amount of resources from the prosecution and judiciary, which results in investigation and trial delays," he told AFP.

A three-month closure of most of the court system during the coronavirus outbreak compounded delays.

A university student who asked to be identified as Windy has been on bail for the last seven months.

She is one of almost 600 people charged with rioting, a colonial-era law that carries up to a decade in jail.

AFP/File / Ye Aung Thu

Last year's rallies died down as the coronavirus spread but they have flared anew as social distancing measures are eased

"I have to change my life plan as I can't get a job in a large company if I get convicted," she told AFP.

Her case illustrates the volume passing through the courts.

She is one of 95 people who were arrested one afternoon in September by police during clashes near the legislature and who are now all on trial together.

- New arrests -

Earlier this month, the defendants appeared in a single courtroom for a mammoth procedural hearing that lasted hours as some 30 lawyers shared microphones to talk to the judge.

AFP/File / Philip FONG

Almost 600 people have been charged with rioting, a colonial-era law that carries up to a decade in jail


Defendants filled the public benches as anxious family members packed the hall outside, some catching naps as the hearings dragged on.

Those denied bail were brought up from the cells below after months in custody.

Shortly after Windy's hearing, a separate court handed down the first sentence for a rioting case -- a 22-year-old lifeguard who pleaded guilty to throwing objects at officers and was jailed for four years.

The Department of Justice said around 200 prosecutors have been assigned to handle cases with additional manpower and outsourced services available if needed.

Yet the caseload is growing with new arrests made each week.

AFP/File / VIVEK PRAKASH

The Department of Justice says some 200 prosecutors have been assigned to handle the extra caseload

The rallies died down in January as the coronavirus spread but they have flared anew as social distancing measures are eased.

Hundreds have been arrested since last week when large crowds marched against China's plan to introduce a security law outlawing treason, sedition and subversion -- a move activists fear will further erode free speech in the territory.

- Judiciary in spotlight -

With judges now starting to issue rulings, protester anger has begun to turn towards the judiciary.

Chris, part of a volunteer group documenting trials, said his team tries to temper criticism of judges that often flares up on their public chat group.

AFP/File / Philip FONG

Organisers claim that some of the protests last year attracted more than one million people


"Many people do not understand that a verdict isn't necessarily about a judge's personal belief," he said, asking not to use his second name.

He likened judges to having to "draw a straight line with a broken ruler" given to them by the city's pro-Beijing leadership and the police.

Rights lawyer Man said the courts should not be expected to solve a political crisis that demands a political solution.

"The government has pushed onto the judiciary a problem the courts can't solve," he said.

Hong Kong's top judge Geoffrey Ma has warned that the city's legal fraternity is being unfairly targeted by the polarised atmosphere.

"Judges look only to the letter of the law and to the spirit of the law and nothing else," he said in January.

AFP/File / Anthony WALLACE

Among those arrested recently was Martin Lee, a prominent barrister and rights activist in his 80s

However, in April, one judge caused anger after he openly sympathised with a pro-government supporter who stabbed three people.

The judge called the attacker "a bloodstained victim" of the protesters as he sentenced him to 45 months in jail.

Ma later criticised that judge and said he would not preside over future protest trials.

Meanwhile, Man says he does not expect his caseload will ease up any time soon.

"The authorities think the movement will stop after the 'trouble makers' are rounded up," he said. "But they are actually just creating more enemies."

US layoffs exceed 40 mn but some are returning to work

AFP/File / Johannes EISELE

More than 40 million US workers have lost their jobs since the pandemic's arrival, but the pace of layoffs is slowing
The number of workers filing for jobless benefits since the coronavirus arrived in the United States passed 40 million on Thursday while manufactured goods sales plunged even as signs emerged that people are returning to work.

Job losses on that scale have not been seen since the Great Depression early in the last century, and came as a new data showed the world's largest economy shrinking by 5.0 percent in the first quarter, a preview of much worse to come amid the COVID-19 recession.

The pace of layoffs passed their peak but continue in massive numbers, with the Labor Department reporting another 2.12 million workers making new claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended May 23.

The scale dwarfs even the worst week of the global financial crisis 12 years ago but is a decrease from the 2.44 million people who filed in the prior week.

And the number of people actually receiving benefits dropped by 3.86 million in the week ended May 16, the first decline since the pandemic's arrival and an indication that some people may be returning to work.

Even so there are more than 21 million people relying on government payments, up from 1.7 million in the same week of 2019.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers said on Twitter the decline "suggests a substantial flow from unemployment to employment."

If sustained, it would be a positive development for President Donald Trump, who has cheered on states' efforts to reopen as he faces a November re-election battle in which the health of the economy is set to weigh heavily on voters' minds.

But Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia acknowledged the national unemployment rate could hit 20 percent.

"We do have to, again, acknowledge that this is a challenging time for workers across the country. But we are reopening," Scalia said on Fox Business Network.

- Manufacturing suffers -

Florida is one of the states moving most aggressively to resume business, and posted one of the largest declines in the insured rate.

AFP/File / CHANDAN KHANNA

Florida is one of the states moving most aggressively to reopen, and saw the number of people receiving unemployment benefits decline

California also saw a large decline, but Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said that was a technicality as unemployed workers in the state were not required to file for benefits in the latest week.

But he nonetheless expects weekly claims to drop below one million by the end of June and slow over the coming weeks.

"The dip in initial claims is consistent with Google search and advance state data, which tentatively point to a bigger drop next week," Shepherdson said.

A separate Commerce Department report showed orders of manufactured goods -- a key component of measuring GDP in the services-dominated US economy -- plummeting by 17.2 percent in April, following a 16.6 percent drop in March.

Sales fell to $170 billion in April, the first full month of the lockdowns, compared to $246 billion before the virus struck.

Much of the trouble stemmed from struggling aerospace giant Boeing, which reported no new orders in April, as compared to 31 in March.

Like other companies nationwide, Boeing shuttered its US factories due to the pandemic, but has since resumed production while planning to slash its workforce by 10 percent and slow output.

Sales of motor vehicles and parts collapsed nearly 52.8 percent compared to March.

All told, transportation orders collapsed by more than 47 percent after the 43 percent plunge in March. Excluding transportation, total durable goods sales fell just 7.4 percent.

- The expansion is over -

The Commerce Department also reported that US GDP fell 5.0 percent in the first three months of the year, slightly worse than the 4.8 percent drop originally reported, putting an end to a decade of economic expansion.

The drop was fueled by a collapse in consumer spending and exports, and was all the more dramatic given that the business shutdowns did not start to take effect until the final two weeks of the quarter.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the collapse in the April-June quarter could be as bad as 30 percent, again in line with the Great Depression.

In an analysis, Oxford Economics said the Fed's moves to inject liquidity and Congress's stimulus measures have blunted some of the impact, but said "more will be needed and fear that policy fatigue could hinder the recovery."

WATCH: Maddow goes off on GOP governor for not alerting residents of meat packing plant COVID-19 outbreak
May 27, 202 By Bob Brigham


MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow on Wednesday harshly criticized Iowa’s Republican governor for not alerting residents to an apparent COVID-19 outbreak at a meatpacking plant.

“The highest per-capita infection rate in the state of Iowa right now is in one Buena Vista County, population around 20,000,” Maddow explained. “More than 3% of the entire population of the county is now confirmed to be infected.”

“Now, where are all of these infections coming from?” she asked rhetorically. “You know by now, right, without me even having to say it. You know, and I know, even without having to look it up on a map. And local reporters know exactly what drives those kinds of epidemic spike numbers. Everybody knows what’s going on.”

“But boy does the governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, not want to admit what it is,” she said, introducing a clip of the Republican governor.

The Reynolds administration said, in the clip, that they would not identify the source of an outbreak until 10% of the workforce tests positive.

“We’re going to wait to tell you, we’re going to wait to tell the citizens of this county that is now the most infected county in the state and who knows where that is coming from, we will are going to wait until it is really, really, really bad, until we’ve decided to move testing in there, until we’ve decided it is more than 10% of the workplace, we will wait until then before we tell anybody anything about it,” she paraphrased.

“It is an infectious disease,” she reminded.

Watch:

‘They want their civil war’: Far-right ‘boogaloo’ militants have embedded themselves in the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis

May 28, 2020 By Jordan Green, Special to Raw Story


Young, white men dressed in Hawaiian-style print shirts and body armor, and carrying high-powered rifles have been a notable feature at state capitols, lending an edgy and even sometimes insurrectionary tone to gatherings of conservatives angered by restrictions on businesses and church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

Just as many states are reopening their economies — and taking the wind out of the conservative protests — the boogaloo movement found a new galvanizing cause: the protests in Minneapolis against the police killing of George Floyd.

A new iteration of the militia movement, boogaloo was born out of internet forums for gun enthusiasts that repurposed the 1984 movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo as a code for a second civil war, and then modified it into phrases like “big luau” to create an insular community for those in on the joke, with Hawaiian-style shirts functioning as an in-real-life identifier. Boogaloo gained currency as an internet meme over the summer of 2019, when it was adopted by white supremacists in the accelerationist tendency. In January, the movement made the leap from the internet to the streets when a group boogaloo-ers showed up at the Second Amendment rally in Richmond, Va.

It’s not just the jittery aesthetics and pop-culture irony that sets boogaloo apart from an older generation of militia activists, but also its unbridled hostility towards law enforcement. In late 2019, the movement spread beyond private Discord servers to multiple Facebook groups with names like Thicc Boog Line, Boojahideen of Occupied Appalachistan and, in North Carolina, Blue Igloo. Some of the memes generated and shared on the Facebook pages contain overt signals towards white nationalists, including images of the German Wehrmacht during World War II and references to the failed war to preserve white rule in Rhodesia during the 1970s. But others signal an interest in building bridges with the political left by lifting up the names of black victims of police violence like Oscar Grant, Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor, alongside right-wing martyrs like LaVoy Finicum, Sammy Weaver and Duncan Lemp, the latter a boogaloo-er who was killed by police in March during a no-knock raid at his home in Maryland.

When protests against the police killing of George Floyd escalated into clashes between police and protesters on Tuesday night, a significant segment of the boogaloo movement was electrified.

At 8:38 p.m., an anonymous Discord user identified as [MN-TC] Jimmydean338 posted in the #SOS channel for the private Citizens Liberty Organization server. The post displayed a red button inscribed with the words, “Send help!” followed by the address 3000 Minnehaha Ave., which is the location of the Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct. “Police opening fire on protesters breaching precinc [sic],” Jimmydean338 wrote. “Not a drill.”

At about 11:30, the Big Igloo Bois Facebook group posted a photo of a young man holding the trademark boogaloo flag depicting an igloo and palm tree in the protests.


“If there was ever a time for bois to stand in solidarity with all free men and women in this country, it is now,” the admin for the page wrote. “This is not a race issue. For far too long we have allowed them to murder us in our homes, and in the streets. We need to stand with the people of Minneapolis. We need to support them in this protest against a system that allows police brutality to go unchecked.”

Benjamin Ryan Teeter, a resident of the coastal community of Hampstead in southeastern North Carolina, reshared the red button panel posted by Jimmydean338 on his Facebook page at 11:44 p.m., writing, “Lock and load boys. Boog flags are in the air, and the national network is going off.”

Teeter, who is active in the North Carolina Libertarian Party and has participated in weekly armed excursions through downtown Raleigh with a group organized through the Blue Igloo Facebook group over the four weeks alerted his friends that he would be driving, not flying to Minneapolis.

Tom Bailey, a Libertarian candidate for Congress in 2018, commented, “Grim.” To which Teeter replied, “Exactly! I love it!”

Another private Discord server set up for boogaloo users — named “We should all Led(better)” — had designated special channels for different functions: #on-scene-only (for users on the ground), #off-scene-intel (for remote users sharing information), and #location-want-to-repond (for users across the country to coordinate travel to Minneapolis).

Boogaloo activists who showed up for the first night of protests on Tuesday met with mixed reaction.

One, a white man identified on Facebook as Michael Solomon, posted photographs of himself and another friend holding high-powered rifles while posing alongside black protesters, including one wearing a Black Lives Matter hoodie. But another, Tyler Scott of Minnesota man, warned in the Big Igloo Bois thread: “This is not the time for boog, this is how a race war starts.” He added that the protesters “jumped one of our 3%ers” — a term that denotes an older generation of militia activists — “earlier tonight and stole a firearm. They are not with us. They’ve made it clear they don’t want us.” Scott’s statements were met with skepticism, with other commenters suggesting he was making it up or speculating that the older militia activists were racist and had it coming.

“I think for a lot of boogaloo-ers, their primary interest is resisting the state, what they believe to be state tyranny,” said Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher at the ADL Center on Extremism in Chicago. “They have this hostility towards law enforcement…. They oppose these [pandemic] directives. They’re upset about no-knock raids, police brutality. The George Floyd case — this is an example of police brutality, this willingness of the state to execute those who disobey — so it’s not surprising that they showed up to protest.”

The nascent boogaloo movement is not monolithic, Friedfeld said, and it draws from spectrum of groups from the right wing to the far right, from militias and anarcho-capitalists to white supremacists. An internal struggle is underway to define the movement’s relationship with race, he said.

“You see this in the Facebook comments,” Friedfeld said. “You’ll see very strong condemnations of racism and homophobia. Then there are people who use racially charged phrases such as, ‘Vote from the rooftops.’ It’s a reference to Korean shop-owners who went to rooftops to fire on looters [during the 1992 Los Angeles riots], who are presumed to be black. There’s this debate: Why are we accepting Black Lives Matter when they won’t accept us? There’s a good deal of social distrust.”

Antifascist Twitter accounts on Wednesday issued a steady stream of stern warnings against making common cause with boogaloo.

“It’s a right-wing thing; it’s a neo-fascist thing,” said Daryle Lamont Jenkins, a veteran antifascist organizer based in New Jersey, in a Twitter video. “And they’re trying to use what’s happening in Minneapolis as a jump-off. Do not let them. They are not our friends.”

Jenkins told Raw Story that he fears that boogaloo-ers are bringing their apocalyptic fantasies about civil war to Minneapolis and will leave residents to pick up the pieces.

“They can be more aggressive, and they can cause the police to be more aggressive,” he said. “They can get people hurt because they want their civil war…. People who are in the community, all they know is they have to defend themselves. The people they hate get hurt, and they walk away scot-free. So, it’s kind of a win-win for them.

“You don’t even necessarily have to be interacting with anybody in order to pop something off,” he added. “You’re going to be one with the crowd.”

Jenkins noted that Minneapolis has rocky track record with armed white men interposing themselves in protests against police brutality: In 2015, five people at a Black Lives Matter protest were shot, resulting in non-life-threatening injuries. A white man from Bloomington named Allen Scarsella was later convicted in the shootings.

Jenkins charges that the boogaloo-ers are operating in bad faith, citing a fellow New Jersey resident named Paul Miller who was recently involved in a Memorial Day reopen protest. Miller identifies himself as a “Boogaloo Boy” on his Instagram account, which also includes the Latin Catholic motto “Deus vult,” or “God wills [it],” generally associated with Islamophobia.

On Wednesday, Miller re-shared livestreams from Minneapolis on his Instagram, while refraining from providing his views on the action underway. A previous post includes a whimsical video of armed protesters during an April 30 reopen protest at the Michigan state capitol captioned, “When the boogaloo kicks off cuz the boys had enough.”

Others more definitively signal that Miller’s politics don’t align with the protesters in Minneapolis. One calls for the release of the white father and son who are charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger in Georgia, while another contends that the media is burying coverage of migrants “rioting throughout France.” Miller frequently uses boogaloo hashtags with Instagram posts, including #bigluau, #boogaloomemes, #boogaloo2020, #Boogvirus, #boogaloosidequest and #boogaloobois.

“There’s two versions of boogaloo,” said Friedfeld of the ADL. “There’s the white supremacist burn society down and build a white ethno-stage. And then there’s the anti-government resist tyranny at all costs, and if it creates a civil war, so be it version.”

So far, the wing of the boogaloo movement that’s shown up in the streets is the more mainstream, outwardly inclusive version.

But some white supremacists, especially in the accelerationist tendency, are likely cheering events in Minneapolis from the sidelines, or looking for ways to melt into the crowd.

A user identified as “Terrorwave Refine” messaged at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday: “Boogaloo boys are reportedly on [sic] place. If someone really wanted to kick off the boogaloo, now would be a fine time to fire some shots and frame the crowd around you as responsible.”

Earlier in the evening, a user named “The Shitpost Facility (Dick)” wrote, “I hate that I support the n****** over the pigs at this point, get some you dumb monkey f****ot. This is absolutely the end goal of our philosemitic society. Imagine giving n****** ‘civil rights’ hahahha.”

Another, named “Uncle Paul,” forwarded Dick’s message, adding, “I don’t support either the n****** or the pigs… certainly not the k****. However, I’ll do some pushups and pull-ups while I watch them redacting each other.”




Benjamin Ryan Teeter, the North Carolina man traveling to Minneapolis, said he is motivated to join the protests out of genuine solidarity with black residents who are oppressed by police violence. Teeter, who describes himself as an “LGBT left-leaning anarchist,” said he plans to “defend the protesters.”

He deflected when asked if he and other boogaloo-ers are consulting with local residents to see how they can best support them, as opposed to pursuing their own agenda.

“I think trying to get the police to stop killing people is trying to support the people of the community,” he said. “If we’re not willing to stand up because we might hurt someone, how bad are we going to allow things to get?”

Teeter insisted the share of white supremacists in the boogaloo movement is no greater than any other group or political party. But he pleaded ignorance when asked about Dillon Goad, a North Carolinian who attended the first Raleigh boogaloo walk on May 1 wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt. In addition to his primary Facebook page, Goad has an alt page under his name that pays tribute to Hans Friedrich, a member of the SS Infantry Brigade accused of murdering Jews and communists in the Soviet Union.

Teeter posted a breathless update at 1:23 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Baltimore cop shot,” Teeter wrote. “Chicago is a powderkeg. MN police are planning an emergency exit if the building is breached.”

Goad was the first to comment: “It’s all coming together.”

Reached on the road nine hours outside of Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, Teeter demurred when asked about Goad.

“Dillon is someone I’m not familiar with,” he said. “I don’t want to speak to the account without knowing. I don’t know if it’s a satire account or something else.”

Whether their movement is infiltrated with neo-Nazis or not, there’s little doubt that the boogaloo-ers want to see an escalation in Minneapolis.

In a post that has now been removed from the We should all be Led(better) server, (KS) RugbyIsLife lamented at 11:38 p.m. on Wednesday: “Looks like it’s just a bunch of looting that should have been booging. Are people going to wake the fuck up and start laying down lead or just steal TVs and shit?”

Trump’s tweets have ‘deteriorated’ because he knows he faces ‘landslide defeat’: Financial Times columnist
Published May 28, 2020 By Brad Reed


President Donald Trump’s tweets have grown even more erratic than usual lately, as he has promoted baseless murder conspiracy theories about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and even a video that proclaims “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”

Financial Times columnist Edward Luce believes he knows the reason that the president has become more unhinged: He knows that he’s “courting a landslide defeat” in the 2020 election.

“Mr Trump’s worsening odds can be gauged by his rising sense of panic,” Luce writes. “Although it scarcely seemed possible, their content has also deteriorated. Recent nadirs include Mr Trump’s recurring assertion that Joe Scarborough, the co-anchor of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, murdered a staff member in 2001. Even pro-Trump publications felt obliged to dispute that cartoonishly nasty claim.”

Luce also zeroes in on Trump’s preemptive cries about his opponents “stealing” the 2020 election from him by making it easier for more people to vote.

“It is almost as hard to find instances of leaders trying to shrink voter turnout,” he explains. “That is Mr Trump’s goal for November, which betrays his pessimism about the election. There is no evidence that postal voting benefits Democrats — and some to show it has helped Republicans. Yet Mr Trump is doing everything he can to make life harder for absentee voters.”

FT BEHIND PAYWALL

Dutch ban transport of mink after farm workers infected




on May 28, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


Dutch authorities on Thursday announced a nationwide ban on the transport of mink after mink farm workers were believed to have contracted coronavirus from the small mammals.

The infections in the south of the Netherlands could be the “first known cases of animal-to-human transmission”, the World Health Organization had said on Tuesday.

The Dutch government had previously made COVID-19 testing mandatory on all mink farms in the country, where the animals are bred for their fur.

“Until the results of this screening are known,” the transport of mink and mink manure will be banned to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, Public Health Minister Hugo de Jonge and Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten said in a letter to parliament.

There have been no mink exports to countries outside of the European Union this year, the ministers added.

However, it is not possible to know whether mink was traded from the Netherlands to other EU member states in 2020 because this trade is not subject to a European certificate, they said.

According to the ministers, health authorities consider the risk of contamination “negligible” outside the four Dutch farms where infected mink have been reported.

The initial infection of a mink farm worker was reported last week on one of two farms near the southern city of Eindhoven, where the disease was discovered in April among mink.

The infection happened before it was known that the mink were carrying the virus, meaning that workers did not wear protective clothing at the time.

The health ministry said on Tuesday that three people on the farm tested positive for the virus, but said that it remained unclear if more than one of the cases had come directly from a mink.

There have been more than 5,900 coronavirus deaths and 45,950 infections in the Netherlands, according to the latest official figures.

The exact source of the virus, which first appeared in China late last year, remains unknown, and there is growing pressure for an international probe to determine its origin.

Most scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans, possibly in a market that sells exotic animals for meat in the city of Wuhan.

Since the initial jump to humans, there have been no previous reports of animals being the source of infections.

© 2020 AFP