Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Trump's Conspiratorial Tweet About The 75-Year-Old Protester Injured By Buffalo Police Has Provoked Anger Among Friends And Activists

Martin Gugino is the "epitome of a nonviolent person," friends and fellow activists told BuzzFeed News.

Posted on June 9, 2020,

Martin Gugino is known as a singularly gentle and nonviolent person. So when President Donald Trump used his Facebook and Twitter accounts to spread a baseless conspiracy theory accusing the 75-year-old activist of staging his own fall after being pushed by two police officers in Buffalo, New York, his friends and fellow activists have been rallying to his defense.

"The ludicrousness of the lie...just a nonsensical accusation," Victoria Ross, an activist who has known Gugino for around 10 years, said about Trump's tweet.

Trump tweeted that Gugino "could be an ANTIFA provocateur" and that the encounter with police "Could be a set up?"

Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?

Ross, the executive director of the Western New York Peace Center (WNYPC), where Gugino has volunteered for years, told BuzzFeed News that a lot of "lying and fabricated misinformation" was going around about her friend.

"When people are allowed to make things up based on nothing, there's a problem," she said.

Keith Giles, who met Gugino in California several years ago, told BuzzFeed News it was all "just ridiculous."

"We know the president will never back down and will never apologize for this," Giles, the program director for Peace Catalyst International in Texas, said.

Andy Worthington, a British journalist and activist, told BuzzFeed News in an email that Trump’s words were insulting.

"Martin is an implacable peace protester, but a very gentle man," he added.

Terrence Bisson, chair of the Latin American Solidarity Committee at WNYPC who met Gugino at a rally in 2011, said his friends had also spent the weekend trying to counter the suggestion from Buffalo's mayor that Gugino was an "agitator of some kind."

"To have this [tweet] land on our head today is terrible," Bisson said, adding that his friend was frail and "completely down."

"At the moment, he can't move his head very well," he added. "To have something that is based on nothing but the most crazy kind of conspiracy ideas, it's horrifying."

Trump's suggestion on Tuesday that Gugino was an "ANTIFA provocateur" was inspired from a segment by the little-watched cable channel One America News Network, which claimed without proof that his injury was the result of a "false flag provocation by far-left group Antifa," and that he was using a "police tracker" on his phone, BuzzFeed News reported.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Gugino's attorney, Kelly Zarcone, told BuzzFeed News.

She said that Gugino "totally denies" that he is part of antifa and that no one from law enforcement had ever suggested he was anything but a "peaceful protester."

"We are at a loss to understand why the President of the United States would make such dark, dangerous, and untrue accusations against him," Zarcone said in a statement.

She added that while Gugino is still in serious condition, he had been moved from the ICU to his own room. He had hit his head on the ground in an incident captured in graphic video footage that sparked national outrage.

The video, captured by local NPR station WBFO, shows two Buffalo police officers pushing Gugino while enforcing curfew, causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and bleed from his ear. The two officers have since pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault charges.

Just about an hour ago, police officers shove man in Niagara Square to the ground (WARNING: Graphic). Video from: @MikeDesmondWBFO

"All these things that people are making up are not helpful," Zarcone said. "[Martin] is just trying to recover and he's even too tired to form words most of the time."

Gugino's friends described him as a longtime activist and a gentle, genuine, and patient man "devoted to the principles of nonviolence."

He is also involved in a range of political issues, including immigration, climate justice, prisoners' rights, economic justice, and homelessness.

Kathy Kelly, 67, met Gugino in 2010 when they were fasting as part of a rally in Washington, DC, to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.

"I remember him as someone who listened very patiently and always had a benevolent attitude towards people," Kelly said.

She also wasn't surprised to see Gugino in the viral video walk toward "a group of armed people."

"It didn't surprise me anymore than Gandhi walking towards armed British soldiers," she said. "It was something he would do, believing that he was approaching another human being."

She also laughed away any suggestion that Gugino would be part of antifa, pointing out that she has been involved in protest activism since the 1980s.

"We would know if there was some big, threatening, coherent group called antifa," Kelly said, "and Martin wouldn't be part of it."

Gugino's friends also dismissed the idea that he would stage his own fall, noting how frail he is while coping with other health challenges.

"Would he stage something in a crafty way to accomplish a photo op? I greatly doubt that," Kelly said. "That blood...forming a pool on the pavement represented a great deal of wisdom accrued by one individual who earnestly studied ways to create a better world."

Tasneem Nashrulla is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

2020 PROTESTS
Statues In The US And Around The World Are Being Beheaded And Torn Down Amid Black Lives Matter Protests

In the US, UK, and elsewhere, public monuments commemorating people with backgrounds linked to slavery and racism are being toppled by angry demonstrators.

Ade OnibadaBuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on June 10, 2020

NurPhoto / Contributor
Protesters in Bristol topple the statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

Monuments and statues in the US and around the world that are dedicated to controversial historical figures with legacies of slavery and racism have become the target of demonstrations during the #BlackLivesMatter protests.

In several cases, the statues have even been toppled by activists taking matters into their owns hands.

At a demonstration in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday night, a 93-year-old statue of Christopher Columbus was brought down, set on fire, and thrown into a lake as bystanders chanted “Tear it down.” Left in place where the statue had previously stood was a cardboard sign with the words “Columbus Represents Genocide.”

Mark Gormus / AP
The defaced pedestal where a statue of Christopher Columbus once stood is seen at Byrd Park in Richmond, Virginia.

In Boston, police have launched an investigation and are appealing for information after another Columbus statue was beheaded early on Wednesday morning. The same statue was beheaded back in 2006. In 2015, it was also covered with red paint and spray painted with the words “Black Lives Matter."

In Montgomery, Alabama, a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was toppled outside a high school last week. Now, local officials are considering whether to rename schools in the county named for Confederate heroes.

AJ+@ajplus
Protesters in Virginia tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus, setting it on fire and throwing it into a lake. Protesters said: "We have to start with the people who stood first on this land." It was replaced with the words: "Columbus represents genocide." (Photos: AP/WWBT)12:12 PM - 10 Jun 2020
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It’s not just the US that is seeing a reckoning for such monuments.

In Belgium, a statue of colonial King Leopold II was removed from the city of Antwerp after being defaced by anti-racist protesters. During the leader’s reign over the Congo, an estimated 10–15 million people died.

In Barbados, activists have coordinated a petition to have a statue of Adm. Horatio Nelson removed from its capital, calling its presence "an affront" to the Black population.

And in the UK, a monument in honor of Edward Colston, a famed slave trader, was forcibly removed by protesters before being thrown into Bristol Harbour. The demonstration followed years of campaigning to have his statue taken down.

Colston's company transported more than 100,000 enslaved men, women, and children from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas between 1672 and 1689. At least 20,000 died during the crossings due to conditions on the boats — their bodies thrown overboard.

Ben Tobin @TobinBen
Breaking: The statue of Confederate soldier John Castleman is currently being removed by the city of #Louisville at Cherokee Triangle.10:45 AM - 08 Jun 2020
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Jack Parrock @jackeparrock
#Antwerp authorities have removed a statue of colonial Belgian King Leopold II after the weekend’s #BlackLivesMatter protest. The campaign to remove all of them continues. #DRC #KingLeopoldII #Belgium11:16 AM - 09 Jun 2020
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Katie Finnegan-Clarke, who has been working as part of Countering Colston, a pressure group created to have Colston’s presence across Bristol removed, told BuzzFeed News that activists had been trying for almost 100 years to get the statue removed.

“For as long as the statue has been up, there’s been resistance to it," she said.

“I think I can probably speak for everyone to say we’re all absolutely elated that it got taken down, because I don’t think it would have happened any other way," she added.

Bernardine Evaristo @BernardineEvari
We cheered when Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in Iraq after only decades as a dictator, so why object to the toppling of #EdwardColston's 1895 statue in Bristol, a brazenly triumphant totem of 300 years of the British slave trade? Long overdue! https://t.co/5YKNz86qVu04:24 AM - 08 Jun 2020
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In London, a statue of Robert Milligan, a prominent British slave trader who owned two sugar plantations and enslaved more than 500 people in Jamaica, was removed by city officials on Tuesday. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is now calling for a review of similar monuments across the capital.

"It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade, and while this is reflected in our public realm, the contribution of many of our communities to life in our capital has been willfully ignored,'' Khan said.

Activists behind the UK's Stop Trump Coalition have created an interactive map allowing website visitors to identify and add monuments around the country with connections to slavery and racism.

In a press release, the group said that they were inspired by the protesters who removed Colston's statue and wanted remaining monuments to be removed "so that Britain can finally face the truth about its past — and how it shapes our present."

Stop Trump Coalition / Via toppletheracists.org

Sadiq Khan @SadiqKhan
UPDATE: The statue of slave trader Robert Milligan has now been removed from West India Quay. It’s a sad truth that much of our wealth was derived from the slave trade - but this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces. #BlackLivesMatter06:41 PM - 09 Jun 2020
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Simukai Chigudu, an associate professor of African Politics at the University of Oxford, told BuzzFeed News that this moment of protest and removal of so many monuments worldwide is “quite a radical shift” in public thinking.

He believes it is being spurred on “partly because of the circumstances that has energized the current public reckoning.”

“The spectacle of George Floyd's death that we've witnessed and have been shocked and repulsed by the world over, I think, ignited a moment of collective trauma and collective rage amongst Black people in many parts of the world,” Chigudu said.

Chigudu has been campaigning for the removal of a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes at Oxford since his days as a student there in 2015. The movement took its lead from a South African campaign where students successfully removed a Rhodes monument from the University of Cape Town.

“The same structural and systemic racism that leads to police brutality is the structural systemic racism that shapes our institutions of learning, our government, our media in many ways,” Chigudu said.

Simukai Chigudu @SimuChigudu
It's me! The opening of my speech talking about white supremacy at today's #RhodesMustFall protest because #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/Cx3qa6ZzcX07:10 PM - 09 Jun 2020
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However, the movement to rid cities of such monuments is not without its detractors. Some believe the statues are an important reminder of history, while others object to the violent toppling of such monuments without a public vote.

The removal of Colston’s statue in Bristol was criticized by some British politicians, including by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose office described it as an "act of criminal damage.”

But as the protests continue, another prominent statue is emerging as a point of contention between BLM protesters and right-wing figures in the UK: that of Britain’s wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill.

Over the weekend, a Churchill monument in London was vandalized with graffiti labeling the former prime minister a racist.

Frank Augstein / AP

Despite his popularity for leading the British during World War II, critics have highlighted Churchill's documented support of eugenics and his role in the 1943 Bengal famine, which resulted in the death of 3 million Indians from starvation.

In an online address, right-wing figure Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, claimed without evidence that far-left organizations like antifa were funding BLM and accused the protesters of damaging race relations in the UK. Robinson issued an open invitation calling on "patriots" to attend upcoming protests in London this weekend and be prepared to defend and protect Churchill's monument.

Josh Wilkins🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🐝@Joshwilkins1881
A few lads protecting the Churchill statue👏🏻 Fair play.12:09 PM - 09 Jun 2020
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Chigudu believes the debate around Churchill could lead to a new culture war in Britain, as “there's no one as powerful as Churchill in the British national imaginary.”

“I think a real risk is it unleashes the forces of the far right even further and we see an extension of a new iteration of these kinds of 'culture wars' that have been taking place, with the far right mobilized, and I think that could potentially be quite damaging,” said Chigudu. “I'm really hoping that it doesn't come to that because those people just have no place in any of these discussions whatsoever.”

Chigudu said he thinks the focus on statues in the current protests is fascinating and revealing because the monuments “memorialize a particular version of the past" — one which is open to change.

“The meaning of a statue is not set in stone; it's subjected to constant collective reappraisal as history unfolds,” he said.

“These people no longer have pride of place within our sights. Put them in museums. Have people learn about it that way, but let's have a more honest account of what history is,” said Chigudu.

Ade Onibada is a junior reporter at BuzzFeed and is based in London.

A Viral TikTok Is Sparking A Conversation About Racial Bias Against Black People In Healthcare

A TikTok from a white physician is making people suddenly aware of an issue that's long affected Black patients and doctors.

Posted on June 10, 2020, at 5:24 p.m. ET

A viral TikTok from a doctor in Portland, Oregon, about systemic racism in healthcare and the disparities in the treatment of Black patients is opening up a dialogue online.

Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, a white OB-GYN, told BuzzFeed News she does not want to take credit for the information she talked about in her viral video, as it's nothing new. She and other doctors said they just hope people are finally listening.

Lincoln, 38, has posted educational videos on the platform before, with some others going viral. But the one she posted on Monday has reached far beyond TikTok. A tweet sharing her video has already been retweeted over 160,000 times.

"A 2016 study showed that 50% of medical students and residents who were studied thought that Black people couldn't feel pain the same way because they had thicker skin or their nerves didn't work the same way," Lincoln says in the TikTok, citing this study.

This disturbing data point is a "holdover from the days of slavery," she continues. "Black people used to be operated on without anesthesia, and were used in studies without their consent."

The result, she said, is Black Americans wait longer in emergency rooms, are less likely to seek medical attention, and their pain is taken less seriously.

TikTok / @drjenniferlincoln

Lincoln told BuzzFeed News she's been generally aware of these implicit racial biases in her career but had never taken the opportunity to research.

"I was aware of it, but not to this degree. One thing I would love to highlight is that this is not new information. Other Black people have been saying it for years. Is the reason it’s gone viral because I’m a white person saying it? This is the problem with racism in itself."

Dr. Jessica Shepherd, an OB-GYN from Dallas who's been outspoken about racial injustices and her experiences working as a Black physician, told BuzzFeed News the Black community has long known about and experienced these issues raised in Lincoln's TikTok.

"I think her message is more important for white people. We already know. We're the ones who it happens to," said Shepherd.

"The system was implemented by [white people], so Black people cannot unfortunately eliminate racism," she continued. "Where this becomes an issue in medicine is that there is a systemic racist infrastructure. It's important for everyone to know about it, but her message is more important for white people to understand and see."

Shepherd noted other dangerous implicit biases against Black Americans, like "how diabetes and hypertension are treated" and how "it can be different between Black and white" patients.

"It's not just about saying, 'Oh, we know in the African American community their hypertension may present like this,' but 'why?'" said Shepherd. "That's when you really dig deep down into not only that it's an issue, but why is it an issue."

Instagram: @jessicashepherdmd

She also believes insurance companies and hospitals should reassess their policies and biases. According to Shepherd — who said she knows firsthand it's an issue because she's the one filing insurance claims — insurance carriers don't provide the same coverage across states.

In areas with a large Black population, this may discriminate against citizens who may need the care the most.

"I've called the insurance companies and said, 'You've approved this in Texas, why won't you approve it in Mississippi?'" she said. "However it affects the African American community, it affects everyone. We as a society have a responsibility to address these issues."

Instagram: @drjrutland

drjrutland

The first time I was called nig#%r I was 7 yo. I was attending my “privileged” private catholic white dominated school (I was happy and had zero problem with the school). It was recess. No one knows this story because right after it happened, something changed. I began to deflect, absorb or ignore those type of negative, yet empty comments so much so that I stopped remembering them after they took place. When you’re 7, you have two choices to make. You can retaliate physically or you can absorb, have the maturity and understanding you will end up being the problem if you respond with your fists. That’s the difference. If you’re white, you don’t have to expend the energy to make that choice. And definitely don’t HAVE TO make it at 7 years old. (My first born is 7) I haven’t even brought up the substitute teacher Ms. Desiree who refused to teach me or call on me because I was black. No wonder some of my friends wondered why I had so many non black friends growing up. What was I supposed to do? Isolate and sit in the corner by myself? Nah. That’s not me. I turned the other cheek, dealt with it (along with punkass Ms. Desiree) and took advantage of the opportunity I had. But I don’t think my kids (or any kid that looks like me) should have to make that choice. How long do we have to “turn the other cheek”? I would have hoped the officer exercised the same restraint I have to when being called the N-word. That’s one of many reasons why I’m speaking up now. I should have said something then. I’ve shared a lot of experiences lately only to illustrate that a problem exists. Tomorrow, I’ll share a final story of a racist interaction in medical school that may have led to positive change. Then we will touch on actionable items instead of my black experience. My boys are leaders here so I’m just listening and helping. #rmrn #medicine #socialjustice #blm #pulmonary #criticalcare #medicaldoctor #iowa #kansas #california #icu #healthcare #publichealth #protest #medicalschool #residency #fellowship #sacramento #black #change 📸cred @byeverythingpositive @modunks sorry, my thumbs just started going again. It happens.

Dr. Cedric "Jamie" Rutland, a 39-year-old critical care physician who owns a practice in Southern California, told BuzzFeed News the racial inequities built into the industry are not only on the patient side.

He recalled an incident two months ago where, after working with a white patient who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, she expressed shock after finding out he owned his own practice.

"We were walking out the room and she said, 'This is your practice? You’re Black. How did you build this?'" recounted Rutland. "When that kind of thing happens you’re kind of like, whoa, what were you thinking during your visit? I come across it all the time."

Rutland said when protests erupted after the killing of George Floyd in police custody, he started to "think about all the situations" like this one he has experienced.

"As a Black guy, I can’t really say, 'You’re being racist. Then it becomes 'you’re always making it about race,'" he said.

Lincoln's TikTok has become a launchpad for all kinds of online conversations about why certain racial groups have different medical needs than the white population.

jin_ekooks⁷ 🌸 pets haver @bell_ehooks
@AbebeEllie ALSO, proof it's not a genetic issue but social one: black 2nd-gen immigrants (born in US, parents are immigrants) have a HIGHER maternal mortality than black 1st-gen immigrants! Black girls raised in the US are exposed to stress from systemic racism from childhood and onward.
10:29 AM - 08 Jun 2020
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Lincoln said she actively checks in with herself when she's treating a nonwhite patient to determine if an unconscious bias is affecting the care she's giving.

"I’m thinking, Would I be doing this if she were the wife of the CEO of the hospital? That’s just part of my internal check. It’s constantly on us to do that introspection," she said.

She called upon other white healthcare providers to examine their own biases.

"Keep in mind you can walk around and say, 'That’s not me, I’m not explicitly racist,' but so much of racism is systemic and it’s implicit within us. It starts early," she added.

Shepherd is calling on white people to help "change the trajectory" of the history we're writing — even if you're not a medical professional.

"If you’re not a person of color [or] a Black person, there will be someone close to you who will be affected by a disease process they have, or if there's multiple admissions to a hospital and it's not being addressed properly. Those are the moments they could step back and say, 'Hey, is racism a cause for why a person is going through this?'" she said.

She wants white people to ask: "Now, what can I do individually and who can I call attention to to bring light to this issue?"

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Lauren Strapagiel · June 3, 2020

Tanya Chen is a social news reporter for BuzzFeed and is based in Chicago

Starbucks Won't Let Employees Wear Gear That Supports Black Lives Matter Because It Is Political Or Could Incite Violence

The retail giant said wearing pro-BLM pins or T-shirts would violate its dress code policy because the accessories advocate a "political, religious, or personal issue."

Brianna SacksBuzzFeed News Reporter Albert SamahaBuzzFeed News Investigative Reporter

Posted on June 10, 2020, at 4:54 p.m. ET

As protesters took to the streets in hundreds of cities across the United States and the globe to support Black Lives Matter and decry police brutality, Starbucks, like many major American companies, rushed to publicly proclaim its support for the movement and pledged to do more to combat racial injustice.

On June 1, the coffee retailer vowed on Twitter to "stand in solidarity with our Black partners, customers and communities.” A few days later, it tweeted, and then pinned, a more in-depth commitment to supporting Black Lives Matter and confronting bias and racism and to “being a part of change.”

Being part of that change does not extend, however, to allowing the company’s baristas and other employees to wear T-shirts, pins, or any other accessory that mentions Black Lives Matter.

In fact, the company explicitly stated that Black Lives Matter attire was prohibited from the lists of things employees can wear due to its dress code policy, which also includes any type of political, religious, or personal accessories or clothing. However, as many employees noted to BuzzFeed News, Starbucks not only exempts buttons and attire celebrating LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, but hands them out.

According to an internal bulletin obtained by BuzzFeed News, store managers had been contacting senior leadership on behalf of employees who wanted to wear BLM-related attire as protests continued to sweep major cities and small towns across the country.

In response, management, according to the memo from last week, argued that wearing clothing and accessories highlighting Black Lives Matter could be misunderstood and potentially incite violence. The bulletin pointed employees to a video, which has now been removed, in which its VP of inclusion and diversity explained that "agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles" of the movement and could use them to "amplify divisiveness."

Calvin Bensen, a 22-year-old barista from Atlanta, told BuzzFeed News the company’s response was “disappointing in ways I can’t express in words. That statement prioritizes those who feel discomfort over Black lives.” He called it “violent.”

"My skin color incites violence at Starbucks. Should I not come to work?" he asked. "It is silencing and Starbucks is complicit. Now more than ever, Starbucks needs to stand with us."

In an interview, a Starbucks spokesperson said the company is dedicated to helping end "systemic racism,” but that the dress code policy would remain in place because it was necessary “to create a safe and welcoming” environment for customers and staff.

"We respect all of our partners’ opinions and beliefs, and encourage them to bring their whole selves to work while adhering to our dress code policy," the spokesperson said.

Starbucks created its “Third Place” policy in May 2018, which aims to create a space within its stores that is inclusive and welcoming to all customers.

The company has also pledged $1 million to organizations promoting racial equity, partnered with Arizona State University to design anti-bias resources and training, and says it is actively hosting open and necessary conversations with employees about "racism the Black community faces."

Starbucks partners also have the option to buy a T-shirt from its approved "Black Partner Network," which aims to spark conversation "around the African diaspora."

The path forward requires open and honest conversations about racial injustices. On Saturday, Starbucks partners came together in an open forum to listen and support one another.

It’s going to take each of us to drive necessary change. https://t.co/ZUlBV9MgFF

Many employees were not satisfied. For some employees, the statements feel "performative," "shallow," and "hypocritical.” A barista on the east coast told BuzzFeed News that on the ground, the company is still working to preserve its image with customers to not disrupt sales.

"We have a police detail outside of the store most days anyway. Let's just call him over if a customer is offended by someone's BLM pin," the employee said. "There's something deeper here. [Starbucks CEO] Kevin Johnson talks a big talk on Twitter, but he's still the head of a multibillion-dollar company that has to keep up with its image. God forbid if employees tarnish that pristine global image."

Another worker in Colorado agreed that the decision was made to "not cause conflict with customers" and did not agree with the company's explanation that Black Lives Matter should be defined as political.

"I don't think asking for and supporting those who want basic human rights is necessarily political," this person said.

At a location in Washington, a manager said that he felt "muted" by not being able to visibly show his support at work.

"I work in a store where I am one of five people of color out of 30, and it would be nice to be able to show some sort of unity with them," he said. "I personally am having a rough time with this, as most people know Starbucks caters to a predominantly Caucasian customer base and Starbucks expects us to uphold an amazing customer experience for these demographics, to ensure the money keeps coming in."

Nearly every employee with whom BuzzFeed News spoke pointed out that the company allowed workers to wear accessories supporting marriage equality and LGBTQ rights, even giving them pins and Gay Pride shirts, since June is Pride Month.

Benson, who is black and transgender, said watching how Starbucks ralied behind and continues to embrace the LGBTQ movement made its response to Black Lives Matter even more “surprising and disappointing.”

In a stories section on its website, Starbucks has a comprehensive timeline of its history of "LGBTQ Inclusion," writing, "For more than three decades, Starbucks has been committed to building a culture where all are welcome, standing as an ally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community." Over the years, the company has launched a spate of initiatives to ensure it helped achieve LGBTQ workplace equality, supported LGBTQ employees with healthcare, and has marched in Pride parades around the world.

"Starbucks LGBTQ+ partners wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts, that also could incite and create violent experiences amongst partners and customers," Benson said, adding that employees were able to wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts without purchasing them directly from Starbucks. “We have partners who experienced harassment and transphobia/homophobia for wearing their pins and shirts, and Starbucks still stands behind them."

Some employees, however, agree with the company's position. On an internal portal with links and information on how to stand up for racial justice, including links to support different organizations like the NAACP, one worker thanked Starbucks for sharing the resources, but also for its commitment to not allowing partners to wear BLM gear, noting that for some it represents anti-police sentiment and unrest.

"Think of the families that have also have hurt emotional [sic] and physically from violence and threats from those that associate with BLM that are not peaceful," they wrote, talking specifically about police officers.

The idea that Black Lives Matter is violent and politically divisive, Benson said, actually hurts the cause of racial equity. And it's even more infuriating now, at a time when the company is publicly supporting the cause.

"Our movements are just too controversial for Starbucks to stand behind," he said.

New York Times: Controversial commentary bears consequences

A guest commentary on the anti-racism protests in the USA caused an uproar and has now become James Bennet's undoing: the head of the opinion page of the New York Times has left the newspaper.

In the guest commentary entitled "Send in The Troops," Republican Senator Tom Cotton called for the military to be used against protesters in the United States. He wrote: "Above all, what will restore order on our streets is an overwhelming show of force to drive out, arrest and ultimately deter lawbreakers."

Many readers demanded the newspaper, considered to be left-wing liberal, to explain why Cotton's contribution was published. Employees of the publishing house also expressed their indignation at Cotton's commentary appearing in the paper. Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote on Twitter: "As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we published this."

James Bennet, former New York Times head of opinion

Against NYT standards

On Thursday, the New York Times explained that a "hasty editorial process" led to the publication of the opinion piece and that the "Send in The Troops" text did not meet the newspaper's standards. James Bennet, head of the NYT opinion page, bore the consequences and quit his job with immediate effect. Bennet said he had not read the guest commentary before its publication.

Publisher Arthur Gregg Sulzberger declared that the paper's board was "grateful" to Bennet for his achievements since May 2016.

For almost two weeks, protests against police violence and racism have been taking place in many US cities. The protests were triggered by the death of the African-American George Floyd during a brutal police operation in Minneapolis at the end of May. Some of the protests escalated with riots and looting.

Date 08.06.2020
Keywords Racism, USA, Protests
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'Miss Hitler' contestant sentenced to three years in prison

The 24-year-old entered the beauty contest under the name 'Miss Buchenwald' in reference to the Nazi death camp. She was sentenced along with three men for being part of the banned far-right group, National Action.

A former "Miss Hitler" contestant and three other neo-Nazis were jailed in Britain on Tuesday, after being convicted of membership of the banned far-right group National Action (NA) in March.

The Birmingham Crown Court sentenced Alice Cutter, 24, to three years in prison and her ex-boyfriend, Mark Jones, 25, to five-and-a-half years.

Two other men — Gary Jack, 24, and Connor Scothern, 19, — were handed four years and six months, and 18 months respectively, for the same crime. A fifth defendant was sentenced to three years in prison last year.

Cutter, a waitress, had entered the Miss Hitler beauty contest under the nickname "Miss Buchenwald," referencing the World War II Nazi concentration camp.

Jurors were shown messages in which Cutter had joked about gassing synagogues, using a Jewish person's head as a football, and saying "Rot in hell, bitch" after hearing about the 2016 killing of MP Jo Cox in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.

The group was banned the same year, following the comments, with the government describing it as a "racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organization that stirs up hatred and glorifies violence."

Read more: Italy busts neo-Nazi ring, 'Miss Hitler' pageant winner

'Vile ideology'

Judge Paul Farrer QC told the four in court, "you weren't prepared to dissociate yourselves from the vile ideology of this group and therefore defied the ban and continued as members," according to Metro newspaper.

He told Cutter that she had "never held an organizational or leadership role," but that she was a "trusted confidante" of one of the group's leaders.

However, Cutter denied being a member of the group despite having attended the group's rallies, where participants carried signs that read "Hitler was right."

Police found evidence that all of the defendants had continued to participate in NA meetings in Birmingham, despite the group having been declared a terrorist organization.

Speaking ahead of the sentencing, director of public prosecutions Max Hill described the members as "diehards" who "hark back to the days of not just anti-Semitism, but the Holocaust, the Third Reich in Germany."

Read more: Why are German neo-Nazis training in Russia?

Nazi paraphernalia

Prosecutors said a search of the home that Cutter and Jones shared revealed Nazi paraphernalia and images, as well as weapons including knives, brass knuckles, catapults, a longbow and ball bearings.

Jack was described as an active member of National Action even after its ban and had a previous conviction for putting up racially charged stickers at a university campus.

Scothern was also an active member and had distributed almost 1,500 stickers calling for a "final solution" in reference to the Nazis' genocide of the Jews.

Anti-fascist campaigners Hope Not Hate estimated that despite the ban placed on the group in December 2016, NA still had several "hardcore members" and used different names to hide its activities.

lc/aw (dpa, AFP)

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German flying taxi startup charms Tesla investor

Baillie Gifford, Tesla's largest investor after its billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, has invested $35 million in Lilium, valuing the Munich-based company at more than $1 billion.

The German flying taxi startup Lilium has become a billion-dollar "unicorn" after attracting $35 million (€31 million) in funding from prominent tech investor Baillie Gifford, one of the UK's largest private fund managers, with stakes in Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb, Spotify and SpaceX.

With the latest funding, the Munich-based startup has attracted total investments of more than $375 million to date.

Here is a lowdown on the all-electric, vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft that's attracting attention from influential investors.

A flying car

The Lilium Jet, as the aircraft is called, is a five-seater passenger jet that can take off and land vertically. It is powered by 36 all-electric jet engines mounted on its flaps. The company says even if one engine fails the others would continue to function, making the aircraft safer.

The jet can travel up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour on just one charge, which means one can fly from Manhattan in New York to JFK Airport — a distance of 22 kilometers — in just 6 minutes or from London to Liverpool in a single journey. The taxi would be flown by a pilot, but the company plans to make it autonomous in the future.

Watch video https://p.dw.com/p/3dZLR
The German 'air taxi': A new era of transportation?

Affordable

Lilium aims to shuttle people between cities or between suburbs and city centers, sparing them the pain of weaving through busy traffic. The startup claims the aircraft combined with "digital scheduling and smart operations" will be able to ferry passengers four times faster than a taxi and at affordable prices to boot.

The company plans to eventually roll out a taxi service, with consumers locating take-off spots and booking rides using an app. A 6-minute trip from Manhattan to JFK Airport is reported to cost about $70. By comparison, a ride-sharing helicopter service run by Uber on the same route costs $200 per passenger. Short-distance rides on Lilium jets would cost about the same as a trip with Uber or Lyft taxis.

Maiden flight

The flying taxi created waves in May last year when it completed its maiden 60-second flight that saw the Lilium Jet complete a lift-off, hover and landing. The maiden test took place two years after the company completed flight testing for a two-seater prototype, which has since been transformed into the current five-seat variant. The aircraft has completed over 100 tests to date.

The tests have seen the jet fly at speeds exceeding 100 kilometer per hour and climb and descend vertically at rates of 500 feet per minute. Lilium expects the jet to begin commercial services in 2025.

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Future Now: Will air taxis soon rule the skies?

The founders

Lilium was founded in 2015 by four friends — Daniel Wiegand (the current CEO), Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen — from the Technical University of Munich. The company, which currently employs more than 450 people, counts Atomico, Tencent and Freigeist among its prominent shareholders.

Competitors

Lilium is among a host of companies developing flying cars to help transform how people commute in big cities. Morgan Stanley says market for autonomous aircraft could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040. Uber unveiled its giant-drone like flying taxi prototype in 2018 and plans to launch the taxis commercially in the next five years. German startup Volocopter, backed by Mercedes Benz-maker Daimler and Intel, plans to launch its own air taxi service in Singapore by 2021.

Watch video https://p.dw.com/p/3dZLR
Volocopter demonstrates flying taxi prototype

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Date 10.06.2020
Author Ashutosh Pandey
Related Subjects Germany
Keywords Lilium, Transportation, Future mobility, flying taxi, German

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