Category Archives: Police violence

Antifa, Donald Trump, Evropa, Peaceful protest, Police violence, Public protest, White supremacists

White supremacists behind some of the violence and looting, Trump and cronies fanning the flames

A white supremacist channel on Telegram encouraged followers to incite violence during police brutality protests by ‘shooting in a crowd,’ according to internal DHS memo

Business Insider, by Sonam Sheth , Jun 1, 2020
nypd george floyd protests
New York Police Department (NYPD) officers gather during a rally on May 31, 2020 in New York City. Protesters demonstrated for the fourth straight night after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning Floyd’s neck to the ground. Floyd was later pronounced dead while in police custody after being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. Justin Heiman/Getty Images
    • A white supremacist channel on Telegram encouraged its followers to spark violence to start a race war in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, Politico reported, citing an internal Department of Homeland Security memo.
    • Citing the FBI, the note said that two days after Floyd’s death, the channel “incited followers to engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd.”
    • One of the messages in the channel called for potential shooters to “frame the crowd around you” for the violence, the note said, according to Politico.
    • Other media outlets have also reported on white supremacist groups weaponizing protests against police brutality to incite violence.
    • Meanwhile, several Republican officials, including President Donald Trump, have blamed “antifa” for the violence and some have suggested protesters should be hunted down like terrorists.

A white supremacist channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram encouraged its followers to spark violence to start a race war during nationwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Politico reported, citing an internal Department of Homeland Security intelligence note.

Floyd was a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 after repeatedly saying he could not breathe when a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The DHS note warning of white supremacist linked violence was circulated among law enforcement officials, Politico reported. Citing the FBI, it said that two days after Floyd’s death, the channel “incited followers to engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd.”

One of the messages in the channel called for potential shooters to “frame the crowd around you” for the violence, the note said, according to Politico.

On May 29, the note said, “suspected anarchist extremists and militia extremists allegedly planned to storm and burn the Minnesota State Capitol.”

The memo pointed to “previous incidents of domestic terrorists exploiting First Amendment-protected events” as one of the reasons the DHS is keeping an eye out for additional violence by “domestic terrorist actors.”

NBC News also reported on Monday that Twitter had identified a group posing as an “antifa” organization calling for violence in the protests as actually being linked to the white supremacist group Identity Evropa.

Twitter suspended the account, @ANTIFA_US, after it posted a tweet that incited violence. A company spokesperson also told NBC News that the account violated Twitter’s rules against platform manipulation and spam.

These developments come as protests against racism and police brutality continue across the country. Peaceful demonstrations have taken place in more than 75 cities, though some have spiraled into chaos and deadly violence as law enforcement officials use heavy-handed crowd control tactics.

Some protests have involved smaller groups looting businesses and, in a few cases, setting fire to buildings and cars.

On Monday evening, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters outside the White House gates in Washington, DC, while President Donald Trump delivered remarks in the Rose Garden saying he was “an ally to all peaceful protesters.”

Several social-media posts have shown other instances of violence linked to the demonstrations, including:

  • Police cruisers ramming into protesters in New York City.
  • Protesters in Denver being hit with a car whose driver was accused of deliberately trying to run someone over.
  • Protesters and officers clashing in Chicago.
  • A riot in Dallas in which one video appeared to show a can of tear gas being thrown inside a woman’s car while she was in it.
  • Police in Louisville, Kentucky, spraying pepper bullets at protesters. Officers reportedly also shot them at a reporter and cameraman covering the scene.

Trump and some Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have suggested using violence and deploying the US military to tamp down the demonstrations.

On Monday, a Blackhawk helicopter with US Army markings was seen flying low over Washington, DC, in a “show of force” against protesters. The New York Times reported that the helicopter descended to rooftop level, kicked up dirt and debris, and snapped trees that narrowly missed several people.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida suggested earlier in the day that protesters demonstrating against police brutality are part of antifa and should be hunted down like terrorists.

“Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” Gaetz tweeted. Twitter later flagged the post for violating its rules against glorifying violence but left it up because it determined it was in the “public interest” for the tweet to still be accessible, though users cannot like, retweet, or reply to it.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas also advocated for using military force against protesters and indicated that they should be shown no mercy.

“We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction,” Cotton wrote, calling protesters “Antifa terrorists.”

“And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry — whatever it takes to restore order,” he added. “No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.”

“No quarter” is a military term that means a commander will not accept the lawful surrender of an enemy combatant and suggests the captive will instead be killed. The practice is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Trump also called for forcefully subduing the protesters just before describing himself as an “ally” to peaceful demonstrators.

“If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” the president said on Monday during a phone call with governors and law-enforcement officials. “They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”

At one point, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said, “We have to be careful, but we’ve got to be tough.”

Trump responded: “You don’t have to be too careful, and you have to do the prosecutions.”

“When someone’s throwing a rock, that’s like shooting a gun,” the president said. “We’ve had a couple of people badly hurt with no retribution. You have to do retribution, in my opinion. You have to use your own legal system. But if you want this to stop, you have to prosecute people.”

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Police violence, Public Health

Public health experts urge police to stop using tear gas during coronavirus pandemic

Doctors say the gas can damage the respiratory system and aggravate COVID-19 symptoms or aid spread of the disease

OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 1: Protesters run away as police shoot tear gas and flash grenades to disperse the crowd on Broadway near the Oakland Police Department during the fourth day of protests over George Floyd’s death by the Minneapolis police in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, June 1, 2020. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Vallejo Times-Herald, By Emily DeRuy, June 2, 2020

Public health experts are calling on police to stop using tear gas on people protesting the death of George Floyd.

An online petition started at the University of Washington and created with Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, opposes the use of tear gas, suggesting it could “increase risk for COVID-19 by making the respiratory tract more susceptible to infection, exacerbating existing inflammation, and inducing coughing.”

Thousands of people have poured onto streets from Walnut Creek to San Jose in demonstrations sparked by Floyd’s death and video of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Those demonstrations have been met by tear gas, rubber bullets, batons and other measures from police.

While some health officials have worried the crowded demonstrations could spread COVID-19, the petition endorses the protests “as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”

The document encourages protestors to wear face coverings and stay six feet apart if possible. It also calls on police to avoid arresting and holding protestors in confined spaces like jails and police vans, “which are some of the highest-risk areas for COVID-19 transmission.”

Santa Clara County is urging people who attend protests to get tested for the virus within a few days. The county has opened free testing sites available to anyone regardless of whether they have symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prolonged exposure to a large dose of riot control agent like tear gas can have serious consequences, including respiratory failure possibly resulting in death.

Echoing the petition, a UCLA professor of medicine and public health told LAist he was especially worried about the potential harm caused when law enforcement officers rely on the gas.

“During this time when we’re protesting police brutality, the use of tear gas is causing more harm in the way of spreading COVID,” the professor, David Eisenman, told the news outlet. “There is some culpability on the police for using this method, which increases the sneezing and increases the coughing and therefore increases the spread.”

Benicia Youth Against Brutality, George Floyd, Police violence, Racism

Benicia students organize Youth Against Brutality rally, Sunday May 31, 11AM City Park

By Roger Straw, May 30, 2020

Several Benicia High School students are organizing a YOUTH AGAINST BRUTALITY rally to be held on Sunday, May 31 at 11am.

The Facebook event gives details: Join us for a rally this Sunday, May 31st at 11AM to protest racism and hatred. Meet at the First Street Park in Benicia, near the Gazebo. This will be a peaceful protest with respect to social distancing. Wear a mask, bring friends, make a sign, or whatever you please. Please repost this! Let’s make it known that we do not support racism and fight for those who have lost and fear for their lives because of it. Black lives matter. We will march down First St. at noon.

I tracked down the two organizers, who prefers to remain anonymous.  “This protest and movement is much larger than us,” one graduating senior said, “and we do not wish to receive recognition for organizing this.”  His co-organizer, a junior at Benicia High, added, “It’s just the two of us ‘officially’ and I put that in quotations because we are just the people who decided a date and a time. The people who show up and march are the ones who really make it a protest.”  A third student at Benicia High is responsible for making the Facebook event.

Asked about the purpose of the rally, one of the young organizers said, “I was inspired to organize this protest after the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery and more recently, George Floyd. After hearing of the many protests around the nation, I realized that a small community like Benicia could benefit from a rally like this. Racism needs to be fought. I saw an opportunity to bring our community together to fight racism and injustice in this country and I took it.  This is about showing our support while standing up against racism and police brutality.”

His colleague added, “Personally, it’s been something that’s been boiling in me for a while. I remember being 10 and hearing about the Trayvon Martin case and I thought it would be a onetime thing. But of course, it kept happening and showed itself as a real issue in America. I see the protest as an opportunity to make a difference in my community and to give angry people a chance to speak. We specifically chose this Sunday so it would align with the protest in Berkeley.”

The protest has been promoted on many social media sites, including Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.  Nearly 60 people have claimed to be attending the event on Facebook. Nearly 90 people have claimed to be interested in going.  Organizers anticipate at least 50 to show up.

Several speakers will make brief statements at the city park.  A moment of silence will be observed before marching down the sidewalks of First street.

Asked about City permitting, the organizers said they went to the Benicia Police Department on May 29 to receive information regarding obtaining a permit. “Unfortunately, who we spoke with was unsure as to whether or not one was needed and the city’s planning department was closed. So we did not obtain a permit. However, Benicia Police had already caught wind of the situation and we spoke with a very respectful and supportive sergeant. We explained our intentions to them and they let us know that police presence would be there. I understand that having the police there threatens our protest and its protesters but I am very confident that Benicia Police supports us and is willing to cooperate with us. We all want this to be peaceful and safe.”

I’ll be there at 11 on Sunday – hope to see you, too!