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solarbirdThe fascism edition, including some of the places where white militia have shown up. Spoiler: it's where BLM people aren't.
----- 1 ----
Rep. Justin Amash Wants To End Qualified Immunity. Where Are the Republicans?
The GOP claims to be the party of freedom. If that's true, they should rethink policies that embolden bad police behavior.
Billy Binion | 6.6.2020
https://reason.com/2020/06/06/justin-amash-ayanna-pressley-end-police-qualified-immunity-where-are-the-republicans/
Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.) wants to end qualified immunity.
The insidious legal doctrine allows police officers to violate your civil rights with absolute impunity if those rights have not been spelled out with near-identical precision in preexisting case law. Theoretically, it protects public officials from bogus civil suits, but practically it often allows egregious misconduct.
George Floyd's death at the hands of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin forced new life into the debate, shining light on a doctrine that many people say has contributed to an environment of police abuse. Amash announced late Sunday that he would introduce the End Qualified Immunity Act, with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D–Mass.) signing on as a cosponsor Thursday.
"It is the sense of the Congress that we must correct the erroneous interpretation of section 1983 which provides for qualified immunity," the bill reads, "and reiterate the standard found on the face of the statute, which does not limit liability on the basis of the defendant's good faith beliefs or on the basis that the right was not 'clearly established' at the time of the violation."
That "clearly established" bit is what's most important, as the standard has become increasingly impossible to meet. Two cops in Fresno, California, were afforded qualified immunity after allegedly stealing $225,000 while executing a search warrant because it had not been "clearly established" in case law that stealing is wrong. An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department was given qualified immunity after shooting, without warning, an unarmed 15-year-old boy who was on his way to school, because the boy's friend was holding a plastic airsoft gun replica. A sheriff's deputy in Coffee County, Georgia, received qualified immunity after shooting a 10-year-old boy while aiming at a nonthreatening dog. The list, unfortunately, goes on.
The courts' decisions in those cases mean that each appellant had no legal recourse to seek compensation for lost assets or medical bills.
----- 2 -----
Eλf Sternberg
twitter.com/elfsternberg
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/elfsternberg/status/1269284630466711552
Fox News demonstrates how every time America sacrifices a Black man, God lifts up the stock market in blessing... I guess that's how it works?
[QUOTED TWEET]
Yashar Ali
twitter.com/yashar
5 June 2020
This is a horrific graphic to have put up on air.
My god.
[IMAGE: Fox News screencap showing percentage of S&P 500 rise one week after various famous murders of Black people by police, and acquittals of police for murdering Black people]
----- 3 ----
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removes protest and police brutality stories from website following protests from union members
By Ryan Deto
June 6, 2020
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-post-gazette-removes-protest-and-police-brutality-stories-from-website-following-protests-from-union-members/Content?oid=17411858
Late in the evening on June 5, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removed two stories from its website that were shared earlier in the day on the paper’s social media platform. One story was written by P-G reporter Lauren Lee and summarized a march that snaked through Pittsburgh East End in honor of George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minneapolis police. The other was a story wrapping up statements from Pittsburgh City councilors for a discussion about police brutality and reforms.
This story was written by P-G reporter Ashley Murray who tweeted that she reported the issue to the newsroom at 8:40 p.m. and still hadn’t heard back as of 11:30 p.m. As of late night on June 5, the stories were still posted on the paper’s social media platforms, but the links were dead.
...
Sometime early in the morning of June 6, new links were created with the original headlines, but they contained no bylines. Pittsburgh City Paper editor Lisa Cunningham confirmed with Murray that the story she originally wrote was rewritten and that the lead photo was changed.
Lee also confirms that a new story has replaced her coverage, and that her byline was removed and the lead photo was changed. Instead of a shot showing protest signs, the new lead photo is now of Pittsburgh Police kneeling with marchers at a different march than Lee covered. P-G photographer Andrew Rush's photos were also removed from the story.
----- 4 -----
Adam Savage
twitter.com/donttrythis
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/donttrythis/status/1269326087483387906
There’s something consistent about these people gathered to support the suspended police officers from Buffalo. Can’t quite put my finger on it...
[QUOTED TWEET]
WGRZ
twitter.com/WGRZ
June 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/WGRZ/status/1269254738652147719
NOW: Large crowd in front of Buffalo City Court to support two suspended police officers who are expected to be charged this morning. We are live on http://wgrz.com and Channel 2 Daybreak. https://wgrz.com/video/news/live_breaking/wgrz-breaking-news/71-1644393
[IMAGE of many older white men, presumed to be police, supporting two police officers charged with police violence and assault on protesters]
----- 5 -----
Salman Rushdie: I’ve seen dictators rise and fall. Beware, America.
By Salman Rushdie
June 3, 2020 at 9:04 a.m. PDT
Salman Rushdie is a novelist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/salman-rushdie-ive-seen-dictators-rise-fall-beware-america/
In my life, I have seen several dictators rise and fall. Today, I’m remembering those earlier incarnations of this unlovely breed.
In India in 1975, Indira Gandhi, found guilty of electoral malpractice, declared a state of emergency that granted her despotic powers. The “emergency,” as it became known, ended only when she called an election, believing she would win, and was annihilated at the polls. Her arrogance was her downfall. This cautionary tale formed a part of my novel “Midnight’s Children.”
In Pakistan in 1977, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq staged a coup against Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and executed him in 1979. This dark story was the inspiration for my novel “Shame.” The circumstances of my life have given me some understanding of the dictatorial cast of mind.
Extreme narcissism, detachment from reality, a fondness for sycophants and a distrust of truth-tellers, an obsession with how one is publicly portrayed, a hatred of journalists and the temperament of an out-of-control bulldozer: These are some of the characteristics.
President Trump is, temperamentally, a tinpot despot of this type. But he finds himself in charge of a country that has historically thought of itself — by no means always correctly — as being on the side of liberty. So far, with the collusion of the Republican Party, he has ruled more or less unchecked. Now an election looms, and he is unpopular, and flails about looking for a winning strategy. And if that means trampling over American freedoms, then so be it.
...
We are so inured to the behavior of this man, so used to his lies, his inexhaustible self-regard, his stupidity, that maybe we are tempted to think of this as just another day in Trumpistan. But this time, something different is happening. The uprising that began with the killing of George Floyd is not fizzling but growing. The man in the White House is scared, and even, for a time, takes refuge in the basement and turns out the lights. What is such a person to do at such a time?
If he is allowed to use the actions of a tiny minority of criminals and white extremist infiltrators to invalidate the honorable protest of the vast majority against the murder of Floyd, the violence of the police toward the black community and the entrenched power of American racism, he will be on his way to despotism. He has threatened to use the Army against American citizens, a threat one might have expected from a leader of the former Soviet Union, but not of the United States.
----- 6 -----
twitter.com/umairh
5 June 2020
https://twitter.com/umairh/status/1268982700637069319
[THREAD]
Alright. We need to talk about fascism and America. Finally, finally, finally, white pundits are starting to call this fascism, shocked and appalled, as if minorities and women haven’t been saying this for years.
[MORE]
Now white guys love to criticize and tone police me—“you can’t say I told you so!” And accusing me of doing “victory laps” as America burns.
[MORE]
I have two things to say to this. One—it is in fact my right to promote myself. In fact it’s sadly a necessity. if I don’t look out for me, a brown dude, who will? Certainly not the white media that has gone out of its way my whole life to ignore me.
[MORE]
The minorities who tried to warn you about this are now in a double bind. Wait for the patriarchal, white media to recognise you, which it never will. Or be criticised for taking “victory laps” when you speak up for yourself.
[THREAD CONTINUES AT TOP LINK]
----- 7 -----
Esper, Milley refuse to testify before the House next week
By: Aaron Mehta
5 June 2020
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/05/esper-milley-wont-testify-before-the-house/
WASHINGTON — Capping of a tumultuous week of questions about civil-military affairs and the role of the U.S. military, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, have turned down a request to testify in front of the House Armed Services Committee.
A House aide confirmed on background that the two men have “refused” to testify next week, as was requested by HASC Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., requested Tuesday. In addition, an informal briefing planned for today with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy was cancelled by the DoD.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are the oversight committees for the military. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the news, first reported by Politico.
Spurning Smith’s request may lead to complications down the road for the Pentagon’s budget request, with Democrats in Congress already gearing up to use the annual National Defense Authorization Act to put restraints on how the military can operate on civil territory. It also adds fuel to questions about the proper civil-military relationship and how the American military can and should be deployed on domestic soil.
“This is a terrible time for the leadership of DoD to look like they’re trying to evade accountability,” said Kori Schake, a former national security official in the George W. Bush administration who now heads the defense practice at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Both committed during their confirmation hearings they would appear when Congress called. They should be using every opportunity to explain their choices — and also to explain things many Americans don’t know, like the different roles the National Guard has from active duty troops,” Schake said. “The House should refuse to hold an NDAA vote until they do.”
----- 8 -----
Facebook removes nearly 200 accounts tied to hate groups
By DAVID KLEPPER
June 5, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/facebook-removes-nearly-200-accounts-tied-to-hate-groups/
Facebook has removed nearly 200 social media accounts linked to white supremacy groups that planned to encourage members to attend protests over police killings of black people — in some cases with weapons, company officials said Friday.
The accounts on Facebook and Instagram were tied to the Proud Boys and the American Guard, two hate groups already banned on the platforms. Officials were already monitoring the accounts in preparation for removing them when they saw posts attempting to exploit the ongoing protests prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We saw that these groups were planning to rally supporters and members to physically go to the protests and in some cases were preparing to go with weapons,” said Brian Fishman, Facebook’s director of counterterrorism and dangerous organizations policy.
The company did not divulge details of the account users — such as their specific plans for protests or where in the U.S. they live. It said “approximately” 190 accounts were removed overall.
----- 9 -----
Exclusive: He quit his Facebook job because of Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump's posts
By Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Business
Updated 6:32 AM ET, Fri June 5, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/business/facebook-employee-resigns/index.html
New York (CNN Business)A Facebook employee who quit the company this week told CNN he is worried the platform will be used to further escalate violence in the United States.
Timothy Aveni, a 22-year-old Facebook software engineer, quit after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to take action on President Donald Trump's warning last week that "looting" would lead to "shooting," as protests gripped the United States. Aveni announced the move in a Facebook post that went viral.
Zuckerberg's inaction, Aveni said, proved the 36-year-old billionaire had abandoned one of his key principles to shut down calls for violence on Facebook.
"Zuck has told us over and over that calls to violence would not be tolerated on the platform, even if they were by the President of the United States," Aveni told CNN Thursday from his home in Menlo Park, California, near Facebook's world headquarters.
Aveni said he saw grim parallels between Facebook's decision to allow Trump's message on the platform and the manner in which Facebook was used to fuel violence against the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority group in Myanmar. Facebook admitted in 2018 that it had failed to do enough to prevent its platform being used to fuel bloodshed in Myanmar.
----- 10 -----
Tucson creates new ordinance to deter aggressive 'First Amendment auditors'
Carol Ann Alaimo
Apr 27, 2020
https://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-creates-new-ordinance-to-deter-aggressive-first-amendment-auditors/article_be17ffeb-7de9-56c2-a1e0-a9292dfe1757.html
The Tucson Police Department will no longer be forced to star in videos that cater to cop-haters.
The City Council took action last week on a distinctly 21st century problem: people showing up at crime scenes with cellphones in hand, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit.
It’s a trend seen by law enforcers around the country and around the state, the Arizona Daily Star found in a review of court records and related documentation.
The provocateurs are part of a loose network of people who call themselves “First Amendment auditors” and claim they’re protecting the public’s right to monitor government activities.
About a dozen such people are operating in Arizona, a former participant told the Star.
[SEE ALSO:
The Artsy Marxist
twitter.com/Artsymarxist
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/Artsymarxist/status/1269192955685933056/photo/1
So a lawyer who works for the state has reviewed this ordinance and finds it as concerning as I do. So I’m not just making shit up for attention.
[EMBEDDED IMAGE OF ANALYSIS]
[THREAD]
----- 11 -----
In Klamath Falls, Oregon, victory declared over antifa, which never showed up
Towns from Washington state to Indiana have seen armed groups begin patrolling the streets after rumors spread on social media about an antifa invasion.
June 6, 2020, 1:56 PM PDT
By Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681
About 200 protesters came to Sugarman’s Corner, the local hotspot in downtown Klamath Falls, Oregon, last Sunday night to protest the killing of George Floyd.
Like in many of the protests that have recently sprung up in cities across the United States, the group was made up of white, black and Latino people, members of the Native American Klamath Tribes, and the LGBTQ community; a diverse coalition in a county of 68,000 where 9 out of every ten residents are white, according to Census estimates. They held signs, many of which have become common during recent protests: "Black Lives Matter" and "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Though it was a small gathering, they had company.
Just across the street, hundreds of their mostly white neighbors were there for decidedly different reasons. They leaned in front of local businesses The Daily Bagel and Rick's Smoke Shop wearing military fatigues and bulletproof vests, with blue bands tied around their arms. Most everyone seemed to be carrying something: flags, baseball bats, hammers and axes. But mostly, they carried gun
They said they came with shotguns, rifles and pistols to protect their downtown businesses from outsiders. They had heard that antifa, paid by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, were being bused in from neighboring cities, hellbent on razing their idyllic town.
Frederick Brigham, 31, Klamath Falls resident and musician who goes by "Wreck the Rebel," said he never thought Black Lives Matter protests would come to his town. As one of the few black men who lives there, he felt compelled to attend.
But the presence of armed people who clearly did not support their group was chilling.
"It felt like walking through an enemy war camp," he said
...
The rally lasted about four hours with Klamath Falls Police Department officers standing between the two sets of protesters. On the north side of the street, protesters chanted "George Floyd." On the south side of the street, chants of "USA," and "Go home," erupted throughout the night.
"A lot of these people came out because they swore that antifa buses were in town," Brigham said. "They couldn't believe that I was from here. They thought I must be a black man that came from somewhere else."
...
"I am not one to spread false information," one of the earliest posts stated. "There are two buses heading this way from Portland, full of ANTIFA members and loaded with bricks. Their intentions are to come to Klamath Falls, destroy it, and murder police officers. There have been rumors of the antifa going into residential areas to ‘fuck up the white hoods.’"
Some responding to the posts were incredulous, but few could argue when a screenshot of a direct message from Col. Jeff Edwards, the commander of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing, was posted in one of the groups.
"Team Kingsley, for your safety I ask you to please avoid the downtown area this evening. We received an alert that there may be 2 busloads of ANTIFA protesters en route to Klamath Falls and arriving in downtown around 2030 tonight," the post stated.
Maj. Nikki Jackson, a spokeswoman for the 173rd Fighter Wing, confirmed in an email that the message had come from Edwards.
- Rep. Justin Amash Wants To End Qualified Immunity. Where Are the Republicans?
- Fox News reports that stock markets tend to rise after police murder Black people
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removes protest and police brutality stories from website following protests from union members
- There’s something consistent about these people gathered to support the suspended police officers from Buffalo.
- Salman Rushdie: I’ve seen dictators rise and fall. Beware, America.
- We need to talk about fascism and America.
- Esper, Milley refuse to testify before the House next week
- Facebook removes nearly 200 accounts tied to hate groups
- Exclusive: He quit his Facebook job because of Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump's posts
- Tucson creates new ordinance to deter aggressive 'First Amendment auditors' [EDITOR: It's hard to imagine this is a real article in a real newspaper, but it is]
- In Klamath Falls, Oregon, victory declared over antifa, which never showed up
----- 1 ----
Rep. Justin Amash Wants To End Qualified Immunity. Where Are the Republicans?
The GOP claims to be the party of freedom. If that's true, they should rethink policies that embolden bad police behavior.
Billy Binion | 6.6.2020
https://reason.com/2020/06/06/justin-amash-ayanna-pressley-end-police-qualified-immunity-where-are-the-republicans/
Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.) wants to end qualified immunity.
The insidious legal doctrine allows police officers to violate your civil rights with absolute impunity if those rights have not been spelled out with near-identical precision in preexisting case law. Theoretically, it protects public officials from bogus civil suits, but practically it often allows egregious misconduct.
George Floyd's death at the hands of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin forced new life into the debate, shining light on a doctrine that many people say has contributed to an environment of police abuse. Amash announced late Sunday that he would introduce the End Qualified Immunity Act, with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D–Mass.) signing on as a cosponsor Thursday.
"It is the sense of the Congress that we must correct the erroneous interpretation of section 1983 which provides for qualified immunity," the bill reads, "and reiterate the standard found on the face of the statute, which does not limit liability on the basis of the defendant's good faith beliefs or on the basis that the right was not 'clearly established' at the time of the violation."
That "clearly established" bit is what's most important, as the standard has become increasingly impossible to meet. Two cops in Fresno, California, were afforded qualified immunity after allegedly stealing $225,000 while executing a search warrant because it had not been "clearly established" in case law that stealing is wrong. An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department was given qualified immunity after shooting, without warning, an unarmed 15-year-old boy who was on his way to school, because the boy's friend was holding a plastic airsoft gun replica. A sheriff's deputy in Coffee County, Georgia, received qualified immunity after shooting a 10-year-old boy while aiming at a nonthreatening dog. The list, unfortunately, goes on.
The courts' decisions in those cases mean that each appellant had no legal recourse to seek compensation for lost assets or medical bills.
----- 2 -----
Eλf Sternberg
twitter.com/elfsternberg
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/elfsternberg/status/1269284630466711552
Fox News demonstrates how every time America sacrifices a Black man, God lifts up the stock market in blessing... I guess that's how it works?
[QUOTED TWEET]
Yashar Ali
twitter.com/yashar
5 June 2020
This is a horrific graphic to have put up on air.
My god.
[IMAGE: Fox News screencap showing percentage of S&P 500 rise one week after various famous murders of Black people by police, and acquittals of police for murdering Black people]
----- 3 ----
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removes protest and police brutality stories from website following protests from union members
By Ryan Deto
June 6, 2020
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-post-gazette-removes-protest-and-police-brutality-stories-from-website-following-protests-from-union-members/Content?oid=17411858
Late in the evening on June 5, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removed two stories from its website that were shared earlier in the day on the paper’s social media platform. One story was written by P-G reporter Lauren Lee and summarized a march that snaked through Pittsburgh East End in honor of George Floyd, a Black man killed by Minneapolis police. The other was a story wrapping up statements from Pittsburgh City councilors for a discussion about police brutality and reforms.
This story was written by P-G reporter Ashley Murray who tweeted that she reported the issue to the newsroom at 8:40 p.m. and still hadn’t heard back as of 11:30 p.m. As of late night on June 5, the stories were still posted on the paper’s social media platforms, but the links were dead.
...
Sometime early in the morning of June 6, new links were created with the original headlines, but they contained no bylines. Pittsburgh City Paper editor Lisa Cunningham confirmed with Murray that the story she originally wrote was rewritten and that the lead photo was changed.
Lee also confirms that a new story has replaced her coverage, and that her byline was removed and the lead photo was changed. Instead of a shot showing protest signs, the new lead photo is now of Pittsburgh Police kneeling with marchers at a different march than Lee covered. P-G photographer Andrew Rush's photos were also removed from the story.
----- 4 -----
Adam Savage
twitter.com/donttrythis
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/donttrythis/status/1269326087483387906
There’s something consistent about these people gathered to support the suspended police officers from Buffalo. Can’t quite put my finger on it...
[QUOTED TWEET]
WGRZ
twitter.com/WGRZ
June 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/WGRZ/status/1269254738652147719
NOW: Large crowd in front of Buffalo City Court to support two suspended police officers who are expected to be charged this morning. We are live on http://wgrz.com and Channel 2 Daybreak. https://wgrz.com/video/news/live_breaking/wgrz-breaking-news/71-1644393
[IMAGE of many older white men, presumed to be police, supporting two police officers charged with police violence and assault on protesters]
----- 5 -----
Salman Rushdie: I’ve seen dictators rise and fall. Beware, America.
By Salman Rushdie
June 3, 2020 at 9:04 a.m. PDT
Salman Rushdie is a novelist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/salman-rushdie-ive-seen-dictators-rise-fall-beware-america/
In my life, I have seen several dictators rise and fall. Today, I’m remembering those earlier incarnations of this unlovely breed.
In India in 1975, Indira Gandhi, found guilty of electoral malpractice, declared a state of emergency that granted her despotic powers. The “emergency,” as it became known, ended only when she called an election, believing she would win, and was annihilated at the polls. Her arrogance was her downfall. This cautionary tale formed a part of my novel “Midnight’s Children.”
In Pakistan in 1977, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq staged a coup against Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and executed him in 1979. This dark story was the inspiration for my novel “Shame.” The circumstances of my life have given me some understanding of the dictatorial cast of mind.
Extreme narcissism, detachment from reality, a fondness for sycophants and a distrust of truth-tellers, an obsession with how one is publicly portrayed, a hatred of journalists and the temperament of an out-of-control bulldozer: These are some of the characteristics.
President Trump is, temperamentally, a tinpot despot of this type. But he finds himself in charge of a country that has historically thought of itself — by no means always correctly — as being on the side of liberty. So far, with the collusion of the Republican Party, he has ruled more or less unchecked. Now an election looms, and he is unpopular, and flails about looking for a winning strategy. And if that means trampling over American freedoms, then so be it.
...
We are so inured to the behavior of this man, so used to his lies, his inexhaustible self-regard, his stupidity, that maybe we are tempted to think of this as just another day in Trumpistan. But this time, something different is happening. The uprising that began with the killing of George Floyd is not fizzling but growing. The man in the White House is scared, and even, for a time, takes refuge in the basement and turns out the lights. What is such a person to do at such a time?
If he is allowed to use the actions of a tiny minority of criminals and white extremist infiltrators to invalidate the honorable protest of the vast majority against the murder of Floyd, the violence of the police toward the black community and the entrenched power of American racism, he will be on his way to despotism. He has threatened to use the Army against American citizens, a threat one might have expected from a leader of the former Soviet Union, but not of the United States.
----- 6 -----
twitter.com/umairh
5 June 2020
https://twitter.com/umairh/status/1268982700637069319
[THREAD]
Alright. We need to talk about fascism and America. Finally, finally, finally, white pundits are starting to call this fascism, shocked and appalled, as if minorities and women haven’t been saying this for years.
[MORE]
Now white guys love to criticize and tone police me—“you can’t say I told you so!” And accusing me of doing “victory laps” as America burns.
[MORE]
I have two things to say to this. One—it is in fact my right to promote myself. In fact it’s sadly a necessity. if I don’t look out for me, a brown dude, who will? Certainly not the white media that has gone out of its way my whole life to ignore me.
[MORE]
The minorities who tried to warn you about this are now in a double bind. Wait for the patriarchal, white media to recognise you, which it never will. Or be criticised for taking “victory laps” when you speak up for yourself.
[THREAD CONTINUES AT TOP LINK]
----- 7 -----
Esper, Milley refuse to testify before the House next week
By: Aaron Mehta
5 June 2020
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/05/esper-milley-wont-testify-before-the-house/
WASHINGTON — Capping of a tumultuous week of questions about civil-military affairs and the role of the U.S. military, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, have turned down a request to testify in front of the House Armed Services Committee.
A House aide confirmed on background that the two men have “refused” to testify next week, as was requested by HASC Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., requested Tuesday. In addition, an informal briefing planned for today with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy was cancelled by the DoD.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are the oversight committees for the military. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the news, first reported by Politico.
Spurning Smith’s request may lead to complications down the road for the Pentagon’s budget request, with Democrats in Congress already gearing up to use the annual National Defense Authorization Act to put restraints on how the military can operate on civil territory. It also adds fuel to questions about the proper civil-military relationship and how the American military can and should be deployed on domestic soil.
“This is a terrible time for the leadership of DoD to look like they’re trying to evade accountability,” said Kori Schake, a former national security official in the George W. Bush administration who now heads the defense practice at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Both committed during their confirmation hearings they would appear when Congress called. They should be using every opportunity to explain their choices — and also to explain things many Americans don’t know, like the different roles the National Guard has from active duty troops,” Schake said. “The House should refuse to hold an NDAA vote until they do.”
----- 8 -----
Facebook removes nearly 200 accounts tied to hate groups
By DAVID KLEPPER
June 5, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/facebook-removes-nearly-200-accounts-tied-to-hate-groups/
Facebook has removed nearly 200 social media accounts linked to white supremacy groups that planned to encourage members to attend protests over police killings of black people — in some cases with weapons, company officials said Friday.
The accounts on Facebook and Instagram were tied to the Proud Boys and the American Guard, two hate groups already banned on the platforms. Officials were already monitoring the accounts in preparation for removing them when they saw posts attempting to exploit the ongoing protests prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We saw that these groups were planning to rally supporters and members to physically go to the protests and in some cases were preparing to go with weapons,” said Brian Fishman, Facebook’s director of counterterrorism and dangerous organizations policy.
The company did not divulge details of the account users — such as their specific plans for protests or where in the U.S. they live. It said “approximately” 190 accounts were removed overall.
----- 9 -----
Exclusive: He quit his Facebook job because of Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump's posts
By Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Business
Updated 6:32 AM ET, Fri June 5, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/business/facebook-employee-resigns/index.html
New York (CNN Business)A Facebook employee who quit the company this week told CNN he is worried the platform will be used to further escalate violence in the United States.
Timothy Aveni, a 22-year-old Facebook software engineer, quit after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to take action on President Donald Trump's warning last week that "looting" would lead to "shooting," as protests gripped the United States. Aveni announced the move in a Facebook post that went viral.
Zuckerberg's inaction, Aveni said, proved the 36-year-old billionaire had abandoned one of his key principles to shut down calls for violence on Facebook.
"Zuck has told us over and over that calls to violence would not be tolerated on the platform, even if they were by the President of the United States," Aveni told CNN Thursday from his home in Menlo Park, California, near Facebook's world headquarters.
Aveni said he saw grim parallels between Facebook's decision to allow Trump's message on the platform and the manner in which Facebook was used to fuel violence against the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority group in Myanmar. Facebook admitted in 2018 that it had failed to do enough to prevent its platform being used to fuel bloodshed in Myanmar.
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Tucson creates new ordinance to deter aggressive 'First Amendment auditors'
Carol Ann Alaimo
Apr 27, 2020
https://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-creates-new-ordinance-to-deter-aggressive-first-amendment-auditors/article_be17ffeb-7de9-56c2-a1e0-a9292dfe1757.html
The Tucson Police Department will no longer be forced to star in videos that cater to cop-haters.
The City Council took action last week on a distinctly 21st century problem: people showing up at crime scenes with cellphones in hand, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit.
It’s a trend seen by law enforcers around the country and around the state, the Arizona Daily Star found in a review of court records and related documentation.
The provocateurs are part of a loose network of people who call themselves “First Amendment auditors” and claim they’re protecting the public’s right to monitor government activities.
About a dozen such people are operating in Arizona, a former participant told the Star.
[SEE ALSO:
The Artsy Marxist
twitter.com/Artsymarxist
6 June 2020
https://twitter.com/Artsymarxist/status/1269192955685933056/photo/1
So a lawyer who works for the state has reviewed this ordinance and finds it as concerning as I do. So I’m not just making shit up for attention.
[EMBEDDED IMAGE OF ANALYSIS]
[THREAD]
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In Klamath Falls, Oregon, victory declared over antifa, which never showed up
Towns from Washington state to Indiana have seen armed groups begin patrolling the streets after rumors spread on social media about an antifa invasion.
June 6, 2020, 1:56 PM PDT
By Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681
About 200 protesters came to Sugarman’s Corner, the local hotspot in downtown Klamath Falls, Oregon, last Sunday night to protest the killing of George Floyd.
Like in many of the protests that have recently sprung up in cities across the United States, the group was made up of white, black and Latino people, members of the Native American Klamath Tribes, and the LGBTQ community; a diverse coalition in a county of 68,000 where 9 out of every ten residents are white, according to Census estimates. They held signs, many of which have become common during recent protests: "Black Lives Matter" and "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Though it was a small gathering, they had company.
Just across the street, hundreds of their mostly white neighbors were there for decidedly different reasons. They leaned in front of local businesses The Daily Bagel and Rick's Smoke Shop wearing military fatigues and bulletproof vests, with blue bands tied around their arms. Most everyone seemed to be carrying something: flags, baseball bats, hammers and axes. But mostly, they carried gun
They said they came with shotguns, rifles and pistols to protect their downtown businesses from outsiders. They had heard that antifa, paid by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, were being bused in from neighboring cities, hellbent on razing their idyllic town.
Frederick Brigham, 31, Klamath Falls resident and musician who goes by "Wreck the Rebel," said he never thought Black Lives Matter protests would come to his town. As one of the few black men who lives there, he felt compelled to attend.
But the presence of armed people who clearly did not support their group was chilling.
"It felt like walking through an enemy war camp," he said
...
The rally lasted about four hours with Klamath Falls Police Department officers standing between the two sets of protesters. On the north side of the street, protesters chanted "George Floyd." On the south side of the street, chants of "USA," and "Go home," erupted throughout the night.
"A lot of these people came out because they swore that antifa buses were in town," Brigham said. "They couldn't believe that I was from here. They thought I must be a black man that came from somewhere else."
...
"I am not one to spread false information," one of the earliest posts stated. "There are two buses heading this way from Portland, full of ANTIFA members and loaded with bricks. Their intentions are to come to Klamath Falls, destroy it, and murder police officers. There have been rumors of the antifa going into residential areas to ‘fuck up the white hoods.’"
Some responding to the posts were incredulous, but few could argue when a screenshot of a direct message from Col. Jeff Edwards, the commander of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing, was posted in one of the groups.
"Team Kingsley, for your safety I ask you to please avoid the downtown area this evening. We received an alert that there may be 2 busloads of ANTIFA protesters en route to Klamath Falls and arriving in downtown around 2030 tonight," the post stated.
Maj. Nikki Jackson, a spokeswoman for the 173rd Fighter Wing, confirmed in an email that the message had come from Edwards.
