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Today's News (2020/7/4): Fascism Freefall and Police Violence edition
And this one's back up in count as Trump decides white supremacy is how to win re-election. Also, I'm making a last-minute call to combine the Police Violence and Fascism editions today, since Police Violence was only three articles for the moment and they're so inextricably linked right now.
----- 1 -----
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
https://twitter.com/slydesilva/status/1279107834739736576
[THREAD]
I was just denied access and threatened with arrest again by #seattlepolice for not having ID while trying to get to my home in #CapitolHill. They claim they were given new orders this morning.
#seattleprotests #seattleprotest #CHOP #seattleCHOP #defundSPD #seattle
[EMBEDDED VIDEO]
[NEXT]
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
I went to a different entrance and the #seattlepolice there told another story - ID was not required. However they claim that they never received the initial orders to stop IDing
[Thinking face emoji]
[EMBEDDED VIDEO]
[NEXT]
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
For context, here is the Deputy Mayor telling me on a conference call that ID will no longer be required as of 7:00PM on July 1st
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
[THREAD CONTINUES AT UPPER LINK]
----- 2 -----
At Mount Rushmore, Trump exploits social divisions, warns of ‘left-wing cultural revolution’ in dark speech ahead of Independence Day
By
David Nakamura,
Ashley Parker,
Colby Itkowitz and
Maria Sacchetti
July 3, 2020 at 9:43 p.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/2020/07/03/af2e84f6-bd25-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html
At the foot of Mount Rushmore’s granite monument to his presidential forebears, President Trump on Friday delivered a dark speech ahead of Independence Day in which he sought to exploit the nation’s racial and social divisions and rally supporters around a law-and-order message that has become a cornerstone of his reelection campaign.
Trump focused most of his address before a crowd of several thousand in South Dakota on what he described as a grave threat to the nation from liberals and angry mobs — a “left-wing cultural revolution” that aims to rewrite U.S. history and erase its heritage amid the racial justice protests that have roiled cities for weeks.
Praising presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, the men carved into the cliffs behind him, Trump declared that their legacies are under assault from protesters who have defaced and torn down statues. As he has done with increasing fervor in recent weeks, the 45th president denounced not just rioters and vandals but also much of the social movement that propelled the mass demonstrations in response to the killings of black men at the hands of police.
----- 3 -----
US under siege from 'far-left fascism', says Trump in Mount Rushmore speech
US president enflames national tensions with attack on ‘leftwing revolution’ and plan for national memorial of statues of ‘American heroes’
David Smith
Sat 4 Jul 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/04/us-under-siege-from-far-left-fascism-says-trump-in-mount-rushmore-speech
Standing beneath Mount Rushmore on the eve of American independence day, Donald Trump staged a defiant celebration of what critics say is white identity politics and warned the nation’s history is under siege from “far-left fascism”.
The US president defended the symbolism of statues and monuments before a packed crowd at an event that revelled in political incorrectness calculated to enflame the country’s current divisions and enrage liberal critics. There were few face masks and even fewer people of color on stage or in the stands.
...
In an effort to fight back, he announced a surprise executive order establishing “The National Garden of American Heroes”, a vast outdoor park featuring statues of “the greatest Americans to ever live” – a selection sure to provoke debate and controversy. [EDITOR: Includes Billy Graham and Antonin Scalia.]
...
He added darkly: “In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished.”
----- 4 -----
As Neo-Nazis Seed Military Ranks, Germany Confronts 'an Enemy Within'
By KATRIN BENNHOLD
July 4, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/as-neo-nazis-seed-military-ranks-germany-confronts-an-enemy-within/
CALW, Germany — As Germany emerged from its coronavirus lockdown in May, police commandos pulled up outside a rural property owned by a sergeant major in the special forces, the country’s most highly trained and secretive military unit.
They brought a digger.
The sergeant major’s nickname was Little Sheep. He was suspected of being a neo-Nazi. Buried in the garden, police found 2 kilograms of PETN plastic explosives, a detonator, a fuse, an AK-47, a silencer, two knives, a crossbow and thousands of rounds of ammunition — much of it believed to have been stolen from the German military.
They also found an SS songbook, 14 editions of a magazine for former members of the Waffen SS and a host of other Nazi memorabilia.
“He had a plan,” said Eva Högl, Germany’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces. “And he is not the only one.”
Germany has a problem. For years, politicians and security chiefs rejected the notion of any far-right infiltration of the security services, speaking only of “individual cases.” The idea of networks was dismissed. The superiors of those exposed as extremists were protected. Guns and ammunition disappeared from military stockpiles with no real investigation.
The government is now waking up. Cases of far-right extremists in the military and police, some hoarding weapons and explosives, have multiplied alarmingly. The nation’s top intelligence officials and senior military commanders are moving to confront an issue that has become too dangerous to ignore.
----- 5 -----
A National Guardsman Sent To LA Protests Is Under Investigation For Ties To Proud Boys
The guardsman posted a photo of himself standing in front of a military vehicle inscribed with one of the neo-fascist group’s slogans during a protest.
headshot
By Christopher Mathias
2 July 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-guard-proud-boys-california-black-lives-matter_n_5efe44a5c5b612083c592f32
The California National Guard is investigating a member’s possible ties to the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group, after he posted a photo of himself standing next to a military vehicle inscribed with one of the group’s slogans while patrolling anti-racist protests in Los Angeles last month.
Anonymous anti-fascist activists shared the photo with HuffPost, which Sgt. Brian Jackson posted on Facebook last month. After HuffPost inquired about the image, a spokesperson for the California National Guard confirmed on Wednesday that Jackson, a motor transport operator from Bakersfield, California, is now under investigation for ties to the extremist group.
“We have initiated an investigation and will take appropriate action in accordance with regulations,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma said in a statement. “Any form of hate speech and extremist behavior is not tolerated, and has no place in the California National Guard.”
Jackson has not, however, been suspended during the investigation, Shiroma said. It’s unclear how long the investigation will last.
...
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Proud Boys as a hate group. Its members are explicitly anti-feminist, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant. While the group publicly claims to reject the so-called alt-right and says it allows Black and brown members, its ranks have included many white nationalists and its founder, Gavin McInnes, is deeply racist.
Proud Boys are perhaps best known for violently attacking leftist protesters in the streets, attacks that they discuss and plot in private chat rooms. McInnes once said members could become a high-ranking, or “fourth degree,” Proud Boy if they “kick the crap out of an antifa.”
----- 6 -----
Police: 2 women hit by car on Seattle highway amid protest
By MARTHA BELLISLE
4 July 2020
https://apnews.com/741b01da9ce010717df1afca30afe09e
SEATTLE (AP) — A 27-year-old man drove a car onto a closed freeway in Seattle early Saturday and barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters, critically injuring two women, officials said.
Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking Interstate 5 and sped into the crowd at about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting “Car! Car!” before fleeing the roadway.
Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle, was in critical condition while Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, was upgraded to serious condition in the intensive care unit, according to Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
...
Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the women were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway before striking the women.
Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.
Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017 majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.
----- 7 -----
"Kill 'em." Houston GOP powerbroker Steve Hotze left Greg Abbott a voicemail requesting National Guard "shoot to kill" rioters
Hotze, a staunch critic of Abbott's coronavirus response, left a voicemail with the governor's chief of staff in early June with the incendiary instruction.
by Patrick Svitek July 3, 2020
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/03/steve-hotze-texas-greg-abbott-rioters/
"I want you to give a message to the governor," Hotze told Abbott's chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. "I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you."
The voicemail, which The Texas Tribune obtained Friday via a public information request, came on the weekend of June 6, several days after Abbott activated the Texas National Guard as some of the protests became violent. It is unclear whether Saenz responded, and Abbott's office declined to comment on the voicemail.
A Hotze spokesperson said he was not immediately available for comment. However, several hours after the publication of this story, Hotze shared it on his personal Facebook page and another Facebook page affiliated with him.
----- 8 -----
Joshua Potash
twitter.com/JoshuaPotash
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/JoshuaPotash/status/1279516721146101760
A few dozen white supremacists are marching in Seattle.
And the Seattle police, who have been gassing and assaulting protesters, are protecting them.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
[EDITOR'S NOTE: It's always striking how when fascists and white supremacists are marching, the police face outward, against the crowd, but when it's Black people or queers or anyone protesting police violence, the police face inward, against the protesters.]
----- 9 -----
‘Perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president’: Ambassador McFaul
July 4, 2020
By Bob Brigham
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/perhaps-the-most-un-american-speech-ever-delivered-by-an-american-president-ambassador-mcfaul/
President Donald Trump’s address at Mount Rushmore was blasted as “un-American” by former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.
McFaul retweeted a clip of the leader of the free world failing to pronounce the word, “totalitarianism.”
“Trump has no idea what words like fascism and totalitarianism mean,” McFaul, now a professor at Stanford, declared.
“To those who wrote this speech and those senior [White House] officials who approved this speech, shame on you. Perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president and on the July 4th weekend no less,” he explained.
----- 10 -----
Trump remains silent on Putin despite uproar over alleged Russian bounty payments
By Paul Sonne
July 4, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-remains-silent-on-putin-despite-uproar-over-alleged-russian-bounty-payments/2020/07/03/00a692a6-bc81-11ea-86d5-3b9b3863273b_story.html
Russia is once again threatening to become a major factor in a U.S. presidential election as long-standing fears about President Trump’s deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin crystallize in a scandal over alleged Russian bounty payments targeting U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The emergence of Russia as an election theme comes four years after its operation to hack and release emails of Trump’s Democratic rivals put the Kremlin front and center during the last presidential campaign.
The possibility that Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to target U.S. forces — and that the president received intelligence reports about the activity but did little about it — has revived allegations, particularly among Democrats, that Trump is loath to confront Russia, even when it comes to an issue as fundamental as protecting American troops.
“It is bringing [Russia] back to the center of the election not so much as a foreign policy challenge but as a tool for domestic political struggle,” said Thomas Graham, a senior adviser at Kissinger Associates who served as senior director for Russia on the White House National Security Council under President George W. Bush.
----- 11 -----
Spek
twitter.com/spekulation
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/spekulation/status/1279521250646228993
[THREAD]
Rightwing "Patriots" have pepper-sprayed multiple BLM protesters on Capitol Hill, are open-carrying assault rifles, and appear to be being protected by Seattle Police, even in instances where rightwingers are the aggressors.
[NEXT]
Spek
twitter.com/spekulation
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/spekulation/status/1279525527905161216
Look at these people. I've been watching thousands of protesters armed with nothing more than flashlights and umbrellas, getting gassed and shot for month than a month, but this is allowed?
The Seattle Police Department could not be more clear about which side they are on.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT SECOND LINK]
----- 12 -----
Rebecca Ellis
twitter.com/Rjaellis
2 July 2020
https://twitter.com/Rjaellis/status/1278843357188419584
NEW: Judge Simon has issued an order enjoining PPB from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" on anyone whom they "know or reasonably should know is a Journalist or Legal Observer” unless theres probable cause to think they've committed a crime
[EMBEDDED IMAGE AT LINK]
----- 13 -----
Court order, City Council law didn’t stop Seattle police from using pepper spray, projectiles
By Daniel Beekman
Seattle Times staff reporter
July 2, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Updated July 3, 2020 at 8:10 am
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-order-city-council-law-didnt-stop-seattle-police-from-using-pepper-spray-projectiles/
On June 12, a federal judge ordered Seattle police to stop using crowd control weapons against peaceful protesters. On June 15, the Seattle City Council passed legislation banning crowd control weapons altogether.
But as officers cleared people from the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct Wednesday morning and then faced off with protesters at a nearby intersection overnight, they deployed a 40-millimeter sponge round, pepper spray and blast balls, the Police Department said.
There are details in the judge’s order and the council’s legislation that complicate the situation. The court order allows police to still use crowd weapons in certain instances, including to protect themselves, and the council’s legislation has yet to actually take effect.
Lawyers for the protesters who won the court order are particularly concerned about the deployment of blast balls and are gathering evidence about the city’s recent uses of force to determine whether police violated the order, one of the attorneys said Thursday.
The Police Department and Mayor Jenny Durkan didn’t directly address Thursday how the weapon deployments Wednesday and overnight related to the court order, though a spokesperson for Durkan said the mayor supports the order.
----- 14 -----
Cops ousted for bad behavior often land in one place: St. Ann
by Erin Heffernan
3 July 2020
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/cops-ousted-for-bad-behavior-often-land-in-one-place-st-ann/article_cd3fa355-644c-5b16-8f41-2685c1b71c6d.html
A car crash four years ago was the final straw for officer Ellis Brown's career with St. Louis police.
Brown and his partner were tailing a car late one night in the Central West End when the driver lost control and hit a light pole, causing a fire that engulfed the car.
The officers didn't stop to give aid. They didn't radio in the crash so that paramedics might respond to the burning car with a woman inside. Instead, they left the area and later lied on reports to account for their time that night, according to state disciplinary records from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
The woman was not seriously injured in the Sept. 15, 2016, crash, according to St. Louis police. Brown denied the misconduct in court filings, but state officials placed his police license on probation.
The officer had come under scrutiny before for his conduct while in uniform and left the department in January 2017. Within a month, he was hired just a few miles away at another department: St. Ann police.
Brown would become one of a series of officers hired at the force serving about 14,000 in north St. Louis County after high-profile scandals or firings at larger agencies, the Post-Dispatch found.
Recent hires include officers at the center of controversial police shootings, one with a history of drug abuse and others accused of assault, domestic abuse or lying to superiors. Others were hired after police chases with past departments that resulted in deaths.
Aaron Jimenez
Chief Aaron Jimenez, one of the only elected police chiefs in the region, leads the force of about 50 officers in St. Ann and has made news in the past for his aggressive use of police chases, heavy ticketing of highway drivers and fiery statements.
The chief defends his hiring decisions, but it's clear St. Ann is taking part in something of a tradition in St. Louis-area policing: the shifting of officers with questionable records among the metro area's more than 100 police departments, known in law enforcement circles as the "muni shuffle" or "North County shuffle."
- Seattle Police either defying orders or lying about them, demanding ID from people trying to go home in Capitol Hill
- At Mount Rushmore, Trump exploits social divisions, warns of ‘left-wing cultural revolution’ in dark speech ahead of Independence Day
- US under siege from 'far-left fascism', says Trump in Mount Rushmore speech
- As Neo-Nazis Seed Military Ranks, Germany Confronts 'an Enemy Within'
- A National Guardsman Sent To LA Protests Is Under Investigation For Ties To Proud Boys
- Police: 2 women hit by car on Seattle highway amid protest [EDITOR: While we don't know whether the driver was intentionally hitting them, we do know the driver swerved around parked cars set up as a barricade to do so, _and_ fled the scene. So.]
- "Kill 'em." Houston GOP powerbroker Steve Hotze left Greg Abbott a voicemail requesting National Guard "shoot to kill" rioters
- Seattle Police protecting white supremacist marchers in Seattle
- ‘Perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president’: Ambassador McFaul
- Trump remains silent on Putin despite uproar over alleged Russian bounty payments
- Proud Boys pepper-spraying counter-protesters on Capitol Hill, police do nothing
- Judge issues order enjoining Portland police from arresting or committing physical abuse of journalists, legal observers
- Court order, City Council law didn’t stop Seattle police from using pepper spray, projectiles
- Cops ousted for bad behavior often land in one place: St. Ann
----- 1 -----
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
https://twitter.com/slydesilva/status/1279107834739736576
[THREAD]
I was just denied access and threatened with arrest again by #seattlepolice for not having ID while trying to get to my home in #CapitolHill. They claim they were given new orders this morning.
#seattleprotests #seattleprotest #CHOP #seattleCHOP #defundSPD #seattle
[EMBEDDED VIDEO]
[NEXT]
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
I went to a different entrance and the #seattlepolice there told another story - ID was not required. However they claim that they never received the initial orders to stop IDing
[Thinking face emoji]
[EMBEDDED VIDEO]
[NEXT]
Sly deSilva
twitter.com/slydesilva
3 July 2020
For context, here is the Deputy Mayor telling me on a conference call that ID will no longer be required as of 7:00PM on July 1st
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
[THREAD CONTINUES AT UPPER LINK]
----- 2 -----
At Mount Rushmore, Trump exploits social divisions, warns of ‘left-wing cultural revolution’ in dark speech ahead of Independence Day
By
David Nakamura,
Ashley Parker,
Colby Itkowitz and
Maria Sacchetti
July 3, 2020 at 9:43 p.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/2020/07/03/af2e84f6-bd25-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html
At the foot of Mount Rushmore’s granite monument to his presidential forebears, President Trump on Friday delivered a dark speech ahead of Independence Day in which he sought to exploit the nation’s racial and social divisions and rally supporters around a law-and-order message that has become a cornerstone of his reelection campaign.
Trump focused most of his address before a crowd of several thousand in South Dakota on what he described as a grave threat to the nation from liberals and angry mobs — a “left-wing cultural revolution” that aims to rewrite U.S. history and erase its heritage amid the racial justice protests that have roiled cities for weeks.
Praising presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, the men carved into the cliffs behind him, Trump declared that their legacies are under assault from protesters who have defaced and torn down statues. As he has done with increasing fervor in recent weeks, the 45th president denounced not just rioters and vandals but also much of the social movement that propelled the mass demonstrations in response to the killings of black men at the hands of police.
----- 3 -----
US under siege from 'far-left fascism', says Trump in Mount Rushmore speech
US president enflames national tensions with attack on ‘leftwing revolution’ and plan for national memorial of statues of ‘American heroes’
David Smith
Sat 4 Jul 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/04/us-under-siege-from-far-left-fascism-says-trump-in-mount-rushmore-speech
Standing beneath Mount Rushmore on the eve of American independence day, Donald Trump staged a defiant celebration of what critics say is white identity politics and warned the nation’s history is under siege from “far-left fascism”.
The US president defended the symbolism of statues and monuments before a packed crowd at an event that revelled in political incorrectness calculated to enflame the country’s current divisions and enrage liberal critics. There were few face masks and even fewer people of color on stage or in the stands.
...
In an effort to fight back, he announced a surprise executive order establishing “The National Garden of American Heroes”, a vast outdoor park featuring statues of “the greatest Americans to ever live” – a selection sure to provoke debate and controversy. [EDITOR: Includes Billy Graham and Antonin Scalia.]
...
He added darkly: “In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished.”
----- 4 -----
As Neo-Nazis Seed Military Ranks, Germany Confronts 'an Enemy Within'
By KATRIN BENNHOLD
July 4, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/as-neo-nazis-seed-military-ranks-germany-confronts-an-enemy-within/
CALW, Germany — As Germany emerged from its coronavirus lockdown in May, police commandos pulled up outside a rural property owned by a sergeant major in the special forces, the country’s most highly trained and secretive military unit.
They brought a digger.
The sergeant major’s nickname was Little Sheep. He was suspected of being a neo-Nazi. Buried in the garden, police found 2 kilograms of PETN plastic explosives, a detonator, a fuse, an AK-47, a silencer, two knives, a crossbow and thousands of rounds of ammunition — much of it believed to have been stolen from the German military.
They also found an SS songbook, 14 editions of a magazine for former members of the Waffen SS and a host of other Nazi memorabilia.
“He had a plan,” said Eva Högl, Germany’s parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces. “And he is not the only one.”
Germany has a problem. For years, politicians and security chiefs rejected the notion of any far-right infiltration of the security services, speaking only of “individual cases.” The idea of networks was dismissed. The superiors of those exposed as extremists were protected. Guns and ammunition disappeared from military stockpiles with no real investigation.
The government is now waking up. Cases of far-right extremists in the military and police, some hoarding weapons and explosives, have multiplied alarmingly. The nation’s top intelligence officials and senior military commanders are moving to confront an issue that has become too dangerous to ignore.
----- 5 -----
A National Guardsman Sent To LA Protests Is Under Investigation For Ties To Proud Boys
The guardsman posted a photo of himself standing in front of a military vehicle inscribed with one of the neo-fascist group’s slogans during a protest.
headshot
By Christopher Mathias
2 July 2020
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-guard-proud-boys-california-black-lives-matter_n_5efe44a5c5b612083c592f32
The California National Guard is investigating a member’s possible ties to the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group, after he posted a photo of himself standing next to a military vehicle inscribed with one of the group’s slogans while patrolling anti-racist protests in Los Angeles last month.
Anonymous anti-fascist activists shared the photo with HuffPost, which Sgt. Brian Jackson posted on Facebook last month. After HuffPost inquired about the image, a spokesperson for the California National Guard confirmed on Wednesday that Jackson, a motor transport operator from Bakersfield, California, is now under investigation for ties to the extremist group.
“We have initiated an investigation and will take appropriate action in accordance with regulations,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma said in a statement. “Any form of hate speech and extremist behavior is not tolerated, and has no place in the California National Guard.”
Jackson has not, however, been suspended during the investigation, Shiroma said. It’s unclear how long the investigation will last.
...
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Proud Boys as a hate group. Its members are explicitly anti-feminist, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant. While the group publicly claims to reject the so-called alt-right and says it allows Black and brown members, its ranks have included many white nationalists and its founder, Gavin McInnes, is deeply racist.
Proud Boys are perhaps best known for violently attacking leftist protesters in the streets, attacks that they discuss and plot in private chat rooms. McInnes once said members could become a high-ranking, or “fourth degree,” Proud Boy if they “kick the crap out of an antifa.”
----- 6 -----
Police: 2 women hit by car on Seattle highway amid protest
By MARTHA BELLISLE
4 July 2020
https://apnews.com/741b01da9ce010717df1afca30afe09e
SEATTLE (AP) — A 27-year-old man drove a car onto a closed freeway in Seattle early Saturday and barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters, critically injuring two women, officials said.
Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking Interstate 5 and sped into the crowd at about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting “Car! Car!” before fleeing the roadway.
Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle, was in critical condition while Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, was upgraded to serious condition in the intensive care unit, according to Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
...
Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the women were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway before striking the women.
Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.
Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017 majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.
----- 7 -----
"Kill 'em." Houston GOP powerbroker Steve Hotze left Greg Abbott a voicemail requesting National Guard "shoot to kill" rioters
Hotze, a staunch critic of Abbott's coronavirus response, left a voicemail with the governor's chief of staff in early June with the incendiary instruction.
by Patrick Svitek July 3, 2020
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/03/steve-hotze-texas-greg-abbott-rioters/
"I want you to give a message to the governor," Hotze told Abbott's chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. "I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you."
The voicemail, which The Texas Tribune obtained Friday via a public information request, came on the weekend of June 6, several days after Abbott activated the Texas National Guard as some of the protests became violent. It is unclear whether Saenz responded, and Abbott's office declined to comment on the voicemail.
A Hotze spokesperson said he was not immediately available for comment. However, several hours after the publication of this story, Hotze shared it on his personal Facebook page and another Facebook page affiliated with him.
----- 8 -----
Joshua Potash
twitter.com/JoshuaPotash
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/JoshuaPotash/status/1279516721146101760
A few dozen white supremacists are marching in Seattle.
And the Seattle police, who have been gassing and assaulting protesters, are protecting them.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
[EDITOR'S NOTE: It's always striking how when fascists and white supremacists are marching, the police face outward, against the crowd, but when it's Black people or queers or anyone protesting police violence, the police face inward, against the protesters.]
----- 9 -----
‘Perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president’: Ambassador McFaul
July 4, 2020
By Bob Brigham
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/perhaps-the-most-un-american-speech-ever-delivered-by-an-american-president-ambassador-mcfaul/
President Donald Trump’s address at Mount Rushmore was blasted as “un-American” by former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.
McFaul retweeted a clip of the leader of the free world failing to pronounce the word, “totalitarianism.”
“Trump has no idea what words like fascism and totalitarianism mean,” McFaul, now a professor at Stanford, declared.
“To those who wrote this speech and those senior [White House] officials who approved this speech, shame on you. Perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president and on the July 4th weekend no less,” he explained.
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Trump remains silent on Putin despite uproar over alleged Russian bounty payments
By Paul Sonne
July 4, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-remains-silent-on-putin-despite-uproar-over-alleged-russian-bounty-payments/2020/07/03/00a692a6-bc81-11ea-86d5-3b9b3863273b_story.html
Russia is once again threatening to become a major factor in a U.S. presidential election as long-standing fears about President Trump’s deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin crystallize in a scandal over alleged Russian bounty payments targeting U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The emergence of Russia as an election theme comes four years after its operation to hack and release emails of Trump’s Democratic rivals put the Kremlin front and center during the last presidential campaign.
The possibility that Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to target U.S. forces — and that the president received intelligence reports about the activity but did little about it — has revived allegations, particularly among Democrats, that Trump is loath to confront Russia, even when it comes to an issue as fundamental as protecting American troops.
“It is bringing [Russia] back to the center of the election not so much as a foreign policy challenge but as a tool for domestic political struggle,” said Thomas Graham, a senior adviser at Kissinger Associates who served as senior director for Russia on the White House National Security Council under President George W. Bush.
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Spek
twitter.com/spekulation
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/spekulation/status/1279521250646228993
[THREAD]
Rightwing "Patriots" have pepper-sprayed multiple BLM protesters on Capitol Hill, are open-carrying assault rifles, and appear to be being protected by Seattle Police, even in instances where rightwingers are the aggressors.
[NEXT]
Spek
twitter.com/spekulation
4 July 2020
https://twitter.com/spekulation/status/1279525527905161216
Look at these people. I've been watching thousands of protesters armed with nothing more than flashlights and umbrellas, getting gassed and shot for month than a month, but this is allowed?
The Seattle Police Department could not be more clear about which side they are on.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT SECOND LINK]
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Rebecca Ellis
twitter.com/Rjaellis
2 July 2020
https://twitter.com/Rjaellis/status/1278843357188419584
NEW: Judge Simon has issued an order enjoining PPB from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" on anyone whom they "know or reasonably should know is a Journalist or Legal Observer” unless theres probable cause to think they've committed a crime
[EMBEDDED IMAGE AT LINK]
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Court order, City Council law didn’t stop Seattle police from using pepper spray, projectiles
By Daniel Beekman
Seattle Times staff reporter
July 2, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Updated July 3, 2020 at 8:10 am
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-order-city-council-law-didnt-stop-seattle-police-from-using-pepper-spray-projectiles/
On June 12, a federal judge ordered Seattle police to stop using crowd control weapons against peaceful protesters. On June 15, the Seattle City Council passed legislation banning crowd control weapons altogether.
But as officers cleared people from the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct Wednesday morning and then faced off with protesters at a nearby intersection overnight, they deployed a 40-millimeter sponge round, pepper spray and blast balls, the Police Department said.
There are details in the judge’s order and the council’s legislation that complicate the situation. The court order allows police to still use crowd weapons in certain instances, including to protect themselves, and the council’s legislation has yet to actually take effect.
Lawyers for the protesters who won the court order are particularly concerned about the deployment of blast balls and are gathering evidence about the city’s recent uses of force to determine whether police violated the order, one of the attorneys said Thursday.
The Police Department and Mayor Jenny Durkan didn’t directly address Thursday how the weapon deployments Wednesday and overnight related to the court order, though a spokesperson for Durkan said the mayor supports the order.
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Cops ousted for bad behavior often land in one place: St. Ann
by Erin Heffernan
3 July 2020
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/cops-ousted-for-bad-behavior-often-land-in-one-place-st-ann/article_cd3fa355-644c-5b16-8f41-2685c1b71c6d.html
A car crash four years ago was the final straw for officer Ellis Brown's career with St. Louis police.
Brown and his partner were tailing a car late one night in the Central West End when the driver lost control and hit a light pole, causing a fire that engulfed the car.
The officers didn't stop to give aid. They didn't radio in the crash so that paramedics might respond to the burning car with a woman inside. Instead, they left the area and later lied on reports to account for their time that night, according to state disciplinary records from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
The woman was not seriously injured in the Sept. 15, 2016, crash, according to St. Louis police. Brown denied the misconduct in court filings, but state officials placed his police license on probation.
The officer had come under scrutiny before for his conduct while in uniform and left the department in January 2017. Within a month, he was hired just a few miles away at another department: St. Ann police.
Brown would become one of a series of officers hired at the force serving about 14,000 in north St. Louis County after high-profile scandals or firings at larger agencies, the Post-Dispatch found.
Recent hires include officers at the center of controversial police shootings, one with a history of drug abuse and others accused of assault, domestic abuse or lying to superiors. Others were hired after police chases with past departments that resulted in deaths.
Aaron Jimenez
Chief Aaron Jimenez, one of the only elected police chiefs in the region, leads the force of about 50 officers in St. Ann and has made news in the past for his aggressive use of police chases, heavy ticketing of highway drivers and fiery statements.
The chief defends his hiring decisions, but it's clear St. Ann is taking part in something of a tradition in St. Louis-area policing: the shifting of officers with questionable records among the metro area's more than 100 police departments, known in law enforcement circles as the "muni shuffle" or "North County shuffle."