Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/muriel-bowser-trump-mural/2020/06/08/db2dcb2a-a8f3-11ea-94d2-d7bc43b26bf9_story.html

State public health officials on Monday announced 658 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the lowest daily total since March 30, when 460 cases were reported. Officials have said figures tend to be lower following the weekend, when labs report fewer results. There were results from 16,099 tests in the previous 24 hours, officials said, compared with 21,155 tests reported Saturday for the previous 24 hours.

Source Article from https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-jb-pritzker-defunding-police-20200608-uszh4ez74vferdfjvxcqk7lofu-story.html

With the GOP eagerly drawing up its attack ads, senior Democrats are hoping to stifle momentum for the idea before it overshadows their broader reform effort. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are instead pressing ahead with a sweeping bill to crack down on use of excessive force, bolster transparency and ban certain practices, like chokeholds, while leaving questions of funding or structure to local leaders. Already, nine Minneapolis City Council members vowed to dismantle the city’s police department.

“We’re keeping our eyes on the prize, and that needs to be the story. State and local will do what state and local needs to do,” Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the CBC, said Monday when asked about the defunding movement. “We are the Congress. What we’re doing here today is our role.”

Some had a blunter assessment.

“You can’t defund the police, that’s stupid, it’s crazy and anyone who talks about that is nuts,” said moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). “You have to have the police.”

In some ways, it’s the story of Pelosi’s second tenure as speaker — forced to balance the demands of an aggressive left flank without alienating the moderate voters who delivered Democrats the House. Schumer, who is suddenly within arm’s reach of a Democratic majority, faces a similar dilemma for Senate candidates in largely purple states.

Any misstep by Democrats could deliver Republicans a powerful political weapon ahead of November. GOP campaign operatives are seizing on calls to “defund the police” to paint Democrats as radical leftists, just as they did with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” or demands to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

To illustrate how seriously Democratic leaders are taking the potential problem, several senior Democrats spoke out about it on a private caucus call Monday.

“This movement today, some people tried to hijack it,” House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Democrats on the call, according to multiple sources. “Don’t let yourselves be drawn into the debate about defunding police forces.”

Other Democrats also weighed in, with House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) saying the idea is “easily caricatured by demagogues and Republicans,” and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) calling the defunding push “divisive and distracting.”

When asked about the issue publicly, Pelosi emphasized areas of common ground, like redirecting some funding toward addressing mental health and policing in schools. Then the California Democrat quickly turned the focus back to Democrats’ reform bill.

“We could rebalance some of our funding to address some of those issues more directly,” Pelosi said at a press conference Monday. “But this isn’t about that and that should not be the story that leaves here.”

Senate Democrats expressed skepticism about the message Monday. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said defunding is “not the term I would use” but emphasized the need to “listen to the pain and the lived experiences of the people who are protesting.” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine predicted that Congress would not defund the police.

And the campaign for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday also said the former vice president “does not believe that police should be defunded.”

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have been quick to seize on the protesters’ demands, using a broad brush to associate all Democrats — especially vulnerable House moderates — with the controversial appeal.

Trump blasted out a tweet criticizing “radical” Democrats for the idea early Monday, and he later told reporters, “We won’t be defunding our police. We won’t be dismantling our police.” Republican campaign committees also released a steady stream of press releases tying centrist Democrats to the idea.

“We’re already seeing outlandish calls to defund the police or abolish the police, take root within the left-wing leadership class,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday. “Call me old-fashioned. I think you may actually want a police officer to stop a criminal and arrest him before we try to work through his feelings.”

The police reform bill unveiled by Democrats on Monday is among the most substantial proposals ever targeted at racism in law enforcement, and has already drawn the ire of police unions. Still, many powerful progressives, including Ocasio-Cortez, say more needs to be done to address police departments nationwide they say are overfunded and overly reliant on militarized methods.

Ocasio-Cortez praised Democrats’ bill on the caucus call Monday and said she understands the “profound discomfort” around the defunding discussion. But the New York Democrat also implored her colleagues “not to dismiss or mock” activists’ calls for defunding police departments, saying it’s important they don’t “demoralize or undercut” grassroots leaders.

“It is not crazy for black and brown communities to want what white people have already given themselves and that is funding your schools more than you fund criminalizing your own kids,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Democrats on the call.

The sharp criticism of police departments by the Black Lives Matter movement has already led to drastic action on the local level in recent days. Like Minneapolis, New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio also pledged on Sunday to divert funding from police to social services.

Many Democrats say that’s exactly where those conversations should take place: The state and local level, not Congress.

“I was really proud of what Minneapolis unanimously decided. But it’s up to each community,” added Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a senior member of the CBC, in an interview.

Other Democrats argued the federal government can still drive change in policing, without specifically defunding local departments. For example, they say, Congress needs to ensure that police aren’t the only ones called to the scene when someone is dealing with a personal crisis, such as homelessness or a mental health issue.

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who once led the Houston NAACP, compared a policing overhaul to the government’s decision in the 1940s to rename the “Department of War” to the “Department of Defense” to address public image concerns.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to reimagine what policing would be like, and improve upon it,” Green said.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/08/defund-police-democrats-307766

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) met with George Floyd’s family on Monday when he traveled to Houston for Floyd’s viewing. 

The governor told reporters he was meeting with Floyd’s family privately to express his condolences and give them a flag flown over the Texas Capitol in Floyd’s honor. Abbott also signaled that he would back police reforms after Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody last month.

“Today is a sad day. Ever since his death has been a sad day,” Abbott said.

Abbott said the death of Floyd, a longtime Houston resident who moved to Minneapolis a few years ago, was “the most horrific tragedy I’ve ever personally observed.” The governor said he was committed to working with Floyd’s family “to ensure we never have anything like this ever occur in the state of Texas.”

“George Floyd has not died in vain,” Abbott said. “His life will be a living legacy about the way that America and Texas responds to this tragedy.”

The governor also promised the family that “discussions about the pathway forward” would not be overtaken by politicians and would be led by family members, victims and others “who have suffered because of racism for far too long.”

Abbott said that the Texas Legislature, which will meet again in January 2021, has already begun discussions on addressing police brutality. The governor said some members he has spoken with have cited that better law enforcement training is needed.

“Remember this: Texas has a legacy of success, whether it be the Timothy Cole Act, the Sandra Bland Act and now maybe the George Floyd Act to make sure that we prevent police brutality like this from happening in the future in Texas,” he said. 

Abbott’s comments come as thousands of people commemorated Floyd at his public visitation on Monday. 

The governor is not the only politician to meet with Floyd’s family as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenThe sad spectacle of Trump’s enablers Democrats seek to tap into fury over George Floyd Police brutality: Let’s get serious — training can’t touch this MORE was also scheduled to meet with his family on Monday.

Protests have broken out across the country, including in Texas, after video surfaced of a former officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/501742-texas-governor-meets-with-george-floyds-family-signals-support-for

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/politics/police-union-reform-protests/index.html

New York Sate Assemblywoman Diana C. Richardson, D-Brooklyn, speaks in favor of new legislation for Police Reform during a Assembly session at the state Capitol Monday, June 8, 2020, in Albany, N.Y.

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New York Sate Assemblywoman Diana C. Richardson, D-Brooklyn, speaks in favor of new legislation for Police Reform during a Assembly session at the state Capitol Monday, June 8, 2020, in Albany, N.Y.

Hans Pennink/AP

New York’s legislature moved swiftly Monday to pass a first wave of police reform legislation, including a ban on chokeholds, a prohibition on race-based profiling, and a measure requiring police departments and courts to track arrests by race and ethnicity to help identify patterns of bias.

The session followed a historic wave of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The protests evolved into a referendum on police brutality.

New York state, where marches drew thousands of people into the streets, has a troubled history of violence by police officers against unarmed black and Hispanic men.

State Sen. Luis Sepulveda told lawmakers police tactics have led to the death and “utter humiliation” of many people of color.

“I can speak from personal experience. When I was 18 years old, I was arrested because a police officer didn’t like the way I looked at him,” Sepulveda said.

The ban on chokeholds – which passed unanimously with bipartisan support – was named in honor of Eric Garner, a black man who was confronted by police for selling loose cigarettes in 2014. Garner died after a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold. Garner’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” were captured on cell phone video and became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement nationwide.

The police officer in that case, Daniel Pantaleo, facing likely dismissal eventually resigned from the force, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Last year, the Trump administration’s Justice Department declined to bring civil rights charges in the case.

“We unfortunately have not been providing safety for African Americans in this country,” said Democratic state Sen. Brian Benjamin. “What this bill does is say, ‘You know what? We’re going to try to move closer to a system where everyone feels safe in this country.'”

Law enforcement organizations in New York tried to push back against these reforms. The head of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Jeffrey Murphy, issued a statement rejecting the idea that systemic racism exists in law enforcement, calling the accusation “disgusting.”

The powerful New York City Police Benevolent Association called the measures “an attack on law enforcement.” But in stunning political development, police saw many of their Republican allies vote with the Democratic majority.

During floor debate Monday, Republican Sen. Fred Akshar, who worked in law enforcement before being elected, said he had intended to vote against the chokehold ban.

He switched sides after being assured that police who use chokeholds in acts of self-defense wouldn’t face charges.

Today’s rapid-fire votes reflect another profound shift in Albany. Many of the measures being approved had languished for years because they were essentially dead on arrival when they reached the GOP-controlled senate. But Democrats won control of that chamber in the 2018 election. The Assembly and Senate are now led for the first time in history by African American lawmakers, who control the agenda. They seized on the momentum generated by days of street protests to move these reform bills.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, promised Monday he would sign the measures when they reach his desk. Lawmakers are expected to take up a second package of reforms on Tuesday, including repeal of a law which kept police disciplinary records confidential.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/872637497/police-reform-legislation-moves-swiftly-through-new-york-state-legislature

This is the cop-free world that Black Lives Matter protesters are dreaming about.

Social workers and religious leaders would replace officers on the street — and there would be no crimes such as stealing because the community workers would do such a good job helping everyone, fueled by money redirected from local police departments, advocates claim.

“Right now, cops don’t just respond to violent crimes; they make needless traffic stops, arrest petty drug users, and engage in a wide range of ‘broken windows policing’ behaviors that only serve to keep more people under the thumb of the criminal-justice system,” reads the Web site for the Minneapolis community coalition MPD150.

The group — whose name refers to the Minneapolis Police Department and the organization’s “150 year performance review’’ of the cop agency in 2017 — has been calling for the MPD to be dismantled.

Its efforts gained massive momentum after Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s death May 25, when the 46-year-old black man died in a shocking police-brutality case involving a white cop and three other officers.

The Minneapolis City Council — amid anti-police-brutality protests that have spread across the globe — voted Sunday to disband the police department.

Now, instead of cops — a.k.a. “strangers armed with guns” — mental-health providers, social workers, religious leaders and victim advocates could keep law and order, the MPD150 says.

The activists insist that if there was enough money put into the changeover, society could then become a “place where people don’t need to rob banks.”

Still, a small “specialized class of public servants” to fight crime might be necessary to fight some crime that slips through the cracks, they acknowledge.

NYPD officers at a protest following the death of George Floyd.

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

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A contributor to the group told NPR last month that people are finally realizing that the only way forward is in a “city without police.

“I mean, we have thousands of years of history that proves that you can, right?” group contributor Tony Williams said. “The first police department in the US was established in 1838. So policing has existed in America for less time than chattel slavery existed in America.”

Details can be worked out later, he added.

“We don’t have time to obviously dive into the complexity and the nuance of what a police-free society looks like, but it’s largely about using public-health approaches and getting people resources to meet people’s needs,” Williams said.

Opal Tometi, one of the community organizers who started Black Lives Matter in 2013, told the New Yorker last week that policing in American was “founded as a slave patrol.

“People recognize that. So their frustration is absolutely about the policing and the criminal-justice [system at] large and the racial dimensions of it and its lethal impact on our communities,’’ she said.

“What we concluded is that we need social workers,” Tometi said.

“We need those resources to go out to social workers and educators. We need it to go to our schools. We would love to have mental-health professionals when we have certain crises in our communities.”

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he is opposed to dismantling police departments, citing looting amid Floyd unrest as just one reason cops are needed.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he will at least take some funding from the Police Department to pay for more social services for youth.

Some criminal-justice experts told The Post on Monday that the idea of doing away with police departments is crazy.

“No matter how civil of a society there is — whether it is Sweden, Australia or the US — we have legitimate crimes,’’ said Maria Haberfeld, a police-science professor at John Jay College in Manhattan.

“People are beating up their spouses, murdering children. … Who are they going to send to a bank robbery — social workers?” she said of police-less communities.

“I am the first one to say that police officers should not be responding to everything and everybody or to every issue in society,’’ she said. But “there is so much rhetoric out there.

“There are best practices out there that we can pull from, but not politics and personal opinions.”

— Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/how-black-lives-matter-activists-see-the-future-of-urban-policing/

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spoke to reporters outside the Houston church where George Floyd’s public viewing is underway. The governor said he had the opportunity to visit with the Floyd family and said he is committed to working with the family to “ensure we never have anything like this ever occur in the state of Texas.”

“We’re already working with legislators, we are working with his family. His family asked me and I promised his family that I would use and incorporate their family in these discussions, the discussions about the pathway forward,” the governor said.

Abbott said the discussions would not be “taken over by politicians” but be led by Floyd’s family members, victims and people who suffer “because of racism for far too long in the state and in this country.”

The governor said some things are already changing in the state, both in police departments and city halls, to prevent police brutality. Abbott said one of the challenges in the state is inadequate training for police training.

“Some actions have already been taken, other actions are being worked on to make sure that we will not have police brutality like what happened to George Floyd. And then when we get to the Texas legislature discussions have begun. Remember this. Texas has a legacy of success whether it be the Timothy Cole act, the Sandra Bland act and now maybe the George Floyd act to make sure that we prevent police brutality like this from happening in the future in Texas,” Abbott said.

In the meantime, the governor said his state is working on “peace and celebrating the remarkable life” of Floyd.

Abbott said he was on his way to meet with the Floyd family privately where he would be presenting them with the flag that flew over the capitol building in Floyd’s honor.

Watch:

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-memorial-service-protests/h_3b33830e7aba3753359c9e259d29be36

The tragic murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 has rattled the nation to its core. America saw the ongoing pattern of police brutality play out once again, but this time, Americans, led by people of color — the community most impacted at the hands of law enforcement — said, “Enough is enough,” and they said it loudly.

Though largely peacefulprotests raging across the country were at times overshadowed by some looting and violent rioting. 

As the world watched protests take over streets in every state of the U.S. — even protests around the world — I wondered whether viewers would react most strongly to the protesters or the looters? 

A national survey for PBS and NPR conducted on June 2-3 indicated that Americans are twice as likely to view the demonstrations as protests (61 percent) than riots (31 percent). A large majority of African Americans (79 percent) and even most white Americans (56 percent) believe the demonstrations are protests and not riots. 

The issue of confidence in the police is looming in Congress this week as the Democratic leadership and the Congressional Black Caucus in the House of Representatives introduce a package of reforms to end police violence. These reforms include proposals to limit the immunity that police officers have against lawsuits and to eliminate racial profiling. 

Last week, local leaders took the initiative. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed taking away $150 million in funding for the city’s police department and redirecting the funds to youth jobs, health initiatives and peace centers to heal trauma.

Minneapolis officials issued orders banning the use of choke holds in their police department. Minnesota Attorney General Keith EllisonKeith Maurice EllisonMajority of Minneapolis City Council vows to disband police department More Americans troubled by police actions in George Floyd killing than violence at protests: poll Nation reporter discusses Keith Ellison and the charges in Minnesota MORE brought second-degree murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd, and charged the three officers present at the scene with aiding and abetting. The Buffalo, N.Y., police department suspended two policemen who shoved to the ground a 75-year-old man who was protesting, seriously injuring him.

While a majority of both white and black Americans see the demonstrations as peaceful protests and not riots, there is a sharp racial division in the level of confidence in the police. Four out of every 10 (42 percent) white Americans have a great deal of confidence in the ability of police officers to treat all races fairly; less than one in every ten African Americans (6 percent) feel the same way.

Crises bring out the best or the worst in presidents. Herbert Hoover appeared indifferent to the suffering of people during the Great Depression, while Franklin Roosevelt attacked the crisis aggressively.

Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpProsecutors allege Avenatti may have violated terms of prison release Bolton plans to publish White House memoir in late June: report The sad spectacle of Trump’s enablers MORE has taken a bad situation and made it worse. Four days after Floyd’s death, he tweeted the protesters in Minneapolis “thugs” and added a threat that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter flagged the president’s tweet as glorifying violence. 

Security forces used tear gas to clear activists out of Lafayette Square so Trump could do a photo-op in front of St. John’s Church near the White House.

As a result, Trump appears utterly obsessed with order and completely empty of empathy. The public wants a chief executive who can strike a balance.

Two of every three Americans (67 percent) believe the president’s response to the demonstrations protesting police brutality has increased tensions. Just about every Democrat (92 percent) but few Republicans (29 percent) believe he has made things worse. The fact that three out of every four (73 percent) independents believe Trump has increased racial tensions is potentially a very troubling sign for his prospects for reelection.  

It’s comforting to know that a majority of both white and black Americans fault the president’s handling of the racial crisis. Nine in 10 (88 percent) of African Americans feel Trump has inflamed tensions. Almost two out of three white Americans (63 percent) similarly fault his handling of the situation.

There has been a sharp drop in presidential approval since March and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and America’s original pandemic — racism. Since then, Trump’s net negative approval rating has doubled from -7 (43 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove)  to -14 (41 percent approve and 55 percent disapprove). The number of Americans who strongly disapprove of the president’s performance jumped from 41 to 47 percent. Ominously for his reelection prospects, the portion of independents who strongly disapprove of the president’s performance has increased by 10 percent (33 to 43 percent). 

The decline in the president’s performance ratings and his prospects for reelection should not be a surprise. So far, Trump seems to not have measured up to the two crises that have emerged and threatening the nation. In times of crisis, Americans want a president who can bring people closer together, not drive them further apart. 

Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster and CEO of Bannon Communications Research. He is also the host of a radio podcast “Dateline D.C. With Brad Bannon” that airs on the Progressive Voices Network. Follow him on Twitter @BradBannon.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/501632-trumps-handling-of-two-crises-lowers-his-approval-and-his-reelection-chances

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats introduced a large police reform bill on Monday after kneeling for eight minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd, whose death sparked nationwide protests.

The “Justice in Policing Act of 2020” aims to increase transparency and limit abuses after unrest over Floyd’s May 25 death when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck until he died.

“The martyrdom of George Floyd gave the American experience a moment of national anguish as we grieve for the black Americans killed by police brutality,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a press conference.

“In the Senate, Democrats are going to fight like hell to make this a reality,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Pelosi said in response to a reporter’s question that she does not support abolishing police, a position that’s gained momentum among many Democratic politicians following protests, but said she could support “rebalancing some of our funding” so that issues such as mental health would be handled “more directly” rather than by police.

“We want to work with our police departments,” Pelosi said, while later saying additional measures are “a local decision.”

The bill calls for sweeping reforms to law enforcement, including tracking “problematic” officers through a national misconduct registry and limiting the safeguards in place keeping officers from facing legal or civil action in court.

Those safeguards are also known as “qualified immunity,” which protects officers from individuals who seek to recover damages “when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights,” according to an outline of the proposal.

A majority of the Minneapolis City Council over the weekend vowed to abolish the local force. In DC, activists were irked when Mayor Muriel Bowser, who proposed increased police funding, painted “Black Lives Matter” on a street outside the White House, saying she wasn’t going far enough. They painted “Defund the Police” alongside it.

President Trump condemned Floyd’s killing, but he also has criticized local leaders for not doing more to crack down as protests gave way to violence, theft and property damage.

He denounced the push to reduce police, tweeting Monday: “This year has seen the lowest crime numbers in our Country’s recorded history, and now the Radical Left Democrats want to Defund and Abandon our Police. Sorry, I want LAW & ORDER!”

AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Pelosi called the new bill a “first step.” It would forbid use of chokeholds and ban police from conducting no-knock raids when serving drug warrants. A no-knock raid in Kentucky resulted in the March death of Breonna Taylor, whose case also was widely protested last week.

The black, 26-year-old EMT had been sleeping with her boyfriend on March 13 in her Louisville, Ky., home when three plainclothes officers burst in on a no-knock warrant. She was accidentally shot eight times.

The bill seeks to increase the independence of use-of-force investigations and available data, including a national registry of individual officers’ conduct, and lower the threshold to federally prosecute officers if they exhibit a “reckless disregard” for someone’s life. It also proposes curtailing the transfer of surplus military equipment to local and state agencies.

Floyd’s death yielded widespread condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans, including from Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). But specific items of police reform in its wake are likely to be hotly debated. Most legislation that passes Congress does so after party leaders broker deals.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week said he was willing to work with Democrats on policing reforms, but the new bill was introduced without negotiations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif., center) and other members of Congress kneel and observe a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall.AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Chauvin, who was fired, is charged with second-degree murder, and three also-fired colleagues face aiding and abetting murder charges.

Black lawmakers said the new federal legislation was personal.

“We arrived on these shores in 1619 in shackles … all we have ever wanted is to be treated equally,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who allowed that “there are very good police officers and there are bad ones.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who reportedly is under consideration to be running mate to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, said that “we’re here because black Americans want to stop being killed.”

“Just last week, we couldn’t even pass an anti-lynching bill in the United States Senate,” Harris said, referring to an anti-lynching bill stalled by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who argues it could unintentionally make federal crimes out of conduct that doesn’t result in serious injury or death.

“We have confused having safe communities with hiring more cops on the street,” added Harris, a former prosecutor. “The real way to achieve safe and healthy communities, is to invest in those communities … Many in America right now already live in places with minimal police presence.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), the former mayor of Newark, said, “Black Americans live in fear of police interactions, disproportionately having our common ideals of fairness trampled.”

Democrats said they were optimistic about the bill becoming law.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the only Democrat not to kneel at the event due to health issues, said, “You’ve heard the terrifying words, ‘I can’t breathe’ from George Floyd, from Eric Garner, from the millions of Americans in the streets calling out for revenge, for change. Our hearts ache for the loss of George Floyd.”

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/house-democrats-kneel-for-george-floyd-unveil-police-reform-bill/

Unconditional bail for former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was raised by $250,000 to $1.25 million Monday afternoon in the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in police custody.

Chauvin made his first court appearance by video feed, handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit sitting at a small conference room table in the Hennepin County jail.

In a hearing that lasted just 15 minutes, prosecutor Matthew Frank argued that the “severity of the charges” and the strength of public opinion against Chauvin made him a more likely flight risk. Frank asked District Court Judge Jeannice Reding to raise his bail from $750,000 to $1 million with conditions, and from $1 million to $1.25 million without conditions.

The conditions include: that he remain law abiding, that he not have any contact with Floyd’s family, that he not work in law enforcement or security, that he surrender any firearms and licenses to carry, that he remains in Minnesota under court supervision, and that he sign a waiver of extradition upon his release.

Neither Chauvin nor his lawyer, Eric Nelson, objected.

Chauvin, 44, of Oakdale, faces charges of second-degree murder without intent, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin did not enter a plea at the hearing. His next court appearance was set for 1:30 p.m. June 29.

First appearances are typically procedural: The charges can be read to a defendant, although most attorneys waive the reading, bail is argued and another hearing date is set.

Chauvin was charged four days after he killed Floyd, a 46-year-old black man from St. Louis Park, on May 25. He is being held at the state prison at Oak Park Heights.

The courtroom was mostly empty, filled only by a handful of sheriff’s deputies, reporters and lawyers. Plastic covers had been added along the bar separating the audience and lawyers as a precaution against the pandemic. Two large flat screen televisions were placed in front of the judge’s bench to show a live feed of Chauvin, who sat with jail personnel in a separate conference room.

Chauvin waived a reading of the complaint against him.

Frank quickly summarized the charges, and what has been seen by millions from around the world by witness videos of the arrest and death of George Floyd.

Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck “while he went limp and eventually lifeless,” Frank said. “Obviously, the death of George Floyd has had a strong reaction in the community, to put it mildly.”

Chauvin sat with his hands under a table for most of the hearing, at times looking like he was leaning forward to better hear questions from the judge and the video stream.

Nelson, Chauvin’s lawyer, quickly ducked out of a side door at the courthouse after the hearing as dozens of reporters from around the country waited outside.

“I’m not making any comments at this time,” Nelson said.

Chauvin’s former colleagues, J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are charged as accomplices.

A video recorded by a bystander showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he told the officers he couldn’t breathe and warned them that he was going to die. Lane and Kueng were out of view restraining Floyd’s body.

The video also showed bystanders begging the officers to stop, and Thao standing watch nearby dismissing witnesses’ concerns.

All four were fired days after Floyd was killed on Memorial Day.

Kueng, Lane and Thao are each charged with one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

The three are being held at the Hennepin County jail on $1 million bail without conditions or $750,000 bail with conditions.

Attorneys for Kueng and Lane told a judge during their clients’ first appearances last week that they were rookies with just a few days of experience and looked to Chauvin, the most senior officer at the scene, for guidance.

“At all times Mr. Kueng and Mr. Lane turned their attention to that 19-year veteran,” Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, said last week. “[Kueng] was trying — they were trying to communicate that this situation needs to change direction.”

Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, argued last week that his client had asked two times if they should roll Floyd onto his side but Chauvin said no.

“What was [Lane] supposed to do … go up to Mr. Chauvin and grab him and throw him off?” said Gray, who plans to argue at a future hearing that there’s not enough evidence to prosecute his client.

Lane and Kueng had responded about 8:08 p.m. to a call that a man used a counterfeit $20 bill at the Cup Foods on the corner of Chicago Avenue and E. 38th Street. They found Floyd sitting in a car nearby, handcuffed him and attempted to put him in their squad car. Chauvin and Thao arrived to assist.

While charging documents said Chauvin pulled Floyd out of the squad, Gray said last week that Floyd resisted arrest, “asserted himself” and later “flew out” of the squad through his own actions.

Lane restrained Floyd’s legs, Kueng held onto his back and Chauvin knelt on his neck as he lay in the street.

At one point, Kueng took Floyd’s pulse and told his former colleagues he couldn’t detect one. Chauvin is accused of keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck for about two minutes after Kueng’s statement.

Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds total, according to the complaint.

Kueng, Lane and Thao are scheduled to make their next court appearance on June 29.

 

This story has been corrected to state that Jeannice Reding is a district court judge, not a circuit court judge as was previously reported.

Source Article from https://www.startribune.com/1-25m-bail-set-for-chauvin-in-floyd-death/571099132/

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FLORIDA TODAY’s Rob Landers brings you some of today’s top stories on the News in 90 Seconds for June 8.

Florida Today

A Brevard chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police posted a now deleted advertisement over the weekend calling on those officers involved in violent incidents in Buffalo, NY and Atlanta, GA, to join the ranks of local police agencies, drawing howls of outrage from citizens across Florida.

“Hey Buffalo 57… and Atlanta 6… we are hiring in Florida. Lower taxes, no spineless leadership, or dumb mayors rambling on at press conferences… Plus… we got your back! #lawandorderFlorida,” reads the June 6 post made at 1:21 a.m  on the Brevard County F.O.P. Facebook page. The post, deleted sometime Monday morning garnered over 2,000 comments and 1,000 shares. 

The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the country, representing some 300,000 members across some 2,000 local “lodges.” Critics say the non-profit organization is a major obstacle to policing reform through their advocacy and deep ties to police unions.

The President of the Brevard County lodge acknowledged that the post was legitimate and defended its recruiting efforts as well as the actions of the Buffalo and Atlanta police officers involved in the widely condemned incidents. Some of those officers have been arrested and face criminal charges.

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called body cam footage of the incident “disturbing on many levels.”

USA TODAY

In Buffalo, 57 police officers quit their unit after two of their colleagues were suspended for pushing an unarmed 75-year-old man to the ground, cracking his skull. The incident was caught on video.

In Atlanta. six officers were criminally charged, four with felonies, for the arrest of two black college students, a man and a woman, while leaving a protest in their car. The incident, also caught on video, shows them violently removing the pair from the vehicle, tasing them and slamming them to the ground. One of the students suffered a broken wrist and a deep gash.

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A 75-year-old man suffered a head injury and is in ‘stable but serious condition’ after he was shoved by police during a protest in Buffalo, New York.

Storyful

Brevard County F.O.P. President Bert Gamin, who said he is a 28-year law enforcement veteran, with two years as a Melbourne Police Department reservist and 26 years with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, claimed responsibility for the recruitment post.

“Our citizens have a right to protest peacefully and legally. They do not have a right to block roadways, trespass on private property or disobey lawful commands from law enforcement officers,” he wrote in response to emailed questions from FLORIDA TODAY.

He also defended the incidents in Buffalo and Atlanta. 

“The police had the legal authority in both cases. At the time the warnings were provided, the citizens were already breaking the law. Those citizens chose to disregard the warnings. It led directly to escalations and confrontations with the police. When we issue lawful commands/warnings, citizens have a responsibility to comply. The reality is failure to comply leads to escalation.”

“As it specifically relates to the elderly gentleman in Buffalo, he and others were repeatedly warned by the police to leave the area. They disobeyed the orders, ‘he wrote, adding “Those Buffalo officers, like many across this nation, are being placed in absolute no-win situations. That field force unit was ordered to clear the area. They followed the orders they were given and followed their training.”

Gamin also implied that his fellow lodge members felt the same way.

 “Members of my lodge and many who I work with express their frustrations to me daily,” he said, adding:  “No one on the planet condones what happened to Mr. Floyd.” 

Gamin was honored by the BCSO in 2018 for saving a 72-year-old woman from a vehicle that rolled off the road into a swamp.

But Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey distanced himself from the Brevard F.O.P. posts in a statement on Facebook, calling them “extremely distasteful and insensitive to current important and critical issues that are occurring across our country.”

Ivey said comments by the organization or its members have no connection to his agency and “do not in any way represent the views of our agency.”

Ivey said BCSO members are represented by “another association.”

Prominent local city and state officials also denounced the posting, including state Representative Randy Fine (R—Palm Bay), who called on Ivey to fire Gamin who is a BCSO Lieutenant.

While he recognized union rules may make it difficult for Gamin to be dismissed, “I hope the Sheriff fires him,” Fine said. 

The Brevard County F.O.P  says it provides support to over 600 officers and deputies according to its website, but Gamin said the membership is “approximately 190.”

“The FOP exists for the purpose of improving the conditions of policeman (sic) and for advancing social, benevolent, charitable and educational undertakings among policemen, and the community,” according to the Brevard FOP Facebook page.

“We provide a social setting and legal representation, depending on their level of membership,” he said.

The chapter, the J.W. Dunn Memorial Lodge #37, is the oldest in the county, established in 1965 according to their site. Gamin said membership includes officers in the BCSO, Cocoa Beach PD, Satellite Beach PD, Indian Harbour Beach PD, Melbourne PD, Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), and “many retired members from agencies all over the Country.” The Facebook page also says Rockledge PD officers are members. A BCSO command staff as well as officers in several other agencies are listed as officers for the non-profit on their tax forms.

Vickey Mitchner, who organized the Space Coast’s largest peaceful demonstration on Saturday, said she hoped to see Brevard police departments distance themselves from the inflammatory Facebook postings.

“People are marching (against) police brutality and injustices … that was an unnecessary comment and very offensive to victims who have suffered at the hand of police brutality,” she said. 

Lt. Mike Smith, a spokesman for the Palm Bay Police department, Brevard’s largest municipality, said Palm Bay officers are not represented by the FOP chapter that made the recruitment post.

“Whatever or whoever that represents has nothing to do with the city of Palm Bay or the Palm Bay PD,” Smith said, noting officers from the city are represented by lodge #111.

“Certain people or organizations have opinions or agendas, and we all get lumped into that, but we definitely do things different here in Palm Bay, which is why we have such a strong relationship with our communities,” he added.

Palm Bay’s Police Chief Nelson Moya had joined peaceful demonstrations in the county in the past week.

By noon on Monday the City of Rockledge and the Satellite Beach Police Department also took to Facebook to disavow the post in nearly identical statements. 

“The City of (Rockledge/ Satellite Beach) Mayor, City Council, City Manager and staff would again like to thank the thousands of members of the community who have spoken out against racial injustice, police brutality, and hate in a peaceful, organized effort to enact change – we stand with you,” both statements read.

A short time later Cocoa and Melbourne Police Departments joined the chorus of disapproval, adding they’ve requested the removal of an image of MPD police vehicle from the FOP Facebook page.  

“We are grateful to our community members who have spoken out and peacefully demonstrated in recent days against racial injustice and police brutality,” Chief David Gillespie wrote in a statemetn. “We remain committed to continued discussions with our local community in the days, weeks and months to come.”

Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon is a Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact him at 321-355-8144, asassoon@floridatoday.com and Twitter: @alemzs

J.D. Gallop is Criminal Justice Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact him at 321-917-4641, jdgallop@floridatoday.com and Twitter: @JDGallop

Source Article from https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/06/08/brevard-county-fraternal-order-police-facebook-posts-draw-ire/5317923002/

“With the video footage we are now seeing, even the typical voter who’s all for law and order is not going to be able to ignore the fact that in some police departments, in the department themselves, they lack law and order,” said Representative Anthony G. Brown, Democrat of Maryland.

Mr. Brown likened this moment to the violence that law enforcement inflicted on civil rights protesters in the 1960s, which he said was when “decent Americans woke up and said, ‘Hey, that’s wrong, we have to do something.’”

Just as there were divisions in the civil rights movement between older leaders and younger, more radical activists, however, some of the same generational differences exist today.

“I’ve seen this in neighborhood meetings where a young person will come in and say, ‘We have too many police officers here,’ and I’ll see a senior saying, ‘Oh, no, no, that’s not true,’” said Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, a Democrat.

This split has also found its way into the ranks of Democratic lawmakers. On Monday, Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina — who is now the highest-ranking black member of Congress but, in his youth, was jailed during protests — bitterly complained on a private conference call with other lawmakers about those trying to “hijack” the swelling movement with calls to defund the police.

Later on the call, however, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 30, warned against actions that would “demoralize or undercut” protest leaders, according to a House Democratic official familiar with the conversation.

Mr. Biden has sought to avoid inflaming either constituency. In his speech last week, he was blunt that the story of America “isn’t a fairy tale.” Yet he invoked the Civil War, the Great Depression and often bloody civil rights protests to argue that “in some of our darkest moments of despair, we’ve made some of our greatest progress.”

Representative Colin Allred of Texas said that recalling past crises and the progress that emerged from them was a way to assure voters that better days are ahead while also recalling pre-Trump presidential leadership — “a call for change and a call for restoration,” as Mr. Allred, a Democrat, put it.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/us/politics/biden-defund-the-police.html

Democrats unveiled sweeping new legislation Monday that, if passed, would increase accountability of police officers by banning certain practices and significantly curbing immunity from legal consequences stemming from acts committed in the line of duty.

The bill comes as Americans across the country have protested against racism and police brutality in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, who was pinned to the ground by his neck by a Minneapolis police officer.

‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ WRESTS SUPPORT FROM POLITICIANS COAST-TO-COAST

“We’re here because black Americans want to stop being killed,” Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told reporters at a Monday press conference, but noted that “reforming policing is in the best interest of all Americans.”

The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 would lower the bar for police officers to face criminal prosecution by allowing charges not just in cases where alleged misconduct was intentional, but also in cases of reckless misconduct. It also seeks to incentivize independent investigations at the state and local level and allow more “pattern and practice” investigations by state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The bill also includes a provision for a separate crime for conspiring to violate federal hate crime laws, which would theoretically add a charge against mob-style lynchings. A recent anti-lynching bill failed.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR JACOB FREY REJECTS CITY COUNCIL’S PUSH TO DEFUND POLICE, DESPITE VETO-PROOF MAJORITY

Through the bill, Democrats seek to establish a national use of force standard, ban federal use of chokeholds and racial profiling, and set up a National Police Misconduct Registry to maintain public records of officers’ violations.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said that chokeholds and knees to the neck like what George Floyd experience were “unacceptable,” “uncivilized” and “un-American,” and that under this bill would be “unlawful.”

Prior to the press conference, Democratic lawmakers led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a nearly nine-minute long moment of silence — taking a knee for the same amount of time that Floyd was kept on the ground — and wearing African-style kente scarves, which Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., later said was for “respecting our past.”

Addressing the media, Pelosi said that “transformative change” was necessary to better the country, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to help swiftly pass the bill.

“A divided nation cannot wait for healing, for solutions,” Schumer said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supported black Americans protesting after Floyd’s death, saying the country “cannot deafen itself to the anger, pain, or frustration of black Americans.”

Harris claimed that in addition to police misconduct, “there is a broader issue that is not being addressed in this bill.” That issue, she said, is that people are erroneously equating safer communities with more police officers.

“The real way to achieve safe and healthy communities is to invest in those communities,” she said, “in affordable housing, in the ability for homeownership, jobs, funding for public schools, giving people access to capital so they can grow those small businesses that are part of the leadership and health of these communities.”

That sentiment is similar to a recent rallying cry among Democrats to “defund the police” and reallocate money toward community initiatives.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who supports the new bill, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that while he understands the sentiment behind this, “it’s not a slogan I will use.”

Some Democrats have called for disbanding police forces altogether. The Minneapolis City Council has already said they plan to do this in the aftermath of Floyd’s death.

Republicans are stepping up attacks on Democrats who are going along with calls disband the police.

“No industry is safe from the Democrats’ abolish culture,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Michael McAdams said in a statement. “First they wanted to abolish private health insurance, then it was capitalism and now it’s the police.”

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But Republicans are not the only ones opposing this. Bass told CNN Sunday that she is against disbanding police departments.

“Now I don’t believe that you should disband police departments,” she said but she did agree with the idea that cities and states “need to look at how we are spending the resources and invest more in our communities.”

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-unveil-sweeping-police-reform-aimed-at-holding-cops-accountable

Protests against racism and police brutality are not isolated to the United States. George Floyd’s death has struck a chord all around the world. Elizabeth Palmer reports from London. 

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Source Article from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBgxupJQKns

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of mourners streamed into a Texas church on Monday to honor African American George Floyd, who died in police custody two weeks ago, as pressure mounted in Congress and across the United States for sweeping reforms to the justice system.

Demonstrators’ anger over the May 25 death of Floyd, 46, is giving way to a growing determination to make his case a turning point in race relations and a lightning rod for change in the way police departments function across the country.

Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, the white officer accused of killing him, knelt on his neck for nine minutes in Minneapolis. A bystander’s cellphone captured the scene as Floyd pleaded with the officer, choking out the words, “I can’t breathe.”

The incident triggered two weeks of protests in U.S. cities, deepening a political crisis for President Donald Trump, who repeatedly threatened to order active duty troops onto the streets to put an end to bursts of looting and vandalism.

In Houston, where Floyd grew up, American flags fluttered along the route to the Fountain of Praise church as hundreds of people, wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, formed a procession. Some bowed their heads, while others made the sign of the cross when they reached Floyd’s casket.

“I’m glad he got the send-off he deserved,” Marcus Williams, a 46-year-old black resident of Houston, said outside the church. “I want the police killings to stop. I want them to reform the process to achieve justice, and stop the killing.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is challenging the Republican Trump in a Nov. 3 election, met Floyd’s relatives for more than an hour in Houston on Monday, according to the family’s lawyer Benjamin Crump.

“He listened, heard their pain, and shared in their woe,” Crump said on Twitter. Floyd will be buried on Tuesday.

In Washington, Democrats in Congress unveiled legislation that would make lynching a hate crime and allow victims of misconduct and their families to sue police for damages in civil court, ending a legal doctrine known as qualified immunity.

Their 134-page bill also would ban chokeholds and require the use of body cameras by federal law enforcement officers, restrict the use of lethal force, and facilitate independent probes of police departments that show patterns of misconduct.

It does not call for the funding of police departments to be cut or abolished, as some protesters and activists have sought. But lawmakers called for spending priorities to change.

“We have confused having safe communities with hiring more cops on the street … when in fact the real way to achieve safe and healthy communities is to invest in these communities,” Senator Kamala Harris, seen as a potential running-mate to Biden, said at a briefing.

Trump, who has portrayed himself as a defender of law and order during the protests, “is appalled by the defund-the-police movement,” White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told a media briefing. She said Trump was weighing various proposals in response to Floyd’s death.

Biden does not support the movement to defund police departments as a response to police brutality, but is in favor of the “urgent need” for reform, a spokesman for his presidential campaign said on Monday.

Democrats vowed to bring the legislation in coming weeks to the floor of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The support of the Republican-controlled Senate and Trump would be needed for the measure to become law if it passes the House.

COURT HEARING

Huge weekend crowds gathered across the country and in Europe. The high-spirited atmosphere was marred late on Sunday when a man drove a car into a rally in Seattle and then shot and wounded a demonstrator who confronted him.

Police killings have sparked calls for reforms here and renewed calls for racial equality as the United States reopens after weeks of unprecedented lockdowns for the coronavirus pandemic.

Bail for Chauvin, the officer who was captured on video with his knee on Floyd’s neck, was raised to $1.25 million, from $1 million, during a court hearing in Minneapolis on Monday, Minnesota’s Star Tribune reported.

Slideshow (29 Images)

Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree and third-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter, appeared on video link, handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit and sitting at a small table.

Three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. All four officers have been fired.

Tensions have been running high in the Minnesota city. A majority of the members on the city council pledged on Sunday to abolish the police department in favor of a community-led safety model, a step that was unthinkable before Floyd’s death.

Reporting by Erwin Seba and Gary McWilliams in Houston, David Morgan and Susan Heavey in Washington, Nathan Layne and Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Howard Goller

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests/mourners-gather-to-honor-george-floyd-as-push-to-reform-u-s-police-intensifies-idUSKBN23F0L1

Former Vice President Joe Biden broke with Black Lives Matter in a statement released Monday by his campaign saying he does not support the nationwide “defund the police” movement that has gained ground following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

“Biden does not believe that police should be defunded. He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain,” Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.

It went on to say that Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, supports “the urgent need for reform,” including funding for public schools, summer programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, “so that officers can focus on the job of policing.”

“This also means funding community policing programs that improve relationships between officers and residents, and provides the training that is needed to avert tragic, unjustifiable deaths,” the statement said.

According to the statement, Biden said funding should be made available so police departments can diversify to “resemble the communities in which they serve.”

He also called for more funding for body cameras.

“There are many police departments across the country who are seeking to realize these kinds of changes, but haven’t had the resources to — and the Trump Administration has in fact made obtaining those resources more difficult. This is at the core of Joe Biden’s plan to bring transformative change to our criminal justice system,” it said.

The Trump re-election campaign dismissed Biden’s stance as a “weak statement from a mid-level staffer.”

“Until Americans hear from Joe Biden himself, they have no way of knowing where he really stands,” Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.

“Joe Biden is the leader of his party and he could single-handedly step in and steer elected Democrats away from this terrible policy, which invites chaos in American communities, but he has remained secluded in his basement saying nothing. The ‘Defund the Police’ train has already left the Democrat station, and Joe Biden is merely a weak passenger,” Murtaugh said in the statement.

Trump, who has positioned himself as the “law and order” candidate, has been goading Biden to take a stand on the issue over the past several days.

“LAW & ORDER, NOT DEFUND AND ABOLISH THE POLICE. The Radical Left Democrats have gone Crazy!” Trump tweeted on Monday.

On Sunday, the president lumped Biden in with the other Democrats who have supported the effort.

“Sleepy Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats want to ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’. I want great and well paid LAW ENFORCEMENT. I want LAW & ORDER!,” the president tweeted.

A number of cities — including New York, Los Angeles and Minneapolis — are considering dismantling or diverting funds from their police departments to youth and social service programs.

“Policing matters for sure, but the investments in our youth are foundational,” New York Mayor Bill De Blasio told reporters Sunday during a City Hall press briefing. “We will be moving funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services.”

Protesters and members of Black Lives Matter have been demanding to “defund the police” at national rallies against Floyd’s May 25 killing.

Derek Chauvin, the white officer who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, has been charged with second-degree murder in the black man’s death.

Three other officers who were involved in detaining Floyd have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/biden-breaks-with-blm-movement-to-oppose-defunding-the-police/

Leaders in different cities have advocated various specific plans, but generally speaking, the calls aim to reimagine public safety tactics in ways that are different from traditional police forces. Activists say their intent is to ensure safety and justice but to wind up with a different system. Years of consent decrees and investigations into human rights violations by police departments have yielded little change, they say, so a more fundamental shift is needed.

Some proposals call for ending no-knock warrants and military-style raids. Others seek to restrict the flow of military-style gear to police departments and change police tactics used against protesters. One group described an idea for policing in which attendees look out for one another but emergency workers are standing by in the background, handing out water and ready to step in if needed.

Some cities have already made changes to policing. In the city of Austin, Texas, 911 calls are answered by operators who inquire whether the caller needs police, fire or mental health services — part of a major revamping of public safety that took place last year when the city budget added millions of dollars for mental health issues. In Eugene, Ore., a team called CAHOOTS — Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets — deploys a medic and a crisis worker with mental health training to emergency calls. Camden, N.J., revamped its policing in 2017 with officers handing out more warnings than tickets and undergoing training that places emphasis on officers holding their fire.

Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council pledged at a rally to dismantle the Police Department. They promised to create a new system of public safety, saying that the city’s current policing system could not be reformed. Council members say they aren’t certain exactly what policing will look like once they’re finished, and they caution plans will take a long time to execute.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/us/what-does-defund-police-mean.html