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Donald Trump’s ordering police officers to use tear gas to disperse protesters so he could walk to a nearby church for a purely gratuitous photo op last night was both stunningly un-American and thoroughly un-Christian. The stunt, and the threatening speech that preceded it, are further evidence that Trump does not stand for core American values, which celebrate peaceful protest and the right to assemble. Using the Bible as a prop after mobilizing the military against the American people was a cynical attempt to use Christianity as a veneer for his authoritarian aspirations. No principled American or person of faith can in good conscience defend these actions by a sitting president. They must be condemned in the strongest of terms. —Evan McMullin
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1. Trump orders military to 'dominate the streets'
During a Rose Garden address on Monday evening, President Trump urged the nation's governors to deploy the National Guard to halt violent protests that have roiled the nation since the death of George Floyd last week. Perhaps inspired by Sen. Tom Cotton, who tweeted about it earlier, Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty military to cities and "quickly solve the problem for them." After the address, police attacked peaceful protesters gathered in Lafayette Park with tear gas to clear a path for the president—along with an entourage that included Attorney General Bill Barr, Defense Sec. Mark Esper, and Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley—to stand outside of a local church and hold up a Bible. The move angered church officials, who were not informed in advance of the stunt. —Defense One
- — Another Twitter tough guy. Rep. Matt Gaetz called for members of Antifa to be hunted down like "terrorists" in a tweet yesterday, prompting Twitter to flag it for "glorifying violence." Undeterred, Gaetz called the warning a "badge of honor" and continued to tweet about the group, stating that "our government should hunt them down." —Politico
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- — The threats did little to stop protesters. Hundreds of people were arrested in New York City, despite an increased police presence on the streets. In Philadelphia, gangs of white counter-protesters loitered in multiple neighborhoods. Both cities have issued a curfew. —The Daily Beast
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- — An arrest in Tennessee. Nashville police have arrested Wesley Somers on charges of felony arson, vandalism, and disorderly conduct for setting fire to Nashville's Historic Courthouse. About 30 businesses and buildings were damaged during protests there. —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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- — Violence goes on in Louisville. Restaurant owner and "community pillar" David McAtee died yesterday after police and National Guard members opened fire at a protest, and his body was subsequently left in the street for 12 hours. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ordered an investigation into the shooting, which revealed that police did not have their body cameras turned on, resulting in the firing of Police Chief Steve Conrad. —Business Insider
- — Omaha boils over. Hundreds gathered last night in Omaha, Neb., to protest after prosecutors decided not to charge a white bar owner who shot a young black man, James Scurlock, to death during a confrontation two days earlier. The prosecutor's office said the actions of the shooter were justified. —The Daily Beast
- — Floyd autopsy results conflicted. An independent autopsy on George Floyd concluded that he died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure" when his neck and back were kneeled upon by Derek Chauvin—in opposition to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who found no physical findings to support this diagnosis. —CNN
More: Biden says country is 'crying out for leadership' amid protests (CBS News)
3. Exploiting protests for sinister gain
Whenever there's a crisis of any kind, there's no shortage of bad actors who will exploit it to amplify their own agenda or foment confusion and chaos. The current protests are no exception. An image of the Washington Monument on fire. Claims spread under the #dcblackout hashtag that cellphones and other communication devices were blocked to allow violent police reprisals to go unreported. These are just a couple examples of protest-related disinformation that has spread on social media. —NPR
- — Russia and China get in on the act. The two countries are flooding social media with content targeting the ongoing unrest and violence. Since May 30, government officials, state-backed media outlets, and other Twitter users linked to either Beijing or Moscow have increasingly piggybacked onto hashtags linked to George Floyd to push divisive messages and criticize Washington's handling of the unfolding crisis. —Politico
— While multiracial coalitions have marched peacefully, people of all races also appear to be participating in violence, vandalism, and looting. In some cities, local officials say black demonstrators have struggled to maintain peaceful protests in the face of young white men joining the fray, determined to commit mayhem. —The Washington Post-
- — "Public protests like this are going to attract people of all kinds," says Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. "No extremist is going to miss an opportunity to try to leverage a crisis to amplify their views and push their agenda." —Yahoo News
More: The Boogaloo movement wants to be seen as anti-racist, but it has a white supremacist fringe (Middlebury Institute of International Studies)
"My job as a reporter in China included trying to ask questions at government press conferences where authorities peddled lies and half-truths constantly. If somebody had told me that two decades later, White House press briefings would be that way too, I would have accused them of peddling dystopian science fiction. But here we are. My China reporting PTSD sometimes gets triggered if I watch those briefings on TV.
President Donald Trump has taken a page right out of the CCP's playbook, even as he moves to punish China for having 'ripped off the United States.' On Friday, he announced that he will remove Hong Kong's special trading status in response to Beijing's crackdown on civil liberties there. Yet even as he takes this position, his own efforts to bend the law, demonize the press, lie to the American public, and keep himself in office by suppressing the vote, threaten to make America more like China." —CNN
Ed. Note: Rebecca MacKinnon is the author of "Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom," the founding director of the Ranking Digital Rights research program at New America, and a fellow with the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.
10. An American Story: Helping hands supplying food
Dani Tuller and Mike Mirande of Bucks Co., Pa., are using their extra time to team up with some friends to raise money for "Fuel the Fight," a GoFundMe initiative that raises money to purchase food from local restaurants for frontline workers.
- — "We get the money, we call the hospital, we set it up, we see how many people are on each shift, how many people we can accommodate, and then we reach out to our individual vendors," said Mirande.
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- — Through the GoFundMe account, they have doubled their $5,000 goal in a month, and it keeps growing.
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- — "The hospitals and healthcare workers are really just grateful for what we can provide so we usually do sandwiches with a side," said Tuller. Great job, Dani and Mike! —ABC News
Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis and recent unrest. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected]. Thank you!
Thanks for your coverage on George Floyd's tragic murder and the violent protests. As another person commented, not all police officers are bad. There are many who are fair. But there seems to be a culture in the fraternity of not stopping your fellow officers from going too far. Why did those other officers simply stand by and do nothing to stop the cruel violence that was being inflicted on a helpless human being by an arrogant fellow officer? This "Three Musketeers" culture needs to stop! —Tracy C., Utah
I think San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich says it better than anyone in this article: https://sports.yahoo.com/gregg-popovich-unleashes-fiery-statement-on-trump-what-we-have-is-a-fool-in-place-of-a-president-184310589.html —Jamie H., Montana
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