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Our nation is reeling right now, and yet despite our divisions, a critical mass of Americans is united against police brutality and systemic racism. While it has taken our nation too long to get to this point, costing lives, and a sense of mutual trust, we should see this moment as an opportunity to catalyze real change. Yesterday, I was honored to co-host for Stand Up Republic an open conversation about addressing racial injustice and building a more inclusive America with principled conservatives Tara Setmayer, Shermichael Singleton, and Joe Pinion. If you missed it, we encourage you to watch it here. If you've felt despair at the state of our nation, we hope it will help restore your faith that America is wounded, but not broken, and we will make progress by leaning into common ground. —Mindy Finn
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1. Protesters...or terrorists?
President Trump tweeted out a letter yesterday that referred to a group of protesters as "terrorists," following their violent ouster from a park near the White House on Monday. The letter, signed by Trump's former lawyer John Dowd and addressed to "Jim," lambastes former Defense Sec. James Mattis for daring to call out Trump for threatening a military response to protests that have engulfed cities across the country. Dowd calls the protesters who were forced out of Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Square "terrorists using idle hate … to burn and destroy." Elsewhere, Mattis received support for his public condemnation of the president. The former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Ret. Gen. Martin Dempsey called Trump's threat to use military force "dangerous" and "very troubling," and Trump's former chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, spoke out in defense of Mattis as well. —Politico
- — A "great day" for George Floyd? Trump sparked outrage again today, during a White House event in which he touted the latest unemployment report and downplayed the protests continuing across the country. "Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, 'This is a great thing that's happening for our country.' This is a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody," he said. —The Guardian
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- — Twitter ups the ante. Twitter has blocked a Trump campaign video over a copyright claim, adding tension to the ongoing dispute between the social media platform and the president. The company put a label on a video tribute to Floyd, posted by the @TeamTrump account, that said, "This media has been disabled in response to a claim by the copyright owner." It did not say who made the complaint. —NBC News
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- — Civil rights groups sue. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and other groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration and federal law enforcement agencies yesterday, saying they violated the constitutional rights of the demonstrators who were violently evacuated from a Washington, D.C., park on Monday evening. —NPR
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- — Barr under fire again. A group of about 80 House Democrats wrote a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Barr's "evident role in suppressing the right of the American people to redress their grievances" on Monday. Some have demanded his resignation. Another massive protest is planned in the capital tomorrow. —Forbes
More: How to fix American policing (The Economist)
2. Shafer: Throwing a spotlight on a bad law
"According to the Insurrection Act's section 332, presidents can dispatch federal troops to American cities over the objections of their governors when conditions 'make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States.' Presidents don't need such broad, godlike powers to help maintain civil order. For one thing, local police, sheriffs, state patrols, and state national guards almost always possess the necessary force to contain riots and protect public safety. When governors lack such force and sense things are out of control, other portions of the act allow them to request federal troops, as Republican California Gov. Pete Wilson did during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. [T]he military neither desires the role of occupying force, as retired Marine Corps general James Mattis reminded us Wednesday, nor is it trained in the techniques of law enforcement. So why not sunset section 332?" —Politico
More: DC mayor says she wants out-of-state troops 'out of Washington' (CNN)
I've heard, I can't count the times, that "enough is enough." In reality, "ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH" when, on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. That's a bit more than 159 years ago. And we still sit on our hands with an ingrained racist basis for our country. White America, and white Christians, have to realize this and truly understand the egregious ways we have been treating black Americans, our true and loving brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, there is a swampland on Pennsylvania Avenue that exists only to put out the light. —Steven B., Florida
Wanted to remind all TOPLINE readers to be vigilant about voting rights! Here in Ohio, the state house voted along party lines to make voting more difficult. "House Bill 680 would block the Ohio Secretary of State from prepaying return postage on applications for absentee ballots or on the ballots themselves. It calls for shortening the time allowed for requesting an absentee ballot to seven days before Election Day." —Mark M., Ohio
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