POSSIBLE PERSUASIVE TEXTS FOR ENGLISH 103, Part 1—TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Coverage of Protests (+Arrests/Charges) 2

B. Coverage of Sports 32

C. Coverage of Labor Disputes/American Policy Debates (Including Judicial Challenges to Trump) 35

D. Coverage of Police Brutality/Officer-Involved Shootings 50

E. Coverage of Bombings and Missile Tests 62

F. Coverage of State Policies’ Impact on Refugees/Asylum-Seekers/Displaced People 69

G. Not for use in your first papers—Public Intellectuals’ Analyses of Texts 84

1. KKK Rally in Feb 2016
• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-klan-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence-one-man-
stabbed-20160227-story.html
Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence; 3 are stabbed and 13 arrested
KKK rally in Anaheim

[Date: February 29, 2016; author: James Queally]

Three people were stabbed and 13 others were arrested when a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupted in
violence Saturday, police said.
A small group of people representing the Klan had announced that it would hold a rally at Pearson Park at
1:30 p.m., police said. By 11 a.m., several dozen protesters had shown up to confront the Klan. About an hour
later, several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived in an SUV near the edge of the park.
------------
FOR THE RECORD
An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Anaheim police officers escorted KKK members around
the edge of the park when klan members arrived on scene.
Fighting broke out moments after Klan members exited the vehicle. Some of the protesters could be seen
kicking a man whose shirt read “Grand Dragon.” At some point, a protester collapsed on the ground bleeding,
crying that he had been stabbed. The bloody incident took place in Anaheim and police said there was fighting for
a city block. Thirteen people -- six KKK members and seven protesters -- were arrested. A Klansman in handcuffs
could be heard telling a police officer that he “stabbed him in self-defense.” Several other people were also
handcuffed.
Witnesses said the Klansmen used the point of a flagpole as a weapon while fighting with protesters. Two
other protesters were stabbed during the melee — one with a knife and the other with an unidentified weapon,
said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department.
Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said he
was standing near the KKK members when several protesters attacked them with two-by-fours and other
weapons. Several of the Klan members jumped in the SUV and sped off, leaving three others to “fend for
themselves,” Levin said.Levin had been trying to interview the KKK ringleader, whom he identified as William
Quigg, an Anaheim resident. Quigg is the leader of the Loyal White Knights in California and other Western states,
a sect of the hate group that aims to raise awareness about illegal immigration, terrorism and street crime, Levin
said. They see themselves as a “Klan without robes” and model themselves after David Duke, the Louisiana-based
former grand wizard of the Klan, Levin said.Levin said he was standing next to Quigg when a crowd of protesters
swarmed the Klan members. Levin said he pushed the Klan leader away as the violence continued and a protester
was stabbed. Levin said he asked Quigg, “How do you feel that a Jewish guy just saved your life?” “Thank you,” the
Klan leader replied, according to Levin. A few minutes later, a crowd of about 100 people cheered when police
handcuffed Quigg and one of his followers.
Many people at the park demanded to know why Anaheim police did not have a larger presence before
the violence broke out. Levin was also critical of the lack of a police presence. “There were no police officers here
when this started happening,” he said. “It was the longest few minutes between when the SUV was attacked and
when the police responded in droves,” Levin said.
“I think the police response saved their lives,” he added, referring to Klan members. “They would have
been torn limb from limb.” The Klan rally — to decry, as one of them put it, “illegal immigration and Muslims” —
was initially planned for 1:30 p.m., police said. “I was expecting violence — but it's disgusting,” said Nick Keeton,
18, of Anaheim. “I feel like this is 1953 and we're in Kentucky.” Martin Buenorostro said a friend, whom he would
identify only by his nickname, “FuzzBuzz,” was wounded when one of the Klan members began using a flagpole as
a weapon to fend off the crowd surrounding their vehicle.“They started pulling out weapons,” Buenorostro said of
the Klansmen. “One of them had the flag, the American flag, with the pointed top and I think that's what got my
friend. It's a serious wound. It wasn't like the blood was dripping out. It gushed out of him.”
Six Klan members (five men and one woman) and seven protesters (six men and one woman) were
arrested, Wyatt said. The Klan members were arrested in connection with the stabbings, he said. The protesters
were arrested on charges related to physical assaults on Klan members. The stab victims were in stable condition,
Wyatt said. All could face charges of assault with a deadly weapon, though Wyatt said “some people could have a
self-defense claim.” He did not say if he was referring to the Klan members or the protesters.
The Klan has a long and troubling history with the city. Klansmen were once the dominant political force
in Anaheim, holding four of five City Council seats before a recall effort led to their ouster in 1924. At the height of
the group's power in Orange County, nearly 300 Klansmen lived in Anaheim, patrolling city streets in robes and
masks. A large KKK rally once attracted 20,000 people to the city.
(…)
"Even if the vast majority of our community disagrees with a particular group who visits our city we cannot
stop them from lawfully gathering to express their opinions,'' Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said in a
statement. "Violence is not acceptable, and we will arrest anybody who assaults another person or commits any
other crime in our city.''

• http://ktla.com/2016/02/27/3-stabbed-after-kkk-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence/
3 Stabbed, 12 Arrested and 1 Person Sought After KKK, Protesters Clash in Anaheim

[Date: Feb 27, 2016; authors: Ashley Soley-Cerro, Tracy Bloom and Steve Kuzj]

Three people were stabbed, 12 were arrested — including a juvenile — and one man was being sought
after a “walking protest” involving the Ku Klux Klan turned violent as members of the group clashed with
counterprotesters in Anaheim on Saturday, according to the local police department.
A Ku Klux Klansman, left, struggles with a protester for an American flag after members of the KKK tried to
start a "White Lives Matter" rally at Pearson Park in Anaheim on Saturday. Three people were treated at the scene
for stab wounds, and 13 people were arrested. (Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A Ku Klux Klansman, left, struggles with a protester for an American flag after members of the KKK tried to start a
"White Lives Matter" rally at Pearson Park in Anaheim on Saturday. Three people were treated at the scene for
stab wounds, and 13 people were arrested. (Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Violence erupted after six suspected members of the KKK arrived at the south side of Pearson Park, located at 400
North Harbor Blvd., for a planned “walking protest,” an Anaheim Police Department news release stated.
About 30 counterprotesters immediately confronted the KKK members, police said. During the melee, KKK
members allegedly stabbed three counterprotesters, and two KKK members were “stomped on the ground” by
counterprotesters, according to police. Four people were hospitalized, including the three stabbing victims and
one stomping victim, who was listed in stable condition.
One of the stabbing victims was initially transported to an area hospital and said to be in critical condition,
but police later said he was stable. The two other stabbing victims were also in stable condition. The other four
people who had been stomped on had suffered minor injuries and “refused treatment,” police said.It was not clear
who began the confrontation or what the victims were stabbed with…
Police initially said 13 people had been arrested, but on Saturday night said 12 were arrested — four of
whom were later released — and one man was still being sought. Five suspected KKK members — four males and
one female — were initially arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in connection to the stabbings.
And seven counterprotesters — six males and one female — were initially arrested on suspicion of assault with
force likely to cause great bodily injury.
One of those arrested was a male juvenile part of the group of counterprotesters, police said. Police
identified the seven adults who were arrested, including four on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon:
Charles Edward Donner, 51, of San Francisco; Marquis DeShawn Turner, 20, of Anaheim; Randy Omarcc Felder, 25,
of Lakewood; and Guy Harris, a 19-year-old transient. All found were being held on $25,000 bail. Three others who
were arrested on suspicion of elder abuse were also identified: Nicole Rae Schop, 24, of L.A.; Mark Anthony Liddell,
26, of L.A.; and Hugo Contreras, 38, of Hawthorne. All three were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Details on the
elder abuse allegations were not provided by police…

2. Standing Rock/NODAPL Protests in October 2016

• http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/28/police-arrest-141-people-in-north-dakota-oil-pipeline-
protest.html
Police arrest 141 people in North Dakota oil pipeline protest

[Date: October 28, 2016 ]

A months-long protest over the Dakota Access oil pipeline reached its most chaotic pitch yet when
hundreds of law enforcement officers moved in to force activists off private property. Thursday's nearly six-hour
operation dramatically escalated the dispute over Native American rights and the project's environmental impact,
with officers in riot gear firing bean bags and pepper spray.
Donnell Hushka, a spokeswoman for the Morton County Sheriff's Department, said 141 people were
arrested. No serious injuries were reported, though one man was hurt in the leg and received treatment from a
medic. Among those arrested was a woman who pulled out a .38-caliber pistol and fired three times at officers,
narrowly missing a sheriff's deputy, according to State Emergency Services spokeswoman Cecily Fong. Officers did
not return fire, she said.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that the camp had been cleared by nightfall. Though officials
earlier said they planned to turn the site over to private security, Kirchmeier said police would stay. "We're not
leaving the area," he said. "We are just going to make sure that we maintain a presence in the area so the roadway
stays open, and to keep individuals from camping on private land."…
The opposition ratcheted up over the weekend when protesters set up camp on private land owned by Energy
Transfer Partners — putting themselves for the first time directly in the project's path.The operation to push out
the protesters began a day after they had refused to leave voluntarily. Law enforcement repeatedly asked
protesters to retreat, at one point using a high-pitched whistle they said was intended to "control and disperse"
protesters.

• http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/us/dakota-access-pipeline-protest.html
Title and opening paragraphs: Tension Between Police and Standing Rock Protesters Reaches Boiling Point

[Date: October 28, 2016; authors: Sue Skalicky and Monica Davey]

For months, tensions had mounted between protesters and law enforcement officials over the fate of an oil
pipeline not far from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Late this week, the strained relations boiled over as
officers tried to force the protesters out of an area where they had been camping.
Scores of officers dressed in riot gear walked in a wide line, sweeping protesters out of the area as face-to-face
yelling matches broke out. Several vehicles, including at least one truck, were set ablaze. A standoff unfolded
beside a bridge known as the Backwater Bridge, where protesters set fire to wooden boards and signs and held off
the line of officers over many hours. By Friday evening, officers said they had arrested at least 142 protesters on
charges including engaging in a riot and conspiracy to endanger by fire and explosion. Protesters gathered near the
bridge were refusing to leave, the authorities said.
Each side complained vehemently about violent tactics by the other. Officers said that protesters had attacked
them with firebombs, logs, feces and debris. They acknowledged using pepper spray and beanbag rounds against
the protesters, as well as a high-pitched sound device meant to disperse crowds. In one case, the officers said, they
used a Taser gun after a protester threw pepper in officers’ faces. One woman who was being arrested, the
of Lakewood; and Guy Harris, a 19-year-old transient. All found were being held on $25,000 bail. Three others who
were arrested on suspicion of elder abuse were also identified: Nicole Rae Schop, 24, of L.A.; Mark Anthony Liddell,
26, of L.A.; and Hugo Contreras, 38, of Hawthorne. All three were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Details on the
elder abuse allegations were not provided by police…

2. Standing Rock/NODAPL Protests in October 2016

• http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/28/police-arrest-141-people-in-north-dakota-oil-pipeline-
protest.html
Police arrest 141 people in North Dakota oil pipeline protest

[Date: October 28, 2016 ]

A months-long protest over the Dakota Access oil pipeline reached its most chaotic pitch yet when
hundreds of law enforcement officers moved in to force activists off private property. Thursday's nearly six-hour
operation dramatically escalated the dispute over Native American rights and the project's environmental impact,
with officers in riot gear firing bean bags and pepper spray.
Donnell Hushka, a spokeswoman for the Morton County Sheriff's Department, said 141 people were
arrested. No serious injuries were reported, though one man was hurt in the leg and received treatment from a
medic. Among those arrested was a woman who pulled out a .38-caliber pistol and fired three times at officers,
narrowly missing a sheriff's deputy, according to State Emergency Services spokeswoman Cecily Fong. Officers did
not return fire, she said.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that the camp had been cleared by nightfall. Though officials
earlier said they planned to turn the site over to private security, Kirchmeier said police would stay. "We're not
leaving the area," he said. "We are just going to make sure that we maintain a presence in the area so the roadway
stays open, and to keep individuals from camping on private land."…
The opposition ratcheted up over the weekend when protesters set up camp on private land owned by Energy
Transfer Partners — putting themselves for the first time directly in the project's path.The operation to push out
the protesters began a day after they had refused to leave voluntarily. Law enforcement repeatedly asked
protesters to retreat, at one point using a high-pitched whistle they said was intended to "control and disperse"
protesters.

• http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/us/dakota-access-pipeline-protest.html
Title and opening paragraphs: Tension Between Police and Standing Rock Protesters Reaches Boiling Point

[Date: October 28, 2016; authors: Sue Skalicky and Monica Davey]

For months, tensions had mounted between protesters and law enforcement officials over the fate of an oil
pipeline not far from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Late this week, the strained relations boiled over as
officers tried to force the protesters out of an area where they had been camping.
Scores of officers dressed in riot gear walked in a wide line, sweeping protesters out of the area as face-to-face
yelling matches broke out. Several vehicles, including at least one truck, were set ablaze. A standoff unfolded
beside a bridge known as the Backwater Bridge, where protesters set fire to wooden boards and signs and held off
the line of officers over many hours. By Friday evening, officers said they had arrested at least 142 protesters on
charges including engaging in a riot and conspiracy to endanger by fire and explosion. Protesters gathered near the
bridge were refusing to leave, the authorities said.
Each side complained vehemently about violent tactics by the other. Officers said that protesters had attacked
them with firebombs, logs, feces and debris. They acknowledged using pepper spray and beanbag rounds against
the protesters, as well as a high-pitched sound device meant to disperse crowds. In one case, the officers said, they
used a Taser gun after a protester threw pepper in officers’ faces. One woman who was being arrested, the
4. Protests at Berkeley over the scheduled appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos, his habit of doxing trans and
undocumented students, and the launching of his campaign against sanctuary campuses

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/uc-berkeley-lockdown-amid-protest-over-speaker-032247533.html
Protesters force UC Berkeley to cancel far-right speaker's speech

[Date: Feb 1, 2017]

Hundreds of protesters at the University of California at Berkeley on Wednesday smashed windows, set
fires and clashed with police as they forced a right-wing speaker to cancel his appearance at the liberal-leaning
institution.
Two hours before far-right Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was to give a speech at the student
union, protesters tossed metal barricades and rocks through the building's windows and set a light generator on
fire near the entrance, footage from news outlets showed. Police ordered protesters to disperse as the school put
the campus on lockdown. Protesters also tossed bricks and fireworks at police in riot gear who fired rubber pellets
back at the crowd, according to SFGate.com, a news outlet in San Francisco. "We shut down the event. It was
great. Mission accomplished," a protester told CNN.
Some 150 "masked agitators" were responsible for the violence during the otherwise largely peaceful
protest of about 1,500 people, the university said in a statement, noting that the school "is proud of its history and
legacy as home of the Free Speech Movement" in the 1960s. President Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve
Bannon, previously headed Breitbart News and CNN reported that many of the protesters voiced opposition to the
Republican president. Many of Trump's executive orders and proposed policies, including his suspension of the
U.S. refugee program and temporary ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, have been met by
largely peaceful protests that have drawn tens of thousands of people across the United States.
One protester at Berkeley held a sign that said "No Safe Space for Racists" while other protesters danced
to hip hop music, footage from a Facebook Live feed showed. Protesters later marched along streets near the
campus where some smashed storefront windows and car windshields while clashing with police, the feed
showed.
Yiannopoulos, whose account on Twitter was suspended last year after he was accused of participating in
the online harassment of an African-American actress, criticized "the Left", saying in a statement it was "absolutely
terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down."He also said on Fox News that he was
evacuated by police after protesters began throwing rocks and other objects at the building. "Obviously it’s a
liberal campus so they hate any libertarians or conservatives who dare to express an opinion on their campuses,"
he said. "They particularly don’t like me."

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/uc-berkeley-milo-yiannopoulos-protest.html?_r=0
Berkeley Cancels Milo Yiannopoulos Speech, and Donald Trump Tweets Outrage

[Date: Feb 1, 2017; authors: Thomas Fuller and Christopher Mele]

A speech by the divisive right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley, was
canceled on Wednesday night after demonstrators set fires and threw objects at buildings to protest his
appearance. The university announced the cancellation on Twitter around 6 p.m. local time, about an hour after a
section of the campus erupted in protest.
All buildings on campus were locked down for several hours, and the university police said on Twitter that
students should leave the area because of the “violent demonstration.” The lockdown was lifted around 10:55
p.m. local time. Early Thursday morning, President Trump spoke out against the university for canceling the event.
In an appearance on “Fox and Friends” on Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, one of Mr. Trump’s top advisers,
compared the protest to those that took place at airports across the country over the weekend in opposition to
authorities said, had pulled a gun out and fired at a police line. No one was hit by those shots, they said, though
two officers had minor injuries after being hit by debris.

3. Standing Rock/NODAPL Protests in Nov. 2016

• https://web.archive.org/web/20161126105548/http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/20/us/ap-
us-oil-pipeline-protest.html
Police, Protesters Face Off at Dakota Access Pipeline

[Date: November 21, 2016]

CANNON BALL, N.D. — Protesters clashed with law enforcement late Sunday near the site of the Dakota
Access pipeline, with at least one person arrested as protesters sought to push past a bridge on a state highway
that had been blockaded since late October.
The Morton County Sheriff's Office estimated 400 protesters were trying to cross the bridge on state
Highway 1806 in what they called "an ongoing riot." Law enforcement had formed a line to prevent their
movement, and appeared to be using water cannons as temperatures dipped toward the low 20s.
The clash was at the Backwater Bridge, near where protesters had set up camp on private property owned by the
pipeline developer, Energy Transfer Partners, before they were forcibly removed by law enforcement Oct. 27. It's
also about a mile from an uncompleted section under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir, where work has been
on hold by order of federal agencies.
A video shot by a protester showed what appeared to be water cannons and tear gas being fired at
protesters. The sheriff's office said the incident began around 6 p.m. when protesters removed a burned-out truck
that had been on the bridge since the Oct. 27 confrontation.

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-fire-water-cannon-dakota-pipeline-protesters-freezing-161105542-
-finance.html
Police fire water cannon at Dakota pipeline protesters in freezing weather

[Date: November 21, 2016]

NEW YORK/CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas and water at hundreds of protesters in
the freezing North Dakota weather late Sunday and early Monday, in the latest violent clash over a pipeline project
running through the state.
An estimated 400 protesters mounted the Backwater Bridge just north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, and
attempted to force their way past police in what the Morton County Sheriff's Department described as an
"ongoing riot."
The $3.7 billion Dakota Access project has drawn steady opposition from activists since the summer, led
by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose tribal lands are adjacent to the pipeline. Native American activists and
environmentalists say the line threatens water resources and sacred tribal lands.
A joint statement from several activist groups said protesters Sunday were trying to remove burned
vehicles blocking Backwater Bridge in order to restore access to the nearby Standing Rock Sioux encampments so
emergency services and local traffic can move freely.
Police fired volleys of tear gas at the protesters to prevent them from crossing the bridge. Law
enforcement also fired rubber bullets and sprayed protesters with water in temperatures that reached as low as
18 Fahrenheit (minus 8 Celsius) overnight.
5. Murder during Charlottesville white-supremacist march and counter-demonstration

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fights-in-advance-of-saturday-protest-in-
charlottesville/2017/08/12/155fb636-7f13-11e7-83c7-
5bd5460f0d7e_story.html?utm_term=.71d4403d5013
One dead as car strikes crowds amid protests of white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville; two police die in
helicopter crash

[Date: Aug. 12 2017; authors: Joe Heim, Ellie Silverman, T. Rees Shapiro and Emma Brown]

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Chaos and violence turned to tragedy Saturday as hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis
and Ku Klux Klan members — planning to stage what they described as their largest rally in decades to “take
America back” — clashed with counterprotesters in the streets and a car plowed into crowds, leaving one person
dead and 19 others injured.

Hours later, two state police officers died when their helicopter crashed at the outskirts of town. Officials
identified them as Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Va., who was the pilot, and H. Jay Cullen of Midlothian, Va., who
was a passenger. State police said their Bell 407 helicopter was assisting with the unrest in Charlottesville. Bates
died one day before his 41st birthday; Cullen was 48.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who had declared a state of emergency, said at an evening news conference that he had
a message for “all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today: Go home. You are
not wanted in this great commonwealth.”

Maurice Jones, Charlottesville’s city manager, looked stricken as he spoke. “Hate came to our town today in a way
that we had feared but we had never really let ourselves imagine would,” he said.

State and local officials declined to take reporters’ questions.

In an emergency meeting Saturday evening, the Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously to give police the
power to enact a curfew or otherwise restrict assembly to protect public safety.

Video recorded at the scene of the car crash shows a 2010 gray Dodge Challenger accelerating into crowds on a
pedestrian mall, sending bodies flying — and then reversing at high speed, hitting yet more people. Witnesses said
the street was filled with people opposed to the white nationalists who had come to town bearing Confederate
flags and anti-Semitic epithets.

A 32-year-old woman was killed, according to police, who said they were investigating the crash as a criminal
homicide.

The driver of the Challenger, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, was arrested and charged with one count of second-
degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit-and-run attended failure to stop with
injury, police said. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Albemarle-
Charlottesville Regional Jail Superintendent Martin Kumer said. Three other men were arrested in connection with
violence earlier in the day. […]
 • http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/12/emergency-declared-ahead-unite-right-rally-in-virginia.html
Charlottesville white nationalist rally blamed for 3 deaths, dozens of injuries
[Date: August 12, 2017]

A 32-year-old woman was killed Saturday and 19 others were injured, five of them critically, when a car rammed
into a group of counter-protesters during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.

A helicopter crash that killed the pilot and a passenger later in the afternoon outside the university town also was
linked to the rally by State Police, though officials did not elaborate on how the crash was connected.

At a late afternoon news conference, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said that 35 people had been injured in
various confrontations during the rally and made a point of saying that none of those involved his officers. Thomas
also said that the car crash was being treated as an act of "criminal homicide."

The chaos boiled over at what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a
decade: the governor declared a state of emergency, police dressed in riot gear ordered people out and
helicopters circled overhead. The group had gathered to protest plans to remove a statue of the Confederate Gen.
Robert E. Lee.

Matt Korbon, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, told the Associated Press several hundred counter-
protesters were marching when "suddenly there was just this tire screeching sound." A silver Dodge Challenger
smashed into another car, then backed up, barreling through "a sea of people."

The impact hurled people into the air. Those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety in different
directions.

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran told The Associated Press that the driver of the car, a man, was in
custody. Moran did not provide the driver's name.

The crash occurred approximately two hours after clashes in which hundreds of people scramed, chanted, threw
punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other ahead of the scheduled noon
demonstration.

Adressing those who he called "the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesvillle today,"
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told them to "go home."

"There is no place for you here," McAuliffe said. "There is no place for you in America ... Go home and never come
back."

The impact hurled people into the air. Those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety in different
directions.

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran told The Associated Press that the driver of the car, a man, was in
custody. Moran did not provide the driver's name.

The crash occurred approximately two hours after clashes in which hundreds of people scramed, chanted, threw
punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other ahead of the scheduled noon
demonstration.
Adressing [sic] those who he called "the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesvillle today,"
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told them to "go home."

"There is no place for you here," McAuliffe said. "There is no place for you in America ... Go home and never come
back." [..]

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-protest-white-nationalist.html
Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence

[Date: Aug. 12, 2017; authors: Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The city of Charlottesville was engulfed by violence on Saturday as white nationalists and
counterprotesters clashed in one of the bloodiest fights to date over the removal of Confederate monuments
across the South.

White nationalists had long planned a demonstration over the city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee.
But the rally quickly exploded into racial taunting, shoving and outright brawling, prompting the governor to
declare a state of emergency and the National Guard to join the police in clearing the area.

Those skirmishes mostly resulted in cuts and bruises. But after the rally at a city park was dispersed, a car bearing
Ohio license plates plowed into a crowd near the city’s downtown mall, killing a 32-year-old woman. Some 34
others were injured, at least 19 in the car crash, according to a spokeswoman for the University of Virginia Medical
Center.

Col. Martin Kumer, the superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, confirmed Saturday evening
that an Ohio man, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, had been arrested and charged with second-degree
murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of a crash that resulted in a death. But
the authorities declined to say publicly that Mr. Fields was the driver of the car that plowed into the crowd.

Witnesses to the crash said a gray sports car accelerated into a crowd of counterdemonstrators — who were
marching jubilantly near the mall after the white nationalists had left — and hurled at least two people in the air.

“It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Robert Armengol, who was at the scene reporting
for a podcast he hosts with students at the University of Virginia. “After that it was pandemonium. The car hit
reverse and sped and everybody who was up the street in my direction started running.”

The planned rally was promoted as “Unite the Right” and both its organizers and critics said they expected it to be
one of the largest gatherings of white nationalists in recent times, attracting groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-
Nazis and movement leaders like David Duke and Richard Spencer.

Many of these groups have felt emboldened since the election of Donald J. Trump as president. Mr. Duke, a former
imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, told reporters on Saturday that the protesters were “going to fulfill the
promises of Donald Trump” to “take our country back.”

Saturday afternoon, President Trump, speaking at the start of a veterans’ event at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.,
addressed what he described as “the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia.”
In his comments, President Trump condemned the bloody protests, but he did not specifically criticize the white
nationalist rally and its neo-Nazi slogans, blaming “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” […]

6. Counterdemonstrators’ halting of Boston right-wing rally

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170820035544/http://abc11.com/politics/33-arrests-made-as-
protesters-clash-with-boston-police/2325374/
33 arrests made as protesters clash with Boston police

[Date: August 19, 2017]

BOSTON (WTVD) -- Thousands of protesters, at times violent and clashing with police, converged Saturday on
downtown Boston forcing the early conclusion of a free-speech rally held by a conservative group. At least 33
protesters were arrested.

Counterprotesters marched through the city to historic Boston Common, where many gathered near a bandstand
abandoned early by conservatives who had planned to deliver a series of speeches. Police vans later escorted the
conservatives out of the area, and angry counterprotesters scuffled with armed officers trying to maintain order.

Members of the Black Lives Matter movement later protested on the Common, where a Confederate flag was
burned and protesters pounded on the sides of a police vehicle.

Later Saturday afternoon, Boston's police department tweeted that protesters were throwing bottles, urine and
rocks at them and asked people publicly to refrain from doing so.

About 10 minutes before that, President Donald Trump had complimented Boston police, tweeting: "Looks like
many anti-police agitators in Boston. Police are looking tough and smart! Thank you."

He also complimented Boston's Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh.

Boston Commissioner William Evans said 33 arrests were made - mostly for disorderly conduct while some were
for assaulting police officers. Officials said the rallies drew about 40,000 people.

Trump applauded the people in Boston who he said were "speaking out" against bigotry and hate. Trump added in
a Twitter message that "Our country will soon come together as one!"

Organizers of the conservative event, which had been billed as a "Free Speech Rally," had publicly distanced
themselves from the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and others who gathered in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. A
counterprotester was killed at that rally, and many others were injured when a car plowed into
counterdemonstrators.

Opponents feared that white nationalists might show up in Boston anyway, raising the specter of ugly
confrontations in the first potentially large and racially charged gathering in a major U.S. city since Charlottesville.
[…]

One of the planned speakers of the conservative activist rally said the event "fell apart."

Congressional candidate Samson Racioppi, who was among several slated to speak, told WCVB-TV that he didn't
realize "how unplanned of an event it was going to be."
 • https://theintercept.com/2017/08/23/boston-alt-right-police-black-lives-matter-counter-demonstration/
Boston police protected far-right rally-goers, clashed with black counterprotesters

[Date: August 23, 2017; author: Eoin Higgins]

“IT’S UNBELIEVABLE THAT this many police officers came here to protect them,” Ashley Lloyd said. “They’re not
protecting us.”

Lloyd, a Boston resident, expressed her frustration with the police after officers clashed with antiracist
demonstrators over the weekend. A “free speech” rally in the city — which was tied to the “alt-right,” a
conservative faction that espouses far-right ideologies grounded in white supremacy — turned out what police
estimated to be between 50 and 75 people. Lloyd was among the estimated 40,000 counterprotesters who
showed up. The numbers were overwhelmingly in favor of the antiracist demonstrations, but as the day
progressed, counterprotesters still had reason to question if their city — and, in particular, its institutions — was
behind them or the right-wing demonstrators.

As the far-right rally came to a close, however, the attendees needed to exit the city’s downtown area, which was
swamped with antiracist demonstrators. The result was a tense face-off between some mostly peaceful counter-
demonstrators and Boston Police Department officers in full riot gear on Boylston Street, where sporadic scuffles
broke out. Set against the backdrop of racial tensions in Boston between law enforcement and people of color,
some of the counterprotesters wondered whose side the police were on.

The BPD has a long-held reputation as a racially intolerant public institution. The American Civil Liberties Union of
Massachusetts found, in a study first published in October 2014, that the department stops black citizens
disproportionately. The commonwealth’s Supreme Judicial Court cited that report when it ruled in September
2016 that black men running from Boston police have a right to do so and that the action of flight is not suspicious.

For the city’s black residents, the ruling did not come as a surprise. “[T]he black community has been screaming
about this forever and no one cares,” Roxbury organizer Jamarhl Crawford said in a 2012 interview with the Boston
Phoenix. And a July 2016 poll found that 32 percent of black Bostonians believe the city’s police treat minorities
unfairly.

THE DISTRUST THAT black counterprotesters held for police was evident throughout Saturday. At one point,
Boston hip-hop artist Oompa confronted a man wearing a Republican Party T-shirt. She later recalled telling the
man that wearing the shirt was “violent,” and that his presence was a threat to her community. Police intervened
and got between the two, but with their back to the Trump supporter. Oompa told police that the positioning
meant officers saw her as a threat and were protecting the right-wing activist.

“Your back is to him, because you’re protecting him,” Oompa said to a white officer. “If your back was to me, it
would mean you have my back. Your back ain’t to me.”

After the crowd dispersed, Oompa told The Intercept that the police behavior at the rally showed a double
standard for different ideologies. She cited police behavior at demonstrations against white supremacy, Nazism,
and fascism as evidence of different priorities. “The people who oppose those protests, they’re in such close
proximity to us,” said Oompa. “There isn’t that same kind of protection.”

The rally, which was planned in July, originally featured a number of controversial right-wing figures as speakers. A
prior event in May had a hard right-wing tilt and drew members of Proud Boys, a far-right men’s organization, and
tea party Republicans. Far-right figures, such as Augustus Invictus and Proud Boys head Gavin McInnes, both of
whom who have made anti-Semitic comments in the past, were expected to speak at last weekend’s revival, but
dropped out of the rally.

Permits for the right-wing rally had been issued on July 13, according to the Boston Free Speech organization’s
Facebook page. But after violence at a white nationalist gathering on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, left an
antiracist protester dead, Boston city officials made clear they were not in favor of the event. […]

7. Protesters Remove Confederate Monument in Durham, NC

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/protesters-in-durham-topple-a-confederate-
monument.html
Protesters in Durham Topple a Confederate Monument

[Date: August 14, 2017; Author: Maggie Astor]

Days after clashes in Charlottesville, Va., protesters toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier that had stood in
front of the old Durham County Courthouse in North Carolina for nearly a century.

Chanting “No K.K.K., no fascist U.S.A.,” the protesters slung a rope around the Confederate soldier’s neck and
pulled.

The crowd stepped back, out of the way, and the soldier came crashing to the ground in a heap of crumpled metal.

From Charlottesville, Va., to New Orleans, officials have removed or considered removing Confederate
monuments, to sometimes-violent backlash. But in Durham, N.C., on Monday night, opponents of the relics took
matters into their own hands.

Shortly after 7 p.m., the protesters — part of a group of more than 100 that included anti-fascists and members of
organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America, the Workers World Party and the Industrial Workers of the
World, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh — toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier that had stood in
front of the old Durham County Courthouse for nearly a century above the inscription, “In memory of the boys
who wore the gray.”

The figure fell headfirst, still attached to a piece of its pedestal, and the crowd — men and women, black and
white, mostly young — erupted in whoops and cheers. Some protesters ran over and began kicking the statue.
Others took photos beside it.

The Durham Police Department said in a statement that it had made no arrests because the episode had occurred
on county property, which is under the jurisdiction of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office. Members of the sheriff’s
office filmed the protest as the statue came down, The News & Observer reported, but the office did not respond
to a request for comment on Monday night, and it was not clear whether its officers had made any arrests.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter, “The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable,
but there is a better way to remove these monuments.”…

• http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/14/confederate-statue-toppled-in-north-carolina-during-
protest.html

Confederate Statue Toppled in North Carolina During Protest

[Date: August 14th, 2017]
In his comments, President Trump condemned the bloody protests, but he did not specifically criticize the white
nationalist rally and its neo-Nazi slogans, blaming “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” […]

6. Counterdemonstrators’ halting of Boston right-wing rally

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170820035544/http://abc11.com/politics/33-arrests-made-as-
protesters-clash-with-boston-police/2325374/
33 arrests made as protesters clash with Boston police

[Date: August 19, 2017]

BOSTON (WTVD) -- Thousands of protesters, at times violent and clashing with police, converged Saturday on
downtown Boston forcing the early conclusion of a free-speech rally held by a conservative group. At least 33
protesters were arrested.

Counterprotesters marched through the city to historic Boston Common, where many gathered near a bandstand
abandoned early by conservatives who had planned to deliver a series of speeches. Police vans later escorted the
conservatives out of the area, and angry counterprotesters scuffled with armed officers trying to maintain order.

Members of the Black Lives Matter movement later protested on the Common, where a Confederate flag was
burned and protesters pounded on the sides of a police vehicle.

Later Saturday afternoon, Boston's police department tweeted that protesters were throwing bottles, urine and
rocks at them and asked people publicly to refrain from doing so.

About 10 minutes before that, President Donald Trump had complimented Boston police, tweeting: "Looks like
many anti-police agitators in Boston. Police are looking tough and smart! Thank you."

He also complimented Boston's Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh.

Boston Commissioner William Evans said 33 arrests were made - mostly for disorderly conduct while some were
for assaulting police officers. Officials said the rallies drew about 40,000 people.

Trump applauded the people in Boston who he said were "speaking out" against bigotry and hate. Trump added in
a Twitter message that "Our country will soon come together as one!"

Organizers of the conservative event, which had been billed as a "Free Speech Rally," had publicly distanced
themselves from the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and others who gathered in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. A
counterprotester was killed at that rally, and many others were injured when a car plowed into
counterdemonstrators.

Opponents feared that white nationalists might show up in Boston anyway, raising the specter of ugly
confrontations in the first potentially large and racially charged gathering in a major U.S. city since Charlottesville.
[…]

One of the planned speakers of the conservative activist rally said the event "fell apart."

Congressional candidate Samson Racioppi, who was among several slated to speak, told WCVB-TV that he didn't
realize "how unplanned of an event it was going to be."
7:22 p.m. Police update: Berkeley police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats said 13 people have been arrested — an
update from the 14 figure she had given earlier. One of those arrests was on suspicion of assault with a deadly
weapon. Most of the others were for carrying banned items, such as makeshift weapons. Coats also said that six
people reported injuries, non life-threatening. She said 400 law enforcement officers from Berkeley, Oakland, UC
Berkeley and Alameda County worked on crowd control. “We tried to make sure things stayed peaceful,” she said.
“We try new and different strategies. Some work and some don’t. We’re learning.”

3:30 p.m. Protests calm, violence subsides: A massive crowd of people — some “Antifa,” some counter-protesters
and some “Black Lives Matter” groups — has disbanded at Ohlone Park.

Residents and neighbors said they felt relieved that Berkeley buildings and businesses were not vandalized the way
they were earlier this year following a protest at UC Berkeley. While there were skirmishes, and one news media
worker was chased, the masked group that has incited violence in the past was much tamer.

“They made me nervous of police overreaction,” Connor O’Brien of Emeryville said. The 46-year-old marched with
the group from Civic Center Park, where they knocked down police barricades and essentially overtook the space,
to Ohlone Park.

“Officers were initially overactive in the park,” he said. “I feel like more often than not, their presence provokes
violence. There were some scuffles, but 99 percent came out to peacefully protest. Their message was heard loud
and clear.” […]

• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-berkeley-protests-20170827-story.html
Violence by far-left protesters in Berkeley sparks alarm

[Date: Aug. 28, 2017; authors: James Queally, Paige St. John, Benjamin Oreskes and David Zahniser]

Thousands of demonstrators carrying signs with slogans like “Stand Against Hate” descended on Berkeley’s Martin
Luther King Jr. Civic Park on Sunday for what many hoped would be a peaceful march against bigotry and President
Trump.

But it was soon punctuated by tear gas and a scattering of violent skirmishes. Some anti-fascist protesters, wearing
black and with their faces covered, chased or beat Trump supporters and organizers who had scheduled and then
canceled the “anti-Marxist” rally, citing concerns over safety.

Police, and in some cases other counter-protesters, stepped in to halt the violence or escort the victims away from
the area. Officers reported 14 arrests, many of them for violations of the city’s emergency rules banning masks,
sticks and potential weapons inside the demonstration area.

The clashes came despite widespread calls from activists and elected officials across the Bay Area for peaceful civil
disobedience and underscore Berkeley’s growing reputation for violent reaction by the far left. Other protests
earlier this year in the city turned ugly, with far-left and far-right forces fighting in the streets.

Some in Berkeley worried that Sunday’s chaos, captured on video and quickly disseminated through social media,
would provide unwanted ammunition to Trump and his supporters.

“We can’t keep producing this audio-visual propaganda,” said Andrew Noruk, a counter-protester who denounced
the fights. “It is recruiting for the right.”
The incidents came a day after a series of mostly peaceful activities in San Francisco, where demonstrators also
marched in response to a planned far-right rally near the Golden Gate Bridge. Counter-protesters there boasted
that they had shown that far-right groups, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists, were not welcome. Police
reported one arrest, for public intoxication.

In Berkeley, the demonstration of more than 4,000 people pulled heavily from area labor unions, church groups
and liberal activists — but also scores of young people clad in all black, some carrying shields and others with
bandannas pulled over their faces.

Those activists are sometimes referred to as “antifa,” a name taken by anti-fascist organizations formed to oppose
white nationalists. They are known for their “punch a Nazi” bent.

The counter-demonstrators were in the city to protest the “Say No to Marxism in America” rally, police said.
Several who were expected to speak at the event have been linked to white nationalist sentiments or violence in
the past.

Kyle Chapman, the far-right activist known as “Based Stickman” who gained fame for his role in previous Berkeley
brawls, had been listed among speakers for the canceled event, but was not seen. On Friday, during a hearing on a
pending felony weapons charge related to a prior rally, a judge ordered Chapman to stay away from Sunday’s
demonstration.

Other planned attendees included Augustus Invictus, a Florida-based white supremacist who attended a torch-lit
rally in Charlottesville, Va., according to the Anti-Defamation League. Invictus was not seen Sunday either.

One far-right figure who did show up was Johnny Benitez, the alias of an Orange County resident who organized an
“America First” rally in Laguna Beach. Protesters got into shoving matches after he appeared, with some screaming
“Go home, Nazi.”

Live Updates: Protests in Berkeley turn violent as counter-protesters, pro-Trump forces clash
Police tried to escort him and Irma Hinojosa, a member of the Southern California group Latinos for Trump,
through the crowd and out of the park.

Before the day had ended, Benitez wrote on Twitter that anti-fascists should be designated as “terrorists.”

“If the federal government doesn’t move to expose these terrorists the patriots of this country need to prepare for
war,” he tweeted.

Benitez was not the only right-wing activist hurried away from scene. Counter-protesters clad in black pounced
when Joey Gibson, founder of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, showed up in the park. Masked protesters
began pepper spraying people and used their shields to hit people who appeared to be with Gibson.

Gibson, who was behind Saturday’s aborted rally in San Francisco, was handcuffed and escorted away by police.
Assistant Chief Jim Libby of the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division later described the officers’ action
as a “rescue.”

Anti-fascist protesters also beat one person wearing an American flag. Some threatened to break the cameras of
anyone who filmed them, including journalists. Others set off purple smoke bombs.
One counter-protester, in tears, said she worried that Sunday’s event would be tied to violence. Another, who
helped break up a fight, was upset over the altercations.

“We need to get antifa out of here,” said Jack Harris, 20, of San Francisco.

Joanna Mendelson, senior investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League, watched footage of Sunday’s
confrontations and said she drew a “sharp comparison” between the two weekend events. San Francisco provided
a proud example of “a community response to objectionable speech,” she said in an email to The Times.

“Today’s story should have only been about the voices of tolerance overpowering those marred by bigotry,” she
said. “Instead, any violent response, even if perpetrated by a small number, undermines their entire effort to
counter the narrative.” […]

• http://ktla.com/2017/08/27/after-peaceful-demonstration-in-san-francisco-second-counter-protest-
expected-in-berkeley/
Violence Breaks Out at Berkeley Rally Where Counter-Protesters Vastly Out Number Trump Supporters

[Date: August 27, 2017]

Thousands of counter protesters took to the streets of Berkeley on Sunday where they clashed with a handful of
Trump supporters, leading to several violent clashes and at least 14 arrests.

The mostly peaceful demonstration started heating up about noon at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park, where
the two rival groups faced off and several fights broke out.

Counter-demonstrators vastly outnumbered the president’s supporters. They surrounded their rivals and chanted,
“No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!”

There were shoving matches around well-known Orange County far-right figure Johnny Benitez. Some screamed
“Go home Nazi,” as police tried to escort Benitez and Irma Hinojosa, a member of the Southern California group
Latinos for Trump, through the crowd and out of the park.

9. Fallout from Inauguration-Day Protests: Jan. 2018 Update on Charges

• http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/charges-dropped-129-anti-trump-protest-defendants-
180119092812846.html

Charges dropped for 129 anti-Trump protest defendants

[Date: January 19, 2018]

The US government will submit a motion to dismiss indictments for 129 of the 188 remaining Inauguration Day
defendants, leaving 59 facing felony charges that could land them behind bars for decades.
"The government will be filing motions to dismiss without prejudice the indictment against the other remaining
129 defendants," William Miller, public information officer for the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia,
said in a press statement provided to Al Jazeera by email.
Announced on Thursday afternoon, the statement said the US Attorney's Office for DC made the decision in order
to "focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the destruction and violence
that took place on Inauguration Day".

During the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, police surrounded, attacked and
arrested more than 230 people during an anti-capitalist bloc march.

Those arrested included protesters, journalists, medics, legal observers and bystanders. A felony riot charge was
subsequently dealt to 234 people. The charge carried up to 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine.

The city alleges that the protesters are responsible for $100,000 in property damage, while police have been
accused of using unnecessary force against the group, including while they were surrounded and posed no threat.

Twenty defendants reached plea deals in exchange for lesser sentences, while another 20 had their charges
dropped altogether.

In April, the DC Superior Court returned a superseding indictment that issued a swath of additional charges,
including several felonies to 212 people, among them three who were not initially charged.

In December, a jury found the first batch of six defendants not-guilty on all counts.

'It's not over'

Although defendants and advocates celebrated Thursday's announcement, many called for the charges to be
dropped for the remaining 59 defendants.

Among those still facing charges is independent journalist Aaron Cantu, whose prosecution has been decried by
press freedom groups and watchdogs.

In the government's case filing, Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff wrote: "In light of the legal rulings by the
court and the jury's verdicts in the first trial of these cases, the government has decided to proceed with all of the
pending charges set forth in the superseding indictment (to include felony charges) [for 59] defendants."

Kerkhoff, who is the lead prosecutor, maintained in the filing that the remaining defendants participated in
"identifiable acts of destruction, violence, or other assaultive conduct", participated in planning the rally or
"engaged in conduct that demonstrates a knowing and intentional use of the black-bloc tactic".

"Black bloc" refers to a tactic in which protesters wear all black and cover their faces to create an atmosphere of
anonymity and unity while concealing their identity from police or those who seek to identify them and publish
their information online.

The American Civil Liberties Union in DC, a rights group, welcomed Thursday's decision but urged the US Attorney's
Office for DC to reconsider evidence against the remaining defendants.

"For a full year, the government's abusive prosecution has upended the lives of these defendants, who've endured
the anxiety of multiple court hearings and suffered disruptions to their educations or careers while facing the
prospect of more than 60 years in prison," Scott Michelman, senior staff attorney at the ACLU-DC, said in a
statement.
"We hope the government continues to carefully examine the evidence it has against the remaining 59
defendants, at least some of whom we continue to believe are innocent."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

• https://www.courthousenews.com/riot-charges-dropped-against-129-inauguration-day-protesters/

Riot Charges Dropped Against 129 Inauguration Day Protesters

[Date: January 19, 2018; Author: Tim Ryan]

WASHINGTON (CN) — Federal prosecutors will drop charges against 129 of 188 people who were accused of felony
rioting after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
said Thursday.

Prosecutors will still press cases against 59 defendants they contend were most responsible for the
demonstrations, which resulted in smashed windows, property damage and some violent clashes with police.
Prosecutors claim protesters used “black bloc” tactics, referring to a group known to show up at peaceful protests
wearing all black in hopes of stirring up chaos.

A grand jury returned an indictment against 215 people in April last year, charging each with five counts of felony
destruction of property and one count each of felony urging or inciting a riot, engaging in a riot and conspiracy to
engage in a riot. Twenty people have pleaded guilty.

ACLU senior staff attorney Scott Michelman said in a statement: “The U.S. attorney has essentially admitted it
never had the evidence to charge these innocent people in the first place, and we’re gratified to see they’ve come
to their senses.

“For a full year, the government’s abusive prosecution has upended the lives of these defendants, who’ve endured
the anxiety of multiple court hearings and suffered disruptions to their educations or careers while facing the
prospect of more than 60 years in prison. We hope the government continues to carefully examine the evidence it
has against the remaining 59 defendants, at least some of whom we continue to believe are innocent.”
The decision to drop most of the cases came less than a month after a D.C. Superior Court jury found the first six
protesters to face trial not guilty.

“The government will be filing motions to dismiss without prejudice the indictment against the other remaining
129 defendants so it can focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the
destruction and violence that took place on Inauguration Day,” U.S. attorney spokesman Bill Miller said Thursday.
The notice of intent to proceed, filed with Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Morin on Thursday, says the
government will go after people it claims organized the protests, intentionally used black bloc tactics or “engaged
in identifiable acts of destruction, violence or other assaultive conduct.”

“The government will file individual motions to dismiss, without prejudice, the indictment against the remaining
129 defendants whose cases remain pending,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff wrote in the notice. “In so
doing, the court, the government and the 59 defendants can proceed more expeditiously with their trials.”
Prosecutors say the violent black bloc protesters did not have a permit when they gathered in Logan Circle on the
day of Trump’s inauguration. They say the group moved 16 blocks through the streets, smashing windows and
damaging other property before charging through a police line.

Police used flash-bang grenades to break up the crowd blocks from the White House, where demonstrators set a
limousine on fire and threw rocks and other objects while peaceful protesters shouted slogans and carried signs
condemning the newly sworn-in president.
A crowd of protesters in Durham, N.C., tied a cord to a Confederate statue and toppled it to the ground Monday
night to loud cheers, a symbolic response to the violence at the rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va.

A man used a ladder to attach the cord to the statue -- which officers had coated with cooking spray to make it
tougher to climb, WRAL reported.

“No cops! No KKK! No fascists! USA!” many protesters chanted as the statue came down.

The monument, dedicated in 1924, showed a Confederate soldier with “The Confederate States of America”
engraved on the front, WNCN added.
The protesters kicked and spat on the toppled statue before carrying it from the old Durham County Courthouse to
a police station, according to reports.

The destructive demonstrations were not limited to North Carolina. In Louisville, Kentucky, a statue of a
Confederate officer was splattered with orange paint. Police said no suspects have been identified. Louisville
Mayor Greg Fischer announced Monday that a panel would review the city's public art and make a list of places
linked to bigotry, racism or slavery.

Protesters gathered in the Tennessee Capitol on Monday renewing calls to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford
Forrest, a Confederate cavalry general and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Protesters draped a black jacket
over the head of the bust while cheering, "Tear it down!"

In Memphis, city attorney Bruce McMullen said Monday that he plans to file a petition to remove a statue of
Forrest from a park. The Memphis City Council voted in 2015 to relocate the statue, but the state historical
commission blocked the move under the Heritage Protection Act.

In Florida, sounds of a jackhammer echoed in downtown Gainesville as workers tore out the foundation of a
Confederate statue known as "Old Joe" in front of the Alachua County Administration Building, The Gainesville Sun
reported Monday. The monument is set to return to a chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy -- the
same group that built it in 1904.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper denounced the toppling. "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is
unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments," he tweeted.

Investigators said 20-year-old James Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters on Saturday in
Charlottesville. One woman was killed and some 19 other people were hurt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

8. Berkeley August 2017 right-wing rally and counterdemonstrators

• http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Berkeley-prepares-for-demonstrations-12003490.php
Live coverage: Violence at Berkeley rally escalates, police make arrests

[Date: August 27, 2017; Authors: Lizzie Johnson, Erin Allday, Evan Sernoffsky and Steve Rubenstein]

Here’s the latest coverage from Berkeley, where hundreds of demonstrators converged at Martin Luther King Jr.
Civic Center Park: to oppose a far-right demonstration planned there.
 • https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/3-Arrested-Chicano-Park-Barrio-Logan-Patriot-Picnic-
Demonstration-Counter-Protest-Rally-472525803.html

3 Arrested at Opposing Demonstrations at Chicano Park

[Date: February 3, 2018; Author: Christina Bravo]

Three people were arrested Saturday when a group of demonstrators who believe San Diego’s Chicano Park
discriminates against non-Latinos was met with a large crowd of counter-protesters in Barrio Logan.

The rally, dubbed the Patriot Picnic, started at the San Diego Convention Center Saturday morning. Patriot Picnic
organizer, Roger Ogden, described the gathering as a demonstration against the Chicano Park's "discrimination"
and "radical political theme."

The group of about a couple-dozen demonstrators then marched through Barrio Logan to Chicano Park, located
underneath Coronado Bay Bridge on Logan Avenue, where they were met by hundreds of park supporters. In all,
about 700 people were present, SDPD said.

Three people were arrested during the demonstrations, one for possession of a billy club and one for resisting
arrest. A third person was arrested for punching a police officer in the face, SDPD said.

Barricades were put in place to separate groups, SDPD said. About two blocks of Logan Avenue, between Cesar E.
Chavez Parkway and Evans Street, was shut down during the demonstrations.

Chicano Park in its current form dates back to the 1970s, when San Diego residents occupied Chicano Park in a
successful effort to prevent the construction of a California Highway Patrol substation on the land where the City
of San Diego had promised to build a park for the community. The park has served as a symbol to the
predominantly Mexican-American community that makes up Barrio Logan since.

The park was designated a National Historic Landmark in January 2017 because it depicts a broad range of
America’s rich, complex history, according to the U.S. Department of Interior.

Ogden believes that the park's depiction of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, through painted murals and flags,
is part of what makes the park discriminatory to other groups.

11. Anti-fascist Counterdemonstrators at Portland “Patriot Prayer” rally

• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/04/patriot-prayer-to-carry-guns-at-portland-rally-as-
fears-of-violence-rise

Portland far-right rally: police charge counterprotesters with batons drawn

[Date: August 04, 2018; Author: Jason Wilson]

A rally by rightwing group Patriot Prayer in Portland, Oregon, culminated in a police charge on counterprotesters
on Saturday, as a demonstration once again brought disorder and violence to the city’s downtown area.

Two hours into the rally, police moved towards leftwing counterprotesters with batons drawn, and used dozens of
“flash bang” stun grenades and rounds containing pepper spray.

As they moved on the counterprotest, Patriot Prayer marchers chanted “lock them up, lock them up”.
Portland police sent hundreds of officers in riot gear to the rally, and for most of the day they kept Patriot Prayer,
led by Republican US Senate candidate Joey Gibson, and an affiliated group, Proud Boys, separated from their
opposition.

Patriot Prayer’s stated beliefs are not neo-Nazi or white supremacist, but his critics say the group’s events have
attracted white supremacist elements and have frequently brought serious violence to cities around the US West.

Gibson’s insistence on bringing his supporters repeatedly to the liberal city of Portland has crystallized debate
about the limits of free speech in an era of stark political division.

One part of the 1,000 strong counterprotest, billed as “PopMob”, included labor groups, a local Democratic
Socialists of America chapter, clergy, community groups. There was also a large contingent of anti-fascists clad in
“black bloc” clothing.

As the Patriot Prayer group marched, protesters followed at a distance through neighbouring streets. The charge
happened on Southwest Columbia Street, several blocks south of Patriot Prayer’s original rallying point. Police
claimed that protesters were throwing missiles at their lines.

One journalist, Eder Campuzano, was struck in the head by a full plastic bottle, causing him to bleed from a head
wound, which he said “likely came from a counterprotester”.

A Portland photographer, Doug Brown, said that “the first missile I saw and heard came from the Patriot Prayer
side, across the street, towards the protesters”.

“I don’t know who set it off, but it went towards the black bloc. And then the police just swarmed them,” Brown
said.

Brown’s tweeted video of the police charge shows them confronting protesters en masse, and attacking him and
and other reporters filming from a sidewalk.

Olivia Katbi Smith, co-chair of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America, said the police were not provoked.

A Portland woman was later admitted to hospital after being hit with a flash bang round.

Eric Ward, executive director of civil rights organization Western States Center, said that while he believed some
counterprotesters made some “bad decisions” by bringing weapons, the police charge “punished every
counterprotester for the actions of a few”.

This collective punishment, he said “doesn’t align with the treatment of the Proud Boys and Joey Gibson”.

Gibson had earlier told the Patriot Prayer group that a deal with police meant that they would not be searched in
exchange for confining themselves to a barricaded area. No weapons searches were carried out on the Patriot
Prayer group.

Portland police did not respond to requests for comment on weapons searches, or their charge on
counterprotesters.

The Patriot Prayer rally had attracted people from all over the country - many wearing the colors of the Proud Boys
group, others wearing Trump-branded clothing and Infowars merchandise.

Patriot Prayer’s events attracted widespread attention in the last month after an event in Portland on 30 June that
culminated in some of the worst street violence in the city’s recent history.
Saturday’s crowd of more than 400 was one of Patriot Prayer’s biggest to date in a series of over 30 events held in
the Pacific Northwest and northern California during the life of the Trump administration.

At the conclusion of the march Patriot Prayer members claimed victory, with Gibson saying that it was an
“excellent day, excellent”.

Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who has been involved in two alleged street assaults outside protests, and who has been
arrested at previous protests, told the rally that “today is a big win for America”, that “the cops did their jobs and
we’re proud of them”, and that in future, “we’re still gonna come to Portland”.

Toese wore a T shirt bearing the slogan, “Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong”.

Katbi Smith, the DSA co-chair, said “If it’s a victory for them, it’s a victory won by the cops. We outnumbered
them.”

After the rally’s conclusion, many Patriot Prayer supporters left on the group’s private buses. But a small number
Proud Boys, including Toese, stayed in downtown Portland and engaged in scuffles, and three way standoffs with
police and anti-fascists.

Patriot Prayer had bused in supporters from Vancouver, a town over the Columbia river from Portland in
Washington state where Gibson is based. A planned rendezvous in a shopping mall in the town was moved after
security guards told early arrivals they were trespassing, and a tow truck stood by waiting to take away offending
cars.

Saturday’s rally was, in part, billed as a campaign event for Gibson’s bid to become a senator for Washington.

• https://nypost.com/2018/08/04/alt-right-demonstrators-antifa-clash-at-rally-in-portland/

Alt-right demonstrators, antifa clash at rally in Portland

[Date: August 04, 2018]

PORTLAND, Ore. — Small scuffles broke out Saturday as police deployed “flash-bang” devices and other means to
disperse hundreds of right-wing and self-described anti-fascist protesters.

There were arrests and some injuries, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many. A reporter for the
Oregonian/OregonLive was bloodied when he was struck by a projectile. Eder Campuzano said later on Twitter he
was “okay.”

Demonstrators aligned with Patriot Prayer and an affiliated group, the Proud Boys, gathered around midday in a
riverfront park.

Hundreds of demonstrators faced them from across the street, holding banners and signs with opposition
messages such as “Alt right scum not welcome in Portland.” Some chanted, “Nazis go home.”

Officers stood in the middle of the four-lane boulevard, essentially forming a wall to keep the two sides separated.

The counter-protesters were made up of a coalition of labor unions, immigrant rights advocates, democratic
socialists and other groups. They included people dressed as clowns and a brass band blaring music.
The rally organized by Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson was the third to roil Portland this summer. Two previous
events ended in bloody fistfights and riots, and one counter-protester was sent to the hospital with a skull
fracture.

This time, Gibson changed the venue from a federal plaza outside US District Court to a waterfront park so some of
his Oregon supporters could carry concealed weapons as they demonstrated.

Gibson disputed the group’s classification by some as a hate group. “We’re here to promote freedom and God.
That’s it,” Gibson told Portland TV station KGW while walking with demonstrators. “Our country is getting soft.”

Protesters saw a significant police presence that included bomb-sniffing dogs and weapons screening checkpoints.
In a statement, police said weapons may be seized if there is a violation of law and added that it is illegal in
Portland to carry a loaded firearm in public unless a person has a valid Oregon concealed handgun license.

Among the things police confiscated were long sticks and homemade shields.

Just before 2 p.m., police in riot gear ordered people to leave an area downtown, saying demonstrators had
thrown rocks and bottles at officers.

“Get out of the street,” police announced via loudspeaker.

Gibson’s insistence on bringing his supporters repeatedly to this liberal city has crystallized a debate about the
limits of free speech in an era of stark political division. Patriot Prayer also has held rallies in many other cities
around the US West, including Berkeley, California, that have drawn violent reactions.

But the Portland events have taken on outsize significance after a Patriot Prayer sympathizer was charged with
fatally stabbing two men who came to the defense of two young black women — one in a hijab — whom the
attacker was accused of harassing on a light-rail train in May 2017.

A coalition of community organizations and a group representing more than 50 tribes warned of the potential for
even greater violence than previous rallies if participants carry guns. It called on officials to denounce what it called
“the racist and sexist violence of Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys” and protect the city.

Gibson, who is running a long-shot campaign to unseat Democratic US Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state,
said in a live video on Facebook earlier this week that he won’t stop bringing his followers to Portland until they
can express their right-wing views without interference.

Self-described anti-fascists — or “antifa” — have been organizing anonymously online to confront Patriot Prayer
and the Proud Boys in the streets.

Organizers say that while Patriot Prayer denies being a white supremacist group, it affiliates itself with known
white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazi gangs.“Patriot Prayer is continuing to commit violence in our
city, and their events are becoming more and more violent,” said Effie Baum of Pop Mob, a coalition of community
groups organizing the counter-demonstration. “Leaving them a small group to attack in the streets is only going to
allow them to perpetuate their violence.”

Dueling protests a month ago ended with Portland police declaring a riot and arresting four people. A similar
Patriot Prayer event June 4 descended into fistfights and assaults by both sides as police struggled to keep the
groups apart.
13. Protesters against new L.A. City Council anti-“disruption” rule

• https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/10/09/city-council-meeting-disruptions/
LA City Council Cracking Down On Disruptions During Meetings

[Date: October 09, 2018]

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to establish new rules for public
speakers who they say push the boundaries of decorum during meetings. The move goes against what people say
is their right to freedom of speech.

“You’re disrupting the meeting, you’re disrupting the meeting so let’s have him removed,” one councilmember
said as a protester disrupted the beginning of the meeting.

Los Angeles Police officers had to escort the man out as he shouted “All power to the people!” with a fist raised.
It’s the very thing the city council is now cracking down on.

They voted unanimously to adopt new rules to ban anyone who repeatedly disrupts meetings for up to six days.
Under previous rules, someone who disrupted the meeting could be kicked out of the current one but could later
return to other meetings.

Before the vote, passionate pleas were made by the public.

“We have a constitutional right to educate, annoy and even disrespected you and we won’t be stifled,” said
protester Audrey George. “It’s a right not a privilege, vote no.”

Some in the audience held signs that read, “Denial of Constitutional Rights” and “Criminalization of Protest.”

The American Civil Liberties Union said the council’s decision is a blatant violation of free speech.

But Councilman Paul Kortez said it’s a reasonable set of steps that target people who constantly come to disrupt
the meetings – not those who are there to express their opinions.

“We need to put in some rules so that somebody can’t just come and make loud animal noises and wild gestures
and run around the council floor trying to make it impossible for us to do our business,” Kortez said.

Despite the protests, the council took the bold move to approve the stricter set of rules.

• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-city-council-disruptions-20181010-story.html
L.A. will impose new punishment on audience members who disrupt City Council meetings

[Date: October 09, 2018; Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser]

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to crack down on people who repeatedly disrupt their
meetings at City Hall, defying attorneys and activists who charge that the new rules trample on free speech rights.

Beginning in January, people who are repeatedly ejected from City Council or committee meetings for shouting
from the audience or other “disruptive acts” can be banned from attending other meetings that day and for up to
six additional meeting days at a time.
Activists from the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, the Los Angeles Community Action Network and other groups
vigorously opposed the plan at City Hall, calling it a tool to squelch dissent.

“You’re actually limiting our ability to protest, to say no, to use our bodies to say we are standing up for our
communities,” said Jamie Garcia, a member of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.

Garcia continued to speak after her minute to comment had ended. Council President Herb Wesson told her she
was disrupting the meeting.

“Everybody gets one minute,” Wesson said as Garcia repeatedly yelled back, “What you are doing is wrong!”

Others in the crowd joined in support of Garcia, shouting, “We do not approve!” and “We will not be silenced!”
before she was escorted out of the council chambers by police.

The measure passed 14 to 0, with Councilman Mike Bonin absent. None of the council members spoke on the
change in rules.

Bonin said he missed the vote because of child care issues and refused to say how he would have voted.

“I’m not getting into it,” he said.

Council members first proposed new rules regarding meeting disruptions last month and have repeatedly met
behind closed doors to discuss possible changes. A spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer said last month that
council members wanted to be able to consult with their lawyers after David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg warned he
might take legal action.

Saltsburg and another meeting attendee sued the city nine years ago after they were cut off or ejected from city
meetings, and in some cases temporarily banned from speaking. A federal judge concluded in 2013 that the city
had run afoul of the 1st Amendment in its enforcement of the rules and warned that the council "cannot sacrifice
political speech to a formula of civility."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California urged the council to reject the new rules, arguing that
any disruptive conduct should be punished as it occurs, not by banning people from future meetings. The civil
liberties group said that the new system of punishment would exacerbate the problems with the existing rules,
which “categorize a wide array of expressive activity as disruptive.”

Under those rules, disruptive conduct can include clapping, whistling, repeatedly waving arms and “the utterance
of loud, threatening or abusive language” from the audience, as well as any “other disruptive acts.” Carol Sobel, a
civil rights attorney who has sued the city in the past, said many of the actions that the council rules define as
disruptive are in fact “absolutely protected expression” under federal court rulings.

For instance, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a man who was ejected from a Santa Cruz City Council
meeting for silently giving a Nazi salute from the audience, she said…

14. August 2019 Portland face-off between Proud Boys and Antifascist Counterprotesters

• https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/proud-boys-antifa-portland-rally-873291/
Proud Boys Dwarfed by Anti-Fascist Protesters at Portland Rally—But thanks to a tweet from President Trump
condemning the antifa counter-protesters, the Proud Boys saw it as a victory, as well
[Date: August 19, 2019; Author: EJ Dickson]

In the weeks leading up to the August 17th Proud Boys rally in Portland, Oregon, many were unsure what to
expect. Local law enforcement officials and many counter-protesters were concerned about the prospect of
increased violence at the rally, particularly in light of a high-profile incident last June featuring right-wing journalist
and provocateur Andy Ngo. Increasingly violent rhetoric from members of the organization, particularly from
organizer Joe Biggs, also fueled fears that the rally would result in violence.

On Saturday, however, more than 1,000 anti-fascist activists showed up at the rally in downtown Portland to
protest — largely, peacefully. Despite about a dozen arrests and a handful of minor injuries, all in all the event was
less violent than many had feared, according to Mayor Ted Wheeler.

I’m grateful this was largely a peaceful event,” Wheeler said in a press conference after the rally. “We were
preparing for and planning for a worst-case scenario.”

The number of counter-protesters at the rally also dwarfed that of the 300 Proud Boys and other far-right allies in
attendance, thanks in large part to local organizing efforts on the left, as well as whispers of internal tensions
among members of the far-right organization. Many on the far right who planned to attend the rally dropped out
following threats from Portland officials that they would be arrested if they engaged in violence, according to a
report from the Daily Beast.

As Rolling Stone has previously reported, the Proud Boys are a far-right group founded by Gavin McInnes, a former
media mogul turned far-right icon. The organization has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty
Law Center (SPLC), due to its espousal of racist, misogynistic and Islamophobic ideology. (The Proud Boys has
disputed this characterization, filing a defamation suit against the SPLC earlier this year.)

The Proud Boys has drawn criticism in particular for inciting violence, most notably after MacInnes’s speaking
engagement at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City last year, which resulted in the arrests of a
number of members. (McInnes left the organization shortly after this incident.) Despite its violent reputation,
however, the organization has maintained ties to mainstream GOP political figures, and its current leader Enrique
Tarrio is listed as a Florida state director for the organization Latinos for Trump.

Concerns about mounting tensions in Portland started brewing in June, when right-wing journalist and provocateur
Andy Ngo tweeted that he had been assaulted by “antifa,” the term used to describe a loosely organized collective
of anti-fascist protesters, at a Proud Boys rally. The incident prompted an outpouring of hand-wringing on both
sides of the ideological spectrum, with political figures decrying the alleged violent threat posed by anti-fascist
protesters, and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Bill Cassidy proposing legislation declaring antifa a domestic
terrorist group. The mass shootings earlier this month in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH, also helped to fuel the
demonization of antifa, with many members of the far-right initially claiming that both of the shooters were antifa.
(The El Paso shooter was a Trump supporter who posted an explicitly white nationalist manifesto minutes before
the attack; the Dayton shooter expressed left-wing views on social media, but there is no evidence he was engaged
in local anti-fascist protest or organizing, nor that the attack was politically motivated.)

[…]

Attempts to stir tensions in Portland and demonize antifa came to a head on Saturday, when President Trump
himself tweeted about the Portland rally. “Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able
to properly do his job!” Trump, who has been criticized for failing to adequately condemn the rising white
supremacist domestic terrorism threat, also doubled down on his previous anti-antifa stance, referring to them as
an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.”

[…]

Additionally, many anti-fascist protesters criticized the Portland police for escorting the Proud Boys across the
Hawthorne Bridge, about 30 minutes into the protest. The Portland police department has previously been
accused of maintaining cozy relations with the Proud Boys, most notably following the Willamette Week‘s
publication of text messages exchanged between Joey Gibson, the leader of the far-right group Patriot Prayer; and
Portland police Lt. Jeff Niiya. In response to criticism that the police department extended preferential treatment
to the Proud Boys, a spokesperson for the Portland PD told Rolling Stone, “We learned through our liaison officers
that one side wanted to leave so we facilitated that movement which prevented the violence that was predicted
before the event. It was a purposeful and successful de-escalation strategy employed by the Portland Police
Bureau.”

During his press conference following the rally, Wheeler explicitly condemned the Proud Boys, responding
specifically to Biggs’s claim that the group would march in Portland every month until the “threat” of antifa was
eliminated. In the larger context of the political climate, Wheeler said that the Proud Boys rally created a “sense of
uncertainty and a sense of fear” in the city. “I want to be very clear: We do not want him here in my city, period,”
he said. He also condemned Trump’s statement vilifying antifa on Twitter, saying, “this is a potentially dangerous
and volatile situation, and adding to that noise doesn’t do anything to support or help the efforts that are going on
here in Portland.”

Despite Wheeler’s statement, however, as well as the number of anti-fascist protesters dwarfing those of the
Proud Boys and far-right affiliates, Biggs roundly declared the rally a success, largely due to Trump’s tweet. “We
wanted national attention, and we got it.,” he told the Oregonian. “Mission success.”

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/18/antifa-proud-boys-claim-success-after-
portland-protest/2045313001/
Far-right Proud Boys claim 'mission success' in antifa protest, vow to hold monthly Portland rallies

[Date: August 18, 2019; Author: John Bacon]

The far-right Proud Boys claimed success and vowed to conduct monthly protests in Portland after a weekend "End
Domestic Terrorism" rally in Oregon's largest city drew hundreds to condemn anti-fascist "antifa" activists.

Rose City Antifa, Portland’s anti-fascist activist organization, countered with its own demonstration against the
Proud Boys, an all-male extremist group condemned by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its ties to white
nationalism.

Portland Police Lieutenant Tina Jones said 1,200 people representing both sides took to downtown streets and
that least 13 arrests were made. Authorities were mostly able to keep the conflicting groups apart through a series
of protests and counterprotests lasting about nine hours.

[…]

Proud Boys protest organizer Joe Biggs said his group sought national attention and they got it. He noted President
Donald Trump's tweets as the protests unfolded.
Trump tweeted that Portland was "being watched very closely" and that the government was considering a plan to
name antifa a terrorist organization, a designation normally reserved for foreign organizations.

The idea is not new. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, last month co-sponsored a Senate resolution that would designate
groups and organizations "who act under the banner of antifa" to be designated as domestic terrorist
organizations.

“Look at President Trump’s Twitter,” Biggs said in a tweet that went viral. “He talked about Portland, said he’s
watching antifa. That’s all we wanted. We wanted national attention, and we got it. Mission success.”

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.” Portland is being watched
very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!

Mayor Ted Wheeler was less pleased at Trump's perspective. He described the contentious rallies as "potentially
dangerous and volatile."

“Adding to that noise doesn’t do anything to support or help the efforts that are going on here in Portland,"
Wheeler told CNN.

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio promised monthly rallies until Portland, a liberal city with a strong antifa
following, is freed from the group's "grip." Wheeler, noting that some weapons were seized, lauded police for
keeping relative calm in the city as the groups moved in small bands throughout the day…

15. Dolores Huerta’s Arrest at Protest in Support of Fresno Home Care Workers’ Union

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/20/dolores-huerta-civil-rights-leader-arrested-
fresno-labor-protest/2068197001/
89-year-old civil rights leader Dolores Huerta arrested at California labor protest

[Date: August 20, 2019; Authors: James Ward and Joshua Yeager]

VISALIA, Calif. – The 89-year-old civil rights icon Dolores Huerta was taken away in handcuffs Tuesday during a
protest in California over pay for workers who care for the elderly and disabled.

Around 500 Service Employees International Union members stormed the Fresno County Board of Supervisors
meeting to demand better pay.

It's been more than a decade since many have received a raise, the union said.

Huerta, co-founder of what would become the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, was one of six
protesters arrested by Fresno County deputies for allegedly failing to disperse after being issued an order to do so,
according to Fresno County sheriff's spokesperson Tony Botti.

The six – including Huerta – were released after being issued tickets.
"All of these supervisors make over $100,000 a year, while these people have gone without a wage increase for 11
years, and it's time. Que es tiempo. If supervisors can't take the heat, they should get out of the kitchen," Huerta
told reporters.

Veterans, church leaders, and seniors joined the large crowd criticizing accusing Fresno County supervisors of
discriminating against women and people of color with unfair wages and benefits.

Negotiations with supervisors have spanned months, according to the union.

Currently, home care workers earn a $12 minimum wage. Supervisors offered a 10 cent raise, but the union said it
is pushing for a dollar more.

Huerta is no stranger to arrests.

Since founding the Dolores Huerta Foundation, the legendary activist has advocated for unions, farmworkers and
rural communities without access to clean drinking water.

She has been jailed nearly two dozen times for union demonstrating. She co-founded the National Farmworkers
Association with Chavez in the 1960s and Huerta created the rallying cry, “Si, Se Puede,” used by the nation’s poor
farmworkers.

With Chavez, she negotiated collective bargaining agreements and contracts with big growers, winning the first
health and benefit plans for farmworkers.

In 2012, her work was honored by President Barack Obama, who presented her with the Medal of Freedom, the
nation’s highest civilian honor.

Obama also acknowledged Huerta for her role in the creation of his “Yes, We Can” slogan during his first presidential
campaign.

Following her arrest, Huerta said she plans to continue protesting and hopes other leaders will follow suit.

Contributing: The Associated Press

• https://abc30.com/politics/civil-rights-activist-among-several-arrested-during-protest-in-fresno/5481190/
Civil rights activist, Dolores Huerta, among several arrested during protest in Fresno

[Date: August 21, 2019; Author: Jason Oliveira]

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Eight people were handcuffed and taken to jail following a peaceful but very vocal protest
inside the Fresno County Hall of Records Tuesday.

Wearing purple shirts, protesters filled the hallway outside of the Board of Supervisors Chambers just as deputies
tried to get the large crowd to disperse.

The issue at hand: County caregivers are demanding a pay increase, which they say they haven't received in ten
years.
A couple of hundred protesters arrived to have their voices heard.

"We had to do something drastic and something different and let them know we mean business," said Holly
Hickenbottom.

After nearly a year of negotiations with County representatives the caregivers union, SEIU says they've been offered
just a 10-cent an hour raise.

Caregivers currently make $12 an hour and called the County's proposal an insult.

"I think they think home care providers just sit around and watch soap operas and hang out and just babysit but
that's just not my case. I work hard," Hickenbottom said.

The County Supervisors did not address the protesters since negotiations remain ongoing, but well known Civil Rights
leader Dolores Huerta was among the group of eight that was arrested and released.

"The reason I decided to get arrested because I am angry that the way the home care providers are treated," said
Huerta. "They have gone over a decade without having a wage increase."

Huerta says she wanted to bring attention to the challenge caregivers face and lend her support during the
negotiations.

"We're not going to stop until home care workers get the wage increase and health benefits they deserve," Huerta
said.

Tuesday's protest was well organized; union leaders obtained the proper paperwork before the protest, so the
sheriff's department was well aware of the situation.

The two sides are expected to meet at the negotiation table on Thursday.

The union says if they don't get what they want, they will continue to protest.
1. 2014 NFL Draft Analyses of Quarterbacks by Nolan Nawrocki (who came under fire for his racism)
• http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/tracker#dt-tabs:dt-by-position/dt-by-position-input:qb
Taj Boyd

STRENGTHS Sets quickly. Can sling it when he's in rhythm and has a clean pocket. Good zip short-to-intermediate.
Can launch deep throws with ease and flashes touch to drop it in the bucket. Shows composure in the face of a
blitz and is willing to take a hit to make a play. Makes plays with his feet, rolling the pocket, extending plays or
throwing on the move (left or right). Slippery and elusive to escape the rush and is a threat to tuck and run.
Functional straight-line speed and run strength for a quarterback; will lower his shoulder on defenders.
Experienced, three-year starter. Terrific football character. Has a likable personality.

BOTTOM LINE A short, stocky, fairly nifty, strong-armed quarterback most ideally suited for a vertical-power
system. Projects best as a career backup or No. 3 quarterback in the pros and compares very favorably to Ravens
2007 fifth-rounder Troy Smith.

Logan Thomas

STRENGTHS Outstanding size, stature and strength -- towers over the line, has natural throwing lanes from the
pocket and is able to make plays in the grasp. Athletic -- can climb the pocket, escape and run for the sticks. Load
to bring down. Generates easy velocity with a quick, compact release and can make all the throws. Is very
competitive and will sell out to make a play. Has upside. Tough and durable -- started 40 consecutive games. Vocal
leader. Was the only quarterback to crack a ball speed of 60 mph on the radar gun at the combine and can flat-out
rip it.

BOTTOM LINE
Unrefined, strong-armed, sturdy pocket passer who looks the part and has intriguing, raw arm talent, though he is
a converted tight end whose inexperience showed throughout a yo-yo career in Blacksburg. Has definite
developmental value given his starter-caliber skill set and intangible makeup. Would benefit from coaching
continuity, more specifically a QB coach capable of refining his crude talent.

Aaron Murray

STRENGTHS Has a quick release and is light enough on his feet to escape the first wave and make some plays on
the move. Solid decision-maker -- takes what the defense gives him. Fine short-to-intermediate accuracy. Good
intangibles. Encouraging team leader with a likeable personality. Leads by example. Serves well as the face of the
program. Outstanding work ethic. Is very intelligent and football smart. Experienced, four-year starter in the SEC.

BOTTOM LINE Diminutive, game-managing pocket passer still recovering from a torn ACL. Would benefit from a
moving pocket that can create open throwing lanes, yet does not have the foot quickness desired for a rollout
passing game. Possesses a skill set most ideally suited for a backup or No. 3 role. Intelligence, intangibles and
experience are all pluses.

Keith Wenning

STRENGTHS Experienced, four-year starter with a solid build. Very smart and understands the offense. Outstanding
football character and personal character -- works at his craft, is driven to succeed and will represent a franchise
well. Respected leader -- two-time team captain. Football is very important to him. Very tough and highly
competitive. Has directed 10 fourth-quarter comebacks in his career. Consistent in his approach.

BOTTOM LINE Heavy-bodied, dink-and-dunk, rhythm passer who could be challenged to fit the ball into tight NFL
windows. Has the makeup desired in a No. 3 QB and could develop into a functional backup in a West Coast
passing game.

2. Comparisons of Usain Bolt to Justin Gatlin and Michael Phelps

• http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/sports/a21183/justin-gatlin-usain-bolt-rio-olympics/
Can Justin Gatlin—And American Science—Defeat Usain Bolt?

[Date: Aug. 1, 2016; author: Adam Piore]

When Justin Gatlin faces Usain Bolt in a rematch to become the fastest man in the world at this summer's Olympic
games, he'll have the science and engineering of the United States' secret weapon in biomechanics optimizing
each step he takes.

Usain Bolt made the sign of the cross, pointed to the heavens, and kissed his skinny fingertips. Two lanes over
stood Justin Gatlin, his thick shoulders filling out his bright-red team USA tank top, diamond studs in his ears. He
was as somber and focused as Bolt was loose. The runners set their feet in their respective blocks and placed their
fingers on the track, waiting for the gun…

Gatlin settled for the bronze in the 2012 London games as Bolt broke his own world record with a blistering 9.63.
But the distance was closing. As Bolt and Gatlin crouched over that starting line at the 100-meter finals of the 2015
World Championships in Beijing, one announcer called the matchup a "world heavyweight title boxing match."… At
the pop of the starting gun, Gatlin exploded off the blocks. Bolt had a slight edge in the straightaway…They
finished so close that when it was over you needed high-speed photography… Bolt won the race by ten
milliseconds. One-tenth of an eyeblink. Four inches.

This August, at the Rio Olympics, will be the first time the two men race again…Ralph Mann, USA Track & Field
biomechanist for sprints and hurdles, has set up a computer monitor and a laptop on a flimsy folding table next to
the track in Orlando where Gatlin and his coach are practicing on a hazy spring Tuesday. …At thirty-four, Gatlin is
an old man in the sport. Yet he's never been better. He launches himself off the blocks, his upper body virtually
parallel to the ground, his arms a blur, his feet tapping the track like fingers drumming a tabletop. At the three-
meter mark, Gatlin pulls up and ambles over to Mann's table. …Mann taps a button and Gatlin's start unfolds in
slow motion …

If anyone can find a way to shave off the two ten-thousandths of a second that separates Gatlin from Bolt, Mann is
the one to do it. …Mann's obsession with the biomechanics of speed predates his interest in science. At sixty-
seven, Mann is long and lean and moves with the grace and confidence of a natural athlete. …At the 1972 Munich
Olympics, Mann took home a silver medal, defeated by an inconsistent Ugandan who ran the race of his life.

• http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2658789-whos-the-greater-olympian-michael-phelps-or-usain-bolt#
Who’s the Greater Olympian, Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt?

[Date: August 19, 2016; author: Tom Weir]

Michael Phelps vs. Usain Bolt. It’s a matchup we’ll never see in the pool or on the track, but it makes for an
Olympian battle in the court of public opinion.

One has the wingspan of a 747, the other a stride that’s positively equine.

The barracuda against the cheetah. The Baltimore Bullet vs. a man who wins by such crazy margins that maybe his
first name should be Insane.

Both have spent their Olympic careers racing more against the clock and themselves than the competition.
That gives Bolt a triple-triple that’s unprecedented in track, with victories in the 100, 200 and 4x100 at three
consecutive Summer Olympic Games.

If a CPA was picking who is the best, there would be no problem. Do the math, and Phelps’ 23 career golds and 28
total medals dwarf the nine golds Bolt has after leading Jamaica to victory in the 4x100-meter relay Friday night in
Rio….

But give Phelps an edge for greater versatility.

Phelps won his golds in five different individual events and three different relays. He performed all four of his
sport’s strokes in the individual medleys, where he won six golds. At the same time, his legacy benefits heavily
from the nature of swimming, which has always had more opportunities to win multiple medals.Shifting from
freestyle to butterfly or backstroke is a far easier task than adding an event in track. Tons of swimmers have won in
more than one stroke category.

Bolt has strictly been a sprinter, and there’s no shame in that. But while being in fewer events doesn’t derail his
case for greatest Olympian, it does hurt—particularly with the medal count between him and Phelps so lopsided. Is
it unfair to wish we’d seen Bolt in an additional event? Not really, especially when we're trying to determine the
best of the best.
 1. January 2019 LAUSD School Board Vote

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/30/major-step-los-angeles-school-board-calls-
moratorium-new-charter-schools/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a8dabcf5a748

In a major step, the Los Angeles school board calls for a moratorium on new charter schools

[Date: January 30, 2019; Author: Valerie Strauss]

The Los Angeles Board of Education is calling on the California legislature to impose a moratorium on new charter
schools, a remarkable shift by the pro-charter panel that struck a blow to the charter movement and may lead to
stronger oversight of the schools.

The vote appears to signal an inflection point in the charter school debate in California, which has more charter
schools and charter school students than any other state. California has allowed charters — which are publicly
funded but privately operated — to flourish with little oversight amid growing controversy over financial scandals
and other issues.

Charters have become a focus of activists around the country who say the schools provide families with options in
districts with failing classrooms. Opponents, including the Los Angeles teachers union, say charters drain resources
from the traditional schools that most students attend and encourage further privatization of an important civic
institution.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a big supporter of charter schools, as are many of America’s wealthiest
individuals, including billionaire Eli Broad, who several years ago promoted a plan to open enough charter schools
in Los Angeles to serve at least half of the district’s more than 600,000 students.

But a growing number of education advocates and groups, including the NAACP, have called for a moratorium on
charters until issues involving transparency and operations are resolved. California voters just elected a new
schools superintendent, Tony Thurmond, who has said he wants to spend more money on traditional schools and
stop the expansion of charters until concerns are addressed. He defeated a candidate who was supported by the
charter lobby. Newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has emphasized his desire to spend more on schools within
traditional public systems.

The Los Angeles school board resolution and vote — which happened Tuesday as pro-charter protesters picketed
outside board headquarters — came out of last week’s agreement between the city’s school district and the
teachers union. That pact ended a six-day strike by educators in the nation’s second-largest school district.

The school board voted Tuesday to ratify the strike-ending deal between the Los Angeles Unified School District
and United Teachers Los Angeles. The new contract provides teachers with 6 percent pay increases, more
resources for schools and small reductions in class size.

The strike ended with other agreements, too, including what many saw as a surprising promise by the school
district to support a state moratorium of up to 10 months on charter schools while the state studies their effects.

The Los Angeles Board of Education has six members, at least half of whom were elected with the help of financial
support from the charter lobby. The district superintendent, Austin Beutner, is a former investment banker who is
a charter backer.
“LAUSD has joined the NAACP and other key organizations in calling on the state of California for a moratorium on
charters,” UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said in a statement. “This is a win for justice, transparency, and
common sense. We need to invest in our existing schools, not follow a business model of unregulated growth
when new schools are fundamentally not needed in L.A.”

Charter schools, which operate in most states and enroll 5 percent to 6 percent of America’s schoolchildren, are
not required to operate under the same rules or release to the public the same information as traditional public
schools.

Proponents say charters offer parents vital options in neighborhoods with failing district schools and that the
substantial enrollment in Los Angeles — 20 percent of schoolchildren there are enrolled in charters — shows
parents welcome the schools. The California Charter Schools Association bused students to the school board
meeting to protest the resolution, and Nina Rees, president and chief executive of the National Alliance for Public
Charter Schools, said in a statement:

It is not a progressive value to cut off high-quality public-school options to students, especially the large number of
low-income students of color that charter schools serve in Los Angeles. We strongly oppose placing a moratorium
on charter schools because it does not put students first. A vote for a moratorium on charter schools is a vote
against students and a vote against families.”

Critics want the state legislature to revamp its charter laws to prevent repeated financial scandals and
encroachment on local district authority. They also say many Los Angeles charter schools are not at capacity and
that more charters are unnecessary.

A charter ban was part of the union’s rallying cry for public support, and it seems to have worked: The strike was
viewed as popular among Los Angeles residents, and the school board is seeking a state moratorium.

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-education-los-angeles/la-school-board-seeks-pause-on-charter-
schools-after-teachers-strike-idUSKCN1PO07A

L.A. school board seeks pause on charter schools, after teachers’ strike

[Date: January 29, 2019; Author: Alex Dobuzinskis]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles school board voted on Tuesday to ask state lawmakers for a moratorium
on new charter schools in the area, as demanded by a union for more than 30,000 teachers in a six-day strike that
ended last week.

The 5-1 vote by the school board represented a dramatic shift for a panel on which at least half the members had
previously supported charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed.

Charter schools operate in most of the United States with teachers who often are not represented by a union.

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the union for teachers in the district, argued during a strike that won
widespread support from parents and prominent Democratic politicians that charter schools are a vehicle for
“privatization” of education and divert resources from traditional classrooms.

School district officials agreed to allow a vote on a request for a moratorium on charter schools, as part of the
labor agreement it reached a week ago with UTLA to end the teachers strike.

The panel’s approval of the motion, which also asks state officials to consider potential changes to California’s
legislation on charter schools, ensures the battle over the future of new charter schools in the nation’s second-
largest school district will move to the state capital of Sacramento.

PAUSE AND STUDY

Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said in a statement he supported the
resolution.

“The charter law is decades old, and it makes sense to me to pause while experts – not advocates – study all of the
issues and propose what adjustments, if any, might be appropriate to the law to provide a path for the next 20
years,” Beutner said.

Los Angeles Unified has about 150,000 students in charter schools, more than any other school district in the
nation. The resolution will not affect the continued operation of the district’s 275 charter schools.

The district has about 500,000 other students in regular public schools.

Representatives for California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and the state Department of Education could
not be reached for comment.

Charter school students and other supporters of those institutions protested on Tuesday at LAUSD headquarters
ahead of the school board vote.

“This resolution to ban charter schools is a solution in search of a problem,” Myrna Castrejón, president and CEO of
the California Charter School Association, said in a statement.

Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Bill Tarrant and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2. January 2019 UTLA Strike and Contract Victory

• http://www.ktvu.com/facebook-instant/lausd-teachers-union-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-strike

Los Angeles teachers' strike is over, agreement reached

[Date: Jan 23, 2019; author: Phil Shuman]

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - A deal was reached Tuesday between Los Angeles school officials and the teachers union
that will allow educators to return to classrooms after a six-day strike against the nation's second-largest district,
officials said.

Music and cheers broke out outside LA City Hall when the deal was announced.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, accompanied by leaders United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified
School District, announced the agreement at City Hall a few hours after a 21-hour bargaining session ended before
dawn.

Garcetti called the tentative deal a "historic agreement."

"I'm proud to announce that pending approval by the teachers represented by UTA and educational professional
and this Board of Education we have an agreement that will allow our teachers to go back to work on the
campuses tomorrow," Garcetti said.

On Tuesday, teachers voted whether or not to approve the deal. Union President Alex Caputo-Pearl said at a
Tuesday night press conference that the vast super-majority of teachers voted to approve the tentative agreement
effectively ending the strike. Teachers will return to their classes on Wednesday

"I'm delighted we've reached an agreement with UTLA that provides teachers with a well-deserved salary increase,
that will reduce class size, and add more support to our students and educators in schools including librarians,
nurses and counselors," said district Superintendent Austin Beutner.
FOX 11's Phil Shuman covered the story on Tuesday and says the new agreement will give teachers a 6% increase
in salary, the school district's commitment to reduce class sizes, an increase in support services, and will also put
more control in charters schools -- direct competitors to traditional LAUSD public schools.

Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom chimed in after hearing of an agreement being reached between the teachers'
union and school district saying in a statement:

"I am glad that LAUSD and UTLA have come to an agreement, and I want to thank the thousands of dedicated
teachers, parents and students who were powerfully demonstrating their passion for our public schools over the
last 9 days. Increases in state funding are already translating into real progress for kids and classrooms, including
investments in community schools. I look forward to working with the Legislature to provide flexibility for schools
to hire more counselors and nurses and to better support our neediest kids, including those in special education."

Talks resumed Thursday at Garcetti's urging. The mayor does not have authority over the Los Angeles Unified
School District but he sought to help both sides reach an agreement after nearly two years of fruitless talks that led
to the walkout.

Clashes over pay, class sizes and support-staff levels in the district with 640,000 students led to its first strike in 30
years and prompted the staffing of classrooms with substitute teachers and administrators. It followed teacher
walkouts in other states that emboldened organized labor.

The district maintained that the union's demands could bankrupt the school system, which is projecting a half-
billion-dollar deficit this budget year and has billions obligated for pension payments and health coverage for
retired teachers.

Negotiations broke down in December and started again this month. The union rejected a district offer on Jan. 11
to hire nearly 1,200 teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians and reduce class sizes by two students.

Teachers hoped to build on the "Red4Ed" movement that began last year in West Virginia and moved to
Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado and Washington state. It spread from conservative states with "right to
work" laws that limit the ability to strike to the more liberal West Coast with strong unions.

.@MayorOfLA: "This is a historic agreement. It gets to lower class sizes. It gets to proper support staff, to
community-based schools..." WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/sk4d9OVOSr pic.twitter.com/APx1rFK9mM— FOX 11 Los
Angeles (@FOXLA) January 22, 2019

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

• https://www.npr.org/2019/01/22/687374562/a-deal-in-the-la-teachers-strike-now-union-members-to-
vote

Teachers Vote Yes On Deal To End Los Angeles Strike

[January 23, 2019; Authors: Elissa Nadworny and Clare Lombardo]

Union members in Los Angeles voted to approve a deal with the city's school district on Tuesday, ending a six-day
teacher strike. Teachers headed back to class on Wednesday.

According to a Wednesday news release, 81 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members who cast a ballot
voted in favor of the agreement.

"I couldn't be prouder to be a teacher tonight," said UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl at a Tuesday news
conference in which he announced the preliminary results.

Some teachers expressed frustration, saying the deal didn't go far enough, while others said they were relieved.
Portland police sent hundreds of officers in riot gear to the rally, and for most of the day they kept Patriot Prayer,
led by Republican US Senate candidate Joey Gibson, and an affiliated group, Proud Boys, separated from their
opposition.

Patriot Prayer’s stated beliefs are not neo-Nazi or white supremacist, but his critics say the group’s events have
attracted white supremacist elements and have frequently brought serious violence to cities around the US West.

Gibson’s insistence on bringing his supporters repeatedly to the liberal city of Portland has crystallized debate
about the limits of free speech in an era of stark political division.

One part of the 1,000 strong counterprotest, billed as “PopMob”, included labor groups, a local Democratic
Socialists of America chapter, clergy, community groups. There was also a large contingent of anti-fascists clad in
“black bloc” clothing.

As the Patriot Prayer group marched, protesters followed at a distance through neighbouring streets. The charge
happened on Southwest Columbia Street, several blocks south of Patriot Prayer’s original rallying point. Police
claimed that protesters were throwing missiles at their lines.

One journalist, Eder Campuzano, was struck in the head by a full plastic bottle, causing him to bleed from a head
wound, which he said “likely came from a counterprotester”.

A Portland photographer, Doug Brown, said that “the first missile I saw and heard came from the Patriot Prayer
side, across the street, towards the protesters”.

“I don’t know who set it off, but it went towards the black bloc. And then the police just swarmed them,” Brown
said.

Brown’s tweeted video of the police charge shows them confronting protesters en masse, and attacking him and
and other reporters filming from a sidewalk.

Olivia Katbi Smith, co-chair of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America, said the police were not provoked.

A Portland woman was later admitted to hospital after being hit with a flash bang round.

Eric Ward, executive director of civil rights organization Western States Center, said that while he believed some
counterprotesters made some “bad decisions” by bringing weapons, the police charge “punished every
counterprotester for the actions of a few”.

This collective punishment, he said “doesn’t align with the treatment of the Proud Boys and Joey Gibson”.

Gibson had earlier told the Patriot Prayer group that a deal with police meant that they would not be searched in
exchange for confining themselves to a barricaded area. No weapons searches were carried out on the Patriot
Prayer group.

Portland police did not respond to requests for comment on weapons searches, or their charge on
counterprotesters.

The Patriot Prayer rally had attracted people from all over the country - many wearing the colors of the Proud Boys
group, others wearing Trump-branded clothing and Infowars merchandise.

Patriot Prayer’s events attracted widespread attention in the last month after an event in Portland on 30 June that
culminated in some of the worst street violence in the city’s recent history.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dealt a major blow on Wednesday to organized labor. By a 5-to-4 vote, with
the more conservative justices in the majority, the court ruled that government workers who choose not to join
unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining.

Forcing those workers to finance union activity violated the First Amendment, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for
the majority. “We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmembers by compelling
them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern,” he wrote.

The ruling means that public-sector unions across the nation, already under political pressure, could lose tens of
millions of dollars and see their effectiveness diminished.

“We recognize that the loss of payments from nonmembers may cause unions to experience unpleasant transition
costs in the short term, and may require unions to make adjustments in order to attract and retain members,”
Justice Alito wrote. “But we must weigh these disadvantages against the considerable windfall that unions have
received” over the years.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch joined
the majority opinion, which overruled a four-decade-old precedent.

Justice Elena Kagan summarized her dissent from the bench, a sign of profound disagreement.

“There is no sugarcoating today’s opinion,” she wrote. “The majority overthrows a decision entrenched in this
nation’s law — and in its economic life — for over 40 years.”

“As a result,” she wrote, “it prevents the American people, acting through their state and local officials, from
making important choices about workplace governance. And it does so by weaponizing the First Amendment, in a
way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.”

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.

The majority based its ruling on the First Amendment, saying that requiring payments to unions that negotiate
with the government forces workers to endorse political messages that may be at odds with their beliefs.

Unions say that reasoning is flawed. Nonmembers are already entitled to refunds of payments spent on political
activities, like advertising to support a political candidate.

• http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/27/us-supreme-court-deals-blow-to-labor-unions-ruling-5-4-
that-public-sector-unions-may-not-collect-mandatory-fees-from-non-members.html

Supreme Court deals blow to unions, rules against forced fees for government workers

[Date: June 27, 2018; author: Bill Mears]

In a major legal and political defeat for big labor, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that state government
workers cannot be forced to pay so-called "fair share" fees to support collective bargaining and other union
activities.

The conservative majority said a union's contract negotiations over pay and benefits were inextricably linked with
its broader political activities, and concluded workers had a limited constitutional right not to underwrite such
"speech." The case specifically examined union fees paid by non-members.

“This procedure violates the First Amendment and cannot continue,” Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the
majority opinion. “Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a non-
member’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee
affirmatively consents to pay.”
While the current case applies only to public-sector employees, the political and financial stakes are potentially
huge for the broader American labor union movement, which had been sounding the alarm about the legal fight.

The unions say 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia would be affected by this
ruling.

The majority overturned the high court's four-decade-old precedent -- known as the "Abood" decision -- dealing
with so-called "agency" fees, allowing states to require public employees to pay money supporting collective
bargaining and other union activities.

Alito said while overturning past decisions should be rare, this issue justified it.

"There are very strong reasons in this case. Fundamental free speech rights are at stake," he said.

The key plaintiff was Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, who pays about $550 annually to the powerful public-
sector union known as AFSCME. While not a member of the union, he is required under state law to hand over a
weekly portion of his paycheck -- which he says is a violation of his constitutional rights.

"I work for Health and Family Services, and I'm forced to pay money to a union that then supports political causes
that I don't agree with," Janus told Fox News.

President Trump cheered the court decision on Twitter, writing: “Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union
workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who
control the Union deciding for them. Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!”

Trump's Justice Department has been clear on its position -- announcing in December it was reversing course from
the previous administration and supporting Janus.

Writing the dissent for the court's four liberal members, Associate Justice Elena Kagan said the majority succeeded
in its "crusade" by "turning the First Amendment into a sword."

"Judicial disruption does not get any greater than what the Court does today," she said in a rare oral dissent read
from the bench. "The majority has overruled Abood for no exceptional or special reason, but because it never liked
the decision. It has overruled Abood because it wanted to. Because, that is, it wanted to pick the winning side in
what should be -- and until now, has been -- an energetic policy debate."

Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined her.

"Almost all economic and regulatory policy affects or touches speech,” Kagan added. “So the [court] majority’s
road runs long. And at every stop are black-robed rulers overriding citizens’ choices. The First Amendment was
meant for better things. It was meant not to undermine but to protect democratic governance-including over the
role of public-sector unions."

Justices split 4-4 on the issue in a similar case two years ago, just after Antonin Scalia died. But with Neil Gorsuch
now filling the vacancy left by Scalia, he was seen as the deciding vote this time. During arguments back in
February, Gorsuch played it close to the vest and left court watchers guessing -- he had no comments or questions
from the bench during nearly 70 minutes of oral arguments.

On Wednesday, he sided with the conservative majority.

Labor leaders oppose so-called "free riding" by workers like Janus, however, and say they have a legal duty to
advocate for all employees.

Nearly 30 states have so-called "right-to-work laws" that restrict forced fees. But many public-employee union
members are in other states.
Activists from the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, the Los Angeles Community Action Network and other groups
vigorously opposed the plan at City Hall, calling it a tool to squelch dissent.

“You’re actually limiting our ability to protest, to say no, to use our bodies to say we are standing up for our
communities,” said Jamie Garcia, a member of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.

Garcia continued to speak after her minute to comment had ended. Council President Herb Wesson told her she
was disrupting the meeting.

“Everybody gets one minute,” Wesson said as Garcia repeatedly yelled back, “What you are doing is wrong!”

Others in the crowd joined in support of Garcia, shouting, “We do not approve!” and “We will not be silenced!”
before she was escorted out of the council chambers by police.

The measure passed 14 to 0, with Councilman Mike Bonin absent. None of the council members spoke on the
change in rules.

Bonin said he missed the vote because of child care issues and refused to say how he would have voted.

“I’m not getting into it,” he said.

Council members first proposed new rules regarding meeting disruptions last month and have repeatedly met
behind closed doors to discuss possible changes. A spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer said last month that
council members wanted to be able to consult with their lawyers after David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg warned he
might take legal action.

Saltsburg and another meeting attendee sued the city nine years ago after they were cut off or ejected from city
meetings, and in some cases temporarily banned from speaking. A federal judge concluded in 2013 that the city
had run afoul of the 1st Amendment in its enforcement of the rules and warned that the council "cannot sacrifice
political speech to a formula of civility."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California urged the council to reject the new rules, arguing that
any disruptive conduct should be punished as it occurs, not by banning people from future meetings. The civil
liberties group said that the new system of punishment would exacerbate the problems with the existing rules,
which “categorize a wide array of expressive activity as disruptive.”

Under those rules, disruptive conduct can include clapping, whistling, repeatedly waving arms and “the utterance
of loud, threatening or abusive language” from the audience, as well as any “other disruptive acts.” Carol Sobel, a
civil rights attorney who has sued the city in the past, said many of the actions that the council rules define as
disruptive are in fact “absolutely protected expression” under federal court rulings.

For instance, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a man who was ejected from a Santa Cruz City Council
meeting for silently giving a Nazi salute from the audience, she said…

14. August 2019 Portland face-off between Proud Boys and Antifascist Counterprotesters

• https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/proud-boys-antifa-portland-rally-873291/
The statements come from individuals who told the court they face barriers to travel for business and investment
opportunities, attending the wedding and births of children, and schooling. They included accounts by students on
visas, U.S. permanent residents awaiting reunification with family members, dual citizens, U.N.-approved and
vetted refugee families and an Iranian resident with an approved nonimmigrant visa issued to researchers,
professors and cultural exchange visitors.

“The vast majority of our resources” have been diverted to educating the public “on this one issue, bar association
president Babak Yousefzadeh, of San Francisco, testified during the two-hour hearing. “It frustrates the mission of
the IABA,” he said, which is to educate and increase civic participation by Iranian-Americans and to communicate
their concerns to government.

Leila Golestaneh Austin, executive director of the alliance, echoed those claims, adding its members see a chilling
effect on finding talent for their businesses, and have had to respond to a rise in hate crimes and postpone efforts
such as a sports diplomacy initiative.

Justice Department civil division attorney Daniel Schwei said that travel by members of the groups who are U.S.
citizens and U.S. permanent residents is not restricted, that many of the plaintiff declarations predate the latest
version of the order, and that groups’ assertions of “continuous harm” are inaccurate since the order has been
stayed.

The White House issued its March order rescinding and replacing a broader January travel ban that courts had
rejected. Trump’s revised version suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and halted for 90 days the
issuance of new visas to people from the six countries.

Judges in cases brought by the state of Hawaii and refu-gee organizations based in Maryland who froze aspects of
the most recent ban agreed the Trump order could be construed as unconstitutionally discriminating on religious
grounds.

By comparison, the Iranian-American case, brought by Iranian-American civil rights lawyer Cyrus Mehri and the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, draws on civil rights precedents directed at bias based on ethnicity
and national origin.

The case, which is being heard with another lawsuit brought by a Shi’a Muslim group and two Yemeni individuals,
has flown under the radar compared with the Hawaii and Maryland cases, which were the first to prompt
nationwide injunctions. But like the others, it is moving at an expedited pace.

Justice Department officials said the court rulings are flawed both in reasoning and scope, and promised to
continue to defend the executive order and the president’s lawful authority to protect the nation’s security.

“For the past 30 years, every President has invoked his power to protect the Nation by suspending entry of
categories of aliens. As a legal matter, this Order is no different,” department lawyers argued in the Washington
case.

Department lawyers unsuccessfully urged Chutkan not to allow Tuesday’s live testimony or Friday’s scheduled
preliminary injunction hearing. The department lawyers told the court that they were not disputing the
truthfulness and credibility of the plaintiff group’s leaders, only their legal import.

• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/18/iranian-american-groups-testify-detriment-
trumps-t/

Iranian-American groups testify to detriment of Trump’s order of travel, refugees

[Date: Apr. 28, 2017; author: Andrea Noble]

to properly do his job!” Trump, who has been criticized for failing to adequately condemn the rising white
supremacist domestic terrorism threat, also doubled down on his previous anti-antifa stance, referring to them as
an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.”

[…]

Additionally, many anti-fascist protesters criticized the Portland police for escorting the Proud Boys across the
Hawthorne Bridge, about 30 minutes into the protest. The Portland police department has previously been
accused of maintaining cozy relations with the Proud Boys, most notably following the Willamette Week‘s
publication of text messages exchanged between Joey Gibson, the leader of the far-right group Patriot Prayer; and
Portland police Lt. Jeff Niiya. In response to criticism that the police department extended preferential treatment
to the Proud Boys, a spokesperson for the Portland PD told Rolling Stone, “We learned through our liaison officers
that one side wanted to leave so we facilitated that movement which prevented the violence that was predicted
before the event. It was a purposeful and successful de-escalation strategy employed by the Portland Police
Bureau.”

During his press conference following the rally, Wheeler explicitly condemned the Proud Boys, responding
specifically to Biggs’s claim that the group would march in Portland every month until the “threat” of antifa was
eliminated. In the larger context of the political climate, Wheeler said that the Proud Boys rally created a “sense of
uncertainty and a sense of fear” in the city. “I want to be very clear: We do not want him here in my city, period,”
he said. He also condemned Trump’s statement vilifying antifa on Twitter, saying, “this is a potentially dangerous
and volatile situation, and adding to that noise doesn’t do anything to support or help the efforts that are going on
here in Portland.”

Despite Wheeler’s statement, however, as well as the number of anti-fascist protesters dwarfing those of the
Proud Boys and far-right affiliates, Biggs roundly declared the rally a success, largely due to Trump’s tweet. “We
wanted national attention, and we got it.,” he told the Oregonian. “Mission success.”

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/18/antifa-proud-boys-claim-success-after-
portland-protest/2045313001/
Far-right Proud Boys claim 'mission success' in antifa protest, vow to hold monthly Portland rallies

[Date: August 18, 2019; Author: John Bacon]

The far-right Proud Boys claimed success and vowed to conduct monthly protests in Portland after a weekend "End
Domestic Terrorism" rally in Oregon's largest city drew hundreds to condemn anti-fascist "antifa" activists.

Rose City Antifa, Portland’s anti-fascist activist organization, countered with its own demonstration against the
Proud Boys, an all-male extremist group condemned by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its ties to white
nationalism.

Portland Police Lieutenant Tina Jones said 1,200 people representing both sides took to downtown streets and
that least 13 arrests were made. Authorities were mostly able to keep the conflicting groups apart through a series
of protests and counterprotests lasting about nine hours.

[…]

Proud Boys protest organizer Joe Biggs said his group sought national attention and they got it. He noted President
Donald Trump's tweets as the protests unfolded.
A federal appeals panel on Thursday unanimously rejected President Trump’s bid to reinstate his ban on travel into
the United States from seven largely Muslim nations, a sweeping rebuke of the administration’s claim that the
courts have no role as a check on the president.

The three-judge panel, suggesting that the ban did not advance national security, said the administration had
shown “no evidence” that anyone from the seven nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen —
had committed terrorist acts in the United States.
The ruling also rejected Mr. Trump’s claim that courts are powerless to review a president’s national security
assessments. Judges have a crucial role to play in a constitutional democracy, the court said. “It is beyond
question,” the decision said, “that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges
to executive action.”

The decision was handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. It
upheld a ruling last Friday by a federal district judge, James L. Robart, who blocked key parts of the travel ban,
allowing thousands of foreigners to enter the country.The appeals court acknowledged that Mr. Trump was owed
deference on his immigration and national security policies. But it said he was claiming something more — that
“national security concerns are unreviewable, even if those actions potentially contravene constitutional rights and
protections.”

Within minutes of the ruling, Mr. Trump angrily vowed to fight it, presumably in an appeal to the Supreme Court.
“SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. At the White
House, the president told reporters that the ruling was “a political decision” and predicted that his administration
would win an appeal “in my opinion, very easily.” He said he had not yet conferred with his attorney general, Jeff
Sessions, on the matter…

• http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/09/9th-circuit-court-upholds-suspension-president-trump-travel-
ban-executive-order
Appeals Court Upholds Suspension of Trump's Immigration Order

[Date: February 9, 2017]

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously upheld a temporary suspension of President
Donald Trump's executive order restricting travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Trump issued the executive order, which placed a 90-day pause on immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya,
Somalia and Sudan, on January 27. The order also imposed a 120-day pause on all refugees, and an indefinite
pause on refugees from Syria.

Last Friday, Judge James Robart, of the Federal District Court in Seattle, issued a temporary restraining order after
the states of Washington and Minnesota both sued. Attorneys from the Justice Department appealed Robart’s
ruling, arguing that the president’s executive power gives him the authority to place restrictions on people coming
into the country.

It is possible the case will next be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

President Trump took to Twitter to react shortly after the court announced its decision:
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
3:35 PM - 9 Feb 2017
65,037 65,037 Retweets 223,222 223,222 likes
Watch reaction from the "Special Report" panel below, and share your reaction in the comments.
 6. Clinton vs. Trump economic plans
• http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/11/politics/hillary-clinton-economy-detroit-election-2016/
Clinton: I will stamp out 'the Trump loophole'

[Date: Aug. 11, 2016; authors: Dan Merica and Jeff Zeleny ]

Hillary Clinton lambasted Donald Trump's economic plans in a speech Thursday as nothing more than a huge tax
break for himself, labeling tax cuts he proposed earlier this week as "the Trump Loophole."

Throughout her speech on the floor of a factory north of Detroit, Clinton accused Trump of using his presidential
campaign to boost wealthy people like himself, looking to drive home a message that the only person Trump is
looking out for is Trump. "He would give trillions in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, and Wall Street
money managers," Clinton said. "In his speech on Monday, he called for a new tax loophole -- let's call it the
'Trump Loophole'." She added, "It would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many
of his companies. He'd pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families."

Clinton slammed the Republican nominee for proposing to eliminate of the Estate Tax, a move that would save his
family $4 billion dollars based on the $10 billion Trump says he is worth.

"He's offered no credible plans to address what working families are up against today," Clinton said. "Nothing on
student loans or the cost of prescription drugs. Nothing for farmers and struggling rural communities ... Nothing
for communities of color in our cities to overcome barriers of systemic racism. Nothing to create new opportunities
for young people." Clinton closed the speech by arguing that Trump is only offering "a more extreme version of the
failed theory of trickle-down economics, with the addition of his own unique Trumpian ideas that even
Republicans reject."

• http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/08/clinton-trump-clash-on-economy.html
Clinton, Trump clash on economy

[Date: Aug. 8, 2016]

Hillary Clinton clashed from afar with Donald Trump on the economy Monday, accusing him of peddling “old, tired
ideas” that benefit the “really wealthy” – after the Republican nominee hammered the Democrats' “job-killing”
agenda in a speech of his own where he unveiled a revised plan to jolt the economy by slashing taxes and
regulations.

Trump delivered his economic address early Monday afternoon in Detroit, touting a plan he called a "night-and-
day-contrast" with the “job-killing, tax-raising, poverty-inducing Obama-Clinton agenda.” Clinton returned fire
hours later during a rally in St. Petersburg, Fla., saying her GOP rival has simply hired advisers trying to “make his
old, tired ideas sound new.”

“His tax plans will give super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy,” she said. "He wants to
repackage trickle-down economics." Clinton said economists have already warned Trump’s policies “would throw
us into recession.” The sparks mark an abrupt return to the economy on the campaign trail, after a post-
convention week during which Trump was caught up in controversies that had little to do with policy.
 7. Clinton vs. Opponents in Democratic debates leading up to the primaries—Nov 2015

• https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/us/politics/democratic-debate-cbs.html?_r=0
Rivals at Democratic Debate Attack Hillary Clinton
[Date: Nov. 14, 2015; authors: Amy Chozick and Jonathan Martinnov]

Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had set out to use the second Democratic presidential debate to portray herself as
the strongest potential commander in chief while France reeled from terror attacks, instead found herself
pummeled by rivals on Saturday over her ties to Wall Street and her foreign policy record.

The debate in Des Moines opened with Mrs. Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Martin O’Malley
bowing their heads to observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the attacks in Paris on Friday. And, at
least at first, the three remaining Democratic candidates seemed acutely aware that traditional political punches
could seem petty in the aftermath of the bloodshed.

But then Mr. Sanders and Mr. O’Malley unleashed pointed, yet polite, critiques of Mrs. Clinton’s foreign policy
stances, including her 2002 vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, which Mr. Sanders tied to the rise of the
Islamic State, which officials in Paris have said was responsible for the attacks.

“Let me have one area of disagreement with the secretary,” Mr. Sanders said gingerly, as if on eggshells to lob an
attack at a somber moment. “I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq — something that I strongly
opposed — has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of Al Qaeda and ISIS.”
Mr. O’Malley, meanwhile, painted a dark portrait of Middle East policy under the Obama administration, in which
Mrs. Clinton spent four years as secretary of state. “Libya is now a mess. Syria is a mess. Iraq is a mess. Afghanistan
is a mess,” he said.

Without directly calling her opponents naïve, Mrs. Clinton responded by listing decades of granular foreign policy
developments that she said contributed to the current crisis. “If we’re ever going to really tackle the problems
posed by jihadi extreme terrorism, we need to understand it and realize that it has antecedents to what happened
in Iraq,” she said.

But she grew increasingly defensive as the evening progressed and the topics drifted to domestic issues. Mr.
Sanders and Mr. O’Malley both criticized her ties to the financial industry and argued that her policies would not
go far enough to rein in the Wall Street excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

“Let’s not be naïve about it,” an increasingly animated Mr. Sanders said. “Why over her political career has Wall
Street been the major campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? Now maybe they’re dumb and they don’t know
what they’re going to get, but I don’t think so.”

Mrs. Clinton called the implication an attack on her character and won applause by noting that the majority of her
donors were women who made small-dollar donations. “He has basically used his answer to impugn my integrity,
let’s be frank here,” she said. She seemed to link her contributions from the financial industry to the aftermath of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, noting that she spent considerable time as a senator from New York working to
rebuild Lower Manhattan, where many banks are — an argument that left some viewers perplexed…
 • https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/14/democratic-debate-paris-attacks-economy-clinton-
sanders-omalley
Democratic debate: candidates face off on foreign policy in light of Paris attacks
[Date: November 15, 2015; authors: Dan Roberts and Sabrina Siddiqui]

The aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in Paris failed to deter surprisingly intense policy clashes between the
Democrat presidential rivals on Saturday, as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley took up fiercely
opposing positions not just on American foreign policy but also on the economy and gun control.

As a former secretary of state, Clinton was seen as a natural frontrunner going into a second television debate that
had been hastily rearranged to focus on foreign policy and was expected to be heavily overshadowed by the
attacks in France. Yet despite their sombre and sympathetic tone in statements regarding events in France, the
three candidates moved beyond platitudes and into passionate debate over the extent to which the US should
intervene in the Middle East to prevent future attacks. “Isis cannot just be contained – it must be defeated,”
Clinton began, in veiled criticism of Barack Obama’s claim just before the attacks that Isis was contained in Syria
and Iraq. Sanders then recovered from a shaky start and began to carve out a distinctive foreign policy of his own –
suggesting that Clinton’s record of interventionism was partly to blame for the current crisis. “I would argue that
the disastrous invasion of Iraq, something I strongly opposed, has unravelled the region completely … and led to
the rise of Isis,” said the Vermont senator, who has previously spoken little on national security.

The Sanders campaign was accused of clashing beforehand with TV host CBS over the revised format of the debate
– something its advisers denied – but Clinton nonetheless took advantage of her deep foreign policy experience to
score points over him on the nuances of Middle East alliances and Russian tactical nuclear weapons. Sanders was
joined repeatedly by O’Malley, who enjoyed perhaps his best performance yet, as they paired potent rhetoric
against the secretary’s more cautious eye for detail. One of their angriest exchanges occurred over financial
reform, as both Sanders and O’Malley sought to characterize Clinton as beholden to the interests of Wall Street.
Clinton was asked if her donations from Wall Street would affect her ability to regulate the financial industry. The
Democratic frontrunner said she had laid out an “aggressive plan to rein in Wall Street” and pointed to Super Pacs
established by hedge fund managers to fight her candidacy.

When the moderators turned to Sanders for an assessment of Clinton’s response, the senator had just three
words: “Not good enough.” “Why over her career has Wall Street been the major contributor to Hillary Clinton?
Maybe they are dumb, but I don’t think so,” he said, in one of his most direct critiques to date of Clinton’s ties to
Wall Street. “Their business model is greed and fraud,” Sanders said. “And for the sake of our economy … the
major banks must be broken up.”

Sanders’ indictment prompted a sharp response from Clinton, who said: “He has basically used his answer to
impugn my integrity.” She then pivoted to her small donations, 60% of which she said were from women – a
response that was met with loud applause. Clinton also invoked the September 11 attacks and how she helped
Manhattan rebuild while representing New York at the time in the US Senate.

The latter anecdote was raised further along in the debate, in a moment that captured the nature of modern-day
elections. A tweet was read to Clinton – it asked what 9/11 had to do with accepting contributions from Wall
Street. O’Malley also went after Clinton’s financial record, dubbing her Wall Street reform plan “weak tea”. “I
won’t be taking my orders from Wall Street,” he said. Unlike after the first TV debate, when Clinton was judged to
have pulled ahead of her opponents, the consensus among observers as well as campaign officials in the post-
debate spin room in Des Moines was that all three candidates had performed better than expected on a tricky
night to talk politics…
1. Usman Chaudhry

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/mohammad-usman-chaudhry/
Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, 21 [Updated]

[Date: March 25, 2008; no credited author]

Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, a 21-year-old Pakistani American, was fatally shot at 1435 N. Curson St. in
Hollywood at 4 a.m. Tuesday, March 25.
According to police, Officer Joseph Cruz and his partner were patrolling the street when they saw a dark figure
by an apartment complex. The officers approached to investigate and encountered Chaudhry lying behind some
bushes. As Cruz was questioning Chaudhry, he pulled out a folding knife and stabbed Cruz on the left hand. Cruz
pulled out his gun and fired several rounds at Chaudhry. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced
Chaudhry dead at the scene at 4:21 a.m.
Cruz was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was treated for lacerations and released, authorities
said.

UPDATE: Initially the L.A. County coroner identified Chaudhry as a black man, but family said he was a Pakistani
American and a Muslim.

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/family-man-killed-ex-officer-awarded-over-1-million/
$1.7 million awarded to family of man killed by LAPD officer
[Date: January 27, 2011; no credited author]

Earlier this week, a federal jury found that an ex-LAPD officer was responsible for the wrongful death of an
autistic man shot and killed in Hollywood in 2008. On Wednesday, the jury awarded the victim's family $1.7
million. Joseph Cruz killed Mohammad Usman Chaudhry in March 2008, when Cruz and his partner encountered
the 21-year-old autistic man lying in the bushes alongside a Hollywood apartment building.
Since the killing, Cruz has insisted that Chaudhry tried to attack him with a knife and that he fired his gun in
self-defense. On Monday, however, after four days of testimony, the jury rejected Cruz’s account when it returned
a unanimous verdict finding that the ex-officer had used excessive force and acted in “a reckless, oppressive or
malicious manner” when he shot Chaudhry.
During the trial, lawyers for the Chaudhry family presented evidence aimed at putting doubt in the minds of
the jurors over Cruz’s account. Testing on the knife that Cruz said Chaudhry had used, for example, found one
person’s DNA profile on the handle and blade but showed that the DNA was not Chaudhry’s. Also, after Cruz said
he had never met Chaudhry before the shooting, a man testified that he had been present on multiple occasions
when Cruz confronted Chaudhry and called him by name.
After the verdict, the jury was asked to decide how much money, if any, to award Chaudhry’s parents.
Attorneys representing Cruz and the city of Los Angeles had tried to limit the size of the award by arguing that
Chaudhry had had a frayed relationship with his parents that lessened their suffering.
The verdict was at odds with the investigation done of the shooting by the Los Angeles Police Commission,
which determined the use of lethal force was "in policy." What do you think of the different conclusions?

2. Ezell Ford

• http://ktla.com/2014/08/13/man-fatally-shot-by-police-in-south-l-a-tried-to-grab-officers-gun-lapd/
Man Fatally Shot by Police in South L.A. Tried to Grab Officer’s Gun: LAPD
[Date: August 13, 2014; authors: Melissa Pamer and Nerissa Knigh
 A man who was fatally shot by police officers in South Los Angeles ignored police instructions, grabbed an
officer and tried to get ahold of the officer’s handgun during a struggle on the ground, the Los Angeles Police
Department stated Wednesday. The department’s account of the incident provided additional details of a shooting
that prompted outraged responses from the family of Ezell Ford, who described the 25-year-old man lying down
when he was shot Monday night. Tritobia Ford told KTLA her son was complying with officers’ orders when he was
shot; a cousin said he had been shot in the back.
Initially, police offered few details Monday and Tuesday, saying that an officer-involved shooting left a man
dead following a struggle with patrol officers that came after an “investigative stop" on 65th Street near Broadway
in the Florence neighborhood. But a news release sent out Wednesday afternoon provided new details that
conflicted with the family’s account of the shooting. The man killed in the shooting was not identified in the LAPD
release; his family has provided his name to KTLA. Ford's mother Tritobia Ford on Wednesday said the family was
seeking "justice, justice for Ezell."
The LAPD release stressed that the new account was preliminary and based on an ongoing investigation. Two
patrol officers with the LAPD’s Newton Division gang detail got out of their car and tried to talk to the man on 65th
Street just after 8 p.m. Monday, LAPD stated. The man looked in the direction of the officers but kept walking and
“made suspicious movements, including attempting to conceal his hands,” the release stated. When the officers
got closer tried to stop him, the man turned and grabbed one of the officers, police said. During the ensuing
struggle, they fell to the ground and “the individual attempted to remove the officer's handgun from its holster,”
the release stated.
That’s when the officer’s partner fired his handgun, while the officer on the ground fired his backup weapon,
police said. The man was handcuffed and an ambulance was called. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. In
an interview with KTLA Wednesday evening, Acting LAPD Chief Earl Paysinger called the struggle a "violent
altercation." LAPD's Force Investigation Division detectives were working on the case. Paysinger said it was
important the department be transparent in the investigation. "The LAPD views any loss of human live as a great
tragedy," Paysinger said in the news release. "The LAPD investigates, reviews, and adjudicates all officer-involved
shootings as thoroughly and transparently as possible and with the independent review and oversight of the Los
Angeles Police Commission, its Office of Inspector General, and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office." The two
officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid leave, Paysinger said. They were taking the death hard, he
said. One officer had scrapes and lacerations from the struggle, the acting chief said. Paysinger asked that any
witnesses come forward and call the Force Investigation Division at 213-486-5230, or the Office of the Inspector
General at 213-482-6833.

• http://ktla.com/2015/06/09/l-a-police-commission-weighs-officers-actions-in-fatal-lapd-shooting-of-ezell-
ford/
One Officer Not Within LAPD Policy in Shooting of Ezell Ford, Police Commission Finds

[Date: June 9, 2015; authors: Melissa Pamer, Christina Pascucci and Mary Beth McDade]

The actions of one LAPD officer who fatally shot Ezell Ford, a mentally ill unarmed 25-year-old, were not
within department policy, while another officer's actions were found largely within policy, a civilian oversight
board found Tuesday.The unanimous decision, announced after several hours of rowdy public comment and
closed-door deliberations, went against the recommendation of Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck
for the August 2014 killing, which sparked marches and calls for reform. “This is a tragedy for all involved,” said Los
Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff.
In comments made before the commission about noon, Ezell Ford's mother, Tritobia, cried as she addressed
the panel, saying her son did not deserve to die for walking the streets of his neighborhood. She said he had the
thought process of an 8- or 10-year-old. “He was a baby. He was my baby. ... Please, think about it: Ezell was
1. 2014 NFL Draft Analyses of Quarterbacks by Nolan Nawrocki (who came under fire for his racism)
• http://www.nfl.com/draft/2014/tracker#dt-tabs:dt-by-position/dt-by-position-input:qb
Taj Boyd

STRENGTHS Sets quickly. Can sling it when he's in rhythm and has a clean pocket. Good zip short-to-intermediate.
Can launch deep throws with ease and flashes touch to drop it in the bucket. Shows composure in the face of a
blitz and is willing to take a hit to make a play. Makes plays with his feet, rolling the pocket, extending plays or
throwing on the move (left or right). Slippery and elusive to escape the rush and is a threat to tuck and run.
Functional straight-line speed and run strength for a quarterback; will lower his shoulder on defenders.
Experienced, three-year starter. Terrific football character. Has a likable personality.

BOTTOM LINE A short, stocky, fairly nifty, strong-armed quarterback most ideally suited for a vertical-power
system. Projects best as a career backup or No. 3 quarterback in the pros and compares very favorably to Ravens
2007 fifth-rounder Troy Smith.

Logan Thomas

STRENGTHS Outstanding size, stature and strength -- towers over the line, has natural throwing lanes from the
pocket and is able to make plays in the grasp. Athletic -- can climb the pocket, escape and run for the sticks. Load
to bring down. Generates easy velocity with a quick, compact release and can make all the throws. Is very
competitive and will sell out to make a play. Has upside. Tough and durable -- started 40 consecutive games. Vocal
leader. Was the only quarterback to crack a ball speed of 60 mph on the radar gun at the combine and can flat-out
rip it.

BOTTOM LINE
Unrefined, strong-armed, sturdy pocket passer who looks the part and has intriguing, raw arm talent, though he is
a converted tight end whose inexperience showed throughout a yo-yo career in Blacksburg. Has definite
developmental value given his starter-caliber skill set and intangible makeup. Would benefit from coaching
continuity, more specifically a QB coach capable of refining his crude talent.

Aaron Murray

STRENGTHS Has a quick release and is light enough on his feet to escape the first wave and make some plays on
the move. Solid decision-maker -- takes what the defense gives him. Fine short-to-intermediate accuracy. Good
intangibles. Encouraging team leader with a likeable personality. Leads by example. Serves well as the face of the
program. Outstanding work ethic. Is very intelligent and football smart. Experienced, four-year starter in the SEC.

BOTTOM LINE Diminutive, game-managing pocket passer still recovering from a torn ACL. Would benefit from a
moving pocket that can create open throwing lanes, yet does not have the foot quickness desired for a rollout
passing game. Possesses a skill set most ideally suited for a backup or No. 3 role. Intelligence, intangibles and
experience are all pluses.

Keith Wenning

STRENGTHS Experienced, four-year starter with a solid build. Very smart and understands the offense. Outstanding
football character and personal character -- works at his craft, is driven to succeed and will represent a franchise
 The officers broadcast that information to other officers in the area. About 20 minutes later, officers spotted a
woman matching the description of the suspect in an alley near Marlton Avenue and Santo Tomas Drive, Aguilar
said. The officers attempted to detain the woman, Aguilar said. It was not immediately known what happened next
or why police shot the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Aguilar said a Taser was deployed during the incident -- a cartridge was found in the alley. But, Aguilar said, it
was unclear whether the Taser actually struck the woman. Aguilar said a "large knife" also was found at the scene.
No injuries were reported in the initial robbery, Aguilar said. The officers also were not hurt, she said. Aguilar said
the officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras. Patrol cars used by officers in that division
are equipped with cameras, but Aguilar said investigators had not yet examined the footage.
The woman was the 25th person shot by Los Angeles police so far this year. Thirteen, including her, were
killed.
Petrita Moye had just come home from a nail salon around 2 p.m. when she said she heard five shots pierce
the silence. Moye, 59, said her niece thought the banging sound was fire crackers. "I said, 'No, that's gunshots,'"
Moye recalled. She and her niece tried to get a closer look once they heard sirens, she said, but police told them to
stay behind the tape.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-shooting-20150819-story.html
LAPD report: Woman fatally shot last week had moved toward officer with knife

[Date: August 19, 2015; author: Kate Mather]

A woman who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police in a Baldwin Hills alley a week ago was killed after she
moved toward an officer while holding a knife, according to an internal LAPD report reviewed by The Times.
The report’s account differs sharply from one provided by a woman who told The Times last week that she
watched police shoot as the woman ran from officers. The LAPD’s version of the Aug. 12 shooting was included in
a single-page incident log that provides the first explanation by the department as to why police opened fire on the
woman. Residents and activists have criticized the LAPD over the shooting and for not providing more information
to the public — particularly what happened in the critical moments leading up to the killing.
Police have said that the 30-year-old woman was suspected of robbing a nearby pharmacy while armed with a
knife about 20 minutes before the shooting, and that a knife was found near her body. Coroner's officials have not
released the woman's name, saying that they had not yet found her family. The document identified her as Redel
Jones. According to the report, the officers were chasing Jones down an alley near Santo Tomas Drive and Marlton
Avenue when they saw her pull out a large knife. The officers ordered her to drop the weapon, the report said, but
Jones continued to run. When Jones “suddenly stopped and turned toward the officers,” the report said, one
officer used his Taser, “which did not appear to have an effect.” Jones allegedly “began to advance toward one of
the officers while still armed with the knife,” resulting in the shooting. Money and a robbery demand note were
found in her clothing, the document said, and the knife was near her body.
LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman, said the document’s information was accurate based on
the LAPD’s initial investigation, but declined to comment further. The report did not identify the officer who shot
Jones. Smith said the officer’s name would be made public after the LAPD completes an assessment to determine
whether any credible threats have been made to the officer's safety. The California Supreme Court ruled that
police departments must generally provide the names of officers involved in shootings unless they can
demonstrate such credible threats.
A woman who said she watched the shooting from her car, which was parked in the alley, previously
questioned why police shot Jones, saying that the woman was running from officers and never turned toward
them. “I do know for a fact that she was not charging at them,” Courtyana Franklin, 21, told The Times last week.
Franklin said she did not see or hear a Taser being used. The LAPD has said a Taser cartridge was found at the
scene, indicating the device had been deployed.
 Smith said Wednesday that detectives have not yet been able to interview Franklin. An attorney representing
Franklin said her client had no comment about the LAPD report.
The events leading up to the shooting began about 1:40 p.m. in a pharmacy in the 3700 block of Santa Rosalia
Drive. Last week, the store's owner showed the surveillance footage of the robbery to a Times reporter. The video
showed a woman walking into the family-owned pharmacy and taking a green soda can from a refrigerator. She
walked up to the counter and handed the cashier $1. When the cashier opened the register, the woman passed
the note. The store's owner said the note claimed she had a gun. In all, the encounter lasted about two minutes.
When officers responded to the pharmacy, police said, the employee described the woman and said she had a
knife. The officers broadcast the description to others in the surrounding area, the LAPD said. About 20 minutes
later, police saw a woman who matched the robber’s description near the alley, less than a mile from the
pharmacy.
Paula Minor, who lives near the spot where Jones was shot, said she felt shock and sadness when she heard
about the deadly encounter. The grandmother of eight said police should have done something other than shoot
the woman. “I'm certainly not recommending that people walk around with knives into a pharmacy,” Minor said.
“But they were the judge, jury and executioner.”
Jones was the 25th person shot by Los Angeles police this year. Thirteen people, including her, died.

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/redel-kentel-jones/
Redel Kentel Jones, 30

[Date: August 27, 2015; author: Jeanette Marantos]

Redel Kentel Jones, a 30-year-old black woman, was killed by police Wednesday, Aug. 12, in the 4100 block of
Marlton Avenue in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County
coroner’s office records.
The incident began about 1:40 p.m. when Los Angeles police received a call about a pharmacy robbery in the
3700 block of Santa Rosalia Drive, LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar told The Times. Employees at the pharmacy said the
robber was a woman who was carrying a large knife, Aguilar said. The woman allegedly handed a note to a cashier,
demanding money, and then left the pharmacy with a cash-filled envelope. Officers began searching the area and
found a woman matching the description about 20 minutes later in an alley near Marlton Avenue and Santo Tomas
Drive, Aguilar said. When the officers tried to detain the woman, later identified as Jones, she was shot and killed.
A Taser cartridge was found at the shooting scene, along with a large knife. Aguilar said then that it was not clear
what happened or why the officers shot at Jones.
No one else was injured during the robbery or the shooting. The officers involved were not wearing body
cameras.
An LAPD internal report on the shooting said officers were chasing Jones in the alley when they saw her pull
out a large knife, The Times reported Aug. 19. The officers allegedly ordered Jones to drop the knife, but she
continued to run. When Jones “suddenly stopped and turned towards the officers,” the report said, one of the
officers used his Taser, which didn’t seem to have any affect. Jones began to advance toward one of the officers,
still armed with the knife, resulting in the shooting, according to the report. Money and a robbery demand note
were found in her clothing, and a knife was near her body, according to the report.
A week earlier, Courtyana Franklin, a woman who said she witnessed the shooting, reported a different
version of events to The Times. Franklin said she watched the events unfold from the side view mirror of her car,
and in her version, Jones was running from officers when she was shot. Franklin told The Times she was shaken by
what she had seen. Even if the woman had robbed the pharmacy, she said, she didn’t understand why police shot
her.
LAPD investigators said they hoped to speak with Franklin to find out what she saw.
Some residents and activists have been critical of the LAPD, questioning why it was taking so long to get
information about the shooting. “Without public accessible information, there can’t be real accountability of
police-involved shootings,” resident Liz Cirelli, 25, told the The Times. Jones was the 13th person killed by Los
Angeles police officers so far this year, and the 25th shot by an LAPD officer. The Los Angeles Police Commission
briefly recessed its meeting for the second week in a row on Aug. 18, because of loud protesters in the audience
demanding more information about police shootings.

4. Alton Sterling
• Daily Beast:
A) http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/07/05/protests-erupt-in-l-a-after-fatal-police-
shooting.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl
Video: Cops Shoot Baton Rouge Man, Protests Erupt

[Date: July 5; no author credited—but they identify the following article from The Advocate as a source:
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/alton_sterling/article_7a1711be-1d0a-5f98-9274-
113b819b7431.html]

Louisiana police shot and killed a 37-year-old man outside a Baton Rouge convenience store early Tuesday,
triggering outrage and protests in the city well into the evening. Police say they shot Alton Sterling during an
“altercation” after receiving a call saying a man selling music was threatening people with a gun. A cellphone video
shows a 48-second clip of what appears to be the shooting, beginning with officers taking Sterling to the ground
and ending with at least one officer firing several times into Sterling’s chest. Sterling’s right arm was not visible
throughout the video.
Shop owner Abdullah Muflahi, a witness, told reporters that police were “aggressive” with Sterling from the
beginning of the interaction and that he was armed but did not appear to be holding his gun or touching his
pockets during the incident. Police said a gun was recovered.
A spokesman for the Baton Rogue police said the officers will be interviewed Wednesday and the shooting is
under investigation. The officers were wearing body cameras, according to police, but they became unsecured
from their uniforms during the altercation. Muflahi, the shop owner, said police have taken surveillance video from
the store as well.
As video of the incident circulated on social media late Tuesday, Baton Rouge became the latest site of Black
Lives Matter protests with more than a hundred people taking to the streets.

B) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/06/alton-sterling-father-of-five-one-more-black-man-
shot-down-by-american-police.html
New Video Emerges of Alton Sterling Being Killed by Baton Rouge Police

[Date: July 6; author: Goldie Taylor]

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Abdullah Muflahi sat on a beer cooler inside the Triple S Food Mart and described
what it was like to watch police kill his friend. “It was a nightmare, it was a nightmare,” Muflahi, the owner of this
small convenience store, told The Daily Beast over and over. “I kept expecting to wake up.”
Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was standing in the parking lot selling CDs as he had for years when
two white cops arrived on Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning he was dead and protesters were in the city’s
streets. Calls erupted from Congress and the NAACP for an independent investigation into the shooting, which the
Justice Department announced within hours.
Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake were reportedly responding to a 911 call about a man threatening
someone with a gun before they arrived, but Muflahi said no one was waving a gun, certainly not Sterling.“He
didn’t even tell me about anything, he usually tells me,” Muflahi said. “He’s not that type of person. It would have
been a very big problem to pull his gun out.”
 A homeless man reportedly called 911 after Sterling showed him his gun after the man asked him for money,
an official told CNN. A Baton Rouge police dispatcher then told officers a man matching Sterling's description
“pulled a gun” on the 911 caller, according WAFB-TV.
Muflahi walked out the front door when he saw the officers talking to Sterling and said there was no
“altercation,” as police claimed, until the cops tasered and tackled Sterling. That’s when Muflahi took out his
phone and started recording.
The Daily Beast is publishing this video in its entirety—despite its graphic nature—because it shows what
happened before, during, and after the killing of Sterling. A previous video only showed him being tackled and the
first two gunshots.

• The Advocate:

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/alton_sterling/article_7a1711be-1d0a-5f98-9274-
113b819b7431.html?sr_source=lift_amplify
‘He’s got a gun! Gun’: Video shows fatal confrontation between Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge Police Officer

[Date: July 5, 2016, morning; authors: Maya Lau and Bryn Stole. Note: this is the article on which the first
Daily Beast article is based.]

Alton Sterling, a 37-year old man who sold CDs, was shot and killed by a Baton Rouge police officer Tuesday
morning outside a convenience store on North Foster Drive after “some type of altercation” with two officers,
officials said.
Baton Rouge police did not provide much information about what escalated the incident between the officers
and Sterling or what prompted an officer to fire his weapon. A witness, however, described police as “aggressive”
and said Sterling was armed but was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident. Police later
retrieved a gun from the man’s pocket, said the witness, shop owner Abdullah Muflahi.
Around 12:35 a.m., Baton Rouge police responded to the Triple S Food Mart at 2112 N. Foster Drive after an
anonymous caller indicated that a man in a red shirt who was selling CDs outside the store pointed a gun at
someone, telling them to leave the property, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely
said.
East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark said the initial results of an autopsy performed Tuesday
show Sterling died due to a homicide and suffered multiple — meaning more than two — gunshot wounds to the
chest and back.
A 48-second cellphone video captured by a bystander — which circulated at a protest about the shooting later
in the day — shows an officer firing at least one round into a man’s chest outside what appears to be the Triple S
store, followed by the sound of at least four more shots as the camera veers away. “Get on the ground! Get on the
ground!” an officer is heard yelling in the beginning of the clip. Two officers are seen wrangling a heavy-set man in
a red shirt against a silver sedan before pulling him to the ground on his back.
One officer is seen pulling the man’s left arm down while he pressed down on the man’s chest. The man’s right
arm is not visible in the video. “He’s got a gun! Gun,” an officer says, prompting the lawman closest to the camera
to draw an object from his holster. “You f*****g move, I swear to God,” says an officer, before the second officer,
farther from the viewer, is seen pointing a weapon down at the man’s chest. There’s a flash from that officer’s
weapon, accompanied by the sound of shots.
“They shot him?” a man’s harried voice, close to the microphone, says in the video. “Yes!” a weeping woman
replies.

5. Jessie Romero
• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-shooting-boyle-heights-20160810-snap-story.html
Suspect shot dead by police in Boyle Heights was 14-year-old boy, coroner says

[Date: August 10; authors: Veronica Rocha and Brittny Mejia]

A 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police in Boyle Heights was suspected of writing gang-style
graffiti in the area before he bolted from officers and fired a gun at them, the Los Angeles Police Department said
Wednesday. The slain teenager was identified as Jesse Romero, who would have turned 15 on Aug. 24, according
to Ed Winter, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
As mourners prepared to hold a vigil for the youth Wednesday evening, LAPD officials met with reporters and
presented an official account of events leading up to the shooting, as well as a photograph of a decades-old
revolver recovered from the scene.
According to LAPD Deputy Chief Robert Arcos, gang detail officers assigned to the Hollenbeck Division had
received a call around 5:35 p.m. Tuesday of two vandalism suspects involved in possible “gang writings” and
narcotics activity near Chicago Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue.
Police fatally shot an armed teen following a short foot pursuit near Cesar Chavez Avenue and Breed Street in
Boyle Heights, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)
The suspects were described as being between 14 and 16 years old, and when officers arrived, one of the
youths ran east on Cesar Chavez, and then south onto Breed Street, he said. “According to a witness, they saw the
subject running from the officers. The witness saw the subject shoot a handgun in the direction of the pursuing
officers,” Arcos told reporters. As officers approached Breed Street and Cesar Chavez, they heard a gunshot, he
said. When they arrived at the corner, one of the officers fired at the boy, killing him. Police recovered a loaded
handgun, which will be processed for fingerprints and DNA, he said. Investigators are also looking into whether
the revolver had been fired.
“While the loss of life is particularly tragic, it is particularly so when the loss involves a youth,” Arcos said. “The
tragedy of this event cannot be understated. In a community where violent crime continues to rise, particularly
gang crime, this event underscores the need for youth programs and outreach, which could provide opportunities
and alternatives for the youth of our community.”
The officers were wearing body cameras, he said. Investigators are still reviewing videos, which will be
compared with other evidence, including witness and officer statements. Police had initially identified the suspect
as a man in his 20s. On Wednesday, Mario Sainz, an investigator with the coroner’s office, identified him as a 14-
year-old. No officers were injured in the pursuit or shooting, which happened in a commercial district in the
Eastside neighborhood. Although Arcos declined to say whether Jesse was involved in gang activity because the
investigation is ongoing, he said Hollenbeck officers keep tabs on 34 gangs, four of which are violent and active in
the area of the shooting. The second suspect, who was not armed, was later detained, Arcos said.
The teen was the 12th person shot and killed by on-duty LAPD officers this year. The department has seen 15
people shot by on-duty officers.
At the dead boy’s home, mother Teresa Dominguez, 36, sat inside a cramped one-bedroom apartment amid
bouquets of flowers sent by mourners and burning candles. She said she could not understand why the police
would shoot someone so young. “It was not right for them to do what they did or kill him,” Dominguez said.
“That’s why they are trained as police officers. Not to kill him.” Born in Puebla, Mexico, Jesse was only a year old
when he and his single mother came to the United States and settled in Boyle Heights. Dominguez said she works
in the shipping and packing department at a produce manufacturer. The boy’s mother said she didn’t think her son
was involved in gangs and didn’t know where he would get a gun. She said he mostly hung out with two friends
who would come over to their home and play video games. “He was a very good student,” she said. “He was a very
good person.”
Diane Covarrubias, a family friend who stopped by the family’s home on Wednesday, said Jesse was enrolled
in Soledad Enrichment Action’s gang program that works with high-risk teens and was making a lot of progress.
Earlier Tuesday, Jesse went the gym to work out. Later, friends and family found out that he was killed, she said. As
 1. January 2019 LAUSD School Board Vote

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/30/major-step-los-angeles-school-board-calls-
moratorium-new-charter-schools/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a8dabcf5a748

In a major step, the Los Angeles school board calls for a moratorium on new charter schools

[Date: January 30, 2019; Author: Valerie Strauss]

The Los Angeles Board of Education is calling on the California legislature to impose a moratorium on new charter
schools, a remarkable shift by the pro-charter panel that struck a blow to the charter movement and may lead to
stronger oversight of the schools.

The vote appears to signal an inflection point in the charter school debate in California, which has more charter
schools and charter school students than any other state. California has allowed charters — which are publicly
funded but privately operated — to flourish with little oversight amid growing controversy over financial scandals
and other issues.

Charters have become a focus of activists around the country who say the schools provide families with options in
districts with failing classrooms. Opponents, including the Los Angeles teachers union, say charters drain resources
from the traditional schools that most students attend and encourage further privatization of an important civic
institution.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a big supporter of charter schools, as are many of America’s wealthiest
individuals, including billionaire Eli Broad, who several years ago promoted a plan to open enough charter schools
in Los Angeles to serve at least half of the district’s more than 600,000 students.

But a growing number of education advocates and groups, including the NAACP, have called for a moratorium on
charters until issues involving transparency and operations are resolved. California voters just elected a new
schools superintendent, Tony Thurmond, who has said he wants to spend more money on traditional schools and
stop the expansion of charters until concerns are addressed. He defeated a candidate who was supported by the
charter lobby. Newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has emphasized his desire to spend more on schools within
traditional public systems.

The Los Angeles school board resolution and vote — which happened Tuesday as pro-charter protesters picketed
outside board headquarters — came out of last week’s agreement between the city’s school district and the
teachers union. That pact ended a six-day strike by educators in the nation’s second-largest school district.

The school board voted Tuesday to ratify the strike-ending deal between the Los Angeles Unified School District
and United Teachers Los Angeles. The new contract provides teachers with 6 percent pay increases, more
resources for schools and small reductions in class size.

The strike ended with other agreements, too, including what many saw as a surprising promise by the school
district to support a state moratorium of up to 10 months on charter schools while the state studies their effects.

The Los Angeles Board of Education has six members, at least half of whom were elected with the help of financial
support from the charter lobby. The district superintendent, Austin Beutner, is a former investment banker who is
a charter backer.
 For the third day in a row since the shooting, demonstrators gathered at a makeshift shrine near the corner of
Breed Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue on Friday afternoon. Among them were attorneys hired by Romero’s
mother, Teresa Dominguez, who called on the LAPD to release footage from the body cameras that the officers
were wearing.
The attorneys said there are conflicting accounts about what took place and that the videos would shed light
on what happened. Antonio Rodriguez, one of the two attorneys, said one witness told police that Romero fired at
the officers, while another witness said the boy had tossed the handgun over a fence. "These cases are usually
decided on facts and the LAPD has been very aggressive at promoting the facts as they see them favorable to their
own officers in justifying the shooting," said Jorge Gonzalez, the other attorney.
The two men displayed a photo taken by a witness that shows the bloody body of Romero on the sidewalk and
officers standing behind a black gate, where a nearby object lies on the ground, reflecting sunlight. The lawyers say
the object is the gun Romero threw. Gonzalez said the photo was provided to the family who provided it to him
and his colleague. He said the picture is evidence "with the version that doesn't favor the LAPD."He said the only
way to know for sure is for the LAPD to release the videotape images from the body cameras. “Let the public figure
out if this was a wrongful shooting or a justifiable shooting," Gonzalez said. "We want transparency."
The attorneys say they plan to file a claim and lawsuit against the city within three months. They say they still
have witnesses they must find. Romero, who would have turned 15 on Aug. 24, was enrolled in Soledad
Enrichment Action’s gang program that works with high-risk teens. Police have not said publicly if Romero was
involved in gang activity. LAPD Deputy Chief Robert Arcos said that one civilian witness told police the boy fired the
gun in the direction of police officers. The gun is being tested by investigators.
Given the circumstances of the shooting, 23 nonprofit organizations in Boyle Heights say they want the city of
Los Angeles to create a special department for more youth programs. At an earlier gathering Friday, some 30
activists held a news conference in a pocket park opposite the Hollenbeck station. “We can’t continue to see youth
lives as disposable,” Calanche said. “Given that the city spends 70 times more on police than it does on youth, it is
critical that as a city we view increased investment in positive youth development programs as a critical public
safety strategy.” The group said major cities such as New York, Boston and San Francisco have created youth
development departments that are funded by city revenues. According to the group, Los Angeles invested only $35
million in city-wide youth programs for the fiscal year 2015-16, compared with New York City’s $536-million
investment. “Everyone says that youth are the future, but the city of L.A. doesn’t invest in us or our future,” said
Araceli Rodriguez, 17, a youth leader at Legacy LA.

6. Kenneth French

• https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/15/us/corona-costco-
shooting/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2WaONikc1gT8Ys1M7ldUfg93tm0OKUyLN31iUhTbeh_7OxDIS59vGRajM
Shooting inside a Costco store leaves 1 dead and 3 hurt in Southern California

[Date: June 15, 2019; Authors: Madeleine Holcombe and Tina Burnside]

(CNN)A shooting left one person dead and three others injured Friday evening in a Costco store in Southern
California, police said.

A man is in custody after firing inside the store, Lt. Jeff Edwards of the Corona police said. His name wasn't
immediately released.

The shooting stemmed from an argument inside the store, but the relationship among the victims and the alleged
gunman is unclear, Edwards said.
Officers found four people "down" inside the Costco store: the suspect, the deceased and two injured people,
Edwards said. The slain person was not immediately named. The alleged gunman and others were taken to
hospitals, Edwards said.

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was involved in the shooting, according to the Los Angeles police. The officer
suffered minor injuries and has been released from the hospital.

"The Department has initiated an Administrative Investigation and is working with the Corona Police Department
to learn more about the incident," Los Angeles police said in a statement.

The shooting was not believed to be a domestic dispute, he said. Police weren't looking for anyone else in
connection with the crime, they tweeted…

• https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/06/15/lapd-officer-opens-fire-coscto
Off-Duty LAPD Officer Opens Fire During Argument In Costco Killing 1, Injuring 3

[Date: June 15, 2019]

CORONA (CBSLA) – A shooting involving an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was being investigated
Saturday after the officer reportedly fired his gun inside of a Costco Wholesale in Corona Friday, killing one person
and injuring three.

Officers were sent to the scene at 7:46 p.m. after receiving calls of an active shooter inside, according to the
Corona Police Department.

Witnesses said the gunfire started when two men got into an argument inside of the store.

“From my understanding, from some people we talked to, there was apparently an argument inside. Some type of
argument that ensued into a gun battle,” Lt. Jeff Edwards told reporters.

Upon their arrival, officers reported finding one dead and three wounded, including the suspect.

According to CBSLA reporter Joy Benedict, the LAPD had “use of force” investigators at the scene all night as the
department conducted their own investigation.

The off-duty LAPD officer reportedly works in the Southwest Division and shot and killed a man during an
altercation after feeling threatened.

LAPD released a statement Saturday morning saying, “The Los Angeles Police Department has learned that one of
our off-duty patrol officers assigned to Southwest Division was involved in a shooting in Corona Friday night. Our
officer suffered minor injuries in the incident and was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and
released. The Department has initiated an Administrative Investigation and is working with the Corona Police
Department to learn more about the incident.”

The injured– including the off-duty officer — were transported to a local hospital.

Corona Police on Saturday identified the dead man as Kenneth French, 32, of Riverside. They also said French and
the unidentified officer did not know each other. Police said French assaulted the officer while the officer was
holding his young child.
The officer shot and killed French and critically wounded two of French’s family members. The officer was treated
at the hospital and released.

Officials said the officer’s weapon was the only one used in the incident.

Witnesses at the scene told CBSLA reporter Nicole Comstock they heard an argument before hearing seven or
eight shots.

The investigation is currently ongoing. The officer is not in custody as investigators look into what may have
prompted the shooting including the possibility of self-defense.
1. US-perpetrated strike on Doctors without Borders in Afghanistan

• http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/03/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital/index.html
Air attacks kill at least 19 at Afghanistan hospital; U.S. investigating

[Date: October 4, 2015; authors: Jason Hanna, Ben Brumfield and Steve Almasy]

Aerial bombardments blew apart a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the battleground Afghan city of
Kunduz about the time of a U.S. airstrike early Saturday, killing at least 19 people, officials said. The blasts left part
of the hospital in flames and rubble, killing 12 staffers and seven patients -- including three children -- and injuring
37 other people, the charity said. As the United States said it was investigating what struck the hospital during the
night, the charity expressed shock and demanded answers, stressing that all combatants had been told long ago
where the hospital was.
"(The bombing) constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law," Doctors Without Borders,
known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, said. "There are many patients and staff who remain
unaccounted for. The numbers may grow as a clearer picture develops of the aftermath of this horrific bombing,"
MSF said, adding all the dead and injured were Afghans. The bombardments continued even after U.S. and Afghan
military officials were notified the hospital was being attacked, the charity said.
The circumstances weren't immediately clear, but the U.S. military was conducting an airstrike in Kunduz at
the time the hospital was hit, U.S. Army Col. Brian Tibus said. The military is investigating whether a U.S. AC-130
gunship -- which was in the area firing on Taliban positions to defend U.S. special operations troops there -- is
responsible, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity.
The White House released a statement from President Barack Obama offering condolences to the charity from
the American people. "The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results
of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy," the President said. "I
... expect a full accounting of the facts and circumstances." The top U.S. and NATO military commander in
Afghanistan said he spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about the deadly airstrike, the U.S. military said.
"While we work to thoroughly examine the incident and determine what happened, my thoughts and prayers are
with those affected. We continue to advise and assist our Afghan partners as they clear the city of Kunduz and
surrounding areas of insurgents. As always, we will take all reasonable steps to protect civilians from harm," said
Gen. John F. Campbell.
The incident occurred on roughly the sixth day of fighting between Afghan government forces -- supported by
U.S. air power and military advisers -- and the Taliban, which invaded the city early this week. According to MSF,
the compound is gated and no staff members saw any fighters there or nearby. "If there was a major military
operation going on there, our staff would have noticed. And that wasn't the case when the strikes occurred,"
Christopher Stokes, the charity's general director, told CNN. One nurse said in an article on the MSF website that
he was sleeping in a safe room when he was awakened by a large explosion. The bombing lasted about an hour,
Lajos Zoltan Jecs said. As he went to help the wounded, he and others tried to save a doctor. He died on an office
table, Jecs said. The nurse saw six patients who had burned to death in their beds. Another patient was dead on an
operating table. "I have no words to express this. It is unspeakable," he said.

Charity: We told everyone of our location

The charity, which had had been caring for hundreds already hurt in days of fighting, said it had told all
warring parties the exact location of the trauma center, including most recently on Tuesday. When the aerial
attack occurred, 105 patients and their caretakers were in the hospital. More than 80 MSF international and
national staff were present. The U.S. special operations troops were in the area advising Afghan forces, the military
official who was speaking anonymously said. The official stressed that the information about the probe was
preliminary. Pribus said a "manned, fixed-wing aircraft" conducted a strike "against individuals threatening the
FOX 11's Phil Shuman covered the story on Tuesday and says the new agreement will give teachers a 6% increase
in salary, the school district's commitment to reduce class sizes, an increase in support services, and will also put
more control in charters schools -- direct competitors to traditional LAUSD public schools.

Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom chimed in after hearing of an agreement being reached between the teachers'
union and school district saying in a statement:

"I am glad that LAUSD and UTLA have come to an agreement, and I want to thank the thousands of dedicated
teachers, parents and students who were powerfully demonstrating their passion for our public schools over the
last 9 days. Increases in state funding are already translating into real progress for kids and classrooms, including
investments in community schools. I look forward to working with the Legislature to provide flexibility for schools
to hire more counselors and nurses and to better support our neediest kids, including those in special education."

Talks resumed Thursday at Garcetti's urging. The mayor does not have authority over the Los Angeles Unified
School District but he sought to help both sides reach an agreement after nearly two years of fruitless talks that led
to the walkout.

Clashes over pay, class sizes and support-staff levels in the district with 640,000 students led to its first strike in 30
years and prompted the staffing of classrooms with substitute teachers and administrators. It followed teacher
walkouts in other states that emboldened organized labor.

The district maintained that the union's demands could bankrupt the school system, which is projecting a half-
billion-dollar deficit this budget year and has billions obligated for pension payments and health coverage for
retired teachers.

Negotiations broke down in December and started again this month. The union rejected a district offer on Jan. 11
to hire nearly 1,200 teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians and reduce class sizes by two students.

Teachers hoped to build on the "Red4Ed" movement that began last year in West Virginia and moved to
Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado and Washington state. It spread from conservative states with "right to
work" laws that limit the ability to strike to the more liberal West Coast with strong unions.

.@MayorOfLA: "This is a historic agreement. It gets to lower class sizes. It gets to proper support staff, to
community-based schools..." WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/sk4d9OVOSr pic.twitter.com/APx1rFK9mM— FOX 11 Los
Angeles (@FOXLA) January 22, 2019

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

• https://www.npr.org/2019/01/22/687374562/a-deal-in-the-la-teachers-strike-now-union-members-to-
vote

Teachers Vote Yes On Deal To End Los Angeles Strike

[January 23, 2019; Authors: Elissa Nadworny and Clare Lombardo]

Union members in Los Angeles voted to approve a deal with the city's school district on Tuesday, ending a six-day
teacher strike. Teachers headed back to class on Wednesday.

According to a Wednesday news release, 81 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members who cast a ballot
voted in favor of the agreement.

"I couldn't be prouder to be a teacher tonight," said UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl at a Tuesday news
conference in which he announced the preliminary results.

Some teachers expressed frustration, saying the deal didn't go far enough, while others said they were relieved.
 Reached by phone on Saturday morning, Doctors Without Borders spokesman Tim Shenk would neither
confirm nor deny reports quoting the Afghan Interior Ministry as saying that 10 to 15 Taliban fighters were hiding
in the hospital. Shenk said more information about the incident would be released later on Saturday.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reportedly said there were no militant fighters being treated at
the hospital.
US and Afghan forces have been struggling to regain control of the provincial capital since Taliban forces,
in one of their biggest coups since the war began 14 years ago, seized the city of Kunduz six days ago. MSF says it
has treated 394 wounded since fighting broke out on Monday…
"Healthcare facilities are protected under international humanitarian law, and any attack on them is
extremely concerning," he said. "The humanitarian impact is potentially enormous in an area that is dependent on
this one hospital." "Those facilities are absolutely protected under the law," Watson added.
The US embassy in Kabul issued a statement saying it "mourns for the individuals and families affected by
the tragic incident." Nicolas Metri, ICRC's representative in Kabul, confirmed that the organization evacuated all of
MSF's international staff from Kunduz by plane on Saturday afternoon.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein issued a statement on Saturday calling for
"a swift, full and transparent investigation" into the airstrikes." This event is utterly tragic, inexcusable, and
possibly even criminal," Zeid said. "International and Afghan military planners have an obligation to respect and
protect civilians at all times, and medical facilities and personnel are the object of a special protection. These
obligations apply no matter whose air force is involved, and irrespective of the location."

2. North Korean Missile Tests

• http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/asia/north-korea-missiles-kim-jong-un/
Missile launch: Was North Korea practicing to strike US bases in Japan?

[Date: Mar. 7, 2017]

(CNN)A North Korean military unit tasked with striking US bases in Japan was involved in Monday's launch of four
ballistic missiles, according to state media KCNA.

The missiles, three of which landed within 200 miles of Japan's coastline in its exclusive economic zone, were fired
as part of a drill by North Korea's Hwasong artillery units, KCNA said Tuesday. The report said the units were part
of "the KPA Strategic Force tasked to strike the bases of the US imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in
contingency."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the country's ballistic missile launches and was said to be pleased
with the unit's performance, according to KCNA.

There are currently about 54,000 US troops stationed in at least seven bases scattered across Japan, including
Misawa Air Base in the far north to Okinawa on the country's southernmost islands.

The military bases in Japan cost the US government about $5.5 billion in 2016.

World leaders were quick to condemn North Korea's actions.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "The launches are consistent with North Korea's long history of
provocative behavior. The United States stand with our allies in the face of this very serious threat.

Security Council to meet

The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss North Korea in closed consultations at 10 a.m. Wednesday
morning. A planned Syria meeting was moved to 3 p.m.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the council "strongly condemned" the North Korean launch, saying it was a
violation of multiple UN resolutions.

"The Security Council (will) continue to closely monitor the situation and take further significant measures," the
statement said.

Secretary-General António Guterres also denounced the missile launch and said, "Such actions violate Security
Council resolutions and seriously undermine regional peace and stability."

Military authorities in South Korea, Japan and the United States confirmed the launch of four projectiles, which
traveled almost 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). US officials said they were extended range SCUD missiles.
A fifth missile was also fired but failed.

This isn't the first time North Korea has launched multiple missiles over this distance.

In September 2016, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles about 1,000 kilometers to land in Japan's Air
Defense Identification Zone, provoking a strong response.

"The Trump administration is taking steps to enhance our ability to defend against North Korea's ballistic missiles,
such as through the deployment of a THAAD battery to South Korea."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters he and President Donald Trump talked by phone about 8 a.m.
Tuesday local time (6 p.m. ET Monday) and agreed the missile launches were "a clear violation of UN Security
Council resolutions" and a threat to the international community.

President Trump also spoke Monday with the acting South Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn to discuss North
Korea's missile test, a US official says, in addition to the call with Abe.

According to the acting president's office, they agreed to continue annual military drills and add pressure and
impose sanctions against North Korea.

• http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/05/asia/north-korea-projectile/
North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan

[Date: Mar. 7, 2017; authors: Paula Hancocks and Ben Westcott]

(CNN)North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early Monday morning in what Japan's leader described as "an
extremely dangerous action."

A fifth missile failed to launch, a US official told CNN.

Military authorities in South Korea, Japan and the United States all confirmed the launch of four projectiles, which
traveled almost 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) towards the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. One US official
said they were intermediate-range missiles.
Three landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, which extends 200 nautical
miles from its coastline, according to international maritime law.

The launch underscored the rapid evolution of North Korea's weapons program, which experts say has begun
moving at a faster rate to develop and deploy missiles.

"They did a launch a month ago, they're now launching (more) in 30 days. That's a third of the time they used to
need," said Carl Schuster, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University.

Jeffrey Lewis, director of the US-based East Asia Nonproliferation Program, told CNN the North Koreans' recent
behavior was the sort "you see from a state that is planning to deploy nuclear weapons to its military units."

Washington watching

Later on Monday, two US officials told CNN that US intelligence is closely monitoring the underground nuclear test
site via satellite amid signs the regime could be preparing for another underground test.

While an underground test is impossible to predict, officials say some signs of activity at the site are similar to
those that occurred just before the last test.

A US official also said that Washington is continuing to see activity including missile engine tests at another North
Korean launch site, that signal potential additional launches -- which the US widely expects.

The official said the launch did not involve one of North Korea's more advanced missiles in development such as
the Musudan missile.

Escalation
Speaking to the Japanese Parliament, Abe said Monday the launch was a clear violation of UN Security Council
resolutions.

Experts said the move was almost certainly in reaction to joint military exercises between South Korea and the US,
which Pyongyang views as preparations for an invasion.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also condemned the missile launches, calling them a threat to international
peace and security.

The launch took place in Tongchang-ri, in North Korea's North Pyongan province. A spokesperson for South Korea's
Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew as high as 260 kilometers (162 miles).

Speaking to CNN, a US official said a preliminary assessment found that North Korea launched a total of five
extended-range SCUD missiles, one of which failed.

The other four landed in the sea, the official said. The mobile missile launches did not involve any of North Korea's
more advanced missiles currently in development, such as the Musudan.

'Grave violation'
Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn told the South Korean National Security Council Monday he strongly condemned
North Korea's actions.
"This is a direct challenge to the international community and a grave violation," he said.

"Having seen the brutality of North Korea from Kim Jong Nam, I'd say the consequences of the Kim Jong Un regime
having nuclear weapons will be horrible," he said, referring to the killing of the North Korean leader's estranged
half brother at Kuala Lumpur airport last month. North Korea has denied any involvement in his death.

The US State Department said it remained "prepared to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against this
growing threat.” […]

3. Bombings in Yemen perpetrated by a Saudi-led and U.S.-supported coalition

• http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/world/article/Yemen-officials-Saudi-led-coalition-strikes-
11952069.php
Saudi-led airstrikes hit Yemen hotel, killing at least 41

[Date: Aug. 23, 2017; author: Maggie Michael]

AIRO (AP) — An airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition struck a hotel near Yemen's capital on Wednesday, killing at least
41 people as the alliance stepped up airstrikes against the Houthi rebels and their allies in and around Sanaa.

The escalation comes amid a standoff in Sanaa between the two main components of the rebel alliance, Shiite
fighters from the north known as Houthis and loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. There are mounting
fears of street violence.

There were conflicting reports on the identity of the victims of the hotel strike, with doctors saying they were
farmers and officials and witnesses saying they included rebels. The coalition has been battling the rebels, who
control Sanaa, since early 2015.

The fighter jets targeted a two-story hotel in the town of Arhab, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the
capital, Sanaa, officials said.

Bodies were still being retrieved from the rubble, witnesses said. Another airstrike hit a checkpoint manned by the
Houthis a few kilometers (miles) from the hotel, they added. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to talk to reporters. The witnesses requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
[…]
The Saudi-led coalition is waging an extensive air campaign against the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh, which
together control much of northern Yemen, including Sanaa. They are trying to restore the internationally
recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals, and markets, killing thousands of civilians and prompting rights groups to
accuse the coalition of war crimes. Activists have called upon Western countries, including the United States and
Britain, to cease their military support for the coalition.

The conflict has killed over 10,000 civilians, displaced 3 million people and pushed the impoverished nation to the
brink of famine.

• http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/23/545465437/dozens-of-people-killed-as-airstrike-
hits-hotel-in-yemens-capital
Dozens Of People Killed As Airstrike Hits Hotel Near Yemen's Capital
 [Date: Aug 23, 2017; author: Scott Neuman]

An airstrike apparently targeting Houthi rebels hit a hotel north of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, killing dozens of people.

Al-Masirah TV, a network run by the rebels who control the capital, said more than 40 people were killed in the
strike in Arhab. But The Associated Press, citing Yemeni officials and witnesses, put the number of fatalities at
about 60.

The AP writes:
"Witnesses say the two-floor hotel in Qaa al-Qaidhi neighborhood was completely toppled and bodies are still
being retrieved from under the rubble. They also say another airstrike hit a checkpoint manned by the
Houthis, a few [miles] from the hotel."

More than a dozen people were also wounded in the attack, according to Al-Jazeera.

The TV network placed blame for the attack on a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized
government of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Reuters reported that "a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, which is fighting the Iranian-allied Houthis in
Yemen, said the alliance was collecting information on the incident, without elaborating."

Hakim Almasmari, a journalist for the Yemen Post, tells Al-Jazeera that the strike was one of more than two dozen
carried out in and around Saana overnight.

Yemen's civil war began in 2015 and has claimed more than 10,000 lives, according to the United Nations.

As The Two-Way has reported:

"The Shiite Houthi rebels are backed by Iran and fighting alongside military units loyal to Yemen's former
president Ali Abdullah Saleh. They took control of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in late 2015 and seized large
swaths of territory.

"The war escalated in March 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition began an air campaign aimed at pushing the
rebels back into their northern stronghold. This coalition supports Yemen's internationally-recognized, exiled
leader Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi."

Yemen has seen more than 5,000 airstrikes in the first six months of 2017, according to the Global Protection
Cluster, which is led by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
1. Media coverage of 2016 UN Summit on Refugees
 http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/obama-refugees-summit/
Obama: Refugee crisis is test of our humanity

[Date: September 20, 2016; author: Laura Koran]

President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea Tuesday for countries to fulfill a moral obligation to
alleviate a global refugee crisis "of epic proportions," despite a political backlash in the US against absorbing those
fleeing Middle East violence.
The President's interest in calling attention to the tens of millions of displaced people around the world,
and pushing back against the anti-refugee tenor, was underscored by his decision to convene a Leaders' Summit on
Refugees at the United Nations Tuesday. At the summit, he also rejected another aspect of the American political
debate swirling around accepting foreigners -- GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's call to build a wall along
the US-Mexico border. "This crisis is a test of our common humanity. Whether we give into suspicion and fear and
build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another," Obama said, though he didn't mention Trump by name.
Obama singled out the situation in Syria, which has displaced 4.8 million people so far, as particularly
"unacceptable." "We are not as unified as we should be in pushing to make it stop," he said, describing the global
refugee crisis as both a humanitarian and security challenge that tests countries' ability to take collective action.
"I called this summit because this crisis is one of the most urgent tests of our time," he said. "Just as failure to act
in the past -- for example, by turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany -- is a stain on our collective conscience, I
believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment." The refugee issue is one that's captured the
world's attention more in the past two years than at perhaps any time since World War II, seared into the public's
consciousness by photos like that of a 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean and the flood of
migrants into Europe.
A recent study by from the UN's refugee agency estimated 65.3 million people were displaced from their
homes by conflict or persecution in 2015, up by over five million from the prior year. Many are internally displaced
within the borders of their own countries, but about 21.3 million are classified as refugees. Obama's summit
follows a similar UN-led meeting on the issue Monday, which drew attention to the crisis but offered little in the
way of binding commitments. "Make no mistake," US Secretary of State John Kerry said at the UN meeting,
"additional efforts are urgently needed." Leaders also called for a more orderly and equitable system to manage
refugee flows -- acknowledging the burden is shouldered disproportionally by certain regions. "You have to know
that today the European Union has a clear objective to restore order on its external borders," European Council
President Donald Tusk said in his remarks, signaling a growing sense that patience in Europe with the migrant flow
is wearing thin."There will be no repeat of the year 2015 with more than one and a half million irregular migrants,"
he added.
The Obama administration is hopeful the Leader's Summit on Tuesday afternoon can build momentum for
more action. National Security Advisor Susan Rice in June announced that the gathering -- co-hosted along with the
US by Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico, Sweden and the UN Secretary General -- would seek an increase
in funding of at least 30%, a doubling of permanent resettlement, and expanded access to education and work
rights for refugees. "Reaching these ambitious objectives will be challenging, yet the level of need demands no
less," Rice said in a statement. But aid groups are skeptical the summit will prompt the kind of action they say is
desperately needed. "We have to be optimistic that we'll see some real concrete commitments," said Amnesty
International's Interim Executive Director Margaret Huang. "But the truth is, even if those numbers are hit, it's
nowhere near what's actually needed."
The US is a major contributor of humanitarian aid for countries that host large numbers of refugees --
particularly Syria's neighbors -- and plans to increase the number of refugees it will take in to America from 85,000
in 2016 to 110,000 next year. The President's chief spokesman last week conceded that even as the administration
calls for greater global action, it is limited in what it can do. "The President's commitment to ensuring that the
United States plays a leading role on this issue is not shared by a lot of people in Congress, including by a lot of
people in the Republican majority in Congress," Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. "And that has an
impact in terms of the resources that are dedicated to this effort."Vetting efforts to screen refugees, he noted,
"are not cheap."
David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Foreign Secretary,
said he's hopeful but waiting to see whether any agreements are backed up with action."The scale of the global
refugee problem demands an appropriate scale of response," Miliband told CNN. "Governments around the world
haven't, in the main, been responding with the right degree of compassion or competence up to now."
But the co-hosts of the Leaders' Summit said in a statement they were pleased with "new and significant
humanitarian contributions" from world leaders. "We sought a $3 billion increase in global humanitarian financing
and commitments to maintain funding in future years," they said. "Through our mutual efforts, over the course of
2016, the 32 donors participating today have contributed this year roughly 4.5 billion additional dollars to UN
appeals and international humanitarian organizations than in 2015." As they await action from world leaders in
New York, a group of volunteers in London laid out a "life jacket graveyard" Monday to draw attention to the plight
of thousands of migrants who've lost their lives attempting hazardous boat crossings in the Mediterranean.
The conflict in Syria and resulting migrant crisis in the Middle East and Europe have dominated headlines
over the past 18 months, but refugees are a global problem. Perhaps nowhere are they more prevalent than in the
so-called "global south" -- the developing countries of the southern hemisphere. Last week, South Sudan joined
the ranks of Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia -- countries with over 1 million of their citizens living as refugees
abroad. And protracted conflict in places like Somalia have led to a generation of lifelong refugees -- men and
women in their twenties who've never known life outside of a camp. "These are not people who can envision what
life would be like if they were returned to their home countries," Huang said.

 http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/09/22/while-un-talks-new-tide-iraqi-refugees-threatens-to-
drown-relief-efforts.html
While the UN talks, new tide of Iraqi refugees threatens to drown relief efforts

[Date: September 22, 2016; author: George Russell]

The first swells of a mammoth new refugee flood are starting to overwhelm international relief efforts in
northern Iraq, as more than a million residents in and around the Iraqi city of Mosul are beginning to flee before a
vicious battle is joined between ISIS and forces trying to displace the terrorist forces. They are the latest,
enormously disruptive chapter of what President Obama termed a global refugee crisis of “epic proportions” at a
special, 32-nation summit he convened on Tuesday at the United Nation.
The effects of the growing tide of desperate “internally displaced persons,” or IDPs, as the U.N. calls
them, rising around the northern Iraqi city are still unpredictable. But they already seem to be well beyond the
over-stretched and underfunded, U.N.-coordinated humanitarian efforts that are still being put in place to contain
and help them. The coming challenge exodus “is beyond my ability to articulate,” warns Su’ad Jarbawi, Iraq
country director for Mercy Corps, one of the world’s largest non-government relief organizations, which has
worked in Iraq since 2003. “The order of magnitude we are going to see is tremendous,” she told Fox News from
her base of operations in the nearby Iraqi city of Erbil. “Do we know how it is going to unfold? No.”
Relief planners like Jarbawi are still trying frantically, juggling funds and reworking plans to preposition
supplies and camps for as many as 1 million to 1.5 million civilians who could be fleeing Mosul within weeks, or
even days, when U.S.- and NATO-backed Iraqi government forces assault the city to retake it from the ISIS jihadists
who have held it since 2014. Where exactly they will flee is also not known. “I’m looking at version 12 of a Mosul
planning map,” one coordinator told Fox News. “It’s not going to be the last.” “We plan with a very high degree of
uncertainty.”
While the current case applies only to public-sector employees, the political and financial stakes are potentially
huge for the broader American labor union movement, which had been sounding the alarm about the legal fight.

The unions say 5 million government employees in 24 states and the District of Columbia would be affected by this
ruling.

The majority overturned the high court's four-decade-old precedent -- known as the "Abood" decision -- dealing
with so-called "agency" fees, allowing states to require public employees to pay money supporting collective
bargaining and other union activities.

Alito said while overturning past decisions should be rare, this issue justified it.

"There are very strong reasons in this case. Fundamental free speech rights are at stake," he said.

The key plaintiff was Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, who pays about $550 annually to the powerful public-
sector union known as AFSCME. While not a member of the union, he is required under state law to hand over a
weekly portion of his paycheck -- which he says is a violation of his constitutional rights.

"I work for Health and Family Services, and I'm forced to pay money to a union that then supports political causes
that I don't agree with," Janus told Fox News.

President Trump cheered the court decision on Twitter, writing: “Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union
workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who
control the Union deciding for them. Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!”

Trump's Justice Department has been clear on its position -- announcing in December it was reversing course from
the previous administration and supporting Janus.

Writing the dissent for the court's four liberal members, Associate Justice Elena Kagan said the majority succeeded
in its "crusade" by "turning the First Amendment into a sword."

"Judicial disruption does not get any greater than what the Court does today," she said in a rare oral dissent read
from the bench. "The majority has overruled Abood for no exceptional or special reason, but because it never liked
the decision. It has overruled Abood because it wanted to. Because, that is, it wanted to pick the winning side in
what should be -- and until now, has been -- an energetic policy debate."

Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined her.

"Almost all economic and regulatory policy affects or touches speech,” Kagan added. “So the [court] majority’s
road runs long. And at every stop are black-robed rulers overriding citizens’ choices. The First Amendment was
meant for better things. It was meant not to undermine but to protect democratic governance-including over the
role of public-sector unions."

Justices split 4-4 on the issue in a similar case two years ago, just after Antonin Scalia died. But with Neil Gorsuch
now filling the vacancy left by Scalia, he was seen as the deciding vote this time. During arguments back in
February, Gorsuch played it close to the vest and left court watchers guessing -- he had no comments or questions
from the bench during nearly 70 minutes of oral arguments.

On Wednesday, he sided with the conservative majority.

Labor leaders oppose so-called "free riding" by workers like Janus, however, and say they have a legal duty to
advocate for all employees.

Nearly 30 states have so-called "right-to-work laws" that restrict forced fees. But many public-employee union
members are in other states.
States that do allow "fair share" fees say they go to a variety of activities that benefit all workers, whether in the
union or not. That includes collective bargaining for wage and benefit increases, grievance procedures, and
workplace safety.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders had argued that strong labor unions are needed because they give “the strength
in numbers [workers] need to fight for the freedoms they deserve,” including retirement plans and health care.

The repercussions could affect unions nationwide. Union membership nationwide is less than 11 percent of the
American workforce, but about a third of government employees are members.

4. Spring 2017 Testimony of Iranian-Americans on impact of revised travel ban

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170425044153/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-
safety/iranian-american-groups-testify-in-washington-seeking-new-ban-on-trump-travel-
order/2017/04/18/65d31b20-23ca-11e7-bb9d-8cd6118e1409_story.html

Iranian-American groups testify in Washington seeking new ban on Trump travel order

[Date: Apr. 19. 2017; author: Spencer S. Hsu]

Leaders of Iranian-American organizations asked a U.S. district court in Washington Tuesday to become the latest
to order a nationwide halt to President Trump’s executive order banning new visas and immigration from six
Muslim-majority countries.

Testimony came on behalf of the largest ethnic group directly affected by the March 6 order, and was entered in
one of a half-dozen challenges to the White House action watched closely by legal analysts.

The lawsuit is unusual in that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of Washington allowed live testimony by
individuals who allege they are harmed by the order, and because the case is on a fast-track, said Michigan
University law professor Margo Schlanger, sponsor of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse that is tracking more
than 80 related lawsuits.

An order by a third U.S. trial judge to freeze the ban, if granted, would take direct effect only if similar decisions
made March 15 by federal district judges in Hawaii and Maryland were overturned. However, the legal arguments
raised by American immigrants from the Middle East’s most populous nation could play a role in a fight widely
seen as destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.

More Iranians received U.S. visas in 2015 than nationals from the other five countries on the list combined —
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Libya — or 57 percent of the total including Iraq, which was initially on the travel
ban list but later dropped. Meanwhile, Iranian students accounted for about 80 percent of foreign students last
year from the same countries, according to State Department data.

Lawyers for the four suing groups — Pars Equality Center, the Iranian American Bar Association, National Iranian
American Council, and Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans — said the success of the Iranian-American
community is a national security asset, not a threat, as the U.S. seeks a more moderate Iran.

Migration policy groups cited U.S. population surveys showing half of the estimated 1 million Iranian-Americans
living in the United States work as professionals, many arriving after the 1979 Islamic revolution topped the U.S.-
backed shah of Iran.

The lawyers for the groups suing said they assembled 16 plaintiffs and statements from 25 people to show a range
of people harmed by the White House ban and to overcome legal barriers to suing in federal court. They also asked
the judge Tuesday to order a resumption of visa granting processes.
detention centers under Australia’s take-no-boaters policy. “Australia’s policy of exiling asylum seekers who arrive
by boat is cruel in the extreme,” Anna Neistat, senior director for research at Amnesty International, said in the
group’s report on migrants who’d been held at Australia’s behest on Nauru — most for at least three years. “Few
other countries go to such lengths to deliberately inflict suffering on people seeking safety and freedom.”
Now, amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe — seen in Britain’s vote to leave the European Union
and strong recent showings at the polls in various countries by parties of the far right — some European politicians
are expressing interest in the Australian immigration model. The German Interior Ministry last month floated the
idea of a program to intercept asylum seekers by boat and take them to other countries to be processed. “The
elimination of the prospect of reaching the European coast could convince migrants to avoid embarking on the life-
threatening and costly journey in the first place. The goal must be to remove the basis for people-smuggling
organizations and to save migrants from the life-threatening journey,” a ministry spokeswoman told the Welt am
Sonntag newspaper.
In Denmark, Kenneth Kristensen Berth, spokesman on Europe for the right-wing Danish People’s Party, part of
the governing coalition, recently came out in support of considering processing camps for migrants outside
Denmark’s borders. Nigel Farage, who helped lead the “Brexit” campaign to leave the EU as leader of the U.K.
Independence Party, praised Australia’s policy, and in September, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on
Europe to turn back asylum seekers’ boats close to where they shove off from Libya to prevent them from reaching
Italy. Johnson and other Brexit leaders called for an Australian-style immigration policy that opens the door to
would-be migrants on a points system based on what they can contribute to the country.
Analysts say it would be difficult for Europe to try to refuse boats loaded with migrants attempting to land on
European shores or try to have them shipped elsewhere. For one thing, turning back people smugglers’ vessels
would be illegal in the Mediterranean, after a 2012 ruling in the European Court of Human Rights that found that
Italy violated migrants’ rights by returning a vessel with asylum seekers to Libya. Then there’s the prohibitive cost
to run the offshore detention centers. Australia paid private contractors more than $320,000 per person per year
in 2013-14 to run its facilities for refugees and asylum seekers.
Last year, the EU considered processing asylum seekers offshore in Egypt or Tunisia, but instead reached a
deal with Turkey in March that contained the flow of asylum seekers from Turkey to Europe in return for
humanitarian aid to support them. That deal, however, looks on the brink of collapse, with Turkey threatening to
reopen the floodgates, angered over a temporary halt to talks on its bid for EU membership. Europe has begun
negotiating with Tunisia in a bid to get a similar agreement to slow the flow of asylum seekers from North Africa,
many of whom are not fleeing war and thus are likely to be rejected as refugees.
Europe saw an influx of at least 1.25 million asylum seekers in 2015, according to an EU briefing paper in April.
The International Organization for Migration said 159,496 migrants had reached Europe by sea this year, and 4,220
had drowned. The Australian government last month doubled down on its controversial migrant boats policy,
introducing legislation for a lifetime visa ban on asylum seekers being detained on Manus Island or Nauru,
regardless of where they eventually settle. The bill is unlikely to pass, after the opposition announced it would not
support it. It also appears to not have much public support. A poll by the Australia Institute in June found that 63%
of respondents oppose the government’s policy of turning away those who have a legitimate case for asylum
merely because they arrived by boat.
Australian officials say the policy is an attempt not to block migration but to avoid rewarding those who “jump
the queue” ahead of other needy refugees who follow legal procedures and apply for asylum through the United
Nations. Australia ranks third behind the U.S. and Canada in admissions of refugees through the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees process.
  http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-australia-refugees-20170202-story.html
Australia doesn't want them. Trump doesn't either. Who are these refugees trapped in bleak island camps?

[Date: Feb. 2, 2017; author: Robyn Dixon]

Of all the refugees in the world, these are among the most unfortunate — trapped for years in miserable
island camps in the Pacific, unwanted by any nation. Australia doesn’t want them. President Trump this week
made it clear that a U.S. agreement to accept 1,250 of them for resettlement was a “dumb deal” that he’d prefer
to get out of. “Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from
Australia. Why?” he tweeted on Wednesday.
The refugees are the collateral damage in Australia’s widely criticized “Stop the Boats” policy, the rule that
asylum seekers who try to reach Australian shores by sea will never “make Australia home,” even if they are
genuine refugees, are children or have skills. "If you come to Australia illegally by boat, there is no way you will
ever make Australia home," an Australian army chief warned in a 2014 video aired online and on television in
countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The refugees at issue, mainly men, come from countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Somalia,
including some of the seven majority-Muslim nations subject to Trump’s recent ban on refugees and others. But
they also include some women and children. Many risked their lives, traveling on decrepit boats to reach Christmas
Island, an Australian territory near Indonesia. They were moved to detention camps on Manus Island and Nauru in
Papua New Guinea, under Australia’s policy of processing asylum seekers offshore. Some have now been trapped
on the islands for years.
Cases of depression and self-harm are high, according to reports that have been leaked from the centers. Two
people set themselves on fire last year, one of whom died. Australia was harshly criticized over a 26-hour delay in
transferring the man, 23-year-old Iranian Omid Masoumali, to a hospital in Brisbane. Many have reported that the
biggest problem is the sense of paralysis at being trapped in limbo indefinitely, according to Tracey Donehue, a
former teacher at one of the facilities interviewed by the Times last year. Some of her students had sewn their lips
together, she said. One girl had swallowed bleach.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published a report last year which found that Australia
inflicted suffering on refugees and asylum seekers “in what appears to be a deliberate policy to deter further
asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat.” Amnesty International researcher Anna Neistat, who visited
Nauru last year, said the apparent cruelty of their living conditions shocked her. “Having worked in most of the
world’s conflict zones over the last 15 years, I thought I had learned enough about suffering, injustice and despair.
But what I saw and heard on Nauru will haunt me forever,” she wrote in a report on the camps.
In May, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that prolonged detention on the islands was
“immensely harmful” and called for refugees and asylum seekers to be moved and treated humanely. Last year,
the refugees and asylum seekers were given permission to move out of the camps, but they are unable to leave
the islands.Australian political leaders have brushed off the criticisms, insisting that their policy saves lives by
deterring people from trying to reach Australia in decrepit boats. They claim the policy is a success, because it did
succeed in stopping the boats. In 2014, Australia reached a deal with Cambodia to resettle the refugees there. But
in October of that year, a number of Nauru asylum seekers sewed their lips shut to protest the plan. Just six
refugees accepted the proposal and were flown to Cambodia in 2015 and 2016. Within months, an ethnic
Rohingya man asked to be sent back to Myanmar, despite continuing persecution of Rohingya people there. Three
Iranians, deeply unhappy with life in Cambodia, also elected to return to what they had called persecution in their
homeland.
In November, shortly after Trump’s election, the Australian government announced it had reached a deal with
the Obama administration to accept 1,250 of the refugees on Nauru and Manus Island. Priority was to be given to
women and children, but few details were released. Meanwhile, opinion polls last year appeared to show a shift in
Australian public sentiment: In one survey, 64% said they wanted the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to be
allowed into Australia. But Australia’s policy remains unchanged.
  https://web.archive.org/web/20151025143527/http://www.ima.border.gov.au/en/Illegal-maritime-
arrivals
Illegal maritime arrivals (IMAs)

[Date saved: Oct. 5, 2015]

There are approximately 30,500 people in Australia who arrived illegally by boat before 1 January 2014.
People who arrived illegally by boat are referred to as illegal maritime arrivals, or IMAs. This information is for
people who arrived illegally by boat before 1 January 2014 and are having their protection claims assessed in
Australia. It is not for people whose protection claims are being assessed in a Regional Processing Centre.
Most IMAs are barred from applying for a protection visa and cannot apply for any other kind of visa. The
Australian Government has started inviting people who arrived illegally by boat to apply for a protection visa.
Some people will meet the criteria to be granted a protection visa and will be allowed to stay temporarily in
Australia. Other people will not meet the criteria to be granted a protection visa and will be expected to depart
Australia.
It will take a long time to process visa applications for all of the illegal maritime arrivals in Australia.
People will be gradually invited to apply, generally in the order they arrived. People need to wait to receive an
invitation before they can lodge an application. If you came to Australia by boat without a visa, click on the links
below for information relevant to your situation.

 http://www.ima.border.gov.au/en/Illegal-maritime-arrivals
Illegal maritime arrivals (IMAs)

[Date saved: Feb. 5, 2017]

This site is to support the approximately 30,500 people in Australia who arrived illegally by boat on or after 13
August 2012 and before 1 January 2014. People who arrived illegally by boat are referred to as illegal maritime
arrivals, or IMAs.
IMAs should now be applying for a temporary protection visa
The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection has lifted the application bar for the vast majority of IMAs
in Australia and invited them to apply for a Temporary Protection visa (TPV) or a Safe Haven Enterprise visa (SHEV)
In Australia. IMAs are now expected to lodge an application for a TPV or a SHEV to present their claims for
protection and resolve their status in Australia. IMAs who have not received their invitation to apply letter are not
prevented from lodging an application.
Failure to lodge a visa application and maintain contact with us will be taken as an indication that an IMA no
longer intends to seek protection in Australia. This might affect their support services, including income support
and could also impact their Bridging visa. IMAs who do not lodge a TPV or SHEV application are expected to leave
Australia. If an IMA is unable to lodge an application immediately, they must contact us and provide the reasons
why, and provide their client and boat identification numbers along with their name and date of birth.
Information on how to apply and the application forms are located in the Protection Application Information
Guides. IMAs should ensure that they have provided their most recent address and other contact details to us.
They can do this by calling 1300 728 662. This does not apply to persons liable for transfer to a Regional Processing
Centre.
The Australian Government’s Operation Sovereign Borders policy to manage IMAs has not changed. Any
people smuggling boat that attempts to travel to Australia illegally will be turned back. Settlement in Australia will
never be an option for anyone who travels illegally by boat. The rules apply to everyone: families, children,
unaccompanied children, educated and skilled.
Leaders of Iranian-American organizations testified in federal court Tuesday about the negative effects that
President Trump’s executive order on travel and refugees has had on their community, even as enforcement of the
order has been barred.

The case is one of dozens that have sought to challenge the legality of the executive order, but Tuesday’s hearing
before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in Washington, D.C. represents the first time witnesses have provided
in-person testimony challenging the executive order.

Federal court rulings out of Hawaii and Maryland have blocked portions of Mr. Trump’s executive order from
currently being enforced. Attorneys involved in the D.C. case say they are seeking an injunction that would take
effect if either of those orders were overturned but also to compel the government to resume visa operations as
they had run prior to the announcement of the first order on Jan 27.

“We want the government agencies to go back to doing the jobs they were doing before,” said Jon M. Greenbaum,
chief counsel for the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. “We have
declarants who have had their visas approved for travel to the United States but never actually got the visas
themselves. They are stuck outside of the United States.”

The four groups suing the Trump administration over the order are the Pars Equality Center, the Iranian American
Bar Association, National Iranian American Council, and Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans. The groups
contend that Iranian-Americans would be hit hardest by the executive order if it is allowed to take effect. The State
Department indicates that in 2015, Iranians were issued 35,266 nonimmigrant visas to come to the United States -
more than to nationals from any of the other five countries named in the revised order.

The revised order would ban foreign nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from traveling to the
United States for 90 days. It would also ban for 120 days all refugee resettlement in the United States and would
lower the cap on the number of refugees to be allowed into the United States this year from 110,000 people to
50,000 people.

Before the first order was issued in January, the president of the Iranian American Bar Association testified that
only about 10 percent of the organization’s resources were dedicated to dealing with immigration or visa issues.
After the order was announced, Babak Yousefzadeh said the organization “went into crisis mode” and now roughly
50 percent of its resources are being directed toward issues related to the order. Even with the order on hold, he
said the group is still plagued with questions they aren’t able to answer because of a lack of certainty in how the
government will implement the order if it is allowed to take effect.

Leila Golestaneh Austin, executive director of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, said her group had to
postpone projects such as a sports diplomacy program that would have brought Iranians to the U.S. as a result of
uncertainty about the executive order. She said the order has created a stigma against Iranian-Americans and led
members to take on new initiatives such as addressing hate crimes targeting the Iranian American community.

The Justice Department sought unsuccessfully to prevent Tuesday’s testimony ahead of a preliminary injunction
hearing scheduled for Friday, arguing that declarations filed in court were sufficient. Judge Chutkan will preside
over the preliminary injunction arguments set for Friday, which are being heard in conjunction with a second case -
filed by the Universal Muslim Association of America, Muslim Advocates, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

5. Trump vs. Federal Judges on Feb 2017 Executive Order rulings

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/us/politics/appeals-court-trump-travel-ban.html
Court Refuses to Reinstate Travel Ban, Dealing Trump Another Legal Loss

[Date: Feb. 9, 2017; author: Adam Liptak]

 The increasing numbers spurred Macedonian authorities to declare a state of emergency Thursday. Police on
Friday fired tear gas in Gevgelija to disperse the thousands of migrants trying to enter from Greece and traverse
Macedonia to reach Serbia.
(…)
On the southern border, in Gevgelija, there are fewer activists and more refugees. The formerly sleepy town
near Greece has become a major stop on the road to Europe. The large numbers pouring in have led to significant
delays in registrations, leading to crowds of thousands waiting for their papers with no place to sleep.
On a recent afternoon, several thousand people were packed onto the platform at the train station. Activist
Gabriela Andreevska, who comes six days a week from her home half an hour away to offer help to the refugees,
moves through the crowd with ease, smiling and joking with people and cheerfully answering their questions.
When one man approaches to ask for information about how to get to Tabanovce, she takes a piece of paper and a
pen and kneels down on the ground to draw him a map and give directions.
Many of the residents of this town resent the refugees, annoyed with the crowds, the trash, and fearing that
they are terrorists or will bring diseases. But for Ms. Andreevska, it’s a simple decision to help. “I’ve never seen
anything like this,” she says. “So many people sleeping on concrete. They’re there, and you can’t turn a blind eye.”

 http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-croatia-europe-bottleneck-migrants-20150916-
story.html
Hungary's border crackdown on refugees affecting neighboring nations Serbia-Croatia border
[Date: September 16, 2015; author: Henry Chu]

Europe’s refugee crisis boiled over into violence Wednesday when Hungarian security forces unleashed water
cannons and tear gas on asylum seekers who tried to break through a razor-wire fence preventing them from
crossing the Hungary-Serbia border. Hungarian authorities also continued to arrest people who sneaked across the
frontier, enforcing a harsh new law making it a criminal offense to cross into the country without permission.
Human rights groups denounced the crackdown and called anew for European leaders to come up with a
coherent, unified response to the continent’s biggest migrant crisis since World War II.
The effects of Hungary’s decision to seal its border with Serbia quickly rippled out to its neighbors, as Southern
European nations that had been little affected by the crisis braced for its spread. Migrants searching for an
alternative route to their preferred destinations of Germany and Scandinavia began crossing from Serbia into
Croatia, which pledged to allow them safe passage. But Slovenia said it would impose temporary border controls
along its frontier with Hungary, and Romania convened a meeting of senior defense officials to discuss taking in
more refugees.
Despite Hungary’s clampdown and new border checks popping up throughout Europe, the relentless tide of
asylum seekers from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan showed no signs of abating.

Serbia-Hungary border
A refugee stands behind a fence at the Hungarian border with Serbia near the town of Horgos on Wednesday.
(Armend Nimani / AFP/Getty Images)
Greek authorities reported Wednesday that 5,000 migrants had crossed into Macedonia within 24 hours,
embarking on the well-trodden path to points north in the quest for sanctuary. Hundreds more people sailing to
Greece from Turkey were plucked from the Aegean Sea by the Greek coast guard. The bottleneck at the Hungary-
Serbia border worsened as migrants who had not heard of the border’s closure continued to arrive. Conditions in
the tent city that has sprung up at the frontier are dire: Some people are sleeping in the open, others walk miles in
the sun to fetch food and water, and there are only 16 portable toilets, said Tirana Hassan of the human rights
group Amnesty International. “They’re tired, they’re hot. There are still people standing right now at the gate
chanting” to be let through, Hassan said by telephone Wednesday from the Serbian border town of Horgos.
 Tensions rose in the midafternoon when a group charged at the razor-wire fence that Hungary has erected
along the length of its nearly 110-mile border with Serbia. Hungarian security forces responded with tear gas and
water cannons, driving back angry protesters who hurled rocks. Women and children screamed and wept. Riot
police were called in.
Officials in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, said authorities had acted properly in putting down what a
spokesman described as an “armed mob,” but Hassan accused the Hungarian government of “making sure they’re
sending a message of intimidation and force.” Serbia protested the use of tear gas on its territory. Croatia also
criticized Hungary’s tough approach. “Barbed wire in Europe in the 21st century is not an answer,” Croatian Prime
Minister Zoran Milanovic said. “It’s a threat.” Milanovic told lawmakers Wednesday that 150 asylum seekers had
already arrived in Croatia, the leading edge in what is likely to be a swelling wave. “They will be able to pass
through Croatia, and we are working intensively to enable that,” Milanovic said.
But transiting through Croatia adds a grim new danger for refugees who have already braved perilous sea and
overland voyages to get that far: land mines left over from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Several minefields dot the
Croatia-Serbia border, and although officials say they are clearly marked, migrants trying to sneak across the
frontier under cover of darkness might be caught unawares.
Elsewhere, the imposition of new border controls between Slovenia and Austria and between Slovenia and
Hungary added to the extraordinary rollback of free movement within the European Union, one of the bloc’s most
important achievements. Germany, which began the wave of emergency border checks, said that they were
succeeding in better regulating the inward flow of asylum seekers. Although Berlin insists it will fulfill its pledge of
accepting up to 800,000 refugees this year, the speed with which they are arriving has overwhelmed some German
cities, especially in the south.

 http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-refugee-flood-croatia-20150917-story.html
Migrants, turned away by Hungary, inundate Croatia

[Date: September 17, 2015; authors: Henry Chu and Kristen Chick]

A new pressure point built up along Europe’s migrant trail Thursday as Croatia found itself overwhelmed by
thousands of asylum seekers heading north and said it could handle no more. In less than 48 hours, the trickle of
refugees who gave up trying to enter Hungary from Serbia and diverted to Croatia had become a flood. By late
afternoon Thursday, nearly 9,000 people had crossed into Croatia, in some cases pushing past greatly
outnumbered border guards deployed to regulate the flow.
There was no repeat of the violence seen at the Hungary-Serbia border Wednesday, when Hungarian riot
police unleashed tear gas and water cannons on migrants trying to break through. But scenes were tense as
migrants jostled to get through crossings from Serbia into Croatia under blazing sunshine, with temperatures
nearing 100 degrees. Border police held back the crowds when they could. “Croatia will not be able to receive any
more people,” Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic told reporters at the train station in the border town of Tovarnik.
(…)
On Wednesday, the prime minister promised smooth and safe passage through Croatia, which virtually all the
asylum seekers see as just a transit zone en route to Northern Europe. But Ostojic appeared to rescind that pledge
Thursday, saying that neighboring countries such as Slovenia hadn’t yet agreed to let the migrants continue
onward.“If they want asylum, they can apply for asylum in Croatia,” Ostojic said. “We have to follow the rules.
Croatia is under big pressure.”
That did not go down well with the migrants, thousands of whom jammed the railway station, crowding into
every available patch of shade for relief from the punishing heat as they waited for trains or buses to take them
deeper into Croatia.
(…)

(…)
 The number of people crossing into Europe this year to flee war and poverty at home is edging close to half a
million. More than 2,500 have died in the attempt. Like a river, the asylum seekers have flowed along a well-carved
route from Greece up through the Balkans and into Austria and Germany, branching off in other directions upon
meeting obstacles. After Hungary shut its southern border with Serbia this week and imposed criminal penalties on
people sneaking across, migrants shifted westward. Croatian officials underestimated how quickly and in what
volume the refugees would start funneling through their country. Hungary, which has taken the toughest line
against migrants, said diversion of the human tide away from its borders was exactly the result it had hoped for in
cracking down. But its harsh tactics drew a sharp rebuke from Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU’s commissioner for
migration and home affairs. “Hungary is not alone. These are also difficult times for your neighbors,”
Avramopoulos said in Budapest, the Hungarian capital. “Passing … the refugees problem from one country to
another is not a solution.”
Zeid Raad Hussein, the United Nations’ top human rights official, called Hungary’s use of tear gas and water
cannons on asylum seekers “truly shocking.” But the government in Budapest has refused to back down from or
apologize for its actions. It contends that Hungary is defending the EU’s external borders.

 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/10/europe-shuts-down-its-balkan-borders-stranding-
thousands-of-refugees.html
SLAMMING DOOR: Europe Shuts Down Its Balkan Borders, Stranding Thousands of Refugees
The last hours before the borders closed were like a lottery: You either had a winning birthplace, or you didn't.

[Date: March 9, 2015; author: Kristen Chick]

IDOMENI, Greece — Hussam appeared to be slipping through the final crack of a swiftly closing door on Friday
when Macedonian police finally allowed him into the no-man’s land at the border with Greece. A young Syrian
who lived in the Yarmouk refugee camp, Hussam survived years of a devastating siege before escaping to Lebanon,
and finally trying to make his way to Europe. After 10 days of waiting in this muddy, desperate encampment on
Macedonia’s frontier, he was on the verge of finally continuing his journey north. The police made him wait two
days in no-man’s land before finally summoning him, in the early hours of Monday, to examine his ID. The officer
took one look at it, and pointed to the line that said in Arabic: “Place of birth: Damascus.”
In the latest version of the ever-tightening criteria that had steadily whittled down the number of people
deemed worthy to cross the border, officials decided that certain areas in Syria and Iraq—including Damascus—
were safe, their residents not in need of international protection. And just like that, Hussam’s dream of reaching
the safety of Germany seemed to be over. “Get out!” said the officer, ushering Hussam back into the camp where
around 12,000 refugees were waiting. The gate into Macedonia slammed shut and may not open again. With
Slovenia’s announcement Tuesday evening that it would no longer allow refugees passage through its borders to
reach Austria or Germany, the route used by the majority of the more than a million refugees who made their way
to Europe last year appears to be effectively closed. Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia quickly announced they would
follow Slovenia’s lead.
Many refugees, their way forward blocked, their futures now uncertain, don’t know where to turn. Hussam, a
25-year-old with shoulder-length curly hair, was at a loss for what to do next. “I feel like I should go back to the sea
and throw myself in,” he said. “They killed our hope.” The border closures come days after European Union and
Turkish leaders agreed on the framework of a deal they say will stop the flow of refugees into Greece. In a
statement issued by EU heads of state after the summit, they declared that “irregular flows of migrants along the
western Balkans route have now come to an end.”
But more than 1,300 refugees and migrants continue to arrive on Greek islands every day, and more than
36,000 refugees are now stuck in the country. Those in Idomeni are skeptical about an EU relocation plan that
officials are encouraging them to apply for. A spokeswoman for Macedonia’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday
that Macedonia’s border would remain shut to refugees if other countries along the route did not open theirs.
Nearly 1,500 refugees are stuck on Macedonia’s northern border with Serbia, where border guards have denied
them entry.
It’s unclear how long refugees will cling to hope that the border may reopen, and stay in Idomeni. Conditions
are difficult, and around 62 percent of the people here are women and children, according to Babar Baloch,
spokesman for the United Nation’s Refugee Agency in Idomeni. Greece says it’s planning to build nine new shelters
for refugees, but people will be reluctant to move without clear information, said Baloch. “There’s no clear sense,
in terms of flow of information from the authorities on any side, of what’s going to happen to them,” he said.
Wednesday morning, Hussam and several friends tried to ward off the damp cold by lighting a fire in a pit dug in
the mud outside their tents. Hussam’s hands bear wounds from foraging firewood in nearby forests, but the wood
was wet from overnight rain and stubbornly refused to catch fire as they used plastic and clothing—all that was
available—for kindling.
Hussam says that during the siege of Yarmouk, he helped friends who were doctors provide medical care for
starving residents. A musician, he and friends put on concerts to provide cheer in a situation so grim that residents
were eating dogs, cats, and soup made of boiled tree bark. He posted videos on YouTube, he says, to show the
world what was happening in the camp. When he finally escaped, he immediately left for Lebanon; his friends who
stayed in Damascus were arrested a week later. He hopes to finish his law degree in Germany—if he can get there.
For many of the refugees, the thought of turning around and heading back at this point is too hard to bear after
everything they’ve given up to reach this point. “No one knows what each family here has lost or sold in order to
be here—everyone has an enormous story,” says Hussam, gesturing at the vast expanse of tents.
Officials in the camp were handing out flyers for the EU relocation plan, which aims to distribute 160,000
refugees from Greece and Italy throughout the EU. But only some 660 have been relocated so far, and some
refugees in Idomeni are afraid the scheme is simply a ploy to get them away from the border. A crowd gathered in
front of the office of the UN’s refugee agency here Wednesday, clamoring for information. “If we sign up for this
project, maybe they’ll just drop us in Athens,” said Nizar, a Syrian from Damascus. “What’s the guarantee? Give me
a guarantee, and I will go.”
But having paid $10,000 to bring his family of six this far, he insisted he would not give up on getting to
Germany. “I won’t leave,” he said. “I’m going to cross the border. If they don’t open it, I’ll cross it illegally.” He said
he would try to get into Macedonia by going through nearby fields away from the crossing point used by refugees,
but many of those who try that route are caught by Macedonian police and returned to Greece. Some refugees say
they’re considering trying to forge a new route into Albania, but so far it has not caught on.
“I escaped from death, torture, and pain,” said Nizar. “I will not stop here.”

4. Reception of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Eritrea, etc. in Germany

 http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-migrants-20150901-story.html
As migrants arrive, Germany's embrace of refugees spurs backlash

[Date: August 31, 2015; authors: Amro Hassan and Henry Chu]

It seemed a modest proposal, turning part of a sports center in this town of 20,000 people into a temporary
shelter for about 130 migrants and refugees. Someone, however, apparently decided it would be better for none
of Nauen's residents to use the center rather than let a single asylum seeker through its doors. Last week, the
building was set ablaze and destroyed in a suspected arson attack — another addition to the mounting tally of
assaults on facilities set up to help Germany's newest arrivals.
The fire blackened not just the 4-year-old sports center but also, some residents fear, the reputation of this
community just west of Berlin. "This is just blind ignorance and fanaticism," said Katja Dreller, 28, a kindergarten
worker. "I'd mostly blame it on ignorance and lack of interaction with the outside world. Some people here have
never left Nauen, and they are panicking at the prospect of what would have happened if refugees came to live
among them."
 It's an increasingly common prospect across this land of 80 million people, for the attack in Nauen reflected
two competing realities: the intolerance of some Germans for the newcomers in their midst and, at the same time,
German generosity in Europe's biggest migrant crisis since World War II. Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war
and poverty are trying to reach safety in Europe. This summer's unprecedented exodus from Syria, Afghanistan,
Eritrea and other nations in turmoil has inundated southern Europe and exhausted the generosity of countries
suffering their own economic woes. Mindful of its shameful conduct during that war, when the Nazis tried to
exterminate whole classes of people they deemed undesirable, Germany is taking the opposite tack now by
opening its arms to more refugees than any other country in Europe. In the process, it's becoming what one British
commentator called the continent's unlikely moral beacon as other nations scramble to shut their borders and the
European Union dithers on a collective approach to the crisis.
The German government now says it expects a staggering 800,000 asylum requests this year, more than
double its forecast at the beginning of 2015. The figure amounts to 1% of Germany's entire population; the
equivalent in the U.S. would be 3.2 million people. Most of the requests are expected to be approved.
Many of the asylum seekers are Syrians fleeing the civil war at home. In a major departure from normal EU
procedure, Berlin announced that it would allow Syrians streaming into Germany to apply for asylum here rather
than ship them back to the country where they first entered Europe. The gesture sparked an outpouring of
gratitude on social media from Syrians who tweeted images of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the words "We love
you."
"It will be the largest influx in the country's postwar history," Thomas de Maiziere, the German interior
minister, said recently. "We can master this challenge. I don't think this will overwhelm Germany; we can handle
this." But Germany has also warned that it won't shoulder the burden alone, and called on its neighbors to step up
to the plate. "Europe as a whole must move, and its states must share the responsibility for refugees seeking
asylum," Merkel said Monday, warning that the lack of a unified response could endanger the cherished principle
of free movement across EU borders.
So far, the migrant crisis has made a mockery of the European Union, with as many policies toward migrants
and refugees as there are countries within the 28-member EU, as the Italian prime minister put it. Whereas
Germany has pledged to take in 800,000 refugees, Hungary and Bulgaria are building walls to keep migrants out.
Last year, Sweden welcomed more asylum seekers — 81,000 — on a per capita basis than even Germany, while
Britain resettled just 187 Syrians under a program to protect those considered the most vulnerable to persecution
at home. Slovakia says it will accept 200 Syrians, but only if they're Christians.
Despite that chaotic response, thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, Eritreans and others continue to land on
the shores of Southern Europe each day after terrifying sea journeys, often winding up in squalid camps and
reception centers. Many press on northward to more affluent countries such as Germany and Sweden but face
further perils. Last week, 71 people presumed to be migrants apparently suffocated to death in the back of a truck
found abandoned by the side of an Austrian highway. Five people suspected to be part of a vast trafficking ring
have been arrested.
(…)
The two big political parties in Germany are in agreement over embracing the hundreds of thousands of
asylum seekers expected this year. But the decision has fueled a spate of xenophobic attacks and raised the
specter of neo-Nazi networks spreading their tentacles. More anti-foreigner incidents were reported in the first six
months of 2015 — about 200 — than all of last year. In late August, violent demonstrations erupted in the eastern
German town of Heidenau, where a shelter for 600 refugees was being readied, and 31 police officers were
injured. When Merkel visited the town days later and denounced the protests as "shameful and repulsive,"
onlookers booed and called her a "traitor." Suspected right-wing extremists also torched refugee centers in the
historic city of Meissen and in the southern Bavarian town of Reichertshofen days before they were to open.
Officials and others say that the attacks represent the sentiment of a minority. Polls show that 60% of
Germans support taking in refugees, and there has been an outpouring of assistance across the country from
volunteers who have donated food and clothing, set up websites to match migrants with employers and even
housed some of the newcomers in their own homes.
 (…)
The backlash against migrants has largely surfaced in parts of the former East Germany, which remain
economically behind the western part of the country. Nico Jung, 48, has lived all his life in Nauen, where he owns a
bicycle shop. The burning down of the sports center was "horrible," he said, but "the whole situation with bringing
in immigrants is new to people here."
(…)
It's unclear whether the town will try to find another facility to replace the sports center as a refugee shelter.
Dreller, the kindergarten worker, said it might not be possible now. "The government should have asked the
community or at least spread some sort of awareness about the matter before any plans were made to bring in
refugees here," she said. "Now it is a bit of a predicament, because the situation has already been given a bad
reputation, and I'm not sure how safe it will be for anyone if refugees end up getting settled here."

 http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-migrant-help-20150907-story.html
Germany's open-door policy in migrant crisis casts nation in a new light
Migrants arrive in Germany

[Date: September 7, 2015; author: Henry Chu]

Just two months ago, Germany was suffering from yet another image problem, deplored as a harsh and
heartless overlord in its effort to impose financial discipline on its European neighbors. Its hard-nosed bailout
negotiations with debt-ridden Greece and apparent willingness to throw Athens under the bankruptcy bus
triggered protests around the world and caricatures of Chancellor Angela Merkel as Adolf Hitler. Now Merkel is
being hailed as an angel of mercy and her country as a paragon of virtue for flinging open the doors to a massive
influx of refugees. The sight of Germans whooping in welcome and thrusting gifts at bedraggled asylum seekers
arriving on chartered trains has stood in sharp contrast to the indifference or outright hostility directed at them in
other European nations.
Some Germans hope that such positive images might help remove some of the stains on their reputation,
including older, darker associations with trains full of unwanted people — those who were systematically sent to
their deaths by the Nazis. Merkel said she was moved by the sight of hundreds of migrants stuck at a railway
station in Hungary last week, chanting their desire to come to Germany. “This wasn’t always the case,” she said
with characteristic understatement.

Migrant crisis in Europe

Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty are trying to reach safety in Europe. This summer's
unprecedented exodus from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and other nations in turmoil has inundated southern
Europe and exhausted the generosity of countries suffering their own economic woes. More recently, Berlin has
been cast in the familiar role of villain for taking a tough line on Greece and on debt in the Eurozone. “Some
started saying that we are financially overtaking Europe … and that we are only thinking of our own interests,” said
Jonas Walther, a 25-year-old choreographer. “Now everybody is praising Germany for its intake of refugees. “But
we should not be taking refugees to improve our image,” he added. “We should be taking them because of the
humanitarian situation, and I think that this is currently the case.”

Inside the train to Germany: Wonder, fatigue and, for a moment, fear
(…)
Merkel said that the public outpouring of donations and assistance to refugees who arrived by the thousands
in Germany over the last few days ought to make her compatriots feel “proud and grateful.” But there’s unease
here as well: over how far the country’s resources can be stretched, over the backlash already brewing in some
areas and over Germany’s being a leader and an outlier in the crisis, even if laudably so.
(…)
 6. Clinton vs. Trump economic plans
• http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/11/politics/hillary-clinton-economy-detroit-election-2016/
Clinton: I will stamp out 'the Trump loophole'

[Date: Aug. 11, 2016; authors: Dan Merica and Jeff Zeleny ]

Hillary Clinton lambasted Donald Trump's economic plans in a speech Thursday as nothing more than a huge tax
break for himself, labeling tax cuts he proposed earlier this week as "the Trump Loophole."

Throughout her speech on the floor of a factory north of Detroit, Clinton accused Trump of using his presidential
campaign to boost wealthy people like himself, looking to drive home a message that the only person Trump is
looking out for is Trump. "He would give trillions in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, and Wall Street
money managers," Clinton said. "In his speech on Monday, he called for a new tax loophole -- let's call it the
'Trump Loophole'." She added, "It would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many
of his companies. He'd pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families."

Clinton slammed the Republican nominee for proposing to eliminate of the Estate Tax, a move that would save his
family $4 billion dollars based on the $10 billion Trump says he is worth.

"He's offered no credible plans to address what working families are up against today," Clinton said. "Nothing on
student loans or the cost of prescription drugs. Nothing for farmers and struggling rural communities ... Nothing
for communities of color in our cities to overcome barriers of systemic racism. Nothing to create new opportunities
for young people." Clinton closed the speech by arguing that Trump is only offering "a more extreme version of the
failed theory of trickle-down economics, with the addition of his own unique Trumpian ideas that even
Republicans reject."

• http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/08/clinton-trump-clash-on-economy.html
Clinton, Trump clash on economy

[Date: Aug. 8, 2016]

Hillary Clinton clashed from afar with Donald Trump on the economy Monday, accusing him of peddling “old, tired
ideas” that benefit the “really wealthy” – after the Republican nominee hammered the Democrats' “job-killing”
agenda in a speech of his own where he unveiled a revised plan to jolt the economy by slashing taxes and
regulations.

Trump delivered his economic address early Monday afternoon in Detroit, touting a plan he called a "night-and-
day-contrast" with the “job-killing, tax-raising, poverty-inducing Obama-Clinton agenda.” Clinton returned fire
hours later during a rally in St. Petersburg, Fla., saying her GOP rival has simply hired advisers trying to “make his
old, tired ideas sound new.”

“His tax plans will give super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy,” she said. "He wants to
repackage trickle-down economics." Clinton said economists have already warned Trump’s policies “would throw
us into recession.” The sparks mark an abrupt return to the economy on the campaign trail, after a post-
convention week during which Trump was caught up in controversies that had little to do with policy.
Excerpts from Public Intellectuals’ Analyses of Texts

YawoBrownFollow

illustration by @YawoBrown

The Subtle Linguistics of

Polite White Supremacy
 by Yawo Brown // TheMagicalNegro.net

What is Polite White Supremacy?

Polite White Supremacy is the notion that whites should remain
the ruling class while denying that they are the ruling class,
politely. Affectionately, it’s called #PWS for short. It has been
referred to as the Casual American Caste System, Delicate
Apartheid, Gentle Oppression, or what I like to call it after a few
drinks: Chad Crow, the super chill grandson of Jim Crow.

No but seriously, Polite White Supremacy is very real. So why is it

that we must specifically say ‘Polite White Supremacy’ rather than
Racism? We must say Polite White Supremacy for three reasons.
First, saying #PWS puts the responsibility solely on the creators of
a systemic problem. Second, this phrase addresses the subtlety
and casualness with which oppression is administered. Thirdly, it
eradicates the all-too-common confusion
betweenracism and prejudice. It’s important to eradicate this
confusion so it can be clear that racism is tied to a power
structure and access to resources.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

RACISM AND PREJUDICE
Racism and prejudice are NOT interchangeable. Racism is the
systemic oppression of one group of people who can be
 • https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/14/democratic-debate-paris-attacks-economy-clinton-
sanders-omalley
Democratic debate: candidates face off on foreign policy in light of Paris attacks
[Date: November 15, 2015; authors: Dan Roberts and Sabrina Siddiqui]

The aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in Paris failed to deter surprisingly intense policy clashes between the
Democrat presidential rivals on Saturday, as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley took up fiercely
opposing positions not just on American foreign policy but also on the economy and gun control.

As a former secretary of state, Clinton was seen as a natural frontrunner going into a second television debate that
had been hastily rearranged to focus on foreign policy and was expected to be heavily overshadowed by the
attacks in France. Yet despite their sombre and sympathetic tone in statements regarding events in France, the
three candidates moved beyond platitudes and into passionate debate over the extent to which the US should
intervene in the Middle East to prevent future attacks. “Isis cannot just be contained – it must be defeated,”
Clinton began, in veiled criticism of Barack Obama’s claim just before the attacks that Isis was contained in Syria
and Iraq. Sanders then recovered from a shaky start and began to carve out a distinctive foreign policy of his own –
suggesting that Clinton’s record of interventionism was partly to blame for the current crisis. “I would argue that
the disastrous invasion of Iraq, something I strongly opposed, has unravelled the region completely … and led to
the rise of Isis,” said the Vermont senator, who has previously spoken little on national security.

The Sanders campaign was accused of clashing beforehand with TV host CBS over the revised format of the debate
– something its advisers denied – but Clinton nonetheless took advantage of her deep foreign policy experience to
score points over him on the nuances of Middle East alliances and Russian tactical nuclear weapons. Sanders was
joined repeatedly by O’Malley, who enjoyed perhaps his best performance yet, as they paired potent rhetoric
against the secretary’s more cautious eye for detail. One of their angriest exchanges occurred over financial
reform, as both Sanders and O’Malley sought to characterize Clinton as beholden to the interests of Wall Street.
Clinton was asked if her donations from Wall Street would affect her ability to regulate the financial industry. The
Democratic frontrunner said she had laid out an “aggressive plan to rein in Wall Street” and pointed to Super Pacs
established by hedge fund managers to fight her candidacy.

When the moderators turned to Sanders for an assessment of Clinton’s response, the senator had just three
words: “Not good enough.” “Why over her career has Wall Street been the major contributor to Hillary Clinton?
Maybe they are dumb, but I don’t think so,” he said, in one of his most direct critiques to date of Clinton’s ties to
Wall Street. “Their business model is greed and fraud,” Sanders said. “And for the sake of our economy … the
major banks must be broken up.”

Sanders’ indictment prompted a sharp response from Clinton, who said: “He has basically used his answer to
impugn my integrity.” She then pivoted to her small donations, 60% of which she said were from women – a
response that was met with loud applause. Clinton also invoked the September 11 attacks and how she helped
Manhattan rebuild while representing New York at the time in the US Senate.

The latter anecdote was raised further along in the debate, in a moment that captured the nature of modern-day
elections. A tweet was read to Clinton – it asked what 9/11 had to do with accepting contributions from Wall
Street. O’Malley also went after Clinton’s financial record, dubbing her Wall Street reform plan “weak tea”. “I
won’t be taking my orders from Wall Street,” he said. Unlike after the first TV debate, when Clinton was judged to
have pulled ahead of her opponents, the consensus among observers as well as campaign officials in the post-
debate spin room in Des Moines was that all three candidates had performed better than expected on a tricky
night to talk politics…
1. Usman Chaudhry

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/mohammad-usman-chaudhry/
Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, 21 [Updated]

[Date: March 25, 2008; no credited author]

Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, a 21-year-old Pakistani American, was fatally shot at 1435 N. Curson St. in
Hollywood at 4 a.m. Tuesday, March 25.
According to police, Officer Joseph Cruz and his partner were patrolling the street when they saw a dark figure
by an apartment complex. The officers approached to investigate and encountered Chaudhry lying behind some
bushes. As Cruz was questioning Chaudhry, he pulled out a folding knife and stabbed Cruz on the left hand. Cruz
pulled out his gun and fired several rounds at Chaudhry. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced
Chaudhry dead at the scene at 4:21 a.m.
Cruz was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was treated for lacerations and released, authorities
said.

UPDATE: Initially the L.A. County coroner identified Chaudhry as a black man, but family said he was a Pakistani
American and a Muslim.

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/family-man-killed-ex-officer-awarded-over-1-million/
$1.7 million awarded to family of man killed by LAPD officer
[Date: January 27, 2011; no credited author]

Earlier this week, a federal jury found that an ex-LAPD officer was responsible for the wrongful death of an
autistic man shot and killed in Hollywood in 2008. On Wednesday, the jury awarded the victim's family $1.7
million. Joseph Cruz killed Mohammad Usman Chaudhry in March 2008, when Cruz and his partner encountered
the 21-year-old autistic man lying in the bushes alongside a Hollywood apartment building.
Since the killing, Cruz has insisted that Chaudhry tried to attack him with a knife and that he fired his gun in
self-defense. On Monday, however, after four days of testimony, the jury rejected Cruz’s account when it returned
a unanimous verdict finding that the ex-officer had used excessive force and acted in “a reckless, oppressive or
malicious manner” when he shot Chaudhry.
During the trial, lawyers for the Chaudhry family presented evidence aimed at putting doubt in the minds of
the jurors over Cruz’s account. Testing on the knife that Cruz said Chaudhry had used, for example, found one
person’s DNA profile on the handle and blade but showed that the DNA was not Chaudhry’s. Also, after Cruz said
he had never met Chaudhry before the shooting, a man testified that he had been present on multiple occasions
when Cruz confronted Chaudhry and called him by name.
After the verdict, the jury was asked to decide how much money, if any, to award Chaudhry’s parents.
Attorneys representing Cruz and the city of Los Angeles had tried to limit the size of the award by arguing that
Chaudhry had had a frayed relationship with his parents that lessened their suffering.
The verdict was at odds with the investigation done of the shooting by the Los Angeles Police Commission,
which determined the use of lethal force was "in policy." What do you think of the different conclusions?

2. Ezell Ford

• http://ktla.com/2014/08/13/man-fatally-shot-by-police-in-south-l-a-tried-to-grab-officers-gun-lapd/
Man Fatally Shot by Police in South L.A. Tried to Grab Officer’s Gun: LAPD
[Date: August 13, 2014; authors: Melissa Pamer and Nerissa Knigh
Polite White Supremacy relies on subtlety such as using the
passive voice to describe events involving a white aggressor and a
non-white victim. For example, when a police officer shoots
someone, the report uses the passive voice instead of the active
voice when describing the shooting. Saying things such as “There
was an officer-involved shooting” or “Force was used” sidesteps
any notion of personal responsibility and makes it automatically
appear as though the officer acted defensively. Often times the
officer does everything toescalate the situation regardless of what
version of the truth he or she writes in their report. There is a
difference between saying ‘There was a person who got into a fight’
and ‘he punched someone because they hurt his ego and they
punched him back’.

Law enforcement’s reliance on the term ‘resisting arrest’

incarcerates many blacks who have claimed to do no such thing.
As a matter of fact, it’s a simple fact that the human body bends in
certain ways at certain joints. So, when an arm is twisted by
surprise at specific angles by a burly officer (or several), any
person’s involuntary muscular reaction is to correct the pain
they’re feeling. This is called ‘resisting’. What regular person can
lie perfectly still as their arm is being broken? Who can pretend to
not be in pain?

CONTROL THE NARRATIVE

Terms such as ‘black on black’ crime place a spotlight on black
crimes while omitting that ‘white on white’ crime is nearly
identical statistically. Major news outlets rarely pay attention to
black conferences for peace or organizations that uplift our youth
such as Black Girls Rock as blacks try to ‘do for self’. As a result,
the narrative continues that blacks don’t care about crimes or the
well-being of black neighborhoods. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
When white crimes are actually acknowledged there are double-
standards in the terminology. The same action committed by
whites versus those committed by blacks are somehow perceived
as less threatening if there is a white aggressor. According to Polite
White Supremacy, screwdrivers become ‘burglary tools’ depending
on the color of the person holding them. A group of black people
gathering is thus deemed a ‘gang’ and a group of whites gathering
is…a group of whites gathering. Words such as ‘Lawlessness’,
‘looting’, ‘criminal’ and ‘thug’ often accompany the most peaceful
protests by Black Americans long before agent provocateurs can
influence a crowd towards violence.

What do media outlets call white rioters who torch property after
their team wins or loses? ‘Revelers’. Basically, ‘revelers’ means
they’re white and just having some wild fun. The perception is that
revelers are white and aren’t scary like those black ‘rioters’ who
did just as much property damage, though for different reasons…
CNN and the NYT Are
Deliberately Obscuring Who
Perpetrated the Afghan
Hospital Attack

Glenn Greenwald

Oct. 5 2015, 4:41 a.m.

Much of the world spent the last 48 hours expressing revulsion at the
U.S. airstrike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. It was quite clear
early on that the perpetrator of the attack was the U.S., and many
media outlets and other organizations around the world have been
stating this without any difficulties.
“U.S. Airstrike Kills 19 at Doctors Without Borders Hospital in
Afghanistan,”states the straightforward Wall Street Journal headline,
under which appears this equally clear lede: “A U.S. airstrike in the
Afghan city of Kunduz killed at least 19 people at a hospital run by
international medical-aid organization Doctors Without Borders
early Saturday, prompting condemnation from humanitarian groups
and the United Nations.”
Human Rights Watch chose this as its headline: “US Airstrike Hits
Kunduz Hospital.” And so on. Even the media outlets that early on
took a more cautious approach nonetheless prominently
identified right from the start — in their headline and/or lede — the
key fact: namely, who was the likely perpetrator.
This Vice headline states: “19 Dead After Apparent US Airstrike Hits
MSF Hospital in Afghanistan”; USA Today’s headline read: “19 killed
after Afghan hospital hit in suspected U.S. airstrike”; while NPR in its
first sentence definitively stated that the hospital was hit by “an aerial
attack carried out by U.S. forces.”
But not CNN and the New York Times. For the last 36 hours, and up
through this moment, this is the extraordinary opening paragraph in
the featured article on the attack from the cable news network:

We’re bravely here to report that these two incidents perhaps

coincidentally occurred at “about” the same time: There was a
hospital that blew up, and then there was this other event where the
U.S. carried out an airstrike. As the blogger Billmon wrote: “London
 Smith said Wednesday that detectives have not yet been able to interview Franklin. An attorney representing
Franklin said her client had no comment about the LAPD report.
The events leading up to the shooting began about 1:40 p.m. in a pharmacy in the 3700 block of Santa Rosalia
Drive. Last week, the store's owner showed the surveillance footage of the robbery to a Times reporter. The video
showed a woman walking into the family-owned pharmacy and taking a green soda can from a refrigerator. She
walked up to the counter and handed the cashier $1. When the cashier opened the register, the woman passed
the note. The store's owner said the note claimed she had a gun. In all, the encounter lasted about two minutes.
When officers responded to the pharmacy, police said, the employee described the woman and said she had a
knife. The officers broadcast the description to others in the surrounding area, the LAPD said. About 20 minutes
later, police saw a woman who matched the robber’s description near the alley, less than a mile from the
pharmacy.
Paula Minor, who lives near the spot where Jones was shot, said she felt shock and sadness when she heard
about the deadly encounter. The grandmother of eight said police should have done something other than shoot
the woman. “I'm certainly not recommending that people walk around with knives into a pharmacy,” Minor said.
“But they were the judge, jury and executioner.”
Jones was the 25th person shot by Los Angeles police this year. Thirteen people, including her, died.

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/redel-kentel-jones/
Redel Kentel Jones, 30

[Date: August 27, 2015; author: Jeanette Marantos]

Redel Kentel Jones, a 30-year-old black woman, was killed by police Wednesday, Aug. 12, in the 4100 block of
Marlton Avenue in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County
coroner’s office records.
The incident began about 1:40 p.m. when Los Angeles police received a call about a pharmacy robbery in the
3700 block of Santa Rosalia Drive, LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar told The Times. Employees at the pharmacy said the
robber was a woman who was carrying a large knife, Aguilar said. The woman allegedly handed a note to a cashier,
demanding money, and then left the pharmacy with a cash-filled envelope. Officers began searching the area and
found a woman matching the description about 20 minutes later in an alley near Marlton Avenue and Santo Tomas
Drive, Aguilar said. When the officers tried to detain the woman, later identified as Jones, she was shot and killed.
A Taser cartridge was found at the shooting scene, along with a large knife. Aguilar said then that it was not clear
what happened or why the officers shot at Jones.
No one else was injured during the robbery or the shooting. The officers involved were not wearing body
cameras.
An LAPD internal report on the shooting said officers were chasing Jones in the alley when they saw her pull
out a large knife, The Times reported Aug. 19. The officers allegedly ordered Jones to drop the knife, but she
continued to run. When Jones “suddenly stopped and turned towards the officers,” the report said, one of the
officers used his Taser, which didn’t seem to have any affect. Jones began to advance toward one of the officers,
still armed with the knife, resulting in the shooting, according to the report. Money and a robbery demand note
were found in her clothing, and a knife was near her body, according to the report.
A week earlier, Courtyana Franklin, a woman who said she witnessed the shooting, reported a different
version of events to The Times. Franklin said she watched the events unfold from the side view mirror of her car,
and in her version, Jones was running from officers when she was shot. Franklin told The Times she was shaken by
what she had seen. Even if the woman had robbed the pharmacy, she said, she didn’t understand why police shot
her.
LAPD investigators said they hoped to speak with Franklin to find out what she saw.
Some residents and activists have been critical of the LAPD, questioning why it was taking so long to get
information about the shooting. “Without public accessible information, there can’t be real accountability of
less formulation:

Some airstrike, traveling around on its own like a lost tourist, ran into
a hospital in Afghanistan (admittedly, for sheer propagandistic
obfuscation, nothing will ever top the repellent missile-tourism
headline chosen by theNYT when Israel bombed a Gaza cafe in 2014
and killed 8 people: “Missile at Beachside Gaza Cafe Finds Patrons
Poised for World Cup”).
The article in the NYT’s Sunday print edition illustrated the pains the
paper was suffering to avoid framing the story as what it was: a U.S.
airstrike on a hospital. This is what readers of that paper saw on
Sunday morning:
In fairness, this is a modest improvement from the day before, as it at
least constitutes an acknowledgment that there are some people in
the world who are blaming the U.S. for what happened — but none
who are at the New York Times of course! That led Kade Crockford,
in exasperation, to offer this obvious editorial suggestion:

Even as of this morning, more than 48 hours later, the NYT continues
to obscure who perpetrated this attack. In a long article about the
effects on the region’s residents from the destruction of their only
hospital capable of advanced care, one reads and reads some more
without any mention of who actually did this:
Note the lovely claim in the first paragraph that things have become
so very “precarious for residents caught between government troops
and Taliban militants after the withdrawal Sunday of an aid group
that was one of the last providers of medical services there.” In
addition to “government troops and Taliban militants,” they’ve
also sort of been “caught between” massive American firepower that
destroyed the hospital in question, though this unpleasant fact has
been vanished from the NYT’s narrative of this event.
It’s not as though these media outlets have any doubt about who did
this. Both the NYT and CNN eventually get around to
acknowledging that it was the U.S. who did it. In today’s NYT article,
for instance, the paper generously acknowledges in the third
paragraph that “the Pentagon … has said it may have inadvertently
struck the hospital during a military operation”; grants anonymity to
a “senior U.S. military official” in the fourth paragraph to justify why
“American forces on the ground then called for air support”; and
then, all the way down in the 10th paragraph, finally gets around to
acknowledging that “the attack … appeared to have been carried out
by American aircraft.”
news of the shooting began to spread through the neighborhood, residents described a different series of events
that led up to the shooting.
A woman who said she witnessed the shooting and who would only identify herself by her first name, Norma,
said she was in a car stopped at a traffic light at Cesar Chavez and Breed Street when she saw someone running
from Chicago Street. He was pulling up his basketball shorts, which appeared to be falling down, she said.
As the runner turned onto Breed Street, he pulled a handgun from his waistband and threw it toward a fence, the
witness said. The gun hit the fence and fell onto the ground, and she heard the weapon fire, she said. At that
moment, she said the runner turned around and appeared startled. She heard two more gunshots and the runner
fell to the ground, she said. Moments later, officers placed handcuffs on him, she said. “He didn’t shoot,” the
woman said of the runner.
Word of Jesse’s death spread quickly Wednesday at Hollenbeck Middle School, where Jesse was a student.
"He was a bright, smart kid," campus aide Ramon Gomez said. “To see him go like this, I never expected this."
Gomez said he often saw Jesse hanging out with friends, and was surprised to hear that the boy was carrying a
gun. "It's hard," Gomez said. "It's difficult, you know, these kids."
On Wednesday morning, the streets were still covered with evidence from Tuesday's violent scene. Chalk
markings were laid out on Breed Street, near Cesar Chavez Avenue, and blood spots spattered the sidewalk just
around the corner from El Rincon De Ross ice cream shop. A makeshift shrine had been arranged near a graffiti-
covered power pole, which bore a small photograph of a smiling boy. Surrounding the photograph were several
burning candles, three red roses, a Virgin Mary figurine and a potted cactus with a prayer card.
Maria Ramirez, a longtime Boyle Heights resident, stood over the shrine. "He doesn't even look like he is 13,"
Ramirez said. The mother of 10 children has seen the aftermath of violence before, she said. As she looked over
the shrine, she recalled a recent officer-involved shooting on Lorena Street, a shooting that involved three men at
a neighborhood bar. "The violence here in Boyle Heights is escalating," she said. The community, she said, needs
more programs for teens and fewer guns on the streets. "I feel the loss. I have a 16-year-old," Ramirez said. "But I
feel for the officers too. They are overwhelmed."
Following the LAPD news conference Wednesday, the ACLU of Southern California released a statement saying
it was “particularly concerned” by the killing and argued that the department should change its body camera policy
so that recordings are made public. “Under current policy, LAPD will show the body camera footage to the officers
involved before they make an initial statement, allowing them to tailor accounts to the details they see on video,”
wrote the group’s executive director, Hector Villagra. “At the same time, LAPD will keep the video secret from the
public.”

• http://homicide.latimes.com/post/jesse-james-romero/
Family of 14-year-old boy shot by LAPD calls for release of body cam footage

[Date: August 13; Ruben Vives and Richard Winton]

Lawyers representing the mother of a 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police in Boyle Heights are
calling on the LAPD to release all videos, photographs and other evidence of the shooting. Demands that
authorities release evidence in the death of Jesse Romero -- who reportedly shot at Hollenbeck Division gang
officers before he was killed — comes as community leaders implored the city Friday to spend more money on
youth programs. “We are very saddened by the loss of yet another young life in Boyle Heights. A tragedy such as
the death of 14-year-old Jesse as well as the drive-by shooting of a 10-year old girl cannot be ignored anymore and
we just can’t stand on the sidelines and not do anything,” said Lou Calanche, executive director of Legacy LA, a
community-based nonprofit. “We are asking the city of Los Angeles to prioritize positive youth development
resources in our city,” he said.
Romero was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon after he fled from police officers who suspected him of writing
gang-style graffiti in the area.
http://fair.org/home/media-yemen-us-saudi-airstrikes-killing-
civilians/

AUGUST 31, 2017

How Media Obscure US/Saudi

Responsibility for Killing Yemeni
Civilians
BEN NORTON
A coalition of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab
Emirates, with minor support from several other Middle Eastern nations, has relentlessly
bombed Yemen since March 2015. This August, the coalition ramped up the ferocity of its
airstrikes, killing dozens of civilians.

On August 23, the US/Saudi coalition bombed a hotel near Yemen’s capital Sanaa, killing 41
people, 33 of whom—80 percent—were civilians, according to the United Nations.

Then on August 25, the coalition bombed homes in Sanaa, massacring a dozen civilians,
including eight members of the same family.

Major Western media outlets have, however, obscured the responsibility Saudi Arabia, and
its US and European supporters, bear for launching these airstrikes.

There are no other parties presently bombing Yemen, so media cannot feign ignorance as
to who is responsible for the attacks. But reports on the bloody US/Saudi coalition
airstrikes were nonetheless rife with ambiguous and downright misleading language.
 It seems worth mentioning that the airstrike was supported by the same government that supports NPR.
“Dozens of People Killed as Airstrike Hits Hotel Near Yemen’s Capital,”
wrote NPR (8/23/17), in a masterwork of euphemism. Apparently dozens of Yemenis
mysteriously died of unknown causes at the exact moment a generic, unaffiliated airstrike
hit the hotel. NPR only indirectly mentioned, in the story’s fifth paragraph, that the “Saudi-
led coalition” was “blamed” for the attack.

AFP‘s news wire (8/23/17), which was republished by Yahoo, the Daily
Mail and Breitbart, used the headline “Air Raids on Outskirts of Yemen Capital Kill ‘at least
30,'” again obscuring who was responsible for those air raids. France 24 (8/23/17) ran the
wire with the headline “Air Raids on Yemen Capital Kill Dozens.”

The BBC (8/23/17) wrote, “Yemen War: Air Strike on Hotel Outside Sanaa ‘Leaves 30
Dead.'” “Dozens Killed in Airstrike on Yemeni Hotel,” the Guardianheadline (8/23/17)
read.

The London-based Middle East Eye (8/23/17) was just as ambiguous, with “Yemen Air
Attack Destroys Hotel, Killing at Least 35 People,” as was Qatar-owned Al
Jazeera (8/23/17), with “Air Raid in Yemen Kills at Least 35 people” and the Turkish TRT
World (8/24/17), which wrote, “At Least 60 people Killed in Airstrikes on Hotel in Yemen.”
Whose airstrike was it? What party was responsible? This remains unknown to those who
only glanced at the headlines—that is to say, to most readers.

The 29-month war has killed thousands of Yemeni civilians, with tens of thousands more
injured and millions facing famine. And the United Nations has repeatedly reported that the
US/Saudi coalition is responsible for a majority of the civilian casualties.

Even when Saudi Arabia’s guilt is acknowledged by media, the crucial role of the US is
typically ignored (FAIR.org, 8/31/15, 10/14/16, 2/27/17). Readers miss out on crucial
context that is needed to understand the war, and their governments’ contributions to it:
Saudi Arabia is flying US-made planes, full of fuel provided by the US Air Force, dropping
US- and UK-made bombs, with intelligence and assistance from American and British
military officials.
1. US-perpetrated strike on Doctors without Borders in Afghanistan

• http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/03/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital/index.html
Air attacks kill at least 19 at Afghanistan hospital; U.S. investigating

[Date: October 4, 2015; authors: Jason Hanna, Ben Brumfield and Steve Almasy]

Aerial bombardments blew apart a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the battleground Afghan city of
Kunduz about the time of a U.S. airstrike early Saturday, killing at least 19 people, officials said. The blasts left part
of the hospital in flames and rubble, killing 12 staffers and seven patients -- including three children -- and injuring
37 other people, the charity said. As the United States said it was investigating what struck the hospital during the
night, the charity expressed shock and demanded answers, stressing that all combatants had been told long ago
where the hospital was.
"(The bombing) constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law," Doctors Without Borders,
known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, said. "There are many patients and staff who remain
unaccounted for. The numbers may grow as a clearer picture develops of the aftermath of this horrific bombing,"
MSF said, adding all the dead and injured were Afghans. The bombardments continued even after U.S. and Afghan
military officials were notified the hospital was being attacked, the charity said.
The circumstances weren't immediately clear, but the U.S. military was conducting an airstrike in Kunduz at
the time the hospital was hit, U.S. Army Col. Brian Tibus said. The military is investigating whether a U.S. AC-130
gunship -- which was in the area firing on Taliban positions to defend U.S. special operations troops there -- is
responsible, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity.
The White House released a statement from President Barack Obama offering condolences to the charity from
the American people. "The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results
of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy," the President said. "I
... expect a full accounting of the facts and circumstances." The top U.S. and NATO military commander in
Afghanistan said he spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about the deadly airstrike, the U.S. military said.
"While we work to thoroughly examine the incident and determine what happened, my thoughts and prayers are
with those affected. We continue to advise and assist our Afghan partners as they clear the city of Kunduz and
surrounding areas of insurgents. As always, we will take all reasonable steps to protect civilians from harm," said
Gen. John F. Campbell.
The incident occurred on roughly the sixth day of fighting between Afghan government forces -- supported by
U.S. air power and military advisers -- and the Taliban, which invaded the city early this week. According to MSF,
the compound is gated and no staff members saw any fighters there or nearby. "If there was a major military
operation going on there, our staff would have noticed. And that wasn't the case when the strikes occurred,"
Christopher Stokes, the charity's general director, told CNN. One nurse said in an article on the MSF website that
he was sleeping in a safe room when he was awakened by a large explosion. The bombing lasted about an hour,
Lajos Zoltan Jecs said. As he went to help the wounded, he and others tried to save a doctor. He died on an office
table, Jecs said. The nurse saw six patients who had burned to death in their beds. Another patient was dead on an
operating table. "I have no words to express this. It is unspeakable," he said.

Charity: We told everyone of our location

The charity, which had had been caring for hundreds already hurt in days of fighting, said it had told all
warring parties the exact location of the trauma center, including most recently on Tuesday. When the aerial
attack occurred, 105 patients and their caretakers were in the hospital. More than 80 MSF international and
national staff were present. The U.S. special operations troops were in the area advising Afghan forces, the military
official who was speaking anonymously said. The official stressed that the information about the probe was
preliminary. Pribus said a "manned, fixed-wing aircraft" conducted a strike "against individuals threatening the
until the seventh paragraph, after three large photos, that the Times finally conceded, “A
Saudi Arabia–led coalition took responsibility for the airstrike a day after the attack, citing
a ‘technical mistake.'” The Times did not once mention American or British support for the
coalition.

Al Jazeera (8/25/17) likewise used the headline “Children Among Dead in Latest Attack on
Yemen Civilians.” And TRT World (8/26/17) reported, “Yemen Airstrike Kills 12, Including
Six Children.”

Even when Saudi Arabia admitted responsibility for killing Yemeni civilians, media watered
down the language. “Saudi-Led Force Admits Strike in Yemen’s Capital Hit
Civilians,” Reuters (8/26/17) headlined its news wire. Note the airstrike hit civilians,
not killed them.

The attack was also reduced to a mere “mistake.” Larger context was not provided: namely
that more than one-third of US/Saudi coalition airstrikes have hit civilian areas, and that
there is a growing body of evidence that the coalition has intentionally targeted civilian
infrastructure in Yemen.

Not all media were equally misleading; some were more forthright. AP‘s news wire
(8/23/17), which was republished by the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily
News, Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle, used a headline that told readers
who was responsible for the deadly attack: “Saudi-Led Airstrikes Hit Yemen Hotel, Killing
at Least 41.”

The Washington Post was similarly direct, with its reports “Saudi-Led Coalition Airstrike
Kills Dozens in Yemen Ahead of Major Rally” (8/23/17) and “Saudi-Led Airstrikes Kill 14
Civilians in Yemen’s Capital” (8/25/17).
Which Words Are Used To
Describe White And Black NFL
Prospects?

Reuben Fischer-Baum, Aaron Gordon, and Billy Haisley

5/08/14 7:10pm

Filed to: NFL DRAFT

201.6K

38231

Do NFL scouts talk about white players and black players differently? Are certain words
reserved for white players? Are others used primarily to describe black players?
Let's try and find out. We've pulled the text from pre-draft scouting reports
from NFL.com (written by the infamous Nolan Nawrocki), CBS, and ESPN, split them
by player race, counted the number of times individual words appeared using
the Voyant tool, and then calculated the rate at which each word appeared per 10,000
words. (In total we pulled 68,465 words on 99 white players—6,228 unique—and
223,868 words on 288 black players—10,580 unique). You can play with the data in the
interactive below; simply plug a single word into the input field, hit search, and see how
often the word appeared in black and white scouting reports.

This tool will count only the exact string you put (although it's not case-sensitive).
"Intelligent" won't pull up numbers for related words like "intelligence" or
"unintelligent."

Post your favorite finds in the comments! You can check out the code/documentation
for the graphic over on Github.
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