Trump’s America: Racism, Imperious Police and CNN Under Arrest in Minneapolis

There is a surreal situation going down in Minneapolis. The CNN crew covering it was literally arrested on live air. Not all of them understand you, just the reporter, Oscar Jimenez, that was a minority, the white correspondent a few feet away was, of course, not. The stormtroopers, and, yes that is exactly what they look and are acting like, were totally polite to the white guy.

And then they arrested the CNN camera guy documenting the bizarre arrest of the correspondent. While doing so, the camera was on the ground, still live, documenting it all for posterity. You could then see the camera being dragged off by a state trooper, still on and broadcasting. As I said, surreal.

When last seen the CNN camera was still on and broadcasting from a black space that appears to be the trunk of a police car. I guess the camera, though hostage to thugs, at least is alive and does not have a knee on its neck.

As they say, the situation is developing…..

Wait, there is an update! The camera is now in an elevator, and still live!

Oh, and what could have fomented all this? Yeah, The American President:

image_print
98 replies
  1. Vicks says:

    Finally, Trump sees media coverage that moves the spotlight from the carnage resulting from his failure to lead this country through a killer pandemic.
    He is going to milk this for everything it’s worth.
    This sick bastard continues to show us he is doing the devil’s work.

    Also, no one has mentioned that these journalists taken into custody were not just non-white, they worked for CNN, a giant target of the MAGA machine. It would be interesting to know if other media outlets were set up in the same area

    • bmaz says:

      Great question in the last paragraph. And I do not know the answer. I occasionally flipped over to MSNBC for a couple of seconds, and they had no analogous live coverage, was pretty much the normal Morning Joe content.

      • Vicks says:

        Fox is now showing old footage and ripping on law enforcement pulling out and allowing the precinct to burn “like something you would see in Afganistán” No mention of the arrest.
        I think that would be a “no” as well.
        Fox was making a concerted effort last night to pivot and to make the George Floyd story about looting and burning.
        It was so obvious, commentators would be discussing the situation and the outrage as if they really gave a shit yet It was almost impossible to pay attention because were showing footage of violence and burning you couldn’t your eyes off of.
        From Trump’s tweets a few hours later, it appears they are now all on the same page

  2. ejf says:

    The NBC/MSNBC news guy was walking the the 3rd precinct station area where are the flames were arising. (Sorry, I don’t remember the broadcaster’s name.) He was live and had to improvise quite a bit, setting the camera down, and actually talking to the “rioters” among whom he was walking. There were no police where he was (11:30 – 12:30 EST, in south Minneapolis).

    • MB says:

      Ali Velshi. His live footage was included into the 11th Hour show on MSNBC, but the raw footage was also broadcast live, including him talking to protestors, etc.

  3. drouse says:

    I turned on MSNBC to catch Rachel last night and they were burning the police station. Next step, the fascists descend thinking here is their chance to set off a race war.

    • Rugger9 says:

      Apparently that is already happening, in true agent provocateur activity.
      https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/28/1948401/-Alternet-Far-right-boogaloo-militants-have-embedded-themselves-Minneapolis-protests
      and,
      https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/29/1948465/-Agent-provocateur

      It fits the narrative the Trump campaign needs to create the us-vs-them fearmongering that 43’s administration routinely did with the color-coded DHS threat levels. It is also DJT’s only real hope of “winning” and might give him all sorts of excuses to interfere on law&order grounds. When there is a riot going, no one is looking too closely at the edges of the crowd.

      • harpie says:

        About the BOOGALOO:
        https://twitter.com/reecejhawaii/status/1265760646664122369
        5:43 PM · May 27, 2020

        With growing alarm, I’ve watched armed white men protesting around the US. But, as a Hawai’i resident, I’ve wondered specifically about the reoccurring presence of aloha shirts. Here is a THREAD explaining the odd and concerning story behind it 1/13 […]

        Sometimes Big Igloo and Big Luau merge, but they always mean boogaloo, which means civil war 2 10/13 […]

        I know this all seems like a joke and easy to dismiss, but that is part of their strategy to lure in young men and downplay what they are talking about. It is deadly serious. These men are preparing for a civil war. end/13

        See also:
        The Boogaloo Movement Is Not What You Think
        https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/
        May 27, 2020

        […] The “Boogaloo Bois” expect, even hope, that the warmer weather will bring armed confrontations with law enforcement, and will build momentum towards a new civil war in the United States.

        Mostly, they’re not even hiding it. And for the last several months, their platform of choice has been Facebook. […]

        Above all, though, the movement has gained momentum over the last two years by organising on the world’s most popular social network. At the time of writing, that network’s parent company had added just over $150 billion to its market cap since Boogaloo-friendly anti-lockdown protests began organizing there in mid April. The valuation of the company at $662.8 billion on May 26th beat out it’s previous high of $620.8 billion, set on the same day, January 20th, that the Boogaloo movement made its high profile public debut at Second Amendment protests in Virginia. […]

  4. scribe says:

    FWIW, the CNN crew has been released after about an hour in custody. Cold comfort, and the swine have turned to the page in the playbook of claiming they were blocking the cops or not identifiable as press or something, the usual bullshit.
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cnn-crew-released-from-police-custody-after-they-were-arrested-live-on-air-in-minneapolis/ar-BB14KYyi?ocid=spartanntp

    FWIW, this led the news on German radio this morning, right behind Denmark reopening its borders to tourists (summer vacay is coming) effective June 15.

    • bmaz says:

      Lol, cold comfort indeed. Because I am old I guess, I had just woken up and watched it all live in real time. It is on tape! the CNN reporter was literally showing them his credential and asking where he should be to comply. It was absolutely insane.

      There is still a wrongfully dead person of color, Mr. Floyd, and that should remain primary, but this is just nuts.

      • madwand says:

        Shades of the sixties bmaz, of problems never solved, Newark, Detroit, LA, and we know how it ends. Trump is ready to up the ante. is it nuts, of course it is, he is willing to gamble violence is his key to reelection, by hook or by crook. They could end it by arresting those four officers. Will they? As I write I learn of Louisville where seven were shot, these protests highlight what is at issue. The authorities get it wrong almost every time. They don’t address the issues.

        • Rugger9 says:

          This is a combination of things, in addition to the racism and thuggery on the “wrong” people well documented already, I would add the military-style attitude of the police.

          Of course the military in a hot war zone will have “weapons free” but pretty much anywhere there will be rules of engagement that are enforced. What the police unions fail to grasp (and Lt Knott of the police union is a routine type) is that with authority comes responsibility and also accountability. The accountability aspect is fought against tooth and nail by the police unions, partly because of their militaristic attitude but also it seems that they think that any attempt to be held accountable for the actions of rogues is an attack on all of them, and then the union fails to hold their own members accountable.

          Even if it is late, the military will at least try to ensure good order and discipline, as well as accountability. Our lives depend upon the reputation of being held accountable, and all of us know that even if the JAGs aren’t doing it our shipmates will (i.e. blanket parties). What the police unions have created is a situation where there will never be any accountability or justice, and of course there will be those who will fight back when there is literally no other option while their own friends and family are being killed with impunity.

          I did post earlier some dkos reports about infiltrating cops and 3-percenters creating havoc to be blamed on protesters. It doesn’t surprise me that these things are occurring since that helps justify the bullets to come.

        • madwand says:

          “is that with authority comes responsibility and also accountability. The accountability aspect is fought against tooth and nail by the police unions,” and also by our president, people do what their leaders do, their actions justify their actions. We need the equivalent of a blanket party in the White House and the upcoming election is that equivalent. It will be fixed, it will be attacked by the Russians, it will be manipulated by Republican led courts, nevertheless what we need is an overwhelming repudiation of the Rs, failure to get that will mean disaster for the majority. I fully expect that with guys carrying weapons in state houses that we will see guys carrying weapons at polling stations in battle ground states. It only takes a spark, we have as a nation been there before.

      • vicks says:

        Yeah me too.
        I don’t know what the state cops were up to, but when the reporter repeatedly says they are on the air live with CNN, asks a couple of times where the officers would like them to go and “just put us where you want us, we were just getting out of the way as as you were advancing through the intersection” they didn’t leave much room for spin or “fake news” rants.
        The whole thing was surreal, the cops were bull-horning things that I couldn’t make out, the cops did have someone on the ground they were arresting few seconds before the cops approached the CNN crew, so maybe there were orders to arrest anyone that didn’t leave and the cops were following orders mindlessly, but there were dozens of officers there and it would seem one of them should have known you can’t arrest the media under those circumstances (at least not with a camera running)
        It did cross my mind that the CNN hosts should have kept quiet about the camera running,

  5. Bobby Gladd says:

    What a terrible mess. Today will likely be insane. I reflectively reacted to the “looting” thing by conjuring up one of the many images of the Trump Grift Family all decked out in gaudy gala event formal wear.

    I will not be photoshop-captioning that and tweeting it

  6. Ken Muldrew says:

    Is there a problem with the president promising to use the US military to pacify US citizens inside the US? I would have thought this to be a bit offside, constitutionally speaking. Nevertheless, if anyone doubted that the military would be called upon in November, should the vote count not go the right way, they may safely put those doubts aside.

    • Rugger9 says:

      Short answer: Posse Comitatus prevents use of the military for policing unless martial law is declared. When we were doing drug interdictions in the Navy we had to have a Coastie on board since they had police authority and we did not.

      • OldTulsaDude says:

        Nixon would disagree – as, I think, would Barr. Nixon being interviewed by David Frost, 1977: When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.

        • Rugger9 says:

          Nixon also ordered the CIA to undercut the Watergate investigation, which by today’s standards would be swamped under what DJT and Barr have done.

          So, If DJT declares martial law in Minneapolis, then the military can be used as police. Of course he will, since it’s only a stroke of the crayon and he’s not in the line of fire.

        • Raven Eye says:

          I’m not comfortable with your use of the term “martial law”. That ends up being a throw-down used by the frothy right as well as the far left wingers.

          Could you perhaps restate your comments in terms of current federal law, including the Insurrection Act as it stands today?

    • madwand says:

      The German philosopher “Weber would define “the state” as an entity that successfully claims a “monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Is there something that we don’t understand about this, I wonder?

      • Ken Muldrew says:

        Generally, a loss of the monopoly on violence occurs when the military stops following orders from the ruling regime. Localized competition for the right to be violent has to spread far and fast before anyone questions the legitimacy of the state.

        • madwand says:

          Yep and thats probably in countries where the military is the big player but in the US whose civilian population is armed to the teeth and in some cases advocating civil war, the loss of that monopoly is more problematic.

  7. harpie says:

    TRUMP’S RESPONSE:

    https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1266351590006538241
    8:52 AM · May 29, 2020

    Here’s the official White House account calling for protesters in Minneapolis to be shot [screenshots]

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266231100172615680
    12:53 AM · May 29, 2020

    I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right…..

    Next: [transcribed from screenshot]:

    [TRUMP]: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way, Any difficulty and we will assume control but when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

    Twitter, referring to that second tweet [transcribed]:

    This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public interest for the Tweet to remain accessible. Learn more

  8. harpie says:

    Referring to Trump’s tweet that had a violence warning slapped onto it…the history of the phrase he used:
    [I have a comment in moderation about it.]

    https://twitter.com/toddzwillich/status/1266237702208282624
    1:19 AM · May 29, 2020

    “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” is a threat coined by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who promised violent reprisals on black protesters in 1967. He also said: “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality. They haven’t seen anything yet.” [MORE]

    • harpie says:

      Zwillich continues:

      […] Cant help but wonder who uttered this pearl to the president tonight before he made it his own and announced it to the world tonight.

      Here’s a more detailed history of Miami Police Chief Robert Headley, who Trump quoted tonight. Protests against Headley’s stop and frisk policies erupted after his cops strip searched a black teenager and dangled him over a bridge. [link, click through]

      How three violent days gripped a black Miami neighborhood as Nixon was nominated in 1968
      Terence McArdle August 7, 2018 at 7:00 a.m. [50 year anniversary]

      On Aug. 7, 1968, as the Republican Party held its convention eight miles away in Miami Beach, a crowd of protesters gathered for a black-empowerment rally in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood. An oven-like summer heat, trapped by stucco and concrete in the nearly treeless area, bore down on everyone. […]

      [Thanks, bmaz]

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Good question. Words like that do not appear in the president’s twitterrhea by accident.

      • harpie says:

        1968
        […just what I wanted to re-experience…]

        https://twitter.com/Will_Bunch/status/1266323984301412353
        7:02 AM · May 29, 2020

        This is becoming 1968 all over again, because for all the totally justified outrage over police arresting a CNN crew exercising its 1st Amendment rights, you know “the silent 40 percent (no long a ‘majority’)” is cheering them on and POTUS is getting his “law and order” ads ready

        I’m sure glad there was an
        ADULT HUMAN BEING in charge
        at my middle school in 1968.

    • harpie says:

      Here’s another informative thread about the police chief who coined the phrase Trump used today. The refrain is:
      This is the man Trump quoted today

      https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/1266331221342240769
      7:31 AM · May 29, 2020

      1/ This line in Trump’s tweet: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”… is a quote from Miami Police Chief Walter Headley

      In Dec 1967, months before riots at GOP Convention in Miami, Headley used that quote to announce “get tough” policy for policing black neighborhoods

      2/ Headley promised to use shotguns, dogs, & “stop and frisk” tactics.

      “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality,” the New York Times reported him saying at the time. “They haven’t seen anything yet” Headley said. […]
      […]
      17/ Amazed at the similarities Headley shares w/ Trump
      1] – Attacks press for failing to parrot his narratives
      2] – Refused to back down when criticized, “I don’t regret a damn thing I’ve said”
      3] – Brags about supporters congratulating his “courage and wisdom” […]

  9. East House says:

    I live in Minneapolis and am witnessing this unfold. It’s an absolute travesty. There has been tremendous coverage by Unicorn Riot (https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja) over the last few days with their live feed. I still can’t get over how counterproductive the press conference with the County Attorney Mike Freeman and the FBI was yesterday. Hoping for a more peaceful day and weekend. Thanks for all great content and discussion on this site.

    • bmaz says:

      Hi East House, thank you for reading and joining our comments. Please do so more often.

      But, yes, I was on the phone last night with a very good friend of this blog in Minneapolis. Very close to where much of it is happening. There are so many facets. Then I went to sleep. But then I woke up (here in the middle of the night) and saw live what this post was trying to convey.

      I wish you folks in Minneapolis the best, but, dang, it does not look promising.

      • East House says:

        Thanks. It really doesn’t look good. I very much hope something good can come from this disaster.

    • P J Evans says:

      I know a woman in Minneapolis. (I’m in L.A. and I remember Rodney King, though the riots didn’t get to the area I lived in then – but I knew they’d happen, since the verdict was predictable.)

      I was appalled by that attorney’s statements yesterday.

      • Rugger9 says:

        It’s a missed opportunity, but the sanest thing MPD and Hennepin County could have done was to arrest those officers and held them out of town (like in Duluth) in protective custody where they would be safe as well for trial. Out and about isn’t going to be good for the four of them either.

        Instead, they arrested a CNN crew of the wrong color and left the white crew alone to emphasize who the police saw as the enemy here. Also, this highlights how Amy Klobuchar failed to do anything about the other seventeen times the kneeling cop had complaints (except for one letter of reprimand).

        https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/28/1948298/-No-Way-Can-Biden-Choose-Klobuchar-After-the-Floyd-Murder

  10. scribe says:

    Trump doesn’t strike me as the well-read sort who would remember a now-obscure quote from a police chief over 50 years ago. So I’m guessing this was some staffer running his Twitter account, either doing the tweet or feeding Trump the line while keeping him ignorant of the provenance.

    Trump would be more likely to remember Frank Rizzo, as Chief of Police in Philadelphia, remarking on how his cops would stack up against Attila the Hun should the riots and burning in those late 60s summers spread to Philly. (BTW, the riots and burning did not spread to Philly, unlike Newark and other cities.) Trump would more likely remember that because (a) it’s a strong line and (b) he was going to school in Philly (Penn) in those days.

    And it needs be remembered that in Newark, all the shooting was by National Guardsmen, most of them shooting in response to hearing other Guardsmen shooting. Except along Bloomfield Avenue in North Newark, where order never left courtesy of all the Italian-Americans then living there sitting on their front porches, their deer rifles on their laps, daring anyone to cross.

    • Eureka says:

      True, but it should be noted that Rizzo’s rise to political power was substantially aided by white reaction to the North Philly Riots of late August, 1964.

      From one of the 50th anniversary retrospectives:

      […] Amid the chaos of three days on Columbia Avenue, you can see the birth of the two social movements that would come to dominate Philadelphia for much of the next half-century.

      One was the push for black political empowerment, as African-Americans abandoned timid cooperation with the white political machine and forged their own path, on the streets and later at the ballot box. The other was the quest from the white working class for “law and order,” as a deputy commissioner named Frank Rizzo took control of the riot squad, then the police department, then City Hall.

      Speaking of creepy old quotes, “clubs are trump”:

      But one thing was clear when [then-rookie cop Mike] Chitwood sat down for the roll call. It was the deputy commissioner – the brash, authority-wielding Frank Rizzo, already a notorious tough cop nicknamed “the Cisco Kid – who was running the show on Day Two. “He said, ‘Stop the looting, stop the rioting, clubs are trump, don’t take any crap.”

      ‘Gathering storm’: The Philly riots of ’64
      by Will Bunch, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Posted: August 27, 2014
      https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/Gathering_.html

  11. earlofhuntingdon says:

    I posted this on an earlier thread, but see that it belongs here:

    What happened to the Don’s, “There are good people on both sides?” His comments have the same foundation as the FedSoc’s “originalism” and Moscow Mitch’s “deference” (in refusing to act on Merrick Garland’s S.Ct. nomination during an election year).

    Theirs is a destructive ruthless opportunism that would make Robber Barons and Social Darwinists cringe. But it would not be news to the 1940s folk singer who recognized the truism that you could be robbed with a fountain pen as easily as a six-gun.

    It took a pandemic for many people to see how Trump and his party destroy everything they touch. When confronted by the seemingly immovable object of official racism and violence, the best response is sometimes the irresistible force of public protest.

    That’s why the Don is afraid, and why he wants local leos and politicians to react with more violence. (Also, not his fault.) And why he wants them to use the tons of weapons and the tactics of open warfare the Feds have been shoving at them for two decades. A lovely war is great for distracting the folk from Trump’s lethal incompetence.

    Trash Talk, dueling car chases, and opera seem so yesterday. We’ll get back to them, but there’s work to do first. Especially as Trump, being an addict, will need to gin up bigger and better outrages to satisfy his lust and to keep his base both distracted and eager to do whatever it takes to keep their savior in office.

  12. Doug Fir says:

    Look at Twitter doing what the NYT wouldn’t (calling out DJT’S lies). Trite, but true.

    I’m hoping for no more loss of life, and for some semblance of justice to prevail in Minneapolis and all across the USA.

    What a total shit show! For better and for worse, the rest of the world is taking note of what a fragile construct democracy be.

  13. Savage Librarian says:

    Also, too, deja vu all over again (thanks, Yogi.) This is the B team’s attempt at dredging up Nixon. Stone, Prince, Bannon: what are they murmuring to DT? Nothing surreal here to me. It’s all too real.

    Those real life scenes are spinning in my mind: JFK, Bobby, Malcolm X, MLK, Kent State. Plenty of protests, bludgeoning, tear gas, burning buildings, “outside agitators”, military and paramilitary murder of civilians then. Right here in the USA. Right here in our DNA.

    The viruses and sociopaths rage on. The rest of us resist, craft creative defenses, conquer and defeat through unity and persistence. I keep hearing Elijah Cummings saying, “Come on, now. We’re better than this.”

    Trump’s fate will probably be worse than Nixon’s. And he’ll bring a lot of his thugs down with him. That’s how he has always been. If only it could be sooner rather than later…

  14. Rugger9 says:

    This complicates things and one would have thought that Chauvin would have cut Floyd some more slack, but no:
    https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/george-floyd-ex-officer-derek-chauvin-worked-security-at-same-nightclub/ (sorry, Rayne, I know you don’t like Raw Story)

    And, this, echoing something I posted earlier:
    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/5/29/1948491/-Minneapolis-Riots-Started-By-White-Suprematists

    Also, let’s not forget Arbery, who was hunted down. But, once the video came out the “officers” involved were arrested along with the videographer. It didn’t stop the authorities from trashing Arbery’s reputation, though. However, the locals are willing to let the justice system play out first.

    • Rayne says:

      Rugger9, please honor the journalists who did the legwork on the ground by using the link to their work WHICH IS RIGHT IN THE RAWSTORY ARTICLE.

      See: https://kstp.com/news/george-floyd-fired-officer-overlapped-security-shifts-at-south-minneapolis-club-may-28-2020/5743990/

      That’s why I don’t like RawStory — the bulk of its work prevents traffic from going to original reporting. The people who covered that story need to know they made a direct impact on their audience with their work and it doesn’t happen when filtered by RawStory.

      EDIT: I’m going to point out one more important point about this particular story’s journalists. Picking up RawStory and repeating it instead of the original helped a white dude. Picking up and sharing the original reporting would have propelled directly a Latinx journalist’s work. Think about how structural racism works; think about the necessity for some reporting to have persons of color on the beat because they are trusted by sources in a community of color.

      Sharing the original coverage by the original journalists gets us closer to the community and bypasses structural racism, intended or not.

  15. harpie says:

    Rep. Val Demings, [D-FL-10]:

    My fellow brothers and sisters in blue, what the hell are you doing?
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/my-fellow-brothers-sisters-blue-what-earth-are-you-doing/
    Val Demings May 29, 2020 at 8:00 a.m.

    […] When an officer engages in stupid, heartless and reckless behavior, their actions can either take a life or change a life forever. Bad decisions can bring irrevocable harm to the profession and tear down the relationships and trust between the police and the communities they serve. Remember, law enforcement needs that trust just as the public does. Think before you act! Remember, your most powerful weapon is the brain the good Lord gave you. Use it! […]

    As law enforcement officers, we took an oath to protect and serve. And those who forgot — or who never understood that oath in the first place — must go. That includes those who would stand by as they witness misconduct by a fellow officer. […]

    We have got to get this one right. Our communities, good police officers and generations yet to come deserve it.

  16. earlofhuntingdon says:

    The hits keep on coming. In a 1990 interview, Donald Trump praised the murderous violence that followed 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests. He contrasted it with the weak, “Not a firm enough hand,” he claimed Gorbachev showed protesters during the fall of the Russian soviet state.

    When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.

    Donald Trump is an ignorant, weak, and violent man. Like other weak, ignorant, and violent men, he would use reactionary state violence to hide his lethal incompetence – 100,000 dead and counting, 200,000 and more by November. It is the horseman he proposes to ride toward total victory.

    https://twitter.com/GoAngelo/status/1266242956752642049

  17. harpie says:

    So, Twitter slapped a “warning” on Trump’s AND The White House’s violent tweets which use language coined by a white Miami police chief in 1967.
    [more up thread here: https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/05/29/trumps-america-racism-imperious-police-and-cnn-under-arrest-in-minneapolis/#comment-844765 ]

    Facebook and Instagram did NOT.

    https://twitter.com/donie/status/1266401794558738432
    12:11 PM · May 29, 2020

    That Trump ‘looting’ and ‘shooting’ post Twitter said broke its rules?

    Racking up all the likes on Facebook and Instagram.
    Facebook: 220,000 reactions, 47,000 shares
    Instagram: 345,000 likes [link]

    Links to:
    Zuckerberg silent as Trump uses Facebook and Instagram to threaten ‘looting’ will lead to ‘shooting’
    Updated 12:46 PM ET, Fri May 29, 2020

    • harpie says:

      1] On May 19, Media Matters reported:
      https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1262875008680026115
      6:37 PM · May 19, 2020

      Facebook is letting the Trump campaign publish at least 529 false ads accusing the left of voter fraud [A topic which Twitter flagged with a fact check]

      2] On May 22 NY Times reporter Nick Corasanti reported:
      https://twitter.com/NYTnickc/status/1263877137653731328
      12:59 PM · May 22, 2020

      Trump campaign spent a lot on Facebook this week.
      Main Trump page: $1,165,897
      Pence page: $530,231
      Team Trump page: $403,870
      Total FB spending by Trump in past 7 days: $2,099,998 []

    • harpie says:

      And, also from up thread:
      https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/05/29/trumps-america-racism-imperious-police-and-cnn-under-arrest-in-minneapolis/#comment-844787

      Facebook is raking it in from the Boogaloo Movement
      From the Bellingcat article linked above:

      […] Mostly, they’re not even hiding it. And for the last several months, their platform of choice has been Facebook. […] Above all, though, the movement has gained momentum over the last two years by organising on the world’s most popular social network. At the time of writing, that network’s parent company had added just over $150 billion to its market cap since Boogaloo-friendly anti-lockdown protests began organizing there in mid April. The valuation of the company at $662.8 billion on May 26th beat out it’s previous high of $620.8 billion, set on the same day, January 20th, that the Boogaloo movement made its high profile public debut at Second Amendment protests in Virginia. […]

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Actually, Zuckerberg isn’t being silent. He is taking sides and shouting his priority, which is following the cash. He and his chief lieutenants are as ruthless and sociopathic about that as Donald Trump. As he was fond of saying about his Harvard classmates, who thoughtlessly gave him their data, thinking there would be no consequence: “Fuck them.”

      So that last headline would more accurately read, “Zuckerberg Shouts, Show Me the Money – And Anything Goes!”

    • vicks says:

      Screw it, time to slap the warning label on Facebook.
      It’s a trusted platform/site or it’s not
      Facebook doesn’t want to own the content of what is on their platform, (and when you take a better look, who would blame them?) but isn’t “owning” just a matter of perspective?
      It’s the company’s platform/site after all, these are their customer’s, and it’s their posts and ads (and data) that are generating revenue, hiding behind legal fine print doesn’t relieve anyone from owning how the choices they make affect society.
      The kids did it long ago, time for their elders to move on as well.
      Just like the kids, it will take the help of strong cultural “influencers’ to get people to see they aren’t the target market for FB trash and it’s time to stop being associated with it.

      • John Lehman says:

        Maybe Trevor Noah could be a consultant. Semi-seriously, he grew up in S.A. during the TRC period he’s highly intelligent and a well known public figure.

        Oh but we can’t listen to him, he’s an immigrant from one of those “sh*t hole countries”.

  18. vicks says:

    F Trump.
    Not a peep during his press conference.
    This isn’t good.
    God help us if he feels the need to get things going with a “both sides” comment

  19. PhoneInducedPinkEye says:

    I live very close to where one of the protests was going on, it was a charged atmosphere understandably. It seemed like ‘Do the Right Thing’ but without the heat. That movie was made how long ago? And it’s still repeating.

    MPR got called out by one of the city council members live on the air for the tone of their coverage, that was worth hearing.

    Local FOX affiliate interviewed a bunch of ypipo, one of which broke down sobbing over destruction of property.

    “Spike Lee has remarked that only white viewers ask him if Mookie did the right thing; black viewers do not ask the question.[24] Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the wrongful death of Radio Raheem. Viewers who question the riot are explicitly failing to see the difference between damage to property and the death of a black man.[21”

    I’m so sick of this shit being perpetrated over and over and over and nothing changes.

    Wow just saw that Trump screenshot. What a psychopath and hypocrite.

    • PhoneInducedPinkEye says:

      Curfew extended to outlying suburbs. Saw a big convey of national guard vehicles heading to Mpls when I drove out of town to find milk. That’s your on the ground report from your local anchor.

      • Eureka says:

        Thanks for sharing what you see. Nice heads-up you got there for want of milk.

        Long time since I’ve seen that movie, would be a good one to rewatch.

      • Eureka says:

        Mayor Frey (giving another press conference now) really gives me a hankering to have the Real Authentic (TM) Mayo Pete back /s

        Dunno what locals think of him, but I am getting a lot of ‘strained efforts to emote’ out of him.

        • PhoneInducedPinkEye says:

          I think he’s a bit out of his depth in this situation and honestly who wouldn’t be. I credit him for not waffling about the killing and calling it what it was, along with consequences for the people involved. It takes guts to do that as mayor when you interact so closely with the police.

          My worry is we end up with a “law and order” fascist as mayor next election as blowback. It’s Minneapolis so the odds are low, but never underestimate inconvenienced white people.

          I’m worried about greater Minnesota. Right wing media will be stirring them up.

        • East House says:

          As a Mpls resident I have found Mayor Frey to come off as insincere and one that doesn’t seem to hide his long-term political ambitions very well. That said, I also agree with PhoneInducedPinkEye’s comments about his strong initial public statements.

    • Raven Eye says:

      Trump can pretty much do whatever he wants to. The Frothy Right will be up on their hinds legs giving high fives. And you can bet that the Republicans in Congress will back him 1000% — because they’ll decide it supports their 2020 election talking points.

      “10 U.S. Code § 252. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”

      And the state and local officials will be left to deal with the mess. If the Army military police take people into custody and/or arrest them, will they be charged under state laws? Or would those Army personnel just be self-deploying barricades. If they carry weapons, will they also be issued ammunition?

      It’s one thing to have your onanistic moment and “send in the Army”. But then someone else has to come up with an operational plan that will actually work.

      • P J Evans says:

        They’re rioting against the police…so far. Not the federal government. Though I’m about ready to sign on to the overthrow of *this* maladministration, while we still have rights.

    • harpie says:

      Via Cheryl Rofer, from yesterday:
      https://twitter.com/jason_paladino/status/1266399916978507779
      12:04 PM · May 29, 2020

      NOW: @CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] Predator Drone #CPB104 circling over Minneapolis at 20K feet. Took off from Grand Forks Air Force Base. #Minneapolisprotests #surveillance #planespotting [THREAD]

      And this, via Jason Leopold:

      https://twitter.com/RMac18/status/1266491387479855106
      6:07 PM · May 29, 2020

      .@Haleaziz got his hands on CBP’s explanation to congressional staffers as to why it decided to fly a Predator Drone over Minneapolis during the protests. [link]

      Links to:
      Here Are The Minneapolis Police’s Tools To Identify Protesters
      As protesters demonstrate in Minneapolis in response to George Floyd’s death, law enforcement agencies have access to a host of surveillance tools that could make it easier to target and find them.
      link
      [Haskins/Mac] Last updated on May 29, 2020, at 6:02 p.m. ET // Posted on May 29, 2020, at 1:53 p.m. ET

      • harpie says:

        From the BuzzFeed article:

        […] CBP officials said the agency’s Air and Marine Operations was “preparing to provide live video to aid in situational awareness at the request of our federal law enforcement partners in Minneapolis.” The agency said drones are often deployed around the country to “augment law enforcement and humanitarian relief efforts.”

        “After arriving into the Minneapolis airspace, the requesting agency determined that the aircraft was no longer needed for operational awareness and departed back to Grand Forks,” the statement read.

        …wonder which “federal law enforcement partners in Minneapolis” “requesting agency”.

      • vvv says:

        Rayne has an excellent tweet re possible use of the Gorgon surveillance system:
        ht tps://twitter.com/raynetoday/status/1266406436889919490

  20. Badger Robert says:

    Do you the best you can. But the violence is a systematic attempt to overthrow stability in MN. MN, WI, MI, these states are chosen for a reason. The methods used by Russia in Ukraine have been domesticated in Minneapolis. As Gov Walz stated, this is organized and the ring leaders are using military tactics.

    • Marinela Selseth says:

      Don’t underestimate the power of propaganda. People get sucked in, they believe they are doing just actions.
      It is the perfect storm. People are locked down, due to covid, so their frustrations get channeled to protest. No work, plenty of time to spare, reporters are not allowed to get close…
      Trump administration will find a way to take advantage of this terrible situation.
      Your point about the states that are targeted, makes sense.
      How much of it is started from facebook, remotely…
      What is suspicious to me, if they are grass roots, a leader should emerge, to use the systemic problems towards real solutions, not to create chaos.
      Chaos only helps the propaganda pushers.

    • Vicks says:

      Yes and the organizers behind this must be investigated and exposed.
      Right now, right this minute the media MUST stop calling them “violent protesters”.
      These people are not protesters, they are agitators, they are opportunistic and yes they are “thugs“
      They have agendas that have NOTHING to do with their outrage at the death of another black man by law enforcement.
      Continuing to lump these pos AND the common criminals who use the cover of a protest to loot and burn, with righteous protesters is a Fox “news” type trick that effectively drowns out the heart breaking message and prevents it from getting through to those most needing to hear it.
      And what the f is “maga night?”

      • P J Evans says:

        It appears a lot of the looting and burning is by young white guys – whether they’re right-wing or anarchists doesn’t matter for this, as both want to burn it all down to achieve their own goals. Also, they seem to be traveling to these locations from elsewhere – that’s organized behavior.

        • harpie says:

          From the link in my next comment below:

          With growing alarm, I’ve watched armed white men protesting around the US. But, as a Hawai’i resident, I’ve wondered specifically about the reoccurring presence of aloha shirts. Here is a THREAD explaining the odd and concerning story behind it 1/13 […]

          I know this all seems like a joke and easy to dismiss, but that is part of their strategy to lure in young men and downplay what they are talking about. It is deadly serious. These men are preparing for a civil war. end/13

    • harpie says:

      …and…surprise, surprise!

      Via Marcy:
      https://twitter.com/MSignorile/status/1266794327843524610
      2:11 PM · May 30, 2020

      Bill Barr on TV now saying the violence and rioting is coming from “far-left,” “Antifa” without any evidence.

      No evidence, took no questions.

      But in fact MN govt officials are saying it is white supremacist and right-wing groups, per their investigations, evidence.

      • harpie says:

        This is the disgusting way the President speaks about protests at the WH yesterday:

        https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266711221191020544
        8:41 AM · May 30, 2020

        Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService . They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the “protesters” scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone….

        ….got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would….

        ….have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and….

        ….good practice.” As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!

        I guess Mayor Bowser isn’t part of “the black people” MAGA loves.

        • harpie says:

          What Bowser said:

          https://twitter.com/MurielBowser/status/1266727099030810624
          9:44 AM · May 30, 2020

          My police department will always protect DC and all who are in it whether I agree with them (such as those exercising their First Amendment Right) or those I don’t (namely, @realdonaldtrump)…

          While he hides behind his fence afraid/alone, I stand w/ people peacefully exercising their First Amendment Right after the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & hundreds of years of institutional racism

          There are no vicious dogs & ominous weapons. There is just a scared man. Afraid/alone…

          I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us. Our power is in peace, in our voices and ultimately at the ballot box in November…

          “It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      It’s important for us to keep in mind the very specific actions that Russia and its US enablers have already done prior to and throughout Trump’s administration. They thrive on evangelizing, both in a secular and religious context. This speaks to emotions and riles people up to follow through with action. It’s probably in some Propaganda 101 training through the Kremlin.

      So, it’s not surprising that the current chaos is supported and driven by online forums and videos by fringe groups that may advance the interest of hostile nations, either inadvertently or intentionally. But what does not seem to be on the radar of most Americans is how interwoven the hostile propaganda is with what we think of as traditional religion. So, as Maria Butina was to the secular NRA, maybe Sergei Millian is to the alt-right religion gang.

      This may (or may not) be what Project Rasputin is about in the Russia investigation. If you recall, Sergei Millian tried to entice Papadopoulos into some kind of faith diplomacy. And Millian worked with Mikhail Morgulis (in FL) in Spiritual Diplomacy efforts which actually was an unethical, nasty, alt-right smear campaign against HRC.

      Morgulis is in a video presentation with Kislyak. And Michael Caputo (now at HHS, subverting the efforts of health professionals) knows about Project Rasputin which he mentioned in his 302s. So, maybe there is an ongoing investigation there.

      My guess is that these people know about or have something to do with Project Rasputin:
      Bill Barr, Michael Flynn, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos, Ginny Thomas, Sergei Millian, Mikhail Morgulis, Sergei Kislyak, Michael Caputo, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, possibly George Papadopoulos, and others.

      Remember also that Millian is aligned with Horasis, a sort of religious Davos. Maybe Deripaska gave him that assignment, who knows.

      But all of this has that sort of master race stink that all these people seem to thrive on. We should have our radar up. Don’t let them trick us into subverting our own very authentic democratic beliefs and our concern for each other and our planet Earth.

  21. Honeybee says:

    Well, I was over by Lake Street today, and I saw a lot of love and neighborhood solidarity on display in broad daylight. Let it be that way.

  22. posaune says:

    Someone has collected a series of bail funds open for donations.
    Matthew A. Cherry twitter account has the list.

Comments are closed.