Category Archives: Black Lives Matter movement

Joe Biden to meet with Jacob Blake’s family in Kenosha – live

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The Guardian’s Kenya Evelyn reports:

Joe Biden will meet Jacob Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr, later today as well as other members of the family of the 29-year-old who is gravely wounded and still fighting for his health in a local hospital in Kenosha after being shot in the back by a white police officer on August 23.

Trump and his advisers are trying to walk back his comments encouraging North Carolinians to vote twice in the November elections.

The president said yesterday, “Let them send it in and let them go vote. And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person.

Trump yesterday: “If you get the unsolicited ballots ... send it in early, and then go and vote.”

Trump in May:
“If you told a Republican to vote twice, they'd get sick at even the thought of it."pic.twitter.com/bjWMotfXrP

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Trump is trying to pin Kenosha on Biden – but he created the chaos and violence | Richard Wolffe

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Make no mistake: this is Trump’s America, where protesters are shot by vigilantes as police look on

Donald Trump took a trip to a place called Biden’s America on Tuesday. It is a strange land where the president of the United States is a helpless guest, a doomed corner of his own country that is somehow ruled by a former vice president.

It is a topsy-turvy place, this Biden’s America. Occasionally, the president can regain his magical ruling powers by summoning assorted minions in uniforms and incanting a spell with his thumbs to tweet the words LAW AND ORDER.

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Trump escalates war of words with Biden over civil rights protests – live

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Joe Biden has responded to Trump’s refusal to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse:

In a statement, he said:

Tonight, the President declined to rebuke violence. He wouldn’t even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it.

So once again, I urge the President to join me in saying that while peaceful protest is a right — a necessity — violence is wrong, period. No matter who does it, no matter what political affiliation they have. Period.

If Donald Trump can’t say that, then he is unfit to be President, and his preference for more violence — not less — is clear.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking a communications firm to “defeat despair and inspire hope,” bidding out a $250m contract, Politico reports.

Ahead of the elections, with 180,000 Americans dead from coronavirus, HHS wants a firm to help “deliver important public health and economic information the administration can defeat despair, inspire hope and achieve national recovery.”

Several weeks ago, the department sent out to a number of communications firms a “performance work statement,” which lays out what work will be expected of the winning firm. The document says that the vast majority of the money will be spent from now until January.

The document also lists the goals of the contract: “defeat despair and inspire hope, sharing best practices for businesses to operate in the new normal and instill confidence to return to work and restart the economy,” build a “coalition of spokespeople” around the country, provide important public health, therapeutic and vaccine information as the country reopens and give Americans information on the phases of reopening.

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Portland mayor Ted Wheeler to Trump: ‘Stay the hell out of the way’ – video

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The mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, launched a searing attack against Donald Trump on Sunday, saying the US president is inciting violence in his city. 'It's you [Trump] who have created the hate and division,' Wheeler said. Trump responded to the comments with a series of counterattacks on Twitter

• Fatal shooting in Portland as Trump supporters confront BLM protesters


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Trump supporters drive through crowd and pepper spray protesters in Portland – video

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Footage shows men in pickup trucks taking part in a pro-Trump procession driving into a crowd of protesters in Portland, Oregon. They fire paintballs and pepper spray as demonstrators throw objects at the convoy. The caravan of Trump supporters drove as a group into the centre of Portland, prompting protesters to block streets and bridges in an attempt to stop them. It was the third Saturday in a row that Trump supporters have rallied in the city.

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Fatal shooting in Portland as Trump supporters clash with BLM protesters

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Police say it was not clear if shooting was linked to fights between protesters and caravan of Trump supporters

One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of Donald Trump supporters came into town and were seen on video firing paintballs and pepper spray at Black Lives Matter protesters before clashes erupted in the streets.

Related: The Department of Homeland Security is a rogue agency. Democrats must take action | Trevor Timm

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Portland clashes: Trump accused of encouraging violence after shooting

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Police say it was not clear if shooting was linked to fights between protesters and caravan of Trump supporters

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler on Sunday slammed Donald Trump, accusing the president of encouraging the kind of violence that erupted in the city overnight when a reported member of a rightwing group was shot dead after a group of Trump supporters confronted Black Lives Matter protesters.

“What America needs is for you to be stopped,” Wheeler said of Trump, after the president tore into Wheeler on Twitter in the hours after the death and retweeted video footage of his supporters in trucks firing paintballs and pepper spray at protesters downtown.

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White House chief of staff dismisses Covid concerns as four at RNC test positive – live

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Donald Trump is holding a rally for supporters in New Hampshire. He will speak any minute now. If you care to tune in you can here - if not, I will be blogging it here so stand by for updates.

The crowd at Trump’s NH rally just booed an announcement telling people to put on their masks

Germany chancellor Angela Merkel laughed off a question during a Friday press conference of whether she had been “charmed” by Donald Trump.

The question was in response to a statement made this week by Richard Grenell, the former US director of national intelligence and ambassador to Germany, who claimed Trump had smoothed over the historically strained relationship between German and the US by enchanting Merkel.

This is one of my new favourite Merkel moments. A journalist asks her about Richard Grenell's claim that Trump "charmed" Merkel. You don't need to speak German to enjoy her reaction:pic.twitter.com/RSjHSNXXtX

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‘We’re not taking it any more’: Jacob Blake’s family lead Washington rally – video

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The family of Wisconsin shooting victim Jacob Blake condemned racism and demanded criminal justice reform as they spoke in front of thousands at the Commitment March in Washington DC. Earlier this week Blake was shot multiple times in the back by police, leaving him paralysed. The protest, announced in early June following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, marked the anniversary of the demonstration at which Martin Luther King gave his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech.

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‘Say her name’: Rand Paul confronted by protesters over after Republican convention – video

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A group of angry protesters has confronted senator Rand Paul near the White House in Washington DC. As Rand walked through the crowd with his wife, demonstrators chanted 'say her name', in reference to Breonna Taylor, a black woman from Kentucky who was shot dead by police in May. After the incident, Paul tweeted to say that he had been 'attacked by an angry mob of over 100'.

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Trump attacks Biden as eager to ‘tear down’ America in RNC speech

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President accepts Republican presidential nomination in event staged at White House, raising ethical concerns

Against a backdrop of a global pandemic, heightened racial tensions, and widespread unemployment, Donald Trump framed his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the real danger to the country’s safety and economic welfare in his address to the Republican convention on Thursday.

Accepting the party’s presidential nomination ahead of November’s elections, Trump argued for more than an hour that his administration had accomplished everything it had set out to do and warned that a Biden presidency could be ruinous.

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Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake named as Rusten Sheskey

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Officer was caught on video firing seven times into Blake’s back at almost point-blank range

Police in Kenosha, the Wisconsin city rocked by protests and deadly violence since the shooting of Jacob Blake, have named the officer who fired multiple bullets into Blake’s back.

Rusten Sheskey, who has been employed by the Kenosha police department for seven years, was named as the officer caught on video firing seven times into Blake’s back at almost point-blank range as he held him by his shirt.

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British Museum removes founder’s statue over slavery links

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Hans Sloane ‘pushed off pedestal’ and placed with artefacts putting his work in context of British empire

The British Museum has removed a bust of its founding father, who was a slave owner, and said it wanted to confront its links to colonialism.

Hartwig Fischer, the institution’s director, revealed the likeness of Sir Hans Sloane has been placed in a secure cabinet alongside artefacts explaining his work in the context of the British empire.

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Mixed race woman fired by G4S after row over black power salute

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Worker alleges she was unfairly sacked from Covid-19 testing site, but G4S disputes claims

A mixed race woman was disciplined and later sacked from a G4S coronavirus testing centre after suggesting colleagues could adopt the black power salute for a photo in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

The outsourcing giant said Kenya Scarlett had previously been confrontational and demanding; it claimed no one had taken issue with expressing support for BLM.

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Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate – US politics live

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Well at least we now know where Donald Trump stands on QAnon supporting Marjorie Taylor Greene. Some members of the Republican party disowned her campaign after a series of racist videos emerged in which she complains of an “Islamic invasion” into government offices, claims Black and Hispanic men are held back by “gangs and dealing drugs”, and pushes an antisemitic conspiracy theory that the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who is Jewish, collaborated with the Nazis.

And that seems all fine with the commander-in-chief

Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up - a real WINNER!

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said his department did everything by the book in regards to arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2019, after a government watchdog found the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen was not fully evaluated.

His comments came after a state department inspector general report earlier this week concluded the state department did not fully evaluate the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen when it pushed through a huge 2019 precision-guided munitions sale to Saudi Arabia, report the Associated Press.

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Trump won’t hold socially distanced rallies: ‘You can’t have empty seats’ – US politics live

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Joe Biden may have settled on his running mate, but there is no guarantee we will find out today, according to New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin:

No actual VP event today, per a Biden official.

doesn’t mean there won’t be a reveal of who it is, leaked or planned. just no plans for an in-person event.

The Big Ten college football conference has canceled its football season due to coronavirus concerns, it announced today, in a blow to Republicans and Donald Trump who had urged college football to go ahead.

“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement.

Related: Why college football is the perfect storm for Covid-19

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Coronavirus US: study shows 97,000 children tested positive in last two weeks of July – live

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Donald Trump is responding to a statement released Sunday by former Republican senator, Ben Sasse, who excoriated the president for his attempt to use executive orders to combat the worsening coronavirus outbreak.

RINO Ben Sasse, who needed my support and endorsement in order to get the Republican nomination for Senate from the GREAT State of Nebraska, has, now that he’s got it (Thank you President T), gone rogue, again. This foolishness plays right into the hands of the Radical Left Dems!

President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA, and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the American people acting through their members of Congress.

In a press conference Monday, following a night of unrest and looting, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot appeared to criticize Cook County’s state’s attorney Kim Foxx, whom she previously endorsed.

People believe there is no accountability in our criminal justice system. We need the prosecutors and courts to step up”.

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Trump bypasses Congress with order for coronavirus relief including less unemployment aid – as it happened

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We’ll be shutting down today’s blog shortly. Here’s a glance at today’s major news items:

Trump’s decision to unilaterally extend federal unemployment insurance through executive order will almost certainly prompt a legal challenge from Democrats on the grounds that only the legislative branch has the constitutional authority to determine federal spending.

But the US president brushed aside concerns on Saturday, suggesting that he believes public sentiment will carry the day.

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Tottenham protest marks anniversary of Mark Duggan’s death

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Action supported by Black Lives Matter calls for end to ‘institutionally racist policing’

Chants of “no justice no peace” echoed around Tottenham police station on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of peaceful demonstrators gathered outside the building calling for an end to what they say is institutionally racist policing in this part of north London.

The event marks the ninth anniversary of the fatal shooting by police in Tottenham of Mark Duggan. His death was followed by the biggest riots in recent times. The event is supported by Black Lives Matter, Tottenham Rights and Stopwatch.

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Black Lives Matter group offers rural people ‘insight into prejudice’

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BLM in the Stix promotes online toolkit to encourage UK communities to take a stand

Black Lives Matter activists have launched a toolkit designed to help rural communities across the UK to fight racism in their local area.

Their campaign, BLM in the Stix, is aimed at building on the momentum of June and July, when more than 260 towns and cities held anti-racism protests, from Monmouth in south Wales to Shetland in Scotland. It offers rural communities support to take a stand against racism at a local level.

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