The pedestal on which a controversial statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stood for 131 years in Richmond, Virginia, is slated to be removed, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday.

The land that housed both the statue and the plinth will be returned to the city, the state’s Democratic governor explained in a press release.

“This land is in the middle of Richmond, and Richmonders will determine the future of this space,” Northam said. “The Commonwealth will remove the pedestal and we anticipate a safe removal and a successful conclusion to this project.”

The Lee statue, which was dismantled in September, was the last remaining Confederate figure to remain on the city’s historic Monument Avenue, after having become the subject of intense controversy following the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

Shortly after Floyd’s death in police custody, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered nearby likenesses of Confederate Gens. JEB Stuart and Stonewall Jackson removed, as well Confederate Naval commander Matthew Fontaine Murray. Protesters had earlier toppled a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Northam decided to remove the Lee statue around the same time, but court litigation had delayed the Lee statue’s removal because it was on state-owned land. The Virginia Supreme Court ultimately ruled in a 7-0 decision that the statue could come down. Once removed, it was sawn into two pieces for storage.

“The commonwealth of Virginia will remove the largest Confederate statue remaining in the United States – the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond – on Wednesday, September 8, following authorization by all three branches of state government, including a unanimous decision last week by the Supreme Court of Virginia,” the state announced in a press release at the time.

Former President Donald Trump issued a statement deploring the statue’s removal at the time, saying in part, “Our culture is being destroyed and our history and heritage, both good and bad, are being extinguished by the Radical Left, and we can’t let that happen!”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/virginia-to-remove-robert-e-lee-statue-pedestal-in-richmond-successful-conclusion

The post Virginia to remove Robert E. Lee statue pedestal in Richmond: ‘Successful conclusion’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

At its core, the idea of defunding the police was aimed at either punishing the police—all of the police—for what happened to George Floyd, or abolishing the police completely. The former is emotionally driven and found mostly in already anti-cop circles, but the latter is anarchist in nature. If either of their visions are ever brought to fruition, the result on crime rates would be both immediate and apocalyptic. Fortunately, neither have been fully implemented, and even where defunding has occurred it has often been more of a shell game than actual substantive cuts. In other cases, moves to reverse the mistake are already in progress.

The very best mechanism for improving policing is and always has been through training. Not the kind of training that tells recruits that they’re racists (implicitly) and “teaches” them how not to be. Instead, we should focus on communications, de-escalation, fitness, prioritization of the sanctity of life, constitutional policing, ethics, and, yes, use of force.

It is important to understand that a fit and skilled police officer has more options when it comes to force and is likely to perceive a threat differently than an unskilled, out-of-shape officer. The latter will justifiably escalate their force response to a threat. Society has a vested interest in having fit, competent, and confident officers, because their force decisions are almost always better.

Defunding the police forces departments to cut everywhere—including training. That means less capable officers will be patrolling our streets and it increases the likelihood of a bad use-of-force decision. The resulting viral videos will set more cities on fire. Defunding will have a tragic downstream affect on police and community interactions and will guarantee more, not fewer incidents like the ones that have caused protests and riots. This seems to be the exact opposite of what those in favor of defunding claim to want.

But that result is in the future and its effect on crime rates is less clear. What then should we consider in the current crime crisis? I believe we can look to the anti-police environment created by a combination of false narratives fueled by an agenda-driven media and politicians who engage in anti-police rhetoric, for starters. When a police officer feels that anything they do will be wrong, or at least painted that way in the media, and that the governing unit he or she works for will use them as a political pawn, there is no incentive to engage in proactive policing.

Police officers are not paid by commission. They make the same amount of money whether they make 10 arrests in a day or none at. Same goes for writing traffic tickets. What would motivate them to engage in anything confrontational when they can instead simply respond to calls they receive?

Proactive policing is done because officers are passionate about protecting their communities, and they actively seek out criminal activity. How much of that is going to happen in the environment we find ourselves in now? The answer is obvious, and crime rates reflect that. When there is little-to-no law enforcement pressure on criminals and gangs, they do what they do.

Defunding the police is a dangerously bad idea, but as with our teachers abandoning the classrooms, it might take some time to realize just how bad the consequences are. The immediate danger can be found in the thinking behind the defunding movement. Anti-police rhetoric and actions, false narratives, and the resulting de-policing of our cities will have a more immediate negative impact on crime, it likely already has.

Source: https://www.texaspolicy.com/rising-crime-rates-and-the-defunding-movement/

The post Rising Crime Rates and the Defunding Movement first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has invited U.N. experts who investigate racism and minority issues to conduct an official visit to the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

“Responsible nations must not shrink from scrutiny of their human rights record; rather, they should acknowledge it with the intent to improve,” Blinken said in a statement.

“I urge all U.N. member states to join the United States in this effort, and confront the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia,” he said.

Blinken said the United States welcomed the U.N. Human Rights Council’s adoption on Tuesday of a resolution to address systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the context of law enforcement.

The murder of a Black man, George Floyd, by a Minneapolis police officer last year sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who won the White House with critical support from Black voters, made fighting racial inequality a key platform of his 2020 campaign.

Blinken said the invitation to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on minority issues was the first step on a plan to issue a standing invitation to all U.N. experts who report on human rights issues.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-state-department-invites-un-racism-investigators-visit-us-2021-07-14/

The post U.S. State Department invites U.N. racism investigators to visit U.S. first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The fatal shooting from law enforcement officers came just over a year after George Floyd died in police custody, a death that sparked protests across the U.S. in opposition to racial violence, with the effects still felt in Minneapolis.

In April, a jury in Minneapolis convicted former officer Derek Chauvin of Floyd’s murder, while a trial for the other officers at the scene of the May 2020 incident is pending. Chauvin is due to be sentenced on June 25, but the defense is pushing for a new trial.

On Thursday afternoon, members of a U.S. Marshals task force attempted to arrest a man who was wanted on a warrant for gun possession, according to a statement by a Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson sent to Reuters.

The spokesperson said that the suspect, “who was in a parked car, failed to comply and produced a handgun resulting in task force members firing upon the subject.”

The officers attempted to revive the suspect, but paramedics declared him dead at the scene. A woman who was in the car with the suspect at the time of the shooting suffered minor injuries after glass shattered.

The authorities have not yet named the victim, but social media users alleged that the man was 32-year-old Winston Boogie Smith, Jr., according to the Twitter account @CrimeWatchMpls.

No members of the Minneapolis Police Department, whose officers were involved in the death of Floyd, were a part of the task force that attempted the arrest on Thursday afternoon.

The investigation into the shooting will be led by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, according to Reuters.

On Thursday evening, a small protest broke out at Lake Street and Girard Avenue, the scene of the shooting, as a group of people stood behind police tape, while social media footage showed demonstrators crossing the barrier chanting: “All cops are b******s.”

Alex Chhith@AlexChhith

·

Jun 3, 2021

Replying to @AlexChhith

Also Medical Examiner has entered the scene

After a confrontation with protesters crossing the yellow tape, MPD left with protesters at their heels

---

Footage shared by independent journalist Rebecca Brannon later in the day showed footage of a fire burning in the middle of the street, as she claimed that it had been raging for 40 minutes without any police presence.

The protest grew as the night progressed, with demonstrators setting fire to a dumpster and footage on social media showing officers deploying tear gas at the large crowd of people gathered at the intersection.

Following the police intervention, looting and rioting broke out at the intersection, as footage shared to social media by Brannon showed the window of a nearby CVS shattered, as she claimed that protesters looted the store.

Footage also showed that a T-Mobile store was broken into, while officers arrested protesters at the intersection as they surrounded the demonstrators.

Other footage showed a heavy police presence at the intersection, as a small group of protesters clashed with officers. The protest is ongoing.

A separate protest also took place on Thursday at the intersection where Floyd was killed in 2020, after crews reconnected 38th Street and Chicago Avenue by taking away vehicle barriers and portable toilets.

Despite earlier reports, the memorial to Floyd was not dismantled, as the intersection is only being prepared to allow traffic in the area again by the Agape Movement, which has been providing security to the memorial since 2020.

As soon as the crews finished taking away the barriers, protesters blocked the intersection, where they stood just minutes before as a man with a bullhorn shouted “No justice, no peace,” according to The Star Tribune.

Newsweek has contacted the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department for comment.

The post Looting and Rioting in Minneapolis After Fatal Police Shooting first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The backdrop of a summer of civil unrest in America’s largest cities and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic looms large as motivated voters prepare to submit their ballots for president in less than two weeks.

Police departments – many of which saw days, weeks, and even monthslong anti-police brutality protests and riots this summer – said they are hoping for the best when voters hit the polls on Nov. 3, but are also preparing for the worst in the days before and after.

New York police take security measures as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives to vote at the Beckman Hill International School in New York City on Nov. 8, 2016. (Photo by Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

“There is no secret that this election is more contentious than in years’ past,” said New York Police Department’s Chief of Department, Terence Monahan, during a Tuesday press conference covering election preparedness. The NYPD is one of many departments throughout the country with a plan in case any protests devolve into criminal activity.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COMES DOWN TO THESE 9 STATES

Chicago, much like New York City, has seen spurts of civil unrest, including devastating looting downtown. Its police department is now working with several city agencies in a coordinated effort to be prepared for any fallout, whether at the polls or on the streets, during the election period.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said at a recent news conference that police and emergency officials are training to make sure they’re ready “regardless of whatever scenario happens on Election Day.”

Police officers inspect a damaged Best Buy store in Chicago after parts of the city suffered from widespread looting and vandalism over the summer. (Getty Images)

“Many cities across the country are doing similar planning,” he said last week. “We are all in conversations with our counterparts across the country about what we might expect, but everything is uncertain, and so we’re trying as best we can to anticipate any hazard that might happen, including a weather hazard, snow might happen in our city, along with anything related to protests, embedded agitators that might loot or cause violence or destroy property.”

Even without the prevalent unrest in certain parts of the country, this year’s election will nonetheless look different. People have the option of voting early and by mail, and officials anticipate clear results might take days, if not weeks.

Here are what some police departments in big cities have to say about their plans to best ensure every American stays safe before, during, and after Election Day.

MIAMI

Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina told Fox News this week that it was “difficult to tell” what kind of unrest – if any – the city will face in the days leading up to the election.

“We’re going to have more people working, a bigger, more robust uniformed presence. And then we’re going to have some undercover officers that will go by polling places,” he said.

Colina said the city will also be prepared with groups of officers who could mobilize at short notice, “especially those groups that want to create havoc.”

He told Fox News he believes the protests could look different depending on who is ultimately elected president.

“This state [Florida] is up for grabs, according to the polls. This is a state that both candidates covet, obviously, and that’s always been the case,” he said. “I can’t help but wonder that if that’s not going to inspire some fringe groups to want to do their part to win it for one or the other. And that’s where it gets a little dangerous because people, you know, they become extreme.”

His concerns, he said, are not based on any credible threats, but he plans to be ready, nonetheless.

“I know that these kinds of things exist, right? Where people want to come out and they want to create an issue and then blame it on the other. I mean, we’ve seen that we’ve seen that. So I’m hoping that that’s not the case again,” Colina said. “Again, I think we’re gonna be fine, but I recognize that, certainly, that could happen because this state is up for grabs.”

City of Miami police officers gear up as they prepare for any problems with protesters Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

During a press conference on Monday, Colina said the department had canceled vacation days and days off during the election period and will deploy additional officers. The department has also instructed every sworn officer, whether assigned to a desk job or patrol duty, to bring their uniform to work in case a greater police presence is needed.

“The truth is, this is a very contentious election cycle. Unlike we haven’t seen in many, many years,” he said during the news conference. “We have a very savvy community here who understands that some people may want to take actions into their own hands and try to and swing some votes. We just want to make sure that we don’t allow that to take place.”

NEW YORK CITY

Said to be the largest police force in the nation, the NYPD is directing its officers to be “prepared for deployment” beginning Oct. 26, as it braces for increasing protests in the lead-up to and following Election Day 2020, according to an internal memo from Oct. 13 obtained by Fox News.

NYPD brass are planning for potential civil unrest as New York City and the nation begin a contentious series of weeks, starting with the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and coupled with the upcoming presidential election, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in the internal announcement.

“This November 3rd will be the (sic) one of the most highly contested presidential elections in the modern era,” Shea wrote, noting that Barrett’s confirmation hearing was set to begin at the same time of the missive’s release. “Accordingly, we should anticipate and prepare for protests growing in size, frequency, and intensity leading up to the election and likely into the year 2021.”

Shea also noted that the election winner “may not be decided for several weeks,” and the confirmation hearing was also expected to continue for weeks.

During an interview later that day, Shea told local news station NY1 that the department wanted to be ready for anything.

A New York City police officer stands guard outside a polling station in a public school Nov. 2, 2010 in New York.  (DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

“It would be nice if we had an uneventful fall season, but this is 2020,” he said during the Oct. 13 interview. “It’s really all-hands-on-deck across the NYPD and this is really about, listen everyone is well aware of the climate right now in this country, certainly here in this city and the election coming up and it’s our job to prepare for the worst and hopefully it’s not needed.”

Accordingly, the NYPD has instructed hundreds of officers to come to work in uniform and ready for duty beginning on Oct. 26, Monahan said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

PORTLAND

Portland police officers push protesters past a dumpster fire during a dispersal from in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in the early morning on August 21, 2020 in Portland, Ore. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

No stranger to violent protests that have, at times, devolved into riots, Portland Police Bureau is working with Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and will be upping law enforcement staffing during and following the election period “as a precaution,” the department said in a press release last week.

“In the past, some individuals and groups have gathered and marched following the election results, both in celebration and sometimes because they are angered or upset. In some instances, significant damage was done to local businesses, which did not change the election outcome, but hurt our community members,” the release states. “While we promote and support the exercise of the First Amendment rights to assemble and engage in free speech, engagement in criminal activity will not be tolerated.”

PPB officials said they will not tolerate any demonstrators blocking pedestrian and vehicular traffic, lighting fires, “vandalizing and damaging property,” illegal use of weapons and violence.

“We’re just trying to prepare and coordinate to increase safety during that time,” Officer Derek Carmon, a PPB spokesperson, told Fox News on Monday. “We’ve seen in the past where people come out because they’re either excited about the election results or they’re completely unhappy with the election results and they come down causing damage and things like that in the past. So we’re just trying to be prepared for that by having more officers available.”

Carmon said the department is not allowing officers to take any vacation days during and in the days following the election period, but had not established specific requirements of personnel during that time.

PPB Chief Chuck Lovell said in a prepared statement that this election season “has increased fear and uncertainty for many of our community members.”

“We want our community to know we are prioritizing public safety by adding resources and collaboration during this important time. We ask for the public to help us by reporting criminal activity, staying informed, and engaging in lawful activities. Together, we can achieve a safe election season in Portland,” Lovell said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Oregon city’s election-related safety and security measures can visit the Multnomah County Elections website.

SEATTLE

In gearing up for the election period, Seattle Police Department set a limit to the time off allowed for personnel around the time of Election Day “to ensure the department is able to adequately provide public safety services at any events, gatherings or demonstrations related to the election,” said SPD spokesperson Sgt. Randall Huserik.

Huserik also said SPD recently launched its Community Response Group, to “dynamically deploy to unplanned large-scale events and ensure SPD is able to quickly respond to 911 emergencies,” in case such a response is needed.

ORLANDO

Though not particularly known for experiencing unrest in recent months, Orlando Police Department officials are working with the Supervisor of Elections office to ensure the election period goes smoothly, Sgt. David Baker, a spokesperson for OPD told Fox News.

“The Supervisor of Elections does have a protocol in place to contact law enforcement if individuals are disruptive and unruly and violating Florida statutes related to voting, including the 150-foot no-solicitation zone near the entrance of polling places,” Baker wrote in an emailed statement.

Additional information was not provided.

MINNEAPOLIS

In this May 29, 2020, photo, a check-cashing business burns during protests in Minneapolis. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Minneapolis is also no stranger to civil unrest, which rocked the city in the wake of the alleged police-related death of local resident, George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man, died at the end of May after a White police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, despite his shouts that he couldn’t breathe. Days of protests and destruction in the city followed.

Minneapolis Police Department’s public information officer, John Elder, said in an email to Fox News the department continues to “plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

“We are aware of current and future possible flashpoints that present challenges on both a local and national level,” Elder said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, local, regionally, and federally in order to properly respond to situations as they unfold.  Additionally, we are keeping lines of communication open with the communities we serve and working with everyone we can to ensure 1st Amendment rights are preserved and providing a safe environment for all.”

Elder could not provide any more specific details regarding the department’s plans.

CHICAGO

Superintendent David Brown said during a press conference earlier this month that the police department and several other city agencies have scheduled several tabletop exercises in the lead-up to Election Day to ensure officials were prepared for whatever might happen.

The department, he said, was “making sure that we are in our neighborhoods in a very strong posture to make sure our, not only our First Amendment, but that our assets, that our critical infrastructure, that our retail corridors are all protected from any wrongdoers.”

Just months ago, caravans of looters descended upon Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, where they looted and destroyed property just hours after allegedly false information about a police-involved shooting spread. The looters coordinated their efforts through social media, Brown said at the time.

The police department has now prepared for similar instances, as well as any other election-related crimes, by assigning specific groups to oversee protests and protect “critical infrastructure,” Brown said at last week’s election-related press conference.

CPD has also extended certain officers’ shifts and canceled the days off for those members who have been assigned to the specific teams, he said.

Brown noted that he believed there was a “coordinated effort” during summer protests “to embed agitators” within the otherwise peaceful demonstrations. He’s planning, he said, in case that’s also a feature of election-related protests.

“So from those lessons learned from over the summer, we are planning for that to be a feature of peaceful protests: a slight embedment of people who have no intention of protesting but every intention of committing crime,” Brown said. “So, instead of being caught off-guard we are planning for that to happen and we have operations in place to ensure that they don’t destroy property, that they don’t cause any further violence and that they’re held accountable.”

PHILADELPHIA

The post Election 2020: Police in cities nationwide bracing for potential unrest in days before, after Nov. 3 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Eight Minneapolis residents are suing the city council over a lack of police presence amid spikes in violent crime in the city, according to local news reports.

The residents are blaming the council’s calls to defund the police after George Floyd‘s May 25 death and argue that the city has not said how many officers are currently on the ground to meet a minimum requirement for protecting residents, according to WCCO.

“We are here, together in unison, to say enough is enough,” community activist Cathy Spann said during a Monday press conference. “I am here today to say it is about all of us coming together to make a difference to stop the gun violence that is in our city — downtown, south, north. We are stopping it. We are no longer asking for a plan. We are the plan.”

The Minneapolis City Council members in June voted to completely dismantle the city’s police department and replace it with a community safety program.

MINNEAPOLIS HOMELESS SUE MAYOR FREY FOR CLEARING ENCAMPMENTS AMID COVID-19

The council has since changed its stance amid a surge in violent crime and carjackings in Minneapolis. Mayor Jacob Frey’s 2021 budget plan released on Sept. 22 includes a $14 million budget cut to the police department from $193 million in adopted funds in 2020 to nearly $179 million in 2021 amid a surge in retirements and a hiring freeze.

GERALDO RIVERA: KEEP COPS, DEFUND ABUSE

“We have made the emotional appeal,” former City Council member Don Samuels said during the conference. “We have demonstrated the statistical uptick [in violence], and now, this is the legal action we are exercising because it seems as if the City Council cannot hear us and doesn’t feel what we feel.”

The city told Fox9 that it is meeting the federal requirements for the number of sworn officers representing a population and asked the judge involved in the case to dismiss it.

“We simply want to have enough police on the streets to keep Minneapolis safe,” Attorney James Dickey, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case, told Fox9.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The MPD’s digital “Data Dashboard” shows a surge in violent crime in the city between June and July. For the week beginning June 16, for example, the city recorded 171 violent crimes compared to 111 the week prior and 90 during the same time in 2019. That number went up to 172 violent crimes during the week beginning July 21. Violent crime numbers have remained relatively high through September and October.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/minneapolis-residents-sue-city-council-police

The post Minneapolis residents sue city council for lack of police, blame ‘defund police’ movement first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Justice Department explored possible criminal or civil charges against local officials in Portland, Ore., after weeks of clashes between federal law enforcement and violent protesters, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told Fox News.

Kupec declined to comment on whether the department ultimately will bring charges. She said there were no specific charges in mind, rather, DOJ officials were looking at the way Portland officials “were handling, or not handling” the riots and violence.

PORTLAND MAN ALLEGEDLY SET DUMPSTER ON FIRE ALONGSIDE POLICE BUILDING WITH 19 PEOPLE INSIDE 

The spokeswoman also did not confirm whether DOJ officials were focusing on specific city officials. The office of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

Separately, Justice Department officials disputed news reports that Attorney General William Barr told prosecutors in the department’s civil rights division to explore whether they could bring charges against Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for allowing some residents to establish a protest zone this summer.

President Trump has criticized Democrats, and specifically, Wheeler, who he says have not done enough to stop nights of looting and unrest in cities across the U.S. Trump has called Wheeler a “wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor” and has said the city “will never recover with a fool for a Mayor….”

Just days after the death of George Floyd while in the custody of police in Minneapolis at the end of May, large demonstrations reached Portland’s streets and nightly clashes between protesters and police officers continued for over a month until federal law enforcement was sent in to protect federal properties.

After arriving over the July 4 weekend, federal officers with the U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies were told Portland police was explicitly ordered not to respond to the federal courthouse as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside, some throwing bricks, rocks, and Molotov cocktails at officers, and not to assist federal officers who were sent to try to quell the unrest.

US ATTORNEY DENIES REPORT THAT BARR ASKED PROSECUTORS TO CONSIDER CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST DURKAN 

Federal law enforcement remained in the city for about four weeks until the Department of Homeland Security and Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Kate Brown agreed on a plan to bring Oregon State Police into downtown Portland and for federal officers to begin leaving the city.

More than 100 people have been arrested in Portland on federal charges related to the unrest over the last few months. The FBI has said it was also shifting the agency’s resources to focus more heavily on violence and federal crimes committed during nearly three months of unrest during nightly racial injustice protests in the city that often ended in vandalism, clashes with police, and dozens of arrests.

Wheeler and Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell publicly clashed last week after the mayor ordered police to stop using CS or tear gas for crowd control. The Portland Police Bureau argued in a press release hours later that amid “repeated violence by a group of motivated and well-organized individuals” carried out for more than 100 consecutive nights, officers used tear gas to “disperse crowds only when there is a life safety event.”

“Most recently, it was used to disperse a crowd from which a Molotov cocktail was thrown at officers and ended up injuring a community member who was on fire,” the police bureau said, expressing regret that some gas seeped into nearby homes. “However, the community should be asking the rioters why they are committing violence that threatens the very lives of others nearby. When people gather lawfully, peacefully, there is no need for intervention by police, much less the use of CS gas.”

In an email to Lovell and assistant chiefs, Wheeler said: “While I do not often issue directives to the Portland Police Bureau, when I do I expect them to be followed. Civilian oversight of the Police Bureau is set in the Portland City Charter, and every sworn officer takes an oath to abide by that charter. Professionalism and public service demand nothing less,” a copy obtained by the Portland Tribune said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The mayor’s office added in a statement: “PPB’s decision to put out a press release questioning my direction was a serious breach of protocol and an inappropriate use of City communications resources. I made it clear, in no uncertain terms, to the Chief that this cannot happen again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/portland-riots-justice-department-considered-pursuing-charges-against-city-officials-in-violent-unrest

The post Portland riots: Justice Department considered pursuing charges against city officials in violent unrest first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Ali Velshi was reporting live from the Twin Cities amid the uproar following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. Velshi attempted to explain that what he was witnessing was “calmer” than the night prior.

“For most of the day, today, it looked a lot calmer than yesterday looked,” Velshi began after showing his colleague Brian Williams some of the destruction that took place. “And that’s what happened yesterday. It picked up later in the evening. The crowds gathered here and the standoff with the police looked very different last night.”

Velshi then acknowledged that he could see “four fires” within his vicinity, including a liquor store that was burning behind him as well as the 3rd Precinct police department, which was earlier evacuated before the crowd set it on fire.

NBC ALLEGEDLY TELLS REPORTERS NOT TO USE THE WORD ‘RIOTS’ IN GEORGE FLOYD COVERAGE

“I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not, generally speaking, unruly but fires have been started and this crowd is relishing that,” Velshi told Williams. “There is a deep sense of grievance and complaint here, and that is the thing. That when you discount people who are doing things to public property that they shouldn’t be doing, it does have to be understood that this city has got, for the last several years, an issue with police, and it’s got a real sense of the deep sense of grievance of inequality.”

The post MSNBC’s Ali Velshi says situation not ‘generally speaking unruly’ while standing outside burning building first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Chicago Business Owners Fear Impact of More Looting first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Aftermath of looting in downtown Chicago: 13 cops injured, 2 people shot, more than 100 arrests, Mag Mile trashed first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.