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Jun 3: Three fired Minneapolis police officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder for their role in George Floyd’s death. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said Wednesday in a statement published by The Atlantic that President Trump is deliberately trying to divide Americans. “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,”
Jun 4: Two Buffalo police officers are suspended and later charged with assault after shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground, leading to the man’s hospitalization with a head injury. At George Floyd’s funeral, the Reverend Al Sharpton, calls for social change, supporting protests around the nation against systemic racism and excessive police force against African Americans. “Get your knee off our necks,” he said. “We don’t need no favors, just get off of us and we can do and be whatever we can be.” The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet both retract 2 studies on the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19, after the authors said they could not vouch for the data used. A private database of medical records compiled by a little-known firm called Surgisphere was used in both studies. The retractions bring to light the difficulty of publishing vital COVID-19 research while ensuring accuracy. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announces that he plans to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s Monument Avenue. 1.9 million people file jobless claims in the last week.
Gigi Floyd is six-years old; she should be able to have hope that horrors like what happened to her father can somehow be stopped.[1] I see hope still in the moments of real togetherness that have been happening over the last few days. The protestors in front of the White House today were singing Michael Jackson’s song, “Man in the Mirror.”[2] For the rest of us, who are someday going to hand over this country to Gigi and the rest of her generation, there is so much to do if we want to keep this nightmare from happening again.
We are ten days into these protests, and the year’s “outbreaks” keep multiplying. Over 100,000 Americans have died from COVID. Medical work continues at a frantic pace, burning through PPE as fast as it can be manufactured. The pace creates false leads in the hunt for a vaccine, often based on those non-peer reviewed pre-prints that science journalists and investors hype out of proportion. Hydroxychloroquine was one of those; possibly remdesivir.[3]
There is also a shortage of nurses. In the old days, people could still get decent care because family would step in. Four years ago, when my mom stopped being able to walk and needed steel implants in her back, I was expected to bathe and clean her in the hospital. Last month, when she had to go into the hospital without me, was so much worse. There was no one there to care for her. She would call every hour to cry from pain. It was maddening, and she survived… The second “outbreak” is becoming more obvious by the minute: the unaccountability of police to their communities. None of this is new. Racial minorities have long felt the boot on their collective necks. The 1960s protests and the Black Panthers—which, because of the Insurrection Act, ended with troops just back from Vietnam posted in American cities—spun up as a rebellion against white police violence supported by white politicians. In the 1990s, Los Angeles neighborhoods burned after the police who beat Rodney King were acquitted. Whites have largely ignored this or expressed token outrage and then gone back to business as usual. I am a part of that group. In 2020, we white people are learning something minority communities have long known: white police not only abuse their power, they cover up those abuses. Do all white police lie? No, of course not. But sometimes they do, and often it is to cover up abuses of power. today. Today, Buffalo, New York police reported that 75-year-old Martin Gugino tripped and fell to the ground in Niagara Square, cracking his head on the pavement. They were lying. Gugino approached two officers in tactical gear with helmets and face shields. He gestured questioningly at their batons, trying to hand back one of their helmets. And then an officer shoved Gugino, who is much taller than the officer, to the ground. On the video, blood issues from Gugino’s head and the cops march around him. When one offers to help Gugino get up, another one grabs that officer by the back and pulls him away. The rest stand there, batons in hand, just looking at Gugino and the pool of blood forming. Then they surround and rough up another man holding a Black Lives Matter sign aloft. Two medics approach Gugino behind the lines, eventually putting him in an ambulance. Tonight, after the video of Gugino’s fall goes viral, Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspends the officers, pending an investigation. New York Governor Cuomo is calling the actions of the police “disgraceful.”[5] Notes [1] And her financial support. https://www.gofundme.com/f/gianna-floyd-daughter-of-george-floyd-fund [2] https://youtu.be/wPz01NCJZEM [3] Noah Weiland and David E. Sanger, “Trump Administration Selects Five Coronavirus Vaccine Candidates as Finalists,” The New York Times, June 3, 2020, sec. U.S., https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/politics/coronavirus-vaccine-trump-moderna.html. [4] Letter from Peter NB Peacock, 20 November, 1987. [5] Mike Demond and Omar Fetouh, “GRAPHIC VIDEO: Two Buffalo Police Officers Suspended after Elderly Man Shoved and Injured,” WBFO NPR Buffalo-Toronto, June 4, 2020, https://news.wbfo.org/post/graphic-video-two-buffalo-police-officers-suspended-after-elderly-man-shoved-and-injured.
PBS NewsHour, “Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser gives update on ongoing protests,” June 4, 2020. https://youtu.be/TrETjg-IV00
Candace Owens, “I DO NOT support George Floyd!” & Here’s Why!,” Durtty Daily, June 4, 2020. https://youtu.be/JtPfoEvNJ74
WTHR, “Protesters in Indianapolis,” June 4, 2020. https://youtu.be/zJDv0HXgeXY
“Stone Ghosts In The South: Confederate Monuments And America’s Battle With Itself,” NBC News, June 4, 2020. https://youtu.be/msIDM8MyGqg
“DC protesters stand ground as helicopter hovers low over them,” Daily Mail, June 3, 2020. https://youtu.be/rmW0-IKotvs
*If the pdf thumbnails are not appearing, please reload the page.
Merlan, Anna. “NYPD Claims ‘Looters’ Put Bricks at a Brooklyn Corner Miles From Any Protest.” Vice, June 3, 2020. https://www.vice.com/en/article/889g8a/nypd-claims-looters-put-bricks-at-a-brooklyn-corner-miles-from-any-protest.This is in my district. I went to the site. This construction debris was left near a construction site on Ave X in Gravesend. Could be evidence of a developer breaking law since phase 1 hasn’t begun, but there was no evidence of organized looting on X last night that I’m aware of https://t.co/oTEn0wMzAR
— Mark Treyger 🍎 (@MarkTreyger718) June 3, 2020
#Whitelifematters hi i just wanted to say thank u to kpop stans for flooding this dumbass hashtag pic.twitter.com/aOUC01M7E0
— Joseph_Matt (@joseph_mattt) June 4, 2020
The number of new coronavirus cases is growing faster than ever worldwide.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 4, 2020
Twice as many countries have reported a rise in new cases over the past 2 weeks as have reported declines, according to a New York Times database.
Track the outbreak here. https://t.co/2rQ1fhKUkw
this thread is over 260 tweets long, filled almost exclusively with videos of unprovoked violence by police on peaceful protesters https://t.co/TTQH4HNKz6
— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) June 4, 2020
The honorable @greg_doucette has been re-tweeting examples of police brutality against protestors. To do my part as a witness, I’m maintaining a spreadsheet of his examples. Please view and share https://t.co/aer4ZO9bTX
— Jason “Je Suis Antifa” Miller (@jasonemiller) June 1, 2020
This is America's moment of reckoning. Let's talk and take action on @thetightropepod. https://t.co/7uaWhVr9ju pic.twitter.com/LxFlXvHxy5
— Cornel West (@CornelWest) June 4, 2020
@mandaajanee, mandy j, 2020-6-3, TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@mandaajanee/video/6833984325814455557.
* Timeline summaries at the top of the page come from a variety of sources:, including The American Journal of Managed Care COVID-19 Timeline (https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020), the Just Security Group at the NYU School of Law (https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/), the “10 Things,” daily entries from The Week (theweek.com), as well as a variety of newspapers and television programs.
