LATEST: Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the legal team, and the family of George Floyd have submitted an Urgent Appeal to the United Nations to intervene in the case of Floyd’s death and make recommendations for systemic police reform in the U.S. https://t.co/zKxOn2ba9m
— ABC News (@ABC) June 8, 2020
George Floyd’s family and civil rights attorney Ben Crump urged the U.N. to investigate Floyd’s death and encourage the U.S. government to press federal criminal charges against the four officers involved.https://t.co/iSz620Z4Ly
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 8, 2020
ACLU, George Floyd Family Demand UN Investigation: https://t.co/JoVuWCvmeC via @thedailybeast
— This madness MUST END! (@jamijturner) June 8, 2020
"We're asking for the United Nations to intervene and suggest first degree murder charges."
Lawyer Jasmin Rand says the Floyd family have submitted an urgent appeal to the UN to intervene in the case of his death.
Latest: https://t.co/blSJns8zn5 pic.twitter.com/KCo47xL6NA
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 8, 2020
BREAKING: House and Senate Democrats unveil sweeping police reform proposals.
"We cannot settle for anything less than transformative, structural change," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says. https://t.co/7Gga5ZcUH0 pic.twitter.com/Bt70hcd7Ns
— ABC News (@ABC) June 8, 2020
Democrats new Justice in Policing Act:
• Bans chokeholds
• Bans no-knock warrants
• Requires bodycams
• Demilitarizes the police
• Ends racial profiling
• Limits qualified immunity
• Police misconduct database
• Lynching a federal crimepic.twitter.com/CjbZ7FBYcd— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 8, 2020
From a Republican friend in Alabama (who is not on Twitter) via Text:
"Y'all had Trump down on the mat, the ref was counting to 3. The Defund Police shit is helping him back up and putting a bandaid on him. I don't get it."
— Sally Albright (@SallyAlbright) June 8, 2020
Folks, if you can't explain "defund the police to ME" – when I'm on your fucking side – how the hell are you going to explain it to somebody who hates Trump but will vote for him ANYWAY because "liberals want to get rid of the police?"
Didn't YOU tell me we needed those people?
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) June 8, 2020
Joe Biden's campaign says the former vice president does not support calls to defund police departments.
Instead, the campaign is touting a plan that includes investment in community policing initiatives, plus funding for public schools.https://t.co/3hjhsEwRnN
— NPR (@NPR) June 8, 2020
A lot of work needs to be done explaining what "defund the police" actually means. Some people assume it means completely removing all police officers. No. It means reallocating budget & resources to alternatives for public safety. Here's a helpful start: https://t.co/R7wh4DzyLi
— Wajahat "Social Distance Yourself" Ali (@WajahatAli) June 8, 2020
Calls to reform, defund, dismantle, and abolish the police, explained.: As some politicians call for reforms in the wake of police brutality protests, some city residents are demanding departments be stripped of their budget or altogether dissolv.. https://t.co/qMZtVGMbqi
— Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) June 8, 2020
President Trump: "We won't be defunding our police. We won't be dismantling our police. We won't be disbanding our police. We won't be ending our police force in a city."
Full video here: https://t.co/QPMU46TZvy pic.twitter.com/reFF89rRbG
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 8, 2020
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 8, 2020
This and the grotesque show of support outside a Buffalo courthouse are exactly why policing has to be reconceived from scratch. It's why many of their functions, and the funding that goes with them, need to be reassigned to non-law enforcement agencies. This is unsustainable. https://t.co/mCQPAn60Kt
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 8, 2020
CBS News has learned that Pres. Trump plans to resume campaign rallies within the next two weeks, even as some states see new spikes in COVID-19 cases. @POTUS has tried to turn calls for police reform into a divisive campaign issue.
@weijia reportshttps://cbsn.ws/2UpnSQH pic.twitter.com/SZK3cBFZpl— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 8, 2020
"One of the most incredible things we've seen in this country… is that the people are moving so much faster than the leaders can keep up with them, than the president can keep up with them… [Trump] has never shown real genuine empathy" – @PhilipRucker w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/HkDrHFIfAf
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) June 8, 2020
Barr seeing the end and actively trying to rehabilitate his image by contradicting @realDonaldTrump It won't work. Too much damage done. https://t.co/2hwDSRl78M
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) June 8, 2020
A fence erected to put greater distance between the president and Americans demonstrating in support of racial justice has been transformed into a makeshift memorial for black people killed by police officers. https://t.co/fi3Lh1gh22
— ABC News (@ABC) June 8, 2020
The fence outside the White House has been converted to a crowd-sourced memorial wall — almost like an art gallery — to black men and women who lost their lives at the hands of police.
Hundreds are strolling, looking, adding names and paintings and posters. pic.twitter.com/mXlZpfMAeX
— Hannah Natanson (@hannah_natanson) June 7, 2020
The President of the United States spent more of his time and energy today fighting the CNN polling unit than he did fighting Coronavirus.
— Doug Gordon (@dgordon52) June 8, 2020
***
BORISHAMBLES BRITAIN
Boris Johnson has issued a statement following the weekend's protests, saying he "will not support those who flout the rules on social distancing."
"I will not support or indulge those who break the law, attack police, or desecrate public monuments."https://t.co/23IorEg3Wp pic.twitter.com/zhJEFHkPfe
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 8, 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges the country to "work peacefully, lawfully" to defeat racism and discriminationhttps://t.co/HGaeszQTyd
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 8, 2020
After relative silence from No 10 on protests in last few days – Boris Johnson has written for The Voice newspaper https://t.co/Lzlr8QqMXZ
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 8, 2020
I seriously don't see how a woman of colour could work for a man who has called other women of colour "letterboxes" and said that people had "watermelon smiles".#Priti, sit down.#PritiPatel https://t.co/JeNcaZ9PVz
— Bonnie Greer (@Bonn1eGreer) June 8, 2020
Priti Patel and 'Future PM' being spoken about at the same time is further proof that this country’s gone to shit
— Matt (@Matt_Walker96) June 8, 2020
Seems Priti Patel & Rishi Sunak support glorifying slave traders. A couple of months ago I wrote about why their role in the Tory party is a legacy of the same colonialism that made Edward Colston’s fortune: https://t.co/71OLhhN44R
— Neha Shah (@nehashah_) June 8, 2020
The thoughts of actually reading a history book really does scare some people … pic.twitter.com/lAPsnxM2rh
— Tommy Maguire (@RationalPanic) June 8, 2020
Leading Irish historian Professor Diarmaid Ferriter says of Boris Johnson: "his stupidity is going to be more and more exposed the longer he is in power" Listen @campbellclaret to my podcast here with one of Ireland's most respected academics: https://t.co/BmJciXayv2 pic.twitter.com/JDw9MCaNVS
— Eamonn Mallie (@EamonnMallie) June 8, 2020
This is great…
I've never been prouder to be Bristol City Poet & to offer a poem to my adopted city than I am today. This piece is called Hollow and I hope you like it. I've captioned it and everything!
Rust in shame, Eddie. pic.twitter.com/LtoyXVmi99
— Vanessa Kisuule (@Vanessa_Kisuule) June 8, 2020
***
WORLDWIDE
Thread…
Who benefitted from slavery in Ireland? When it was abolished in British colonies in 1833, the equivalent of £millions of pounds was paid out in compensation to almost 100 slave owners at 80 addresses across Ireland, incl 21 addresses in what is present day Northern Ireland. 1/ pic.twitter.com/HLlmH1wSIL
— Patrick Corrigan (@PatrickCorrigan) June 8, 2020
Meanwhile..
Hey, weren’t people, like, dying by the hundreds of thousands from some virus? Is that still a thing?
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) June 8, 2020
A group of 1,000 scientists (incl. Luke O’Neill & Sam McConkey) have written an open letter saying we are choosing to live with the virus rather than do as many other countries have done, choose to suppress and eliminate this virus – ‘Crushing the Curve’. https://t.co/ah74v5Owle
— Kevin Doyle (@KevDoyle_Indo) June 8, 2020
Correction: Asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is "very rare," the WHO says. https://t.co/pRihr1ZMxE
— CNBC (@CNBC) June 8, 2020
Folks, be VERY careful with those headlines about "WHO says asymptomatic transmission rare". They may not mean what you think. https://t.co/2Wtd4qy9PW
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 8, 2020
Today saw the biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases, as the pandemic worsens globally, the WHO said. And it has yet to peak in Central America.
— Fergal Bowers (@FergalBowers) June 8, 2020
Exclusive: "The Secret Plan for US to Unwithdraw From the @WHO After Trump’s “Bizarre,” “Ruinous” Exit" https://t.co/grDyYtF4UM? via @VanityFair
— Raju Narisetti (@raju) June 8, 2020
The US is officially in a recession, the National Bureau of Economic Research says, bringing an end to a historic 128 months of economic growth, after the coronavirus pandemic swept the country and shut down the economy. https://t.co/eNs71nG9aH
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 8, 2020
The reason EU unemployment is half that in the US is because European countries pay employers to keep people employed rather than laying them off.
The US doesn't, and instead sent out stimulus checks to every citizen. Meanwhile, millions were laid off.https://t.co/lgSSi6WTCo
— Dave Keating (@DaveKeating) June 8, 2020
Australia has one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world.
So when our economy is in recession, why are we making it even harder for struggling families to find work? https://t.co/wO8KwrSQPd
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 8, 2020
oh and yeah…
The U.S. has reportedly enlisted the help of the U.K. government in their attempt to seek testimony from Prince Andrew—bypassing Buckingham Palace in the process https://t.co/HOEnmA1Tnr
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) June 8, 2020