2020-09-06: News Headlines

Tanya Wallace-Gobern (2020-09-06). This Labor Day, 'Black Lives Matter' Must Mean Justice for Black Workers. progressive.org The economy was failing Black workers before the pandemic—and now, even as many are deemed essential, they're being treated as disposable.

Fight Back (2020-09-06). Tallahassee protesters jailed after demonstration against grand jury decision that lets killer cops off hook. fightbacknews.org Tallahassee, FL — The Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) took to the streets, September 5, in response to a grand jury decision, released the day before, that exonerated Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) officers in three murders of Black men thus far in 2020. The grand jury found that TPD's use of force was 'justified' in the shooting deaths of Mychael Johnson in March and Wilbon Woodard and Tony McDade in separate incidents in May. | The protest included a march and car caravan through downtown Tallahassee, ending at the Historic Florida State Capitol, demanding legal action against the offic…

El Cerrito Progressives (2020-09-06). Tuesday 9/8: Caravan for Black Lives Matter – El Cerrito. indybay.org El Cerrito Plaza BART n/e Parking lot at the corner of Richmond St. and Central Ave.

Staff (2020-09-06). Incarcerated People Are Challenging Deadly Pandemic Conditions in Prisons. truthout.org On April 10, Esther Arias made a video call to her son and asked him to Arias wanted the larger public to know about how the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, was handling COVID. One woman, she said, had tested positive three times — but remained in the housing unit. Four other women had been placed in quarantine, then onto her housing unit, she said. | In March, Attorne…

news.un (2020-09-05). End secret detention of rights defender, independent experts urge Pakistani authorities. news.un.org Independent UN rights experts have called on the Government of Pakistan to end the secret detention of a human rights defender, who has not been heard from in more than nine months.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-05). Palestinian prisoner Daud Al-Khatib dies after 18 years in Israeli jail. peoplesdispatch.org Daud Al-Khatib died a few months ahead of his release. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society alleged that al-Khatib was not given proper medical care by the prison authorities…

Raphael Satter (2020-09-05). U.S. court: Mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden was illegal. zcomm.org "Today's ruling is a victory for our privacy rights," the ACLU said in a statement, saying it "makes plain that the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' phone records violated the Constitution."

El Cerrito Progressives (2020-09-05). Tuesday 9/8: Caravan for Black LIves Matter- El Cerrito. indybay.org El Cerrito Plaza BART n/e Parking lot at the corner of Richmond St. and Central Ave.

_____ (2020-09-05). Washington State Police Target Black March Organizers With Arrests. popularresistance.org On Friday morning the Washington State Patrol (WSP) arrested nine people on suspicion of disorderly conduct during a protest that shut down the southbound lanes of I-5, congested Seattle streets, and backed up traffic to Bellevue. | Marchers say they block traffic to disrupt people living their day-to-day lives, and to bring the Black Lives Matter protest to where those people are. | Last week Morning Marchers shut down the Ballard Bridge. Yesterday, they shut down the southbound lanes on State Route Highway 99.

_____ (2020-09-05). Report: Georgia Wrongfully Purged 200,000 Voters. popularresistance.org A seven-year investigation of voter suppression in Georgia has found that the state likely removed 200,000 voters from its rolls who were, in fact, eligible to vote. The voters whose registrations were removed were also overwhelmingly concentrated in the counties comprising the Atlanta Metro area, according to initial findings released on Wednesday. | Conducted by the Palast Investigative Fund, which specializes in data journalism, and released by the ACLU of Georgia, the report reviewed more than 300,000 registered voters whom the state had purged from its rolls.

sputniknews (2020-09-05). New York Blue Lives Matter Founder Claims Mayor And Governor 'Pit Officers Against The Community'. sputniknews.com New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to cut $1 billion from the budget of the city's police department amid Black Lives Matter protests, while New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo wants 4,000 cops to police social distancing in restaurants.

Staff (2020-09-05). Trump Admin Faces Injunction for Trying to End 2020 Census Counting Prematurely. truthout.org Civil rights organizations and local governments in California late Friday filed a request in a San Jose federal court for an emergency nationwide injunction against the Trump administration's effort to end 2020 Census counting prematurely—a move critics warn is a blatant effort by the president and his Republican allies to "sabotage" the once-in-a-decade count for long-term political advantage. | "Trump seeks to sabotage the #2020Census by TERMINATING critical door knocking operatio…

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-09-05). Civil Rights Groups Request Emergency Injuction to Stop Trump 'Sabotage' of 2020 Census. commondreams.org "Fighting a pandemic is already a high hurdle to clear in obtaining an accurate count. It's outrageous that we must also fight against an administration seeking to skew our population numbers." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/was2968494_0_0.jpg

WSWS (2020-09-04). German court sentences members of leftist Turkish party to prison. wsws.org The verdict sends the message that anyone who is left-wing and/or opposes a regime allied with Germany can be imprisoned for years.

Paul Street (2020-09-04). Trump Knows What He's Doing — He Needs to Go Now. counterpunch.org This is an actual statement from the President of the United States in a recent interview with his fellow far-right white nationalist Laura Ingraham of Fatherland (FOX) News: "Black Lives Matter is a Marxist organization…The first time I ever heard of Black Lives Matter, I said, 'That's a terrible name.' It's so discriminatory. It's bad for Black people. It's bad for everybody."

Ted Kelly (2020-09-04). Prison-industrial complex: Harvard students demand divestment. workers.org A student-led organization called the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign is fighting to dismantle the prison-industrial complex, starting with their own school's administration. Research has exposed that portions of Harvard University's $39 billion endowment are invested in the notorious prison profiteers GEO Group and Core Civic. The website of the campaign, . . . |

Staff (2020-09-04). 108 inmates test positive for COVID-19 in 'trailer jail'. therealnews.com The jail was only reporting 78 active cases, but this number doesn't include people who were already released or those who's test results have not come in yet, so the real number is likely much higher.

Saul Foster (2020-09-04). Killing in Kenosha: 'Blue Lives' terror comes of age. mronline.org The killing of two Black Lives Matter protesters by a vigilante represents a new departure for violent reaction, argues Wisconsin activists Michael Billeaux.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-09-04). Biden's platform for workers: Labor law-breakers to jail. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON —A $15 federal minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, no trade pacts like the job-losing old NAFTA, support for public schools and teachers, repeal of so-called "Right To Work" laws. And enacting the Protect the Right to Organize Act with a twist: Real tough penalties for labor law-breakers, including "criminal penalties" for repeat …

RT (2020-09-04). Dutch appeals court finds Geert Wilders guilty of insulting Moroccans but acquits him of inciting discrimination. rt.com A Dutch appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that found right-wing politician Geert Wilders guilty of inciting discrimination against 400,000 Moroccans in the Netherlands, but found him guilty of insulting them. | The judge in the town of Schiphol near Amsterdam also rejected the prosecution's application for Wilders to be fined €5,000. | He said that the man has "already paid a high price for years for expressing his opinion." Wilders has been living under constant police protection for over a decade now, due to death threats provoked mainly by his criticism of Islam. | However, the court up…

Frank Joyce (2020-09-04). Property Values Matter. Bigly. counterpunch.org White supremacy isn't just rooted in white people owning Black people. It's about white people owning the Native people's land too. There they went. Again. The opening night prime time proceedings of the Republican Convention prominently featured Mark and Patrice McCloskey. They are the couple who brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protestors in their

Fight Back (2020-09-04). Black Lives Matter mourns and denounces another killing by LA sheriffs. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles called for justice for Dijon Kizzee at their weekly "DA Jackie Lacey Must Go" protest, September 2. Many families, victims of LAPD and LA sheriff killings and brutality, as well as organizations like Centro CSO, gathered outside of the offices of Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey. | Dijon Kizzee was shot over 20 times in South LA on the evening of August 31, over an unspecified vehicle code violation while riding a bicycle with a bundle of clothes. In the police version, Kizzee dropped a handgun when the altercation turned viole…

Tracey L. Rogers (2020-09-04). The Weathering of Black America. counterpunch.org After Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, his autopsy report revealed that at the young age of 39, he had "the heart of a 60-year old." Doctors concluded that King's heart had aged due to the stress and pressure endured throughout his 13-year civil rights career. A 13-year tribulation sounds more fitting. Along

_____ (2020-09-04). Black-Led Resistance Movements Are Paving The Way For Reparations. popularresistance.org Months after the police killing of George Floyd sparked racial justice protests around the world, Black Lives Matter activists are once again flooding the streets — this time in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Among the demands that continue to ring out is the call for reparations, or payment to people of African descent. Several African countries — including Namibia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — have also joined the call, demanding reparations from European countries for the perpetration of genocide under colonialism.

_____ (2020-09-04). Portland Protest Killing Suspect Acted In Self Defense, Murdered During Arrest. popularresistance.org Ever since a member of the right-wing "Patriot Prayer" group was shot and killed during a violent rally in downtown Portland August 29, the police investigation has reportedly focused on 48-year-old Michael Forest Reinoehl, an Army veteran and father of two who has provided what he called "security" at Black Lives Matter protests. | The Wall Steet Journal reported earlier that Reinoehl was a person of interest in the killing of Aaron "Jay" Danielson, who was taking part in a massive pro-Trump caravan that began in Clackamas earlier in the day.

Jonathan Cook (2020-09-03). For Years, Journalists Cheered Assange's Abuse. Now They've Paved His Path To a US Gulag. commondreams.org "All indications are that Assange will be extradited to the US to face a rigged grand jury trial meant to ensure he sees out his days in a maximum-security prison, serving a sentence of up to 175 years," writes Cook. (Photo: Hollie Adams/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/free_assange_0_1.jpg

Staff (2020-09-03). Headlines for September 3, 2020. democracynow.org CDC Urges States to Be Ready by Late October to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine, Iowa Sen. Ernst Spreads COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories as Cases Soar in State, U.S. Pulls $62 Million in Funding for World Health Organization, U.S. Sanctions Top ICC Prosecutors for Investigating U.S. War Crimes, Trump Campaign Aide Justifies Vigilante's Killing of Black Lives Matter Protesters, Trump Moves to Cut Billions in Federal Aid to Cities, Citing "Anarchist Jurisdictions", The Killing of Daniel Prude: Naked Black Man Suffocated After Police Put Hood Over His Head, California Police Officer Charged with Shooting Dead Black Man in…

Fight Back (2020-09-03). Philippines: Trade unions call for release of vulnerable prisoners. fightbacknews.org The militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) went to the Supreme Court grounds on Wednesday, September 2, to amplify the call for the release of minor, sick, elderly and other vulnerable detainees. | "We urge the Supreme Court to decisively act on the urgent petition of kin of sick, elderly and other vulnerable detainees. The petition was filed on April 8, and no action has been taken by the Supreme Court since. We ask the Supreme Court this on humanitarian grounds in this time of pandemic," said Eleanor de Guzman, KMU secretary for human rights. | KMU cited the fragile state of prisons as basis for the relea…

Sean Murphy (2020-09-03). Lawsuit seeks redress for 1921 Tulsa massacre. peoplesworld.org Attorneys for victims and their descendants affected by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre filed a lawsuit in state court on Tuesday against the City of Tulsa and other defendants seeking reparations for the destruction of the city's once thriving Black district. The group, led by Tulsa attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, contends Tulsa's long history of racial …

Ashoka Mukpo (2020-09-03). For Black Immigrants, Police and ICE Are Two Sides of the Same Coin. aclu.org More than 20 years ago, 23-year-old Amadou Diallo was gunned down in front of his apartment in the Bronx by the NYPD. Diallo had been walking home when four officers mistook him for a suspect in a rape investigation, firing a total of 41 shots at him and hitting him 19 times after mistaking his wallet for a gun. All four officers were later acquitted of charges related to his death., , Diallo's death sparked a massive protest movement in New York City, with echoes of this summer's demonstrations over the murder of George Floyd. Furious calls for police reform were dismissed by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who…

Peter Crowley (2020-09-03). The Leprechaun Anti-BLM Meme: Irish Americans, Drop This Inanity and Support BLM. counterpunch.org Fear not, white people. Black people won't eat you. If they were to not be disproportionately killed by police and locked up in prison for things that you'd get a slap on the wrist for, it wouldn't hurt you. The resistance to black justice is clearly widespread, with even some terrorist acts against protesters in

_____ (2020-09-03). Do Any Lives Actually Matter? strategic-culture.org If there is one expression that has defined the political arguments of 2020 it is Black Lives Matter and its many derivatives like All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter and so on. But why is this the case? There is something in these statements that is very powerful, political and deeply ideological. Something about this reasoning is very effective. So, let's take a look at its internal mechanics. When people scream Black Lives Matter what do they really mean and why this particular wording has dominated recent political discourse? | Image: Just what exactly would lives "mattering" look like? | A Utopian Statement…

Fight Back (2020-09-03). Memorial for all lives lost in Florida prisons. fightbacknews.org Tallahassee, FL – Grey clouds and rain filled the Florida sky as over 50 mourners from across the state of Florida gathered on the lawn in front of the Florida State Capitol, August 22, to pay their final respects to those whose lives have been taken by the inhumane conditions, gross mistreatment and neglect incarcerated persons inside Florida prisons face every day from guards and abusive government officials. | Who remembers and mourns for those killed by state violence when those deaths are hidden and written off as insignificant by the state itself? "Every year during Black August we commemorate the death of…

ACLU (2020-09-03). Why Evicting Millions During a Pandemic is Bad For Our Democracy. aclu.org As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, people across the country face the economic devastation left in its wake. Along with staggering unemployment numbers, millions of renters now

Lynda Carson (2020-09-03). Trump regime is in lockstep with the KKK and fascist armed militias. indybay.org Black Lives Matter Protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin:…

Staff (2020-09-03). Decades-Old Gang Laws Are Being Used to Target Black Lives Matter Protesters. truthout.org This story was originally published by On July 9, Madalena McNeil bought several buckets of red paint, a ladder, and paint rollers from a Salt Lake City Home Depot store. Later that night, she accompanied two dozen other people to a demonstration outside the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office, amidst ongoing nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd by…

yenisafak (2020-09-03). Thailand reports first domestic coronavirus case in 100 days. yenisafak.com Thailand on Thursday reported its first local coronavirus transmission in more than 100 days, officials said, after a man who was recently imprisoned failed a routine test at a Bangkok jail.The man, 37, tested positive on Wednesday during scheduled weekly testing, the Department of Corrections said in a statement, adding that he had not travelled abroad or been in close contact with a known positive case.The man, a former nightclub DJ, has since been hospitalized and prisoners who came into contact with him have been isolated.All of Thailand's cases in the past three months have been imported and detected in quar…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-03). Portuguese Youth File 'Unprecedented' Climate Lawsuit Against 33 European Countries. commondreams.org "I am very afraid for my future," said one plaintiff, "with so little time to stop this situation, we have to do everything in our power to compel governments to protect us." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/fire_5.jpg

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-03). Report: Only 7% of Inmates' Loved Ones Say Prisoners Have Soap and Other Basic Necessities to Stop the Spread of Covid-19. commondreams.org Among prisoners, the death rate from the potentially fatal virus is three times higher than average. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/prison_6.jpg

teleSUR (2020-09-02). Ecuador: Judge Denies Protection To the Victims of an Oil Spill. telesurenglish.net In Ecuador, a provincial court Tuesday denied a protection action requested by social organizations for Indigenous peoples who were victims of an oil spill in the Amazon. | RELATED: | The Criminal Unit Judge Jaime Oña rejected a lawsuit that requested the adoption of precautionary measures to protect the victims, arguing that those affected can resort to administrative procedures. | The judge issued a null ruling…

_____ (2020-09-02). Documentary — The War On Journalism: The Case Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Journalists are under attack globally for doing their jobs. Julian Assange is facing a 175 year sentence for publishing if extradited to the United States. The Trump administration has gone from denigrating journalists as 'enemies of the people' to now criminalizing common practices in journalism that have long served the public interest. | Imprisoned WikiLeaks founder and editor Assange's extradition is being sought by the Trump administration, in a hearing to begin Sept. 7, for publishing U.S. government documents, which exposed war crimes and human rights abuses.

Vijay Prashad (2020-09-02). The U.S. is Determined to Make Julian Assange Pay for Exposing the Cruelty of Its War on Iraq. counterpunch.org On September 7, 2020, Julian Assange will leave his cell in Belmarsh Prison in London and attend a hearing that will determine his fate. After a long period of isolation, he was finally able to meet his partner—Stella Moris—and see their two sons—Gabriel (age three) and Max (age one)—on August 25. After the visit, Moris said that he

Judy Greenspan (2020-09-02). COVID and wildfires fuel call for mass prisoner releases. workers.org Demonstrators speak out at house of CDC Secretary Diaz on Aug. 30. Sacramento — Spiking COVID-19 levels in California state prisons, coupled with raging wildfires and dangerously poor air quality, have fueled a statewide movement demanding the mass release of prisoners. On Aug. 30, a boisterous and angry coalition of . . . |

Staff (2020-09-02). Markey beats back Kennedy while Trump spins conspiracy theories about Black Lives Matter and Antifa. therealnews.com Progressives protect a key Senate seat despite a Pelosi-backed challenge as Trump visits Kenosha despite being asked to stay away one week after a teenage supporter shot dead two protestors…

teleSUR (2020-09-02). Brazil: Court Annuls One Corruption Case Against Lula Da Silva. telesurenglish.net A Federal court Tuesday annulled one of the nine criminal cases against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to continue the process. | RELATED: | The lawsuit refers to initial accusations of corruption, influence peddling, money laundering, and illicit association made against Lula under the unproven presumption that he favored illicit busine…

Center For Biological Diversity (2020-09-02). Pesticides' Devastating Impacts on Endangered Species. globalresearch.ca The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal At the request of the

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-02). The Sentencing of Brenton Tarrant: Jailing the Man, not the Great Replacement. counterpunch.org Brenton Tarrant was sentenced last week. The Australian national who butchered, with relish, 51 individuals in Christchurch at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre, found himself facing something unique in New Zealand: jail for life without parole. He pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one of