Cuomo Believes DA Looking at Possible Criminal Charges Over Buffalo Police Incident

The United States has been facing violent protests and riots since last week, following the death of an African American man, George Floyd, in police custody.

More than 250 people were arrested in New York City during protests against police brutality on Thursday night, a NYPD spokesperson said.

Earlier this week, a curfew was imposed in the city to last from 8 pm until 5 am following the incidents of violence and looting during the protests.

More demonstrations are expected to take place in New York on Friday as people continue to express their anger over police brutality in the US.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202006051079524659-Live-Updates-Cuomo-Believes-DA-Looking-at-Possible-Criminal-Charges-Over-Buffalo-Police-Incident/

Detroit Father Of 5 ‘Devastated’ After Riots Destroy His Home

A Detroit father of five said Thursday that he was “devastated” after his home and work truck were destroyed in riots that occurred in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.

The man, identified by a local Fox affiliate as Roderick Reynolds, said he put all his money into the house.

“I put my family first. I put every dollar I got into this house,” Reynolds told Fox. “It’s a lot of stuff that I want, but I prioritize for my family. Every dollar. Every dollar I get I put into my house, and I take care of my kids.”

“It’s devastating for me, but I mean, I’m a big boy, so I’m gonna just keep on pushing,” he continued.

A GoFundMe was set up for Reynolds and his family, with the goal of raising $100,000. The goal was quickly surpassed, with 13,000 unique donors and over $300,000 in funds as of Friday morning.

Protests have sprung up throughout the country in response to Floyd’s death after a video surfaced showing former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinning him to the ground shortly before his death while in custody. All four officers involved in the incident have been fired and charged with crimes related to Floyd’s death.

Some protests have turned violent and nearly every major city in the U.S. has experienced rioting. An estimated 15 people have died to-date in the riots — some civilian, some police force — and countless businesses and homes have been destroyed.

In the Minneapolis area, where the protests and riots began, many businesses have set up GoFundMe pages of their own to help rebuild.

Despite the extensive damage, some have argued that property destruction should not be understood or spoken about in the same way as violence against persons. New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote earlier this week that property damage is “not violence” because property “can be replaced.”

“Destroying property which can be replaced is not violence,” she said. “I think any reasonable person would say we shouldn’t be destroying other people’s property. But these are not reasonable times.”

A number of instances of alleged police violence have been caught on camera during the protests. Two Buffalo police officers were recently suspended after video apparently showed them pushing an elderly man to the ground.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/05/detroit-father-roderick-reynolds-riots-property-destruction-george-floyd/

Lisa Page Starts New Political Job as MSNBC Analyst…

The notoriously political DOJ lawyer who was assigned to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, has joined notoriously political DOJ lawyer Andrew Weissmann as a paid MSNBC analyst. The media are not even pretending any more.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/05/lisa-page-starts-new-political-job-as-msnbc-analyst/

US Customs and Border Protection asks for help as the new southern border wall gets sawed through and climbed over

Now what?

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has put up 180 miles of new border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but there's a problem: The agency can't figure out how to stop smugglers and other illegal border crossers from cutting through or climbing over the new barriers.

Now the CBP is asking private industry for help.

What's happening with the wall?

President Donald Trump vowed to have about 500 miles of new border fencing built before the end of 2020. So far, the government has put up 182 miles, acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan told Fox News last month.

The agency tasked with building the 30-foot-tall steel bollard wall posted a notice seeking private industry's help to stop people from being able to saw through and climb over the border barrier. From the CBP posting:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recognizes that industry, other agencies, and other private entities may have interesting, innovative, and useful ideas that could be implemented to enhance and or improve mission essential operational deterrent capabilities related to the anti-climb/anti-cut features of the border wall and persistent impedance. Through the prototyping process in 2017-2018, it was identified that bollard style construction (steel slats) provided the best value and operationally effective border barrier solution to CBP.

CBP is constantly seeking to improve the effectiveness of the border wall and now is seeking further product improvements to the anti-climb/anti-cut features of the border wall barrier.

However, the CBP said the new request "does not amount to an admission that the current design is inadequate or flawed," the Washington Post reported.

“We have an adaptive adversary; regardless of materials, nothing is impenetrable if given unlimited time and tools," the agency said, according to the Post. “Walls provide the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) the ability to slow and stop potential crossings. That means building wall will deter some people from attempting to cross, while slowing the efforts of those who still try."

In January 2019, NBC News revealed a Department of Homeland Security test that showed military and Border Patrol personnel were able to cut through and destroy the bollards with common tools.

Though the government has not publicly admitted how many smugglers have breached the wall so far, records the Post obtained via the Freedom of Information Act revealed at least 18 breaches in one month last fall in the San Diego area alone.

The CBP call for help is looking for "tools to determine the best type of anti-climb and anti-breach attributes for the border wall for each sector of the Southwest Border."

"CBP is specifically looking for innovative wall designs that have the capacity to leap frog current technology to dramatically improve efficacy," the posting said.

The cutoff date for private outfits to submit white papers for consideration is June 12.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/border-wall-cut-through-climbed-over

>>9491994

really

Michael Jordan pledges $100M to promote racial equality after George Floyd's death

Commitment was announced amid nationwide protests against racial injustice following George Floyd's death

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Nike: Michael Jordan, Jordan brand donating $100M to racial equality orgs

NBA legend Michael Jordan and Nike’s Jordan Brand on Friday committed to donate $100 million over the next 10 years to support social justice causes following the death of George Floyd.

The $100 million pledge will go “to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education,” according to a statement released by Jordan’s longtime spokeswoman, Estee Portnoy. The commitment was announced amid nationwide protests against racial injustice after Floyd died while in Minneapolis police custody.

“Black lives matter. This isn't a controversial statement. Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people,” Jordan and his eponymous Nike subsidiary said in a joint statement.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/michael-jordan-100m-donation-george-floyd

'Appalling': Melbourne Black Lives Matter rally organisers defiant after decision to block Sydney event

Organisers of an anti-racism rally that could see 20,000 protesters gather in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday have defied authorities' pleas for them to call it off, slamming a NSW court decision refusing permission for a similar protest in Sydney as "appalling".

Police have warned organisers of the Black Lives Matter rally they could each face individual fines of more than $1600 for breaching coronavirus restrictions on gatherings of large groups if they proceed with Saturday's protest.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Desmond Fagan on Friday night ruled Sydney's Black Lives Matter protest did not have permission to go ahead.

In a hearing that stretched for more than four hours, Justice Desmond Fagan said the social distancing measures imposed to date had been "the key element" in stopping the spread of COVID-19, thus allowing the protest to go ahead at this time was "an unreasonable proposition".

Justice Fagan added that many forms of public gatherings had been restricted, including funeral services which loved ones had not been able to attend.

He said the right to gather for such a protest was not being "taken away", it was being "deferred".

Justice Fagan did not make an order prohibiting the protest, but refused an order allowing it to go ahead, which had the same legal effect. Protesters may still attend the event, as organisers have foreshadowed, but may be exposed to criminal sanctions for doing so.

Tarneen Onus-Williams, an organiser of Melbourne’s rally, said the NSW decision was "appalling".

"Considering the NRL is going ahead next week, this has shown that police and government are targeting Aboriginal people," she said.

She said activist group Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) believed the NSW Supreme Court decision was a move to "silence Aboriginal people’s voice", and did not accept authorities' fears that the protest could result in a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"Not at all, the NRL is opening up [for spectators] next week," she said. "We’re an essential service, saving black lives and protecting black lives is an essential service.”

On Friday, Victoria's police force, Premier and Chief Health Officer all asked people not to attend the Melbourne rally, while the Prime Minister and federal Health Minister also urged against taking part in protests across Australia on Saturday.

Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton, who was named the state's new Chief Commissioner this week, said police had been urging organisers to cancel the Black Lives Matter rally, which will converge on the steps of Parliament House from 2pm.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said that Victoria's effort to suppress COVID-19 could be set back by the planned rally, which is expected to attract tens of thousands of people.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-organisers-of-stop-black-deaths-in-custody-rally-defy-authorities-pleas-to-call-it-off-20200605-p54zv6.html

Whitmer Dodges Coronavirus Oversight Probe

Potential VP pick refuses to testify in oversight hearing about admin's contract with Dem firm

Michigan's Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer refused an invitation to testify before a special oversight committee created by the state legislature to examine her widely criticized handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Republican state lawmakers on Thursday requested that Whitmer testify before the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, which was created after the governor awarded a lucrative coronavirus-related contract to a major Democratic consulting firm that had previously worked for her campaign. Whitmer said she would not testify during a Friday press conference, citing the legislature's ongoing lawsuit over her use of executive authority throughout the pandemic.

"At this point we are in a legal battle and I don't think that testifying in front of the committee makes a lot of sense," Whitmer said. "So I won't be accepting the invitation."

Committee chairman Matt Hall slammed Whitmer's decision in a Friday statement, saying the governor "didn't even wait 24 hours to decide she was not willing to be honest and forthright with them."

"The COVID-19 outbreak has ushered in unprecedented times for our state, altering lives and livelihoods. Many people feel like they don't have a voice as decisions are being made," Hall said. "Our committee has allowed people to have a platform to make their voice heard, so I am disappointed the governor will not offer Michigan residents the clarity they need and deserve by testifying before our select committee."

Whitmer, a potential vice presidential candidate, initially said she would "absolutely" allow administration officials to testify before the committee if requested during a May press conference. Her spokeswoman later walked back the pledge, saying state officials would "do their best to accommodate requests to participate." The committee currently has the power to subpoena documents but cannot compel state officials to testify.

https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/whitmer-dodges-coronavirus-oversight-probe/

Senate GOP authorizes broad subpoena power in election-year probe of Russia investigation

From The Washington Post:

Republicans on a Senate panel voted Thursday to authorize a sweeping set of potential subpoenas targeting the origin of the federal investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign, with a focus on several senior members of former president Barack Obama’s administration.

The vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee represents the escalation of an election-year GOP campaign to recast the investigations that consumed much of the president’s first two years in office as the product of backroom manipulation, corner-cutting and subterfuge orchestrated by Trump’s political enemies.

…

“I think they are reacting to public pressure,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which had led the pro-Trump campaign against the Obama Justice Department. “There are tens of millions of Americans who are exceedingly frustrated that there’s been zero accountability to date, and I think Republicans are all of a sudden recognizing that. That’s the number one question I get asked: Why hasn’t anyone gone to jail? Why hasn’t anything been done? And the Senate hasn’t done much.”

While Graham has focused his committee on actions inside the Justice Department in 2016 and 2017, Johnson has focused his interest in the State Department — and alleged efforts by officials there to foment law enforcement interest in the allegations of British intelligence operative Christopher Steele. That has been aided by troves of documents handed over by the Trump administration — and more could be on its way.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/in-the-news/senate-gop-fitton/