Summary
- The US coronavirus case count is approaching 2m. The official case count is 1,999,313, per the Johns Hopkins tracker.
- Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, testified before the House judiciary committee. Floyd told lawmakers that his brother, who was killed in police custody late last month, “didn’t deserve to die over 20 dollars”. He later said that the killing of his brother was “a modern-day lynching in broad daylight”.
- Thomas Lane, one of the officers involved in Floyd’s killing, has been released after posting bond. Lane was charged with aiding and abetting in Floyd’s death, and bail was set at $1m.
- Trump will hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday, marking his first rally since the coronavirus crisis closed down states. The event could spark public health concerns, considering coronavirus infections are on the rise in 12 states. The rally will also take place on Juneteenth, in the city where a 1921 massacre of Black people occurred.
- Trump said he would “not even consider” renaming military bases named after Confederate generals. The president’s comment came two days after the Pentagon signaled it was open to a discussion on changing the base names, which have attracted more criticism as Black Lives Matter protests spread across the country.
- The Minneapolis police chief said he was immediately ending contract negotiations with the city’s police union. Medaria Arradondo, the police chief, said the contract with the police union needed to be restructured to allow for meaningful reform after the police killing of Floyd.
- A former federal judge said the criminal charges against Michael Flynn should not be dismissed. Former US district judge John Gleeson, who was appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss Flynn’s charges, argued in a new court filing that the motion should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power”.
Updated
It seems the Trump campaign is aware of the significance of the president holding his first rally since coronavirus shut states down in Tulsa, on 19 June.
Responding to a Bloomberg reporter, a Trump campaign advisor wrote that “Republicans are proud of the history of Juneteenth”.
Trump campaign’s @KatrinaPierson responds to a request for comment on the date/location of the Tulsa rally: “Joe Biden spent last Juneteenth raising money at a private fundraiser.” pic.twitter.com/k1ZrgcOQTd
— Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou (@misyrlena) June 11, 2020
Campaign advisor Katrina Pierson also said that Trump “built a record of success for Black Americans, including unprecedented low unemployment”.
In fact, although unemployment among Black Americans reached a record low during the Trump administration prior to the pandemic, most of the progress came when Barack Obama was president. Moreover, median household income for African Americans was lower in 2018 than during a peak in 2000.
Pierson also said that “Joe Biden spent last Juneteenth raising money at a private fundraiser.” On the eve of Juneteenth, Biden invoked southern segregationist senators and fondly recalled the “civility” of the Senate in the 1970s and 1980s at a fundraiser at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City. His comments drew widespread criticism at the time.
Updated
Jon Ossoff, the 33-year-old Georgia media executive, has won the state’s Democratic primary for a Senate seat.
AP projected Ossoff’s victory a day after the state’s elections descended into chaos, with poll workers reporting long lines and issues with voting machines. Ossoff, who earned an endorsement from the civil rights leader and Georgia representative John Lewis, rose to prominence after breaking fundraising records during a 2017 special election for a US House seat.
Ossoff lost the House seat to Republican Karen Handel back then. (And then Handel lost the next year to Lucy McBath, a Democrat).
Ossoff will now face off against Republican David Perdue, an ally of Donald Trump. Democrats hope that they can flip the seat in a competitive race in November.
Updated
Here’s a few of the protest in Atlanta today:
VIDEO: Hundreds of protesters marching down the entire left lane of Freedom Parkway. #AtlantaProtests #BlackLivesMattter #atlanta pic.twitter.com/yY5Uq7l24V
— Alison Mastrangelo (@AlisonWSB) June 11, 2020
The thoroughfare was named after civil rights leader and US representative John Lewis in 2018.
Coronavirus cases in the US are nearing 2m. Johns Hopkins has just added new cases to its tally for the US, with 1,999,313 currently confirmed.
Follow the Guardian’s live global coverage:
Updated
Here are some of the most striking images of protest from today.
Washington DC
Boston
New York
Updated
LeBron James is launching a voting rights organization, the New York Times reports.
The basketball star has partnered with a group of other prominent Black athletes and entertainers to start an organization called More Than a Vote. The effort will focus on fighting voter suppression, while also encouraging African Americans ro register to vote and cast ballots.
Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James told the Times. “We feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
From Guardian staff and agencies:
Nine California counties are reporting a spike in new coronavirus cases or hospitalizations of confirmed cases, raising fears that authorities may have to reimpose or tighten public health restrictions aimed at slowing the virus’s spread.
New diagnoses in the heavily populated Los Angeles area are going up in part because testing is more widely available. But officials say infections and hospitalizations in most other parts of the state are being driven by factors tied directly to the loosening of restrictions or overt flouting of public health rules. It is too soon to see whether cases will also spike after protests over the death of George Floyd swept the state.
In Sacramento county, which had 33 hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients and 14 in its intensive care units as of Tuesday, health officials said the rise in infections is tied to recent gatherings, including birthday parties and a funeral.
“Many of the cases that are showing up in hospitals are linked to gatherings that are taking place in homes – birthday parties and funerals,” said Olivia Kasirye, public health director of Sacramento county.
Nearly three months after Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home, the Louisville police released an incident report that lists injures as “none”.
A copy of the report was obtained by the Courier Journal. It described a “death investigation” and lists Taylor as the victim and three officers as offenders. But the four-page report says there was no forced entry — even though officers forcefully entered Taylor’s home with a battering ram. The report also lists her injuries as “none,” even though she was shot at least eight times according to her family’s attorneys.
The report was released after the Courier-Journal brought a legal challenge against the Louisville police department.
“I read this report and have to ask the mayor, the police chief and the city’s lawyers: Are you kidding?” Richard Green, the paper’s editor told a reporter for the Courier Journal. “This is what you consider being transparent to taxpayers and the public?”
Hallie Golden reports for The Guardian:
Governor Jay Inslee of Washington has ordered a new investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis, an African American man who died more than three months ago in police custody, following questions over the independence of the investigation.
The move comes one day after a lawyer for the Ellis family released footage from the night of his death, which shows him screaming, “I can’t breathe sir. I can’t breathe,” followed by what sounds like an officer saying, “Shut the fuck up.”
Inslee said in a statement on Wednesday that his decision came after the county prosecutor informed the state that the Pierce county sheriff’s department, which was leading the investigation, had officers at the scene of Ellis’s arrest on 3 March.
“The state will ensure an independent investigation and independent prosecutorial review into the death of Manuel Ellis,” said Inslee, adding that his office was working to determine which agency would conduct it. “We will ensure that the work is done free of conflicts of interest.”
Ellis’s death, which has been ruled a homicide, has become part of the protests over police brutality and racism that have spread across the country following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed when a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck.
Thomas Lane, one of the officers charged with aiding and abetting the killing of George Floyd, has been released on bail
Lane was released after posting bond. His bail was set for $1m.
Lane was one of the officers – including Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng – who stopped George Floyd while responding to a call about the alleged use of a counterfeit $20 bill.
While Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, Lane and the other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting Chavin.
Updated
As Trump rallies in Tulsa, a number of cities have planned protests and marches against police brutality and systematic racism.
On 19 June, marches are planned in New York and New Jersey. In Wisconsin, the Legislative Black Caucus has asked governor Tony Evers on to call a special session on Juneteenth to take up measures overhauling the policing system.
It’s unclear if the Trump campaign’s choice to hold his first rally since coronavirus shut down states on Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery, was intentional.
The president has acknowledged the date before. In 2017, Trump released a statement, saying: “Melania and I send our warmest greetings to all those celebrating Juneteenth, a historic day recognizing the end of slavery.” That year, Trump also delivered a rambling speech during Black History month, calling the late Frederick Douglass “an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”
A statue of Christopher Columbus has fallen outside the Minnesota state capital in St Paul. This appears to be the latest depiction of the colonizer to be torn down.
Columbus statue has fallen outside MN Capitol. pic.twitter.com/rbj9muDmQh
— Jessie Van Berkel (@jessvanb) June 10, 2020
People dance around the statue. pic.twitter.com/6gIPTe9nBs
— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) June 10, 2020
Yesterday, protestors in Richmond, Virginia, tore down a Columbus statue, set it on fire, and threw it in a lake. And in Boston, a Columbus statue was beheaded.
Updated
The Guardian’s technology reporter Kari Paul writes:
Amazon is implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its artificial intelligence software Rekognition amid growing backlash over the tech company’s ties to policing.
The company has posted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which advocates for police reform, but sells its facial recognition software to police forces. Amazon has not said how many police forces use the technology, or how it is used but Amazon marketing materials promoted Rekognition being used in conjunction with police body cameras in real time.
When it was first released, Amazon’s Rekognition software was criticized by human rights groups as “a powerful surveillance system” that is available to “violate rights and target communities of color”. Advocacy groups also said the technology could disproportionately negatively impact non-white people.
An experiment run by the ACLU in 2018 showed Rekognition incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress to photos of people arrested for a crime. It disproportionately misidentified Congress members who are not white.
In a statement on its blog Wednesday, Amazon said it will pull the use of its technology from police forces until there is stronger regulation around it. The move follows IBM putting a permanent end to its development of facial recognition technology.
“We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge,” Amazon said. “We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.”
Updated
Nancy Pelosi has requested that Confederate monuments be removed from display at the US capital.
In a letter to the leaders of the Joint Committee on the Library, Pelosi wrote: “The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation. Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals.”
Pelosi and other Democrats in Congress tried to pass legislation to have Confederate statues removed from the capital in 2017, in the wake of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
Updated
In another emotional moment in an already emotional, hours-long hearing, Georgia congresswoman Lucy McBath told Philonise Floyd: “I know your pain.”
“I can’t sit here and say I can only imagine,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I know what you are going through.”
McBath’s son Jordan Davis, who was black, was 17 when he was murdered by a white man at a gas station in Florida after he refused to turn down the volume of his rap music.
“We have come to this hearing today as a result of a deep and morally painful wound and events that happen in this country again and again and again,” she said. “Being black while being in your own community,” she said.
“I feel the pain experienced by too many families every single day and every single day it happens it’s like a sucker punch in my heart and my gut because when is it going to stop?”
Updated
Donald Trump’s decision to hold his first campaign rally since coronavirus closed down the country in Tulsa on Juneteenth brings to mind Ronald Reagan’s choice to launch his 1980 campaign with a speech lauding “states rights” near the site of the notorious “Mississippi burning” murder of civil rights workers.
In 1964, three civil rights workers were abducted and killed by the Ku Klux Klan, just southwest of Philadelphia, Mississippi, and surreptitiously buried in a dam.
Reagan delivered a campaign speech within walking distance of the dam, proclaiming “I believe in state’s rights.” His language echoed that of white Southerners who used the phrase states rights to justify segregation.
Updated
Hi there it’s Maanvi — writing from the West Coast.
First up, Nascar has just announced it will be banning confederate flags at races.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 10, 2020
“The presence of the confederate flag at Nascar events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” Nascar said in a statement.
The move is significant, considering the sport’s popularity in the south. Fans have been displaying Confederate flags and symbols at racing events despite Nascar asking them not to do so five years ago. The outright ban today
The announcement is sure to be controversial with a number of NASCAR fans, some of whom display Confederate flags and symbols at racing events even five years after NASCAR asked fans not to do so.
The outright ban today comes after Bubba Wallace, the circuit’s only Black full-time driver, told CNN on Monday, “There’s going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly, but it’s time for change.”
“We have to change that, and I encourage NASCAR— we will have those conversations to remove those flags,” he said.
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, testified before the House judiciary committee. Floyd told lawmakers that his brother, who was killed in police custody late last month, “didn’t deserve to die over twenty dollars.” He later said that the killing of his brother was “a modern-day lynching in broad daylight.”
- Trump said he would “not even consider” renaming military bases named after Confederate generals. The president’s comment came two days after the Pentagon signaled it was open to a discussion on changing the base names, which have attracted more criticism as Black Lives Matter protests spread across the country.
- The Minneapolis police chief said he was immediately ending contract negotiations with the city’s police union. Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said the contract with the police union needed to be restructured to allow for meaningful reform after the police killing of Floyd.
- A former federal judge said the criminal charges against Michael Flynn should not be dismissed. Former US district judge John Gleeson, who was appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss Flynn’s charges, argued in a new court filing that the motion should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.”
- Trump will hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday, marking his first rally since the start of the US coronavirus crisis. The event could spark public health concerns, considering coronavirus infections are on the rise in 12 states. The rally will also take place on Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in America, and it comes as the president has voiced criticism of Black Lives Matter protesters.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
An astute reader of the blog just pointed out that the president’s first campaign rally in more than three months will take place on Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in America.
The rally will also be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a 1921 race massacre resulted in the destruction of black businesses and residences at the hands of angry, white mobs. The massacre has been described as “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.”
Trump’s announcement of the event comes as the president has criticized the George Floyd protests and referred to those demonstrating against police brutality as “thugs.”
Trump said his first rally since the start of the US coronavirus crisis would be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday.
The June 19 rally will likely rattle some public health experts, considering coronavirus infections are on the rise in about a dozen states.
But the president has clearly been itching to resume his campaign rallies, where he has been known to go on extended tangents boasting about his successes since taking office, which frequently require fact-checking.
After last week’s jobs report showed US unemployment had slightly dropped to 13.3%, Trump held a celebratory event in the Rose Garden that had the feel of a campaign rally. The president appeared to improvise many lines and refused to take questions from the White House reporters who attended the event.
Next campaign rally likely to be held in Tulsa, Trump says
Trump has just told the White House press pool that his next campaign rally, the first since states started shutting down in response to the coronavirus crisis, will likely be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The president made the comment during a roundtable discussion with African-American leaders from media and community activism, which did not appear on his original White House schedule.
The president said he would first hold a rally in Oklahoma before moving on to other states like Florida, Arizona and North Carolina, where the Republican national convention was originally supposed to be held.
Coronavirus hospitalizations are currently on the rise in Arizona and North Carolina, which could intensify public health concerns about resuming the campaign rallies.
The Trump campaign released a video teasing the imminent restarting of campaign rallies, which the president has said he may resume as soon as next week.
The video includes footage from previous campaign rallies, which have become a defining aspect of Trump’s campaigning style.
There is nothing like a @realDonaldTrump rally! pic.twitter.com/ZQRDnQoxAp
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) June 10, 2020
The rallies will restart “this month,” according to the video, which closes with the words “Coming soon!” The campaign has not yet released details on where the first rally will be held or when exactly it will occur.
The rallies will likely spark public health concerns, considering coronavirus infections are on the rise in many states, but some of the president’s allies have argued the recent George Floyd protests, which have attracted thousands of people, could shield the rallies from potential criticism.
Philonise Floyd: 'That was a modern-day lynching'
Testifying before the House judiciary committee for a hearing on police brutality, Philonise Floyd said the police killing of his brother, George Floyd, was a “modern-day lynching.”
“They lynched my brother. That was a modern-day lynching in broad daylight,” Floyd said of the officers who have been charged with murdering his brother.
“People was out there pleading, ‘Please, please, get off, he can’t breathe.’ People were video-recording it. Nobody cared, nobody,” Floyd said.
Floyd called on police departments to “stop hiring corrupted police officers.” “You’re supposed to serve, and you’re supposed to protect,” Floyd said of the officers involved in the killing of his brother. “I didn’t see anybody protecting and serving that day.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has just concluded her briefing, which ended with her criticizing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Returning to the topic of renaming military bases named after Confederate military leaders, McEnany reminded reporters of Biden’s past work with segregationist senators and his opposition to busing to end school segregation.
“Should we then rename the Biden Welcome Center?” McEnany asked, referring to the Delaware tourism center named after the Democratic candidate.
But those in favor of changing the base names have specifically argued that it’s offensive to have military sites named after the very generals who fought against the US Army in a conflict that killed more than 600,000 people.
A CQ Roll Call reporter asked White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany whether the president would veto any legislation that included a provision to rename military bases named after Confederate military leaders.
The reporter specifically asked if Trump would veto the defense authorization act if it included a provision to rename Army forts for “a general who won the Civil War.”
McEnany replied that the president would veto any proposal to rename American forts, arguing it was a “complete disrespect” to soldiers who trained at those forts to suggest the names are “somehow inherently racist.”
Of course, one could make the argument that the service members who left those Army bases and never returned home were fighting for American ideals and democratic principles, not for the right to name military sites after Confederate generals.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that diminishing qualified immunity for police officers was a “nonstarter” for the president.
In their sweeping police reform bill, congressional Democrats proposed ending qualified immunity, which provides police officers protection from civil lawsuits.
Criminal justice activists have long called for ending qualified immunity, arguing the legal doctrine makes it much more difficult to hold police officers accountable.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump did not regret sending a tweet suggesting a 75-year-old protester who was shoved to the ground by police was actually an Antifa plant.
“The president does not regret standing up for law enforcement,” McEnany said. She later added, “He has a right to ask those questions.”
McEnany claimed Trump had facts before he sent the tweet, but the tweet did not include any evidence of the claim, and McEnany did not elaborate on what facts the president had.
The press secretary argued that the country had become “reflexively anti-police officer,” which is “unacceptable to the president.” She also chastized reporters for making a judgment about the Buffalo incident based on a “brief snippet of a video.”
The video clearly shows the man, Martin Gugino, being shoved to the ground by two police officers, with blood quickly pooling beneath his head. Gugino remains hospitalized, and the two officers have been charged with assault.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is now holding her briefing, where reporters are asking her about the president’s recent tweets on the George Floyd protests.
Just before McEnany took the podium, White House staffers passed out a printed copy of Trump’s new tweets expressing opposition to renaming military bases named after Confederate military leaders.
The following statement from President Trump was just handed to reporters in the briefing room. pic.twitter.com/bZyylqjzrB
— Franco Ordoñez (@FrancoOrdonez) June 10, 2020
Trump says he will 'not even consider' renaming military bases
Trump said he would “not even consider” renaming military bases that are named after Confederate military leaders, even though the Pentagon has indicated it is open to the idea.
“These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a ... history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,” Trump wrote in a new tweet thread.
“The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations ... Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!”
The tweet comes two days after an Army spokesperson said defense secretary Mark Esper and army secretary Ryan McCarthy “are open to a bi-partisan discussion on the topic,” reversing decades of Pentagon opposition to the idea.
Philonise Floyd broke down moments ago discussing the police killing of his brother, George Floyd, during the House judiciary committee hearing on police brutality.
Floyd said that watching the video of a police officer with his knee on his brother’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds “felt like eight hours and 46 minutes.”
“I just think about that video over and over again,” Floyd said, getting choked up. “That’s all people talk about. ... Kids have to watch the video. His kids have to watch the video.”
Through tears, Floyd said, “My family, they just cry, and cry every day.” Floyd directly addressed the officers who have been charged with murdering his brother, saying, “Justice has to be served. Those officers, they have to be convicted. Anybody with a heart, they know that’s wrong. You don’t do that to a human being, you don’t even do that to an animal.”
He finished by saying, “I wish I could get him back. Those officers, they get to live.”
Updated
The police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck was in talks with the local prosecutor to strike a plea deal before his arrest, according to a new report.
Derek Chauvin, who was fired on May 26, the day after Floyd was killed, was arrested three days later and, initially, charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter by the Hennepin county attorney Mike Freeman.
Chauvin’s legal team had been in negotiations with that office and with the federal prosecutor, Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for Freeman, told NBC earlier. However, those negotiations failed.
Eric Nelson, a defense lawyer for Chauvin, declined comment to NBC News today, the TV network reports.
Minneapolis officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck was in plea bargain talks before arrest https://t.co/Aet1e5VAAB
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) June 10, 2020
The following week, the state of Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, took over the investigation from the county team. Shortly afterwards, the charge against Chauvin was increased to second-degree murder.
And the three other now-former officers who were also involved in the arrest and restraint of Floyd were charged with aiding and abetting murder.
All four cops remain behind bars, following initial court appearances in Minneapolis, as protests have spread across the country and internationally, calling for an end to systemic racism, especially in policing, and comprehensive reform.
Senior White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he does not believe there is systemic racism in America, despite the recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Kudlow said he did not consider African Americans’ heightened levels of unemployment in comparison to white Americans to be a sign of institutional discrimination.
“I don’t believe there is systemic racism,” Kudlow told reporters gathered on the White House driveway, blaming the recent police killings on some “bad apples” within departments.
The Trump campaign is demanding that CNN retract a recent poll showing the president 14 points down against Joe Biden, CNN is now reporting.
According to CNN, the president’s reelection campaign sent a cease and desist letter to CNN president Jeff Zucker demanding that the network retract and apologize for the poll.
CNN immediately rejected the campaign’s request. “We stand by our poll,” said Matt Dornic, a CNN spokesman.
The poll showed Biden attracting the support of 55% of registered voters, in comparison to Trump’s 41%. The results also found Trump’s approval rating to be at 38%, his worst showing since January 2019.
The president said earlier this week that he was hiring an outside firm to review CNN’s poll and other recent surveys showing him losing to Biden, an announcement that was quickly met with mockery on social media.
Fired watchdog spills to Congress
The independent State Department watchdog fired by Donald Trump says top department officials tried to bully him and dissuade his office from conducting a review of a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
Former Inspector General Steve Linick told Congress last week that two senior officials sought to block an inquiry into the arms deal, according to a transcript of the interview made public Wednesday by Democrats leading an investigation into his dismissal, The Associated Press reports today.
Linick, who had been inspector general since 2013, also said he was looking into previously reported allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife may have misused government staff to run personal errands and several other matters.
Trump abruptly fired him late on May 15 with what Linick said was no warning or cited cause.
“I was in a state of shock because I had no advance notice of anything like that,” Linick said, recalling his reaction when he was informed of Trump’s decision. “I had no indication whatsoever.”
Shortly after the transcript was released, Pompeo called Linick a “bad actor” who had been acting inappropriately and not in the best interests of the State Department.
Pompeo did not address the allegations of attempted bullying. He stood by his recommendation that Trump fire Linick, one of several inspectors general whom the president has recently dismissed.
Linick said he had opened a review of last year’s $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia at the request of lawmakers who claimed Pompeo had inappropriately circumvented Congress to approve the deal.
Linick said the State Department’s top management officer, Brian Bulatao, and legal adviser Marik String tried to stop him.
Bulatao “said that we shouldn’t be doing the work because it was a policy matter not within the IG’s jurisdiction,” Linick said, adding that both Bulatao and String “were of the same mind” on the matter.
Linick said in the interview that he believed the Saudi review, which is continuing, was appropriate.
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
-
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, testified before the House judiciary committee. In his opening statement for the panel’s hearing on police brutality, Floyd told the lawmakers that his brother “didn’t deserve to die over twenty dollars.” “It is on you to make sure his death isn’t in vain,” Floyd said.
- The Minneapolis police chief said he was immediately ending contract negotiations with the city’s police union. Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said the contract with the police union needed to be restructured to allow for meaningful reform after the police killing of Floyd.
- A former federal judge said the criminal charges against Michael Flynn should not be dismissed. Former US district judge John Gleeson, who was appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss Flynn’s charges, argued in a new court filing that the motion should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.”
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Former judge says charges against Flynn should not be dismissed
A former federal judge appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against Michael Flynn has concluded that the move represented an abuse of power.
Former US district judge John Gleeson argued in a new court filing that the justice department’s motion to dismiss should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.”
Gleeson, who was appointed by US district judge Emmet Sullivan to review the unusual request, accused the justice department of engaging in “highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President.”
Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017 about his contact with the former Russian ambassador to the US.
Flynn was waiting to be sentenced by Sullivan when the justice department announced it was moving to drog the charges against him. The situation has put Sullivan in a unique and difficult position, and the judge will now have to determine whether to grant the justice dpeartment’s request.
If Sullivan moves forward with sentencing, Flynn’s team will almost certainly appeal the decision, so this legal saga is likely to continue.
Updated
More than 1,200 former DOJ staffers call for investigation into Barr's role in removing protesters
More than 1,200 former employees of the justice department are calling for an investigation into attorney general William Barr’s role in the forcible removal of peaceful protesters from near the White House last week.
In a letter to the justice department inspector general Michael Horowitz, the former staffers said, “We are deeply concerned about the Department’s actions, and those of Attorney General William Barr himself, in response to the nationwide lawful gatherings to protest the systemic racism that has plagued this country throughout its history, recently exemplified by the brutal killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by sworn law enforcement officers acting under the color of law.”
The letter noted that those who have signed on to the request have worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations. The former staffers said they had severe concerns about Barr’s role in the decision to use tear gas against protesters in order to allow Trump to stage a photo op at a nearby church.
The former staffers said they were also concerned about the decision to deploy federal law enforcement officers to Washington, DC, in response to the protests.
“For all of these reasons, we are asking you to immediately open and conduct an investigation of the full scope of the Attorney General’s and the DOJ’s role in these events,” the letter says.
“If the Attorney General or any other DOJ employee has directly participated in actions that have deprived Americans of their constitutional rights or that physically injured Americans lawfully exercising their rights, that would be misconduct of the utmost seriousness, the details of which must be shared with the American people.”
Trump to travel to Dallas for discussion on race relations
Trump is expected to travel to Dallas, Texas, tomorrow for a discussion on race relations and policing, in response to the police killing of George Floyd.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the president will announce a plan for “holistic revitalization and recovery.” White House spokesman Judd Deere shared the Dallas Morning News article on the upcoming trip.
#BREAKING: @realDonaldTrump will travel to Dallas tomorrow to participate in a roundtable with faith leaders, law enforcement, & small business owners to discuss solutions to historic economic, health, and justice disparities in American communities | https://t.co/PbpNy4o5gl
— Judd Deere (@JuddPDeere45) June 10, 2020
The event is scheduled to occur before a high-dollar fundraising dinner in Dallas, which is expected to bring in $10m for the president’s reelection campaign.
The discussion comes as Trump has faced calls to deliver a national address on police brutality in recent weeks, as protests in response to Floyd’s death have spread across the nation.
But the president’s aides have brushed off questions about a potential speech, which would likely be ill-received considering Trump’s controversial comments about the protests.
Most recently, the president suggested (without evidence) that a 75-year-old protester who was shoved to the ground by two Buffalo police officers was actually an Antifa plant.
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The barriers near the White House, which were erected in response to the George Floyd protests, are starting to come down, nearly two weeks after demonstrators first took to Washington’s streets to condemn police brutality.
A member of the Secret Service looks on as workers begin to remove the protest barriers on the Ellipse, just south of the White House, following 12 days of protest. pic.twitter.com/f0bRBRMbuR
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) June 10, 2020
The National Park Service said yesterday that Lafayette Square would soon reopen, but the agency noted some parts would “remain closed to allow the park to address damages and safety hazards.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer sent Trump a letter earlier this week calling on him to remove the barriers, but the White House claimed it was decision for NPS and the Secret Service.
In the days since the barriers went up, the temporary fencing has become somewhat of a monument to Floyd, who was killed in police custody late last month.
Protesters had taken to putting their signs, which include Floyd’s name and “Black Lives Matter,” on the fencing. When NPS announced the fencing would be removed, people started removing the signs to preserve them. and the Smithsonian has said it will collect some of the signs to commemorate the protests.
In his press conference, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo sharply condemned the actions of the officers involved in the killing of George Floyd.
Arradondo refused to even say the name of Derek Chauvin, who kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes and has now been charged with second-degree murder.
A reporter noted that this misconduct may not have come to light if a civilian had not recorded Floyd’s last moments.
Arradondo responded by encouraging civilians to record and report such police misconduct to superiors, saying he was “thankful” the incident had been recorded so that Floyd and his family can get justice.
Philonise Floyd: 'He didn’t deserve to die over $20'
Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo declined to provide further details about the 911 call that brought police officers to George Floyd.
But Arradondo emphasized that the call could not possibly justify the killing of Floyd. “There is nothing in that call that should have resulted in Mr Floyd’s death,” Arradondo said.
Police officers were called to a Minneapolis convenience store because Floyd allegedly tried to pay using a counterfeit $20 bill.
This morning, Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, testified before the House judiciary committee and said, “He didn’t deserve to die over $20. I am asking you, is that what a black man’s life is worth? $20? This is 2020. Enough is enough.”
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Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said the contract with the police union needed to be restructured to allow for meaningful reform after the police killing of George Floyd.
Arradondo expressed frustration with being unable to terminate officers after violent incidents because they are protected by a third-party mechanism.
“I think it’s very clear that we have to evolve,” Arradondo said, describing the protocol for contract negotiations as “antiquated” and insufficent for meeting the needs of all stakeholders.
Minneapolis police chief says he is withdrawing from contract negotiations
Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said he is immediately withdrawing from contract negotiations with the city’s police union.
Arradondo said he would restart an effort to use early warning signs to identify troubled officers.
Arradondo’s announcement come as many call for the resignation of Bob Kroll, the leader of the Minneapolis police union who described George Floyd as a “violent criminal.”
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Among the witnesses called by Republicans was Angela Underwood Jacobs, the sister of Dave Patrick Underwood, an officer with the federal protective service who was fatally shot while on duty during a protest in Oakland over the police killing of George Floyd.
In her remarks, Jacobs, the first African-American woman elected to the city council in Lancaster, California, said she could relate to the pain and anguish felt by the Floyd family.
But she forcefully disagreed with some of the solutions being proposed by activists demanding policing reforms, and said such changes could leave law enforcement officers more vulnerable.
“Police brutality of any kind must not be condoned; however it is blatantly wrong to create an excuse out of discrimination and disparity to loot and burn our communities, to kill our officers of the law,” she said.
“It is a ridiculous solution to proclaim that defunding police departments is a solution to police brutality and discrimination because it is not a solution. It gets us nowhere as a nation and removes a safety net of protection that every citizen deserves.”
Trump applauded Republican congressman Jim Jordan’s opening statement during the House judiciary committee hearing on police brutality.
In his remarks, Jordan criticized Democrats over the movement to defund the police, even though that idea is not incorporated into congressional Democrats’ police reform bill.
“Great statement to Congress by @Jim_Jordan concerning Defunding (not!) our great Police,” Trump said in a tweet. “This Radical Left agenda is not going to happen. Sleepy Joe Biden will be (already is) pulled all the way Left. Many, like Minneapolis, want to close their Police Departments. Crazy!”
In fact, Joe Biden wrote a USA Today op-ed specifically stating he is opposed to defunding the police, echoing a statement released by his campaign earlier this week.
Trump also expressed frustration with Fox News for moving away from live coverage of the hearing before the witnesses called by Republicans delivered their opening statements.
“Incredible! @FoxNews just took Congressional Hearing off the air just prior to important witness statements. More like CNN!!! Fox is lost!!!” Trump tweeted.
In his opening remarks to the House judiciary committee, Philonise Floyd noted that the police were originally called against George Floyd because he allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill.
“George wasn’t hurting anyone that day,” Floyd said of his brother. “He didn’t deserve to die over twenty dollars. I am asking you, is that what a black man’s life is worth? Twenty dollars? This is 2020. Enough is enough.”
Floyd went on to tell the lawmakers, “Be the leaders that this country, this world, needs. Do the right thing.”
Philonise Floyd delivers opening remarks
Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, is now delivering his opening remarks to the House judiciary commitee for the hearing on police brutality.
Floyd described the pain of watching the video of his brother’s murder, which showed a police officer kneelng on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine mintues.
“He was our gentle giant. I was reminded of that when I watched the video of his murder,” Floyd said of his brother. “He was mild mannered; he didn’t fight back. He listened to the officers. He called them ‘sir.’ The men who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds. He still called them ‘sir’ as he begged for his life.
“I can’t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. When you watch your big brother, who you’ve looked up to your whole life, die. Die begging for your mom.”
Floyd implored the lawmakers to make sure that his brother’s death sparked meaningful change. “I’m here today to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired,” Floyd said.
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House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler offered his condolences to Philonise Floyd at the end of his opening remarks for the hearing on police brutality.
The Democratic chairman said it was important to remember that George Floyd, who was killed in police cusotdy late last month, is “not just a cause.”
“He was a man. He had a family,” Nadler said. “He had a rich life that was taken away from him far too early.”
The top Republican on the panel, Jim Jordan, also offered his condolences, saying of Floyd’s murder, “It’s as wrong as wrong can be, and your brother’s killers will face justice.”
Jordan then turned to Angela Underwood Jacobs, whose brother, federal protective services officer David Underwood, was shot and killed during the recent protests in Oakland, California.
Clearly trying to draw a direct comparison between the killings of Floyd and Underwood, Jordan repeated his earlier words, “It’s as wrong as wrong can be, and your brother’s killers will face justice.”
Floyd to lawmakers: 'It is on you to make sure his death isn’t in vain'
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, will soon deliver his opening remarks at the House judiciary committee hearing on police brutality.
According to a copy of Floyd’s prepared remarks, he will call on lawmakers to make sure that the killing of his brother sparks meaningful change to prevent similar deaths in the future.
“George’s name means something,” Floyd will tell the House members. “If his death ends up changing the world for the better. And I think it will. I think it has. Then he died as he lived. It is on you to make sure his death isn’t in vain.”
Floyd will also deliver a more personal message for his brother, who he called Perry. “Perry, look at what you did, big brother. You’re changing the world,” Floyd will say. “Thank you for everything. For taking care of us when you were on Earth, and for taking care of all of us now. I hope you found mama and can rest in peace and power.”
House hearing on police brutality begins
The House judiciary committee hearing on police brutality has now started, with Democratic chairman Jerry Nadler delivering opening remarks.
The New York Democrat said the US legacy of slavery “continues to haunt our nation,” citing statistics on discrimination against African Americans.
Nadler said the hearing would focus on how to prevent “racist acts of violence by police officers.” The chairman emphasized the hearing was “not an indictment of all police officers,” but he said too many officers abuse their power.
“This is a systemic problem that requires a comprehensive solution,” Nadler said, going on to endorse the Justice in Policing Act that congressional Democrats introduced earlier this week.
Joe Biden wrote a USA Today op-ed about the need to address the country’s systemic racism, in response to the police killing of George Floyd.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee wrote:
We know the nation we want to be. Now we have to deliver on this moment to achieve fundamental changes that address racial inequalities and white supremacy in our country.
President Donald Trump’s hate-filled, conspiracy-laden rhetoric is inflaming the racial divides in our country, but just fixing the way the president talks won’t cut it. We need to root out systemic racism across our laws and institutions, and we need to make sure black Americans have a real shot to get ahead.
But Biden once again made clear that he did not support the movement to defund the police, as his campaign said in a statement earlier this week:
If state and local governments fail to make necessary changes, the Department of Justice must have subpoena power for pattern or practice investigations into systemic misconduct by police departments and force these departments to reform.
While I do not believe federal dollars should go to police departments that are violating people’s rights or turning to violence as the first resort, I do not support defunding police. The better answer is to give police departments the resources they need to implement meaningful reforms, and to condition other federal dollars on completing those reforms.
The president’s reelection campaign has repeatedly tried to directly tie Biden to the defund the police movement, in an effort to paint the Democratic candidate as a liberal radical, but Biden’s opposition to the proposal has complicated that strategy.
Floyd's brother on Capitol Hill: 'I'm here to get justice for George'
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify before the House judiciary committee this morning.
“I’m here for my brother George. Justice for George,” Philonise Floyd has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify before the House. pic.twitter.com/rGgdnWvnkJ
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) June 10, 2020
Floyd will participate in a congressional hearing on police brutality, the first such hearing since George Floyd was killed after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Asked by a congressional reporter how he prepared for today’s hearing, Floyd simply said, “I’m here for my brother. I’m here to get justice for George.”
McEnany: Trump was just 'raising questions' with tweet about Buffalo protester
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has offered a defense of Trump’s widely criticized tweet about a protester in Buffalo, New York, who was shoved to the ground by two police officers.
McEnany said the president’s tweet about Martin Gugino, which claimed without evidence that the protester was actually an Antifa plant, was just “raising questions based on a report he saw.”
“They’re questions that need to be asked,” McEnany said. “This individual had some questionable tweets, some profanity-laden tweets about police.” She added, “No one condones any sort of violence.”
Republican senators dodged questions yesterday about the president’s tweet, which was based on a thinly sourced report from the far-right One America News Network.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has called on Trump to apologize to Gugino, who remains hospitalized but in stable condition. “How reckless, how irresponsible, how mean, how crude,” Cuomo said of the tweet. “I mean, if there was ever a reprehensible, dumb comment — and from the president of the United States.”
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was on Fox News this morning, discussing the president’s thoughts on police reform in response to the killing of George Floyd.
McEnany would not offer specifics on Trump’s plans, only saying, “There has been tremendous work done on this and a lot of progress.”
Congressional Democrats unveiled their own police reform bill, which would nationally ban chokeholds and create a national police misconduct registry, earlier this week, but Trump is unlikely to support that.
Tim Scott has also been tapped by Mitch McConnell to lead a working group of Senate Republicans on crafting their own police reform bill.
Given how difficult it was to vote, it isn’t a surprise that the Associated Press are saying that the Democratic Senate primary in Georgia still has no firm result yet - although Jon Ossoff has a strong lead.
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund posted a few hours ago illustrating just how late into the night voting had to continue in the state.
Last voter walked out at 12:37am! Technically it’s Wednesday. But the voting advocates groups refused to leave. They called the police on us but we told them we were not leaving until everyone voted. Why? Because @BlackVotersMtr pic.twitter.com/k0PcnvMJ24
— LaTosha Brown (@MsLaToshaBrown) June 10, 2020
As it stands at the moment, Ossoff has approximately 49% of the counted vote. He leads Teresa Tomlinson and Sarah Riggs Amico who have around 15% and 13% respectively. Ossoff needs 50% to avoid a run-off.
I mentioned earlier that last night a Christopher Columbus statue in Richmond, Virginia had been toppled and thrown into the lake in William Byrd Park.
Another statue of Columbus was also vandalised overnight, this time on Boston’s Atlantic Avenue in Massachusetts. The statue was beheaded.
A @7News photographer was the first one to discover the head had been knocked off the Christopher Columbus statue along the waterfront in the North End. Boston Police were on scene investigating later overnight. pic.twitter.com/YIIHUiPua9
— Korey O'Brien (@koreyobrienTV) June 10, 2020
It had previously been spray-painted in 2015 with the #BlackLivesMatter slogan.
And somebody has already updated its Wikipedia entry.
Police are investigating the damage to the statue.
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Since nine members of Minneapolis city council have vowed to dismantle the city’s police department there’s been a lot of interest in the last couple of days in how Camden in New Jersey reformed its police department in 2013.
My colleague Oliver Milman noted on Monday that the county had made a shift to community-based policing in 2013. Complaints over excessive police force in Camden have dropped 95% since 2014.
Scottie Andrew at CNN has this morning published a look at what happened next after Camden made the move. Nyeema Watson, a resident, told him “We can’t police our way out of social issues, unemployment, disproportionate health issues, economic challenges - these are things that drive crime”
But the situation on the ground in Camden seems much more positive. In part because of the way that new officers are inducted into the force. Local official Louis Cappelli says that on their first day, new officers have to go round the neighbourhood they will be patrolling knocking on doors and introducing themselves.
You can read the report here - which includes an analysis of why it is an approach that might be much harder to roll out in a larger urban area like Minneapolis: CNN - This city disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here’s what happened next
Georgia was one of five states holding primary elections yesterday, in the middle of the wave of #BlackLivesMatter protests and a coronavirus pandemic - and it did not go well.
Bill Barrow of Associated Press has been reporting on the chaotic scenes - and the potential implications it has for later in the year:
It raised the spectre of a worst-case November scenario: a decisive state, like Florida and its ‘hanging chads’ and ‘butterfly ballots’ in 2000, remaining in dispute long after polls close. Meanwhile, Trump, Biden and their supporters could offer competing claims of victory or question the election’s legitimacy, inflaming an already boiling electorate.
Barrow goes on to quote Rachana Desai Martin, a Biden campaign attorney, saying “We only have a few months left until voters around the nation head to the polls again, and efforts should begin immediately to ensure that every Georgian — and every American — is able to safely exercise their right to vote.”
The state is to have an investigation into what went wrong yesterday - with Fulton and DeKalb counties in particular experiencing difficulties.
One of the keys to whether the death of George Floyd will make a long-lasting change to policing in the US will be getting at least some elements of the Republican party on board to get legislation passed - both at state and federal levels. There’s an interesting piece from The Hill this morning looking at just whether that is going to happen.
Yesterday Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said: “None of us have had the experience of being an African American in this country and dealing with this discrimination, which persists here some 50 years after the 1964 civil rights bill and the 1965 civil rights bill. We’re still wrestling with America’s original sin. We try to get better but every now and then it’s perfectly clear we’re a long way from the finish line.”
But it is clear that a lot of Republicans think law enforcement should remain determined at a local level, and despite some words warming to the possibility, McConnell has not given any commitment to police reform legislation.
Read it here: The Hill - Senate GOP shifts on police reform
Keisha N Blain and Tom Zoellner have written for us today about how every time Black people challenge the established power structure they are characterized as criminals or radicals. They look back to how contemporaries wrote about the Haitian revolution and Sam Sharpe’s revolt in Jamaica, as well as Donald Trump description of the recent protests as “rioting” by an “angry mob”.
These words are often used to delegitimize and dismiss Black movements – to make them appear too far removed from civil society to be taken seriously. While many politicians and pundits have attempted to dismiss the current uprisings as “riots” – intimating that they are mere free-for-alls that lack purpose – that could not be further from the truth. Many of the uprisings that white Americans and Europeans have historically termed “riots” were, in fact, concentrated efforts to overturn systems of oppression in the United States and across the globe.
You can read the piece in full here: ‘Riots’, ‘mobs’, ‘chaos’: the establishment always frames change as dangerous
The Rev Al Sharpton gave an emotional eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral yesterday - and in it he echoed some of the same sentiment that Barack Obama expressed last week, that the current wave of protests feels more multi-ethnic than any previous civil rights protests in the US.
As Sharpton put it: “All over the world I’ve seen grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave master statues”. It is well worth watching.
If you missed it last night, Philadelphia’s street protested involved painting the names of victims of police brutality and racism in the road, alongside the message “end racism now”.
It was organised by John T. Brice, pastor of St. James United Methodist Church.
One of those joining in was Capt. William Fisher of the 26th District of the Philadelphia police.
People prayed and “took the knee” after the painting was complete.
Statues around the world are coming down, with protesters in Bristol, England throwing one slaver statue into the dock, and Belgium removing a vandalised statue of colonial King Leopold II in Antwerp. Last night a statue of Christopher Columbus was pulled down in Richmond’s Byrd Park, Virginia.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the statue dates from 1927, and was the first figure of Columbus to be erected in the south of the US.
Activist Chelsea Higgs Wise tweeted from the protest that “KKKolumbus is down”, and a sign saying “Racism you will not be missed” was placed by the edge of the lake where the statue was thrown.
Virginia’s governor has pledged to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee from Richmond, but this has been temporarily halted by a judge.
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The burial of George Floyd on Tuesday may have given his family some closure, but the wave of protests sparked by his killing at the hands of the police will continue today.
At 10am, the House Judiciary Committee will be holding an oversight hearing on policing practices and law enforcement accountability. Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, is among the witnesses called. Controversy continues over the handling by the NYPD of the people arrested in protests in New York.
In other US politics expected today, Joe Biden will attend a Biden finance event and then attend a virtual NAACP town hall on systemic racism. He spoke at George Floyd’s memorial yesterday, saying “Now is the time for racial justice.”
The White House diary has the president’s intelligence briefing in the morning, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will be holding a briefing at 2pm. Maybe there will be some further questions about why Donald Trump made his baseless claim that a 75-year-old pushed over by the police might be an “an antifa provocateur”.
We can also expect further reaction to the cancellations of shows and the pulling of films from streaming services as companies re-examine them in the light of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign.
I’m Martin Belam, I’ll be running our coverage for a couple of hours until the New York office takes over. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
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