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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Lauren Aratani (now), Joan E Greve and Martin Belam (earlier)

Breonna Taylor: family attorney says wanton endangerment charge 'doesn't make sense' – as it happened

Protesters light candles and lay flowers outside the Federal Courthouse in remembrance of Breonna Taylor in Seattle, Washington.
Protesters light candles and lay flowers outside the federal courthouse in remembrance of Breonna Taylor in Seattle, Washington. Photograph: Karen Ducey/ZUMA Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Summary

We’ll be closing this blog for now, but here’s a quick recap of where things stand before we go:

  • Protests have been seen tonight in multiple major cities across the country. From St Louis to Baltimore and New York City, hundreds are still chanting Breonna Taylor’s name and voicing their frustration over the grand jury’s decision not to charge officers for her death.
  • After two police officers suffered injuries from gunshots during last night’s protest in Louisville, local officials in the city have pled for peace. Protests in the city have been going on all day and appear to be continuing. The crowds have been largely peaceful. The city has a curfew in place that started at 9pm and will last until 6.30am.
  • Breonna Taylor’s family will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning at 10.30 am, their first since the announcement of the grand jury’s decision. They will be joined by their lawyers, including attorney Benjamin Crump.

We’ll be back soon with more live coverage of the response to the grand jury’s decision on Breonna Taylor. Thanks for reading.

Updated

Protesters in New York City are out on the streets again. Hundreds of people are in Brooklyn in support of Breonna Taylor. This is the second night of protests: large and peaceful crowds were also seen throughout the city last night.

Updated

Protests for Breonna Taylor are underway for a second night in cities across the United States.

A large crowd of protesters are still in Louisville, even as the city sent out reminders to people’s cell phones that curfew starts at 9pm. Two police officers sustain injuries from gunshots fired at the protest last night. Local officials have urged calm as protests continued into the second day.

Other cities, including St. Louis and Baltimore, are seeing a dozens of protesters chanting “Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” and holding signs demanding justice for her case.

While the people cheering behind Donald Trump at his rally in Jacksonville, Florida are wearing MAGA masks, pictures of the crowd at the rally shows little masks.

Trump holds rally in Jacksonville, Florida

Donald Trump is at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, delivering a stream-of-conscience speech about Joe Biden, Black Lives Matter protests and Democrat lawmakers.

Trump is repeating claims that the “Democratic party has been completely taken over by socialist, marxist and far-left”.

“We will ensure that Americans never becomes a socialist or communist country. These people are crazy,” Trump said.

Trump spoke about the protests against racial injustice, boasting about how federal forces “solved that problem” in Minneapolis in the aftermath of protests relating the police killing of George Floyd. “They formed a line, the easy part was walking forward,” he said. The crowd laughed as he recounted how a reporter and protestor were struck by tear gas canisters.

Trump boasted that his response to the protests in Minneapolis will help him Minnesota, though he lost the state in 2016 and the state has not voted for a Republican candidate since 1972. Current polling shows Biden has a 9-point lead over Trump in the state.

Updated

A Black man was executed today in Indiana, the first Black American to be executed on federal charges after the Trump administration’s resumption of federal executions.

Christopher Vialva, 40, was pronounced dead at 6:42 pm ET after receiving a lethal injection at a federal prison. Vialva was convicted of murdering a religious couple visiting Texas from Iowa in 1999, when Vialva was 19-years-old. Vialva shot the couple and burned them in the trunk of their car. Vialva is the seventh person to be executed on federal charges since July.

Vialva’s lawyer said that race played a role in her client’s place on death row. According to the Associated Press, the Death Penalty Information Center said Black Americans are overrepresented on death rows, and Black people who kill white people are far more likely to be sentenced to death than white people who kill Black people.

A new Fox News poll shows Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in three key states: Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Fox notes that Biden’s advantage comes from women, minorities, voters under 35 and voters over 65. In all three states, the majority of people disapprove of the job Trump is doing and do not believe that the coronavirus is under control.

A poll released today from Monmouth University showed that Trump is in the lead in Iowa and Texas, which both voted for him in 2016. The poll showed similar ambiguity of where Ohio voters stand on the two candidates.

Trump is about to speak at a rally on an airplane tarmac in Jacksonville, Florida. We’ll be tuning in.

At a press conference, Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, condemned the shooting of two police officers in Louisville last night during protests for Breonna Taylor.

“I want to condemn this act of violence in the most stark terms. It is absolutely wrong. We want to make sure that any type of activity or demonstrations remain nonviolent and peaceful,” Beshear said. “Just one person can mar something that otherwise is done the right way.”

Beshear said that he had a call with Donald Trump about the incident and said he told the president he thinks Kentucky officials have a handle on the situation but will take extra support from the federal government if needed.

Meanwhile, Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville, extended the city’s curfew and closure of downtown government facilities through the weekend, noting that “most of the violence we’ve seen have occurred after dark”. Curfew starts at 9pm in the city and ends at 6.30am.

Updated

Breonna Taylor's family to hold press conference on Friday

The family of Breonna Taylor, alongside their lawyers, including attorney Ben Crump, will hold a press conference in Louisville tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, according to the Associated Press.

While Taylor’s family has been outspoken against police brutality, they have not spoken out publicly since the grand jury’s decision was announced Wednesday. Members of her family instead posted on social media about their frustration over the announcement. Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, posted an illustration of Taylor with the caption: “It’s still Breonna for me #thesystemfailedBreonna.”

Updated

Donald Trump said that Medicare beneficiaries will soon be receiving a $200 card in the mail to help them afford their prescriptions.

“Nobody’s seen this before. These cards are incredible,” Trump said. “I will always take care of our wonderful senior citizens.”

Trump has made longstanding claims that he has lowered drug prices, though the claim is shaky given that executive orders that he’s signed haven’t been implemented or don’t do much to help.

It seems that the president is attempting to take things into his own hands after talks about having pharmaceutical companies distribute $100 cards to seniors before the election – “Trump cards” as people in the industry called them – fell through.

The New York Times reported that drugmakers balked at the idea of being a part of an 11th-hour campaign initiative that seems to be aimed at the president’s reelection campaign.

With about 44 million Americans on Medicare, if every beneficiary used their $200 card, the cost would come out to $8.8bn. Trump did not mention how the White House plans to fund the cards.

Updated

Trump unveils 'American First' healthcare plan

While unveiling his “America First Healthcare Plan” in a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, Donald Trump is veering away from healthcare and is trying to paint the Democratic party as “socialism”.

“Under the Democrats plan, costs would skyrocket,” he said. “Seniors, they’ve been paying their entire lives.” Trump said, seeming to talk about healthcare, but then seemed to veer off saying that the Democrats support “socialism and open borders”.

Trump said if the “unsolicited ballots” go out and Democrats win, “our economy will collapse”.

“What they’re doing is socialized medicine. It’s going to be a disaster in terms of quality and cost. It will ruin our country,” he said.

Trump said that Democrats’ claims that he is attacking social security is “disinformation”. “I made social security better.”


Last month, Trump directed the treasury department to allow employers to temporarily suspend collection of social security taxes and has teased the idea of cutting social security taxes.

Updated

This is Lauren Aratani taking over for Joan E Greve. Donald Trump is speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina, unveiling his healthcare plan as the Republican lawsuit against Obamacare awaits for a supreme court ruling.

Trump is saying that the plan is “much better” than Obamacare, saying that the plan would mean more affordable healthcare.

But while Trump is touting his own plan, the two executive orders he is signing today leaves most of the work to Congress to figure out.

The first order pressures Republican lawmakers to come up with an alternative to Obamacare’s protection of people with pre-existing conditions seeking healthcare. The second is aimed at “surprise” medical bills, directing Congress to pass legislation that would prevent surprise bills by 1 January, after the election.

One reporter at the speech noted not many people in the crowd are wearing masks in the indoor space.

Updated

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My Guardian colleague, Lauren Aratani, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • A man was charged in the shooting of two Louisville police officers during yesterday’s protests, the city’s police chief announced. Protests in Louisville were re-energized yesterday, after a grand jury announced no charges in direct relation to the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. One officer was indicted for blindly firing into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbors.
  • Trump again raised doubts about the integrity of the election, a day after he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be,” Trump told reporters shortly before leaving for North Carolina. The president has repeatedly claimed without evidence that voting by mail will be susceptible to widespread fraud, even though voter fraud is actually very rare and US states have been sending mail-in ballots to voters for decades.
  • The FBI director said there is no precedent for a national voter fraud effort. The FBI director, Christopher Wray, told the Senate homeland security committee: “We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise. We have seen voter fraud at the local level from time to time.”
  • Another 870,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, according to figures released by the labor department this morning. The number represents a slight increase from a week earlier and underscores the ongoing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic more than six months after it started.
  • Bernie Sanders called for the creation of an independent election commission to protect American democracy. The Vermont senator delivered a speech in Washington today, marking his first in-person event since suspending his presidential campaign in the spring. Sanders said: “This is not just an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy – and democracy must win.”

Lauren will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

The Capitol is preparing for its ceremony to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will lie in state in Statuary Hall tomorrow.

Workers displayed two portraits of the late supreme court justice in advance of tomorrow’s ceremony, which will be limited to invited guests due to coronavirus restrictions.

Ginsburg is currently lying in repose at the supreme court, where members of the public have been able to pay their respects since yesterday.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, noted today that Ginsburg will be the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the Capitol.

Updated

Polls: Trump up in Texas and Iowa, a virtual tie in Ohio

Here’s today’s polling roundup, with just 40 days to go until the presidential election.

A Monmouth University poll of Iowa showed Trump has a six-point lead over Joe Biden among the state’s registered voters, 50%-44%. When only likely voters are polled, Trump’s lead in Iowa shrinks to 3 points, 49%-46%, which is within the poll’s margin of error.

Quinnipiac University also released two polls of Ohio and Texas, both of which Trump won in 2016.

According to Quinnipiac, Trump holds a five-point lead among likely voters in Texas, 50%-45%. The race in Ohio is too close to call, with Biden at 48% and Trump at 47% among likely voters.

Trump carried all three of these states in 2016 by eight to nine points, and he will likely need to win all of them again to secure a second term.

The polling results provide further evidence that Trump’s lead is narrowing in states he easily won in 2016. With less than six weeks to go until election day and ballots already being sent to voters in many states, the president is running out of time to reverse that trend.

Updated

While speaking to reporters before leaving for North Carolina, Trump also briefly addressed the case of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT who was fatally shot by Louisville police in March.

“I think it’s a sad thing, and I give my regards to the family,” Trump said. “I also think it’s so sad what’s happening with everything about that case, including law enforcement. So many people suffering.”

A Kentucky grand jury declined to issue charges in direct connection to the fatal shooting of Taylor. Instead, one officer was indicted for blindly firing into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbors.

The announcement set off re-energized protests in Louisville yesterday, during which two police officers were shot. They are both expected to recover, and a man has been charged for the shooting.

Trump again raises doubts about legitimacy of election without evidence

Speaking to reporters before leaving for North Carolina, Trump again raised doubts about the legitimacy of the presidential election.

“We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be,” Trump said. “I don’t know that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots.”

The president has repeatedly suggested that voting by mail, which will be more common this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be susceptible to widespread fraud.

But voter fraud is actually very rare, and US states have been sending mail-in ballots to voters for decades.

Trump’s comments to reporters come one day after he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the presidential election.

Updated

Sanders calls for independent election commission to protect democracy

Senator Bernie Sanders has returned to the campaign trail and called for an independent election commission to stop Donald Trump defying the will of the people and plunging American into a constitutional crisis.

The independent senator also urged social media companies to “get their act together” and news media to prepare the American people to understand “there is no longer a single election day”.

Sanders, whose losing campaign against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary in 2016 left wounds on both sides, has earned praise this time for rallying his army of progressive supporters around Joe Biden, who defeated him in this year’s nominating contest.

In Washington on Thursday, at his first in-person event since suspending his campaign in the spring, Sanders reiterated that he is “strongly supporting” Biden. But his focus was the unprecedented threat posed by Trump to the oldest continuous democracy in the modern world.

“No matter how rich and powerful you may be, no matter how arrogant and narcissistic you may be, no matter how much you think you can get anything you want, let me make this clear to Donald Trump,” the senator said. “Too many people have fought and died to defend American democracy and you are not going to destroy it.”

Standing before four US flags and blue velvet curtains at George Washington University, Sanders said: “This is not just an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy – and democracy must win.”

The Senate just passed a resolution reaffirming the chamber’s commitment to a peaceful transition of power.

The resolution, which passed by unanimous consent, focused on “reaffirming the Senate’s commitment to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power called for in the constitution of the United States, and for other purposes”.

The resolution was introduced by Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat of West Virginia.

Manchin introduced the resolution a day after Trump refused to commit to accepting the results of the election.

Updated

Witnesses on the ground in Louisville yesterday did not see any of the riots that Kentucky Republican and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell spoke of on Capitol Hill this morning.

There were some clashes between protesters and law enforcement, the terrible shooting and injuring of two police officers, and some sporadic damage, per eyewitness accounts. But nothing constituting “rioting”.

McConnell said on the floor of the Senate this morning:

“Many Kentuckians have channeled their continuing grief and anger into a peaceful exercise of their First Amendment rights. But in Louisville last night, we saw more of the lawlessness, riots, and violence that has plagued American cities too often this year.”

Protesters called for change and chalked “Wake up, Mitch” in front of US Senate majority leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell’s residence in Washington yesterday.
Protesters called for change and chalked “Wake up, Mitch” in front of US Senate majority leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell’s residence in Washington yesterday. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Meanwhile, Josh Wood reports from Louisville, mayor Greg Fischer spoke earlier about shooting of the two officers last night.

“Violence will only be a source of pain and not a cure for pain. And we know violence is never the answer,” he said.

The city’s interim police chief Robert Schroeder said the two officers who were shot will survive. He said there were 127 protest-related arrests. Schroeder also mentioned there were some sporadic incidents of looting around the city.

Schroeder said the two officers shot last night were Aubrey Gregory, the commander of the department’s special operations division and one of the officers who has been leading protest response efforts. He was shot in the hip and has been released from the hospital. “Some say he may be the bedrock of our protest efforts” he said

The other officer shot was Robinson Desroches, who was wounded in the abdomen and had to undergo surgery. Schroeder described his status as stable.

Police have arrested 26-year-old Larynzo Johnson in the shooting. Schroeder said he is charged with two counts of assault in the first degree and 14 charges of wanton endangerment - all directed against police officers.

Updated

FBI director testifies to lack of precedent of national voter fraud effort

The FBI director, Christopher Wray, testified before the Senate homeland security committee today, and he was asked about voter fraud in the upcoming election.

Wray told the senators: “We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise. We have seen voter fraud at the local level from time to time.”

Wray added that the bureau was still “vigilant” to prevent potential voter fraud, but evidence indicates voter fraud is actually very rare.

The FBI director’s comments come as Trump tries to sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election, claiming voting by mail will be tainted by widespread fraud.

The president has presented no evidence for that claim, and US states have been sending mail-in ballots to voters for decades.

Updated

Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, moments ago made a post on Instagram about her daughter, who was shot dead by police in Louisville, Kentucky, in March, with no charges directly relating to her killing having been announced by the authorities yesterday.

The post features a painting of Breonna with the hashtag “#thesystemfailedBreonna” and her mother writes: “It’s still Breonna Taylor for me”.

Fresh protests were expected in Louisville and elsewhere in America today as public anger and sadness continue to ripple out from the stunning announcement yesterday.

A women kneels in front of a makeshift memorial in honor of Breonna Taylor, at Jefferson Square Park, in Louisville, today.
A women kneels in front of a makeshift memorial in honor of Breonna Taylor, at Jefferson Square Park, in Louisville, today. Photograph: Darron Cummings/AP

You can read the latest details here.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany finished her briefing with one of her traditional “scripted walk-offs” attacking a CNN reporter’s comments about the Breonna Taylor case.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the anti-Trump chants when the president paid his respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg were “appalling.”

As Trump visited Ginsburg’s casket at the supreme court, the crowd assembled there for the late justice’s public viewing chanted, “Vote him out!”

“Everyone has a First Amendment in this country, but I thought it was an appalling and disrespectful thing to do,” McEnany said, adding that the display was unsurprising in “the heart of the swamp.”

It should be noted that White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump would accept the results of “a free and fair election.”

There is a lot of wiggle room in that statement because Trump has repeatedly claimed (without evidence) that the election will be tainted by widespread fraud due to voting by mail.

In reality, voter fraud is very rare, and US states have been sending mail-in ballots to voters for decades.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she was not aware of a conversation between Trump and the family of Breonna Taylor.

McEnany said the president’s thoughts were with the family of Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in March. A grand jury declined to press charges in direct connection to the shooting yesterday.

White House: 'The president will accept the results of a free and fair election'

Opening up the briefing to reporters’ questions, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was immediately asked whether Trump would commit to a peaceful transition of power.

McEnany initially quibbled over the question, repeatedly noting it was a Playboy reporter who posed the question to the president yesterday.

McEnany eventually said, “The president will accept the results of a free and fair election.”

Asked specifically whether Trump would accept a loss, McEnany simply repeated that he would accept the results of a fair election.

McEnany holds White House briefing

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is now holding a briefing, and, as is now standard, she opened it by attacking Democrats.

“The radicals are in control of the Democrat party,” McEnany said at the start of the briefing.

McEnany accused Democrats of working to “shatter norms,” a comment that came one day after Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly directed her committee chairs to craft a smaller coronavirus relief package, as negotiations with the White House remain stalled.

Politico reports:

Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are meeting this afternoon to decide on what course they will take, said [Democratic] sources.

The move comes after Pelosi refused, for weeks, to consider passing another relief bill amid a lengthy standoff with Republicans and rising demands from centrist Democrats that the House take more action before the election. Putting the bill on the floor would also be a win for Pelosi’s deputy, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has been pushing the idea for weeks. ...

Pelosi asked the committee leaders to begin the process of drafting a bill in August but they have been instructed to update the package this week, according to a senior Democratic aide. It’s likely to have a price tag of around $2 trillion.

Pelosi told reporters at her press conference today that she would soon give an update on Democrats’ next steps in the negotiations.

“We’ll be hopefully soon to the table with them, but very soon showing you where our money would be spent,” Pelosi said.

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • A man was charged in the shooting of two Louisville police officers during yesterday’s protests, the city’s police chief announced. Louisville erupted in protests after a grand jury announced no charges in direct relation to the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. One officer was indicted for blindly firing into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbors.
  • Republicans committed to a peaceful transition of power after Trump refused to do so. Republican congressional leaders dismissed any suggestion that the transition would not be peaceful but largely declined to criticize the president. When asked yesterday whether he would commit to a peaceful transition, Trump said, “We’re going to have to see what happens, you know that.”
  • Another 870,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, according to new figures released by the labor department. The number represents a slight increase from a week earlier and underscores the ongoing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic more than six months after it started.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has released a full statement on the grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case.

McConnell applauded Kentucky’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron, for conducting “exactly the kind of thorough, impartial investigation that justice demands.”

Cameron attracted criticism yesterday, after he argued the officers who fatally shot Taylor were “justified” in their use of force because Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired off one shot after the officers entered the apartment.

(A 911 call from Walker shortly after the shooting indicates he did not know the shooters were police officers.)

McConnell went on to denounce violence during yesterday’s protests in Louisville following the announcement that no charges were issued in direct relation to the shooting of Taylor. Two police officers were shot during the protests, but the Louisville mayor said today that both officers are doing well.

“Many Kentuckians have channeled their continuing grief and anger into a peaceful exercise of their First Amendment rights. But in Louisville last night, we saw more of the lawlessness, riots, and violence that has plagued American cities too often this year,” McConnell said.

“I hope and expect that our Governor and Mayor will take every necessary step to secure the justice, peace, law, and order that every Kentuckian deserves.”

Joe Biden is directly linking the open supreme court seat to health care, LGBTQ rights and abortion access.

The Biden campaign released a new video compiling news footage after major supreme court decisions on the Affordable Care Act, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and marriage equality.

The video also includes images of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and ends with these words: “She fought for us. Defend her legacy.”

Biden has previously described the supreme court battle as a fight over the future of Americans’ health care.

In a speech Sunday, the Democratic nominee criticized Trump for moving forward with a lawsuit to scrap the ACA in the middle of a global pandemic.

“Health care in this country hangs in the balance before the court,” Biden said. “And now, in a raw political move – this president and the Republican leader have decided to jam a lifetime appointment to the supreme court through the United States Senate.”

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy dismissed concerns about Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power.

“President Trump will peacefully come to be sworn in again. There will be a smooth transition, regardless of the outcome,” the Republican leader said.

Like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, McCarthy declined to criticize Trump for refusing to commit to a peaceful transition.

Instead, the two congressional leaders simply reiterated that the transition after the presidential election will be peaceful and dismissed any suggestion to the contrary.

Man charged in shooting of two officers, Louisville police chief says

A man has been charged in the shooting of two Louisville police officers amid protests over the grand jury decision in the case of Breonna Taylor, the city’s police chief announced at a press conference.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said both of the officers are doing well. One was shot in the leg and has been released from the hospital, and the other was hit in the abdomen and is in stable condition after surgery.

Demonstrators took to the streets of Louisville yesterday, after a grand jury declined to issue charges in connection to the fatal shooting of Taylor.

Instead, one of the officers involved in the shooting was charged only for blindly firing into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbors.

Louisville police said earlier today that officers had made 127 arrests since the grand jury decision was announced. A city curfew remains in effect for the next two nights.

Updated

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power came as “no surprise.”

But the Democratic speaker added she had faith in the American people to make their choice known through their votes.

Asked whether she would consider formally rebuking Trump over the matter, Pelosi said, “I don’t think he’s worth the trouble at this point.”

The speaker argued the best remedy for Trump’s comments was voting him out of office in November.

“The antidote to almost every ailment I have named is the vote,” Pelosi said.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said justice was denied in the case of Breonna Taylor, after a grand jury declined to charge Louisville police officers for her fatal shooting.

Pelosi described yesterday’s announcement as “heartbreaking” and asked people to imagine if someone they loved was “murdered by the police” and “the charging decision held no one accountable for her death.”

Pelosi said Congress must pass police reform in honor of Taylor and “so many others” who have been killed by officers, including George Floyd and Philando Castile.

A Kentucky grand jury announced yesterday that one Louisville police officer would be charged for blindly firing into the apartment of Taylor’s neighbors. No one was charged for fatally shooting Taylor.

Updated

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now holding her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.

Pelosi noted that Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the Capitol.

Ginsburg will lie in state in Statuary Hall on Friday, after two days of lying in repose at the supreme court.

Trump mocked Joe Biden for calling an early lid, meaning the Democratic nominee will not be making any public appearances for the rest of the day.

“Sleepy Joe Biden just closed down his campaign for the day (Again). Wants to rest! He is a very LOW ENERGY INDIVIDUAL, and our Country cannot make it in these exciting, but complex and competitive times, with a Low Energy President,” Trump said in a tweet.

Biden said yesterday that he would be starting his formal debate preparation today, so he will likely be making fewer public appearances for the next few days, which is common for presidential candidates in the final days before the first debate.

NBC News reported earlier this month that Trump was spurning traditional debate prep, with no plans to hold a formal practice round before the first debate, which will take place on Tuesday.

Another Senate Republican, Rob Portman of Ohio, called on “both candidates” to commit to a peaceful transition of power after the presidential election.

“Throughout America’s history, the peaceful transition of power has been a hallmark of our democracy. This year, both candidates must commit to abiding by the results, no matter the outcome,” Portman said in a tweet thread.

“Under our system, the American people decide through their votes and the political leaders follow the will of the people. The peaceful transfer of power is essential to this constitutional guarantee and must be protected.”

But it should be noted that only one of the two main candidates, Trump, has refused to commit to respecting the results of the election.

When Joe Biden was asked whether he would commit to accepting the election results, during his CNN town hall last week, the Democratic nominee replied, “Sure, the full results, count every vote.”

Trump booed while paying respects to RBG

Trump visited the supreme court to pay his respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the president was loudly booed by the crowd assembled there for the late justice’s public viewing.

As the president and the first lady paused at Ginsburg’s casket, the crowd yelled, “Vote him out!”

It should be noted that the District of Columbia is not Trump country. In 2016, Trump captured just 4% of the District’s votes, while Hillary Clinton won with 91% of the vote.

This is also not the first time that Trump has been booed while making a public appearance in Washington.

When Trump attended a Washington Nationals game last October, during the House impeachment inquiry, the crowd booed and chanted, “Lock him up.”

Updated

McConnell commits to peaceful transition of power after Trump refuses to

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell pledged that the nation would see a peaceful transition of power after November’s presidential election.

“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792,” McConnell said in a tweet.

McConnell’s statement comes one day after Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he did not win the election.

The president told reporters in the briefing room, “We’re going to have to see what happens, you know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

When pressed on the issue, Trump simply lashed out against Democrats, saying, “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. And you know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

Democrats rushed to express alarm over Trump’s remarks, and a handful of Republicans stated their commitment to ensuring a peaceful transition of power.

But it is noteworthy that McConnell weighed in on the issue, given he usually dodges questions about Trump’s controversial comments.

Joe Biden has called a lid for the day, meaning the Democratic nominee won’t be making any public appearances for the rest of the day.

Biden told reporters yesterday that his formal preparation for next week’s debate would begin today, so he will likely be focusing on that for the next few days.

The first debate is five days away, and the presidential election is 40 days away.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.

More than 120,000 absentee ballots have already been returned in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin, according to an AP reporter.

But in a worrisome sign for Democrats, the return rate in Milwaukee county, where they will need a high voter turnout rate to flip the state, is lagging behind other counties.

Trump won Wisconsin by less than 1 point in 2016, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1984.

Democrats are hopeful that Joe Biden can flip the state in November, and his wife, Jill Biden, is traveling there on Monday.

Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee has been on CNN this morning. The long-standing member of the House committee on the judiciary described what came out of the Kentucky attorney general’s office over the Breonna Taylor case as “shameful”. While calling for protests to remain peaceful, she added:

It is very obvious to us that there was a grave injustice. This cries out for a civil rights investigation. The FBI needs to do its job because people are in pain, and they have a right to be in pain.

You can watch the clip here:

Police, meanwhile, now say they’ve made 127 arrests in Louisville, Kentucky after the protests.

And that is it from me today. Take care and stay safe. I’m handing over to Joan Greve.

Coronavirus cases now rising in 22 states, nationally running 16% higher than a week ago

Some strong words on the US Covid response from Sam Baker and Andrew Witherspoon at Axios this morning as they report that coronavirus cases are rising in 22 states.

There isn’t one big event or sudden occurrence that explains this increase. We simply have never done a very good job containing the virus, despite losing 200,000 lives in just the past six months, and this is what that persistent failure looks like.

They report that US is now averaging roughly 43,000 new cases per day, a 16% increase from a week ago, and that seven states – Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Texas, Utah and Wyoming — saw their daily infections rise by at least 60% over the past week.

Read more: Axios – Coronavirus cases rise in 22 states

870,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment last week

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week, supporting views the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic was running out of steam amid diminishing government funding.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 870,000 for the week ended 19 September, compared to 866,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Reuters report that claims are above their 665,000 peak during the 2007-09 recession, though applications have dropped from a record 6.8m at the end of March. While the reopening of some businesses in May boosted activity, demand in the services industries has remained lackluster, keeping layoffs elevated.

Job cuts have also spread to industries such as financial services and technology that were not initially impacted by the mandated business closures in mid-March because of insufficient demand.

There remains total stalemate on getting any kind of coronavirus stimulus package approved in Washington.

Liz Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair, has joined Steve Stivers [see 7:57] this morning in making a public commitment to upholding their oath that they will ensure a peaceful transfer of power.

Sabeel Rahman, associate professor of law at Brooklyn Law School and the president of progressive thinktank Demos has written for us this morning, on the vexed issue of the supreme court.

The strategy is clear: rig and skew elections to win legislative power in states and in the Senate despite the party’s minority level of popular support; use that leverage to pack the courts with partisans; and then use those packed courts to further skew the electoral process and to block rival legislation, as a way to hold on to power. These moves amount to an attempt to election-proof conservative control, reserving for the right the ultimate trump card that would block legislative and electoral shifts needed to rebalance democratic fairness and advance progressive policies.

Therefore, if we are to defend and rebuild our democracy, we need to advance structural reforms – including reforming the courts themselves. Congress is already considering the For the People Act, a landmark bill that would restore and expand voting rights, stop the flow of big money in politics, advance fair redistricting measures, and much more. These measures should be passed first and foremost in any new administration. But we must also start considering the prospect of structural reform to the federal judiciary.

Read it here: Sabeel Rahman – The US supreme court has become a threat to democracy. Here’s how we fix it

Associated Press reporters have been speaking to various people who were out on the streets of America’s cities last night to protest for justice for Breonna Taylor.

One person spoken to was Carmen Jones, who says she has protested in downtown Louisville every day for nearly three months. She said she feels despair after the grand jury’s decision and doesn’t know what’s coming.

“We’re tired of being hashtags. We’re tired of paying for history in our blood and our bodies and being told to respond to this violence and aggression with peace,” she said. “We did it the Martin way for the entire summer, and it got us nowhere. Maybe it’s time to do things the Malcolm way.”

Jones said she still hopes their demonstrations will lead to systemwide change in the US, but the decision in Taylor’s case makes her feel like her life doesn’t matter in America.

“I don’t think I’ll sleep the same ever again, cause it would happen to any of us,” she said. “The system does not care about Black people. The system chews Black people up and spits us out.”

Poll – Biden maintains five-point lead over Trump in Wisconsin

More polling – there’s a new Wisconsin poll, coordinated by the UW-Madison Elections Research Center in collaboration with the Wisconsin State Journal. It finds that Joe Biden maintains a five-point lead over Donald Trump. Absentee voting has already started in the state. The Journal Times reports:

Biden has the support of half of likely voters — those who say they’re certain to vote. When compared to previous Wisconsin polls this year, one of the standout results is how little voters have changed their minds.

“It really is notable just how stable the vote division is between Biden and Trump despite all the things that have happened over the course of the summer,” said Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center. “None of those things seemed to have budged the polls more than a couple of percentage points, and Joe Biden has maintained a very consistent, durable lead over Trump, despite all the turmoil in the environment.”

As with other polls, Trump’s overall job performance remains relatively stable, with 30% of Wisconsin respondents strongly approving the presidents overall job handling. Another 46% strongly disapprove.

Read it here: The Journal Times – Biden maintains lead over Trump

Police say 'close to 100 arrests' at Breonna Taylor protests in Louisville, Kentucky overnight

Police have announced that they made close to 100 arrests in Louisville, Kentucky, yesterday during the protests over the grand jury’s decision to not indict officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.

The Associated Press report that a police statement released early this morning says some people were arrested after damaging businesses and more were detained after jumping on city vehicles being used as barricades. Later, protesters who refused orders to disperse were arrested for curfew and unlawful assembly violations.

Police detain a protester last night in Louisville, Kentucky.
Police detain a protester last night in Louisville, Kentucky. Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Police also said some businesses were looted early Thursday including two City Gear stores and a pawn shop.

No further information was released about a suspect accused of shooting two officers while demonstrations were ongoing. Police said one of them underwent surgery and both are expected to survive.

There has been a lot of noise generated by Donald Trump’s refusal at his press briefing yesterday to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose November’s election.

Republican Steve Stivers has popped his head above the parapet this morning on the issue. The Ohio congressman has this morning tweeted that “Nothing defines our Constitutional Republic more than the peaceful transition of power. I’ve taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and I will uphold that oath.”

You can read more Trump’s press briefing here: Trump won’t commit to peaceful power transfer at surreal press briefing

Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin have a state of the polls piece in the New York Times this morning. Their analysis shows:

Donald Trump is on the defensive in three red states he carried in 2016, narrowly trailing Joe Biden in Iowa and battling to stay ahead of him in Georgia and Texas.

Trump’s vulnerability even in conservative-leaning states underscores just how precarious his political position is. While he and Biden are competing aggressively for traditional swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida, the poll suggests that Biden has assembled a coalition formidable enough to jeopardize Trump even in historically Republican parts of the South and Midwest.

A yawning gender gap in all three states is working in Biden’s favor, with the former vice president making inroads into conservative territory with strong support from women. In Iowa, where Biden is ahead of Trump, 45 percent to 42 percent, he is up among women by 14 percentage points. Men favor Trump by eight points.

Read it here: New York Times – Trump faces challenges even in red states, poll shows, as women favor Biden

Breonna Taylor's family attorney says wanton endangerment charge 'doesn't make sense'

The Taylor family attorney Benjamin Crump has been talking to Savannah Guthrie on Today this morning.

Clearly emotional, Crump said that yesterday’s events “underscores what I’ve said many times. We seem to have two justice systems in America, one for black America, and one for white America.”

He said the Taylor family were “outraged, insulted and, mostly, offended.”

With regard to the wanton endangerment charge faced by one officer, Crump said “it doesn’t make sense”.

They had wanton endangerment for the white neighbor’s apartment, the bullets going there. But not for the bullets going into Breonna Taylor’s body. Nor do they have wanton endangerment for the bullets that went into the black neighbor’s apartment above Breonna.

If you have wanton endangerment for somebody shooting blindly, or officers shooting recklessly, wouldn’t that rise to the occasion of wanton murder in Brianna’s case? Because she died. Then you need to make that argument to the grand jury. Breonna’s name wasn’t even listed on the indictment. So you talk about transparency, Breonna’s family would love to see the grand jury transcript to see if there was any evidence presented for Breonna Taylor’s perspective. I mean, nothing seems to say that Breonna mattered.

You can watch the clip here:

Anand Giridharadas has published on The Ink this morning a conversation with Kentucky state representative Charles Booker. He is a former Democratic candidate for the Senate, and a family friend of Breonna Taylor. He told Giridharadas:

The powerful thing about Breonna, in her life and her death, is that she is telling the story of structural inequity, the story of generational poverty, of criminalization. The arc of her life shows her overcoming adversity as a young Black lady trying to advance her career in the face of folks who don’t want to give her a chance because of where she’s from, her name’s pronunciation, whom she’s related to. It showed the dynamic of lack of investment in communities, and the criminalization of communities that ultimately led to a justice system trying to crack down, to the benefit of development in cities. All of this led to her door being kicked in.

I think you need stories like this to help shine the light more broadly. Breonna Taylor was good friends with my family. Being able to see her as a human being that was doing the best she could, connected to people that felt like they didn’t have any options. And then, facing the brunt of the justice system that saw her as a deadly weapon before seeing her as a human being. All of that is on full display. And it happened in her home.

Read it here: The Ink – America kicked in her door

If you want a quick recap of what happened overnight, our multimedia team have put this report together on the Breonna Taylor demonstrations and protests.

Welcome to our live coverage of the day’s politics in the US, which will be dominated today by reaction to the grand jury decision yesterday not to charge any of the officers involved with the killing of Breonna Taylor. Here’s a quick round-up of where we are, and what is in the diary for today

  • The Jefferson county grand jury has indicted one of the officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the other officers involved in the fatal shooting were indicted. No homicide charges were issued.
  • Thousands of people joined protests in many major US city which saw protesters chanting “Say her name! Breonna Taylor” and “No justice, no peace”. Posters and shrines dedicated to Taylor were seen all around as protesters marched.
  • Two police officers in Louisville were shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Louisville police have one suspect in custody.
  • A car drove through protests in Denver, there were no injuries. Chemical agents were used on protesters by the authorities in Atlanta and other cities. A riot was declare in Portland, Oregon, where police shared a video which appeared to show them being attacked with a Molotov cocktail.
  • There were 41,481 new coronavirus cases reported in the US yesterday – and 1,091 further deaths.
  • At a press briefing yesterday, Donald Trump again refused to commit to a peaceful power transfer if he loses November’s election.
  • At 10am this morning the president and first lady will head to the supreme court to pay their respects to justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
  • Later, Donald Trump will deliver remarks on “the America First Healthcare Vision” in Charlotte, North Carolina, then head to Jacksonville, Florida, for a campaign rally.
  • Vice president Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump are campaigning in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was killed by police. They will be attending an event with “Cops for Trump”.
  • Senator Bernie Sanders will deliver what is billed as “a major address on the unprecedented and dangerous moment we are in right now given president Donald Trump’s unique threats to our democracy” at George Washington University at 1pm.

I’m Martin Belam, and I’ll be taking you through the next couple of hours. You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

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