Black lives matter

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The Trump administration does not plan to call for a federal investigation into the recent deadly shooting of an unarmed black man in Sacramento, Calif., by a police officer.  White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that the president believes it is a "local matter and something we feel should be left up to local authorities."  "We want to make sure all law enforcement is carrying out the letter of the law," Sanders said. "The president is very supportive of law enforcement. But at the same time, in these specific cases and specific instances, those will be left up to local authorities to make that determination and is not something for the federal government to weigh in on.”

Repeatedly pressed on the issue by reporters, Sanders pointed to the president's policies that promote a "better America for every American." She added that the administration wants to protect every child in America, noting policies on securing the border preventing the flow of drugs and hardening school security.  Sacramento has been roiled by the March 18 death of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old man who was shot by police while unarmed on his family's property. Police have said they thought Clark had a gun, but he appears to have been holding a cellphone. On Tuesday, the California attorney general announced his office would be assisting local law enforcement in investigating the incident. 

Under former President Obama, the Justice Department took an active role in investigating police departments after officer-involved shootings of unarmed black men. The department investigated high-profile officer-involved shootings in places like Ferguson, Mo.; Sanford, Fla.; and Cleveland.

White House: Stephon Clark shooting probe best left 'to local authorities' | TheHill

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Last summer, a black woman in Michigan defended herself, her mother, and her 2-year-old daughter with a registered (and unloaded) gun against a woman who she and her attorneys say tried to hit them with a car. She was a concealed carry permit holder and living in an open carry state — one with a “stand your ground” law in place. Now, Siwatu-Salama Ra is serving a two-year prison sentence at Huron Valley Correctional Facility for felonious assault and felony firearm convictions. She’s seven months pregnant, and according to her attorneys, she’s receiving insufficient medical care — including being shackled to her bed during a vaginal exam — even though her pregnancy is high-risk. The case is under appeal, but the judge deciding Ra’s fate, Thomas Hathaway, has already denied a request to postpone Ra’s sentence until she gives birth. Ra’s case is yet another instance of a black gun owner, with the permits to legally carry, defending themselves against violence — and getting punished for it.

Siwatu-Salama Ra, a black woman, is in prison for defending herself. Gun groups are silent.  - Vox

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A longtime Republican member of Congress is retweeting Nazis and arguing in interviews that Somali Muslims shouldn’t be permitted to work in meatpacking plants in his district — and no GOP official appears to want to publicly challenge him. The Republican is Rep. Steve King, an Iowan congressman who has served in the House of Representatives since 2003. He has a lengthy history of racist remarks that seem to go largely undiscussed by his fellow Republicans..

Steve King is a racist, and conservatives don’t want to talk about it - Vox

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Hysterical..

A Louisiana mayor issued a memo last week apparently banning the city’s recreation department from purchasing any Nike products. Kenner City Mayor Ben Zahn appeared to declare on Sept. 5, that “under no circumstances” should Nike products or any product with the Nike logo be purchased, WBRZ 2 reported Saturday. Zahn's office sent the memo to Parks and Recreation Department Director Chad Pitfield on Sept. 5, according to what appears to be a copy of the letter posted to WBRZ. Local news outlets later obtained the memo which appears to state that “effective immediately,” any booster club operating at city recreation facilities must have their purchases approved by Pitfield — including apparel, shoes, athletic equipment "and/or any athletic product."  The memo was issued just two days after Nike announced that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would be the face of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign.

Louisiana mayor bans Nike purchases for recreation programs: memo  | TheHill

Former NFL player Burgess Owens tore into Nike for making Colin Kaepernick the new face of its “Just Do It” campaign, comparing the act to “9/11 and Pearl Harbor.” Burgess, who previously played for the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, spoke with Fox Business host Stuart Varney and referred to Kaepernick as Nike’s “Marxist” representative. Kaepernick, a former quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers, became the first player to take a knee during the national anthem during the 2016 NFL season as part of an effort to protest social injustice. He became a free agent at the end of the season, and has remained unsigned. “We have to look at the bigger picture and understand in America that we’re under assault,” Owens said. “It’s like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, we’re being assaulted by the left. And we need to understand who they are.”

Ex-NFL player tears into Nike: Kaepernick ad ‘like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor’ | TheHill

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Joshua Brown, a key witness in the murder trial of a former Dallas police officer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing a man inside his own home, was himself shot to death outside his apartment complex this weekend. Brown, 28, lived across the hall from Botham Jean, a black 26-year-old accountant, and testified in the murder case against Amber Guyger, a white police officer who was off-duty when she entered Jean’s apartment and shot him to death.

Dallas police officials have not yet identified Brown as the victim of Friday’s shooting, but his mother confirmed his death through Merritt. Officials have also not yet identified a suspect or potential motive, and autopsy details have not yet been released. Witnesses have said that a four-door sedan was seen speeding away from the scene of the shooting.

Joshua Brown, key witness in the Amber Guyger trial, was fatally shot - Vox

• This could be very disturbing, difficult to believe it's just a coincidence, but we have to wait for the facts
  

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Negative social attitudes, such as racism and discrimination, damage the health of those who are targeted by triggering a cascade of aberrant biological responses, including abnormal gene activity. It is not surprising that reports documenting lifespan and causes of mortality have demonstrated a clear pattern: African Americans die sooner and bear a heavier burden of many diseases, including hypertension, heart disease, dementia and late-stage breast cancer. Scientists have searched for genetic causes to health disparities between blacks and whites but have had limited success. The strongest evidence to date points to social-environmental factors such as poverty, health care inequities and racism.

Study: Racism shortens lives and hurts health of blacks by promoting genes that lead to inflammation and illness

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A video posted on social media this week shows a police officer keeping his knee planted on the neck of a black man who pleaded that he couldn’t breathe and subsequently died shortly afterward. CBS News reports that police in Minneapolis on Monday responded to a report of an intoxicated man causing a disturbance. “Officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence,” the Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement. “Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car.” A video of the incident captured by bystander Darnella Frazier shows that a white officer had pinned the man to the ground and had placed his knee over his neck. The black man can be heard moaning and telling the officer that he’s having trouble breathing. “My stomach hurts,” the man said. “My neck hurts. Everything hurts… [I need] water or something. Please. Please. I can’t breathe, officer.” The police called an ambulance for him, but by the time it arrived, he had not been responsive for several minutes. As the man lay there motionless, bystanders begged the officers to check his pulse — and the white officer continued to keep his knee on the man’s neck.

Watch: Black man pleads that he can’t breathe while cop keeps a knee on his neck — and dies shortly after – Alternet.org

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Anti police-brutality protesters have been confronted by armed men in cities around America in recent days, with some brandishing firearms or other weapons, some driving vehicles at crowds, and others – including members of the so-called “boogaloo movement” – claiming they have come to help anti-racism demonstrations. On Sunday, in Seattle, a man drove at speed towards protesters, while several protesters tried to slow or stop the vehicle. One who reached through the car window was shot in the arm by the driver. The driver then exited the vehicle carrying a handgun, which appeared in photographs to have a modified, extra-long magazine. He moved into the crowd, and later surrendered to police.

Protesters across US attacked by cars driven into crowds and men with guns | US news | The Guardian

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Another video shows Rittenhouse open fire with a rifle after he’s knocked to the ground and then calmly walk toward police vehicles with his hands raised in surrender. However, no officers are seen getting out of the vehicles, which continue advancing toward protesters, to apprehend Rittenhouse — who then fled the state and was considered a fugitive.

Kenosha gunman arrested for murder after cops let him flee out of state – Alternet.org

• Welcome to the US, unarmed black guy shot 7x in the back by police, riots brake out, white vigilantes kill demonstrants but the police doesn't even arrest them on the spot (although he was arrested in his house a day later).
  

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The rightwing Fox News host Tucker Carlson has defended the actions of a 17-year-old who was arrested and charged with murder after two people were killed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as white vigilante agitators shot at Black Lives Matter protesters. Kyle Rittenhouse, from Antioch, Illinois, 20 miles south-west of Kenosha, had taken to the streets of Kenosha with a rifle after protesters marched demanding justice for Jacob Blake, a young Black father who was shot and gravely wounded by police on Sunday. Armed white men patrolling Kenosha protests organized on Facebook Read more On his TV show Carlson – who has a long record of making racist and inflammatory statements, triggering an advertising boycott – said that Rittenhouse’s actions were understandable given the violence and property damage in the city. “Kenosha has devolved into anarchy because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it. People in charge from the governor of Wisconsin on down refused to enforce the law. They stood back and they watched Kenosha burn,” Carlson said. He then added: “So are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?”

His words were met with instant condemnation on social media. “An innocent black guy is killed by police and Tucker Carlson calls him a thug. A guilty white guy murders two people and Tucker Carlson calls him a patriot,” tweeted CNN commentator Keith Boykins.

Tucker Carlson defends actions of teen charged in killings of Kenosha protesters | Media | The Guardian

• So an unarmed black guy gets shot 7x in the back but the white vigilante didn't even get arrested while carrying a gun and with bystanders yelling that he had just shot people.
  
• And Tucker Carlson defends a 17 year old carrying guns (which isn't legal in the first place) and traveling to another city because he deems it necessary to "restore order" and starts shooting people?
  
• And this from the "law and order" party who condemn the riots (rightly so) but say nothing about the police shooting unarmed black people in the back nor about vigilantes killing people, all the while creating panic about antifa and black life matters while the real killers are the police and white vigilantes..