US mourn victims of racist mass shooting at store

NEW YORK - Shocked residents of Buffalo, New York gathered Sunday at vigils and church services to mourn 10 people shot and killed by an alleged white supremacist teenager in an act one official described as "domestic terrorism, pure and simple."

The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Payton Gendron, was arrested at the scene, a grocery store in a heavily Black neighborhood after police rushed to respond to emergency calls. 

He had driven from his home town of Conklin, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) away, police said.

Gendron was arraigned late Saturday on a single count of first-degree murder and held without bail, the Erie County district attorney's office said.

The shooter was wearing body armor, carried an assault rifle and live-streamed the attack, police said, adding that of the 10 dead and three wounded, 11 were African Americans.

'MILITARY STYLE EXECUTION'

Residents gathered outside the store for the vigil, while New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the state's Attorney General Letitia James and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown addressed a service at the city's True Bethel Baptist Church.

In alternately angry and mournful tones, speakers denounced the latest eruption of racist violence and the ready availability of high-power guns in what has become a sadly familiar scene across America.

Hochul, herself a Buffalo native, described the crime as a "military-style execution" -- she said the shooter carried an AR-15 assault weapon -- and said racist messaging was "spreading like wildfire."

Hochul called on officials of both political parties to "make sure these people crawl back into their holes and stay there."

Speaking on ABC, she described social media as "instruments of this evil," saying they allowed racist themes to "spread like a virus." 

The attack evoked memories of some of the worst racist attacks in recent US history, including the 2015 killing by a young white man of nine worshippers in a Black church in South Carolina, and the 2019 attack by a white man in Texas that claimed 23 lives, most of them Hispanic.

Attorney General James, who is Black, described Saturday's attack as "domestic terrorism, plain and simple" and said the shooter would be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law."

'MOTHER AND MISSIONARY'

The gunman shot four people in the store's parking lot, three of them fatally, before going inside.

Among those killed inside the store was a retired police officer working as an armed security guard. He was able to fire several shots at the assailant before being shot, police said.

When police arrived, the shooter put the gun to his neck, but was talked down and surrendered.

The victims were ordinary shoppers and store workers.

One, according to a Twitter post, was a 77-year-old "mother, grandma & missionary" who "loved singing, dancing & being with family" and who for 25 years had run a weekly pantry to feed the poor. 

At a Sunday vigil in Buffalo's Elim Christian Fellowship church, pastor T. Anthony Bronner urged both prayer and political action in response to an attack.

"Some of us are very angry this morning," he said, but "we respond in prayer -- and we respond on our feet."

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime "and a case of racially motivated violent extremism," Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI's Buffalo field office, told reporters.

Media reports linked the shooter to a 180-page manifesto that described a white supremacist ideology and laid out a plan to target a mainly Black neighborhood.

In addition to mentioning the South Carolina church shooting, the gunman reportedly said he had been "inspired" by the gunman who killed 51 people in a New Zealand mosque in March 2019. 

A semi-automatic weapon used in Saturday's shooting also had a racial epithet written on its barrel, according to local daily The Buffalo News, citing a local official.

In a video call to True Bethel Baptist Church, New York Senator Charles Schumer called racism "the poison of America" and said, "We must tackle the scourge of gun violence and finally ban the weapons of war from our streets."

But in the face of a strong pro-gun lobby, past efforts by the US Congress at tightening the nation's gun laws have generally fallen short -- even after some of the most horrific shootings.

The United States suffered 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent compared to 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest data.

Local media said Gendron had pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. If convicted he would face a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.

Agence France-Presse

Suspect in attack on 65-year-old Filipina woman to face New York judge

NEW YORK—A New York man charged with assaulting a 65-year-old Asian woman in a hate crime was scheduled to appear before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge on Monday, as community activists demonstrated outside.

Police have identified Brandon Elliot, 38, as the man seen in a video kicking the woman to the ground and then kicking her head several times on March 29 near Times Square in Manhattan.

Elliot, on lifetime parole after serving a prison term for murdering his mother, was arraigned last week on two charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.

He was arrested at his New York City residence on March 30, police said.

"This attack would not have happened if he was not released," said Phil Wong, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York, in front of the courthouse.

The New York Times identified the victim as Vilma Kari, an immigrant from the Philippines, citing a law enforcement source. An NYPD spokesman declined to confirm her identity. According to the Times, Kari suffered a fractured pelvis.

Hate crimes reported against Asian Americans increased 149% in 2020 in 16 major U.S. cities compared with 2019, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump often referred to the coronavirus as the "China virus" and the "China plague."

Concern over such crimes was heightened when six Asian women were among eight people shot dead last month at Atlanta-area spas. A 21-year-old man was charged with the murders. Police have yet to determine a motive.

(Reporting by Roselle Chen; Editing by Richard Chang)

-reuters-

New York City deploying Asian undercover force to combat hate crimes

NEW YORK - New York City plans to deploy an all-Asian undercover police team and expand community outreach in more than 200 languages to combat a rise in hate crimes against Asians, authorities said on Thursday.

"If you are going to commit a hate crime in New York City, we will find you," New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in unveiling the two-pronged plan to fight bias crimes.

"We are not going to tolerate anyone being targeted because of the color of their skin, the religion they worship, their sexual preference or anything else," Shea said.

Just days after a spate of assaults on Asian-Americans in New York City last weekend, Shea said he was ramping up the NYPD's undercover force with plain-clothed officers, all of them of Asian descent. Starting this weekend, they will patrol subways, grocery stores and other locations to stem anti-Asian incidents that total 26 so far this year, including 12 assaults, police said.

"The next person you target through speech or menacing activity may be a plain-clothed New York police officer - so think twice," Shea said.

The 26 incidents so far have resulted in seven arrests, police said. Those incidents included 12 assaults so far this year, three of them last weekend, police said. By comparison, at this time last year, there were no assaults reported against Asian-Americans, police said.

Because hate crimes too often go unreported, now anyone dialing 911 can utter a single English word for their native language - such as Mandarin - and police operators will help access translators who speak more than 200 languages, police said.

Advocates tied the surge in hate crimes to blame that has been placed on the Asian-American Pacific Islander community for the coronavirus spread. The community reported a spike in violence since March 2020, when then-President Donald Trump started repeatedly referring to COVID-19 as the "China virus" and "kung flu," which some said inflamed anti-Asian sentiment.

Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 149% in 2020 in 16 major cities compared with 2019, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Violent incidents included people being slashed with a box cutter, lit on fire and verbal harassment, according to testimony at a US congressional hearing on anti-Asian violence convened this month.

The most deadly incident was this month's shooting spree at three Atlanta area spas that left eight people dead, six of them Asian women. A 21-year-old white man has been charged with multiple counts of murder, and police investigating motives have not ruled out the possibility that the attacks were provoked, at least in part, by anti-immigrant or anti-Asian sentiments.

-reuters-

'We're not racist', says Prince William after Meghan and Harry interview

LONDON - Prince William said on Thursday that Britain's royals were not racist after Meghan, wife of his younger brother Harry, said one unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie's skin might be.

The revelation emerged during an explosive tell-all interview Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, gave to Oprah Winfrey which was aired on Sunday, plunging the British monarchy into its biggest crisis since the 1997 death of Princess Diana, William and Harry's mother.

On a visit to a school in east London, William said he had not talked to Harry since the interview was broadcast just over three days ago.

"I haven't spoken to him yet but I will do," William, 38, said.

Asked by a reporter if the royal family was racist, William said: "We're very much not a racist family."

In the two-hour show, Meghan also said the royals had ignored her pleas for help while she felt suicidal, while Harry said his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, had let him down and that he had felt trapped.

On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, the princes' grandmother, in which she said the family were saddened by how challenging the couple had found the last few years.

The statement added the issues of race were concerning and would be treated very seriously, but pointedly stated "some recollections may vary".

The Palace have said that it was a family matter that should be dealt with privately.

During the interview, Harry laid bare how distant he had come from the other members of his family, saying his father had stopped taking his calls at one point, and saying there was "space" in his relationship with William.

"Much will continue to be said about that ... as I said before, you know, I love William to bits, he's my brother, we've been through hell together and we have a shared experience," he said. "But we're on different paths."

The interview was watched by 12.4 million viewers in Britain and 17.1 million in the United States.

It has proved divisive among the British public: some believe it showed how outdated and intolerant the institution was, while others decried it as a self-serving assault that neither Elizabeth nor her family deserved.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

-reuters-

Facebook decisions 'setbacks for civil rights,' audit finds

SAN FRANCISCO — Auditors hand-picked by Facebook to examine its policies said that the company had not done enough to protect people on the platform from discriminatory posts and ads and that its decisions to leave up President Donald Trump’s inflammatory posts were “significant setbacks for civil rights.”

The 89-page audit put Facebook in an awkward position as the presidential campaign heats up. The report gave fuel to the company’s detractors, who said the site had allowed hate speech and misinformation to flourish. The audit also placed the social network in the spotlight for an issue it had worked hard to avoid since the 2016 election: that it may once again be negatively influencing American voters.

Now Facebook has to decide whether its approach to hateful speech and noxious content — which was to leave it alone in the name of free expression — remains tenable. And that decision puts pressure on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, who has repeatedly said that his company was not an arbiter of truth and that it would not police politicians’ posts.

“Many in the civil rights community have become disheartened, frustrated and angry after years of engagement where they implored the company to do more to advance equality and fight discrimination, while also safeguarding free expression,” wrote the auditors, Laura Murphy and Megan Cacace, who are civil rights experts and lawyers.

The audit, which was the culmination of 2 years of examination of the social network, was another signal of how power by the largest tech companies is increasingly under scrutiny. Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon are all facing questions over how they are wielding their influence and what effects it has had. Later this month, the chief executives of all four companies are set to testify in front of Congress.

But the report was especially devastating for Facebook because its executives had pointed to it as a sign that the company was seriously grappling with the content of its site.

In the audit, Facebook was repeatedly faulted for prioritizing free expression on its platform over nondiscrimination and for not having a robust infrastructure to handle civil rights. The report homed in on three posts by Trump in May, which the audit said contained hateful and violent speech or which harmed voters. Facebook left those posts untouched, over objections by the auditors, the report said.

In doing so, the social network set a “terrible precedent” that others could copy and that could affect the November election, the report said. The move cheated the billions of other people who use Facebook out of equal treatment, giving powerful political leaders a special exemption to make false and divisive statements, it said.

“Facebook has made policy and enforcement choices that leave our election exposed to interference by the President and others who seek to use misinformation to sow confusion and suppress voting,” Murphy and Cacace wrote.

They added that they “would have liked to see the company go further to address civil rights concerns in a host of areas.”

In a post Wednesday about the audit, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, said the report was “the beginning of the journey, not the end.” She added, “What has become increasingly clear is that we have a long way to go. As hard as it has been to have our shortcomings exposed by experts, it has undoubtedly been a really important process for our company.”

Sandberg said Facebook was already taking steps to address its shortcomings, including banning ads with fear-mongering statements and prohibiting the spread of disinformation around the 2020 census. The company said it would also hire more civil rights experts, create a role for a senior vice president of civil rights leadership and direct voters to a “voting information center” that has accurate information.

Facebook’s difficulties have been compounded by civil rights groups organizing a campaign, “Stop Hate for Profit,” to urge its advertisers to boycott the platform. More than 300 advertisers, including Coca-Cola and North Face, have agreed to pause their spending on the site.

On Tuesday, civil rights leaders met with Zuckerberg and Sandberg with 10 demands, including appointing a civil rights executive. But attendees said the Facebook executives did not agree to many of their requests and instead spouted “spin.” Zuckerberg said that while the company would make some changes to its processes, it would not do so because of external pressure or threat of financial loss, said one person who attended the meeting.

“I don’t know if Mark appreciates that hateful speech has harmful results and that Facebook groups have real-world consequences,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League and one of the leaders of the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign.

Civil rights groups including Free Press and Color of Change also met Wednesday with nearly 300 ad agency and brand marketing leaders about Facebook. In the session, they said the new audit report exposed holes in the company’s content policies and enforcement practices, according to attendees.

The audit “has laid bare what we already know: Facebook is a platform plagued by civil rights shortcomings,” said Vanita Gupta, chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Facebook has an enormous impact on our civil rights — by facilitating hate speech and violence, voter and census disinformation, and algorithmic bias, and by shortchanging diversity and inclusion.”

In the report, the auditors credited Facebook for making progress on some issues over the past 2 years, including increasing the hiring of some in-house civil rights experts and creating an ad system that would no longer allow advertisers running housing, employment and credit ads in the United States to target users based on gender, age or ZIP code. Zuckerberg had also personally committed to building products that “advance racial justice,” the report said.

But Facebook had been too willing to let politicians out of abiding by its rules, allowing them to spread misinformation, harmful rhetoric and even calls to violence, the report said.

The auditors said their concerns had increased over the past 9 months because of decisions made by Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg, Facebook’s global head of policy and communications.

Last fall, Zuckerberg delivered a speech at Georgetown University about his commitment to protecting free speech at all costs. Since then, the report noted, Facebook had refused to take down inflammatory posts from Trump and had permitted untruthful political ads to be circulated.

“Elevating free expression is a good thing, but it should apply to everyone,” the auditors wrote. “When it means that powerful politicians do not have to abide by the same rules that everyone else does, a hierarchy of speech is created that privileges certain voices over less powerful voices.”

-The New York Times Company-

TV show 'The Simpsons' ditches using white voices for characters of color

LOS ANGELES - Animated TV comedy "The Simpsons" is ending the use of white actors to voice characters of color, producers said on Friday.

"Moving forward, 'The Simpsons' will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters," they said in a brief statement.

The statement did not elaborate but the move follows years of public pressure about the Fox television show's Indian convenience store character Apu, who is voiced by Hank Azaria.

Azaria said earlier this year that he would no longer play the character, which has been criticized as a negative portrayal of Indian-Americans.

Azaria has also voiced the Simpsons characters of Black police officer Lou and the Mexican-American Bumblebee Man. Harry Shearer has played Dr. Hibbert, who is Black.

Friday's statement did not say whether Apu or the other characters would remain on the series.

Bumbling Homer Simpson, housewife Marge, troublemaker Bart, prodigy Lisa and baby Maggie, have captured the changing face of America for more than 30 years in the longest-running scripted show on US television.

"The Simpsons" is syndicated in more than 100 countries.

Friday's announcement comes amid a widespread reckoning for US pop culture about racism following mass protests this month over the killings of Black Americans by police.

Other white actors, including Mike Henry of animated series "Family Guy" and Kristen Bell of "Central Park," have also said they would no longer voice characters of color.

"It's been an honor to play Cleveland on 'Family Guy' for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role," Henry said on Twitter on Friday.

-reuters-

New York introduces laws to combat police brutality

NEW YORK, United States - The state of New York on Friday adopted a series of laws designed to put an end to police brutality against the African-American community, a sign of the impact that nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd are having.

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed 10 laws that the two houses of the state legislature passed earlier in the week.

Among the measures is a law forbidding chokeholds being used by law enforcement officers that was named in memory of Eric Garner, a black man suffocated by New York police in 2014.

The state also repealed legislation that designated as "confidential" any document pertaining to professional evaluations of police officers, including records of disciplinary proceedings.

In the future, the public, including members of the media, will be able to access such records through freedom of information requests, without requiring a court order.

After Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25, the city police department revealed that Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed him by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes, had been the subject of 18 abuse complaints in his 20 years on the job.

The details of the complaints have not been revealed.

Floyd's death sparked widespread protests across the United States.

Cuomo also announced on Friday he would be signing an executive order obliging the state's almost 500 police departments to "develop a plan that reinvents and modernizes police strategies and programs in their community."

The measures address some of the key issues raised in the massive protests across the country, such as racial inequality, the excessive use of force by police, and transparency in the process of filing complaints against officers.

Any of the departments that have not adopted their new plan by April 2021 will lose their state funding, Cuomo said at a press conference, flanked by Democratic leaders of the state assembly and civil rights activist Al Sharpton.

"These bills mean some substantive change, so that we won't be sitting here going over this after the next situation," said Sharpton.

He said the threat of withholding funding from police departments that fail to implement change "is a model for where we ought to be, dealing with 21st century civil rights in this country."

Agence France-Presse

CrossFit CEO steps down after 'FLOYD-19' tweet sparks outrage

WASHINGTON - Crossfit founder and CEO Greg Glassman said on Tuesday he was stepping down after his response to the anti-racism US protests, prompted by George Floyd's death, caused outrage.

On Saturday Glassman tweeted "It's FLOYD-19" after the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation classified racism and discrimination as a public health issue.

Human rights groups expressed outrage at the tweet, calling it insensitive to current events and the death of Floyd, a black man who died in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members," Glassman said in a statement.

"I'm stepping down as CEO of CrossFit, Inc., and I have decided to retire... I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ's or affiliates' missions."

According to a recording of a Zoom call obtained by BuzzFeed News, hours before his tweets Glassman told private gym owners: "We're not mourning for George Floyd -- I don't think me or any of my staff are."

On Sunday, sports footwear giant Reebok announced it would end its partnership with CrossFit later this year.

Affiliate CrossFit Magnus also decided to cut ties with the Washington, DC-based organization.

More than 1,000 affiliated gyms have reportedly left the company, according to a CrossFit newsletter.

Dave Castro, director of the CrossFit Games, will replace Glassman as CEO, the company said. 

CrossFit has over 13,000 gyms in more than 120 countries, generating some US$4 billion in annual revenues.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Sterling calls for more black managers in football

LONDON -- Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has urged English football to use the global anti-racism protests to initiate debates and find solutions regarding the lack of black representation in top leadership positions in the sport.

Calling for racial justice, thousands of protesters have rallied across the UK, joining a wave of demonstrations sparked by the death of African American George Floyd at the hands of US police last month.

England forward Sterling, who has previously been prominent in calling out racism in both the domestic and international game, is the latest sports star to lend his support to the protests. 

"The protest is a great starting point, to make your voice be heard. But just protesting alone is not going to make a change in this country," Sterling said Monday in a BBC TV interview.

"It's how we move on from here. It's about highlighting things, the society that needs changing, and then acting upon it. We've done a lot of talking, and it's time now to act."

"This is a time to speak on these subjects, speak on injustice, especially in my field," he added.

Sterling pointed a finger at the long-running disparity between the number of high-profile Black, Asian and minority ethnic players and the dearth of those who go on to hold significant managerial, coaching or administrative jobs.

"There's something like 500 players in the Premier League and a third of them are black and we have no representation of us in the hierarchy, no representation of us in the coaching staffs. There's not a lot of faces that we can relate to and have conversations with," he said.

"With these protests that are going on it's all well and good just talking, but it's time that we need to have conversations, to be able to spark debates. 

"But at same time, it's coming together and finding a solution to be able to spark change because we can talk as much as we want about changing and putting people, black people, in these positions that I do feel they should be in."

- 'Give equal chances' -

Sterling contrasted the managerial paths of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who have landed top roles at Rangers and Chelsea, to equally experienced black players who have been compelled to start much lower down the ladder.

"The coaching staff that you see around football clubs: there's Steven Gerrard, your Frank Lampards, your Sol Campbells and your Ashley Coles. All had great careers, all played for England," said Sterling.

"At the same time, they've all respectfully done their coaching badges to coach at the highest level and the two that haven't been given the right opportunities are the two black former players.

"The change is being able to speak to people in Parliament, people at the hierarchy at my football club, football clubs across the country, people at the national team of England, to implement change and give equal chances to not just black coaches but also different ethnicities.

"I feel like that's what's lacking here, it's not just taking the knee, it is about giving people the chance they deserve."

Agence France-Presse

NFL: Redskins' Peterson vows to kneel during national anthem

Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson said he will kneel during the national anthem this season to protest racial injustice, and he doesn't plan to be the only player to do so.

Peterson made his feelings known to the Houston Chronicle in the aftermath of the comments made by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who said that players were "disrespecting the flag" by kneeling during the anthem. Brees later apologized for his comments.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick protested racial injustice in the United States by kneeling during the anthem in the 2016 season. Kaepernick has yet to sign with an NFL team since opting out of his contract with the 49ers in 2017.

"Years ago, seeing Kaepernick taking a knee, now we're all ready to take a knee together going into this season without a doubt," Peterson said.

When asked by the Houston Chronicle if he will take a knee, Peterson replied: "Without a doubt, without a doubt."

The NFL adopted a policy in 2018 that required players to stand for the national anthem, but allowed them to stay in the locker room during it if they chose. The league has since pulled the policy back after an agreement with the NFL Players Association.

Peterson, who played 10 seasons (2007-16) with the Minnesota Vikings, contends that more players will be taking a knee this season following national protests over the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

"We've got to put the effort in as a group collectively. Are they going to try to punish us all? If not, playing football is going to help us save lives and change things, then that's what it needs to be," Peterson told the newspaper.

Peterson, 35, is currently fifth on the all-time rushing list with 14,216 yards.

Peterson was a team captain and led Washington in attempts (211), rushing yards (898) and rushing touchdowns (5) last season.

Peterson has played in 164 career games. He currently ranks No. 8 in rushing attempts (3,036), No. 4 in rushing touchdowns (111) and No. 8 in yards per game (86.7) in NFL history.

Next up on the rushing list would be Barry Sanders, who is 1,053 yards ahead of Peterson and fourth on the all-time rushing list.

Peterson is 12 rushing touchdowns behind Marcus Allen for third all-time.

-reuters-

For one protester, 'it's suffocating' to be a black man in the US

WASHINGTON - "I couldn't stay home": Moah Pollas, an African American recent college graduate, explained why he was compelled to spend days demonstrating in the streets of the US capital against systemic racism, despite the fear of being arrested, or worse.

As a victim of racism himself, Pollas simply could not stay home.

It started early. When he was just seven or eight years old, walking down a sidewalk one day after a school field trip, he heard someone yell at him from the window of a passing school bus.

"Take your black ass back to Africa!" a boy yelled, as others on the bus laughed raucously.

"It didn't hurt as much as the reaction I got from my white teacher when I told her," he told AFP. "She basically told me to get over it."

"I'm not sure if she really believed me, to be honest."

"That experience," added Pollas, a 21-year-old political science graduate, "has colored every experience with white people or other people of color for the rest of my life."

Born in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Pollas was two years old when his family immigrated to the United States. His parents, who were fleeing political persecution, settled in the predominantly white California city of Burbank.

"I grew up knowing that based on my skin color, people were going to perceive me in a more threatening way, perceive me in a more dangerous way and perceive me to be more violent. 

"It causes you as a black person to police your actions on a daily basis, 24/7," he told AFP, sitting in the backyard of a home he shares with other students in northeastern Washington. 

Being black in the United States, he said, is "suffocating."

It means that if he is walking down the street "and if there are white people walking in the same direction as me, I should probably step out of the way... I should probably do my best to look at the ground. I probably do my best to stay quiet."

- 'The fear in him' -

One day when he was 13 years old, he was in a car with his father, who works in the pharmaceutical business, when police pulled them over.

"Police officers pull people over just because they're black all the time," he said.

"When my dad was stopped, I could sense the fear in him. A fear that I've never seen in the man who was protecting me and my family my whole life. That fear transferred onto me in that moment. And honestly, has never left me."

African Americans are three times as likely to be killed by police as whites or Hispanics, according to data from the specialized website mappingpoliceviolence.org.

In one egregious example, a 32-year-old black man named Philando Castile was shot and killed by police in the state of Minnesota in July 2016 after the officer stopped him because of a faulty brake light on his car.

- 'I saw my own face' -

Then on May 25 came the death of a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd, who was suffocated when an arresting officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The death of the father of five, in a horrifying video now seen by millions, sparked protests of historic dimension across the United States as well as in many cities abroad.

"When I saw that video... I didn't just see George Floyd. I saw my father's face. I saw my uncle's face, my brother's, my cousin's, my friends'. 

"I saw my own face," Pollas said, not hiding his emotions. "I saw how easily I could have been in that situation and the people I cared about could have been in that situation." 

A recent graduate of Howard University in Washington, a prestigious predominantly black school, Pollas had long dreamed of a career in politics. But lately he is thinking instead of a job in education. 

His change of heart likely came when he worked in the city as a substitute teacher.

"I've seen first-hand the effects of underfunding that really affects predominantly black schools in DC," said Pollas.

Having studied Russian, he is planning to travel to Ukraine to teach English. But when he returns to the United States, he hopes to work to help change the system.

"I'll come back and continue working on writing about race and race policy in this country, about our political system and trying to find ways in which I can be a true activist and a revolutionary," he said.

Agence France-Presse

NBA legend Michael Jordan donating $100 million to social justice groups

Michael Jordan said Friday he is making a record $100 million donation to groups fighting for racial equality and social justice amid a wave of protests across the United States.

The NBA legend said in a statement his Jordan Brand would distribute the money over 10 years to different organisations in a bid to stamp out "ingrained racism."

The pledge is believed to be the largest financial contribution to non-profit groups ever made by a figure from the sports world.

"It's 2020 and our family now includes anyone who aspires to our way of life," a joint statement from Jordan and his Jordan Brand said.

"Yet as much as things have changed the worst remains the same.

"Black lives matter. This isn't a controversial statement. Until the ingrained racism that allows our country's institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people," the statement added.

"Today we are announcing that Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organisations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education."

Jordan's donation comes after a week of unprecedented nationwide protests across the United States following the death of an unarmed black man during an arrest in Minneapolis.

Large scale demonstrations have been held in all 50 states, with protesters demanding an end to police brutality and systemic racism after George Floyd's death on May 25.

- 'Saddened, angry' -

Jordan, regarded by many as the greatest player in NBA history with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion, had already issued a passionate statement decrying Floyd's killing.

"I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry," Jordan, 57, said last Sunday. "We have had enough."

Jordan's donation and impassioned recent statements followed criticism during his playing career over his reluctance to take a more prominent role in activist causes.

In the recent "The Last Dance" documentary, he addressed his infamous quip that he had steered clear of politics because "Republicans buy sneakers too."

Jordan said the remark had been a flippant comment made as a joke.

Jordan added that he never saw himself as an activist athlete in the vein of former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

"I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in," Jordan said. "But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player."

Jordan acknowledged that his apolitical stance might be viewed as selfish in some quarters.

"I wasn't a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft," Jordan said. "Was that selfish? Probably. But that was my energy. That's where my energy was."

Jordan said he had instead sought to set an example by his achievements as an athlete.

"The way I go about my life is I set examples. If it inspires you? Great, I will continue to do that. If it doesn't? Then maybe I'm not the person you should be following."

Agence France-Presse

NFL: Prescott pledges $1M to improve police training, address racism

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott pledged $1 million over social media in a bid to improve police training and address systemic racism.

Prescott's lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday comes on the heels of the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died in police custody on May 25.

Police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder after pressing his knee on the neck of Floyd, an African American, for more than eight minutes. Chauvin was also charged with second-degree manslaughter.

"As a black multiracial American, I am disgusted and unsettled!" Prescott wrote. "... As our communities take action, protesting and fighting for the justice of George Floyd and every black life, I am with you!"

Prescott, 26, addressed the members of law enforcement.

"To the men and women that police our streets, I have the utmost respect for those of you with a passion for protecting and serving our communities," Prescott wrote. 

"When you chose to wear a badge of a police officer, you pledged to PROTECT life and property through the enforcement of our laws and regulations. How can you claim to uphold the law when those within your ranks don't abide by it? You need to hold your own accountable! Each of your are as guilty as the men who stood beside Derek Chauvin if you do not stand up against the systemic racism plaguing our police forces nationwide."

Prescott set career highs in 2019 with 4,902 passing yards and 30 touchdown passes.

-reuters-

George Floyd, a 'gentle giant,' remembered in hometown Houston march

HOUSTON - George Floyd's hometown of Houston held a memorial march for him on Tuesday, where attendees recounted a "gentle giant" whose legacy had helped the city largely avoid the violent protests seen elsewhere in the United States.

The mayor's office said 60,000 people gathered downtown to honor Floyd, who died after a white police officer pinned his neck under a knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.. Floyd's death has ignited protests across the country.

Floyd lived most of his 46 years in Houston's historically black Third Ward neighborhood, located about a mile south of the park where the march began. He moved to Minneapolis in recent years for work.

The memorial march was organized by well-known Houston rappers Trae Tha Truth, who was a longtime friend of Floyd's - and Bun B, who worked directly with Floyd's family for the event. Houston's mayor and police chief attended.

"We're gonna represent him right," Trae Tha Truth, whose given name is Frazier Thompson III, told the crowd of several hundred people gathered for the march. "We are gonna tear the system from the inside out."

He added: "George Floyd is looking down at us now and he's smiling."

After a prayer, the marchers exited the park and began to walk toward City Hall.

Democratic US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents portions of Houston where Floyd was raised, told the crowd that she would introduce police reform legislation in Congress on Thursday in honor of Floyd.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is black, said he understood marchers' pain and told them they were making an impact.

"People that are in elected office and positions of power - we are listening," Turner said. "It's important for us to not just listen, but to do. I want you to know your marching, your protesting has not gone in vain. George did not die in vain."

Houston has so far largely escaped the violent protests, with some attributing that directly to the legacy of Floyd himself.

"The people who knew George the best help set the tone for Houston. They knew what he was about. He truly was a gentle giant, a sweet guy," said David Hill, a Houston community activist and pastor at Restoration Community Church, who knows the Floyd family.

-reuters-

New York under curfew as looters hit luxury stores

NEW YORK, United States - New York was under a curfew that would last until early Tuesday morning, officials said, after looters raided stores in central Manhattan, targeting some of the city's top retailers.

Upmarket fashion store Michael Kors on Fifth Avenue was among the luxury outlets hit, along with Nike, Lego and electronics shops across Midtown, before the 11:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew came into effect, AFP journalists said.

Groups of young people moved from block to block around the district, usually bustling with tourists but deserted due to the coronavirus, with entire streets blocked by police.

Images from local NY1 television showed some young people running out of a Best Buy electronics store before being apprehended by the police.

Stores in the south of Manhattan suffered a similar fate, according to an AFP photographer.

The New York Times reported that the flagship Macy's department store had also been targeted by looters.

Police did not immediately confirm this, simply saying that "numerous stores were hit" and arrests made "in the hundreds" across the city.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said a lot of stores around Madison Avenue had been hit and the situation was "really not acceptable."

As a result, he said the curfew would start from 8:00 pm on Tuesday, instead of 11:00 pm.

"The city is fully under control, and overwhelmingly calm and peaceful," he nevertheless insisted on NY1.

- 'Time to go home' -

The imposition of the curfew had been announced a few hours earlier by the mayor and New York state governor Andrew Cuomo after protests and looting during the weekend -- notably in the trendy SoHo district.

The mayor tweeted late Monday that "protesters were overwhelmingly peaceful today" but that some people were out to damage property and steal.

"We support peaceful protest in this city. But right now it's time to go home," de Blasio said.

"Some people are out tonight not to protest but to destroy property and hurt others -— and those people are being arrested. Their actions are unacceptable and we won't allow them in our city."

New York, the economic capital of the United States, and around 40 other cities across the country have imposed curfews after violent protests against police brutality triggered by the death of African-American George Floyd in Minnesota.

Just after 11:00 pm, around a hundred people held a peaceful demonstration in front of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the scene of major protests in recent days, taking a knee in tribute to victims of police brutality, according to an AFP journalist.

Police observed them from a distance but did not arrest anyone despite the curfew.

While looters hit New York, in Washington, President Donald Trump said he was "dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property."

Mayor de Blasio, a Democrat, denounced Trump's "bellicose words" and "divisive rhetoric."

"I don't think it's a statement from the last few hours that has caused all this. I think it's what he's done for years that has contributed," he said. 

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Popovich rips 'deranged' Trump for lack of leadership

Enraged San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sharply criticized the lack of leadership shown by President Donald Trump and called him a coward in the wake of week-long protests surrounding the death of George Floyd.

Popovich told The Nation that Trump is "deranged" and incapable of saying "black lives matter" at a time when the nation desperately needs to hear those words from the leader of the country.

"It's unbelievable. If Trump had a brain, even if it was 99 percent cynical, he would come out and say something to unify people," Popovich told reporter Dave Zirin. 

"But he doesn't care about bringing people together. Even now. That's how deranged he is. It's all about him. It's all about what benefits him personally. It's never about the greater good. And that's all he's ever been."

Nationwide protests and demonstrations have erupted since Floyd, a black man, died in Minneapolis on May 25 while white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

Popovich, a staunch critic of Trump, views the president as a detriment to the country.

"He's not just divisive. He's a destroyer. To be in his presence makes you die," Popovich told The Nation sports editor Dave Zirin. "He will eat you alive for his own purposes. I'm appalled that we have a leader who can't say 'black lives matter.' That's why he hides in the White House basement. He is a coward.

"He creates a situation and runs away like a grade-schooler. Actually, I think it's best to ignore him. There is nothing he can do to make this better because of who he is: a deranged idiot."

Popovich, who has won five NBA titles with the Spurs and ranks third all-time with 1,272 regular-season victories, said Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are failing at leadership.

"It's so clear what needs to be done. We need a president to come out and say simply that 'black lives matter,'" Popovich said. 

"Just say those three words. But he won't and he can't. He can't because it's more important to him to mollify the small group of followers who validate his insanity. But it's more than just Trump. The system has to change. I'll do whatever I can do to help, because that's what leaders do. But he can't do anything to put us on a positive path, because he's not a leader.

"It's like what (Senators) Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz used to say when they had the courage to say it: He's unfit. But they have chosen instead to be invisible and obsequious in the face of this carnage. In the end, what we have is a fool in place of a president, while the person who really runs the country, Senator Mitch McConnell, destroys the United States for generations to come.

"McConnell has destroyed and degraded our judicial system. He has tried to destroy heath care. He's destroyed the environment. He's the master and Trump's the stooge, and what's funny is that Trump doesn't even know it. Trump's always wanted to be part of the in-group, but McConnell is an in-group of one and Trump plays the fool."

As for the protests surrounding Floyd's death, Popovich said those are needed but he would like to see better organization.

"It's frustrating. When Dr. (Martin Luther) King did a protest, you knew when to show, when to come back the next day. But if you're just organizing protests and everyone is coming and going in every direction, it doesn't work that way. If it was nonviolent, they knew to be nonviolent, but this is muddled.

"More leadership would be very welcome so these incredible mass demonstrations can't be used by people for other means. We can limit the bad, but only if things are organized better."

The whole situation is frustrating to Popovich.

"We need change. The system has to change. I'm willing to do my part."

-reuters-

As protests and violence spill over, Trump shrinks back

WASHINGTON — Inside the White House, the mood was bristling with tension. Hundreds of protesters were gathering outside the gates, shouting curses at President Donald Trump and in some cases throwing bricks and bottles. Nervous for his safety, Secret Service agents abruptly rushed the president to the underground bunker used in the past during terrorist attacks.

The scene Friday night, described by a person with firsthand knowledge, kicked off an uneasy weekend at the White House as demonstrations spread after the brutal death of a black man in police custody under a white officer’s knee. While in the end officials said they were never really in danger, Trump and his family have been rattled by protests near the Executive Mansion that turned violent for a third night Sunday.

After days in which the empathy he expressed for George Floyd, the man killed, was overshadowed by his combative threats to ramp up violence against looters and rioters, Trump spent Sunday out of sight, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending that he deliver a nationally televised address before another night of possible violence. The building was even emptier than usual as some White House officials planning to work were told not to come in case of renewed unrest.

Thousands of protesters demonstrated peacefully near the White House during the day, but by nightfall, with hundreds still in the streets, the scene turned more volatile as crowds surged forward against lines of riot police with plastic shields as the two sides vied for control of Lafayette Square across from the White House. Protesters threw water bottles, set off fireworks and burned a pile of wood and at least one car.

One of the fires on H Street NW a block from the White House may have spread because soon afterward flames erupted in the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church, the iconic “church of presidents” attended at least once by every chief executive going back to James Madison, but were soon doused by firefighters. Businesses far away from the White House boarded up to guard against vandalism, and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser ordered an 11 p.m. curfew. The White House turned off at least some of its exterior lights.

Trump remained cloistered inside, periodically sending out Twitter messages like “LAW & ORDER!” until the evening, when he went quiet. While some aides urged him to keep off Twitter, Trump could not resist blasting out a string of messages through the day berating Democrats for not being tough enough and attributing the turmoil to radical leftists.

“Get tough Democrat Mayors and Governors,” he wrote. Referring to his presumptive Democratic presidential opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, he added: “These people are ANARCHISTS. Call in our National Guard NOW. The World is watching and laughing at you and Sleepy Joe. Is this what America wants? NO!!!”

The president said his administration “will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” referring to the shorthand for “anti-fascist,” and scheduled a meeting with Attorney General William Barr for Monday morning. But antifa is a movement of activists who dress in black and have used tactics similar to those of anarchists, not an organization with a clear structure that can be penalized under law. Moreover, American law applies terrorist designations to foreign entities, not domestic groups.

By targeting antifa, however, Trump effectively paints all the protests with the brush of violent radicalism without addressing the underlying conditions that have driven many of the people who have taken to the streets. Demonstrations have broken out in at least 75 cities in recent days, with governors and mayors deploying the National Guard or imposing curfews on a scale not seen since the aftermath of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

While Trump has been a focus of anger, particularly among the crowds in Washington, aides repeatedly have tried to explain to him that the protests were not only about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Privately, Trump’s advisers complained about his tweets, acknowledging that they were pouring fuel on an already incendiary situation.

“Those are not constructive tweets, without any question,” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’m thankful that we can have the conversation. We don’t always agree on any of his tweets beforehand, but we have the ability to sit down and dialogue on how we move this nation forward.”

Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and supporter of Trump, said the president, with election looming in five months, is focused on catering to his core supporters rather than the nation at large. “Trump is far more divisive than past presidents,” Eberhart said. “His strength is stirring up his base, not calming the waters.”

But Trump’s absence rankled the Democrats he was criticizing.

“What I’d like to hear from the president is leadership,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And I would like to hear a genuine care and concern for our communities and where we are with race relations in America.”

Some campaign advisers were pressing for a formal address to the nation as early as Sunday. But White House officials, recalling Trump’s error-filled Oval Office address in March about the spread of the coronavirus, cautioned that it was not necessary. Trump quizzed advisers throughout the day Sunday about whether he should give an Oval Office address.

Trump already tried to recalibrate by ripping up his speech at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday after the launch of the new crewed SpaceX rocket and adding a long passage about Floyd. In the speech, Trump repeated his calls for law and order, but in more measured terms and leavened by expressions of sympathy for Floyd’s family, whom he had called to offer condolences.

Aides were disappointed that the remarks, delivered late Saturday afternoon as part of a speech otherwise celebrating the triumph of the space program, did not get wider attention, but they said they hoped they would break through. Several administration officials said Trump was genuinely horrified by the video of Floyd’s last minutes, mentioning it several times in private conversations over the last few days.

After Trump returned to the White House from Florida on Saturday, he found a White House again under siege. This time, security was ready. Washington police blocked off roads for blocks around the building, while hundreds of police officers and National Guard troops ringed the exterior perimeter wearing helmets and riot gear and holding up plastic shields.

The scene was similar Sunday night as well. Protesters shouted “no justice, no peace,” and “black lives matter” as well as chanting expletives at Trump. Washington icons like the Hay-Adams Hotel and the Oval Room restaurant, damaged from the night before, were boarded up.

Graffiti was spray-painted for blocks, including on the historic Decatur House a block from the White House: “Why do we have to keep telling you black lives matter?”

-Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times-

Truck driver arrested after Minneapolis protest scare

MINNEAPOLIS - A tanker driver was arrested in the US city of Minneapolis Sunday after driving his vehicle at speed on a bridge packed with protesters taking part in an anti-racism march, officials said.

Although there were no immediate reports of protesters being hurt, the driver himself was taken to hospital after being hauled from his vehicle, the governor of Minnesota told reporters. 

"I don't know the motives of the driver at this time but at this point in time, to not have tragedy and many deaths is simply an amazing thing," Tim Walz said.

Television footage showed that several hundred protesters were on the bridge which had been closed to traffic when the truck suddenly appeared. It was not immediately clear if the truck had breached a barricade or had been given permission to enter.

Although he did not drive straight at the bulk of the crowd, the driver showed little sign of slowing down and some of the protesters could be seen desperately running to the side of the road before the truck eventually came to a halt.

In a statement, the local police department said that the unnamed truck driver had been taken to hospital "with non-life threatening injuries".

"He is under arrest. It doesn’t appear any protesters were hit by the truck," it added.

The footage evoked memories of the murder in 2017 of an anti-racism protester in the city of Charlottesville who was killed when a white supremacist drove his vehicle into a crowd.

Minneapolis has been the scene of large-scale protests since last Monday when a black man called George Floyd died while being arrested by a white police officer who pinned his knee on his neck for around eight minutes.

Agence France-Presse

NBA great Michael Jordan speaks out on death of George Floyd: 'We have had enough'

Basketball great Michael Jordan voiced outrage on Sunday over the death of George Floyd, a black man shown on video gasping for breath as a white policeman knelt on his neck in Minneapolis, an incident that has triggered violent nationwide protests.

Jordan said his heart went out to the family of Floyd and others who have died through acts of racism.

"I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry," Jordan, a Basketball Hall of Famer and owner of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Hornets, said in a statement. "I see and feel everyone's pain, outrage and frustration.

"I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough."


The comments from Jordan came as many U.S. cities were bracing for another night of unrest after cleaning up streets strewn with broken glass and burned-out cars as curfews failed to quell confrontations between protesters and police.

Jordan, a six-time NBA champion who was at the heart of the Chicago Bulls' dynasty in the 1990s, called on people to show compassion and empathy and never turn their backs on senseless brutality.

"We need to continue peaceful expressions against injustice and demand accountability," said Jordan. "Our unified voice needs to put pressure on our leaders to change our laws, or else we need to use our vote to create systemic change.

"Every one of us needs to be part of the solution, and we must work together to ensure justice for all."

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Peter Cooney)

-reuters-

Nike says "Don't Do It" on racism

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nike has taken a stand against racism with a "Don't do it" campaign, a twist on its famous catch phrase, as protests against police brutality spread across the United States.

"For once, Don't Do It... Don't pretend there's not a problem in America," the US sports apparel giant said in a video posted to Twitter late Friday.


The message came as protesters across the United States took to the streets against the treatment of George Floyd, an African American who died in the hands of police in Minneapolis earlier this week.

In a rare sign of solidarity, competitor Adidas retweeted the video, with a message stating: "Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change."

Floyd's death on Monday was captured in a horrifying cellphone video now seen around the world, in which a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes until well after he went motionless, while three other officers stood by.

"Don't turn your back on racism. Don't accept innocent lives being taken from us. Don't make any more excuses. Don't think this doesn't affect you," Nike said in the video, in which white words appear across a black background. 

The campaign hardly marks the first time Nike, whose "Just Do It" slogan is known worldwide, has waded into US social justice issues.

In September 2018, Nike made waves when it released an advertising campaign featuring US football player and activist Colin Kaepernick, criticized for kneeling during the US national anthem at games in protest at racism.

Agence France-Presse