Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
June 4, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Antifa planned anti-government insurgency for months . . . Activists of the far-left Antifa movement began planning to foment a nationwide anti-government insurgency as early as November as the U.S. presidential campaign season kicked off in earnest, according to a law enforcement official with access to intelligence behind the shadowy group. The radical movement has emerged as a key focus for investigators in the wake of violent protests
and looting across the country after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, according to U.S. law enforcement officials and private security experts. “Antifa’s actions represent a hard break with the long tradition of a peaceful political process in the United States,” said former National Security Council staff member Rich Higgins. “Their Marxist ideology seeks not only to influence elections in the short term but to destroy the use of
elections as the determining factor in political legitimacy.” Washington Times
Feds investigate whether Antifa exerted "command and control" over unrest . . . Federal law enforcement officials are probing whether "criminal actors" are coordinating violent activities during protests and are looking into reports that "rocks and bricks" have been dropped off to throw at police and other law enforcement as cities across the country grapple with the uptick in violence, a senior Justice Department official said. "You
see the hallmarks ... We're trying to see if there's a coordinated command and control, you see those bread crumbs and that's what we're trying to verify," the DOJ official said. Another DOJ official said the feds have seen signs of "very organized" coordination from "professional" agitators, some linked to Antifa. Fox News
Police out in droves in major cities as riots calm . . . Police were out in droves in cities across the country Wednesday night to enforce curfews that were seen as helping reduce late-night rioting, and officials were hoping for a calmer night amid the ongoing George Floyd protests. In New York City, many protesters opted to stay out past the 8 p.m. curfew, and various videos posted online showed dozens of demonstrators being
arrested for violating the policy. More than 90 demonstrators in Manhattan were detained by 9 p.m., then loaded onto a bus by NYPD officers for ignoring the citywide curfew that Mayor Bill de Blasio extended through Thursday. Fox News
Uh, finally. Maybe Trump was right about the law and order stuff.
There is no systemic police bias: WSJ columnist . . . There is racism in our society. But we do not live in a racist society. There are racist police. The ones who killed and supervised the killing of George Floyd are abhorrent. But there is not stystemic racism among the police, according to a piece by Heather MacDonald in the Wall Street Journal. She shares some startling facts: "This charge of systemic police bias was wrong during the Obama years and remains so today. However sickening the video of Floyd’s arrest, it isn’t representative of the 375 million annual contacts that police officers have with civilians. A solid body of evidence finds no structural bias in the criminal-justice system with regard to
arrests, prosecution or sentencing. Crime and suspect behavior, not race, determine most police actions." White House Dossier
All cops involved in Floyd death now in custody . . . The three former Minneapolis cops charged Wednesday as accomplices in the death of George Floyd while in police custody have all been taken into custody, according to reports Wednesday evening. Authorities in Minnesota released mugshots showing Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng wearing orange, v-neck jailhouse garb over black T-shirts. The ex-cops were charged earlier in the
day with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd during his May 25 arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. New York Post
Two New York cops shot, one stabbed in Brooklyn . . . Two police officers were shot and a third was stabbed in a confrontation with a suspect in Brooklyn late Wednesday night, police and sources said. The melee unfolded when a suspect approached a cop on Church Avenue near Flatbush Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. and stabbed him in the neck, a police source said Several cops responded to the scene and one pulled his firearm, the sources said. The
officer and the suspect then struggled for the weapon, which went off striking one officer in the hand and another in the arm. A sergeant responded to the scene and fired on the suspect, who was struck. New York Post
Massachusetts AG says riots help cleanse us . . . Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey (D.) on Tuesday refused to denounce the violent riots occurring nationwide, likening them to the purifying effects of a forest fire. "Yes, America is burning, but that's how forests grow," Healey said in a speech delivered to the Boston Chamber of Commerce. Healey, who is also the co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, repeated her
remarks in a tweet later the same day, adding that Americans need to "seize the opportunity" to rid the country of "institutionalized racism," which she blamed for the violence. Washingon Free Beacon
My thinking is, she herself probably wants to avoid purification.
Coronavirus not mutating to become more dangerous, WHO says . . . The coronavirus isn’t mutating to become more dangerous, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. Scientists around the world studying the virus have not found it to be mutating in a way that could pose a new threat, as some health officials feared early on, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said at a briefing. “There
are normal changes in this virus that one would expect over time,” she said, referring to the ways in which RNA viruses like the flu and the coronavirus mutate. “None of these changes so far indicate that the virus itself is changing in terms of its ability to transmit or to cause more severe disease.” New York
Post
In other news, people are becoming more dangerous.
George Floyd tested positive for coronavirus in April . . . George Floyd had tested positive for the coronavirus in April, though it was not a factor in his death, his full autopsy has
revealed. Floyd was likely no longer symptomatic when four Minneapolis police officers killed him during an arrest on Monday, according to Dr. Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner at Hennepin County. “Since … positivity for [COVID-19] can persist for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease, the autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent … positivity from previous infection,” Baker wrote in the report, which was released Wednesday with the
permission of Floyd family. New York Post
|
|
Concerns grow within Trump campaign . . . President Trump is facing the bleakest outlook for his re-election bid so far, with his polling numbers plunging in both public and private surveys and his campaign beginning to worry about his standing in states like Ohio and Iowa that he carried by wide margins four years ago. The Trump campaign has recently undertaken a multimillion-dollar advertising effort in those two
states as well as Arizona in hopes of improving his standing, while also shaking up his political operation and turning new attention to states like Georgia that were once considered reliably Republican. In private, Mr. Trump has expressed concern that his campaign is not battle-ready for the general election, while Republicans are concerned about whether the president can emerge in a strong position from the national crises battering the country. New York Times
Police groups break with Biden . . . Joe Biden has long prided himself on being a union-friendly Democrat with a good relationship with rank-and-file cops. But Biden’s call for more national policing reforms and oversight in the wake of the death of George Floyd — and the perception that he hasn’t shown enough solidarity with law enforcement amid the ensuing nationwide protests and unrest — have created a fissure with law enforcement
groups, leaving many who once supported him frustrated by what they regard as political posturing by their one-time ally. “Clearly, he’s made a lot of changes the way candidates do during the primary process, but he kept moving left and fell off the deep end,” said Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations. Politico
Obama callls for police reforms . . . Barack Obama on Wednesday urged every American mayor to review their police department’s use-of-force policies in consultation with their communities. The country’s first black president also struck a note of optimism, even as he acknowledged the despair and anger powering the protests since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died as a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck nine days ago.
“In some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they’ve been, they’ve also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends,” Obama said via livestream from his home in Washington, D.C. Reuters
Mattis blasts Trump, says US lacks "mature" leadership . . . Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis broke his silence on the conduct of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, blasting him and top military leaders and saying he is “angry and appalled” with the events of the past week. “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We
are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” Mattis said in a statement sent to reporters Wednesday evening. Politico
You know, "mature" people. Like the Establishment that got us in this mess.
Trump calls Mattis the "world's most overrated general" . . . Trump swiped at his leadership capabilities, claiming that the retired four-star Marine general’s strength was not his military prowess “but rather personal public relations.” “Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation,
& felt great about it. His nickname was ‘Chaos’, which I didn’t like, & changed to ‘Mad Dog,’” the president tweeted Wednesday evening. “His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations." The Hill
President Trump is obese: White House . . . President Trump weighs in at 244 pounds according to his latest offical health report, which “summarizes data” from checkups conducted between Novenmber 2019 and April 2020. At 6’3″, that gives the president a BMI of just 30.5, which makes the him obese. A BMI of 30 is obsese, while 25 is the threshold for being overweight. I’m not casting judgement. I’m not a
fat shamer. No, not me. Although, as I can attest, it is a shame to be fat. I’m just saying, he’s obese. And because everyone should care about the health of the president of the United States, he should lose some weight. White House Dossier
Trump denies he fled to the White House bunker . . . President Trump Wednesday denied that he hid out in the White House underground bunker as protests raged outside Friday night, saying that in fact he had gone down earlier in the day for a brief time to inspect the area. “There’s so much fake news going round,” he said. White House Dossier
|
|
Defense Secretary Esper reverses decision on troop deployments . . . Defense Secretary Mark Esper abruptly reversed a decision to order active-duty troops home from the national capital region on Wednesday, capping a roller-coaster eight hours that have raised new questions about whether the beleaguered Pentagon chief will keep his job. Esper irked the White House Wednesday morning when he appeared in front of cameras to proclaim
his opposition to deploying active-duty troops to respond to protests around the country — a move that many saw as a break with the president, who on Monday threatened to do just that if state and local officials fail to deal with violent protests breaking out across the country. Politico
|
|
Hong Kong makes mocking Chinese national anthem a crime . . . Hong Kong made mocking China’s national anthem a crime on Thursday, passing a contentious law on the anniversary of the Chinese military’s bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. The move adds to fears that the space in Hong Kong for speech critical of Beijing will continue to shrink, as China’s ruling Communist Party tightens its control over
the semiautonomous city after a year of antigovernment protests. For the first time ever, the local authorities have banned the annual vigil in Hong Kong to remember the victims of the Tiananmen killings in 1989, though activists said they would gather regardless. New York
Times
|
|
US jobless claims expected to decline . . . The U.S. government is expected to report Thursday morning that 1.8 million people filed new claims for state unemployment benefits last week, continuing the decline in new claims from the more than six million who submitted applications in a single week in March.But even as the pace of layoffs has eased, the ranks of people continuing to join the rolls — more than 40 million
filings since mid-March — underscore the continuing strain on the economy caused by the pandemic. New York Times
|
|
LA Mayor Garcetti to cut $150M from police . . . Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday evening that the City of Los Angeles would cut up to $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department and “reinvest” the funds in the local black community.
“This is bigger than just a budget, but I want you to know we will not be increasing our police budget — how can we at this moment?” Garcetti asked. Instead, Garcetti said, he had worked with the city council and community leaders to reach an agreement “to commit to reinvesting in black communities, and communities of
color; in those places left behind.” Breitbart
I don't know. I think police are a pretty good investment in areas where crime is high.
Virginia Gov. Northam to remove iconic Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond . . . Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s prominent Monument Avenue, a senior
administration official told The Associated Press. The Democratic governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak before the governor’s announcement. Many black activists and lawmakers have long called for the statue’s removal and cheered the news. Associated Press
I gather Northam's blackface days are now officially over.
Saints QB Drew Brees gets intense backlash for saying he won't kneel . . . New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees continues to stand against players kneeling during the national anthem when the season starts, and on Wednesday said he would never agree with
the gesture. “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Let me just tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States,” Brees said. After receiving backlash about his comments, Brees reiterated his stance later to ESPN saying that he also respects his teammates and their fight for "racial equality and justice." Fox News
New York Times incurs fury over accurate headline . . . The New York Times faced an overwhelming backlash from Democratic lawmakers and liberal members of the media over its front-page headline that may have been too favorable toward President Trump. Trump threatened to
use military force to quell the riots that have broken out following the death of George Floyd if governors and mayors don't take enough action. The Times print editor Tom Jolly previewed the front page of Tuesday's paper attempting to summarize the day's events. "As Chaos Spreads, Trump Vows to 'End It Now,'" the top headline read with various images from the protests. However, the front page sparked a major uproar from the left, including top Democrats on Capitol
Hill. "You’ve got to be kidding me," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reacted. Fox News
|
|
Looter carrying stoely iMac is robbed . . . Shocking video has emerged of a looter walking through New York with an allegedly stolen iMac computer, only to have it snatched out of his hands by two thieves. The incident took place in New York on Tuesday amid George Floyd protests that saw some opportunistic looters break into stores like Apple, Gucci and Target and raid their shelves. A viral clip from the looting shows
what appears to be a young person carrying an Apple iMac desktop computer, which costs between $1,000 and $2,300, down a street as people watch on. A man filming the looter says, 'Yo! Oh S***! N**** got the iMac! Bro!' Daily Mail
Here the poor guy is, just doing an honest evening of looting, and someone robs him. Outrageous.
|
|
Let others know about Cut to the News by forwarding it to your email list or sharing it on social media. Use this link to direct people to a signup box. Thank
you!
Have a great day.
Keith
Keith Koffler
If you enjoy this free newsletter, please help support it. Donate today.
Got this from a friend? Subscribe here and get Cut to the News sent to your Inbox every morning.
|
|
|
