The Past 24 Hours or So

Read Time: 4 Minutes

Protest News

• Buffalo police officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski were charged with second-degree assault after they were seen in a viral video shoving and seriously injuring an elderly man during a protest this week. Martin Gugino, 75, fell backwards after being shoved and hit his head as the officers appeared to walk past him.

• Top Pentagon officials ordered National Guard helicopters to use what they called “persistent presence” to disperse protests in the capital this week, according to military officials. The loosely worded order prompted a series of low-altitude maneuvers that human rights organizations quickly criticized as a show of force usually reserved for combat zones.

Military officials said that the National Guard’s aggressive approach to crowd control was prompted by a pointed threat from the Pentagon: If the Guard was unable to handle the situation, then active-duty military units, such as a rapid-reaction unit of the 82nd Airborne Division, would be sent into the city.

Senior Pentagon officials, including Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were trying to persuade President Trump that active-duty troops should not be sent into the streets to impose order.

• As nationwide protests for justice-system reform enter the 12th day, anti-racism rallies and protests against police brutality are continuing on Saturday in cities across the US and around the world. 

• The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the Trump administration’s surveillance of protesters.

• The New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced in a statement two officers seen on video assaulting protesters have been suspended without pay. 

“These incidents … are disturbing and run counter to the principles of NYPD training, as well as our mission of public safety,” Shea said in the statement.

• As of 5pm, DC Police reported there had been zero arrests related to Saturday’s  demonstrations with no major incidents to report. The largest protests seen so far in the nation’s capital have been remarkably calm.

• A federal judge ordered police in Denver to temporarily stop using tear gas, rubber bullets and other “less-than-lethal” forces like flash grenades during protests. The order comes following a class-action lawsuit against the city of Denver and the Denver Police Department. 

The plaintiffs in the suit alleged the Denver police used excessive force against activists protesting police brutality in the city.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor, Stan Wischnowski, has resigned days after an article headlined “Buildings Matter, Too” led dozens of staff members to walk out.

• President Trump reportedly called for deploying 10,000 troops to quell protests in Washington, DC this week, but Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint of Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley pushed back at the use of any active duty troops.

Administration News

• Wichita State University and WSU Tech canceled plans for Ivanka Trump to give a virtual commencement speech to graduates because of criticism of President Trump’s response to protests over the death of George Floyd.

Administrators announced the decision late Thursday, just hours after they had said the president’s daughter would be speaking to WSU Tech graduates. 

Administrators of both universities, which are affiliated, said Saturday’s graduation for the technical university would be ‘refocused’ on students, with a nursing graduate as the only speaker.

• Trump campaign senior adviser Mercedes Schlapp, boosted a tweet that lauded a man in Texas in a viral video as he yelled the n-word and wielded a chainsaw to chase away anti-racism demonstrators.

• The U.S. Marine Corps on Friday issued detailed directives about removing and banning public displays of the Confederate battle flag at Marine installations, including on items such as mugs, posters and bumper stickers.

• The Trump administration is rejecting requests from US embassies in Germany, Israel, Brazil, Latvia and others to fly the rainbow pride flag on embassy flagpoles during June, LGBTQ Pride Month.

• President George W. Bush and Senator Mitt Romney will not support Mr. Trump’s re-election, and other GOP officials are considering a vote for Biden.

Coronavirus/COVID-19

• Trump traveled to Maine Friday to tour a facility that makes medical swabs used for coronavirus testing, but the swabs manufactured in the background during his visit will ultimately be thrown in the trash because Trump refused to wear a mask.

• Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported a new single day record for coronavirus cases since the state began reopening.

According to the department, there were at least 1,495 new cases reported as of Friday, surpassing Wednesday’s record high of 1,317. Florida’s total number of cases is over 61,000. There were also at least 53 new deaths reported, increasing the state’s total number to at least 2,660.

• The 50 wealthiest people in America have publicly donated about $1 billion for coronavirus relief — that’s a big number, but it adds up to a very small fraction of their combined net worth: less than 0.1%, according to a new survey from the Washington Post. 

The survey also found that nearly a third of these billionaires haven’t announced any donations, though some who haven’t contributed personally point to donations given through their corporations.

The median net worth of an American household, which registers at $97,300

Sources:  ABC News, Axios, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post