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Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update

The latest on protests in the U.S. sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer.

Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update
A person takes a selfie photograph in front of a mural depicting George Floyd. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)     

(Bloomberg) -- Video of a confrontation between police and a protester in upstate New York has gone viral, as millions rewatched footage of an elderly man lying on the ground with blood pooling near his head after being shoved backward by an officer. Governor Andrew Cuomo called the incident “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.”

Americans gathered in Minneapolis, New York and elsewhere for memorials honoring George Floyd, the unarmed black man whose death has sparked rolling nationwide protests against police brutality. While mostly peaceful nationwide, clashes erupted again in New York.

Joe Biden told black supporters that most in America want to make things better, though suggested 10-15% of the population just aren’t very good people. His rival, President Donald Trump, was ringed in the White House by additional security fencing.

While incidents in Buffalo and the Bronx raised even more questions about police use of force, Floyd’s death continued to echo around the world. Solidarity protests were planned in South Korea and Australia, while Chinese media taunted the U.S. over its handling of the protests.

Key Developments:

Here’s the latest. All times are New York-based:

Marches Planned in Australia Despite Morrison Warning (1:59 a.m.)

Thousands are expected take to the streets across Australian cities this Saturday in support of George Floyd, even as Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged people not to attend such rallies amid pandemic restrictions.

BBC said New South Wales police have applied for a court order to declare the Sydney protest illegal, while police in Melbourne are negotiating with organizers to call off the plan, according to The Age. South Australia police have exempted coronavirus restrictions during the protest in Adelaide, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Lightning Strikes Injure Military Personnel Near White House (1:30 a.m.)

Two military personnel were transported to the hospital with non life threatening injuries after a lightning strike inside the Lafayette Park perimeter near the White House, D.C. Fire and EMS said in a Twitter post.

Protesters To March in Seoul in Solidarity With U.S. Protests Saturday (1:10 a.m.)

In South Korea, about 300 people are slated to gather in central Seoul to march in solidarity with the U.S. protests. The city police confirmed the three-hour march will take place Saturday afternoon from the tourist district of Myeongdong.

Shim Ji-hoon, the organizer of the event, said he initially made a request for the group to march toward the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, but that was denied by the police. The protesters will walk toward the opposite direction of the embassy to the financial district of Euljiro instead, Shim said. He added that they plan to “strictly follow the two-meters apart social-distance guidelines” amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Gourmet Grocery Owner in Minneapolis Fires Daughter Over Posts (1:05 a.m.)

Majdi Wadi, CEO of a gourmet grocery and bakery shop Holy Land in Minneapolis, decided to fire his daughter after her past posts deemed racist went viral and the store lease agreement was terminated.

Wadi said in the company’s Facebook page that while his daughter, Lianne Wadi, was a teenager when she posted the “racial slurs” this type of behavior can’t be tolerated as “it is completely against our beliefs and faith.”

New York Police Commissioner Expects Suspensions (12:11 a.m.)

New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea said he expects there will be suspensions of some officers who have been recorded interacting with protesters.

“I can tell you without a doubt there will probably be some suspensions,” Shea said at an impromptu press conference, according to NBC New York. He said there are seven videos under review by internal affairs and three more that may come under review.

Biden Says 10-15% of Americans Aren’t Very Good People (11:57 p.m.)

In an online discussion with black supporters moderated by actor Don Cheadle, presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden said that “the vast majority” of Americans are decent people who want to make the country a better place. But, he added, “there are probably anywhere from 10 to 15% of the people out there that are just not very good people.”

Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update

The comments echo those of 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who said about half of Trump’s supporters could be put in a “basket of deplorables,” a line that would go on to haunt her campaign.

Goldman Exec’s Advice to White Colleagues (11:32 p.m)

An email by Goldman Sachs managing director Frederick Baba discussing his experiences of racial inequality has gone viral within the bank, even grabbing the attention of CEO David Solomon.

The letter can be found here: A Goldman Executive’s Advice to White Colleagues: Frederick Baba

The email was sent on June 2 to a group of bankers Baba works with but has been forwarded so widely that almost all 38,000 employees globally have seen it, including Solomon, Reuters reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter. Solomon emailed Baba a personal note in response and the letter has been posted on Goldman’s internal website.

“I’ve learned how to prove I’m intelligent, to prove I’m not threatening, to prove I’m innocent after being assumed guilty. To prove human as this country litigates my personhood in case after case,” Baba, who is black, writes in the letter.

Buffalo Incident Goes Viral, Sparking Fresh Outrage (11:04 p.m.)

Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood has ordered two police officers to be suspended after a video of them pushing a protester, causing him to fall over with a loud thump went viral.

The incident, which occurred the Niagara Square shows the elderly protester lying motionless with blood pooling around his head. A voice can be heard yelling “get a medic!” The video has gone viral with more than 12 million views in two hours.

The man is in stable condition at a local hospital, WBFO reported.

Australian Police Aim to Halt Sydney Protest (10:52 p.m.)

Australian police will go to court to stop a Black Lives Matter protest planned for Saturday in Sydney, local media reported, citing New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The issue will be heard in Supreme Court later on Friday.

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard separately said the court bid was “not political” but had more to do with health in the light of the pandemic. “It’s about keeping us safe,” he told local television.

College Athletes March In Solidarity With Protesters (10:27 p.m.)

University of Texas football players marched from their football stadium about a mile to the state capitol alongside Austin police officers, the Dallas Morning News reported. Once there, they took a knee for 9 minutes in honor of George Floyd.

At Michigan State University in East Lansing, Spartan basketball star Kenny Goins told a crowd at a vigil there to speak up on injustice, the Lansing State Journal reported. “When someone says something that’s not OK, tell them it’s not OK. Change doesn’t happen overnight.”

Police Arrest Dozens of Protesters in the Bronx, NYT Says (10:16 p.m.)

The New York Times reports that police have arrested dozens of protesters in the Bronx, and that thousands continue their protests in New York City despite the 8 p.m. curfew.

Police surrounded a group of protesters in the borough of the Bronx and then charged at them, according to the report.

Trump Tweets About 1994 Crime Bill in a Dig at Biden (10:10 p.m.)

President Trump said on Twitter that the 1994 crime bill “was a total disaster,” reiterating criticism of rival Joe Biden for the tough-on-crime measure that was seen as a liability for him in the Democratic primaries.

Morgan Stanley Outlines Changes to Increase Diversity (10:05 p.m.)

Morgan Stanley, like a growing number of U.S. companies, posted a message on racial injustice and its “way forward” as a firm, from Chairman and CEO James Gorman.

The company said it will create an Institute of Inclusion, contribute $5 million to the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, and said it would match U.S. employee contributions to the Fund, among other actions.

Federal Plan Details Force Built to Control D.C. Protests (8:59 p.m.)

The federal plan to respond to protests in Washington, D.C. currently employs about 7,600 civilian law enforcement, National Guard and active-duty Army personnel, according to an internal document compiled for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The document, which isn’t classified, shows 2,950 law enforcement personnel from U.S. agencies working alongside 2,935 National Guard troops, bolstered by 1,704 active-duty troops who are currently stationed outside the capital at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir and Fort Myer.

The total deployments include 500 personnel each from the U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Police Department and U.S. Secret Service; 445 Bureau of Prisons staff, 168 members of the U.S. Marshals Service, 160 Drug Enforcement Agency employees, 80 U.S. Park Police and 32 FBI agents.

States Split on Sending National Guard Units to D.C. (8:40 p.m.)

State-level National Guard leaders were asked Monday which of them would be willing to send troops to Washington D.C., the Billings Gazette reported in a piece that detailed the troop requesting process. Not everyone said yes.

The request wasn’t specifically made to Montana. And, it wasn’t D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser doing the asking. There’s normally not a federal role in requests for National Guard assistance from states. But Monday it was the federal government.

“The mayor would probably need to make that request,” Adjutant Gen. Matthew Quinn said. “I don’t know that she was making any requests. I think the federal government decided that for her.”

As a federal district, D.C. gives President Donald Trump’s administration a unique ability to control the show of force in response to protests. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has opposed the buildup, but because of that federal structure the capital city most closely mirrors Trump’s vision of how to respond.

White House Expands Fencing Around Perimeter (7:52 p.m.)

Tall black security fencing was erected around the White House complex on Thursday, putting more distance between crowds protesting the death of Georg Floyd and the White House itself.

The Secret Service in a statement said that Lafayette Park to the north of the White House, the Ellipse to its south and the area between NW 15th and NW 17th streets will be closed until June 10.

Lafayette Park, a typical place for protests, has been the site of several clashes between police and protesters in recent days, including when vandals set fire in a church building facing the park. Peaceful protesters on Monday were run out of the park by law enforcement shortly before President Trump walked through the area for a photo op in front of that church.

NYT Says Senator’s Op-Ed Didn’t Meet Its Standards (7:19 p.m.)

The New York Times said that the publication of Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton’s op-ed didn’t meet its standards due to a rushed editorial process. The piece, in which the senator argued that President Trump should use active duty military troops in an “overwhelming show of force” to stop lawbreakers during protests, infuriated some newspaper staffers, some of whom took to social media to express their disapproval.

The Times will consider reducing the number of op-eds it publishes and expand fact-checking after the incident.

Kentucky Governor Backs Ban on ‘No-Knock’ Warrants (5:25 p.m.)

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he supported eliminating the use of “no knock” warrants like the one that ended in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a black woman, in Louisville in March. He said he also supported giving subpoena power to citizen police-review boards.

“We ought to strongly consider both of those pieces of legislation,” he said Thursday during a news briefing. “Anytime a tragedy occurs we have to learn from it.”

Taylor, an emergency room technician, was shot to death after the police carried out a “no knock” warrant at her apartment while searching for someone else. Such warrants allow police to enter homes without announcing themselves first.

Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update

Cuomo Asks N.Y. AG to Probe Baton Incident (4:43 p.m.)

Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked the New York State attorney general to investigate Wednesday night’s incidents where officers allegedly used batons on peaceful protesters.

“Peaceful protest is a sacred American right,” Cuomo wrote in a tweet. “No peaceful protester deserves to be hit with a baton and no self-respecting police officer would defend that.”

Chicago Mayor Vows Accountability for Police (4:15 p.m.)

Chicago is investigating an incident Sunday where police officers were videotaped pulling two people out of a car and throwing them to the ground.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a press conference that she believes the vast majority of police officers are doing the right thing, but the city will hold those who aren’t accountable. Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability is reviewing the incident.

Superintendent David Brown said the police department will take swift action once the review is complete. The officers remain at work. Lightfoot has pledged to implement police reform measures within 90 days, including bringing the community into the police academy as teachers.

‘I Can Breathe Now’: Floyd Honored With Memorial (3 p.m.)

The first of three memorials for Floyd was attended by celebrities, politicians and activists in Minneapolis. Senator Amy Klobuchar, civil-rights leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson, rapper Ludacris and actor Kevin Hart were among 500 mourners who gathered in a socially-distanced sanctuary at North Central University to pay respects before Floyd’s gold coffin and a projected mural that said “I can breathe now,” the Associated Press reported.

Floyd’s casket will move on to viewings in Raeford, North Carolina, his birthplace; and in Houston, where he grew up. “He was a human being. He had family, he had dreams, he had hopes,” the Reverend Al Sharpton said before the memorial.

The Minneapolis service was one of scores of gatherings across the country to mark a death that sent tens of thousands into the streets.

Read here for a related AP story about bail set for the officers charged in Floyd’s death.

Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update

Curfews Lifted in D.C., Los Angeles County (1:42 p.m.)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser lifted the curfew for Thursday. Los Angeles County said on Twitter that it won’t have a county-wide curfew, though municipalities can impose their own. The city of Los Angeles lifted its curfew, and Mayor Eric Garcetti scheduled the first meeting of the city’s Civil and Human Rights Commission.

Floyd Memorial Seen as ‘Plea for Justice’ (9:45 a.m.)

A memorial service for Floyd will be a “plea to America and a plea for justice that we don’t let his death be in vain,” an attorney for the family said on NBC’s “Today” show, the Washington Post reported.

Read more here: How ‘Black Lives Matter’ Became a U.S. Protest Cry:

Buffalo Probes Police Incident, More NYC Clashes: Protest Update

Drew Brees Apologizes After Comments on Kneeling (8:20 a.m.)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees apologized after his comments on kneeling during the national anthem sparked backlash. Brees had said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”

The backlash to anthem-kneeling protests led by former NFL star Colin Kaepernick was cited as fueling demonstrations in New Orleans on Wednesday. Protesters there chanted opposition to Brees’s comments.

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