Police

By Angela Workman-Stark | – The police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd is currently on trial in Minneapolis amid continued calls for defunding or abolishing police forces — not just in the United States, but in Canada and other places that have also grappled with police brutality. The problem with […]

Far Right

“I Don’t Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection

ProPublica

By Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | – The Insurrection ( ProPublica) – The Effort to Overturn the Election The riot squad defending the embattled entrance to the west side of the U.S. Capitol was surrounded by violence. Rioters had clambered up the scaffolding by the stage erected for the inauguration of President Joseph Biden. […]

Donald Trump

A Confederacy of Vigilantes: White Supremacists, including some Police, attack BLM Protesters, Prepare to Defend Trump’s Theft of the Presidency

Dan Dinello

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – “Be wary of paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh,” says Timothy Snyder in On Tyranny. “When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Metaphor of ‘Missing a Putt’ for Police Killings says everything about our spoiled Plutocrats

Sam Pizzigati

(Inequality.org) – Trying to keep up with the stunningly inappropriate — and worse — remarks of Donald Trump can sometimes seem a full-time job. Just this past week, for instance, we’ve seen the president seem to encourage voters in North Carolina to vote twice, once by mail and once by person, a felony under state […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s ISIL Reelection Scheme: Send Federal Agents to Provoke Protesters in Dem Cities, Scare Suburbs

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Part of Trump’s reelection strategy is to scare the white suburbs, which polls show have soured on him, with “urban” (read: minority) violence. This is clear from his current campaign ads, which try to paint the gentlemanly Joe Biden as a bomb thrower. It now appears clear that part of […]

Pentagon

Police, Prisons, and the Pentagon: Defunding America’s Wars at Home and Abroad

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com) – Think of it as a war system that’s been coming home for years. The murder of George Floyd has finally shone a spotlight on the need to defund local police departments and find alternatives that provide more genuine safety and security. The same sort of spotlight needs soon to be shone on […]

Militarization

How the Police and the Pentagon Are Bringing Our Wars Home

Foreign Policy in Focus

By William J. Barber and Phyllis Bennis Originally published in Inside Sources. ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Uniformed U.S. soldiers occupied the center of the city, where an armored personnel carrier was stationed at a major intersection. Was it Kabul or Atlanta? A U.S. military helicopter hovered over crowds of unarmed civilians, its down-drafts […]

Nonviolence

Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents

The Conversation

By Jennifer Earl, James J. Nolan, Jessica Maves Braithwaite and Kirssa Cline Ryckman | – Scholars: Kirssa Cline Ryckman, Jennifer Earl, Jessica Maves Braithwaite, University of Arizona Police have a saying, “better to be judged by 12 than carried by six,” acknowledging they might face a jury if they use excessive force, but it’s preferable […]

Militarization

Martin Luther King’s Giant Triplets: Racism, Yes, But What About Militarism and Materialism?

Andrew J. Bacevich

(Tomdispatch.com) – In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Americans are finally — or is it once again? — confronting the racism that afflicts this country and extends into just about every corner of our national life. Something fundamental just might be happening. Yet to state the obvious, we’ve been here before. […]