In 2020, armed groups and individuals confronted racial justice protests with guns at least 100 times. Our new video shows how police officers often gave these groups a pass, and in extreme cases even affiliated or coordinated with them: nytimes.com/video/us/10000…
There have been more than 7,700 Black Lives Matter protests since the killing of George Floyd in May, the vast majority of them peaceful, according to researchers. But in scores of cases, we found that armed right-wing groups confronted them with guns.
The left used violence this year too, most prominently in the killing of Trump supporter Aaron J. Danielson in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 29 (nytimes.com/2020/08/31/vid…). But we saw armed groups confronting protesters far more often on the right.
The most common response we saw from police officers was a permissive attitude toward armed groups and individuals who confronted Black Lives Matter protests, like this scene in Crown Point, Ind., on June 1, shot by Isabella Gomez.
Or this incident the same day in Yucaipa, Calif., where people — some affiliated with anti-government armed movements — fought with BLM protesters while a police officer sat in a car around 200 feet away
We also saw some officers affiliate with armed groups, like these Philadelphia police officers posing with armed men guarding property on June 1, while elsewhere in the city that day a mob carrying bats and axes confronted BLM protesters.
In Michigan, a county sheriff appeared on stage with a member of a militia group who was later charged with plotting to kidnap @GovWhitmer, and he seemed to sympathize with their actions in an interview: wwmt.com/news/local/nei….
In a few extreme cases, we even saw officers seem to coordinate with armed groups, like this Clackamas County, Ore., sheriff's deputy who tells men “defending” their area from antifa that he’s “on their side” and how to plant a knife on a victim.
Experts say that the hands-off approach we saw this year from some police officers can lead armed people to believe that they have the government’s support, are subject to different rules than everyone else and might be justified in taking violent action.
The events of 2020 suggest that even as the country grapples with police reform, it has another problem on its hands: an increasingly blurred line between armed groups and the police nytimes.com/video/us/10000….
Almost too perfect. "Anonymous" is Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who served during the implementation of family separation and personally defended the Muslim ban
After a federal task force killed the self-described antifa activist Michael Reinoehl on Sept. 3, President Trump praised it as “retribution.” Our new investigation raises doubts about whether officers made any attempt to arrest Reinoehl before killing him nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/…
Based on interviews with 22 people who lived nearby and Lt. Ray Brady, the commander of the investigation team, we’ve reconstructed what happened. What we found suggests that officers may have opened fire without warning or even seeing a gun.
Reinoehl was a fixture at racial justice protests in Portland since the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, often carrying a gun and providing security. On Aug. 29, a man who looked like Reinoehl shot and killed far-right protester Aaron J. Danielson.
A white 48-year-old Oregon man who identifies as an anti-fascist and has been attending Black Lives Matter protests since June is under investigation for the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter in Portland last night oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/…
Michael Reinoehl, the man reportedly under investigation for the killing of Trump supporter Aaron Danielson in Portland on August 29, tells @VICENews he acted in self-defense, thinking he and a friend were going to be stabbed vice.com/en_us/article/…
Breaking: Reinoehl was killed tonight as a federal fugitive task force tried to arrest him nytimes.com/2020/09/03/us/…
Two people were killed overnight in Kenosha when a group of men with guns who said they were protecting property, including a gas station, opened fire nytimes.com/2020/08/26/us/…
Thread with initial thoughts on what may have happened in Kenosha
Police have arrested 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch, Illinois, on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha last night. Two people were killed and a third wounded apnews.com/97a0700564fb52…
From the Bannon indictment: Someone apparently used border wall money to buy themselves a nice little pleasure craft named Warfighter that they're about to lose
It gets better: Kolfage used boat he bought with illegally-siphoned "We Build the Wall" funds to sail in the July 4 Trump boat parade in Destin, Florida instagram.com/tv/CCRxjWLj6im… (spotted by @ZacAlf)
Seems clear there were at least two explosions in the Beirut port area, the second one far more massive than the first and likely touched off by it. Lots of rumors circulating as to the source.
The verdict in the trial of four Hezbollah members for the 15-year-old assassination of Rafik Hariri is due to be read on Friday in.reuters.com/article/lebano…
Clear video showing location of (likely) first explosion, in Beirut Port at 33.902281, 35.518773 (geolocation by @trbrtc)