Новости за 15.06.2020

After a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, the city’s police department first released a statement to the press attributing his death to an act of nature: “Man dies after medical incident during police interaction.” The statement made no mention of the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, cutting off the flow of oxygen to his brain. Instead, as is often the case with instances of police violence, it took cell phone footage captured by a bystander to reveal the true version of events behind Floyd’s death. Читать дальше...

On June 4, a Buffalo police officer shoved 75-year-old Martin Gugino to the ground as his colleagues attempted to clear an area, to enforce a curfew during a Black Lives Matter protest. As with so many similar incidents, the scene was captured on video, which allowed millions to witness the casual contempt with which the officer pushed the elderly gentleman, the sickening crack as his head hit the pavement, and the sorry spectacle of police officers hurriedly marching past his limp form, as blood seeped out of his ear. Читать дальше...

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employers from discriminating against workers on multiple grounds, including their sex. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the sex-discrimination provision also protects gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans in the workplace nationwide. The landmark ruling is matched only by Obergefell v. Hodges as a victory for LGBT rights at the nation’s highest court.

On May 28, a group of artists got to work on the side of the Cup Foods grocery store, on the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis. Three days earlier, George Floyd had been killed there by police officer Derek Chauvin. A mural now stands at the site: Floyd’s face is front and center, his name etched in big blocky yellow letters on either side. A sunflower blazes behind him like a fiery halo; in its center, the names of other victims of police brutality have been painted in white. Читать дальше...

If one takes Donald Trump and his administration to embody modern conservatism, it is easy to see in their response to the coronavirus pandemic the right’s final divorce from science and expertise. There was the case of Rick Bright, the Health and Human Services scientist who claims that the Trump administration retaliated against him when he objected to the administration’s rapid push to distribute anti-malaria drugs that were largely untested for treating coronavirus patients. There are reports... Читать дальше...

The Republicans dedicated to the defeat of Donald Trump—known as “Never Trumpers”—are enjoying a moment of renewed interest in their cause. They are among the president’s sharpest critics, and many hold prominent positions as columnists for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other publications. Although those on the left welcome their assistance in defeating Trump, some are also skeptical of them, fearing they want more than just a repudiation of Trumpism; they may also want to move... Читать дальше...

As the United States struggled to contain the initial onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, a few conservatives peddled an outlandish theory to explain the origins of the disease. The virus, they claimed, did not emerge in the Wuhan market where most experts believe it appeared, but at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research laboratory about eight miles away. In late January, The Washington Times suggested that scientists at the lab had developed the disease as part of China’s biowarfare program. Читать дальше...