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https://portside.org/2020-06-06/coronavirus-denial-and-climate-denial-have-one-thing-common-greed
Portside Date: June 6, 2020
Author: Basav Sen
Date of source: May 29, 2020
Newsweek
As the state of Florida went ahead with its move to substantially end the coronavirus lockdown and reopen its economy, it emerged that Dr. Rebekah Jones, the scientist in charge of the state’s coronavirus database, was fired. She claims she was ordered to manually change data to support the case for reopening.
While we don’t know for certain yet if Dr. Jones’ version of events is true, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if it is.
In neighboring Georgia, data on the state government website purporting to show a steady decline in coronavirus cases turned out to be erroneous. What’s more, it appears that the Georgia Department of Public Health is intentionally “moving the goalposts” in how it portrays coronavirus data in a way that minimizes the seriousness of the pandemic, according to an associate professor of public health at Georgia State University.
This isn't new. Recall that Florida was the same state where scientists working for state agencies were under a gag order that prevented them from discussing climate change, or even using the term "climate change."
And it's not just in Florida. The Trump administration is waging an Inquisition-like "war on science" across the federal government, affecting the EPA, the Interior Department, and many other agencies. Official coronavirus minimization is completely consistent with the pattern of official climate change denial and dismissal of science.
It's tempting—but fundamentally incorrect—to attribute the widespread denial of science to ignorance and lack of education.
The source of political power backing climate change denial is obvious and well-documented. The fossil fuel industry (and other big industries such as agribusiness) spent decades—and lots of money—funding fake grassroots groups and industry-friendly think-tanks, promoting misinformation, and buying access to politicians of both parties.
The fact that climate change denial is a popular ideology on the U.S. right today has much more to do with this concentration of economic and political power than with a diffusion of ignorance.
With coronavirus minimization (which sometimes ventures into truly preposterous coronavirus denial), the political motives are less immediately obvious. But the evidence on hand points in the same general direction as with climate change denial.
The premature reopening of states against the advice of public health experts was preceded by horrifying statements from political leaders that it may be essential to sacrifice human lives for the sake of "the economy," and fake grassroots "protests" of armed vigilantes (including white supremacists and fascists) with funding and backing from wealthy interests. (In fact, The Guardian reports that major fossil fuel companies have funded some of the same organizations now protesting stay at home orders.)
Clearly, there are powerful economic interests who stand to gain from the premature reopening. The question is why?
Consider a disturbing development in Ohio, where the state appears to be urging employers to report workers who don't return to work after businesses reopen, so they can be denied unemployment benefits. This coercive measure would save money for the state unemployment system — and eventually for employers, because the taxes they pay to fund the system are structured like insurance premiums.
Obviously, affected workers would include many who legitimately fear returning to work because they don't have confidence that their employer will provide a safe work environment. This isn't an unfounded concern, as the experience of workers at businesses like Amazon who have remained open through the nationwide lockdown has shown.
In some places, the profit motive seems clearer still. In California, Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO, openly defied a local lockdown order to reopen a factory. Tesla workers were getting unemployment benefits, so clearly this wasn't out of concern for their livelihoods. It's because the indefinite closure of the factory meant that Tesla made less money, which threatened to make Musk less money.
Even before the reopening, the Institute for Policy Studies reported that Musk had made more money during this crisis than anyone not named Jeff Bezos. But he was still willing to risk exposing his workers and the communities they live in to a deadly disease to make even more.
Taken together, it's hard not to imagine a more sinister motive for moves like these: disciplining workers into accepting that if they're not willing to risk their lives to enrich their employers, they face losing their livelihoods — without a social safety net to catch them.
The common thread between climate denial and coronavirus minimization, then, is not opposition to science per se. It's the weaponization of opposition to science in the service of profit — no matter the cost to everyone else.
By Aaron Holmes, Business Insider.
June 6, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/antifa-twitter-account-actually-run-by-white-nationalist-group-identity-evropa/
‘ANTIFA’ TWITTER ACCOUNT ACTUALLY RUN BY WHITE NATIONALIST GROUP IDENTITY EVROPA
A Twitter account that claimed to represent a national antifa organization and that urged protesters to loot “white” neighborhoods was actually run by white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson.
The account, which posted under the handle “@ANTIFA_US,” falsely aligned itself with ongoing Black Lives Matter protests nationwide. One tweet that called for protesters to “move into residential areas” and “take what’s ours” was retweeted hundreds of times as of Sunday night.
The account was removed Monday for breaking Twitter’s rules against platform manipulation, spam, and inciting violence, NBC News first reported.
A Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider that this isn’t the first time that users linked to Identity Evropa have created fake accounts to spread “hateful content.” Some white nationalists have advocated for the acceleration of conflict between protesters and police in order to spur race riots.
The antifa movement is a loosely affiliated group of anti-fascism activists, but does not have a national organization, defined structure, or leader. President Donald Trump designated antifa as a terrorist organization Sunday and has blamed it for organizing the property destruction seen at some protests nationwide, but there’s little evidence of any such coordinated effort.
Twitter said it was continuing to monitor platform manipulation and posts inciting violence as nationwide protests continue.
By Benjamin Sachs, On Labor.
June 6, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/police-unions-its-time-to-change-the-law-and-end-the-abuse/
Collective action is the source of working people’s power. It is the source of the labor movement’s power. It is the source of power that has enabled workers to secure – through unionization and collective bargaining – fairness and dignity at work, living wages, protection against discrimination and harassment, and safe and healthy working conditions. It is the source of power that has allowed working people to demand progressive legislation, to push the nation forward on questions of civil rights, political rights and economic rights. In recent years, it has enabled teachers to win funding for their classrooms, fast food workers to increase the minimum wage, and nurses to negotiate staffing ratios to ensure adequate care for COVID patients. Collective action and collective bargaining are treasures that deserve fierce protection.
But collective action is, at bottom, just a source of power. And like all sources of power, it can be abused. When unions use the power of collective bargaining for ends that we, as a democratic society, deem unacceptable it becomes our responsibility – including the responsibility of the labor movement itself – to deny unions the ability to use collective bargaining for these purposes. We have done this before. When unions bargained contracts that excluded Black workers from employment or that relegated Black workers to inferior jobs, the law stepped in and stripped unions of the right to use collective bargaining in these ways.
The killing of George Floyd and the events of the last week require us to recognize that police unions have abused the power of collective bargaining in indefensible ways. These unions have used collective bargaining to protect their members from accountability for racist killing. And, in doing so, they may well have made such killing more likely and more frequent. Here is what the data tell us:
The extension of collective bargaining rights to Florida sheriffs’ offices led to an estimated 40% increase in violent incidents among sheriffs’ offices that elected to unionize.
A study using data from America’s 100 largest cities found that police protections created via union contract were significantly and positively correlated with the killing of unarmed civilians.
A forthcoming paper finds that the introduction of collective bargaining rights for police officers between the 1950s and 1980s led to modest increases in police compensation, insignificant impacts on total crime, and substantial increases in police killings of civilians with disproportionate impact on racial minorities.
A wide array of changes is necessary to end police violence, and even vaster changes needed to address structural racism’s deeper effects on the nation. But, for a labor movement committed to building a more equitable economy and society – and for scholars who support that movement – now is the time to demand that the power of collective action not be available to unions who would abuse it in this way. What particular shape that demand should take requires our immediate attention, and it is a project the Labor and Worklife Program plans to undertake at Harvard Law School in the near term. Scholars already have proposed some possibilities: opening police collective bargaining sessions to public oversight; giving community groups a seat at the bargaining table; ending exclusive representative unionism for police, and instead encouraging a multiplicity of representatives in order to facilitate more diverse views on critical subjects. Another path forward has received less attention but is worth careful consideration: public sector bargaining laws could be amended to strictly curtail the range of subjects over which police unions have the right to bargain. The law, in brief, would permit collective bargaining by police only with respect to matters related to wages and benefits. Collective bargaining over any subject that implicates the use of force, including collective bargaining over disciplinary matters, would be prohibited.
Whatever approach we take, it is critical that reforms are focused solely on the problem to be addressed – namely, police misconduct and violence. Police union reform, that is, cannot become a stalking horse for those with a political agenda to attack public sector unions generally. It cannot become a means to undermine the incredibly valuable work these other unions do to advance the interests of teachers, nurses, sanitation workers, and public servants of all kinds. But changes to the law governing police unions are necessary and must be sufficiently robust to enable far-reaching reform of police practice.
By Jonathan Ballew, The Chicago Reporter.
June 6, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/chicago-police-investigation-into-officer-covering-up-name-tag-badge-number/
Violent Clashes Between Police And Protesters Have Led To A Large Number Of Allegations Of Police Misconduct.
UPDATE 6/5/20: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says police officers who cover or remove name tag, badge number, should be fired.
After one of the most volatile mass protests in the city’s recent memory sparked by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, Chicago police are investigating at least one officer for covering up his badge number and name tag.
Images and video circulating on social media show police officers who appear to have either taped over the name tags on their uniforms and badge star numbers or removed them entirely. In a statement to the The Chicago Reporter Wednesday evening, the Chicago Police Department condemned the practice.
“All Chicago Police Officers are required to wear their unit assignment designator, nameplate and prescribed star so that they are clearly visible. An internal investigation has been opened into the officer who was photographed without his unit assignment designator and nameplate and with his star number covered. CPD holds its officers to the highest professional standards and violations of the Department’s policy will be addressed,” the department said in a statement.
Concealing those elements of a uniform, or failing to correctly identify themselves, is specifically prohibited by at least two Chicago Police directives.
But the Reporter has obtained images and video that suggest multiple CPD officers may have been engaging in the inappropriate practice of hiding their names star numbers, which are the unique identifying numbers on an officer’s badge.
Kyle Wilkins, 29, took one photo near DePaul’s campus Sunday at about 8:00 p.m. and posted it to Twitter. The image shows an officer with what appears to be duct tape covering his star number.
Kyle Wilkins@KyleWilkins
Cops are out here covering their badge numbers. I’d put the amount with body cams at 20% #chicagoprotest #georgefloyd
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“I think he put it on there to cover up his number,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said once he and some other protestors began complaining, the officer removed the tape from the badge.
“It’s scary,” he said, “Because many officers weren’t even wearing their body cams [sic] and making it harder to identify them is very concerning.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez said Wednesday his office fielded calls about the “shameful” practice all day and he brought it up at City Hall during a meeting of the Committee on Public Safety.
“It says a lot about folks who think they need to tape up their badge,” he said. “What kind of activity does an officer plan on doing that they cover up their badge?”
Vasquez said his office asked the Lightfoot administration about the practice on Tuesday.
“People want to equate us asking questions as if these aren’t serious matters,” he said. “There is a history of inappropriate policing in Chicago. There is a reason why the tension here was different.”
On Monday, video surfaced on social media that showed a Chicago police officer beating a man in Uptown during a demonstration. Ephraim Eaddy, a spokesman for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, told the Chicago Sun-Times the independent monitor received 82 complaints over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged in her State of the City speech that “the process of reform has been too slow and too narrowly focused,” and pledged to institute immediate steps toward reform within the next 90 days including community-centered and de-escalation training, and mental health support for officers.
In a statement to the Reporter, Chicago’s chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police said they “do not make the CPD policy nor make the department orders so we can’t speak for CPD.”
The Reporter asked CPD about the images and video that show multiple officers engaging in the practice, and whether there would be a more comprehensive investigation beyond just one officer.
“All allegations that we are made aware of will be addressed,” they said in a statement.
But CPD did not immediately respond to questions about how many allegations they were aware of.
Lightfoot’s office said she strongly condemned the practice.
“Wearing nameplates in uniform is the most universal form of transparency and accountability when it comes to policing. All Chicago Police officers are required to wear and make visible their unit assignment designator, nameplate and prescribed star. Should any officer be found in violation of these policies, we will ensure that they will be held fully accountable,” her office said in a statement Wednesday.
The Chicago Police Department has been under a federal consent decree since January 2019. An investigation by the Reporter found that between 2011 and 2017, the city paid $313 million to settle claims of police misconduct. The tally for 2018 alone was $113 million, according to the most recent analysis.
Correction: This story was updated to clarify that Ald. Andre Vasquez’s office asked the Lightfoot administration about officers covering or removing badges, not police officers.
By Solidarity Gardens CU.
June 6, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/solidarity-gardens-launched-to-address-food-disruption-and-insecurity/
Champaign-Urbana, IL – Individuals and organizations are encouraged and empowered to plant gardens throughout the Champaign-Urbana area and donate use of land, garden supplies, and expertise through a newly launched initiative, Solidarity Gardens CU, in order to address food disruptions and insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Modeled after the WWII-era Victory Gardens, Solidarity Gardens is being launched on June 3, 2020 by a network of area organizations and individuals throughout the Champaign-Urbana area.
With help from the broader community, Solidarity Gardens CU will be offering free seeds, seedlings, tools, soil, containers, miscellaneous supplies, gardening expertise, and educational resources to any interested party in the Champaign-Urbana area, and will then collect, process, and redistribute donated produce to community members who are facing economic and food access challenges through the Solidarity Gardens CU Distribution Network. Participants will receive a Solidarity Garden yard sign, donated by Cunningham Township, to acknowledge their effort. The initiative is also looking for groups to adopt garden plots donated by the Urbana Park District and Champaign Park District.
To become involved, go to http://www.solidarity-gardens-cu.org where you can indicate your interest in participating (garden, offer expertise, donate use of land, containers, etc.) and/or what resources you need (tilling, tools, soil, seeds, misc. supplies, expertise, etc.). Instructions regarding pickup and delivery will be sent to individuals following registration via the website. The initiative also seeks funding to offset costs; donations may be made at http://donate.solidarity-gardens-cu.org.
On Wednesday, June 3, the first distribution of seeds, seedlings, and containers was delivered to extremely low-income families, identified by Cunningham Township, through Channing-Murray Foundation’s Bucket Brigade, a program delivering essential grocery items to Urbana residents in need. The Bucket Brigade will continue to distribute gardening supplies to interested individuals in the coming weeks.
The following pick-up locations will be open to individuals interested in gardening, while supplies last:
Cunningham Township
205 West Green Street, Urbana
Mondays and Wednesday from 1 to 4:30p
Fridays from 8a to 10:30a
Sola Gratia Pay-What-You-Can Market (along with CU Public Health Mobile Services)
Cornerstone Fellowship, 1101 E. Colorado Ave, Urbana
Every Friday from 1p to 3p (beginning June 5)
Carle Mobile Health Clinic
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (beginning June 9)
Various Locations (see below for next week’s schedule)
Tuesday, June 9 from 8a to noon
Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 1601 W. Bloomington Road, Champaign
Wednesday, June 10 from 9a to 4p
Salt & Light, 1819 Philo Road, Urbana
Thursday, June 11 from 9a to 4p
Illinois Worknet Building, 1307 N. Mattis Avenue, Champaign
The full schedule for the Carle Mobile Health Clinic can be found at https://carle.org/services/carle-mobile-health-clinic
With some of the best soil in the world and a rising food insecurity rate, now is the time to transition more of our soil into food production for our community. We have folks with time and a willingness to learn; neighbors with gardening knowledge but lack tools and yards; residents with land, tools, and expertise who are interested in teaching others and sharing surplus production; and a team of leaders ready to build and support this network. Solidarity Gardens is a timely matchmaking effort of knowledge, need, and resources to empower, connect, and feed our community. — Traci Barkley, Director, Sola Gratia Farm
Our low income neighbors were already surviving off $6.40 in food subsidies per day. With the pandemic, we are concerned more and more people will struggle to eat and to eat healthy. Solidarity Gardens CU is a way we can come together to help each other in this difficult time. — Danielle Chynoweth, Cunningham Township Supervisor
The Solidarity Gardens CU partners include Cunningham Township, Channing Murray Foundation, Sola Gratia Farm, Carle, Urbana Free Library, University of Illinois Extension, University of Illinois School of Social Work, Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, Four Osprey/Champaign-Urbana City Farms, Urbana Park District, Champaign Park District, Urbana School District, Cu Public Health District, McKinley Foundation, First Followers, City of Urbana, and Lierman Community Gardens.
For more information and to become involved, visit http://www.solidarity-gardens-cu.org, contact info@solidarity-gardens-cu.org, or call 847.306.9442. To donate funds, visit http://donate.solidarity-gardens-cu.org.
By Alan Macleod, Mintpress News.
June 6, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/police-at-protests-caught-destroying-property/
Agents Provocateurs.
Police all over the world commonly use plants and undercover cops to undermine protests.
The United States is on fire. Since the police killing of George Floyd on May 26, millions have taken to the streets in protest, clashing with police. At least 11 people have died, and thousands have been arrested. 15 states (plus Washington, D.C.) have called in the National Guard to quash protests raging in over 100 cities. Violence has been widespread, particularly in the epicenter Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, with buildings engulfed in flames, stores looted and vehicles destroyed.
While protestors are undoubtedly responsible for some share of the destruction, the country’s law enforcement officials have also been caught multiple times sabotaging and destroying property as well, presumably in an attempt to escalate the situation or to defame the protests.
In Seattle, police were caught on camera smashing through the door of a local Target, seemingly far away from any conflict or commotion.
madison@macaronimadi
WHY IS SEATTLE POLICE DESTROYING PROPERTY PLEASE EMAIL TO SPD
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In Boston, video circulated appears to show multiple police officers destroying their own car.
david 
@realDavidOnline
Boston police caught smashing their own car. #bostonprotest
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In San Bernardino, CA, protestors claim they held four hours of peaceful demonstrations until the police arrived, at which point the area was engulfed in flames.
𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚔 ☽@itsablurrsir
we spent close to four hours peacefully protesting and the minute the police showed up, shit starts burning. something’s rotten in the city of san bernardino. https://twitter.com/braaannicole/status/1267298264279220224 …
baaaabe .@braaanNicole
The dino is on fire. #GeorgeFloydProtests #brandinicole #bnicolephotography #blm #BlackLivesMatter #SanBernardino #inlandempire #California
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In Chicago, images show a group of police swarm a car, hitting it with clubs. Eyewitnesses say they were looking for looters but they attacked the wrong vehicle anyway.
Kollege Kidd@KollegeKidd
Chicago Police smash car windows of suspected store looters. An eye witness says police got the wrong car
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Earlier this week there was also the suspicious case of the Minnesota vandal dubbed “Umbrella Man.” Video shows the oddly dressed individual methodically smashing the windows of an Autozone store. Umbrella Man was immediately identified as Jacob Pederson of the Minneapolis Police Department by online sleuths and real-life acquaintances, something the police have denied.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that police all over the world commonly use agent provocateurs to undermine protests. During the 2009 G20 protests in the United Kingdom, authorities used undercover agents to blend into crowds, spying on them. Police also regularly pose as members of the masked anarchist group Black Bloc, attempting to incite riots. At a 2016 anti-austerity demonstration in Montreal, officers were exposed and fled the protest.
Escalating Violence
While the level to which police themselves are destroying property is debatable, what is not is that they have escalated violence at many protests. In Houston, a mounted police officer trampled a female bystander looking the other way at an otherwise passive protest. In New York, videos of multiple cars driving through and over scores of protestors went viral.
Pierre G.@pgarapon
Wtf!!! #BlacklivesMaters #brooklynprotest
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An NYPD officer also attacked a retreating young woman, shouting that she was a “fucking bitch” as he threw her to the ground. She ended up in the hospital with her injuries.
Whitney Hu 胡安行 - #DefundTheNYPD #AbolishPolice@whitney_hu
Update: Got her permission with a fuck yeah. The cop pushed her so hard at Barclays & she flung back. She is tiny. Now she’s in the ER after a serious seizure. I’m waiting for updates but have to wait outside because of COVID-19. Please keep my protest sister in your thoughts.
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Law enforcement in Erie, PA, were caught on camera kicking a young girl lying in the street in the face. The reason she was lying in the street covering her face, according to protestors, was that she was incapacitated due to tear gas.
Denis
✔@Gramatik
Erie, PA cop viciously kicks a woman while she sits on the floor covering her face, this is insane
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The police also appear to be making a point of attacking journalists. Denver police threw a reporter into a burning fire for getting too close to them. Minneapolis cops shot freelance reporter Linda Tirado in the face, leaving her permanently blind in one eye. Minnesota police also shot a Reuters crew on Saturday with rubber bullets, one being hit in the face, the other in the arm, and the back of the neck. Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessey-Fiske also reported that police attacked her and a group of other journalists, firing tear gas at point-blank range at her. A CBS News crew, totally alone in a quiet parking lot was set upon by armed officers firing rubber bullets at them, hitting their sound engineer.
Regardless, it is doubtful whether there will be any legal consequences for the police involved in these situations as law enforcement operates under a culture of immunity from prosecution or even censure. Derek Chauvin – Floyd’s killer – for example, was protected by successive state prosecutors in Minnesota, despite multiple times shooting, and in one case, killing civilians while in uniform. If police can often get away with murder, property damage will likely be no big deal.
