thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--A Secret Recording Of Mining Executives Is Shaking Up The Alaska Senate Race

Getty Images/Dr .
Al Gross for Senate Mine executives said they were counting on Sen. Dan Sullivan ( R-Alaska ) , left , who is being by challenged by Dr. Al Gross , an independent , to remain silent about Pebble Mine .
Pebble Partnership , which is owned by the Canadian mining firm Northern Dynasties , has been trying to construct an open-pit copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska near Bristol Bay .
Many environmentalists , commercial fishermen and Alaska Natives oppose the construction of the Pebble Mine on the grounds that it would endanger the ecosystem of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major source of jobs for Alaska .
Referring to Sullivan ’ s reelection battle , Thiessen said , “ He ’ s got a battle on his hands , and we ’ re trying to work with him to make sure he doesn ’ t go and say something negative like – and he won ’ t say ‘ Don ’ t build the mine , ’ but he might say ‘ Don ’ t issue the [ Record of Decision ] until after the election.
’ ” “ He can say that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
It depends on whether [ President Donald ] Trump feels he ’ s going to lose , ” Thiessen said .
“ Sullivan ’ s a Republican senator , and is it important that he gets elected ?
If he says ‘ Delay the [ Record of Decision ] , ’ will that help him get elected ?
” Sullivan ’ s former state director told Pebble ’ s board chairman John Shively , to whom the former aide rents an apartment , that Sullivan intends to say little about the project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ November election , Collier said on the video .
“ I unequivocally stand by my August 24 statement that Pebble does not meet the high standards we demand for all resource development projects in Alaska , and that the project can not be permitted , ” Sullivan said in a statement .
“ Any suggestion otherwise is either wishful thinking , a blatant mischaracterization , or a desperate attempt to secure funding for a mine that can not move forward.
” When the Army Corps of Engineers announced in late August that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to meet federal environmental standards , Murkowski and Sullivan jointly issued statements affirming the report ’ s conclusion that the mine proposal had not met the necessary standards for approval .
Dr. Al Gross , a Democratic-aligned independent running to unseat Sullivan , had been , even before the recording , blasting Sullivan for failing to explicitly oppose the mine ’ s construction .
Sullivan opposed the Obama administration ’ s preemptive veto of the proposed mine and supported allowing it to go through the federal permitting process .
In addition , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return the donations he received from Collier .
Collier , who resigned Wednesday from Pebble Partners amid the fallout from the leaked recording , has contributed $ 6,400 to Sullivan ’ s campaigns since 2017 .
Pebble Mine was controversial from the moment it became a credible proposal in 2005 .
The late Sen. Ted Stevens , a Republican who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2008 and still looms large over state politics , bitterly opposed the mine before his death in a plane crash in 2010 .
Critics of the proposed mine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as the geological extraction techniques associated with extracting the minerals , would jeopardize the health of the salmon in Bristol Bay .
Collier ’ s and Thiessen ’ s remarks in the recordings have only exacerbated those concerns .
Although Collier told Congress in October that the company has no plans to seek expansion beyond its current permit request , the two executives told the undercover environmental investigator that once they received their first permit , they expected that the economic benefits of the mine would grease the skids for greater @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you that the state ’ s going to be hounding on us to do an expansion before we ’ re ready , ” Collier predicted .
Environmentalists fear that opening Bristol Bay to resource extraction will resign the regions to the same fate as other salmon-rich areas across the world that have been depleted by overfishing , climate change and other calamities .
Washington state , for example , has spent $ 1 billion trying to replenish its salmon fishery over a 20-year period , with limited success .

Mine executives said they were counting on Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), left, who is being by challenged by Dr. Al Gross, an independent, to remain silent about Pebble Mine. Getty Images/Dr. Al Gross for Senate
An environmental group’s secret recording of executives trying to construct a mine in an ecologically sensitive part of Alaska has become a major issue in Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s reelection battle.
The video, released Monday, shows an undercover investigator for the Environmental Investigation Agency posing as an investor in a video conversation with Tom Collier, then-CEO of Pebble Partnership, and Ron Thiessen, a Pebble board member.
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Pebble Partnership, which is owned by the Canadian mining firm Northern Dynasties, has been trying to construct an open-pit copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska near Bristol Bay. Many environmentalists, commercial fishermen and Alaska Natives oppose the construction of the Pebble Mine on the grounds that it would endanger the ecosystem of the Bristol Bay salmon fisheries, a major source of jobs for Alaska.
In the conversation, Collier and Thiessen, who is also CEO of Northern Dynasties, downplay the concerns that Alaska Sens. Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have expressed about the mine.
Referring to Sullivan’s reelection battle, Thiessen said, “He’s got a battle on his hands, and we’re trying to work with him to make sure he doesn’t go and say something negative like – and he won’t say ‘Don’t build the mine,’ but he might say ‘Don’t issue the [Record of Decision] until after the election.’”
“Oh, my God,” the investigator said. “Can he do that?”
“He can say that, but would it have any impact? It depends on whether [President Donald] Trump feels he’s going to lose,” Thiessen said. “Sullivan’s a Republican senator, and is it important that he gets elected? If he says ‘Delay the [Record of Decision],’ will that help him get elected?”
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“Right now, he’s off in a corner being quiet,” Collier added. “So I think that’s our plan to work with him ― is leave him alone and let him be quiet.”
Sullivan’s former state director told Pebble’s board chairman John Shively, to whom the former aide rents an apartment, that Sullivan intends to say little about the project one way or another ahead of the November election, Collier said on the video.
“He’s going to try to ride out the election and remain quiet,” Collier said.
Sullivan responded to the recording with outrage.
“I unequivocally stand by my August 24 statement that Pebble does not meet the high standards we demand for all resource development projects in Alaska, and that the project cannot be permitted,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is either wishful thinking, a blatant mischaracterization, or a desperate attempt to secure funding for a mine that cannot move forward.”
“This incident demonstrates how far Mr. Collier, who has serious credibility problems of his own, is floundering in the face of this project’s overwhelming challenges.” - Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
“This incident demonstrates how far Mr. Collier, who has serious credibility problems of his own, is floundering in the face of this project’s overwhelming challenges,” Sullivan added.
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When the Army Corps of Engineers announced in late August that the proposed Pebble Mine needed to do more to meet federal environmental standards, Murkowski and Sullivan jointly issued statements affirming the report’s conclusion that the mine proposal had not met the necessary standards for approval.
Dr. Al Gross, a Democratic-aligned independent running to unseat Sullivan, had been, even before the recording, blasting Sullivan for failing to explicitly oppose the mine’s construction. Sullivan opposed the Obama administration’s preemptive veto of the proposed mine and supported allowing it to go through the federal permitting process.
“These tapes make clear that Dan Sullivan does not care about Alaskans ― all he cares about is winning his next election,” Gross, a commercial fisherman and retired orthopedic surgeon, said in a statement. “He should be ashamed of himself.”
Gross also began airing a 30-second TV ad on Wednesday that features a key excerpt from the Environmental Investigation Agency’s video to argue that Sullivan is secretly a supporter of the mine. “Dan Sullivan hides his support for Pebble Mine,” the ad’s narrator says.
In addition, the Gross campaign is calling on Sullivan to return the donations he received from Collier. Collier, who resigned Wednesday from Pebble Partners amid the fallout from the leaked recording, has contributed $6,400 to Sullivan’s campaigns since 2017.
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The Sullivan campaign called Gross’s ad inaccurate, but it did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the call to return Collier’s money.
“This ad continues to highlight the great lengths Al Gross and his liberal Lower 48 donors will go to distort and truth,” Sullivan campaign manager Matt Shuckerow said in a statement.
“Senator Sullivan has made his position well known,” Shuckerow added. “Senator Sullivan does not believe the Pebble Project should move forward; it should not be permitted.”
An aerial photo of Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska. The area is home to the largest wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. Environmental Protection Agency via Reuters
Pebble Mine was controversial from the moment it became a credible proposal in 2005. The late Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2008 and still looms large over state politics, bitterly opposed the mine before his death in a plane crash in 2010.
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Critics of the proposed mine fear that the destruction of wetlands, as well as the geological extraction techniques associated with extracting the minerals, would jeopardize the health of the salmon in Bristol Bay.
Collier’s and Thiessen’s remarks in the recordings have only exacerbated those concerns. Although Collier told Congress in October that the company has no plans to seek expansion beyond its current permit request, the two executives told the undercover environmental investigator that once they received their first permit, they expected that the economic benefits of the mine would grease the skids for greater expansion going forward. “I bet you that the state’s going to be hounding on us to do an expansion before we’re ready,” Collier predicted.
Bristol Bay is home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. The fishery supports nearly 15,000 jobs, according to a 2018 study commissioned by commercial fishing and Native Alaskan groups.
Environmentalists fear that opening Bristol Bay to resource extraction will resign the regions to the same fate as other salmon-rich areas across the world that have been depleted by overfishing, climate change and other calamities. Washington state, for example, has spent $1 billion trying to replenish its salmon fishery over a 20-year period, with limited success.
It is unclear what effect the recordings will have on the Senate race, however, in an independent-minded state that nonetheless relies heavily on resource extraction and skews conservative when it comes to business regulation.
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Salmon State, an Alaska-based salmon conservation group opposed to the Pebble Mine, is a nonprofit that does not weigh in on elections. Still, Mary Catharine Martin, a spokesperson for Salmon State, said Pebble Mine is “something that Alaskans are paying attention to.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--Kamala Harris Has A Vibrant Online Fan Club. But It Also Has A Toxic Side.

Luverta Jeffrey’s son used to be on Twitter all the time. The 19-year-old was a big Kamala Harris supporter and loved discussing the then-presidential candidate online last year with fellow fans. But, after some research, he decided Harris was no longer his candidate.
“We don’t need you fags anyway,” a tweet popped up on his phone from someone identifying themselves as a member of Harris’ digital army of fans, dubbed the KHive. The loosely organized fan group is an online community of ardent Harris supporters who backed the Democratic senator from California first during her presidential run and now as Joe Biden’s pick for vice president.
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Jeffrey came to her son’s defense, thinking that she was up against a few online trolls ― nothing she hasn’t seen on Twitter herself. But things quickly got ugly.
Self-identified members of the KHive started replying to and retweeting Jeffrey’s tweets about her son, Jeffrey said, which led to her getting swarmed — when anywhere from several to dozens of accounts start tweeting at or retweeting one person at the same time.
They used her past tweets about being a victim of sexual assault and domestic abuse to harass her. Multiple people also told her she should try to kill herself, citing prior tweets in which she discussed having suicidal thoughts.
“They spent time retweeting my posts and calling me a white supremacist, a coon and all sorts of derogatory names, fueling others who began to DM me telling me I was a sell out because I was Black and I should’ve killed myself when I had the chance,” Jeffrey said. “I was mocked and harassed for being a sexual assault survivor, a domestic abuse survivor, and was told by the KHive that it was good for me and they hope it happens again, since I don’t support Harris.”
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Members of the KHive, which one member estimated is made up of 50,000 to 60,000 Twitter accounts, see themselves as defenders and boosters of Harris, particularly as she faces an onslaught of racist and misogynistic harassment as the first Black and first Asian American woman to be nominated for vice president by either major party. Harris and her allies have shouted out the group multiple times.
#KHive, I want to take a moment to lift you up for all the support you've given me during these difficult times. Your support does not go unnoticed, so thank you. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 6, 2020
It’s not surprising Harris has such a devoted group of supporters and defenders, given the historical significance of her candidacy. And the inevitable vitriol faced by women, particularly women of color, in politics helps to explain why some supporters are passionate in their defense of her reputation online. But, according to nearly a dozen people who spoke with HuffPost, some members of the KHive have crossed the line from ardent fandom to overt harassment and threatening language.
Nearly a dozen people said accounts identified as part of the KHive often kicked off or instigated harassment campaigns against them for originally backing Democratic candidates other than Harris. Often, after the harassment began, self-identified KHive members and other accounts swarmed them on Twitter.
The harassment included slurs about people’s ethnicity, including calling Black people “house slaves” for backing other Democrats. One Elizabeth Warren supporter, who identifies as gay, said he was told that all “Warren gays should be chemically castrated,” after he was the target of a harassment campaign kicked off by a KHive member. A recent high school graduate who supported Bernie Sanders said a volunteer organizer for Harris’s presidential campaign tweeted that he “hoped I would be raped in a gas chamber by MAGA nazis” (the teen is Jewish). The Harris supporter deleted the tweet minutes after posting it, according to the teen.
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Multiple people said their personal information was published online, forcing some to move their families to a different location temporarily for fear they were in physical danger. Two women said KHive members made veiled threats toward their children. One of the women said she received a call from child protective services about her 17-month-old child after an incident with the KHive.
This behavior is not reflective of Harris as a candidate or Harris supporters as a whole. No politician or celebrity is responsible for every tweet by a supporter, nor is every member of an online movement responsible for its most aggressive element.
And it can be difficult to cleanly sum up the behavior of loosely organized political fan groups that form, often online, around our most popular political candidates, like the Yang Gang or the Bernie Bros.
A former aide on the Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, who experienced the fallout from the sometimes harmful behavior of the Bernie Bros, said he believes the toxicity in political fan groups is a reflection of the nature of online fandom, not the politician or celebrity themselves.
“Between 2016 and 2020 we’ve seen this happening on the internet much more. Politics is only one sphere of where this [online fan culture] happens,” said the former aide. “You see it with celebrities who have stans who can be extremely hostile, like [fans of] Ariana Grande or Taylor Swift.”
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But Harris could be one of the most powerful politicians in the country come January, and her rise has in part been shaped by her online image.
“Obviously, politicians cannot be held accountable for an individual’s behavior, but they can certainly influence it and make it clear that they denounce that sort of behavior,” said one Warren Democrat who asked to remain anonymous since they have received death threats from KHive members.
In response to a HuffPost inquiry about this article, Sabrina Singh, press secretary for Harris, said: “The campaign does not condone doxxing, derogatory language or harassment of any kind.”
Harassment Moves Offline
Some of the KHive’s highest-profile members have said the group is close-knit and has led to lasting friendships, often between Black women and other people of color who are excited to see a Black and Asian American woman have a chance at the office.
“I’ve seen a lot of situations where people who are KHive were going through difficult things ― medically, financially, emotionally, whatever the case might be ― and a lot of us will rally around them and support them,” said Chris Evans, a KHive member with over 55,000 followers on Twitter.
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Julie Zebrak, KHive member and co-founder of Joe Mamas 2020 and Mamas4Kamala, said there’s “a lot of love on a personal level” for Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. “The KHive has been there both to support her, to support each other in our support for her, and to connect with each other,” she said.
Reecie Colbert, another member of the KHive with a large profile, added that the KHive’s mission to defend Harris was born in response to the intense scrutiny she’s faced.
Harris had one of her strongest moments during the last round of the Democratic debates in late June when she criticized Biden for his record on busing. Although she was widely applauded for her standout moment, Harris immediately received an onslaught of attacks on Twitter, including that she was a fraud and sellout, as well as racist birther accusations that she was not authentically American or Black.
“It’s really important that the KHive is out there fighting for Kamala,” said Colbert. “That’s something I think people are very unaccustomed to, particularly when it comes to a Black woman.”
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The KHive has made its mission clear: amplifying and celebrating Harris while defending her against the onslaught of harassment and misinformation she faces online. But, as with most loosely-organized online groups, it does not have a unified set of tactics, and bad actors are hard or impossible to control.
While many self-identified KHive accounts tweet praise of Harris and criticism of her detractors, some veer into abusive and threatening language. Some of the online harassment reviewed by HuffPost appears to be from smaller Twitter accounts that self-identify as part of the KHive. In other cases, it came from accounts that did not identify themselves as KHive members in their profiles.
One alleged bad actor, in particular, stands out. Bianca Delarosa, who has a large following and multiple Twitter accounts, claims to be the founder of the KHive. Nearly all of the people HuffPost spoke with said much of the harassment they experienced started with Delarosa.
“She definitely encouraged the harassment,” one former Warren Democrat said of Delarosa. “She was constantly trying to bait Warren Dems into interacting with her by tweeting about us from various accounts with our Twitter information so that her followers and fellow KHive members would tweet and message us.”
“The KHive has made its mission clear: amplifying and celebrating Harris, while defending her against the onslaught of harassment and misinformation she faces online. But, as with most loosely-organized online groups, it does not have a unified set of tactics, and bad actors are hard or impossible to control.”
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Evans and Colbert both disputed Delarosa’s recent claim that she’s “the only one who speaks for KHive.”
“She absolutely is not the only person who speaks for the KHive because there is no spokesperson,” Colbert said. “She has a faction of fans who consider her their leader, but a vast majority of KHive is simply people who support Kamala.”
“No one person speaks for the KHive ― including myself. Regardless of what they might claim,” Evans added.
Delarosa has amplified harassment against almost all of the people HuffPost spoke with. She has also encouraged harassment, they said, and called non-Harris supporters “Nazis,” “leader of the Lynch mob,” and “Stephen from Django” (Samuel L. Jackson’s character in “Django Unchained”).
Delarosa denied accusations of doxxing and harassment in a comment to HuffPost. “I admit to being a deliberate pain in the ass, but nothing I ever did went beyond basic overzealous championing, and perhaps a bit of ridicule,” she said. (Delarosa tweeted after receiving the request for comment that she was being targeted by an “anti-Bianca smear campaign.”)
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Alex Lawson, a Warren supporter who says she was harassed and later doxxed by KHive members, told HuffPost that Delarosa instigated much of the harassment she experienced. After Lawson reported one of Delarosa’s tweets in which Delarosa claimed she was going to write a blog post on “Warrenites that will explain how what they’re saying is white supremacy,” multiple accounts lifted and doctored Lawson’s profile image.
The doctored photos showed Lawson wearing a fake Ku Klux Klan hood, with big letters spelling “white supremacist” and “KKKunt” across the images. Lawson said Delarosa retweeted the image, which was created by another KHive member.
Delarosa confirmed it was a friend of hers who photoshopped the image of Lawson and wrote “white supremacist” on it. Delarosa also said she immediately blocked Lawson after the initial “Warrenites” tweet. Lawson said that Delarosa did not block her until August.
Multiple accounts lifted and photoshopped Lawson's profile image to show her wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood with the words "KKKunt" and "white supremacist." Twitter
Lawson filed a copyright removal report to Twitter to get the photoshopped images taken down. But the Twitter account that originally doctored Lawson’s profile image released all of her personal information included in the copyright removal report.
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Delarosa also shared Lawson’s full name, which was not available on Twitter. Other Twitter users tweeted out the name of Lawson’s employer and her work address. A fake Twitter account was created in Lawson’s name, she was signed up for dating websites, and people continued to label her a Nazi and white supremacist.
In response, Lawson hired an attorney who sent a cease-and-desist letter to Delarosa. Delarosa made the cease-and-desist letter public, which Lawson said only continued the harassment campaign against her.
Someone contacted Lawson’s ex-husband at his place of employment and said Lawson “does not seem stable at all,” so he should check on their 11-year-old daughter. A few self-identified KHive members made veiled threats toward Lawson’s daughter, tweeting: “Take care of your daughter, Alexis.”
Lawson bought a security system and moved her daughter out of her house as a safety precaution. “I was scrambling because I thought some crazy person was going to think I’m a white supremacist and come kill me and my daughter,” said Lawson, who added that she’s still experiencing harassment.
“Any online stan group is going to ― at its most extreme end ― have some people who are bad actors. I’m sure the KHive is not immune to that.” - Chris Evans, KHive member with large Twitter following
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“Considering Bianca had a high visibility account I would say her promoting tweets like the one showing Alex with a KKK hood on or with the words ‘white supremacist’ across her photo was the very reason the harassment campaign against Alex was started,” said another Warren supporter, who asked to be anonymous for fear of further harassment.
Delarosa denied doxxing Lawson. “Twitter rules, in fact, do NOT consider it doxxing to say someone’s NAME; this also applies to their profession, where they work, or any publicly available [information],” Delarosa wrote in an email. (Twitter rules state that “You may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission,” but that it may not treat information as private if an individual has shared it elsewhere online.)
Erica, a Navy veteran who originally supported Sanders, said she had under 1,000 Twitter followers when the KHive swarmed one of her tweets that was critical of Harris (she asked to withhold her last name to prevent further harassment).
Erica said she was added to multiple Twitter lists by KHive members, including Delarosa, which is how she suspects some KHive members target and harass non-Harris supporters. She said nearly a dozen accounts, including KHive members and non-Hive members, swarmed her, retweeting not just her tweet about Harris but all of her past tweets.
Over the course of a few days, people tweeted out photos of Erica and her son (which she believes they took from her Facebook page before she made it private). Her naval command at the time received at least 15 calls trying to get her fired, and multiple accounts tweeted out her old address.
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Eventually, someone filed a false report with child protective services alleging that Erica was abusing her 17-month-old son. She suspects someone used her past social media posts about her struggles with PTSD to file the false report. Erica believes the report was from someone in the KHive because she saw tweets alluding to the incident from someone who had participated in the harassment.
“I was legitimately afraid, mainly for my son. Going after our children is a new low,” she said. “I was always terrified that someone was going to show up to my house or my command.”
Albert Molina, a Warren supporter, told HuffPost that the KHive repeatedly said he was white and accused him of being a white supremacist, even though he identifies as Hispanic. In other instances, some KHive members have attempted to counter people of color who back other Democrats by accusing them of using “digital blackface” to fake that they are Black.
“They ignore all people of color by blocking them, and then just attack the white people,” Molina said. “It was working really well for them, actually, because it was silencing a lot of people, especially white supporters because what are they gonna say?”
Delarosa tweeted an image of a raccoon with the caption: “What’s the Latin version of this? Cause it’s y’all.” "Coon," when used by white people, is a derogatory term for Black people; when used by other people of color, it's often defined as a Black person who is ignorant of white supremacy. Twitter
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Several people who spoke with HuffPost said that Delarosa uses multiple accounts to harass non-Harris supporters, and has been suspended from Twitter multiple times. Two of Delarosa’s main accounts were suspended at least once during the reporting of this article. (Twitter told HuffPost the company could not comment on personal account information.)
This week, Delarosa tweeted that she’s “holding online virtual campaign rallies” on one of her Twitter accounts with the profile name “Official KHive for Biden-Harris.”
“I need to use this account for business after today,” she tweeted. “So, I’ll probably be deleting everything and starting fresh.” The rallies do not appear to be sanctioned by the campaign.
In a follow-up email, Delarosa said much of the harassment came from others who are no longer part of the KHive. “As a Black woman, I have tended to be blamed for anything anyone does who was KHive,” Delarosa said.
‘A Fraction Of Her Support’
Colbert, Evans and Zebrak cautioned that the behavior of a few KHive members is not representative of the entire fan group. All three KHive members denied accusations that the stan group would dox non-Harris supporters.
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“I know that there’s this narrative that particularly people who support Bernie, and some Warren supporters as well, have tried to put out there that the KHive is toxic,” Evans said, adding that he himself has witnessed very little toxic behavior. “Any online stan group is going to ― at its most extreme end ― have some people who are bad actors. I’m sure the KHive is not immune to that.”
Colbert added that anyone doxxing and harassing people in the name of KHive is not doing so in the spirit most KHive members abide by. “Anything that’s not focused on supporting Kamala is not KHive even if that person considers themselves KHive,” she said.
The former 2020 Sanders campaign aide also cautioned not to paint a picture of Harris’ online fans with such a broad stroke. Similar to Sanders’ supporters, the people doing this type of online harassment are most likely “a fraction of her support,” the aide said.
It’s also important to remember who Biden and Harris are up against, he cautioned: “[Trump] has the most hostile online supporters of any politician ever,” he added. “Their leader and their media leaders continue to egg them on.”
Asked what he would tell these toxic fans ― whether of Sanders or Harris ― if he had the chance, the former Sanders campaign aide responded: “On a personal level, I’m as passionate about this stuff as they are but this is not the way to build power for us. This is not the way to win.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-23--Trump Says FDA Attempts To Toughen COVID-19 Vaccine Standards Sound ‘Political’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may reject new Food and Drug Administration guidelines that toughen the rules around the emergency approval of a coronavirus vaccine , undercutting the nation ’ s top scientists who have sought to allay any fears about a rushed approval .
“ That has to be approved by the White House , ” Trump said at a briefing on the potential new guidelines .
“ We may or may not approve it.
” The FDA said earlier this week that it planned to soon release stricter guidelines for vaccine approval , which would lay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and recommend any results be vetted by independent experts .
The comments also came just hours after four of the country ’ s top doctors — including FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert — defended the agency ’ s work and said it was relying on science , not political pressure from the White House .
Trump , however , used the briefing Wednesday to say that the stricter guidelines meant to bolster faith in any vaccine sounded “ like a political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tremendous trust ” in the pharmaceutical giants working to develop them , adding that he wasn ’ t sure “ a government as big as ” the U.S. could do as good of a job .
President Trump said today that the White House may not approve tougher FDA guidelines for authorizing the emergency use of any coronavirus vaccines .
`` That has to be approved by the White House , '' he said of the FDA guidance .
`` We may or may not approve it '' https : //t.co/aLppEdJXFx pic.twitter.com/UpDkEOOtWd — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 “ When you have great companies coming up with these vaccines , why would [ the FDA ] have to be , you know , adding great length to the process ?
” Trump said .
“ We want to have people not get sick .
I don ’ t see why it should be delayed further.
” The move comes as four vaccine candidates are in their final , large-scale clinical trials in the U.S .
But the companies developing them do not yet know conclusively if they will work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insistence that the country could see a useable vaccine approved before the end of the year .
But public support for the vaccine has fallen in recent weeks , and a Pew Research poll released earlier this month found just 51 % of Americans said they would get a vaccine once one is released .
That was a 21 percentage point drop from a similar poll in May .
I will fight for the integrity of the agency , and I will put the interests of the American people before anything else .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Drug Administration The U.S. passed a grim milestone in the pandemic this week after official figures showed more than 200,000 people in the country have now died of COVID-19 .
“ I will fight for science , ” Hahn told a Senate committee .
“ I will fight for the integrity of the agency , and I will put the interests of the American people before anything else.
” Hahn , Fauci , Dr. Robert Redfield , the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and Adm. Brett Giroir @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they would take any vaccine approved by the FDA as well , in a show of support for the agency ’ s work .
“ What I can tell you is , we do feel the urgency of the moment , ” Hahn told lawmakers Wednesday .
“ We will not delay , but we will not cut corners .
”

LOADING ERROR LOADING
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may reject new Food and Drug Administration guidelines that toughen the rules around the emergency approval of a coronavirus vaccine, undercutting the nation’s top scientists who have sought to allay any fears about a rushed approval.
“That has to be approved by the White House,” Trump said at a briefing on the potential new guidelines. “We may or may not approve it.”
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The FDA said earlier this week that it planned to soon release stricter guidelines for vaccine approval, which would lay out specific rules for clinical trial data and recommend any results be vetted by independent experts. The comments also came just hours after four of the country’s top doctors — including FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert — defended the agency’s work and said it was relying on science, not political pressure from the White House.
Trump, however, used the briefing Wednesday to say that the stricter guidelines meant to bolster faith in any vaccine sounded “like a political move” and that he had “tremendous trust” in the pharmaceutical giants working to develop them, adding that he wasn’t sure “a government as big as” the U.S. could do as good of a job.
President Trump said today that the White House may not approve tougher FDA guidelines for authorizing the emergency use of any coronavirus vaccines.
"That has to be approved by the White House," he said of the FDA guidance. "We may or may not approve it" https://t.co/aLppEdJXFx pic.twitter.com/UpDkEOOtWd — POLITICO (@politico) September 24, 2020
“When you have great companies coming up with these vaccines, why would [the FDA] have to be, you know, adding great length to the process?” Trump said. “We want to have people not get sick. I don’t see why it should be delayed further.”
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The move comes as four vaccine candidates are in their final, large-scale clinical trials in the U.S. But the companies developing them do not yet know conclusively if they will work as hoped, despite Trump’s insistence that the country could see a useable vaccine approved before the end of the year.
But public support for the vaccine has fallen in recent weeks, and a Pew Research poll released earlier this month found just 51% of Americans said they would get a vaccine once one is released. That was a 21 percentage point drop from a similar poll in May.
“I will fight for the integrity of the agency, and I will put the interests of the American people before anything else.” - Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
The U.S. passed a grim milestone in the pandemic this week after official figures showed more than 200,000 people in the country have now died of COVID-19.
Hahn told senators on Wednesday that the agency would “not authorize or approve a vaccine we won’t be confident in giving to our families.”
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“I will fight for science,” Hahn told a Senate committee. “I will fight for the integrity of the agency, and I will put the interests of the American people before anything else.”
Hahn, Fauci, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Adm. Brett Giroir, the coronavirus testing czar, all said they would take any vaccine approved by the FDA as well, in a show of support for the agency’s work.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-23--Biden: Justice Must Come For Breonna Taylor, But 'Violence Is Never Acceptable'

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “ we must continue to speak Breonna Taylor ’ s name ” after none of the Louisville , Kentucky , police officers involved in the 26-year-old Black woman ’ s fatal shooting were charged in her death .
“ In the wake of her tragic death , we mourn with her mother , family and community , and ask ourselves whether justice could be equally applied in America , ” Biden said .
“ I know for so many people today ’ s decision does not answer that call.
” Louisville police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours of March 13 at Taylor ’ s apartment while she and her boyfriend , Kenny Walker , were asleep .
The officers entered under a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation that did not involve Taylor or Walker .
Three officers ― Sgt .
Jonathan Mattingly , Detective Brett Hankison and Officer Myles Cosgrove ― fired over 20 gunshots , several of which hit Taylor and killed her .
Walker , a legal gun owner who said he didn ’ t hear police announce their presence before the plainclothes officers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ram , shot Mattingly once in the leg .
Taylor ’ s family reached a $ 12 million settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit against the city .
The family also hoped for manslaughter charges against the officers , but a grand jury decided against that .
On Wednesday , Hankison was indicted on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment ― a felony that comes with a potential prison sentence of up to five years under Kentucky law .
The charges were related to shots fired into neighboring apartments , not those shot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jury did not indict any of the three officers on murder counts .
Mattingly and Cosgrove were not charged at all .
“ I know people are frustrated , and they have a right to peacefully protest , but violence is never acceptable , ” Biden said .
“ And we can express pain , grief , anger and disappointment at the way things are but remain focused on rebuilding trust in our communities and delivering change that can be.
” “ A federal investigation remains ongoing , but we do not need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that investigation to do more to deliver justice for Breonna .
We know what is necessary , ” Biden said , highlighting the need to address police use of force , ban chokeholds and overhaul no-knock warrants .
After protests grew nationwide in response to the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis , many activists called for renewed attention to Taylor ’ s case .
People in Louisville have been protesting for months , calling for justice in Taylor ’ s shooting and for the officers ’ arrest .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downtown later Wednesday , according to multiple news outlets .
Details of the shooting were unclear , as well as the officers ’ conditions .
Protesters also took to the streets Wednesday in other cities , including Washington , New York City , Philadelphia , Chicago and Atlanta .
A wave of celebrities and public figures also joined in outrage over the grand jury ’ s decision .

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Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “we must continue to speak Breonna Taylor’s name” after none of the Louisville, Kentucky, police officers involved in the 26-year-old Black woman’s fatal shooting were charged in her death.
The Democratic presidential nominee released a statement mourning Taylor, an emergency medical technician whom Louisville police killed in a “no-knock” warrant raid on her apartment in March.
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“In the wake of her tragic death, we mourn with her mother, family and community, and ask ourselves whether justice could be equally applied in America,” Biden said. “I know for so many people today’s decision does not answer that call.”
Louisville police began the botched raid in the early hours of March 13 at Taylor’s apartment while she and her boyfriend, Kenny Walker, were asleep. The officers entered under a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation that did not involve Taylor or Walker. Three officers ― Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison and Officer Myles Cosgrove ― fired over 20 gunshots, several of which hit Taylor and killed her. Walker, a legal gun owner who said he didn’t hear police announce their presence before the plainclothes officers smashed into the apartment with a battering ram, shot Mattingly once in the leg.
Taylor’s family reached a $12 million settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The family also hoped for manslaughter charges against the officers, but a grand jury decided against that.
On Wednesday, Hankison was indicted on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment ― a felony that comes with a potential prison sentence of up to five years under Kentucky law. The charges were related to shots fired into neighboring apartments, not those shot inside Taylor’s. The grand jury did not indict any of the three officers on murder counts. Mattingly and Cosgrove were not charged at all.
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“I know people are frustrated, and they have a right to peacefully protest, but violence is never acceptable,” Biden said. “And we can express pain, grief, anger and disappointment at the way things are but remain focused on rebuilding trust in our communities and delivering change that can be.”
Jefferson County Grand Jury indicts former ofc. Brett Hankison with 3 counts of Wanton Endangerment in 1st Degree for bullets that went into other apartments but NOTHING for the murder of Breonna Taylor. This is outrageous and offensive! pic.twitter.com/EarmBAhhuf — Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 23, 2020
“A federal investigation remains ongoing, but we do not need to wait for the final judgment of that investigation to do more to deliver justice for Breonna. We know what is necessary,” Biden said, highlighting the need to address police use of force, ban chokeholds and overhaul no-knock warrants.
After protests grew nationwide in response to the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, many activists called for renewed attention to Taylor’s case. People in Louisville have been protesting for months, calling for justice in Taylor’s shooting and for the officers’ arrest.
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At least two Louisville police officers were shot downtown later Wednesday, according to multiple news outlets. Details of the shooting were unclear, as well as the officers’ conditions.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--As The Climate Crisis Intensifies, Trump Digs In On Denial

With tens of thousands of Americans reeling from the devastating impacts of climate change and the 2020 election looming , President Donald Trump is out to prove as he seeks a second term that he has no intention of accepting the crisis as reality ― much less lifting a finger to combat it .
An unwavering ally of the fossil fuel and other polluting industries , Trump has repeatedly denied the all-but-irrefutable science that climate change is real and driven by human carbon emissions .
But his statements and actions in recent weeks have proven particularly dangerous .
To be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world is barreling toward potentially cataclysmic climate breakdowns , which have hit with devastating impacts to people , economies and food security around the world .
Trump knows this .
But time and again the president has proven that his concern is for the industries that would see their profits shrink with a concerted effort to tackle the global crisis .
A police officer walks past a protest banner berating President Donald Trump as denying the science behind the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change set up in front of the Republican National Convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No signs have surfaced that Trump has changed his tune .
Since Trump ’ s California trip , the administration has tapped two climate contrarians for top positions at the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ― moves that climate scientists say threatens to undermine the nation ’ s premier scientific agency , which had largely escaped the political influence exerted by the president and his allies seen at the EPA and other agencies .
David Legates , a University of Delaware climatology professor and close affiliate of the climate-denying Heartland Institute , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s deputy assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction .
Legates has falsely claimed , among other things , that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is good for the planet and dismissed his critics in the scientific community as “ a bunch of thugs.
” A melted pro-Trump sign stands close to a Northern California residence destroyed by one of the many wildfires that raged through the state in the late summer .
Visiting California earlier this month , Trump suggested that global warming will reverse itself and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ferocious fires that engulfed swaths of the West .
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has in the last two weeks taken several swings at Trump over his record of denial .
He called the president a “ climate arsonist ” and vowed in a post to Twitter not to put a climate change denier in charge of NOAA if he wind the White House , prefacing the latter comment with “ I can ’ t believe I have to say this.
” With the election fast approaching , Trump appears intent on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will echo his anti-science views about the environmental threat .
On Monday , Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette , who in the past has acknowledged humans play a role in driving climate change , falsely asserted that “ no one knows that ” when asked if he believed human carbon emissions are causing warmer temperatures .
“ Scientists say a lot of things , ” Brouillette told local media in Pennsylvania when a reporter confronted him with the scientific consensus that climate change is driven by human carbon emissions .
“ I have scientists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say a lot of things .
Look , the bottom line is we live here , so we must have some impact .
The question is , what is the exact impact that we ’ re having ?
And that ’ s the question that has not been resolved.
” Yet Trump and his team have plowed ahead with rollbacks that allow for more planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions .
An analysis released last week by the Rhodium Group , a New York-based independent research provider , found that Trump ’ s dismantling of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. releasing an additional 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2035 .
As Politico noted , that amount exceeds Russia ’ s annual emissions .
Last week , Public Policy Polling surveyed voters in eight battleground states and found that 55 % trust Biden to address climate change , while 38 % trust Trump .
Similarly , 55 % said their views on climate more closely align with Biden ’ s recent statements about its impacts .
( “ The impacts of climate change don ’ t pick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an event last week in Delaware .
“ That ’ s because it ’ s not a partisan phenomenon .
It ’ s science.
” ) That figure dwarfed the 28 % who said they agree with Trump ’ s statement that “ it will start getting cooler ” and that “ I don ’ t think science knows .
”

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With tens of thousands of Americans reeling from the devastating impacts of climate change and the 2020 election looming, President Donald Trump is out to prove as he seeks a second term that he has no intention of accepting the crisis as reality ― much less lifting a finger to combat it.
An unwavering ally of the fossil fuel and other polluting industries, Trump has repeatedly denied the all-but-irrefutable science that climate change is real and driven by human carbon emissions. But his statements and actions in recent weeks have proven particularly dangerous.
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During a Sept. 14 visit to fire-scorched California, the president, who has no scientific background, casually dismissed decades of scientific research: “It will start getting cooler,” he declared, falsely. “You just watch.”
When Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, told Trump the science disagrees with him, Trump responded, “I don’t think science knows, actually.”
To be clear, science absolutely knows. The world is barreling toward potentially cataclysmic climate breakdowns, which have hit with devastating impacts to people, economies and food security around the world. Trump knows this. But time and again the president has proven that his concern is for the industries that would see their profits shrink with a concerted effort to tackle the global crisis.
A police officer walks past a protest banner berating President Donald Trump as denying the science behind the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change set up in front of the Republican National Convention headquarters on Aug. 24 in Washington. No signs have surfaced that Trump has changed his tune. Jemal Countess via Getty Images
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Since Trump’s California trip, the administration has tapped two climate contrarians for top positions at the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ― moves that climate scientists say threatens to undermine the nation’s premier scientific agency, which had largely escaped the political influence exerted by the president and his allies seen at the EPA and other agencies.
David Legates, a University of Delaware climatology professor and close affiliate of the climate-denying Heartland Institute, was hired last week as NOAA’s deputy assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction. Legates has falsely claimed, among other things, that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is good for the planet and dismissed his critics in the scientific community as “a bunch of thugs.”
The White House has also tapped Ryan Maue, a meteorologist who believes in human-caused climate change but regularly downplays its threat and links to extreme weather, to be NOAA’s next chief scientist, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Neither position requires Senate confirmation.
The two appointments are the latest in the Trump administration’s yearslong effort to sow doubt about the climate change threat.
A melted pro-Trump sign stands close to a Northern California residence destroyed by one of the many wildfires that raged through the state in the late summer. Visiting California earlier this month, Trump suggested that global warming will reverse itself and dismissed climate change as a cause of the ferocious fires that engulfed swaths of the West. JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images
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Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric and climate sciences at Texas A&M University, wrote in a Twitter post that Maue’s sole qualification appeared to be “a willingness to advance the agenda of climate deniers.”
“To me, this emphasizes how thin the climate deniers’ bench is,” he added.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has in the last two weeks taken several swings at Trump over his record of denial. He called the president a “climate arsonist” and vowed in a post to Twitter not to put a climate change denier in charge of NOAA if he wind the White House, prefacing the latter comment with “I can’t believe I have to say this.”
With the election fast approaching, Trump appears intent on surrounding himself with people who share and will echo his anti-science views about the environmental threat. On Monday, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, who in the past has acknowledged humans play a role in driving climate change, falsely asserted that “no one knows that” when asked if he believed human carbon emissions are causing warmer temperatures.
“Scientists say a lot of things,” Brouillette told local media in Pennsylvania when a reporter confronted him with the scientific consensus that climate change is driven by human carbon emissions. “I have scientists inside of the Department of Energy that say a lot of things. Look, the bottom line is we live here, so we must have some impact. The question is, what is the exact impact that we’re having? And that’s the question that has not been resolved.”
A federal climate report released by the Trump administration in 2017 concluded that “it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”
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Yet Trump and his team have plowed ahead with rollbacks that allow for more planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. An analysis released last week by the Rhodium Group, a New York-based independent research provider, found that Trump’s dismantling of Obama administration climate policies will result in the U.S. releasing an additional 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2035. As Politico noted, that amount exceeds Russia’s annual emissions.
In recent weeks, millions of Americans have come face-to-face with the climate crisis ― scientists say it has played a role in driving extreme wildfires in the West and record-setting cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin.
Last week, Public Policy Polling surveyed voters in eight battleground states and found that 55% trust Biden to address climate change, while 38% trust Trump. Similarly, 55% said their views on climate more closely align with Biden’s recent statements about its impacts. (“The impacts of climate change don’t pick and choose,” he said at an event last week in Delaware. “That’s because it’s not a partisan phenomenon. It’s science.”) That figure dwarfed the 28% who said they agree with Trump’s statement that “it will start getting cooler” and that “I don’t think science knows.”
Two-thirds of poll respondents said they believe climate change should be a priority of the next president.
“In the final push to November, voters are looking for candidates who not only believe in science, but also have a bold plan to address climate change,” Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power 2020, the advocacy group that commissioned the poll, told Mother Jones.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--Wells Fargo Has Some Nerve

Wells Fargo Has Some Nerve

But he should have known better , especially at Wells Fargo , where hiring “ talent ” doesn ’ t really seem like it was ever a priority .
The bank has been poorly run by white people for more than a decade , and it has repeatedly been accused of racial discrimination in hiring and lending , paying out millions in claims .
Not only is this so-called “ pipeline ” excuse a way to lay the blame for the bank ’ s failures on people of color ; it also perpetuates the idea that the bank is some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people just happen to be the most talented workers .
Wells Fargo has been charged with racial discrimination numerous times .
Just this August , the bank paid $ 7.8 million over claims that it had discriminated against 34,193 Black applicants in hiring .
Last year , Wells Fargo agreed to pay $ 600,000 over more claims of race and sex discrimination against 2,300 female and minority candidates .
In a statement , the bank said the settlement stemmed from a review of hiring data from “ many years ago , ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lower rates for some positions .
There were no findings of “ intentional ” discrimination , and the bank had since changed its hiring practices , the statement said .
But there is plenty more that largely white institutions like Wells Fargo can do to hire and retain Black workers beyond the basic goal of not discriminating against them .
Bankers like Scharf need to rid themselves of the idea that they ’ re running meritocracies and bringing in top talent that just happens to be mostly white men .
The idea that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and is a meritocracy is a joke .
Pay attention to this company and their culture for the last decade .
There ’ s a corrupt culture there .
Mehrsa Baradaran , professor at the University of California , Irvine The insinuation that Wells Fargo only hires the best is dubious , considering the company ’ s many missteps .
In just the past few years , the bank has admitted to mistakenly foreclosing on hundreds of families , illegally repossessing tens of thousands of cars , and fraudulently opening up accounts for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in HuffPost last year .
Scharf is the fourth CEO Wells Fargo has hired since 2016 when it got mired in a fraud scandal .
The bank has struggled to turn a profit as its competitors have thrived .
Wells Fargo ’ s reputation has been so damaged in recent years that it had a hard time even finding a CEO to run the place .
( All the top candidates were white men , by the way . )
Scharf got his start in banking in 1987 when a family connection helped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dimon , who was running a finance company in Baltimore at the time and is now running JPMorgan Chase .
That ’ s not merit ; that ’ s part of a long tradition in banking and a lot of other industries in which if you know someone , you get the job .
Typically , this happens within networks of older white people offering a hand-up to younger white people .
“ If you dig down deep enough to any of these CEOs and the path that these bankers took , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Baradaran .
“ This is the most obvious thing .
It is a bros ’ club .
It is very much not just about talent.
” He also noted a bunch of stuff the bank is doing or planning to do in order to improve its numbers : recruiting at more diverse schools , offering anti-racism trainings , holding leaders accountable and tying diversity goals to compensation .
A spokesperson pointed HuffPost to an announcement with more detail , including a commitment to doubling Black leadership over the next five years and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talk about racism .
“ When we walk into workplaces where we don ’ t see people who look like us , when people call into question every comment we make in a meeting and [ then ] someone else makes the comment and it ’ s adopted without question , ” she said , “ this makes Black talent wonder , is it worth it to stay here ?
”

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In June, at the height of a reckoning over race and police killings in the U.S., Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf tried to blame his bank’s failure to hire and promote Black people on Black people themselves.
“While it might sound like an excuse, the unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from,” he said in a memo to employees this summer, uncovered by Reuters on Tuesday.
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Scharf apologized the day after those comments came to light. “I apologize for making an insensitive comment reflecting my own unconscious bias,” he said in a statement Wednesday outlining the bank’s diversity strategy.
But he should have known better, especially at Wells Fargo, where hiring “talent” doesn’t really seem like it was ever a priority. The bank has been poorly run by white people for more than a decade, and it has repeatedly been accused of racial discrimination in hiring and lending, paying out millions in claims.
Statements like Scharf’s aren’t just false ― they’re pernicious. Companies often blame the “pipeline” for their own failures to hire people of color and perpetuate stereotypes about Black people, which makes it harder for people of color if they do end up getting hired.
“It’s such a lazy and quite frankly racist justification or excuse,” said Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who specializes in banking law.
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Not only is this so-called “pipeline” excuse a way to lay the blame for the bank’s failures on people of color; it also perpetuates the idea that the bank is some kind of perfect meritocracy in which white people just happen to be the most talented workers.
Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf testifies before a House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill on March 10, 2020. Carlos Barria / Reuters
Wells Fargo has been charged with racial discrimination numerous times. Just this August, the bank paid $7.8 million over claims that it had discriminated against 34,193 Black applicants in hiring. Last year, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $600,000 over more claims of race and sex discrimination against 2,300 female and minority candidates. In a statement, the bank said the settlement stemmed from a review of hiring data from “many years ago,” which revealed that African Americans were hired at lower rates for some positions. There were no findings of “intentional” discrimination, and the bank had since changed its hiring practices, the statement said.
Rule No. 1 when it comes to hiring a diverse slate of applicants: Don’t blatantly discriminate against them.
(Like other large banks, Wells Fargo also has a history of discriminating against Black homebuyers. In 2012, the bank paid $175 million to settle claims that it had discriminated against Black and Latino borrowers during the run-up to the housing crash in 2008. This was the second-largest settlement with the Justice Department of its kind at the time.)
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But there is plenty more that largely white institutions like Wells Fargo can do to hire and retain Black workers beyond the basic goal of not discriminating against them. Bankers like Scharf need to rid themselves of the idea that they’re running meritocracies and bringing in top talent that just happens to be mostly white men.
“The idea that Wells Fargo is seeking the best talent and is a meritocracy is a joke. Pay attention to this company and their culture for the last decade. There’s a corrupt culture there.” - Mehrsa Baradaran, professor at the University of California, Irvine
The insinuation that Wells Fargo only hires the best is dubious, considering the company’s many missteps. In just the past few years, the bank has admitted to mistakenly foreclosing on hundreds of families, illegally repossessing tens of thousands of cars, and fraudulently opening up accounts for people without asking, Zach Carter noted in HuffPost last year.
“The bank has undertaken at least four separate marketing campaigns aimed at improving its dreadful corporate image, issuing official apology after official apology for its litany of abuses,” he wrote.
Scharf is the fourth CEO Wells Fargo has hired since 2016 when it got mired in a fraud scandal. The bank has struggled to turn a profit as its competitors have thrived. Wells Fargo’s reputation has been so damaged in recent years that it had a hard time even finding a CEO to run the place. (All the top candidates were white men, by the way.)
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“The idea that Wells Fargo is seeking the best talent and is a meritocracy is a joke,” said Baradaran, who worked with top banks during the financial crisis at a major Wall Street law firm. “Pay attention to this company and their culture for the last decade. There’s a corrupt culture there,” she said.
Scharf got his start in banking in 1987 when a family connection helped get his resume in front of Jamie Dimon, who was running a finance company in Baltimore at the time and is now running JPMorgan Chase. That’s not merit; that’s part of a long tradition in banking and a lot of other industries in which if you know someone, you get the job. Typically, this happens within networks of older white people offering a hand-up to younger white people.
The connection has served Scharf his whole career; Dimon recommended him for the top job at Wells Fargo, which he took last year. Scharf is one among a number of men Dimon has mentored and brought up in the industry.
“If you dig down deep enough to any of these CEOs and the path that these bankers took, it is clearly not a meritocracy,” said Baradaran. “This is the most obvious thing. It is a bros’ club. It is very much not just about talent.”
Bank CEOs are not a diverse group: (L-R) Michael Corbat, chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., James Gorman, chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley, and Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp., listen during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on April 10, 2019. Seven CEOs of the country’s largest banks were called to testify a decade after the global financial crisis. Alex Wroblewski via Getty Images
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In his apology Wednesday, Scharf acknowledged that his industry hasn’t done enough to improve diversity and pledged to make progress.
“There are many talented diverse individuals working at Wells Fargo and throughout the financial services industry and I never meant to imply otherwise,” he said in a statement. He listed several new hires and promotions.
He also noted a bunch of stuff the bank is doing or planning to do in order to improve its numbers: recruiting at more diverse schools, offering anti-racism trainings, holding leaders accountable and tying diversity goals to compensation. A spokesperson pointed HuffPost to an announcement with more detail, including a commitment to doubling Black leadership over the next five years and “education sessions” where employees can talk about racism.
Still, it’s not clear what the bank will really do to keep talented Black men and women from quitting once they get there.
“The experiences Black people have in organizations, macro and micro-aggressions, are contributing to them leaving,” said Evelyn Carter, who works with companies on diversity. “I’ve looked at hundreds of companies’ data. There are a larger number of Black folks at the junior level. They fall off. It’s not by accident.”
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Carter, who is Black, says the everyday experience of working in an environment where you are made to feel uncomfortable is exhausting and discouraging.
“When we walk into workplaces where we don’t see people who look like us, when people call into question every comment we make in a meeting and [then] someone else makes the comment and it’s adopted without question,” she said, “this makes Black talent wonder, is it worth it to stay here?”
Companies need to equip their managers to recognize this and equip HR departments, too. Too often, a Black worker will complain about a racist comment or mistreatment only to be told, oh, that person didn’t mean to offend. (Recall Scharf’s apology, quoted above, in which he says he didn’t mean any offense?)
“So often I talk to folks and they’re like, ‘I just need someone to believe me that a comment impacted me,’” she said.
Carter was speaking on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the news broke that police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, would not be charged with murder for killing Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in her home.
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Carter’s feelings were raw. She said she was grateful that she worked somewhere where her colleagues would understand and empathize with her pain in learning that justice would, again, not be served for Black people in the United States. Often, managers are oblivious to these events.
“If someone isn’t aware that as a Black woman, I’m carrying grief based on what’s happening, and I show up on a call and I’m not bright and chipper, that will lead them to think differently about me,” Carter said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--Unemployment Numbers Remain High, 6 Months Since Pandemic Shutdowns

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000 , a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants , airlines , hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted .
The figure coincides with evidence that some newly laid-off Americans are facing delays in receiving unemployment benefits as state agencies intensify efforts to combat fraudulent applications and clear their pipelines of a backlog of jobless claims .
California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims .
Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates are improperly receiving aid .
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits declined to 12.6 million .
The steady decline in that figure over the past several months reflects that some of the unemployed are being re-hired .
Yet it also indicates that others have exhausted their regular jobless aid , which last six months in most states .
In addition to those receiving aid on state programs , about 105,000 others were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provides 13 additional weeks of aid .
This program , established in the economic relief package that Congress passed earlier this year , is now paying benefits to 1.6 million people .
Applications for jobless aid soared in the spring after the viral outbreak suddenly shut down businesses across the country , slashed tens of millions of jobs and triggered a deep recession .
Since then , as states have slowly reopened their economies , about half the jobs that were initially lost have been recovered .
Yet job growth has been slowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , employers appear reluctant to hire new workers in the face of deep uncertainty about the course of the virus .
The growing concerns about fraudulent applications for unemployment benefits have focused mainly on a new program , Pandemic Unemployment Assistance .
This program made self-employed people , gig workers and contractors eligible for jobless aid for the first time .
Though roughly 14 million people are classified as receiving aid under that program , economists increasingly regard that figure as unreliable and likely inflated by both fraudulent applications and inaccurate counts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the PUA program is probably overstated by several million , economists say .
The U.S. government will provide its latest snapshot Thursday of the pace of layoffs , which have remained elevated but have been declining as some sectors of the economy have rebounded in the six months since the viral pandemic erupted .
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits each week is still high , and the economy has recovered only about half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic .
Many employers , especially small retailers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ venues , are struggling .
And millions of Americans are facing unemployment with vastly diminished aid since the expiration of a $ 600-a-week federal benefit this summer .
At the same time , some newly laid-off people are facing delays in receiving unemployment benefits as some state agencies intensify efforts to combat fraudulent applications and clear their pipelines of backlogged claims .
California , the largest state , has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and pursue suspected fraud .

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants, airlines, hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted.
The figure coincides with evidence that some newly laid-off Americans are facing delays in receiving unemployment benefits as state agencies intensify efforts to combat fraudulent applications and clear their pipelines of a backlog of jobless claims.
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California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and prevent fraudulent claims. Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates are improperly receiving aid.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits declined to 12.6 million. The steady decline in that figure over the past several months reflects that some of the unemployed are being re-hired. Yet it also indicates that others have exhausted their regular jobless aid, which last six months in most states.
In addition to those receiving aid on state programs, about 105,000 others were added to an extended jobless-benefits program that provides 13 additional weeks of aid. This program, established in the economic relief package that Congress passed earlier this year, is now paying benefits to 1.6 million people.
Applications for jobless aid soared in the spring after the viral outbreak suddenly shut down businesses across the country, slashed tens of millions of jobs and triggered a deep recession. Since then, as states have slowly reopened their economies, about half the jobs that were initially lost have been recovered.
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Yet job growth has been slowing. In most sectors of the economy, employers appear reluctant to hire new workers in the face of deep uncertainty about the course of the virus.
The growing concerns about fraudulent applications for unemployment benefits have focused mainly on a new program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. This program made self-employed people, gig workers and contractors eligible for jobless aid for the first time.
Though roughly 14 million people are classified as receiving aid under that program, economists increasingly regard that figure as unreliable and likely inflated by both fraudulent applications and inaccurate counts. The number of people receiving benefits under the PUA program is probably overstated by several million, economists say.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below:
The U.S. government will provide its latest snapshot Thursday of the pace of layoffs, which have remained elevated but have been declining as some sectors of the economy have rebounded in the six months since the viral pandemic erupted.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits each week is still high, and the economy has recovered only about half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic. Many employers, especially small retailers, hotels, restaurants, airlines and entertainment venues, are struggling. And millions of Americans are facing unemployment with vastly diminished aid since the expiration of a $600-a-week federal benefit this summer.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-09-24--How Louisville Can Still Get Justice For Breonna Taylor

That the officers are not criminally liable for Taylor ’ s death , however , does not mean that Louisville ’ s police , Louisville itself , and the nation of which it is a part do not have major questions to answer .
Chief among them : Why were police officers at Taylor ’ s home , executing a warrant in the middle of the night ?
Why is this how police approach a minor drug case ?
Why are Black communities policed this way ?
Along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis , Taylor ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests across the nation .
Despite the outcry , the state of Kentucky had no apparent criminal case against the officers , aside from the wanton endangerment charges against Hankison , several legal experts told HuffPost .
A judge signed the search warrant ― the police were merely executing it , with probable cause ― which made it unlikely that criminal charges would result , said Russ Weaver , a University of Louisville law professor .
( They did not execute it as a no-knock warrant , Cameron said , although eyewitnesses have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Walker ’ s attorney tweeted that Cameron ’ s account featured multiple inaccuracies . )
Lonita Baker , who represents Taylor ’ s family , questioned how the grand jury could indict Hankison for wanton endangerment for shooting into other apartments but not into Taylor ’ s , saying that “ the attorney general ’ s logic does not make legal sense.
” Steven Romines , who represents Walker , said that ballistics reports were inconclusive on whether Walker ’ s shot struck Mattingly , and said that Kentucky law did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was shot and killed .
Cameron and Kentucky , Romines said , were attempting to apply an “ artificial heightened level of self-defense ” to police that ordinary citizens can not claim .
“ There ’ s an argument in the activist abolition community that ‘ arrest killer cops ’ is the wrong framework , because it makes it seem these are individual bad decisions as opposed to an entire bad system that makes these things inevitable , ” said Tahir Duckett , a Washington-based civil rights attorney .
“ You ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cop accountable for doing what a system asks them to do .
They did everything they were ‘ supposed ’ to do , and it came to its logical result : They killed an innocent person.
” The protests erupting in Louisville are not rooted solely in anger over this particular killing , but in the city ’ s deep history of racial segregation and oppression .
That has often exhibited itself most clearly in instances of police brutality of the sort that killed Taylor and David McAtee , whom law enforcement officers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late May .
But it extends far beyond the criminal justice system , to the city ’ s persistent racism and poverty and a “ system of law enforcement that is essentially criminalizing all of that , ” said Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker .
Mayor Greg Fischer , a Democrat who has drawn the ire of both police and protesters , fired the city ’ s police chief after officers failed to activate their body cameras during the McAtee shooting .
The city is forming a civilian review board to oversee police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 12 million settlement with Taylor ’ s family , Louisville in September agreed to a slate of police reforms that includes changes to the process of obtaining search warrants , alters the police department ’ s internal investigations procedure , mandates that social workers respond alongside police to certain calls , and seeks to encourage officers to live in the communities where they work .
“ It ’ s basically more police instead of reinvesting that money to improve economic and social problems , ” Cottrell said .
“ And so we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be in your community , which means they ’ re going to start really observing and surveilling everyday life of Black people .
So those economic and social problems are going to turn into police problems .
There needs to be a change in mindset on that.
” Issues have already emerged in some of Louisville ’ s reform efforts .
As part of the settlement with Taylor ’ s family , the city agreed to set up an early warning system to monitor and identify officers who may be particular risks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those plans generated confusion and outrage among some activists and lawmakers , including Metro Council President David James , given that Louisville police have been saying that they have had such a system in place for at least five years , as the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting noted .

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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Wednesday that a grand jury decided against murder charges for three Louisville Metro Police Department officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her home.
After more than 100 days of protests since the March killing in Kentucky’s largest city, and calls from demonstrators, lawmakers and even celebrities for the arrest of Taylor’s killers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove will remain free. Ex-Detective Brett Hankison, who was fired in June, will face three counts of first-degree felony wanton endangerment for firing from outside Taylor’s apartment into neighboring units.
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It was a predictable end to the grand jury process. Legal experts in Kentucky broadly expected Cameron and the grand jury to avoid charges against Cosgrove and Mattingly, and saw wanton endangerment charges against Hankison as the only possible indictment.
That the officers are not criminally liable for Taylor’s death, however, does not mean that Louisville’s police, Louisville itself, and the nation of which it is a part do not have major questions to answer. Chief among them: Why were police officers at Taylor’s home, executing a warrant in the middle of the night? Why is this how police approach a minor drug case? Why are Black communities policed this way?
.@AOC was asked abt the #BreonnaTaylor decision. What she said (per Hill pool): "it's just weighing really heavy on my heart, and because we know that her death is not just the result of one person but the system, structure, and department that failed their entire community." — Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) September 23, 2020
Whether Louisville, and the nation, get justice will depend on where the city goes from here, because even if these officers did everything by the book ― at least to the extent that they’re not prosecutable on homicide charges ― that Breonna Taylor is dead is only the latest major indictment of the way that book is written.
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“The decision before my office as the special prosecutor in this case was not to decide if the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life was a tragedy. The answer to that question is unequivocally, yes,” Cameron said during a Wednesday news conference. “My job as the special prosecutor in this case was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life.”
The three officers, dressed in plainclothes, shot Taylor six times on the night of March 13 as they served a warrant with a “no-knock” provision as part of a drug investigation. They fired at least 20 shots after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired what he has described as a warning shot at what he believed were home intruders, and apparently hit Mattingly in the leg, according to Cameron. Taylor, a former emergency room technician, died in her home.
Breonna Taylor's killing at the hands of police in March sparked more than 100 nights of protests in Louisville as part of a larger outbreak of demonstrations calling for racial justice nationwide. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Taylor’s death helped spark mass racial justice protests across the nation. Despite the outcry, the state of Kentucky had no apparent criminal case against the officers, aside from the wanton endangerment charges against Hankison, several legal experts told HuffPost. A judge signed the search warrant ― the police were merely executing it, with probable cause ― which made it unlikely that criminal charges would result, said Russell L. Weaver, a University of Louisville law professor. (They did not execute it as a no-knock warrant, Cameron said, although eyewitnesses have disputed claims that police announced their presence, and Walker’s attorney tweeted that Cameron’s account featured multiple inaccuracies.)
And the officers likely had the right under Kentucky law to return fire when threatened, said Aubrey Williams, an attorney and the former head of Louisville’s NAACP chapter.
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“What are they to do?” Williams said, adding that despite his legal opinion in this case, he still believes the United States needs deep reforms to its criminal justice system in order to end systemic abuses of Black people. “It’s what they’re trained to do. It’s what a human being would do. They began to defend themselves.”
That opinion was not unanimous. Laura McNeal, a University of Louisville law professor, called the grand jury decision a “miscarriage of justice” that represents “the profound bias and systemic racism permeating throughout our legal system.” She said the officers’ conduct warranted second-degree manslaughter charges “at the very minimum.”
But Cameron took the view that “according to Kentucky law, the use of force by Mattingly and Cosgrove was justified in order to protect themselves,” he said. “This justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges in Ms. Breonna Taylor’s death.”
Attorneys for Taylor’s family and Walker disputed key aspects of Cameron’s explanation during an appearance on CNN later Wednesday night.
Lonita Baker, who represents Taylor’s family, questioned how the grand jury could indict Hankison for wanton endangerment for shooting into other apartments but not into Taylor’s, saying that “the attorney general’s logic does not make legal sense.” Steven Romines, who represents Walker, said that ballistics reports were inconclusive on whether Walker’s shot struck Mattingly, and said that Kentucky law did not allow self-defense claims when a third-party was shot and killed. Cameron and Kentucky, Romines said, were attempting to apply an “artificial heightened level of self-defense” to police that ordinary citizens cannot claim.
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Both lawyers called on Cameron to release the full grand jury report.
For many, Taylor’s killing underscores that the law offers systematic protection for police.
“There’s an argument in the activist abolition community that ‘arrest killer cops’ is the wrong framework, because it makes it seem these are individual bad decisions as opposed to an entire bad system that makes these things inevitable,” said Tahir Duckett, a Washington-based civil rights attorney. “You’re [trying] to hold a single cop accountable for doing what a system asks them to do. They did everything they were ‘supposed’ to do, and it came to its logical result: They killed an innocent person.”
“You can plug and play 1,000 cops into this situation, and you’ll get the same outcome,” Duckett said.
The protests erupting in Louisville are not rooted solely in anger over this particular killing, but in the city’s deep history of racial segregation and oppression. That has often exhibited itself most clearly in instances of police brutality of the sort that killed Taylor and David McAtee, whom law enforcement officers shot while cracking down on protests in late May. But it extends far beyond the criminal justice system, to the city’s persistent racism and poverty and a “system of law enforcement that is essentially criminalizing all of that,” said Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker.
“Justice failed us today, but the reality is, it’s been failing us for generations, because it hasn’t accounted for the humanity of all of us,” said Booker, a Democrat who represents parts of Louisville. “Breonna Taylor’s killing, and her life and this case, was never just about what happened to these officers.”
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“Even if these officers did everything by the book ― at least to the extent that they’re not prosecutable on homicide charges ― that Breonna Taylor is dead is only the latest major indictment of the way that book is written.”
Although the loudest demand in the wake of Taylor’s killing was for accountability ― to the extent that “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” became, at times, a meme ― there were also cries for an overhaul of the city’s police force, and an insistence that Louisville doesn’t miss this opportunity to deliver justice the way it has in the past.
“What’s different about the Breonna Taylor situation is that awareness has gone up 10 times from any other police-involved shooting I’ve seen here in 20 years,” said Christopher 2X, a local activist who has worked alongside Taylor’s mother.
There have already been efforts at reform. The Louisville Metro Council banned no-knock warrants, and Booker and other lawmakers introduced a similar measure in the state legislature.
Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat who has drawn the ire of both police and protesters, fired the city’s police chief after officers failed to activate their body cameras during the McAtee shooting. The city is forming a civilian review board to oversee police. And as part of a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family, Louisville in September agreed to a slate of police reforms that includes changes to the process of obtaining search warrants, alters the police department’s internal investigations procedure, mandates that social workers respond alongside police to certain calls, and seeks to encourage officers to live in the communities where they work.
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Cameron announced Wednesday that he would form a task force to determine if changes are needed to the process of obtaining warrants statewide.
Protests broke out across Louisville on Wednesday after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that a grand jury had decided against charging the three police officers who killed Breonna Taylor with murder. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
But those will take time to implement. And absent any acknowledgment from the police that something went wrong here, the reforms are unlikely to quell the protests that have broken out in the wake of the grand jury’s decision on Taylor’s killing.
“There are changes coming, but I don’t think they will be quick enough,” said Keisha Hudson, a former public defender in Pennsylvania who has followed the Taylor case and Louisville’s reform efforts closely in her current job as the associate managing director of the Justice Collaborative, which advocates for criminal justice reforms nationwide. “And I don’t think that they will be substantive enough to appease the public at this point.”
While some of the reforms are notable, the city maintained funding levels for police, which accounts for nearly half of its total budget. And the changes it has made fail to alter Louisville’s fundamental approach to how it polices its Black communities, said Cicely Cottrell, the director of the criminal justice studies program at Spalding University in Louisville.
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“It’s basically more police instead of reinvesting that money to improve economic and social problems,” Cottrell said. “And so we are basically saying, more police are going to be in your community, which means they’re going to start really observing and surveilling everyday life of Black people. So those economic and social problems are going to turn into police problems. There needs to be a change in mindset on that.”
“None of the reforms are addressing the structural racism that causes the problems from the start. If we’re looking at the tree of racism, we’re just cutting a branch off of it.” - Deonte Hollowell, Spalding University professor of history and African American studies
Issues have already emerged in some of Louisville’s reform efforts. As part of the settlement with Taylor’s family, the city agreed to set up an early warning system to monitor and identify officers who may be particular risks for misconduct. But the announcement of those plans generated confusion and outrage among some activists and lawmakers, including Metro Council President David James, given that Louisville police have been saying that they have had such a system in place for at least five years, as the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting noted.
Louisville’s police union is still, like its brethren nationwide, a significant barrier to change, and there aren’t enough measures to promote accountability and discipline in some of the proposed reforms, said Deonte Hollowell, an assistant professor of history and African American studies at Spalding University who studies police relationships with Black communities. The city’s efforts so far don’t go deep enough to address its persistent racial segregation, which ranks among the worst in the nation.
“None of the reforms are addressing the structural racism that causes the problems from the start,” said Hollowell, who also serves on Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission, a 29-member public safety planning committee. “If we’re looking at the tree of racism, we’re just cutting a branch off of it.”
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Louisville protesters, Hollowell said, will continue to demand accountability for the three officers who killed Taylor, and the police department.
There’s still a chance they may get it in some form. The FBI is conducting its own investigation into the case, and is looking into whether the warrant to enter Taylor’s home was obtained properly. Fischer, Louisville’s mayor, said that he could fire Mattingly and Cosgrove once an internal investigation ends.
Taylor’s killing had already put Louisville and the country at a crossroads, where people have to decide whether to continue to tolerate these abuses, as they have after so many similar killings, or to enact the sort of overhaul of the way Black communities are policed that will break the cycle of killings followed by protests and demands for accountability from a system working exactly as it was intended.
The outcome of Kentucky’s investigation has only heightened the stakes. And to achieve the sort of justice for Taylor that remained elusive on Wednesday, Louisville and the United States need to be much more ambitious and urgent than they have been so far.
“Regardless of what happened in this case, we had a whole lot of work to do,” Booker said. “So, as much as it hurts now, my hope is that it lights the fire for us to keep pushing.”