buzzfeednews--2020-04-20--"For Gen Z, That Hope Was Never There." America's Young Adults Have Already Experienced A Lifetime O

"For Gen Z, That Hope Was Never There." America's Young Adults Have Already Experienced A Lifetime Of National Crises.

During our lifetimes , the US has always felt like it was in crisis .
I talked with nine young millennials and Gen Z ’ ers about what the coronavirus pandemic means for their futures .
Gia W. realized things weren ’ t going well when she was kicked out of an office in the middle of a job interview .
The entire building was shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic .
That surreal experience is just the literal version of what thousands and thousands in Gen Z are experiencing in real time : a sudden stop to their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Companies across the United States are starting to rescind job offers , cancel listings , and cut costs to figure out how to weather a financial crisis .
The recent graduate worries that even the work she is doing — for a small marketing firm — may start to run out as other companies rethink budgets .
“ I ’ m scared that I might end up unemployed and living in my parents ’ basement , which is where I ’ m calling you from right now , ” Gia told me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if no one could have predicted the coronavirus pandemic , America ’ s college students and early twentysomethings somehow aren ’ t surprised .
We were mostly toddlers and small children on September 11 .
Many of our first full memories of national news concern the 2008 financial crisis , the housing market collapse , and the subsequent recession that left many of our young parents in financial nightmares that stalled them for years .
Now , we find ourselves in a once-in-a-century pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis .
I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting on young Americans like myself and what ’ s shaped their political ideology .
Most have few to no memories of the US before 9/11 , unlike millennials and other older generations .
The country has always felt like it was in a free fall — adrift with a government that they think lacks the imagination and willingness to address the problems that they ’ ll be handed long into their futures .
In New Hampshire , students told me they were so anxious about their futures and climate change that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advocate for candidates and the Green New Deal .
Students at HBCUs across Atlanta told me they were nervous about which candidate would become the Democratic Party ’ s presidential nominee because they wanted to see drastic changes .
“ I don ’ t want the next 20 years to look like the previous 20 years , ” a student at Morehouse explained .
“ I don ’ t believe that just moving 2 feet is enough — [ to paraphrase ] Malcolm X , if there ’ s a knife in my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deep and you take it out 6 inches , you haven ’ t done anything to help me , really.
” A year ago , two teenagers who had launched a pseudo-ironic , pseudo-sincere presidential campaign for Mike Gravel — an old-school , 89-year-old leftist — told me as much .
“ Millennials and Gen Z have grown up in a country where there ’ s no hope and it ’ s incredibly difficult to do better than your parents , ” one said .
“ We are a generation of people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve seen endless wars , and we grew up in the middle of the financial crisis .
How much faith do you expect us to have in that kind of politics ?
” And that was all before the COVID-19 pandemic hit .
Since the illnesses began and the economic loss started to be felt , I ’ ve interviewed nine young millennials and members of Gen Z across drastically different backgrounds — regionally , socioeconomically , and in their upbringings .
Their concerns have metastasized into existential dread , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generation whose adulthoods could be picked apart and reshaped by a job market that could be far worse than the one that picked apart and reshaped their childhoods .
During our lifetimes , the country has always felt like it was in crisis or teetering on the edge of another : an endless sinking feeling that begins when you realize just how severe the situation might turn out to be — climate change , gun violence , debt .
You get the sense there ’ s no turning back to the world you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first — a 30,000-foot view of the circumstances and how you think they ’ ll play out coming into focus ; you start to see the pieces of a puzzle you desperately don ’ t want to fit together begin to form .
You ’ re free-falling into a version of the future you didn ’ t want .
That sinking , weightless feeling is what it ’ s felt like , for the most part , to be alive for the past 20 years .
Susana Simmonds , 21 , remembers when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orleans after they immigrated to the United States in 2001 .
They would drive the hour from Baton Rouge for visits to the Venezuelan consulate for visa paperwork .
After Hurricane Katrina wrecked the city , however , they didn ’ t go for about a year .
When they finally did , she said , she realized the disparities in the government ’ s response to Americans in crisis .
“ There were still houses that were literally upside down , ” Simmonds recalled .
“ I remember it all seeming like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of people that needed help and I was wondering , ‘ When is someone going to do something ?
’ It ’ s weird to recognize when you ’ re 7 or 8 years old.
” Now a senior at the University of Texas at Austin , Simmonds said that she hasn ’ t fully trusted the government to protect citizens since then — something that deepened as she watched her friends who lived in Houston suffer after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 .
She ’ s concerned that the same slow-moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response to the pandemic as she looks back at the lengthy recovery efforts it took for her neighbors and friends whose homes were washed away or flooded .
She ’ s worried that her entrance into graduate school and her ability to work in labs on campus may be delayed if there ’ s not enough action taken to push the country toward recovery .
“ I ’ m worried that I may just be stuck in limbo , ” Simmonds said .
That worry was echoed by everyone I ’ ve spoken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent decisions ( a planned move or a new school ) , to the increased burden of responsibility they may need to take on ( to help parents or siblings ) , to the physical limitations of being stuck in one place ( back in their hometowns or far away ) .
“ It leaves you scared and wondering , Did I make the right choice ?
” Stephanie Preising , 24 , told me .
Preising is supposed to move from Connecticut to upstate New York for her doctorate program in plant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a first-generation college student who immigrated to the United States from Peru in 2000 and now she ’ s worried that her fixed salary from her PhD program won ’ t cover any expenses her family might have if they lose their jobs during the recession .
She said her family started to fret in mid-March about their income .
Would her dad , a school custodian in Connecticut , still be paid when schools closed ?
“ We all sat around the other morning and looked at each other and said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ check , ’ ” Preising said .
“ What happens when the money stops rolling in ?
” The 2008 financial crisis derailed her parents ’ dreams , said Preising , who was around 12 at the time .
“ I saw them take any and every job they could to keep us from going completely bankrupt and to keep our apartment and car — unfortunately , that didn ’ t work out.
” Her parents tried to hide those circumstances from their children , but she and her siblings knew .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something ’ s wrong , ” Preising said .
“ I saw my parents go into major debt , I saw them working 50 to 60 hours a week , and I never want to see them struggle like that again.
” Regalado is the first member of his undocumented family to attend college — at Sacramento State University — and he ’ s spent his time mentoring students of color through a program with AmeriCorps .
Now , he ’ s weighing his options : continue that work or find a job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s concerned the program might run out of funding — or he might need to support family members , who aren ’ t able to continue working their off-the-books jobs , which are already in decline as the country sits at home under a soft lockdown .
There will be no economic relief for a majority of Regalado ’ s family because they won ’ t qualify for the assistance , safety net programs , or coronavirus stimulus checks .
They live on the margins of American society .
Regalado has begun to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the table at his home .
“ I just wanted to put my whole family on , ” Regalado said about being the first in his family to attend college and his hope that his degree would place him in a better position to find a job that would provide some economic stability .
“ I ’ m fortunate right now because I can still work and serve the students over FaceTime right now.
” But he ’ s constantly thinking : Is the new job he was hoping to get after graduation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sign another lease in Sacramento to maintain the job he has now ?
Should he just quit and go work at a grocery store ?
“ I have to go where the pay is and it ’ s difficult right now.
” He ’ s never really trusted the government to assist his family , pointing to his constant anxiety around ICE raids , which he ’ s worried about since roughly 2012 , when he was 15 — that was when he began to realize the implications they could have for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how worried people became when news spread that immigration officers were doing “ roundups.
” Regalado told me that a potential ICE raid would push him toward playing a bigger role in providing economic stability for his family if anyone were to be deported .
“ Just who we are , as brown people , we ’ re often overlooked and singled out when it comes to situations like this.
” “ We ’ re good right now , ” he reiterated , “ but my top priority is making sure food is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go to the front lines to do that , to work at a grocery store or something else , then I ’ ll do that .
I don ’ t want to but I will.
” For Téa Franco , it was watching her own parents struggle when she was a child during the recession that made her realize that she would need to be realistic about her dreams — and instilled in her the belief that the government wasn ’ t doing enough to support its citizens .
When the recession @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his promotion at work , then she watched her parents fail to keep their family home .
She ’ s now a senior at Winthrop University in South Carolina and plans on attending graduate school in the fall .
But her views are still shaped by what happened in those childhood years , and how the financial industry hurt her parents .
Franco said that before the financial crisis , her parents had been convinced to take out a mortgage for a home that they couldn ’ t actually afford .
She pointed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the government wasn ’ t doing enough to protect citizens and when she began to realize that things were starting to look bleak for many families across the country .
“ They got a bunch of vulnerable people to pay more for houses than they could really afford , and my parents were some of those vulnerable people , ” Franco said .
“ They had bought a new house and we thought everything was going well and it turned out that it was a house that they couldn ’ t actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost our house , too .
“ 2008 was not a great time for the Franco family.
” Even before then , Franco ’ s family had never really had an excessive amount of money .
She ’ d thought that it was just something that her family had dealt with .
“ 2008 was the first time that I was conscious of the fact that things weren ’ t going well for a lot of people , ” Franco said .
“ That was the first time I realized that this was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that this wasn ’ t our fault — it was partially the government ’ s fault for not protecting people .
These bad things are happening to my friends and my family and there was nothing I could do about it.
” Her parents raised her to believe she could do whatever she wanted , but in the years since that crisis , she ’ s approached things differently .
“ It was around that same time when I started to leave my big dreams behind , and I started to think , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ realistic choice ?
What ’ s going to help me make sure that I don ’ t lose my job like my parents did when I get older ?
” “ I just remember feeling like there was something different , ” Sumaya Lohia , a 21-year-old biomedical engineering student , recalled about her family ’ s financial decisions during the 2008 crisis .
“ When we lived in California , my family was considering buying houses and then all of a sudden we were like , Oh !
Well , maybe not.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ working at a Frito-Lay plant in an engineering role after graduation , says the uncertainty of the job market because of the pandemic has made her uncertain about the future .
While the plant has said they still plan on hiring new workers , she ’ s worried that “ anything could happen.
” She ’ s still unsure about her decisions but she ’ s started to weigh the pros and cons of attending graduate school to weather the coming financial crisis ; she ’ s frustrated that the government 's response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an entire generation of Americans in a precarious situation .
“ I ’ ve always felt like I ’ ve had to look over my shoulder to see what ’ s coming next , and it ’ s frustrating , ” Lohia said .
“ Watching how the government has handled this pandemic so far has made me frustrated .
There are people out there who know what the right course of action is and they ’ re just not willing to listen or take some advice.
” What many of the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the stasis of the Great Recession years : Americans moved less often because there were fewer job opportunities to move for ; they were less likely to purchase homes , have children , or require different housing needs at the start of the crisis .
They remember the stories from people they know , and the broader coverage : For a decade , people have written about older millennials permanently affected by the Great Recession .
It ’ s not a promising sign for the early twentysomethings now .
They ’ re worried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same position .
“ Do I take a job at a grocery store just to have a job ?
What happens if I end up stuck there because I never have enough to get out of this area ?
” Rachel Feagley , a recent 24-year-old college graduate from central Pennsylvania , told me about her current outlook .
“ It ’ s just a waterfall of bad situations.
” She ’ d read the stories about people who got stuck , underemployed , after the 2008 recession and continued to hear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It took them years to progress toward their goals .
“ I ’ m scared that the same thing might happen to me .
I don ’ t want that.
” Feagley graduated from college two years ago with a degree in wildlife conservation , but she ’ s always been planning her escape from Huntingdon , a small town an hour away from Penn State .
“ There ’ s not a lot of opportunities here naturally , ” Feagley said .
“ The factories are shutting down , main street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always been in my head that if I want to get ahead I need to leave.
” She did leave to attend college in upstate New York — but after her first year there , a family issue brought her back home to Pennsylvania .
In 2018 , she graduated from Juniata College in her hometown .
“ I tried to leave and then I got sucked right back in , ” Feagley said .
During her senior year , she started applying for environmental volunteering opportunities with the Peace Corps , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mexico .
Her move was abrupt — Feagley said that she was on a plane just two weeks after her graduation — and that it “ just felt right.
” She spent nearly two years there cultivating a relationship with her host family and fell in love with the country , and she didn ’ t plan on returning to the United States after she finished her service .
In mid-March , 22 months into her 27-month mission , Feagley was notified that she and more than 7,000 other volunteers around the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States with only two days to pack , say their goodbyes , and figure out what they ’ d be doing back in the US once they landed .
Members of her family are immunocompromised , so she had to self-quarantine .
She spent her first two weeks — and her 24th birthday — alone in a half-furnished apartment figuring out her next moves .
Would she have health insurance after the three months that Peace Corps volunteers are typically offered when completing their service ?
Would she even qualify for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( As of now , she won ’ t be able to file for unemployment because people who serve in the Peace Corps are considered volunteers , not employees . )
“ I feel very alone and very unsure , and that ’ s not a great combination for trying to reenter a country that you don ’ t know , ” Feagley said .
“ This isn ’ t the United States that I left two years ago .
I feel so out of touch with what ’ s happening here.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about where she might be able to eventually find work .
That ’ s also caused problems .
She ’ s trying to get a car so she can get a job — but dealerships are mostly shut down , and she ’ s struggled to find a notary for a private sale .
“ I ’ m essentially stuck in my town that has a grocery store and a few pharmacies right now and they pay maybe 10 or 13 dollars right now , ” Feagley explained .
“ I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the future seems very bleak right now .
I ’ m not seeing that ending soon and it only adds to my hopelessness.
” “ I ’ m 24 , you know , I had dreams bigger than where I grew up , ” Feagley said looking back at the reality of the past month .
“ When I finally got a taste for them … now I ’ m back .
My biggest fear right now is getting stuck in a job to get by and taking a while to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , my former colleague Ben Smith wrote a story reflecting on his experience coming of age as a young reporter in a changing Eastern Europe in the early ’ 00s .
The “ brutal human consequences of politics felt foreign to someone raised on the verities of the American 1990s , the minor dramas and major victories of the Clinton presidency , ” he wrote about the assumed repercussions of a line of reporting he ’ d chased down .
It ’ s a sentence that captivated me and that has lingered in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve talked to young people across the country who feel like they ’ ve always been experiencing the human consequences of politics and government inaction in the 2000s and 2010s .
One of my earliest memories of America is from September 2001 .
I was one of the first students dismissed from my first-grade classroom in Queens , where I saw the frantic look in a group of parents ’ eyes staring up at me through the bright , red mesh stairs .
I had that panicked feeling a second time in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first home in South Carolina to a subprime mortgage , and again in 2005 , while I watched footage of New Orleanians standing on their roofs waving for help , and again in 2007 when the housing bubble burst , and again when my parents lost jobs and worried about money throughout the financial crisis .
I felt it again in 2012 , when I saw the first reports of the Sandy Hook school shooting , and in 2014 when photos of Michael Brown lying in the street started appearing on Twitter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a church in Charleston , and murdered nine parishioners .
Onward and onward from that summer : police shootings , increasingly dire warnings about climate change , the mass shootings , and the public displays of white nationalism .
After graduating from college and getting a job in the field I ’ d dreamed about , the sinking feeling went away .
But as I was talking to students and other twentysomethings , I realized my own experience isn ’ t very different from most of theirs .
That widely felt experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US , or at least part of it : Nearly all of the young Americans I ’ ve spoken with said they were pushed leftward politically by the circumstances they saw people endure over the course of their lives and the harshness of the future that they were going to inherit from older generations .
Gia — whose job interview got cut short by a building closure — supported Sen. Bernie Sanders during this year ’ s Democratic primary .
She said she was radicalized politically by her upbringing in Detroit during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severe toll on the city ’ s auto industry workers .
She said that her neighborhood became a wasteland of empty homes and “ for sale ” signs .
“ I saw so many people whose only options were to abandon their homes and leave and run — and these were full families who had no safety net , no one to take care of them , nothing to fall back on and their only option left was to abandon their lives , ” she said .
Her patriotism was severely diminished .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ illusion .
I don ’ t see how older generations can be so patriotic , because when you ’ re in a time of need , your government has not been there for you.
” Gia sees parallels to 2008–09 now as she watches the country respond to the growing crisis around the pandemic and the dire economic downturn affecting millions of American families .
“ We can see that now more than ever with no one having access to health care and they ’ re pulling out all of these socialist measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is having a meltdown right now , ” she said .
“ It ’ s similar to what happened in 2008 with all of the bailouts , and I feel like we shouldn ’ t have to rely on capitalism and business to take care of us.
” Somewhat at odds , the people I spoke with are both tired of waiting on politicians to figure things out after the fact and want a vastly more robust government .
“ It feels like there are so many things that are out of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we as a generation are constantly being shaped by these forces that don ’ t understand us and don ’ t want to understand us , ” Jennifer West , a senior at Dartmouth University , told me .
West , a history major , had planned to take a year off after graduating to work before applying to graduate school or law school .
She ’ s heard from friends who have been through monthslong recruitment processes for jobs that have now been postponed or outright canceled .
She ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who haven ’ t started that search will find few to no job opportunities to apply for — especially for those who won ’ t qualify for stimulus benefits or those whose parents lose their jobs , and what that might mean for their health insurance .
“ This has brought to light a lot of the issues that people have known about for a very long time but that haven ’ t always been visible .
Things like rampant inequality , things like a need for everyone in the country to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impossible demand of paying rent while having a minimum wage job , ” West said .
“ It ’ s not necessarily that we want to place our trust in government , ” she added .
“ It ’ s that we ’ re starting to demand a higher standard than what we ’ re getting right now.
” Hailey Modi , a 21-year-old biomedical engineering student at UT Austin , agrees .
Modi told me that after the 2016 election — the first event that had genuinely shocked her — she turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had gone wrong .
It was the only political outlook that had made sense to her as she tried to figure out how the country should address disparities .
“ Our whole lives , these structures have failed us and we are looking for political stances outside the mainstream — because we feel like we don ’ t have time to solve these issues like income inequality and climate change .
Incremental change isn ’ t going to get us there in time to prevent — this is dramatic , but it feels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
It ’ s a sentiment I ’ ve heard across races , states , and socioeconomic status — like Bernie Sanders said recently , his movement was winning “ ideologically ” and “ generationally.
” “ The future of our country rests with young people , ” he said .
“ The future of the country is with our ideas.
” The widespread support for Sanders also intermingles the humor and nihilism of a generation of Americans who want to push the government to do more but have no hope in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ There are times where I ’ m like , well , no matter what we do things are never going to get better , ” Franco , the college senior in South Carolina , told me .
“ I was kind of feeling that way a couple weeks ago when Bernie Sanders started losing a bunch of the primary elections and it was clear that Joe Biden was going to be the nominee .
That was a point where I was like , ‘ Well , we can vote , we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calls and protest , and nothing will really change.
” “ My mind goes there sometimes , ” she added .
“ But then I look back at past revolutions and how long they took and how many people had to get together and agree on something over and over and over again and how resilient and persistent they had to be to get there.
” Look around the internet and you ’ ll find signs of a generation fed up with the circumstances of their lives .
You ’ ll find viral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teenage years ” were “ defined by economic recession ” and whose young adulthoods are being defined by “ reactionary global fascism and then ultimately cut short by a global pandemic.
” You ’ ll come across bits and pieces of videos of Greta Thunberg , a 17-year-old international climate activist , objectively dragging adults for their inaction on climate change ; or a clip of Paul Rudd emphatically saying “ Hey !
Look at us !
Who woulda thought ?
Not me !
” under a caption about experiencing two “ once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You might stumble on a clip of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram Live telling people to message their elected officials ' offices while casually giving out tips for making margaritas .
“ They want to continue to get away with doing far too little , and in this moment there is no such thing as doing too much , ” she says as she casually pours triple sec and lime juice into a NutriBullet blender .
“ I mean , honestly , have you ever had a point in your life when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Where they gave you too much ?
Never happened to me !
I ’ ve never seen that in my life.
” The generation of Americans who have come of age in the shadow of 9/11 and spent their formative years watching their parents , relatives , and friends ’ parents suffer during the economic crisis have long felt that the government isn ’ t doing enough to help citizens .
In a recent Pew research study , 70 % of Gen Z ’ ers and 64 % of millennials surveyed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should do more to solve problems .
“ It feels like something honestly happens every five years or so that negatively affects this generation and millennials who remember 9/11 a lot better , ” Gia W. told me .
“ School shootings , financial meltdowns , crises — all of those things have impacted the way I think about [ how ] life is going to work out for me.
” “ I think it ’ s affected the way that most of our generation thinks about their lives , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future-oriented , and I think a lot of it has to do with going through these detrimental situations like the environment and the last election .
Our generation feels like we ’ re not being taken care of and that nobody really cares about what happens to us , and we ’ ve kind of just come to terms with the fact that we probably won ’ t have a good outlook for the future.
” Modi also believes that younger Americans , like Generation Z , have grown up in a society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some form of crisis .
It ’ s pushed them further left as they try to find solutions to make society equitable .
“ I ’ ve noticed that in slightly older generations like millennials that there was some hope , but that was taken away through 9/11 and throughout the 2008 recession , ” Modi said .
“ For Gen Z , that hope was never there .
“ We grew up in a world where things have already gone terribly wrong and our lives are just preparing for the worst .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to believe in candidates because I ’ ve grown up in this world where everything is going wrong all of the time.
” ●

Gia W. realized things weren’t going well when she was kicked out of an office in the middle of a job interview. The entire building was shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
That surreal experience is just the literal version of what thousands and thousands in Gen Z are experiencing in real time: a sudden stop to their lives just when they’re beginning.
Companies across the United States are starting to rescind job offers, cancel listings, and cut costs to figure out how to weather a financial crisis. The recent graduate worries that even the work she is doing — for a small marketing firm — may start to run out as other companies rethink budgets.
“I’m scared that I might end up unemployed and living in my parents’ basement, which is where I’m calling you from right now,” Gia told me over an early-morning phone call.
Even if no one could have predicted the coronavirus pandemic, America’s college students and early twentysomethings somehow aren’t surprised. We were mostly toddlers and small children on September 11. Many of our first full memories of national news concern the 2008 financial crisis, the housing market collapse, and the subsequent recession that left many of our young parents in financial nightmares that stalled them for years.
Now, we find ourselves in a once-in-a-century pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis.
I’ve spent much of the last two years reporting on young Americans like myself and what’s shaped their political ideology. Most have few to no memories of the US before 9/11, unlike millennials and other older generations. The country has always felt like it was in a free fall — adrift with a government that they think lacks the imagination and willingness to address the problems that they’ll be handed long into their futures.
In New Hampshire, students told me they were so anxious about their futures and climate change that they were putting their education on pause to advocate for candidates and the Green New Deal. Students at HBCUs across Atlanta told me they were nervous about which candidate would become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee because they wanted to see drastic changes.
“I don’t want the next 20 years to look like the previous 20 years,” a student at Morehouse explained. “I don’t believe that just moving 2 feet is enough — [to paraphrase] Malcolm X, if there’s a knife in my back and it’s 9 inches deep and you take it out 6 inches, you haven’t done anything to help me, really.”
A year ago, two teenagers who had launched a pseudo-ironic, pseudo-sincere presidential campaign for Mike Gravel — an old-school, 89-year-old leftist — told me as much. “Millennials and Gen Z have grown up in a country where there’s no hope and it’s incredibly difficult to do better than your parents,” one said. “We are a generation of people who were not even conscious before 9/11, we’ve seen endless wars, and we grew up in the middle of the financial crisis. How much faith do you expect us to have in that kind of politics?”
And that was all before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Since the illnesses began and the economic loss started to be felt, I’ve interviewed nine young millennials and members of Gen Z across drastically different backgrounds — regionally, socioeconomically, and in their upbringings. Their concerns have metastasized into existential dread, and further radicalized the political views of a generation whose adulthoods could be picked apart and reshaped by a job market that could be far worse than the one that picked apart and reshaped their childhoods.
During our lifetimes, the country has always felt like it was in crisis or teetering on the edge of another: an endless sinking feeling that begins when you realize just how severe the situation might turn out to be — climate change, gun violence, debt. You get the sense there’s no turning back to the world you knew prior.
It eases on at first — a 30,000-foot view of the circumstances and how you think they’ll play out coming into focus; you start to see the pieces of a puzzle you desperately don’t want to fit together begin to form. You’re free-falling into a version of the future you didn’t want. That sinking, weightless feeling is what it’s felt like, for the most part, to be alive for the past 20 years.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-20--A Man Who Was Wanted Over The Killing Of His Girlfriend Was Shot Dead After Hijacking A Bus

An armed man was killed in a shootout in Texas Sunday after he hijacked a bus , leading a police chase through several cities that saw him fire out the windows at the officers pursuing him .
Police identified the shooter as Ramon Thomas Villagomez , a 31-year-old who was also wanted for questioning after his girlfriend was found stabbed to death in San Antonio earlier this month .
Police finally stopped the bus by placing spike strips across the President George Bush Turnpike in the city of Rowlett , said Gordon Shattles , a spokesperson for Dallas Area Rapid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shootout that followed .
Two police officers were also injured , but neither was wounded fatally , Shattles said .
“ We ’ re very fortunate in that — talk about a worse-case scenario , ” Shattles said .
Police departments from several jurisdictions helped chase the bus , while Villagomez continuously fired at them through the bus windows .
It may have helped the police that the Dallas–Ft .
Worth area is under a coronavirus lockdown , so there was only one passenger on the bus and fewer bystanders on the streets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its early stages , Shattles said , and the bus driver and passenger are expected to be questioned in detail today .
Villagomez ’ s motive is unknown , and he did not order the bus driver to head toward a specific destination .
He just demanded the driver keep the bus moving , Shattles said .
San Antonio police confirmed to KENS5 that Villagomez was also wanted in connection with the killing of his girlfriend , 41-year-old Catherine Menendez , whom police found stabbed to death in her apartment on April 7 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case of aggravated assault against a relative in Brazoria County south of Houston .

An armed man was killed in a shootout in Texas Sunday after he hijacked a bus, leading a police chase through several cities that saw him fire out the windows at the officers pursuing him.
Police identified the shooter as Ramon Thomas Villagomez, a 31-year-old who was also wanted for questioning after his girlfriend was found stabbed to death in San Antonio earlier this month. Police finally stopped the bus by placing spike strips across the President George Bush Turnpike in the city of Rowlett, said Gordon Shattles, a spokesperson for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Villagomez was killed in the shootout that followed.
Two police officers were also injured, but neither was wounded fatally, Shattles said.
“We’re very fortunate in that — talk about a worse-case scenario,” Shattles said.
Police departments from several jurisdictions helped chase the bus, while Villagomez continuously fired at them through the bus windows. It may have helped the police that the Dallas–Ft. Worth area is under a coronavirus lockdown, so there was only one passenger on the bus and fewer bystanders on the streets.
The police investigation is still in its early stages, Shattles said, and the bus driver and passenger are expected to be questioned in detail today. Villagomez’s motive is unknown, and he did not order the bus driver to head toward a specific destination. He just demanded the driver keep the bus moving, Shattles said.
San Antonio police confirmed to KENS5 that Villagomez was also wanted in connection with the killing of his girlfriend, 41-year-old Catherine Menendez, whom police found stabbed to death in her apartment on April 7. Villagomez is also wanted in a case of aggravated assault against a relative in Brazoria County south of Houston.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-16--These Pictures Show Huge Crowds Protesting Against Coronavirus Lockdowns At State Capitols

Gabriel H. Sanchez is the Senior Photo Essay Editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York City .
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These Pictures Show Crowds Protesting Against Coronavirus Lockdowns At State Capitols
Conservative demonstrators gathered at the capitol buildings of Michigan, Kentucky, and North Carolina to protest against stay-at-home orders during a pandemic that has already left more than 26,000 Americans dead.


buzzfeednews--2020-05-01--The FDA Has Approved Emergency Use Of Remdesivir To Treat COVID-19

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The FDA approved the experimental drug remdesivir for emergency use to treat COVID-19 on Friday , just days after a preliminary study reported it shortened hospital stays for COVID-19 patients .
In an emergency use authorization statement , the FDA 's chief scientist , Denise Hinton , concluded , `` It is reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential risks of the drug for the treatment of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 . ''
The drug 's authorization came just two days after the report of a National Institutes of Health–sponsored test .
In an experiment on 1,063 patients , the study found that while the drug did not statistically reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients , it did lead to a median hospital stay of 11 days rather than 15 for patients who received a placebo .
News of the approval came from President Donald Trump in an Oval Office announcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sciences , the drug 's maker .
Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that interferes with the reproduction of viruses in cells , originally intended to treat the MERS and SARS coronaviruses .
`` I think this really illustrates what can happen in such a short time , '' said Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force .
A separate , smaller trial of remdesivir in 237 patients published in the Lancet on Wednesday found no clinical benefits to treating COVID-19 patients with the drug ; its use was halted because the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effects .
However , the study did show similar signs of shortening hospital stays , although not to a statistically significant extent .
Both studies started in February .
`` It is not just because of the reduction in time to hospital discharge that this is a big deal , '' Peter Jüni , a University of Toronto professor and the editor-in-chief of the journal Trials , told BuzzFeed News .
`` It is a big deal because it shows there 's a way with drugs to influence the course of the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trials will show when during an infection patients will benefit the most from infusion with the drug .
Possible side effects of remdesivir include nausea , low blood pressure , and an increase in liver enzymes associated with inflammation or damage to the organ , according to the FDA .
The emergency use approval for remdesivir is the second one issued for a drug to treat COVID-19 , the first coming in March for hydroxychloroquine phosphate and chloroquine sulfate .
The FDA issued a warning a month later against widespread use of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died in a small clinical trial in Brazil .

The FDA approved the experimental drug remdesivir for emergency use to treat COVID-19 on Friday, just days after a preliminary study reported it shortened hospital stays for COVID-19 patients.
In an emergency use authorization statement, the FDA's chief scientist, Denise Hinton, concluded, "It is reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of [remdesivir] outweigh the known and potential risks of the drug for the treatment of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19."
The drug's authorization came just two days after the report of a National Institutes of Health–sponsored test. In an experiment on 1,063 patients, the study found that while the drug did not statistically reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients, it did lead to a median hospital stay of 11 days rather than 15 for patients who received a placebo.
News of the approval came from President Donald Trump in an Oval Office announcement on Friday with the CEO of Gilead Sciences, the drug's maker. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that interferes with the reproduction of viruses in cells, originally intended to treat the MERS and SARS coronaviruses.
"I think this really illustrates what can happen in such a short time," said Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force.
A separate, smaller trial of remdesivir in 237 patients published in the Lancet on Wednesday found no clinical benefits to treating COVID-19 patients with the drug; its use was halted because the drug caused a higher percentage of side effects. However, the study did show similar signs of shortening hospital stays, although not to a statistically significant extent. Both studies started in February.
"It is not just because of the reduction in time to hospital discharge that this is a big deal," Peter Jüni, a University of Toronto professor and the editor-in-chief of the journal Trials, told BuzzFeed News. "It is a big deal because it shows there's a way with drugs to influence the course of the disease." Jüni suggested that larger clinical trials will show when during an infection patients will benefit the most from infusion with the drug.
Possible side effects of remdesivir include nausea, low blood pressure, and an increase in liver enzymes associated with inflammation or damage to the organ, according to the FDA.
The emergency use approval for remdesivir is the second one issued for a drug to treat COVID-19, the first coming in March for hydroxychloroquine phosphate and chloroquine sulfate. The FDA issued a warning a month later against widespread use of the drugs after more than a dozen patients died in a small clinical trial in Brazil.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-25--The Coronavirus Killed The Mass Protest So They've Gone Online. But They’ll Be Back.

Lockdown measures have stopped many protesters from going outside .
So they 're getting creative .
How do you protest against the government if coronavirus lockdown measures mean you can ’ t go outside ?
By sticking thousands of pins embedded with protest messages onto online maps , Russians who are angry about lost jobs and lack of financial aid from the government were able to make themselves be heard by authorities and each other .
Using Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Navigator mobile apps — the Russian version of Google Maps — the virtual protesters dropped their first pins in front of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Rostov-on-Don on Monday .
But it wasn ’ t long before more appeared outside government buildings and politically symbolic locations in Moscow and St. Petersburg , Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod , and even in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk , according to local media reports .
Their numbers quickly grew from hundreds to thousands protesting together across Russia .
Their beef ?
The impact of sweeping safety measures imposed in an attempt to stop the novel coronavirus outbreak in Russia , which as of Friday evening had recorded 68,622 cases and 615 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( The death toll remains low compared to other countries with a similar number of cases . )
Because of those measures , which include orders to self-isolate at home — and , in the case of Moscow and Rostov on Don , the need to apply for special permits to leave home or else face a hefty fine and possible arrest — the demonstrators did not physically gather on the cities ’ streets and squares , so they did it virtually .
Most of the participants demanded that Russian authorities introduce an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide citizens with social assistance from the government , or else lift restrictions preventing people from going to work .
Thousands of comments appeared on the apps over the course of the sprawling digital protests .
“ No money to pay off loans !
What are we supposed to do ?
” read one protest message posted in Rostov on Don that was seen by Global Voices , which covered the digital demonstrations and aggregated local media reports .
“ OK , so cancel taxes , loans , and so on , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or stop restrictions on people , ” read others .
Watching as the protests spread , Alexander Plushchev , a popular blogger , asked followers on his Telegram channel , “ I feel that by this evening , digital rallies will have taken over the whole country .
Don ’ t those in the Kremlin get that ?
” If 2019 was the year of the street protest , of tear gas and rubber bullets , 2020 might be the year the street protest died , or perhaps fell into a deep sleep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus , there were quite dynamic public protests in so many different places , especially in the past six months , in Iran and in Hong Kong , in Moscow last summer … All over the world , ” said Rachel Denber , deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) .
The deadly coronavirus pandemic has disrupted months-long protest movements across the world .
Streets and squares in cities have gone eerily quiet .
Yet , as with the Russian protesters , some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are coming up with creative solutions to voice their discontent in this new era of social distancing and national lockdown orders .
In neighboring Ukraine , for example , protesters held a Zoom conference call against the government ’ s decision to cut state funding to cultural programs .
In Poland , protesters published photographs and posters on social media in support of women ’ s rights and against proposed laws to restrict abortion and ban sex education .
Activists in Chile projected videos of demonstrations and of victims of state repression on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ push the physical boundaries of protesting in this moment of limits .
In Brazil , people expressed their anger at President Jair Bolsonaro ’ s controversial handling of the pandemic by banging pots and pans together while hanging out of their windows and stepping out onto their balconies .
In Sao Paolo , some protesters projected a picture of him laughing onto buildings to show their disgust .
And in Hong Kong , a newly formed union born out of the pro-democracy movement that has been interrupted by the coronavirus went on strike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mainland China to stop the spread of the virus .
Iavor Rangelov , an assistant professorial research fellow focused on human rights and security , transitional justice , and civil society at the London School of Economics and Political Science , told BuzzFeed News that in many ways the current lockdown is accelerating trends that first appeared before the coronavirus .
“ The push by governments of different stripes to restrict the space for protest and social mobilization is one example , ” he said .
Another , he added , had forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizing online .
Whether these protest methods can be effective and will sustain the larger movements remains to be seen and likely depends on how long governments keep measures restricting access to public spaces in place .
If the new , pandemic-inspired protest methods do turn out to be effective , Rangelov said it may lead governments to further restrict digital spaces .
But this could have unforeseen consequences too .
“ That carries more risks for activists but also for governments , when all ‘ valves ’ for protest get closed down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more disruptive and destabilizing forms of protests , ” he said .
“ Social movements that have been mobilizing around inequalities and injustices feel vindicated as the pandemic has exacerbated many of them and made them more visible .
They are also frustrated that they can ’ t take full advantage of the opening to mobilize around these issues as much as they feel they should , especially offline.
” He added : “ What will be important to watch is how broader society responds to some of their ideas and agendas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and utopian , but now seem possible.
” Alexander Clarkson , a lecturer in European and international studies at King ’ s College London , said we tend to overestimate the extent to which any single event leads to some radical change in protest movements .
“ Lockdowns may in the long term ... change the way in which social movements think about things .
Or , I actually think public health will become a dimension of protest movements established in preexisting causes in which it wasn ’ t , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it being fundamentally transformative in the way social movements operate .
As the lockdowns loosen , movements will come out into the streets increasingly and they ’ ll just go back to using these old tools they always did.
” Perhaps a sign of that came last weekend , when thousands of Israelis stood 6 feet apart in Tel Aviv ’ s Rabin Square to protest what they felt was the erosion of democracy under the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
In several US cities , people unhappy with state-ordered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opted for the more traditional method of protest : gathering in public .
And they have done so with support from President Donald Trump , who urged supporters to “ liberate ” states that have imposed public safety measures .
Meanwhile , two dozen nurses from National Nurses United stood at a safe distance from each other in protest outside the White House on Tuesday .
They demanded more personal protective equipment for themselves and others on the front line of the pandemic .
“ The digital protest is just a means of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because other means are not there , ” Clarkson said .
If serious change in the context of protests is to emerge from the pandemic , Clarkson thinks it will come from the side of law enforcement .
“ People are talking about social movements changing , I think it will be policing that could change.
” “ In an environment where , if the state is trying to do track-and-tracing , trying to maintain social distancing , trying to police and monitor a whole range of new potential infractions , and then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters ] … we may see states becoming even more brutal , ” Clarkson said .
In a sign that Russia is unlikely to tolerate either , Yandex — which has come under increasing influence from the government — began digitally dispersing the online protesters by deleting their protest messages almost as quickly as they appeared .

How do you protest against the government if coronavirus lockdown measures mean you can’t go outside?
Simple.
Drop a pin.
By sticking thousands of pins embedded with protest messages onto online maps, Russians who are angry about lost jobs and lack of financial aid from the government were able to make themselves be heard by authorities and each other.
Using Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Navigator mobile apps — the Russian version of Google Maps — the virtual protesters dropped their first pins in front of government buildings in the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday. But it wasn’t long before more appeared outside government buildings and politically symbolic locations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod, and even in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, according to local media reports. Their numbers quickly grew from hundreds to thousands protesting together across Russia.
Their beef? The impact of sweeping safety measures imposed in an attempt to stop the novel coronavirus outbreak in Russia, which as of Friday evening had recorded 68,622 cases and 615 deaths, according to government data. (The death toll remains low compared to other countries with a similar number of cases.) Because of those measures, which include orders to self-isolate at home — and, in the case of Moscow and Rostov on Don, the need to apply for special permits to leave home or else face a hefty fine and possible arrest — the demonstrators did not physically gather on the cities’ streets and squares, so they did it virtually.
Most of the participants demanded that Russian authorities introduce an official state of emergency, which would provide citizens with social assistance from the government, or else lift restrictions preventing people from going to work. Thousands of comments appeared on the apps over the course of the sprawling digital protests.
“No money to pay off loans! What are we supposed to do?” read one protest message posted in Rostov on Don that was seen by Global Voices, which covered the digital demonstrations and aggregated local media reports. “OK, so cancel taxes, loans, and so on,” and “declare a state of emergency or stop restrictions on people,” read others.


buzzfeednews--2020-05-01--Guatemalans Deported From The US Are Being Threatened With Violence At Home Over Coronavirus Fears

`` They wrote that they did n't want me here and that they were going to kill me . ''
Days after recovering from the coronavirus , Bryan snuck into his village in the middle of the night in the back of an ambulance , praying no one in the surrounding community who feared his infection would kill him .
Bryan , who declined to provide his full name or where he lived in order to protect his family , had traveled hours from Guatemala City , where he had been quarantined in a temporary hospital inside a convention center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nightmare and monthslong journey that took him from his rural community to ICE detention in the United States and finally back to Guatemala , where he was viewed as a pariah bringing a disease that has killed thousands .
Extended family members and people in neighboring communities took to social media to issue threats .
`` They wrote that they did n't want me here and that they were going to kill me , '' Bryan told BuzzFeed News in Spanish .
`` They ruined my life and that of my family .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ one who has been threatened with violence after being deported from the US to Guatemala and accused , sometimes incorrectly , of bringing COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus , from abroad .
Of the 585 confirmed cases in Guatemala , at least 99 of them were recent deportees from the US .
In Quetzaltenango , a city in Guatemala 's western highlands , residents threatened to burn down a temporary shelter that was housing recent deportees .
In Santa Catarina Palopó , a lakeside community in Guatemala , residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man who had been deported despite having paperwork stating he had tested negative for COVID-19 .
Bryan tested positive for COVID-19 about a week after returning home .
He was in quarantine when government health officials arrived to test him , and shortly after they gave him his results .
He was taken to a temporary hospital in Guatemala City that has been described by patients as having few resources ; patients said one person had escaped and at least one fight had happened at the facility .
Guatemala 's Ministry of Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to requests for comment about the conditions patients described .
Somehow , news of his positive COVID-19 test spread by word of mouth and then via social media .
People said Bryan threw a large party shortly after being deported and infected those around him .
Others alleged he was seen outside his home distributing food donations .
`` Everything they said was false , '' Bryan said .
`` The only thing they got right was that I had been deported twice . ''
But while the threats were flying online , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Guatemala City waiting to be cleared by hospital staff , and his wife feared the people posting threats would attack her .
`` She 's been through a lot , '' Bryan said .
`` She has n't been able to sleep and has constant headaches now . ''
Even though some of the threats came from his own family , his friends in the US called and texted to offer support after hearing about the threats .
Dr. Justo Solórzano , a child protection specialist in Guatemala for UNICEF , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been rejected from their communities , forcing advocates and government officials to try to find alternative housing for them .
`` Many communities are rejecting the returnees because they fear being infected , '' Solórzano told BuzzFeed News .
It 's important that Guatemala 's health minister carry out proper monitoring to prevent infection , but also give the community a sense of security that the pandemic is being managed to quell some of the fear-driven responses , Solórzano said .
The number of positive cases among US deportees has resulted in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking precautions to avoid the spread of the coronavirus inside ICE detention centers and then exporting the virus to other countries .
Bryan said ICE detainees were not given masks or enough soap , and that newcomers were placed with people who had been in custody , potentially exposing them to the virus .
He was first detained and deported from Texas in December , and at the time there was no talk about the coronavirus , he said .
He tried to enter the US without authorization again in February near Nogales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and eventually deported to Guatemala at the end of March .
He is now back with his family but hiding inside his home , hoping enough time will pass and the threats will quiet down .
`` I wanted to go to the US to fight to give my family a better life , '' Bryan said .
`` I was n't expecting to go through all of this . ''

Days after recovering from the coronavirus, Bryan snuck into his village in the middle of the night in the back of an ambulance, praying no one in the surrounding community who feared his infection would kill him.
Bryan, who declined to provide his full name or where he lived in order to protect his family, had traveled hours from Guatemala City, where he had been quarantined in a temporary hospital inside a convention center. It was the end of a nightmare and monthslong journey that took him from his rural community to ICE detention in the United States and finally back to Guatemala, where he was viewed as a pariah bringing a disease that has killed thousands. Extended family members and people in neighboring communities took to social media to issue threats.
"They wrote that they didn't want me here and that they were going to kill me," Bryan told BuzzFeed News in Spanish. "They ruined my life and that of my family."
The 30-year-old is not the only one who has been threatened with violence after being deported from the US to Guatemala and accused, sometimes incorrectly, of bringing COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, from abroad. Of the 585 confirmed cases in Guatemala, at least 99 of them were recent deportees from the US.


buzzfeednews--2020-04-01--Where Is Joe Biden? Online, Being Drowned Out By The Coronavirus And Trump

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
There were some kinks in the execution .
Reporters and voters were left wondering when livestreams would actually start , after delays and schedule changes .
Biden started his first livestreamed events looking off camera to ask if they “ were ready to go.
” Audio cut out during town halls .
At the same time , Bernie Sanders ’ now–long shot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recorded in multiple locations that streamed without a hitch , and Trump ’ s rapid-response team jumped on every opportunity to point out Biden ’ s initial technical difficulties .
Biden coughed on camera during a CNN interview and was chastised by Jake Tapper for not coughing into his elbow .
Soon after , Trump retweeted a heavily edited clip of Biden coughing and clearing his throat during live TV hits , declaring “ The Democrat ’ s Best & Finest !
” The week was a first for a Biden team that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the primary .
At early points in the campaign , staffers argued that what was happening online was not reflective of what was happening in the real world , though that attitude began to change once Biden began his quick march to likely nominee status .
When Biden gave his first address last week on the coronavirus and laid out his suggestions for the president , none of the major networks carried his speech live , as they instead broadcast one of New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo ’ s daily briefings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set to do an interview with the cohosts of The View , local networks in New York and Washington , DC , cut away to air briefings from Cuomo and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser .
“ I think it is very helpful for people to hear and see him , ” Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio , a former presidential candidate now supporting Biden , told BuzzFeed News .
“ Not sure it ’ s breaking through , but it does provide the contrast he wants .
Steady , experienced , and empathetic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contrast to the president ’ s ego-centered , divisive example.
” One problem for the Biden campaign has been the ticker count of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths — the only story Americans seem to be paying attention to — on cable news networks that supersede any shot he had at making an impact .
`` We were just focused on getting him out there as soon as we could get him out there , ” Flaherty said Wednesday .
“ I think if people are saying ‘ Where is Joe ?
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in bad faith .
We ’ re doing TV every day … If you ’ re asking ‘ Where ’ s Joe ?
’ you know where to find him now . ''
Biden ’ s increased presence online and on TV over the last two weeks also has answered skepticism his online adversaries have been hurling , even if the answers aren ’ t always appointment viewing on live TV .
“ Where Is Joe Biden ?
” had emerged as a memeified pressure point meant to raise suspicion or criticism over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Thanks for giving me the time — so they don ’ t wonder where I am , ” Biden said Monday as he ended an interview on MSNBC .
Nearly every aspect of the first days of Biden ’ s dispatches from that new broadcasting studio was consistent .
From Monday to Friday last week , he appeared in front of a backdrop of books and Americana for a press briefing over Zoom , talking head interviews on cable news , and roundtables with young voters and first responders ; a lamp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he repeatedly tried to reassure Americans that the country “ won ’ t be defeated ” by an “ invisible ” enemy .
He hammered a critique about the president ’ s slow response to the coronavirus threat .
Biden campaign officials said they began discussing the need for digital alternatives in late January , before the coronavirus became a severe health crisis in the US .
( Biden expressed concerns at the time in a USA Today opinion piece . )
For example , they knew they ’ d need a TV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Delaware .
But they didn ’ t realize that stay-at-home orders and social distancing would require one to be built in Biden ’ s basement .
`` In some ways this is the world that every digital person in every digital story you ’ ve ever written has said would come , ” Biden digital director Rob Flaherty told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview Wednesday .
“ I think one of the things that ’ s interesting is that the stuff that we ’ re doing now is not that different than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do to win in a general [ election ] . ''
It ’ s been a steeper adjustment for Biden .
His sudden surge to likely Democratic presidential nominee came just as the coronavirus began to spread across the US , leaving a former senator and vice president never known for being hip to the internet in the position of trying to build a broad , Trump-defeating coalition via Zoom .
That time is very much over .
What ’ s left of the presidential campaign is now happening almost exclusively online and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been fine : The coronavirus pandemic has given him an endless media platform through daily televised briefings .
And Trump has been very online since becoming a presidential candidate five years ago ; his digital director from that first campaign , known for valuing Facebook over traditional media , is now his reelection campaign manager .
There was a time not long ago when there was a relatively normal presidential campaign with regular campaign events — when Joe Biden and Donald Trump flew around the country rallying their supporters preparing for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , meanwhile , is everywhere .
He is on TV every night , updating the nation on the coronavirus crisis from the White House briefing room podium , while also throwing in digs at the media and Biden and attempting to set a narrative that erases his own early role in downplaying the virus .
He leaves it to the experts — Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx — to deliver the toughest information , as he did this Tuesday , passing to them when asked a question about a projected death toll of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not at the podium , he is calling into Fox News , sometimes in the morning , sometimes late at night .
He is tweeting incessantly to his 75 million Twitter followers , amplified by an army of supporters and surrogates .
Trump was an overwhelming presence in the lives of many Americans in normal times ; with the coronavirus crisis , he is in their faces all the time .
While not a perfect measure , one clean way of visualizing just how much Trump has retaken America ’ s attention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ briefly spiked over Trump in early March following his giant Super Tuesday wins and has since dropped and virtually flatlined in the last 10 days ( both Trump and Biden are basically nonexistent compared to searches for the term “ coronavirus ” ) .
Biden ’ s trying to be everywhere himself , but without the power of a president or governor , his appearances carry less urgency .
On a Saturday in late March , the Biden campaign popped into DJ D-Nice ’ s “ Club Quarantine ” set on Instagram to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who ’ d tuned in to watch the livestream , before barreling into a week of livestreamed events and interviews across CNN , MSNBC , ABC , and an interview posted to YouTube with Jimmy Kimmel .
Biden has taken an optimistic position on how his message is being amplified .
“ Well , the irony is , virtual campaigning , I 'll probably reach more people than I would out there shaking hands , ” Biden told the cohosts of The View .
The campaign had touted that it had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had watched his Monday morning remarks at some point .
From Saturday , March 21 , through Saturday , March 28 , Biden ’ s content racked up more than 20 million views — a figure he shared Sunday on Meet the Press .
`` There ’ s two internet versions of Joe Biden that people love .
One is empathy — the woman in the elevator at the New York Times , ” said Flaherty , referring to a viral video of Biden ’ s friendly encounter with an elevator operator after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ editorial board .
“ And then there ’ s explainer-in-chief , and this sort of calming presence .
The videos that have done best for us have always been in one of those two categories . ''
The “ explainer-in-chief ” approach is central to a podcast Biden launched this week , titled Here ’ s the Deal — a nod to one of his frequent sayings .
The first installment , set to a melodramatic movie trailer–like score , featured Biden and his longtime adviser Ron Klain , who headed up the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2014 Ebola outbreak , interviewing each other .
“ Well , it ’ s good to be doing my very first podcast , ” Biden tells Klain at one point .
“ Things are changing an awful lot.
” Trump ’ s campaign is able to rely on an already flush treasure chest — $ 225 million cash on hand when the campaign and RNC , and their joint committees like Trump Victory , are combined — and a developed digital operation to plow through the next few months .
By comparison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two largely rough and expensive months , entered March with about $ 12 million on hand , though that was before his Super Tuesday surge and the departures of several candidates who threw their support to him .
“ The Trump Campaign has a significant advantage because of our early and ongoing investment in data and technological infrastructure , ” Ken Farnaso , the campaign ’ s deputy press secretary , said in a statement to BuzzFeed News .
“ As part of our efforts to reelect the President this November , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Trump Neighborhood Teams online , activating the massive volunteer network to make calls on behalf of the President , and continuing our efforts to register voters online.
” Last Saturday , he said , Trump supporters made almost 1.5 million calls from their homes .
On March 13 , as the world was still coming to terms with the coronavirus crisis — Japan was still considering whether to put off the 2020 Olympics , and the Trump Victory committee was informing the nearly 900 people who attended a fundraising brunch at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive for COVID-19 — the Trump campaign said it was shifting to “ virtual and digital campaign tools.
” “ With our field organization largely built out and over half a million volunteers already engaged , we are in an incredibly strong position to activate an aggressive digital and virtual political operation , '' RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said at the time .
The campaign made the shift to being a “ virtual campaign ” on March 26 , and said it has seen a doubling in web traffic to its various campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it hosted the first of what are expected to be several “ digital broadcast panels , ” which are basically group video chats by Trump campaign staff , beamed from their homes onto the computers and phones of whomever chooses to tune in .
That night , it was a Women for Trump event .
This week , it hosted one for Latinos for Trump .
Lara Trump , a senior campaign aide and the president ’ s daughter-in-law , hosted the Women for Trump discussion , with campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is a first for us , ” Lara Trump said , opening the chat from what looked like a home office , with McEnany sitting in her home in front of a strategically placed “ Keep America Great ” sign and hat , and Carr in front of red , white , and blue “ Trump–Pence ” placards .
“ Since we can ’ t go to you , we thought you could come to us , ” she said .
She lobbed some questions at her guests — if they had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of self-isolation , how the president planned to stimulate the economy .
There were digs at House leader Nancy Pelosi and of Democrats ’ handling of the economic stimulus package — nothing anyone who has tuned into Fox or Twitter hadn ’ t heard before .
Then Lara Trump turned to the subject of Biden and asked , “ What would this country look like if Joe Biden and the Democrats had been at the helm ?
” That ’ s when McEnany froze .
Not figuratively , but literally , her frozen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the sound for the feed dropped entirely .
The campaign that had so loudly criticized Biden for his own technical hiccups had fumbled itself .
Digital campaigning isn ’ t always easy .
The next day , Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said more than 945,000 people had tuned in to various platforms to watch the event .
But , at least on Periscope , the number did not go above 650 .
“ While nothing can compete with President Trump ’ s unmatched ability to communicate directly with the American people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the president ’ s daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings — and the incredible response we ’ ve gotten from supporters proves it , ” Lara Trump wrote in an op-ed published on Fox News on Wednesday .
In his interviews and digital events , Biden has consistently strived for political nuance , something that may help in projecting himself as a steady hand , but that also rarely generates headlines .
That ’ s been especially true in how he ’ s taken on Trump directly .
In a CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if Trump “ is responsible for the deaths of Americans ” for his response to the pandemic .
He pivoted .
“ President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus , ” he said .
Instead , Biden said , he is “ responsible for using all of the power at his disposal to be able to deal with this virus , ” like using the Defense Production Act to bring more protective supplies to doctors and nurses .
“ If you ’ ve noticed what I ’ ve been doing I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve been pointing out where there ’ s disagreements on how to proceed , ” Biden said on The View last week .
During a later MSNBC interview , Biden went further in his criticism of Trump and seemed to regret it .
“ Why doesn ’ t he just act like a president ?
” Biden asked .
“ That ’ s a stupid way to say it , ” he said after a pause .
“ Sorry .
”

Trump, meanwhile, is everywhere. He is on TV every night, updating the nation on the coronavirus crisis from the White House briefing room podium, while also throwing in digs at the media and Biden and attempting to set a narrative that erases his own early role in downplaying the virus. He leaves it to the experts — Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx — to deliver the toughest information, as he did this Tuesday, passing to them when asked a question about a projected death toll of at least 100,000 Americans.
When he is not at the podium, he is calling into Fox News, sometimes in the morning, sometimes late at night. He is tweeting incessantly to his 75 million Twitter followers, amplified by an army of supporters and surrogates. Trump was an overwhelming presence in the lives of many Americans in normal times; with the coronavirus crisis, he is in their faces all the time.
While not a perfect measure, one clean way of visualizing just how much Trump has retaken America’s attention is on Google Trends, where Biden briefly spiked over Trump in early March following his giant Super Tuesday wins and has since dropped and virtually flatlined in the last 10 days (both Trump and Biden are basically nonexistent compared to searches for the term “coronavirus”).
Biden’s trying to be everywhere himself, but without the power of a president or governor, his appearances carry less urgency. On a Saturday in late March, the Biden campaign popped into DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine” set on Instagram to comment a thumbs up to the 70,000 people who’d tuned in to watch the livestream, before barreling into a week of livestreamed events and interviews across CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and an interview posted to YouTube with Jimmy Kimmel.
Biden has taken an optimistic position on how his message is being amplified. “Well, the irony is, virtual campaigning, I'll probably reach more people than I would out there shaking hands,” Biden told the cohosts of The View. The campaign had touted that it had been able to reach 3.5 million people who had watched his Monday morning remarks at some point.
From Saturday, March 21, through Saturday, March 28, Biden’s content racked up more than 20 million views — a figure he shared Sunday on Meet the Press.
"There’s two internet versions of Joe Biden that people love. One is empathy — the woman in the elevator at the New York Times,” said Flaherty, referring to a viral video of Biden’s friendly encounter with an elevator operator after a meeting with the newspaper’s editorial board. “And then there’s explainer-in-chief, and this sort of calming presence. The videos that have done best for us have always been in one of those two categories."
The “explainer-in-chief” approach is central to a podcast Biden launched this week, titled Here’s the Deal — a nod to one of his frequent sayings. The first installment, set to a melodramatic movie trailer–like score, featured Biden and his longtime adviser Ron Klain, who headed up the Obama administration’s efforts to combat the 2014 Ebola outbreak, interviewing each other. “Well, it’s good to be doing my very first podcast,” Biden tells Klain at one point. “Things are changing an awful lot.”
Trump’s campaign is able to rely on an already flush treasure chest — $225 million cash on hand when the campaign and RNC, and their joint committees like Trump Victory, are combined — and a developed digital operation to plow through the next few months. By comparison, Biden’s campaign, after two largely rough and expensive months, entered March with about $12 million on hand, though that was before his Super Tuesday surge and the departures of several candidates who threw their support to him.
“The Trump Campaign has a significant advantage because of our early and ongoing investment in data and technological infrastructure,” Ken Farnaso, the campaign’s deputy press secretary, said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “As part of our efforts to reelect the President this November, we are hosting virtual events, training members of the Trump Neighborhood Teams online, activating the massive volunteer network to make calls on behalf of the President, and continuing our efforts to register voters online.” Last Saturday, he said, Trump supporters made almost 1.5 million calls from their homes.
On March 13, as the world was still coming to terms with the coronavirus crisis — Japan was still considering whether to put off the 2020 Olympics, and the Trump Victory committee was informing the nearly 900 people who attended a fundraising brunch at Mar-a-Lago that one of them had tested positive for COVID-19 — the Trump campaign said it was shifting to “virtual and digital campaign tools.”
“With our field organization largely built out and over half a million volunteers already engaged, we are in an incredibly strong position to activate an aggressive digital and virtual political operation," RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said at the time.
The campaign made the shift to being a “virtual campaign” on March 26, and said it has seen a doubling in web traffic to its various campaign sites since last week. That evening, it hosted the first of what are expected to be several “digital broadcast panels,” which are basically group video chats by Trump campaign staff, beamed from their homes onto the computers and phones of whomever chooses to tune in. That night, it was a Women for Trump event. This week, it hosted one for Latinos for Trump.
Lara Trump, a senior campaign aide and the president’s daughter-in-law, hosted the Women for Trump discussion, with campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany and political director Chris Carr.
“This is a first for us,” Lara Trump said, opening the chat from what looked like a home office, with McEnany sitting in her home in front of a strategically placed “Keep America Great” sign and hat, and Carr in front of red, white, and blue “Trump–Pence” placards. “Since we can’t go to you, we thought you could come to us,” she said.
She lobbed some questions at her guests — if they had any advice for parents in this time of self-isolation, how the president planned to stimulate the economy. There were digs at House leader Nancy Pelosi and of Democrats’ handling of the economic stimulus package — nothing anyone who has tuned into Fox or Twitter hadn’t heard before.
Then Lara Trump turned to the subject of Biden and asked, “What would this country look like if Joe Biden and the Democrats had been at the helm?” That’s when McEnany froze. Not figuratively, but literally, her frozen head soon morphed into a question mark and the sound for the feed dropped entirely. The campaign that had so loudly criticized Biden for his own technical hiccups had fumbled itself. Digital campaigning isn’t always easy.
The next day, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said more than 945,000 people had tuned in to various platforms to watch the event. But, at least on Periscope, the number did not go above 650.
“While nothing can compete with President Trump’s unmatched ability to communicate directly with the American people, these events offer an important supplement to the president’s daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings — and the incredible response we’ve gotten from supporters proves it,” Lara Trump wrote in an op-ed published on Fox News on Wednesday.
In his interviews and digital events, Biden has consistently strived for political nuance, something that may help in projecting himself as a steady hand, but that also rarely generates headlines. That’s been especially true in how he’s taken on Trump directly.
In a CNN interview this Tuesday, Biden was asked if Trump “is responsible for the deaths of Americans” for his response to the pandemic. He pivoted.
“President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus,” he said. Instead, Biden said, he is “responsible for using all of the power at his disposal to be able to deal with this virus,” like using the Defense Production Act to bring more protective supplies to doctors and nurses.
“If you’ve noticed what I’ve been doing I have not been criticizing the president but I’ve been pointing out where there’s disagreements on how to proceed,” Biden said on The View last week.
During a later MSNBC interview, Biden went further in his criticism of Trump and seemed to regret it.
“Why doesn’t he just act like a president?” Biden asked.
“That’s a stupid way to say it,” he said after a pause. “Sorry.”


buzzfeednews--2020-04-13--A Federal Judge Who Oversaw Trials Against Mobsters And Terrorists Has Died Of The Coronavirus

Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy in his chambers at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York , 2016 .
The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus .
To help keep this news free , become a member and sign up for our newsletter , Outbreak Today .
Duffy was “ a magnet for significant cases , ” said Shawn Regan , a lawyer at Hunton Andrews Kurth who clerked for Duffy in the 1990s .
Duffy sat as the judge during the 1985 trial of Gambino crime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complicated by the famous December 1985 shooting of Gambino boss Paul Castellano outside the Sparks Steak House in Manhattan .
He judged one of the trials of Black Liberation Army members who had robbed an armored Brink 's truck in 1981 .
Duffy oversaw the trial of the Islamist militants who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 , and he presided over the trial of the would-be perpetrators of the “ Bojinka plot , ” a plan to hijack planes flying to the US and sink them into the ocean ( one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also involved in the World Trade Center bombing ) .
Over a career as a federal judge that spanned decades and began when Duffy was 39 years old , he developed a reputation as a tough issuer of sentences who was a beloved mentor to his clerks and a larger-than-life presence in the courtroom .
It was a career that encompassed some of the biggest news stories of the second half of the 20th century .
The family had been unable to see him for four weeks before he died , his son @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he was transferred from a short-term rehabilitation facility in a nursing home to Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut after another resident at the facility had tested positive for COVID-19 .
Duffy tested positive for the virus and died April 1 at the hospital , his son said .
Kevin Thomas Duffy , a long-serving federal judge on the Southern District of New York bench who oversaw many notable cases in his career , died this month of the coronavirus , his son told BuzzFeed News .
You can see all of our coverage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ someone who has died of COVID-19 and would like to share their story , email us here See our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here Born in 1933 in the Bronx to a family of Irish immigrants , Duffy attended Fordham University as an undergraduate and again in law school as a night student .
In a statement last week , Matthew Diller , dean of the Fordham Law School , called Duffy a “ giant in the legal community ” who “ presided over one critically important complex trial after another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are an engine for justice.
” He met his wife , Irene Duffy , née Krumeich , at a party she was throwing that he crashed and stayed afterward to help clean up , according to Kevin Jr .
They married in 1957 .
Duffy is survived by her ; their children , Kevin Jr. , Gavin , and Irene ; and his two sisters .
One of his sons , Patrick , died in 2017 .
Irene Duffy was also a judge during her career , serving on New York state courts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” or the “ real Judge Duffy , '' according to Regan .
Before his judgeship , Duffy served as a prosecutor and as the New York administrator of the Securities and Exchange Commission .
He was appointed to the Southern District of New York by Richard Nixon .
“ Some judges are remembered for their ability to turn a phrase in a judicial opinion or identify a legal principle that ought to guide cases in the future , ” said Judge P. Kevin Castel , a longtime friend of Duffy ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his career before serving alongside him in the Southern District of New York beginning in 2003 .
“ His greatness was as a trial judge and managing complex and difficult trials in the courtroom.
” Duffy oversaw contentious and sometimes lengthy trials , and he was known as a judge who often imposed heavy sentences and spoke plainly and sometimes provocatively .
He told Yousef from the bench in 1998 , while sentencing him to 240 years in prison for his role in the World Trade Center bombing : “ You are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is death .
Your God is not Allah.
” “ He was a pretty imposing figure on the bench , but in chambers and other personal interactions with him he was just a very caring , jovial guy , ” said Ed O ’ Callaghan , who clerked for Duffy in 1995 when he was overseeing the Bojinka plot trial .
O ’ Callaghan recently served in a top role at the Department of Justice during the Russia investigation and joined the firm Wilmer Hale this year .
“ He put just an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every sentencing decision he made . ''
Duffy ’ s decisions were sometimes controversial .
In a 1993 case over whether an LGBTQ group could march in the St. Patrick ’ s Day Parade , Duffy ruled that the parade organization had a right to bar the group under free speech grounds .
Duffy wrote in his ruling at the time that the city ’ s Commission on Human Rights , which had ordered the group to be included , was equivalent to the Orwellian “ thought police.
” Duffy stressed to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the permanent courthouse staff .
“ He knew everybody ’ s name — and I mean everybody , ” his son Kevin Jr. said .
“ Be kind to the court reporter , or they ’ ll take you down verbatim , ” Duffy told his clerks , according to Castel .
Duffy commuted to work every day by driving from Pelham Manor to Pelham Bay , parking it , and then walking to the subway station and taking the 6 train all the way downtown to the federal courthouse , saving some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ train into the city , his son said .
“ He understood exactly where he came from , ” Kevin Jr. said .
“ He never held himself to be above others.
” Duffy encouraged his clerks to avoid legalese , quoting the famous jurist Learned Hand ’ s axiom “ Give us the facts , give us the law , put it in Mother Goose language .
After that , we ’ ll screw it up for ourselves , ” according to Regan .
Duffy was a “ total anomaly on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a left-wing defense lawyer who became an unlikely close friend to the more conservative Duffy .
“ He called almost everybody by their first name .
He didn ’ t stand on a lot of ceremony.
” Duffy retired in 2016 and went into private practice with his son Kevin .
A funeral for Duffy has not yet been held due to coronavirus-related social distancing restrictions .
His son said that the family hopes to hold a funeral Mass in the fall as well as a reception at Duffy ’ s beloved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not fair to everyone else to put anyone at risk until this thing subsides , ” Kevin Jr. said .

Born in 1933 in the Bronx to a family of Irish immigrants, Duffy attended Fordham University as an undergraduate and again in law school as a night student. In a statement last week, Matthew Diller, dean of the Fordham Law School, called Duffy a “giant in the legal community” who “presided over one critically important complex trial after another — demonstrating how the U.S district courts are an engine for justice.”
He met his wife, Irene Duffy, née Krumeich, at a party she was throwing that he crashed and stayed afterward to help clean up, according to Kevin Jr. They married in 1957. Duffy is survived by her; their children, Kevin Jr., Gavin, and Irene; and his two sisters. One of his sons, Patrick, died in 2017. Irene Duffy was also a judge during her career, serving on New York state courts; Duffy called her the “RJ,” or the “real Judge Duffy," according to Regan.
Before his judgeship, Duffy served as a prosecutor and as the New York administrator of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was appointed to the Southern District of New York by Richard Nixon.
“Some judges are remembered for their ability to turn a phrase in a judicial opinion or identify a legal principle that ought to guide cases in the future,” said Judge P. Kevin Castel, a longtime friend of Duffy’s who clerked under him earlier in his career before serving alongside him in the Southern District of New York beginning in 2003. “His greatness was as a trial judge and managing complex and difficult trials in the courtroom.”
Duffy oversaw contentious and sometimes lengthy trials, and he was known as a judge who often imposed heavy sentences and spoke plainly and sometimes provocatively.
He told Yousef from the bench in 1998, while sentencing him to 240 years in prison for his role in the World Trade Center bombing: “You are not fit to uphold Islam. Your God is death. Your God is not Allah.”
“He was a pretty imposing figure on the bench, but in chambers and other personal interactions with him he was just a very caring, jovial guy,” said Ed O’Callaghan, who clerked for Duffy in 1995 when he was overseeing the Bojinka plot trial. O’Callaghan recently served in a top role at the Department of Justice during the Russia investigation and joined the firm Wilmer Hale this year. “He put just an enormous amount of consideration and concern into every sentencing decision he made."
Duffy’s decisions were sometimes controversial. In a 1993 case over whether an LGBTQ group could march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Duffy ruled that the parade organization had a right to bar the group under free speech grounds. Duffy wrote in his ruling at the time that the city’s Commission on Human Rights, which had ordered the group to be included, was equivalent to the Orwellian “thought police.”
Duffy stressed to his clerks that they should show respect to the permanent courthouse staff. “He knew everybody’s name — and I mean everybody,” his son Kevin Jr. said.
“Be kind to the court reporter, or they’ll take you down verbatim,” Duffy told his clerks, according to Castel.
Duffy commuted to work every day by driving from Pelham Manor to Pelham Bay, parking it, and then walking to the subway station and taking the 6 train all the way downtown to the federal courthouse, saving some money by not taking the Metro-North commuter train into the city, his son said.
“He understood exactly where he came from,” Kevin Jr. said. “He never held himself to be above others.”
Duffy encouraged his clerks to avoid legalese, quoting the famous jurist Learned Hand’s axiom “Give us the facts, give us the law, put it in Mother Goose language. After that, we’ll screw it up for ourselves,” according to Regan.
Duffy was a “total anomaly on the federal bench,” said Frederick Cohn, a left-wing defense lawyer who became an unlikely close friend to the more conservative Duffy. “He called almost everybody by their first name. He didn’t stand on a lot of ceremony.”
Duffy retired in 2016 and went into private practice with his son Kevin.
A funeral for Duffy has not yet been held due to coronavirus-related social distancing restrictions. His son said that the family hopes to hold a funeral Mass in the fall as well as a reception at Duffy’s beloved Fordham Law School. “It’s not fair to everyone else to put anyone at risk until this thing subsides,” Kevin Jr. said.