truthout--2020-05-08--The Green New Deal Is the Key to Ending Forever Wars

The fossil fuel industry is a current casualty of the coronavirus pandemic , with oil prices briefly dipping below zero at the end of April .
With the oil industry on the ropes , progressives see a path toward a green economic renewal .
Could that spell a whole new approach to international conflict and the U.S. military endeavor , too ?
Oil is the leading cause of interstate wars , but the connections between war and oil don ’ t stop there .
From the Pentagon ’ s fossil fuel emissions to militarized responses to climate refugees , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fossil fuels are intricately tied , as Lorah Steichen and I explain in a new report .
Recognizing those ties could be the key to a whole new world .
The Leading Cause of War Oil is a leading cause of war , with one quarter to one half of all interstate wars since 1973 linked to oil .
The fact of U.S. war for oil is such an open secret that in 2008 , retired Gen. John Abizaid said of the Iraq War , “ Of course it ’ s about oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that….We ’ ve treated the Arab world as a big collection of gas stations.
” Today , the U.S. is in its 17th year of war in Iraq .
In the ongoing quest for dominance over the world ’ s oil supply , the Trump administration has a target on Iran as well .
It seems like years since January , when the U.S. spontaneously assassinated Iranian Major Gen. Qassim Suleimani , which led to a brief escalation over a period of days that many feared could spill over to full-fledged war .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provoke Iran not only with deadly economic sanctions , but naval incursions into the Persian Gulf and constant verbal threats .
Even the Pentagon ’ s routine operations are driven by oil interests .
One study estimated that the Pentagon spends at minimum $ 81 billion a year — nearly 10 times the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency — to defend the world ’ s oil supply , in addition to billions spent each year on the Iraq War .
Much like the pandemic , climate change is a global problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. leadership on climate wouldn ’ t just clean up U.S. emissions , it would open new diplomatic efforts to reduce emissions worldwide — an effort that would be incompatible with war .
The Trump administration has a terrible track record on diplomacy , however .
The list of significant international agreements and groups this administration has abandoned — the Paris Agreement on climate change , the Iran nuclear deal , the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty , the UN Human Rights Council , and more — portends a dangerous inability to negotiate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to climate change would require .
Most recently , the president has said that he will withdraw U.S. funding for the multinational World Health Organization during a once-in-a-century pandemic .
Perhaps most dangerously for climate change , the president and the Pentagon have been beating the war drums about China since at least December 2017 , with the Pentagon announcing its intention to make military competition with China and Russia its main priority .
As the world leader in total climate emissions , China is a make-or-break participant in any international effort to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hardly afford a Cold War-style communications lockout with China if it intends to get serious about climate .
According to a recent study from Brown University ’ s Costs of War Project , the Pentagon is the world ’ s largest institutional user of petroleum .
If the Pentagon were a country , its emissions would exceed those of industrialized nations like Denmark , Sweden and Portugal .
There can be no U.S. military as it currently exists without oil .
The Pentagon has an entire program , the Petroleum Laboratory Training Division @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the military fuel .
As the program ’ s website proclaims , fuel is the “ blood of the military.
” Gen. David Petraeus , a commander of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars , echoed the dark , oil-as-blood metaphor , noting that energy “ is the lifeblood of our warfighting capabilities.
” The largest fighting force on Earth runs on oil .
The Pentagon has 800 military installations in 90 countries and territories across the globe , according to American University anthropologist David Vine .
Running the Pentagon ’ s domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providing a constantly rotating cast of troops accounts for about 40 percent of the Department of Defense ’ s greenhouse gas emissions .
Another major source of emissions is the airstrikes that are a hallmark of modern U.S. military engagement .
Just one of the military ’ s jets , the B-52 Stratofortress , consumes about as much fuel in an hour as the average car driver uses in seven years .
The military campaign against ISIS ( also known as Daesh ) , which began in 2014 , has involved tens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes to airlifts and reconnaissance .
The fuel use of those missions can be jaw-dropping : In 2014 , two B-2 bombers flew a mission from Missouri to drop bombs on ISIS targets in Libya — a 30-hour round trip that required the use of two different types of aerial refueling tankers and more than 400 tons of fuel .
The Pentagon has proclaimed that reducing fuel usage is a goal — if only to further bulletproof their own missions by reducing dependence on vulnerable supply lines .
Some military critics ’ proposals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greening the military.
” Ultimately , attempts to “ green the military ” won ’ t meaningfully contribute to a green future — both because the Pentagon ’ s activities are inherently high-emission , but also because the Green New Deal ’ s commitment to human life and self-determination is incompatible with U.S. militarism .
The concept of a “ just transition ” that builds an economy based on health and thriving communities rather than exploitation and harm is a key moral holding of the climate movement .
That concept is incompatible with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the many Indigenous peoples whose lives and lands have been destroyed .
A just transition must stop the burning of military waste in Iraq , which has contributed to widespread toxicity and elevated rates of cancer and infants born with tumors and missing limbs , that have been described as “ the highest rate of genetic damage to any population ever studied.
” Climate and war refugees must be promised safe harbor .
One estimate shows that by mid-century , climate change could force the relocation of 200 million people .
Already , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced migration around the world , including in the devastating Syrian War and in rising migration to the United States from Guatemala , Honduras and El Salvador .
These migration flows are being met with militarized responses .
In the U.S. , the fight over the southern border wall is a harbinger of worse to come .
An ominous 2003 Pentagon report on climate change foretold that the “ United States [ is ] likely to build defensive fortresses around [ its country ] because they have the resources and reserves to achieve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country to hold back unwanted starving immigrants from the Caribbean islands ( an especially severe problem ) , Mexico , and South America.
” The militarized response to climate change extends inward from the borders .
Aggressive deportation campaigns , internment of undocumented people by Immigration and Customs Enforcement , and the violent response to climate and environmental protests may seem unrelated , but the need of powerful forces to subdue the effects and response to climate change is a driving force behind each of them .
As activists and experts design @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the just transition principle suggests that the solution must also dismantle the web of related injustice .
How Do We Pay for It ?
The Green New Deal will indeed require extensive resources , but those same resources have been propping up U.S. wars for nearly two decades now .
While the U.S. is on the hook for $ 6.4 trillion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars , the cost of converting the U.S. energy grid to 100 percent renewable sources would be only $ 4.5 trillion .
The cost of missing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning in 2001 instead of embarking on two decades of war is incalculable .
Today , the U.S. is still spending $ 70 billion each year on its forever wars .
That money could be repurposed — along with additional cuts to Pentagon spending that would total $ 350 billion per year — toward a Green New Deal .
These cuts would allow for the diversion of resources , but they would also directly reduce emissions and reduce conflict to make the world a safer place .
Another $ 649 billion per year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oil industry subsidies .
All told , that ’ s a trillion dollars a year that could go toward a Green New Deal .
Some of the most profound ( and sympathy-inducing ) opposition to both a Green New Deal and to cutting Pentagon spending comes from people who now depend on the oil and military industries for their livelihoods .
A key part of a just transition includes ensuring that those people can transition from dangerous jobs that fuel suffering and conflict , to safer , life-affirming jobs .
This transition is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clean energy creates 40 percent more jobs than military spending .
A relatively modest $ 200 billion annual investment in clean energy — far less than what the Green New Deal proposes — would create 2.7 million net new jobs .
Dismantling the hold of the oil and military industries — and the colonialist mindset of the 20th century — won ’ t be easy , but it is a necessary part of the solution to the challenges the world now faces .
As the world emerges from its forced hibernation , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that doesn ’ t come back .

The fossil fuel industry is a current casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, with oil prices briefly dipping below zero at the end of April. With the oil industry on the ropes, progressives see a path toward a green economic renewal. Could that spell a whole new approach to international conflict and the U.S. military endeavor, too?
Oil is the leading cause of interstate wars, but the connections between war and oil don’t stop there. From the Pentagon’s fossil fuel emissions to militarized responses to climate refugees, the U.S. military endeavor and our dependence on fossil fuels are intricately tied, as Lorah Steichen and I explain in a new report. Recognizing those ties could be the key to a whole new world.
The Leading Cause of War
Oil is a leading cause of war, with one quarter to one half of all interstate wars since 1973 linked to oil. The fact of U.S. war for oil is such an open secret that in 2008, retired Gen. John Abizaid said of the Iraq War, “Of course it’s about oil, we can’t really deny that….We’ve treated the Arab world as a big collection of gas stations.”
Today, the U.S. is in its 17th year of war in Iraq. In the ongoing quest for dominance over the world’s oil supply, the Trump administration has a target on Iran as well. It seems like years since January, when the U.S. spontaneously assassinated Iranian Major Gen. Qassim Suleimani, which led to a brief escalation over a period of days that many feared could spill over to full-fledged war. More recently, the U.S. has continued to provoke Iran not only with deadly economic sanctions, but naval incursions into the Persian Gulf and constant verbal threats.
Even the Pentagon’s routine operations are driven by oil interests. One study estimated that the Pentagon spends at minimum $81 billion a year — nearly 10 times the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency — to defend the world’s oil supply, in addition to billions spent each year on the Iraq War.
Climate Change Is a Planetary Emergency
Much like the pandemic, climate change is a global problem, not a national one. True U.S. leadership on climate wouldn’t just clean up U.S. emissions, it would open new diplomatic efforts to reduce emissions worldwide — an effort that would be incompatible with war.
The Pentagon spends at minimum $81 billion a year to defend the world’s oil supply, in addition to billions spent each year on the Iraq War.
The Trump administration has a terrible track record on diplomacy, however. The list of significant international agreements and groups this administration has abandoned — the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Iran nuclear deal, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the UN Human Rights Council, and more — portends a dangerous inability to negotiate the kind of deals that a robust response to climate change would require. Most recently, the president has said that he will withdraw U.S. funding for the multinational World Health Organization during a once-in-a-century pandemic.
Perhaps most dangerously for climate change, the president and the Pentagon have been beating the war drums about China since at least December 2017, with the Pentagon announcing its intention to make military competition with China and Russia its main priority. As the world leader in total climate emissions, China is a make-or-break participant in any international effort to arrest climate change. The U.S. can hardly afford a Cold War-style communications lockout with China if it intends to get serious about climate.
The Gas-Guzzling Pentagon
According to a recent study from Brown University’s Costs of War Project, the Pentagon is the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum. If the Pentagon were a country, its emissions would exceed those of industrialized nations like Denmark, Sweden and Portugal.
There can be no U.S. military as it currently exists without oil. The Pentagon has an entire program, the Petroleum Laboratory Training Division, devoted exclusively to ensuring the quality of the military fuel. As the program’s website proclaims, fuel is the “blood of the military.” Gen. David Petraeus, a commander of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, echoed the dark, oil-as-blood metaphor, noting that energy “is the lifeblood of our warfighting capabilities.”
If the Pentagon were a country, its emissions would exceed those of industrialized nations like Denmark, Sweden and Portugal.
The largest fighting force on Earth runs on oil. The Pentagon has 800 military installations in 90 countries and territories across the globe, according to American University anthropologist David Vine. Running the Pentagon’s domestic and overseas bases, supplying them and providing a constantly rotating cast of troops accounts for about 40 percent of the Department of Defense’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Another major source of emissions is the airstrikes that are a hallmark of modern U.S. military engagement. Just one of the military’s jets, the B-52 Stratofortress, consumes about as much fuel in an hour as the average car driver uses in seven years. The military campaign against ISIS (also known as Daesh), which began in 2014, has involved tens of thousands of aerial sorties ranging from weapons strikes to airlifts and reconnaissance. The fuel use of those missions can be jaw-dropping: In 2014, two B-2 bombers flew a mission from Missouri to drop bombs on ISIS targets in Libya — a 30-hour round trip that required the use of two different types of aerial refueling tankers and more than 400 tons of fuel.
The Pentagon has proclaimed that reducing fuel usage is a goal — if only to further bulletproof their own missions by reducing dependence on vulnerable supply lines. Some military critics’ proposals have called for various means of “greening the military.” Ultimately, attempts to “green the military” won’t meaningfully contribute to a green future — both because the Pentagon’s activities are inherently high-emission, but also because the Green New Deal’s commitment to human life and self-determination is incompatible with U.S. militarism.
A Just (and Peaceful) Transition
The concept of a “just transition” that builds an economy based on health and thriving communities rather than exploitation and harm is a key moral holding of the climate movement.
Just one of the military’s jets, the B-52 Stratofortress, consumes about as much fuel in an hour as the average car driver uses in seven years.
That concept is incompatible with environmental destruction. It compels restitution for the many Indigenous peoples whose lives and lands have been destroyed. A just transition must stop the burning of military waste in Iraq, which has contributed to widespread toxicity and elevated rates of cancer and infants born with tumors and missing limbs, that have been described as “the highest rate of genetic damage to any population ever studied.”
Climate and war refugees must be promised safe harbor. One estimate shows that by mid-century, climate change could force the relocation of 200 million people. Already, climate change has been a factor in forced migration around the world, including in the devastating Syrian War and in rising migration to the United States from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
These migration flows are being met with militarized responses. In the U.S., the fight over the southern border wall is a harbinger of worse to come. An ominous 2003 Pentagon report on climate change foretold that the “United States [is] likely to build defensive fortresses around [its country] because they have the resources and reserves to achieve self-sufficiency…. Borders will be strengthened around the country to hold back unwanted starving immigrants from the Caribbean islands (an especially severe problem), Mexico, and South America.”
The militarized response to climate change extends inward from the borders. Aggressive deportation campaigns, internment of undocumented people by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the violent response to climate and environmental protests may seem unrelated, but the need of powerful forces to subdue the effects and response to climate change is a driving force behind each of them. As activists and experts design policies to end our dependence on oil, the just transition principle suggests that the solution must also dismantle the web of related injustice.
How Do We Pay for It?
The Green New Deal will indeed require extensive resources, but those same resources have been propping up U.S. wars for nearly two decades now. While the U.S. is on the hook for $6.4 trillion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the cost of converting the U.S. energy grid to 100 percent renewable sources would be only $4.5 trillion. The cost of missing the opportunity to convert the energy grid beginning in 2001 instead of embarking on two decades of war is incalculable.
Dollar for dollar, clean energy creates 40 percent more jobs than military spending.
Today, the U.S. is still spending $70 billion each year on its forever wars. That money could be repurposed — along with additional cuts to Pentagon spending that would total $350 billion per year — toward a Green New Deal. These cuts would allow for the diversion of resources, but they would also directly reduce emissions and reduce conflict to make the world a safer place. Another $649 billion per year could be freed up by ending U.S. oil industry subsidies. All told, that’s a trillion dollars a year that could go toward a Green New Deal.
Some of the most profound (and sympathy-inducing) opposition to both a Green New Deal and to cutting Pentagon spending comes from people who now depend on the oil and military industries for their livelihoods. A key part of a just transition includes ensuring that those people can transition from dangerous jobs that fuel suffering and conflict, to safer, life-affirming jobs. This transition is eminently possible. Dollar for dollar, clean energy creates 40 percent more jobs than military spending. A relatively modest $200 billion annual investment in clean energy — far less than what the Green New Deal proposes — would create 2.7 million net new jobs.
Dismantling the hold of the oil and military industries — and the colonialist mindset of the 20th century — won’t be easy, but it is a necessary part of the solution to the challenges the world now faces. As the world emerges from its forced hibernation, the price of oil should be one thing that doesn’t come back.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-08--Barr Says “History Is Written by the Winners” After Flynn’s Charges Were Dropped

That was the initial two-word reaction of Sen. Chris Murphy ( D-Conn. ) late Thursday night after CBS News aired an interview with U.S. Attorney General William Barr who declared that “ history is written by the winners ” when asked how he thought historians would view the Justice Department ’ s dropping of charges against President Donald Trump ’ s former national security advisor Michael Flynn earlier in the day .
To critics like Murphy , Barr ’ s response was a clear betrayal of the standards that should be upheld by the Justice Department and the American legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rule of law — that thing the Attorney General is supposed to be in charge of upholding — is predicated on the outcome of elections NOT mattering when it comes to the operation of the legal system , ” Murphy said .
After the DOJ ’ s decision to drop charges against Flynn there was no shortage of outrage directed at Barr , with many critics saying it appeared to be a direct effort to help the president politically .
“ Barr has consistently acted for the personal and political benefit of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ duty as chief law enforcement officer of the United States , ” said Noah Bookbinder , executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ( CREW ) .
Legal experts , meanwhile , said the DOJ maneuvers related to the Flynn case were unprecedented .
“ I ’ ve been practicing for more time than I care to admit and I ’ ve never seen anything like this , ” Julie O ’ Sullivan , a former federal prosecutor who now teaches criminal law at Georgetown University , told the New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deflection of such criticisms — delivered with what the Daily Beast characterized as “ a sly smile ” — during the CBS interview sparked even further alarm .
“ The head of the American justice system now saying publicly that there is no good or bad except what the strongest want .
The definition of autocracy , ” tweeted writer and director Adam Stein in response .
Political science professor Robert E. Kelly , who teaches at the Pusan National University in South Korea , said it ’ s “ kinda mind-blowing that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is embracing might-makes-right historiography .
[ Isn ’ t ] his job literally the opposite ?
” In the U.S. meanwhile , journalist and left-leaning columnist Will Bunch suggested it was time to put Barr ’ s theory of history and justice to the test .
“ We need to win in November and write the history of how Bill Barr spent the rest of his life in prison , ” Bunch quipped .

To critics, Barr’s response was a clear betrayal of the standards that should be upheld by the Justice Department.
“My god.”
That was the initial two-word reaction of Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) late Thursday night after CBS News aired an interview with U.S. Attorney General William Barr who declared that “history is written by the winners” when asked how he thought historians would view the Justice Department’s dropping of charges against President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor Michael Flynn earlier in the day.
To critics like Murphy, Barr’s response was a clear betrayal of the standards that should be upheld by the Justice Department and the American legal system.
“The entire idea of the rule of law — that thing the Attorney General is supposed to be in charge of upholding — is predicated on the outcome of elections NOT mattering when it comes to the operation of the legal system,” Murphy said.
After the DOJ’s decision to drop charges against Flynn there was no shortage of outrage directed at Barr, with many critics saying it appeared to be a direct effort to help the president politically.
“Barr has consistently acted for the personal and political benefit of President Trump, rather than fulfilling his duty as chief law enforcement officer of the United States,” said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN
AG BARR NEEDS TO RESIGN How many times do we need to say this?https://t.co/K9qHyhPRIi — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) May 8, 2020
Legal experts, meanwhile, said the DOJ maneuvers related to the Flynn case were unprecedented.
“I’ve been practicing for more time than I care to admit and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Julie O’Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches criminal law at Georgetown University, told the New York Times.
The Justice Department filing does not show Michael Flynn is innocent. He still lied to the @FBI, a felony. He still violated FARA, a federal offense. AG Bill Barr made a transparently political decision that further shreds the credibility of the Justice Dept. https://t.co/ZAhaBknTZA — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 7, 2020
But Barr’s deflection of such criticisms — delivered with what the Daily Beast characterized as “a sly smile” — during the CBS interview sparked even further alarm.
“The head of the American justice system now saying publicly that there is no good or bad except what the strongest want. The definition of autocracy,” tweeted writer and director Adam Stein in response.
Political science professor Robert E. Kelly, who teaches at the Pusan National University in South Korea, said it’s “kinda mind-blowing that the US equivalent of the justice minister is embracing might-makes-right historiography. [Isn’t] his job literally the opposite?”
In the U.S. meanwhile, journalist and left-leaning columnist Will Bunch suggested it was time to put Barr’s theory of history and justice to the test.
“We need to win in November and write the history of how Bill Barr spent the rest of his life in prison,” Bunch quipped.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-05-08--Gun Violence Increases in the US Amid COVID-19 Shutdown

At a time when millions of Americans are following the advice of public health experts and sheltering in place to protect themselves and their neighbors , some officials continue to ignore existing public health data related to another grave threat to public safety : gun violence .
Since shelter-in-place orders went into effect in March , the overall crime rate and the rate of injury from automobile and pedestrian accidents have both decreased in cities throughout the U.S .
But death and injury resulting from violence and accidents involving firearms has actually increased , due in part to people spending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapons and in situations of magnified stress .
As a result , civic leaders have had to intensify strategies to protect communities from exposure to gun violence amid the pandemic .
It would make sense to limit access to firearms during this time of heightened anxiety .
But instead , the federal government moved in the opposite direction , classifying gun stores , shooting ranges and weapons manufacturers as “ essential services.
” In March , almost 2 million guns were sold , a monthly surge almost as dramatic as the surge in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sandy Hook Elementary School .
This flood of firearms into the hands of fearful , depressed and angry Americans exacerbated the public health threat of gun violence at a time when resources for public health and safety are already stretched thin .
From a public health perspective , protecting the barely regulated right to purchase and possess firearms at this time is the equivalent of opening up storefronts where people can get injected with COVID-19 because they insist this is the only way they can protect themselves against the virus , even though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When elected officials and policymakers promote the myth that restricting access to firearms is the biggest threat to our personal security , access to firearms once again trumps scientific research , public health and safety .
In a nonbinding legal opinion in March , Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote that , “ State law provides several emergency powers to local governments to control movement within their region during a disaster… .
However , local regulation of the sale , possession , and ownership of firearms is specifically prohibited under Texas law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retains their right to purchase and possess firearms.
” The truth is that under Texas law , there are some categories of Texans who do not qualify to purchase or possess firearms .
If you are under 18 , you are not entitled to purchase a firearm , but someone can give you one as a gift if your parent or guardian consents .
After you turn 18 , you can purchase and possess firearms , but you can ’ t get a license to carry ( which requires four to six hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a demonstration of proficiency ) until you turn 21 .
But these restrictions are not enough to limit the scourge of gun violence , described in the American Journal of Epidemiology as “ an important public health problem that is characterized by an increased health-care burden , reduced quality of life , and increasing costs.
” To be sure , licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks , and if you don ’ t pass , you can ’ t purchase firearms .
But sales conducted between individuals at gun @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can easily avoid the background check requirement .
Moreover , the decision to obtain a license to carry is completely discretionary , so you don ’ t need any training whatsoever if you keep your firearm in your home or vehicle .
And Texas is not the most permissive state when it comes to firearms .
That distinction goes to at least a dozen other states including Arizona , Missouri and New Hampshire .
Insufficient regulations exacerbate the challenge of access to medical care amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
The same government officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they determined as “ non-essential ” such as routine checkups , elective surgery and abortion in order to reduce the burden on the health care system have done nothing to reduce gun violence , even though gun violence places a far greater burden on our health care system than these so-called “ non-essential ” services .
What would a more comprehensive approach to gun violence look like ?
March for Our Lives , the inspiring movement of young people created in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting , has proposed an ongoing “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It calls for changing the standards of gun ownership , halving the rate of gun deaths in 10 years , holding the gun lobby and industry accountable for the death and injury they cause , naming a federal director of gun violence prevention , generating community-based solutions , and empowering the next generation to work for a future where the need to protect against gun violence is not the norm .
It is , at its core , a plan for public health written by and for a generation that has experienced the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , their schools and their places of worship .
As a member of the clergy , I pray every day for the protection of human life from COVID-19 .
I pray just as fervently for the protection of human life from the toxic spread of gun violence .
But faith alone can not protect us .
The adherence of Americans to public health restrictions during the pandemic has been an encouraging sign of commitment to the good of our broader society .
Now is the time to translate this concern for the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to our gun violence epidemic .

The challenge of access to medical care amid the pandemic has been exacerbated by increased death and injury from guns.
Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
At a time when millions of Americans are following the advice of public health experts and sheltering in place to protect themselves and their neighbors, some officials continue to ignore existing public health data related to another grave threat to public safety: gun violence.
Since shelter-in-place orders went into effect in March, the overall crime rate and the rate of injury from automobile and pedestrian accidents have both decreased in cities throughout the U.S. But death and injury resulting from violence and accidents involving firearms has actually increased, due in part to people spending more time at home in proximity to weapons and in situations of magnified stress.
As a result, civic leaders have had to intensify strategies to protect communities from exposure to gun violence amid the pandemic.
It would make sense to limit access to firearms during this time of heightened anxiety. But instead, the federal government moved in the opposite direction, classifying gun stores, shooting ranges and weapons manufacturers as “essential services.” In March, almost 2 million guns were sold, a monthly surge almost as dramatic as the surge in January 2013 after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
This flood of firearms into the hands of fearful, depressed and angry Americans exacerbated the public health threat of gun violence at a time when resources for public health and safety are already stretched thin.
From a public health perspective, protecting the barely regulated right to purchase and possess firearms at this time is the equivalent of opening up storefronts where people can get injected with COVID-19 because they insist this is the only way they can protect themselves against the virus, even though health experts say it’s dangerous.
When elected officials and policymakers promote the myth that restricting access to firearms is the biggest threat to our personal security, access to firearms once again trumps scientific research, public health and safety.
In a nonbinding legal opinion in March, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote that, “State law provides several emergency powers to local governments to control movement within their region during a disaster…. However, local regulation of the sale, possession, and ownership of firearms is specifically prohibited under Texas law. Under our laws, every Texan retains their right to purchase and possess firearms.”
As a member of the clergy, I pray every day for the protection of human life from COVID-19. I pray just as fervently for protection from the toxic spread of gun violence. But faith alone cannot protect us.
The truth is that under Texas law, there are some categories of Texans who do not qualify to purchase or possess firearms. If you are under 18, you are not entitled to purchase a firearm, but someone can give you one as a gift if your parent or guardian consents. After you turn 18, you can purchase and possess firearms, but you can’t get a license to carry (which requires four to six hours of classroom training, a written exam and a demonstration of proficiency) until you turn 21.
But these restrictions are not enough to limit the scourge of gun violence, described in the American Journal of Epidemiology as “an important public health problem that is characterized by an increased health-care burden, reduced quality of life, and increasing costs.”
To be sure, licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks, and if you don’t pass, you can’t purchase firearms. But sales conducted between individuals at gun shows, through private advertising or online can easily avoid the background check requirement. Moreover, the decision to obtain a license to carry is completely discretionary, so you don’t need any training whatsoever if you keep your firearm in your home or vehicle. And Texas is not the most permissive state when it comes to firearms. That distinction goes to at least a dozen other states including Arizona, Missouri and New Hampshire.
Insufficient regulations exacerbate the challenge of access to medical care amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The same government officials who limited access to health care services they determined as “non-essential” such as routine checkups, elective surgery and abortion in order to reduce the burden on the health care system have done nothing to reduce gun violence, even though gun violence places a far greater burden on our health care system than these so-called “non-essential” services.
What would a more comprehensive approach to gun violence look like?
March for Our Lives, the inspiring movement of young people created in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, has proposed an ongoing “Peace Plan for a Safer America.”
It calls for changing the standards of gun ownership, halving the rate of gun deaths in 10 years, holding the gun lobby and industry accountable for the death and injury they cause, naming a federal director of gun violence prevention, generating community-based solutions, and empowering the next generation to work for a future where the need to protect against gun violence is not the norm.
It is, at its core, a plan for public health written by and for a generation that has experienced the scourge of gun violence in their homes, their schools and their places of worship.
As a member of the clergy, I pray every day for the protection of human life from COVID-19. I pray just as fervently for the protection of human life from the toxic spread of gun violence. But faith alone cannot protect us.
The adherence of Americans to public health restrictions during the pandemic has been an encouraging sign of commitment to the good of our broader society. Now is the time to translate this concern for the public good into a vigorous and sustained response to our gun violence epidemic.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-08--Pandemic Crash Shows Worker Co-ops Are More Resilient Than Traditional Business

While we have no way to know yet the full extent of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic , by all accounts it could be as bad — if not far worse — than the 2008 crash .
In fact , in terms of unemployment alone , the numbers are already staggering : more than 33 million jobs have been lost so far in the U.S. during the coronavirus shutdowns , compared to the roughly 8.6 million lost in the Great Recession .
Following that crisis , many working people turned to the worker cooperative model as a way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves .
In the decade after 2008 , the number of worker-owned cooperatives in the United States nearly doubled , increasing from 350 to 600 .
I know , because I am a member of one of those cooperatives that formed : The TESA Collective , which creates tools and games for social change .
A worker cooperative like ours is a business that is democratically owned and governed by the employees themselves , called worker-owners .
Each worker owns one equal share in the business and has one vote in its governance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at work .
“ It does the opposite of what a traditional firm does , ” says Esteban Kelly , executive director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives , an organization supporting the worker cooperative movement , and of which the TESA Collective is a member .
“ Traditional firms , when times are good , they take that surplus , they distribute it to the investors or maybe pay off debt , but they don ’ t necessarily do a lot of bonus pay for rank-and-file or increase wages , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are bad , they panic .
And then maybe they get bailed out , maybe they declare bankruptcy … but it ’ s basically a model of austerity .
They ’ re slashing jobs and benefits.
” Kelly explains that on the other hand , when worker-owned businesses are doing well , they share the benefits among worker-owners .
This is most commonly achieved by increasing wages , expanding benefits , distributing dividends to the employees ( instead of absentee stockowners ) and reinvesting in their communities .
But when business is tough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burden .
Instead of mass layoffs , the workers , who are the equal owners , strive to find collective solutions .
Worker-owners might vote to take voluntary pay cuts so no one person loses their job , and worker committees might try to find new markets the cooperative can expand into .
Kelly says that because worker co-ops share the benefits in the good times and the burdens in the hard times , they are a more sustainable form of business .
And the data agrees with him : One 2019 study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States survive through their first six to 10 years at a rate 7 percent higher than traditional small businesses .
And in 2012 , research revealed that in France and Spain , worker cooperatives “ have been more resilient than conventional enterprises during the economic crisis ” that followed the 2008 crash .
Another study of businesses in Uruguay from 1997 – 2009 demonstrated that “ the hazard of dissolution is 29 % lower ” for worker-managed firms .
In fact , as documented by the Sustainable Economies Law Center , there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the world , cooperatives in general are a more resilient business model .
Cooperating Their Way Through Crisis Resiliency does not equal immunity to a global pandemic and economic crisis , however , and worker co-ops have certainly felt the impact from the coronavirus outbreak .
“ Whole segments of work have disappeared overnight , ” says Ross Newport , a longtime worker-owner at Community Printers .
Community Printers , a cooperative with 33 members , is an industrial-scale print and packaging shop , having been in business since 1977 .
Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to and absorbs its losses is decided through cooperative decision making , not passed down from owners and managers .
“ We have not laid anyone off , ” Newport reports .
Community Printers , which has been deemed an essential business in California and remains open , has had to significantly restructure the shop to maintain social distancing .
Half of the workers are voluntarily furloughed and receiving unemployment , all while the co-op continues to pay for their benefits .
Yet , in a worker cooperative , protecting the voices of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key .
Here too , cooperatives have found creative solutions during this unprecedented crisis .
“ It is very difficult to make group decisions with everyone physically separated , ” says Newport .
So the decision-making processes of the co-op have evolved to match the needs of the current emergency , with members forming small groups that are entrusted to make decisions that the whole cooperative would normally make together .
“ We have made it clear that as we come back together all the decisions that have been made by smaller groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it seems that people appreciate that the crisis requires new solutions.
” Allie Wilson Plasek , a worker-owner at the Mariposa Gardening and Design Cooperative , also said that their business quickly dried up when the pandemic came into full swing .
But she believes the cooperative ’ s democratic ownership structure has been critical for its survival .
“ Co-ownership has made this pandemic much easier to swallow as a small business , ” Wilson Plasek says .
“ Based on skill-set , interest and experience , we have all sort of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be working on .
It makes it so employees have a stronger sense of well-being .
If we were a sole proprietorship , I think someone would have burned out already with all the expectations of keeping the business afloat.
” This crisis has made clear that one of the strengths of a worker cooperative is not just the democratic ownership structure , but also the ability for workers to pool their collective knowledge and passion .
“ Because there are so many of us , and we all deeply care about our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we were all willing to make certain concessions , ” says Catherine Murcek of Samamkāya , a yoga studio cooperative with 19 worker-owners .
“ We adjusted our pay scale so that it is similar but allows the studio to make a little bit more money… .
Furthermore , many of us volunteered a lot of time to researching different options for moving forward through the crisis.
” Samamkāya had to quickly adapt to the new social distancing reality : the co-op moved its yoga sessions to online classes only and began working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support organizations , such as the $ 5,000 they received via the Disaster Recovery Fund grant offered by the Cooperative Development Foundation .
“ I just have to say I am so appreciative of the fact that I have a vote in how the business is run , ” Murcek says .
“ We were all able together to come up with a solution that was the best possible for both the worker owners and the survival of the business.
” Transforming Cooperatives to Meet New , Urgent Needs The democratic ownership structure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adapt to a changing world .
The worker-owners of Mariposa Gardening and Design Cooperative realized that while they couldn ’ t offer their normal landscaping services , several of their members were already skilled in growing food gardens .
So they launched a new service to build and maintain food beds throughout the Bay Area , in anticipation of growing food uncertainty due to the stress COVID-19 has put on the food system .
The purpose of these food gardens is to allow community members to have direct access to food .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for customers outside of their homes or apartments , which Mariposa can maintain and harvest — or community members can do themselves .
Meanwhile , the workers at Community Printers have chosen to shift to a model where they are prioritizing work for essential services , manufacturing products that aid in the struggle against the pandemic .
They have begun designing and printing large health education posters for freeway overpasses and the sides of busses .
And they have also started to expand the type of materials they are producing , manufacturing hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for emergency facilities and homeless shelters .
Some cooperatives have even teamed up to shift their production models to meet aid and relief needs of other cooperatives .
Cooperative Home Care Associates ( CHCA ) , the largest worker cooperative in the United States with over 1,000 members , offers home care visits throughout New York City .
But shortly after the pandemic struck , CHCA began running out of masks for its staff .
Meanwhile , there was a national shortage of surgical masks , and price gouging was making purchasing them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s when CHCA came up with a creative solution : members reached out to another worker-owned cooperative they knew that was skilled in the textile industry .
Opportunity Threads , which employs over 50 people and primarily immigrants , typically makes products like special order t-shirts .
But by working with CHCA to refine their production line , the worker-owners of Opportunity Threads were able to begin manufacturing the surgical masks for CHCA ’ s home care workers — offering a desperately needed resource to protect the co-op ’ s staff and their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , author and activist Naomi Klein brought attention to the potential of worker cooperatives as a pathway out of the looming economic crisis .
“ As small businesses go into crisis , we need to be pushing for worker ownership .
Rather than being shut down , every workplace should have the option for workers to turn it into a cooperative before it goes into bankruptcy , ” Klein said .
Many in the worker cooperative movement are already moving quickly to lay the groundwork for such transitions .
Matt Cropp , co-executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , says that many small business owners will likely just decide to close down rather than struggle to become a “ re-start-up.
” “ Staring down the prospect of 70+ hour weeks and going into debt to recapitalize , many will be giving serious consideration to simply liquidating and walking away , ” Cropp told Truthout .
“ Worker co-op developers are working on how we might reach business owners with the worker co-op conversion idea.
” Converting traditional businesses to worker-ownership has been a growing trend for the worker co-op movement over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appears the coronavirus crisis will speed up the necessity of these efforts .
Typically , this transition is achieved when owners sell their business to the employees , which gives owners a safe way to exit the company while allowing workers to keep ( and democratize ) their jobs .
On the national scale , the worker co-op federation is mobilizing and advocating for existing worker co-ops .
Together with a coalition of other cooperative organizations , they successfully lobbied to have cooperatives included in the stimulus funding for small businesses .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be included in the first round of stimulus relief offered by the Small Business Administration , while Community Printers and Mariposa were approved in the second round of funding .
Perhaps most impressive , however , is how the worker co-op federation has been helping to repurpose cooperatives that are temporarily closed to aid in relief efforts .
“ We ’ re trying to organize our members into rapid response co-ops , ” says Kelly of the federation .
“ So taking workforces that are not viable during social distancing and repurposing them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are needed , like more meal delivery co-ops.
” One of the best examples of the formation of rapid response cooperatives is the above story of CHCA and Opportunity Threads .
But beyond that , others have emerged as well , such as Sustainergy , a green home improvement cooperative based in Cincinnati , which has pivoted some of their operations to grocery delivery services for the time being .
This is in response to the fact that many people will not be looking to do home improvements while belts tighten , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food brought to their doorsteps .
Worker cooperatives , business models based on mutual aid and solidarity , will likely once again see an explosion of interest and energy as this crisis wears on , just like they did after the 2008 crash .
We are heading toward a period of great economic upheaval , and worker-ownership may be one of our most powerful tools in the immediate and long-term aftermath to build economic resiliency for everyday people .

Worker-owners are able to share the burden during a downturn and redirect their skills toward emerging needs.
Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
While we have no way to know yet the full extent of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, by all accounts it could be as bad — if not far worse — than the 2008 crash. In fact, in terms of unemployment alone, the numbers are already staggering: more than 33 million jobs have been lost so far in the U.S. during the coronavirus shutdowns, compared to the roughly 8.6 million lost in the Great Recession.
Following that crisis, many working people turned to the worker cooperative model as a way to build economic resiliency and stability for themselves. In the decade after 2008, the number of worker-owned cooperatives in the United States nearly doubled, increasing from 350 to 600. I know, because I am a member of one of those cooperatives that formed: The TESA Collective, which creates tools and games for social change.
A worker cooperative like ours is a business that is democratically owned and governed by the employees themselves, called worker-owners. Each worker owns one equal share in the business and has one vote in its governance structure. Essentially, it is democracy at work.
“It does the opposite of what a traditional firm does,” says Esteban Kelly, executive director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, an organization supporting the worker cooperative movement, and of which the TESA Collective is a member. “Traditional firms, when times are good, they take that surplus, they distribute it to the investors or maybe pay off debt, but they don’t necessarily do a lot of bonus pay for rank-and-file or increase wages,” Kelly told Truthout. “When times are bad, they panic. And then maybe they get bailed out, maybe they declare bankruptcy … but it’s basically a model of austerity. They’re slashing jobs and benefits.”
Kelly explains that on the other hand, when worker-owned businesses are doing well, they share the benefits among worker-owners. This is most commonly achieved by increasing wages, expanding benefits, distributing dividends to the employees (instead of absentee stockowners) and reinvesting in their communities. But when business is tough, a worker cooperative equitably shares the burden. Instead of mass layoffs, the workers, who are the equal owners, strive to find collective solutions. Worker-owners might vote to take voluntary pay cuts so no one person loses their job, and worker committees might try to find new markets the cooperative can expand into.
Kelly says that because worker co-ops share the benefits in the good times and the burdens in the hard times, they are a more sustainable form of business. And the data agrees with him:
In the decade after 2008, the number of worker-owned cooperatives in the United States nearly doubled, increasing from 350 to 600 .
One 2019 study found that worker cooperatives in the United States survive through their first six to 10 years at a rate 7 percent higher than traditional small businesses. And in 2012, research revealed that in France and Spain, worker cooperatives “have been more resilient than conventional enterprises during the economic crisis” that followed the 2008 crash. Another study of businesses in Uruguay from 1997 – 2009 demonstrated that “the hazard of dissolution is 29% lower” for worker-managed firms. In fact, as documented by the Sustainable Economies Law Center, there is a growing body of evidence that shows across the world, cooperatives in general are a more resilient business model.
Cooperating Their Way Through Crisis
Resiliency does not equal immunity to a global pandemic and economic crisis, however, and worker co-ops have certainly felt the impact from the coronavirus outbreak.
“Whole segments of work have disappeared overnight,” says Ross Newport, a longtime worker-owner at Community Printers. Community Printers, a cooperative with 33 members, is an industrial-scale print and packaging shop, having been in business since 1977.
Still, how a worker co-op business responds to and absorbs its losses is decided through cooperative decision making, not passed down from owners and managers.
“We have not laid anyone off,” Newport reports. Community Printers, which has been deemed an essential business in California and remains open, has had to significantly restructure the shop to maintain social distancing. Half of the workers are voluntarily furloughed and receiving unemployment, all while the co-op continues to pay for their benefits.
“Co-ownership has made this pandemic much easier to swallow as a small business.”
Yet, in a worker cooperative, protecting the voices of members and their democratic structure is also key. Here too, cooperatives have found creative solutions during this unprecedented crisis.
“It is very difficult to make group decisions with everyone physically separated,” says Newport. So the decision-making processes of the co-op have evolved to match the needs of the current emergency, with members forming small groups that are entrusted to make decisions that the whole cooperative would normally make together.
“We have made it clear that as we come back together all the decisions that have been made by smaller groups can be reviewed. So far, it seems that people appreciate that the crisis requires new solutions.”
Allie Wilson Plasek, a worker-owner at the Mariposa Gardening and Design Cooperative, also said that their business quickly dried up when the pandemic came into full swing. But she believes the cooperative’s democratic ownership structure has been critical for its survival.
“Co-ownership has made this pandemic much easier to swallow as a small business,” Wilson Plasek says. “Based on skill-set, interest and experience, we have all sort of divided up what we can and should be working on. It makes it so employees have a stronger sense of well-being. If we were a sole proprietorship, I think someone would have burned out already with all the expectations of keeping the business afloat.”
This crisis has made clear that one of the strengths of a worker cooperative is not just the democratic ownership structure, but also the ability for workers to pool their collective knowledge and passion.
“Because there are so many of us, and we all deeply care about our studio’s mission and survival, we were all willing to make certain concessions,” says Catherine Murcek of Samamkāya, a yoga studio cooperative with 19 worker-owners. “We adjusted our pay scale so that it is similar but allows the studio to make a little bit more money…. Furthermore, many of us volunteered a lot of time to researching different options for moving forward through the crisis.”
Samamkāya had to quickly adapt to the new social distancing reality: the co-op moved its yoga sessions to online classes only and began working together to access emergency funds through cooperative support organizations, such as the $5,000 they received via the Disaster Recovery Fund grant offered by the Cooperative Development Foundation.
“I just have to say I am so appreciative of the fact that I have a vote in how the business is run,” Murcek says. “We were all able together to come up with a solution that was the best possible for both the worker owners and the survival of the business.”
Transforming Cooperatives to Meet New, Urgent Needs
The democratic ownership structure of cooperatives also allows them to collectively adapt to a changing world.
Some cooperatives have even teamed up to shift their production models to meet aid and relief needs of other cooperatives.
The worker-owners of Mariposa Gardening and Design Cooperative realized that while they couldn’t offer their normal landscaping services, several of their members were already skilled in growing food gardens. So they launched a new service to build and maintain food beds throughout the Bay Area, in anticipation of growing food uncertainty due to the stress COVID-19 has put on the food system. The purpose of these food gardens is to allow community members to have direct access to food. The co-op will offer to build food beds for customers outside of their homes or apartments, which Mariposa can maintain and harvest — or community members can do themselves.
Meanwhile, the workers at Community Printers have chosen to shift to a model where they are prioritizing work for essential services, manufacturing products that aid in the struggle against the pandemic. They have begun designing and printing large health education posters for freeway overpasses and the sides of busses. And they have also started to expand the type of materials they are producing, manufacturing hospital gowns as well as building partition walls for emergency facilities and homeless shelters.
Some cooperatives have even teamed up to shift their production models to meet aid and relief needs of other cooperatives. Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), the largest worker cooperative in the United States with over 1,000 members, offers home care visits throughout New York City. But shortly after the pandemic struck, CHCA began running out of masks for its staff. Meanwhile, there was a national shortage of surgical masks, and price gouging was making purchasing them in bulk almost impossible.
That’s when CHCA came up with a creative solution: members reached out to another worker-owned cooperative they knew that was skilled in the textile industry. Opportunity Threads, which employs over 50 people and primarily immigrants, typically makes products like special order t-shirts. But by working with CHCA to refine their production line, the worker-owners of Opportunity Threads were able to begin manufacturing the surgical masks for CHCA’s home care workers — offering a desperately needed resource to protect the co-op’s staff and their clients.
Worker Cooperatives as a Path Forward
During a recent online teach-in, author and activist Naomi Klein brought attention to the potential of worker cooperatives as a pathway out of the looming economic crisis.
“Rather than being shut down, every workplace should have the option for workers to turn it into a cooperative before it goes into bankruptcy.”
“As small businesses go into crisis, we need to be pushing for worker ownership. Rather than being shut down, every workplace should have the option for workers to turn it into a cooperative before it goes into bankruptcy,” Klein said.
Many in the worker cooperative movement are already moving quickly to lay the groundwork for such transitions. Matt Cropp, co-executive director of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, says that many small business owners will likely just decide to close down rather than struggle to become a “re-start-up.”
“Staring down the prospect of 70+ hour weeks and going into debt to recapitalize, many will be giving serious consideration to simply liquidating and walking away,” Cropp told Truthout. “Worker co-op developers are working on how we might reach business owners with the worker co-op conversion idea.”
Converting traditional businesses to worker-ownership has been a growing trend for the worker co-op movement over the past few years, and it appears the coronavirus crisis will speed up the necessity of these efforts. Typically, this transition is achieved when owners sell their business to the employees, which gives owners a safe way to exit the company while allowing workers to keep (and democratize) their jobs.
On the national scale, the worker co-op federation is mobilizing and advocating for existing worker co-ops. Together with a coalition of other cooperative organizations, they successfully lobbied to have cooperatives included in the stimulus funding for small businesses. As a result, Samamkāya was able to be included in the first round of stimulus relief offered by the Small Business Administration, while Community Printers and Mariposa were approved in the second round of funding.
Perhaps most impressive, however, is how the worker co-op federation has been helping to repurpose cooperatives that are temporarily closed to aid in relief efforts.
“We’re trying to organize our members into rapid response co-ops,” says Kelly of the federation. “So taking workforces that are not viable during social distancing and repurposing them into some of the value chains that are needed, like more meal delivery co-ops.”
One of the best examples of the formation of rapid response cooperatives is the above story of CHCA and Opportunity Threads. But beyond that, others have emerged as well, such as Sustainergy, a green home improvement cooperative based in Cincinnati, which has pivoted some of their operations to grocery delivery services for the time being. This is in response to the fact that many people will not be looking to do home improvements while belts tighten, but an increasing number of community members need food brought to their doorsteps.
Worker cooperatives, business models based on mutual aid and solidarity, will likely once again see an explosion of interest and energy as this crisis wears on, just like they did after the 2008 crash. We are heading toward a period of great economic upheaval, and worker-ownership may be one of our most powerful tools in the immediate and long-term aftermath to build economic resiliency for everyday people.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-09--Black People Are Being Arrested at Higher Rates for Social Distancing Violations

On April 17 in Toledo , Ohio , a 19-year-old black man was arrested for violating the state stay-at-home order .
In court filings , police say he took a bus from Detroit to Toledo “ without a valid reason.
” Six young black men were arrested in Toledo last Saturday while hanging out on a front lawn ; police allege they were “ seen standing within 6 feet of each other.
” In Cincinnati , a black man was charged with violating stay-at-home orders after he was shot in the ankle on April 7 ; according to a police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friend in the street when he was shot and was “ clearly not engaged in essential activities.
” Ohio ’ s health director , Dr. Amy Acton , issued the state ’ s stay-at-home order on March 22 , prohibiting people from leaving their home except for essential activities and requiring them to maintain social distancing “ at all times.
” A violation of the order is a misdemeanor , punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $ 750 fine .
Since the order , hundreds of people have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state has also seen some of the most prominent protests against state stay-at-home orders , as large crowds gather on the statehouse steps to flout the directives .
But the protesters , most of them white , have not faced arrest .
Rather , in three large Ohio jurisdictions ProPublica examined , charges of violating the order appear to have fallen disproportionately on black people .
ProPublica analyzed court records for the city of Toledo and for the counties that include Columbus and Cincinnati , three of the most populous jurisdictions in Ohio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found , black people were at least four times as likely to be charged with violating the stay-at-home order as white people .
As states across the country attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19 , stay-at-home orders have proven instrumental in the fight against the novel coronavirus ; experts credit aggressive restrictions with flattening the curve in the nation ’ s hotbeds .
Many states ’ orders carry criminal penalties for violations of the stay-at-home mandates .
But as the weather warms up and people spend more time outside , defense lawyers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black communities long subjected to overly aggressive policing will face similarly aggressive enforcement of stay-at-home mandates .
In Ohio , ProPublica found , the disparities are already pronounced .
As of Thursday night in Hamilton County , which is 27 % black and home to Cincinnati , there were 107 charges for violating the order ; 61 % of defendants are black .
The majority of arrests came from towns surrounding Cincinnati , which is 43 % black .
Of the 29 people charged by the city ’ s Police Department , 79 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provided to ProPublica by the Hamilton County Public Defender .
In Toledo , where black people make up 27 % of the population , 18 of the 23 people charged thus far were black .
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt , a spokeswoman for the Toledo Police Department , said that in enforcing the stay-at-home order , the department ’ s goal is not to arrest people and that officers are primarily responding to calls from people complaining about violations of the order .
She told ProPublica that if the police arrested someone , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that while biased policing would be “ wrong , ” it would also be wrong to arrest more white people simply “ to balance the numbers.
” In Franklin County , which is 23.5 % black , 129 people were arrested between the beginning of the stay-at-home order and May 4 ; 57 % of the people arrested were black .
In Cleveland , which is 50 % black and is the state ’ s second-largest city , the Municipal Court ’ s public records do not include race data .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unable to readily provide demographic information about arrests to ProPublica , though on Friday , the police said they have issued eight charges so far .
In the three jurisdictions , about half of those charged with violating the order were also charged with other offenses , such as drug possession and disorderly conduct .
The rest were charged only with violating the order ; among that group , the percentage of defendants who were black was even higher .
Franklin Country is home to Columbus , where enforcement of the stay-at-home order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ different reason .
Columbus is the state capital and Ohio ’ s largest city with a population of almost 900,000 .
In recent weeks , groups of mostly white protesters have campaigned against the stay-at-home order on the Statehouse steps and outside the health director ’ s home .
Some protesters have come armed , and images have circulated of crowds of demonstrators huddled close , chanting , many without masks .
No protesters have been arrested for violating the stay-at-home order , a spokesperson for the Columbus mayor ’ s office told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a group called Free Ohio Now , said in an email that he was not aware of any arrests associated with protests in the entire state .
The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to ProPublica ’ s request for comment .
Ohio legislators are contemplating reducing the criminal penalties for violating the order .
On Wednesday , the state House passed legislation that would eliminate the possibility of jail time for stay-at-home violators .
A first offense would result in a warning , and further violations would result in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state Senate .
Penalties for violating stay-at-home orders vary across the country .
In many states , including California , Florida , Michigan and Washington , violations can land someone behind bars .
In New York state , violations can only result in fines .
In Baltimore , police told local media they had only charged two people with violations ; police have reportedly relied on a recording played over the loudspeakers of squad cars : “ Even if you aren ’ t showing symptoms , you could still have coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or neighbor .
Being home is being safe .
We are all in this together.
” Enforcement has often resulted in controversy .
In New York City , a viral video showed police pull out a Taser and punch a black man after they approached a group of people who weren ’ t wearing masks .
Police say the man who was punched took a “ fighting stance ” when ordered to disperse .
In Orlando , police arrested a homeless man walking a bicycle because he was not obeying curfew .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stealing a car battery , normally a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail , were enhanced to a felony , which can result in 10 years in prison , because police and prosecutors said he was in violation of the state order .
The orders are generally broad , and decisions about which violations to treat as acceptable and which ones to penalize have largely been left to local police departments ’ discretion .
Kristen Clarke , president of the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said such discretion has opened the door to police abuse , and she said the U.S. Department of Justice or state governments should issue detailed guidelines about when to make arrests .
That discretion “ is what ’ s given rise to these rogue practices , ” she told ProPublica , “ that are putting black communities and communities of color with a target on their backs.
” In jails and prisons around the country , inmates have fallen ill or died from COVID-19 as the virus spreads rapidly through the facilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inmates from jail and ordered police to reduce arrests for minor crimes .
But in Hamilton County , some people charged with failing to maintain social distancing have been kept in jail for at least one night , even without any other charges .
Recently , two sheriff ’ s deputies who work in the jail tested positive for COVID-19 .
“ The cops put their hands on them , they cram them in the car , they take them to the [ jail ] , which has 800 to 1400 people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sean Vicente , director of the Hamilton County Public Defender ’ s misdemeanor division .
“ It ’ s often so crowded everyone ’ s just sitting on the floor.
” Clarke said the enforcement push is sometimes undercutting the public health effort : “ Protecting people ’ s health is in direct conflict with putting people in overcrowded jails and prisons that have been hotbeds for the virus.
” Court records show that the Cincinnati Police Department has adopted some surprising applications of the law .
Six people were charged with violations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Only one was charged with another crime as well , but police affidavits state that when they were shot , they were or likely were in violation of the order .
One man was shot in the ankle while talking to a friend , according to court filings , and “ was clearly not engaged in essential activities.
” Another was arrested with the same explanation ; police wrote that he had gone to the hospital with a gunshot wound .
The Cincinnati Police Department did not respond to ProPublica ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a small , mostly white Cincinnati suburb , nine people have been arrested for violating the order thus far .
All of them are black .
Springfield Township Police Chief Robert Browder told ProPublica in an email that the department is “ an internationally accredited law enforcement organization ” and has “ strict policies … to ensure that our zero tolerance policy prohibiting bias-based profiling is adhered to.
” Browder said race had not played a role in his department ’ s enforcement of the order and that he was “ appalled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the black people arrested in Springfield Township were working for a company that sells books and magazine subscriptions door to door .
One of the workers , Carl Brown , 50 , said he and five colleagues were working in Springfield Township when two members of the team were arrested while going door to door .
Police called the other sales people , and when they arrived at the scene , they too were arrested .
Five of them , including Brown , were charged only with violating the stay-at-home order ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warrant in another state , according to Browder , and police also charged her for giving them false identification .
Brown said one of the officers had left the group with a warning : They should never come back , and if they do , it ’ s “ going to be worse.
” Browder denied that the officers made such a threat , and he said the police had received calls from residents about the sales people and their tactics and that the sales people had failed to register with the Police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Other violations in Hamilton County have been more egregious , but even in some of those cases , the law enforcement response has stirred controversy .
On April 4 , a man who had streamed a party on Facebook Live , saying , “ We don ’ t give a fuck about this coronavirus , ” was arrested in Cincinnati ’ s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood , the setting of a 2001 riot after police fatally shot an unarmed black man .
The man who streamed the party , Rashaan Davis , was charged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence , and his bond was set at $ 350,000 .
After Judge Alan Triggs said he would release Davis from jail pretrial because the offense charged was nonviolent , local media reported , prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor and said they would focus on the charge of inciting violence , a felony .
The Hamilton County prosecutor ’ s office declined to comment on Davis ’ case .
In Toledo , there ’ s been public controversy around perceived differences in the application of the law .
On April 21 , debate at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a food truck .
Local politicians discussed recent arrests of young black people at house parties , some contrasting them with a large , white crowd standing close together in line outside a BBQ stand , undisturbed by police .
Councilmember Gary Johnson told ProPublica he ’ s asked the police chief to investigate why no one was arrested at a party he ’ d heard about , where white people were congregating on docks .
“ I don ’ t know the circumstances of the arrests , ” he said .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go into poor neighborhoods and African American neighborhoods , you better be going into white neighborhoods too .
… You have to say we ’ re going to be heavy-handed with the stay-at-home order or we ’ re going to be light with it .
It has to be one or the other.
” Toledo police enforcement has not been confined to partygoers .
Armani Thomas , 20 , is one of the six young men arrested for not social distancing on a lawn .
He told ProPublica he was sitting there with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the police pulled up .
Two kids ran off , and the police made the rest stay , eventually arresting “ all the dudes ” and letting the girls go .
He was taken to the county jail , where several inmates have tested positive , for booking and released after several hours .
The men ’ s cases are pending .
“ When police see black people gathered in public , I think there ’ s this looming belief that they must be doing something illegal , ” RaShya Ghee , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University of Toledo , told ProPublica .
“ They ’ re hanging out in a yard — something illegal must have happened .
Or , something illegal is about to happen.
” Lenhardt , the police lieutenant , said the six men were arrested after police received 911 calls reporting “ a group gathering and flashing guns.
” None of the six men were arrested on gun charges .
As for the 19-year-old charged for taking the bus without reason , she said police asked him on consecutive days to not loiter at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 70,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus , government officials have not figured out how to balance the threat of COVID-19 with the harms of over policing , Clarke said .
“ On the one hand , we want to beat back the pandemic .
That ’ s critical .
That ’ s the end goal , ” she told ProPublica .
“ On the other hand , we ’ re seeing social distancing being used as a pretext to arrest the very communities that have been hit hardest by the virus .
”

Court records in Ohio show Black people were at least four times as likely to be charged than white people.
On April 17 in Toledo, Ohio, a 19-year-old black man was arrested for violating the state stay-at-home order. In court filings, police say he took a bus from Detroit to Toledo “without a valid reason.” Six young black men were arrested in Toledo last Saturday while hanging out on a front lawn; police allege they were “seen standing within 6 feet of each other.” In Cincinnati, a black man was charged with violating stay-at-home orders after he was shot in the ankle on April 7; according to a police affidavit, he was talking to a friend in the street when he was shot and was “clearly not engaged in essential activities.”
Ohio’s health director, Dr. Amy Acton, issued the state’s stay-at-home order on March 22, prohibiting people from leaving their home except for essential activities and requiring them to maintain social distancing “at all times.” A violation of the order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine. Since the order, hundreds of people have been charged with violations across Ohio.
The state has also seen some of the most prominent protests against state stay-at-home orders, as large crowds gather on the statehouse steps to flout the directives. But the protesters, most of them white, have not faced arrest. Rather, in three large Ohio jurisdictions ProPublica examined, charges of violating the order appear to have fallen disproportionately on black people.
ProPublica analyzed court records for the city of Toledo and for the counties that include Columbus and Cincinnati, three of the most populous jurisdictions in Ohio. In all of them, ProPublica found, black people were at least four times as likely to be charged with violating the stay-at-home order as white people.
As states across the country attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, stay-at-home orders have proven instrumental in the fight against the novel coronavirus; experts credit aggressive restrictions with flattening the curve in the nation’s hotbeds. Many states’ orders carry criminal penalties for violations of the stay-at-home mandates. But as the weather warms up and people spend more time outside, defense lawyers and criminal justice reform advocates fear that black communities long subjected to overly aggressive policing will face similarly aggressive enforcement of stay-at-home mandates.
In Ohio, ProPublica found, the disparities are already pronounced.
As of Thursday night in Hamilton County, which is 27% black and home to Cincinnati, there were 107 charges for violating the order; 61% of defendants are black. The majority of arrests came from towns surrounding Cincinnati, which is 43% black. Of the 29 people charged by the city’s Police Department, 79% were black, according to data provided to ProPublica by the Hamilton County Public Defender.
In Toledo, where black people make up 27% of the population, 18 of the 23 people charged thus far were black.
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, a spokeswoman for the Toledo Police Department, said that in enforcing the stay-at-home order, the department’s goal is not to arrest people and that officers are primarily responding to calls from people complaining about violations of the order. She told ProPublica that if the police arrested someone, the officers believed they had probable cause, and that while biased policing would be “wrong,” it would also be wrong to arrest more white people simply “to balance the numbers.”
In Franklin County, which is 23.5% black, 129 people were arrested between the beginning of the stay-at-home order and May 4; 57% of the people arrested were black.
In Cleveland, which is 50% black and is the state’s second-largest city, the Municipal Court’s public records do not include race data. The court and the Cleveland Police Department were unable to readily provide demographic information about arrests to ProPublica, though on Friday, the police said they have issued eight charges so far.
In the three jurisdictions, about half of those charged with violating the order were also charged with other offenses, such as drug possession and disorderly conduct. The rest were charged only with violating the order; among that group, the percentage of defendants who were black was even higher.
Franklin Country is home to Columbus, where enforcement of the stay-at-home order has made national headlines for a very different reason. Columbus is the state capital and Ohio’s largest city with a population of almost 900,000. In recent weeks, groups of mostly white protesters have campaigned against the stay-at-home order on the Statehouse steps and outside the health director’s home. Some protesters have come armed, and images have circulated of crowds of demonstrators huddled close, chanting, many without masks.
No protesters have been arrested for violating the stay-at-home order, a spokesperson for the Columbus mayor’s office told ProPublica. Thomas Hach, an organizer of a group called Free Ohio Now, said in an email that he was not aware of any arrests associated with protests in the entire state. The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment.
Ohio legislators are contemplating reducing the criminal penalties for violating the order. On Wednesday, the state House passed legislation that would eliminate the possibility of jail time for stay-at-home violators. A first offense would result in a warning, and further violations would result in a small fine. The bill is pending in the state Senate.
Penalties for violating stay-at-home orders vary across the country. In many states, including California, Florida, Michigan and Washington, violations can land someone behind bars. In New York state, violations can only result in fines. In Baltimore, police told local media they had only charged two people with violations; police have reportedly relied on a recording played over the loudspeakers of squad cars: “Even if you aren’t showing symptoms, you could still have coronavirus and accidentally spread it to a relative or neighbor. Being home is being safe. We are all in this together.”
Enforcement has often resulted in controversy. In New York City, a viral video showed police pull out a Taser and punch a black man after they approached a group of people who weren’t wearing masks. Police say the man who was punched took a “fighting stance” when ordered to disperse. In Orlando, police arrested a homeless man walking a bicycle because he was not obeying curfew. In Hawaii, charges against a man accused of stealing a car battery, normally a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail, were enhanced to a felony, which can result in 10 years in prison, because police and prosecutors said he was in violation of the state order.
The orders are generally broad, and decisions about which violations to treat as acceptable and which ones to penalize have largely been left to local police departments’ discretion.
Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a legal organization focused on racial justice, said such discretion has opened the door to police abuse, and she said the U.S. Department of Justice or state governments should issue detailed guidelines about when to make arrests. That discretion “is what’s given rise to these rogue practices,” she told ProPublica, “that are putting black communities and communities of color with a target on their backs.”
In jails and prisons around the country, inmates have fallen ill or died from COVID-19 as the virus spreads rapidly through the facilities. Many local governments have released some inmates from jail and ordered police to reduce arrests for minor crimes. But in Hamilton County, some people charged with failing to maintain social distancing have been kept in jail for at least one night, even without any other charges. Recently, two sheriff’s deputies who work in the jail tested positive for COVID-19. “The cops put their hands on them, they cram them in the car, they take them to the [jail], which has 800 to 1400 people, depending on the night,” said Sean Vicente, director of the Hamilton County Public Defender’s misdemeanor division. “It’s often so crowded everyone’s just sitting on the floor.”
Clarke said the enforcement push is sometimes undercutting the public health effort: “Protecting people’s health is in direct conflict with putting people in overcrowded jails and prisons that have been hotbeds for the virus.”
Court records show that the Cincinnati Police Department has adopted some surprising applications of the law.
Six people were charged with violations of the order after they were shot. Only one was charged with another crime as well, but police affidavits state that when they were shot, they were or likely were in violation of the order. One man was shot in the ankle while talking to a friend, according to court filings, and “was clearly not engaged in essential activities.” Another was arrested with the same explanation; police wrote that he had gone to the hospital with a gunshot wound. The Cincinnati Police Department did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.
In Springfield Township, a small, mostly white Cincinnati suburb, nine people have been arrested for violating the order thus far. All of them are black.
Springfield Township Police Chief Robert Browder told ProPublica in an email that the department is “an internationally accredited law enforcement organization” and has “strict policies … to ensure that our zero tolerance policy prohibiting bias-based profiling is adhered to.”
Browder said race had not played a role in his department’s enforcement of the order and that he was “appalled if that is the insinuation.”
Several of the black people arrested in Springfield Township were working for a company that sells books and magazine subscriptions door to door. One of the workers, Carl Brown, 50, said he and five colleagues were working in Springfield Township when two members of the team were arrested while going door to door. Police called the other sales people, and when they arrived at the scene, they too were arrested. Five of them, including Brown, were charged only with violating the stay-at-home order; the sixth sales person had an arrest warrant in another state, according to Browder, and police also charged her for giving them false identification.
Brown said one of the officers had left the group with a warning: They should never come back, and if they do, it’s “going to be worse.”
Browder denied that the officers made such a threat, and he said the police had received calls from residents about the sales people and their tactics and that the sales people had failed to register with the Police Department, as required for door-to-door solicitation.
Other violations in Hamilton County have been more egregious, but even in some of those cases, the law enforcement response has stirred controversy. On April 4, a man who had streamed a party on Facebook Live, saying, “We don’t give a fuck about this coronavirus,” was arrested in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, the setting of a 2001 riot after police fatally shot an unarmed black man.
The man who streamed the party, Rashaan Davis, was charged with violating the stay-at-home order and inciting violence, and his bond was set at $350,000.
After Judge Alan Triggs said he would release Davis from jail pretrial because the offense charged was nonviolent, local media reported, prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor and said they would focus on the charge of inciting violence, a felony.
The Hamilton County prosecutor’s office declined to comment on Davis’ case.
In Toledo, there’s been public controversy around perceived differences in the application of the law. On April 21, debate at the Toledo City Council meeting centered around a food truck. Local politicians discussed recent arrests of young black people at house parties, some contrasting them with a large, white crowd standing close together in line outside a BBQ stand, undisturbed by police. Councilmember Gary Johnson told ProPublica he’s asked the police chief to investigate why no one was arrested at a party he’d heard about, where white people were congregating on docks. “I don’t know the circumstances of the arrests,” he said. But “if you feel you need to go into poor neighborhoods and African American neighborhoods, you better be going into white neighborhoods too. … You have to say we’re going to be heavy-handed with the stay-at-home order or we’re going to be light with it. It has to be one or the other.”
Toledo police enforcement has not been confined to partygoers. Armani Thomas, 20, is one of the six young men arrested for not social distancing on a lawn. He told ProPublica he was sitting there with nine friends “doing nothing” when the police pulled up. Two kids ran off, and the police made the rest stay, eventually arresting “all the dudes” and letting the girls go. He was taken to the county jail, where several inmates have tested positive, for booking and released after several hours. The men’s cases are pending.
“When police see black people gathered in public, I think there’s this looming belief that they must be doing something illegal,” RaShya Ghee, a criminal defense attorney and lecturer at the University of Toledo, told ProPublica. “They’re hanging out in a yard — something illegal must have happened. Or, something illegal is about to happen.”
Lenhardt, the police lieutenant, said the six men were arrested after police received 911 calls reporting “a group gathering and flashing guns.” None of the six men were arrested on gun charges. As for the 19-year-old charged for taking the bus without reason, she said police asked him on consecutive days to not loiter at a bus station.
With more than 70,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus, government officials have not figured out how to balance the threat of COVID-19 with the harms of over policing, Clarke said. “On the one hand, we want to beat back the pandemic. That’s critical. That’s the end goal,” she told ProPublica. “On the other hand, we’re seeing social distancing being used as a pretext to arrest the very communities that have been hit hardest by the virus.”