truthout--2020-10-07--“Don’t Fear the Virus” Is Genocidal Rhetoric. We Mourn in Rebellion.

Trump holds up his recovery as evidence that the time for fear has passed .
But migrant children and others caged in the path of COVID-19 will not be flown to Walter Reed Hospital .
In this episode , Kelly Hayes explains why “ don ’ t fear the virus ” is genocidal rhetoric .
In recognition of the National Week of Mourning for victims of COVID-19 , and the plight of imprisoned people , this episode also features an audio vigil for people who have been lost to the coronavirus .
“ Let this Radicalize You : A COVID @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Aislinn Pulley , Benji Hart , Tanuja Jagernauth , Juliana Pino Alcaraz , Kelly Hayes and Bresha Meadows .
The tape was mixed by Ric Wilson with instrumentation from tobi taiwo .
The project was organized by the Lifted Voices collective , and the audio is freely available to anyone who would like to use it for a vigil .
We invite you to join us in this collective memorial experience .
Note : This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity .
Copy may not be in its final @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care in the world , Donald Trump departed Walter Reed Hospital on Monday , proclaiming that Americans should no longer fear the coronavirus .
“ Don ’ t be afraid of Covid .
Don ’ t let it dominate your life , ” Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital — a refrain he echoed upon returning to the White House .
Doctors and scientists are warning against any false confidence that Trump ’ s bravado about the disease might inspire .
We must heed those warnings , but we can not simply view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or an affront to science .
At any given time , about two million people are trapped in jails , prisons and detention centers in the United States .
COVID-19 has run rampant in such facilities and flu season is upon us .
Trump ’ s assertion that we must not “ fear the virus ” is genocidal , because we know who that approach sacrifices .
Trump holds up his recovery , brought on by the best medicine in the world , as evidence that the time for fear has passed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to that care if we become ill , but people trapped within the prison-industrial complex , including migrant children , will not have any functional access to healthcare .
This has always been the reality of that system .
Living in cramped , cold conditions , without adequate nutrition , without access to clean clothes , access to showers or other daily hygienic needs that most of us take for granted , and packed together too tightly to avoid spreading the illness among themselves , imprisoned people have been largely forgotten amid this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controversy over the weekend about whether it was appropriate to feel or express sympathy for the president .
I am a person who favors compassion , but I also believe it can be misdirected .
So what I am asking today , is for some help redirecting some of that compassion .
Today is day four of the National Week of Mourning for people we have lost to COVID-19 .
Around the country , people are honoring the more than 200K people we have lost in the United States .
Globally , over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .
Trump is desperate to suppress the memories of those we have lost , and to suppress our collective grief , because those stories have the power to destroy him .
One of the actions unfolding around the country is Signs , Shrines , Collages and a Mixtape , an event being organized by my collective , Lifted Voices .
We are hanging banners , creating art , sharing music , and organizing collective experiences people can share from afar to feel connected in our grief and healing during this time .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID Memorial Mixtape outside a federal prison in Chicago .
The tape , which was mixed by artist Ric Wilson , with instrumentation from tobi taiwo , includes speeches from Chicago organizers and abolitionists .
Instead of bringing you an interview or lengthy op-ed today , we will be sharing that mixtape on the podcast , and we ask you to join us in listening and remembering that there are people caged in the path of this terrible disease .
They will not be flown to Walter Reed Hospital .
They will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they become ill .
They are counting on us to demand their release .
They are counting on us not to forget them .
If , after hearing the tape , you feel moved to join this week ’ s memorials , we ’ ll have more information on how you can get involved in the show notes of the transcript on our website .
You can also find the full text of the speeches featured in the mixtape in the transcript on our website .
To everyone who is grieving right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Truthout grieves with you .
Juliana Pino Alcaraz : My name is Juliana Pino Alcaraz .
I ’ m a Colombiana Afroindígena Wayuu and Bari who is here as an abolitionist in the environmental justice movement in Chicago .
My words that follow are in response to how state violence is driving deaths and lying to us about what we know we ’ re facing from COVID , a respiratory illness whose transmission is made severely worse by air pollution , incarceration , and anti-Black racism , meaning hundreds of thousands of community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members , we are here to collectively remember .
You/We bled in water : they don ’ t even try to pretend you are/were alive .
They will tell you a simple story , full of tall tales about your worthlessness , and they will call it the medicine you actually deserve .
They will supply you expired food , and say you earned an expiration date .
They will poison your person with exposure to the slow violence of pollution and pandemic , and ask you why you can ’ t breathe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ myths of Black danger , justified Native genocide , and friendly evictions .
They will claim that cops keep us safe , that the companies imploding toxic clouds into the chests of abuelas really had our best interests at heart .
They will dare to call this correct .
We will reach deeply into the empathetic earth , to the place where Black lives matter and Indigenous spirits thrive and Brown people rejoice , where we all receive our fire from this planet and the seed of our food is nourished , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will rage aloud that air quality indoors is five times worse outside than inside the cages in which they trap you , our families , and that this is the air you are breathing .
We will tell them that Personal Protective Equipment requires being treated like a person in the first place , with a filter dignifying your face to shield you and your people from the toxic , viral disregard disintegrating your lungs .
We will follow the lead of youth to defend their futures and protect the water from all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ battle back the abusive attempts to disappear your humanity inside of assaults , numbers , murders , and statistics .
We will labor to heal with and protect each other in spite of all of this , and , We will dare to tear these systems apart .
Perceive me now : the walls of this place WILL crumble and the land returned by the foundation-shaking , system-ending strength of our bonds to each other .
Angela Davis once said , “ we have learned to forget about prisons.
” We pledge to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simple stories , and we will not forget .
Because try as they might , these bars can not keep us from destroying their assets and building our reality back up together .
We are energized by your sounds of solidarity for Black lives , we love you , and we love all souls we have lost .
We will correct the record : YOU are worthy , YOU are our community .
WE are worthy , WE are our community , and WE all grieve together .
Together , we transform water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we clear the air thick with pollution , COVID , and lies .
Together , we honor the soil ground down with waste of industry and the bones of ancestors .
Together , we remember the souls snatched away from our family , always too soon .
Together , we turn chains to dust , returning the minerals in steel and concrete to the plants .
Together , we rest in community without being disposed of in our own beds .
Together , we rise to deprive the monster of its simple story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Benji Hart : My name is Benji Hart .
I ’ m an author , artist and educator currently living in Chicago , and I would like to offer up , by way of mourning , and by way of grieving , love to the people who we ’ ve lost to COVID , particularly folks in the mass incarceration system , including detention centers .
And I also want to offer up grief for all the lessons that COVID has attempted to teach us : lessons we haven ’ t heeded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been discouraged from heeding by the current administration and ruling class .
COVID sent us such strong messages about how connected we all are .
COVID has taught us so much about the meaningless categories that we divide our society up by — folks on the inside , folks on the outside , folks with healthcare , folks without healthcare , folks with citizenship , folks without citizenship — and in actuality , when there ’ s a pandemic , you can ’ t make those distinctions .
If a pandemic is allowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impacts all of us .
If certain parts of the population don ’ t have healthcare , we actually can ’ t control a disease like COVID-19 .
And instead of slowing down , instead of backing off of the ways that we were harming the environment , instead of really devoting ourselves , and committing ourselves to making universal healthcare a reality , to getting people out of cages , to opening borders so that people can actually move freely as they need to , and share resources with each other as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exact opposite .
And so many of the people we ’ ve lost , it ’ s because we haven ’ t heeded the lessons , the teachings , that COVID really has tried so hard to impart on us .
So I grieve for both of those things .
I grieve for the opportunities for learning , for transformation of our society and ourselves that we so briefly , and so closely , almost attained , and were so quickly discouraged from doing so by folks in power : by the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and resources who were willing to sacrifice young people , Black people , Indigenous people , undocumented people , and incarcerated people so that folks with money didn ’ t lose a profit , and so that the economy continued to generate the inequities and environmental catastrophe it has always been generating .
I mourn for the ways we haven ’ t learned this year : that we should have learned , that I wish we collectively did .
And I offer up a prayer to those we ’ ve lost , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a future where we do learn the lessons , where we fight for each other collectively and don ’ t sacrifice our neighbors , don ’ t sacrifice the most marginalized among us to a pandemic , whether that pandemic is COVID or whether that pandemic is capitalism , whether that pandemic is the police prison and military system , or whether that pandemic is white supremacy and white nationalism .
I dream of a day , and pray for a day , where we learn to see each other as part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Bresha Meadows : I am Bresha Meadows , a member of Lifted Voices .
I was once incarcerated for an act of self defense .
Today , we honor those we have lost to COVID-19 , including many counted and uncounted deaths that have occurred behind prison walls .
Having been in jail , I know the everyday worry , and adding a virus , one that has taken many lives , can make it almost impossible to want to keep going .
Although jail is supposed to be a place for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are getting more and more sick is almost the same as the death penalty itself .
A good friend of mine has a dad in jail , and he has also been diagnosed with COVID , but they have little to nothing to help him .
Seeing how this affected her and her family has brought me to the realization that prisons are treating this virus as nothing more than a common cold .
I ’ m lucky enough to have gotten out , and I try to do everything most people wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I go to classes at Cleveland State University , I ’ ve got my own apartment .
I have become a part of Lifted Voices , and I found that I also want to help others get free .
We can ’ t leave people behind who were already being left behind .
We can ’ t do what we ’ ve always done .
We can ’ t allow what happens to people to mean less to us over time .
Whether people live or die , it has to matter more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We can not help people if we forget them .
We can not help ourselves if we give up on people .
We are not giving up on people in jails and prisons or detention centers .
We are not giving up our hope .
Tanuja Jagernauth : My name is Tanuja Devi Jagernauth , and I am honored to contribute to this mixtape on behalf of the Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project .
We are a diverse group of folks who came together in March of 2020 , connected by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collectively devastating times call for collective methods of healing and , two : no one should have to grieve alone .
We are also connected by a drive to politicize what is often shrugged off as “ private ” or “ personal.
” Every single death due to COVID-19 is as political as it is personal .
Every single death implicates Donald Trump , a fascist who continues to spread lies and misinformation about the severity and impact of the pandemic .
However , wherever this finds you , please know : your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment finds you holding the pain of loss to hold it with you .
For the loss that is fresh , hot — an open wound , For the loss that is so old you can ’ t remember which lifetime — or whose — it came from , For the loss you can not name yet , For the loss of a friend , For the loss of a lover , For the loss of family , For the loss of home , We mourn and rage with you .
And inside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in our bodies , May we find that thing — anything — that can move .
May we find that thing we can touch , pick up , and roll around in our hands heavy and cool to the touch .
May we find its potential and use it to build the next world together .
Cindy Milstein writes in Rebellious Mourning , “ Our grief can open up cracks in the wall of the system .
It can pry open spaces of contestation and reconstruction , intervulnerability and strength , empathy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work , we are learning to let go of our privatized selves .
We are learning to connect our personal needs for survival , safety , healing , and community to people around us who we once considered strangers .
We are learning how to ask for help , and we are learning how to receive it .
We are learning the critical difference between harm and accountability .
We are learning that we have all we need , and we are finally admitting that we are all we ’ ve got .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ intention , we are co-creating the next world .
Until it comes we will continue to love each other out loud .
We will continue to rage and weep together .
We will continue our riot of empathy .
and that scares the shit out of Trump because at the end of the day , he knows there are more of us than them .
There are more of us than them .
There are more of us than them .
Aislinn Pulley : I am Aislinn Pulley .
I am the co-executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , co-founder of BLMChi , and a board member of Ujimaa Medics .
I am a long-time organizer , an artist , born and raised in Chicago .
I have known so many people who have been affected by COVID .
I have known people who themselves have lived through , suffered through the virus .
People who have succumbed to death .
The disproportionate number of people of color and specifically Black , indigenous and Latinx people who have died from this virus is unconscionable .
In the United States , Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latinx people all have COVID-19 death rates that are roughly triple or more than White people .
In a country that has historic wealth , amassed at the detriment of services needed in our communities , the example of how COVID is disproportionately affecting the poor is unconscionable .
This is a country that has amassed the richest resources in the world and yet uses them to incarcerate , torture , and kill its populace .
We must dismantle this system .
We must create a system that is built on sustaining life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proven how necessary this is , and that the time is now .
We can no longer wait .
We have to dismantle , we have to upend , we have to create new .
It has never been clearer that it is this system that is causing unnecessary deaths .
It is incumbent upon us to act .
Kelly Hayes : My name is Kelly Hayes .
I am a Native writer and a prison abolitionist organizing in Chicago , Illinois .
Over 950,000 people have died of COVID-19 worldwide .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 in the United States , but we know the real number is much higher .
We know that even before COVID-19 , imprisoned people were experiencing conditions that were stripping away years of their lives , robbing them of both the present and the future .
For many people living in cages and outside of them , survival was already a daily struggle .
And now , as winter approaches , we know that greater atrocities are close at hand .
We know that COVID-19 is already tearing its way through jails @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who already had no functional access to healthcare .
The results have been devastating , now with flu season upon us , people will suffer and die in even greater numbers , unless we get them out .
Freeing imprisoned people may seem too radical an aspiration for some right now .
The election has given people a whiff of hope that the system might yet save them , and while it is possible to reduce the damage done , we are staring down mass death , nationwide evictions , financial collapse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our profit-based healthcare system .
In a time of crisis , capitalism will always cut its losses , as needed , to survive .
It has done so by way of the prison industrial complex for a very long time .
People who do not fit neatly into society , psychologically , economically , or otherwise are disposed of .
Some die , and some are simply stuffed into containers .
Disabled people and the elderly are similarly discarded and contained in the U.S. , which is why we have seen so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by this disease .
No plan was made to safeguard these people .
They were never an economic or social priority , so they were disposed of .
In the coming years , the system will have to dispose of more and more of us to sustain itself .
This is a time of collapse , and also of possibility .
We can not afford to be meek or passive , or to allow history to simply happen to us .
Rather than shrinking away from our imprisoned siblings out of some misguided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be rejecting the continued expansion of a carceral state that threatens to swallow so many of us in the years to come .
This society wants us to believe that our fates are our own — that by abandoning one another , we can keep ourselves safe individually .
But what will happen to us , to our neighbors , and to our families , as jobs continue to evaporate , and mass eviction and displacement play out across the country ?
Where will we be contained ?
In poverty districts that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Will we be surveilled , criminalized , and monitored by ankle bracelets ?
That dystopian framework does not have to be invented .
It is here , growing , and grinding people under .
It is the sprawling prison industrial complex that not only keeps people locked in prisons but has also outsourced imprisonment into our own homes .
COVID-19 is a genocidal weapon in the hands of this government , but it will also knock on many doors at random in the months to come .
If we organize , our collective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But this will not happen on its own , as a result of social deterioration .
It will take political will , compassion , and courage .
Whatever is ahead , our survival will depend on our willingness to organize , and our freedom will depend on our willingness to fight for each other — and that means fighting for our imprisoned siblings .
There is a reason they don ’ t want us to grieve together .
Because they know we will be more powerful if we do .
May the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rest of us raise hell .
If you would like to use the mixtape for your own vigil , public or personal , you can find that file here .
If you would like to join Lifted Voices ’ Signs , Shrines , Collages & a Mixtape week of action , you can learn more about that effort here .
You can learn more about how to join the larger National Week of Mourning here .
You can find the zine associated with this mixtape , including a version that can be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They Are Concentration Camps — and They Are Also Prisons ( from 2019 ) The Problem With Child Detention Isn ’ t That It ’ s Private .
It ’ s That It Exists .
( from 2019 ) Prison by Any Other Name : The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law If you are coping with grief during the pandemic , and can not afford counseling or other grief-related services , the Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project is here to help .

Migrant children and others caged in the path of COVID-19 will not be flown to Walter Reed.
Security personnel stand before shoes and toys left at the Tornillo Port of Entry where minors crossing the border without proper papers have been housed after being separated from adults, on June 21, 2018, in Tornillo, Texas. Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
Part of the Series Movement Memos
Trump holds up his recovery as evidence that the time for fear has passed. But migrant children and others caged in the path of COVID-19 will not be flown to Walter Reed Hospital. In this episode, Kelly Hayes explains why “don’t fear the virus” is genocidal rhetoric.
In recognition of the National Week of Mourning for victims of COVID-19, and the plight of imprisoned people, this episode also features an audio vigil for people who have been lost to the coronavirus. “Let this Radicalize You: A COVID Memorial Mixtape” includes speeches from organizers Aislinn Pulley, Benji Hart, Tanuja Jagernauth, Juliana Pino Alcaraz, Kelly Hayes and Bresha Meadows. The tape was mixed by Ric Wilson with instrumentation from tobi taiwo. The project was organized by the Lifted Voices collective, and the audio is freely available to anyone who would like to use it for a vigil. We invite you to join us in this collective memorial experience.
TRANSCRIPT
Note: This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form.
After receiving the best medical care in the world, Donald Trump departed Walter Reed Hospital on Monday, proclaiming that Americans should no longer fear the coronavirus. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital — a refrain he echoed upon returning to the White House. Doctors and scientists are warning against any false confidence that Trump’s bravado about the disease might inspire. We must heed those warnings, but we cannot simply view Trump’s words as dangerous advice or an affront to science. At any given time, about two million people are trapped in jails, prisons and detention centers in the United States. COVID-19 has run rampant in such facilities and flu season is upon us. Trump’s assertion that we must not “fear the virus” is genocidal, because we know who that approach sacrifices. Trump holds up his recovery, brought on by the best medicine in the world, as evidence that the time for fear has passed. Most of us will not have access to that care if we become ill, but people trapped within the prison-industrial complex, including migrant children, will not have any functional access to healthcare. This has always been the reality of that system.
Living in cramped, cold conditions, without adequate nutrition, without access to clean clothes, access to showers or other daily hygienic needs that most of us take for granted, and packed together too tightly to avoid spreading the illness among themselves, imprisoned people have been largely forgotten amid this crisis.
We heard some snapping and controversy over the weekend about whether it was appropriate to feel or express sympathy for the president. I am a person who favors compassion, but I also believe it can be misdirected. So what I am asking today, is for some help redirecting some of that compassion.
Today is day four of the National Week of Mourning for people we have lost to COVID-19. Around the country, people are honoring the more than 200K people we have lost in the United States. Globally, over a million people have been lost to COVID-19. Trump is desperate to suppress the memories of those we have lost, and to suppress our collective grief, because those stories have the power to destroy him.
One of the actions unfolding around the country is Signs, Shrines, Collages and a Mixtape, an event being organized by my collective, Lifted Voices. We are hanging banners, creating art, sharing music, and organizing collective experiences people can share from afar to feel connected in our grief and healing during this time. Today, we will be blasting a COVID Memorial Mixtape outside a federal prison in Chicago. The tape, which was mixed by artist Ric Wilson, with instrumentation from tobi taiwo, includes speeches from Chicago organizers and abolitionists.
Instead of bringing you an interview or lengthy op-ed today, we will be sharing that mixtape on the podcast, and we ask you to join us in listening and remembering that there are people caged in the path of this terrible disease. They will not be flown to Walter Reed Hospital. They will be left to lie on cold floors when they become ill. They are counting on us to demand their release. They are counting on us not to forget them.
If, after hearing the tape, you feel moved to join this week’s memorials, we’ll have more information on how you can get involved in the show notes of the transcript on our website. You can also find the full text of the speeches featured in the mixtape in the transcript on our website.
To everyone who is grieving right now, please know that the staff of Truthout grieves with you.
[music begins]
Juliana Pino Alcaraz: My name is Juliana Pino Alcaraz. I’m a Colombiana Afroindígena Wayuu and Bari who is here as an abolitionist in the environmental justice movement in Chicago. My words that follow are in response to how state violence is driving deaths and lying to us about what we know we’re facing from COVID, a respiratory illness whose transmission is made severely worse by air pollution, incarceration, and anti-Black racism, meaning hundreds of thousands of community members have already been lost. Community members, we are here to collectively remember.
You/We bled in water: they don’t even try to pretend you are/were alive.
They will tell you a simple story, full of tall tales about your worthlessness, and they will call it the medicine you actually deserve. They will supply you expired food, and say you earned an expiration date. They will poison your person with exposure to the slow violence of pollution and pandemic, and ask you why you can’t breathe? They will fill their reports with myths of Black danger, justified Native genocide, and friendly evictions. They will claim that cops keep us safe, that the companies imploding toxic clouds into the chests of abuelas really had our best interests at heart.
They will dare to call this correct.
We will reach deeply into the empathetic earth, to the place where Black lives matter and Indigenous spirits thrive and Brown people rejoice, where we all receive our fire from this planet and the seed of our food is nourished, and we will tell the truth. We will rage aloud that air quality indoors is five times worse outside than inside the cages in which they trap you, our families, and that this is the air you are breathing. We will tell them that Personal Protective Equipment requires being treated like a person in the first place, with a filter dignifying your face to shield you and your people from the toxic, viral disregard disintegrating your lungs. We will follow the lead of youth to defend their futures and protect the water from all of their deadly pipelines. We will battle back the abusive attempts to disappear your humanity inside of assaults, numbers, murders, and statistics. We will labor to heal with and protect each other in spite of all of this, and,
We will dare to tear these systems apart.
Perceive me now: the walls of this place WILL crumble and the land returned by the foundation-shaking, system-ending strength of our bonds to each other.
Angela Davis once said, “we have learned to forget about prisons.” We pledge to you that we do not believe their simple stories, and we will not forget. Because try as they might, these bars cannot keep us from destroying their assets and building our reality back up together. We are energized by your sounds of solidarity for Black lives, we love you, and we love all souls we have lost. We will correct the record: YOU are worthy, YOU are our community. WE are worthy, WE are our community, and WE all grieve together.
Together, we transform water dripping with poisonous particles.
Together, we clear the air thick with pollution, COVID, and lies.
Together, we honor the soil ground down with waste of industry and the bones of ancestors.
Together, we remember the souls snatched away from our family, always too soon.
Together, we turn chains to dust, returning the minerals in steel and concrete to the plants.
Together, we rest in community without being disposed of in our own beds.
Together, we rise to deprive the monster of its simple story, and replace it with our own.
Benji Hart: My name is Benji Hart. I’m an author, artist and educator currently living in Chicago, and I would like to offer up, by way of mourning, and by way of grieving, love to the people who we’ve lost to COVID, particularly folks in the mass incarceration system, including detention centers. And I also want to offer up grief for all the lessons that COVID has attempted to teach us: lessons we haven’t heeded, but that we’ve also been discouraged from heeding by the current administration and ruling class. COVID sent us such strong messages about how connected we all are. COVID has taught us so much about the meaningless categories that we divide our society up by — folks on the inside, folks on the outside, folks with healthcare, folks without healthcare, folks with citizenship, folks without citizenship — and in actuality, when there’s a pandemic, you can’t make those distinctions. If a pandemic is allowed to happen in one population, it impacts all of us. If certain parts of the population don’t have healthcare, we actually can’t control a disease like COVID-19.
And instead of slowing down, instead of backing off of the ways that we were harming the environment, instead of really devoting ourselves, and committing ourselves to making universal healthcare a reality, to getting people out of cages, to opening borders so that people can actually move freely as they need to, and share resources with each other as they need to, we did the exact opposite. And so many of the people we’ve lost, it’s because we haven’t heeded the lessons, the teachings, that COVID really has tried so hard to impart on us. So I grieve for both of those things. I grieve for the opportunities for learning, for transformation of our society and ourselves that we so briefly, and so closely, almost attained, and were so quickly discouraged from doing so by folks in power: by the federal government, and by folks with money and resources who were willing to sacrifice young people, Black people, Indigenous people, undocumented people, and incarcerated people so that folks with money didn’t lose a profit, and so that the economy continued to generate the inequities and environmental catastrophe it has always been generating.
I mourn for the ways we haven’t learned this year: that we should have learned, that I wish we collectively did. And I offer up a prayer to those we’ve lost, to their grieving families, and also to a future where we do learn the lessons, where we fight for each other collectively and don’t sacrifice our neighbors, don’t sacrifice the most marginalized among us to a pandemic, whether that pandemic is COVID or whether that pandemic is capitalism, whether that pandemic is the police prison and military system, or whether that pandemic is white supremacy and white nationalism. I dream of a day, and pray for a day, where we learn to see each other as part of one collective and fight for collective liberation.
Bresha Meadows: I am Bresha Meadows, a member of Lifted Voices. I was once incarcerated for an act of self defense. Today, we honor those we have lost to COVID-19, including many counted and uncounted deaths that have occurred behind prison walls. Having been in jail, I know the everyday worry, and adding a virus, one that has taken many lives, can make it almost impossible to want to keep going. Although jail is supposed to be a place for punishment, to hold someone where they are getting more and more sick is almost the same as the death penalty itself. A good friend of mine has a dad in jail, and he has also been diagnosed with COVID, but they have little to nothing to help him. Seeing how this affected her and her family has brought me to the realization that prisons are treating this virus as nothing more than a common cold.
I’m lucky enough to have gotten out, and I try to do everything most people wouldn’t expect me to do. I go to classes at Cleveland State University, I’ve got my own apartment. I have become a part of Lifted Voices, and I found that I also want to help others get free. We can’t leave people behind who were already being left behind. We can’t do what we’ve always done. We can’t allow what happens to people to mean less to us over time. Whether people live or die, it has to matter more and more to us, not less. We cannot help people if we forget them. We cannot help ourselves if we give up on people. We are not giving up on people in jails and prisons or detention centers. We are not giving up our hope.
Tanuja Jagernauth: My name is Tanuja Devi Jagernauth, and I am honored to contribute to this mixtape on behalf of the Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project. We are a diverse group of folks who came together in March of 2020, connected by a shared understanding that, one: collectively devastating times call for collective methods of healing and, two: no one should have to grieve alone. We are also connected by a drive to politicize what is often shrugged off as “private” or “personal.”
Every single death due to COVID-19 is as political as it is personal. Every single death implicates Donald Trump, a fascist who continues to spread lies and misinformation about the severity and impact of the pandemic.
However, wherever this finds you, please know: your life matters to us
and if this moment finds you holding the pain of loss
I want to humbly offer a moment
to hold it with you.
For the loss that is fresh, hot — an open wound,
For the loss that is so old you can’t remember which lifetime — or whose — it came from,
For the loss you cannot name yet,
For the loss of a friend,
For the loss of a lover,
For the loss of family,
For the loss of home,
We mourn and rage with you.
And inside our grief, wherever it might live in our bodies,
However it feels today,
May we find that thing — anything — that can move.
May we find that thing we can touch, pick up,
and roll around in our hands
like a perfect ball of clay,
heavy and cool to the touch.
May we find its potential
and use it to build the next world together.
Cindy Milstein writes in Rebellious Mourning, “Our grief can open up cracks in the wall of the system. It can pry open spaces of contestation and reconstruction, intervulnerability and strength, empathy, and solidarity.”
Through our mutual aid work, we are learning to let go of our privatized selves. We are learning to connect our personal needs for survival, safety, healing, and community to people around us who we once considered strangers.
We are learning how to ask for help, and we are learning how to receive it.
We are learning the critical difference between harm and accountability.
We are learning that we have all we need, and we are finally admitting that we are all we’ve got.
Slowly but surely, with care and intention, we are co-creating the next world.
Until it comes we will continue to love each other out loud.
We will continue to rage and weep together.
We will continue our riot of empathy.
Our bonds make us powerful,
and that scares the shit out of Trump
because at the end of the day, he knows
there are more of us than them.
There are more of us than them.
There are more of us than them.
Aislinn Pulley: I am Aislinn Pulley. I am the co-executive director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center, co-founder of BLMChi, and a board member of Ujimaa Medics. I am a long-time organizer, an artist, born and raised in Chicago.
I have known so many people who have been affected by COVID. I have known people who themselves have lived through, suffered through the virus. People who have succumbed to death. The disproportionate number of people of color and specifically Black, indigenous and Latinx people who have died from this virus is unconscionable. In the United States, Black, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and Latinx people all have COVID-19 death rates that are roughly triple or more than White people. In a country that has historic wealth, amassed at the detriment of services needed in our communities, the example of how COVID is disproportionately affecting the poor is unconscionable.
This is a country that has amassed the richest resources in the world and yet uses them to incarcerate, torture, and kill its populace. We must dismantle this system. We must create a system that is built on sustaining life and ensuring our livelihoods.
COVID has proven how necessary this is, and that the time is now. We can no longer wait. We have to dismantle, we have to upend, we have to create new. It has never been clearer that it is this system that is causing unnecessary deaths. It is incumbent upon us to act.
Kelly Hayes: My name is Kelly Hayes. I am a Native writer and a prison abolitionist organizing in Chicago, Illinois. Over 950,000 people have died of COVID-19 worldwide. More than 200,000 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in the United States, but we know the real number is much higher. We know that even before COVID-19, imprisoned people were experiencing conditions that were stripping away years of their lives, robbing them of both the present and the future. For many people living in cages and outside of them, survival was already a daily struggle. And now, as winter approaches, we know that greater atrocities are close at hand. We know that COVID-19 is already tearing its way through jails, prisons and detention centers, striking people who already had no functional access to healthcare. The results have been devastating, now with flu season upon us, people will suffer and die in even greater numbers, unless we get them out.
Freeing imprisoned people may seem too radical an aspiration for some right now. The election has given people a whiff of hope that the system might yet save them, and while it is possible to reduce the damage done, we are staring down mass death, nationwide evictions, financial collapse, and even the potential collapse of our profit-based healthcare system. In a time of crisis, capitalism will always cut its losses, as needed, to survive. It has done so by way of the prison industrial complex for a very long time. People who do not fit neatly into society, psychologically, economically, or otherwise are disposed of. Some die, and some are simply stuffed into containers. Disabled people and the elderly are similarly discarded and contained in the U.S., which is why we have seen so many retirement homes and assisted living facilities ravaged by this disease. No plan was made to safeguard these people. They were never an economic or social priority, so they were disposed of.
In the coming years, the system will have to dispose of more and more of us to sustain itself. This is a time of collapse, and also of possibility. We cannot afford to be meek or passive, or to allow history to simply happen to us. Rather than shrinking away from our imprisoned siblings out of some misguided fear of rocking the boat, we should be rejecting the continued expansion of a carceral state that threatens to swallow so many of us in the years to come.
This society wants us to believe that our fates are our own — that by abandoning one another, we can keep ourselves safe individually. But what will happen to us, to our neighbors, and to our families, as jobs continue to evaporate, and mass eviction and displacement play out across the country? Where will we be contained? In poverty districts that we are not allowed to leave? Will we be surveilled, criminalized, and monitored by ankle bracelets? That dystopian framework does not have to be invented. It is here, growing, and grinding people under. It is the sprawling prison industrial complex that not only keeps people locked in prisons but has also outsourced imprisonment into our own homes.
COVID-19 is a genocidal weapon in the hands of this government, but it will also knock on many doors at random in the months to come. If we organize, our collective pain can become collective empathy and action. But this will not happen on its own, as a result of social deterioration. It will take political will, compassion, and courage. Whatever is ahead, our survival will depend on our willingness to organize, and our freedom will depend on our willingness to fight for each other — and that means fighting for our imprisoned siblings.
There is a reason they don’t want us to grieve together. Because they know we will be more powerful if we do.
May the fallen rest in peace, and may the rest of us raise hell.
Show Notes:
Getting Involved:
If you would like to use the mixtape for your own vigil, public or personal, you can find that file here.
If you would like to join Lifted Voices’ Signs, Shrines, Collages & a Mixtape week of action, you can learn more about that effort here.
You can learn more about how to join the larger National Week of Mourning here.
You can find the zine associated with this mixtape, including a version that can be mailed to imprisoned people, here.
Learning More:
They Are Concentration Camps — and They Are Also Prisons (from 2019)
The Problem With Child Detention Isn’t That It’s Private. It’s That It Exists. (from 2019)
Trump’s Hospitalization Hasn’t Diminished the Threat of Election Theft
Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law
Getting Support:
If you are coping with grief during the pandemic, and cannot afford counseling or other grief-related services, the Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project is here to help.
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--2020-10-08--Trump Is Trying to Scare You With the “Socialism” Boogeyman

President Donald Trump says he ’ s running for a second term to defeat socialism , even though he doesn ’ t have a socialist opponent .
Back when he was holding political rallies , Trump could get an ego-boosting roar from the crowd just by claiming , “ This election will decide whether we save the ‘ American dream ’ or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny !
” The president has called Joe Biden “ a Trojan horse for socialism.
” At Trump ’ s campaign website , we read , “ Donate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radical socialism.
” Vice President Mike Pence says electing Biden “ would set America on a path of socialism and decline.
” A spokesman for Trump ’ s campaign called the election “ a binary decision between freedom and socialism.
” Trump ’ s campaign website says the 2020 election is a stark choice : “ American vs. Socialist , ” as if the U.S. has no history with socialism .
For more than a century , socialism has been a convenient boogeyman , endlessly useful for scaring the U.S. populace into accepting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have chosen to dish out .
Prior to the Russian revolution of 1917 , it was hard to make socialism seem very scary .
But by the 1920s and ‘ 30s , calling someone a communist or a socialist carried real weight .
Even some progressives and liberals allowed themselves to be cowed into silence by right-wing fearmongers who conjured socialist sedition everywhere .
Still , from the 1920s through the 1940s , Norman Thomas ( a Princeton-educated Presbyterian minister ) ran for public office on the Socialist Party ticket , including a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 1928 through 1948 , and vibrant socialist organizing efforts have taken place throughout the past century in the United States .
Socialism has two core meanings : first , control by the public , or by employees , of the means of production and distribution of goods ; and , second , the use of public funds to provide benefits and services for the people ( especially disadvantaged people ) .
Examples of the latter include government health insurance ( begun in Germany in 1883 , ironically , as an attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , old-age pensions ( again , Germany , 1889 ) and unemployment compensation ( Germany , 1927 ) .
In the Western world , this second meaning of socialism can be traced to the 19th-century movement called Christian Socialism with origins in France , England , Germany and the U.S. ( Karl Marx disdained these early socialists as “ utopian ” and “ reactionary.
” ) In times of capitalist crisis in the U.S. , such as 2008 , public funds have been used to bail out mismanaged automobile companies and banks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give their managers big Christmas bonuses ) — but that is not usually acknowledged as akin to socialism .
Nor is the $ 17 billion in federal money spent each year to support U.S. farms considered socialism .
But both contain elements of socialism .
The truth is , the U.S. and other countries employ a spectrum of social and economic practices , ranging from pure capitalism at one end to pure socialism at the other .
“ Communist China ” actually embraces free-market economics and private enterprise .
The U.S. , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Nordic nations — all wealthy capitalist countries — support many socialist institutions and practices .
In the U.S. , examples of institutions that use public funds to serve the people — and could thus arguably be deemed “ socialist ” — include : * More than 98,000 public schools and about 1,750 public colleges and universities , plus numerous junior colleges , community colleges and vocational schools in every state ; * The U.S. public transportation system ( trains , trolleys , subways and buses , including school buses , plus the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on that are owned by , run by , paid for by , and/or heavily subsidized and regulated by governments ) ; * Waste-collection systems across the U.S. , which are mainly supported by public funds ; * 911 emergency services ; satellite communication systems ; the backbone infrastructure of the internet ; management of the public airwaves for radio and TV ; Those who are reluctant to admit that U.S. success is entirely dependent upon the enterprises and practices just mentioned may choose to view all of those organizations as business enterprises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That way they can pretend that the U.S. has no socialist history because socialism destroys freedom .
But in the current moment , we are all being forced to ask ourselves who is more free — a person whose health insurance is provided by the government and therefore continues whether they are employed or not ?
Or the person whose health insurance disappears when they get laid off by a pandemic ?
Today , socialism is enjoying something of a renaissance as a skeptical generation asks probing questions about capitalism : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitalism some people have so much while others have so little ?
In particular , what do capitalists do to merit their stupendous wealth ?
That is to say , what is it that they do that entitles them , morally , to so large a slice of the economic pie ?
” Such questions lead directly to a search for alternative systems : what could replace the worst elements of capitalism ?
The answer from the Democratic Socialists of America ( DSA ) is “ more democracy.
” Maria Svart , national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with capitalism isn ’ t just that it ’ s unstable ( as in 2008 or now ) , or that it leaves “ whole layers of society starving in the street.
” The problem is , additionally , “ that it relies on a dictatorship of the rich , ” she says .
“ The fundamental difference we expect from a socialist society is that we will all have a voice in the decisions that impact our lives.
” Want to know one of the best things the government has done to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law many different forms of democratic ownership of business enterprises .
Probably the most familiar form is the consumer-cooperative , like Recreational Equipment , Inc. ( better known as REI ) or the 6,000 member-owned credit unions now serving 110 million people in the U.S. , managing assets of $ 1.1 trillion .
Credit unions are socialist banks , wholly owned by their members .
Member ownership is not the only form of democratic ownership .
There ’ s state ownership ( e.g.
, the Bank of North Dakota , owned and operated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or community ownership ( e.g.
, the Green Bay Packers , publicly owned since 1923 ) .
There are also producer co-ops , common in the dairy business .
Or retailer-owned co-ops , like Ace Hardware and Best Western hotels .
The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives publishes an annual catalog of worker-owned co-ops functioning in every imaginable business sector all across the country .
Worker-owned cooperatives are pure socialism and they ’ re nothing new in the U.S. Today , many people in the U.S. experience democracy by paying taxes once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , and by not much else .
On the other hand , when workers own a business together , they have a real stake and a real voice in every part of the enterprise — its financing , its efficiency , the products or services it chooses to provide and the quality of those products , how its workers and their families are treated , and its relationship to the community and to the natural world .
Workers may manage the business themselves , or they may hire managers .
But they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At a time when democracy is in serious danger from a Republican Party that has set out to subvert majority rule — and has , so far , largely succeeded in that effort — a powerful antidote is the worker-owned co-op .
If you want to learn more , check out the Democracy Collaborative ( and their vision of a post-COVID world ) , the New Economy Coalition and the Democracy at Work Institute .
They and many others are pointing the way toward a revived democracy , based on democratized ownership .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to scare our communities into believing that socialism is the enemy of democracy or freedom , we can act decisively to set them straight .
Democratic control of the business enterprise , and generosity of spirit in helping people thrive , can only strengthen U.S. society and democratic governance .
A better world is definitely possible , and socialism will continue to be an integral and important part of it .

From public schools to subsidized farms and the internet, socialism has long existed in some form in the U.S.
President Donald Trump says he’s running for a second term to defeat socialism, even though he doesn’t have a socialist opponent. Back when he was holding political rallies, Trump could get an ego-boosting roar from the crowd just by claiming, “This election will decide whether we save the ‘American dream’ or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny!”
The president has called Joe Biden “a Trojan horse for socialism.” At Trump’s campaign website, we read, “Donate now to stand with President Trump against radical socialism.”
Vice President Mike Pence says electing Biden “would set America on a path of socialism and decline.” A spokesman for Trump’s campaign called the election “a binary decision between freedom and socialism.” Trump’s campaign website says the 2020 election is a stark choice: “American vs. Socialist,” as if the U.S. has no history with socialism.
For more than a century, socialism has been a convenient boogeyman, endlessly useful for scaring the U.S. populace into accepting whatever thin gruel conservatives and corporate elites have chosen to dish out.
Prior to the Russian revolution of 1917, it was hard to make socialism seem very scary. But by the 1920s and ‘30s, calling someone a communist or a socialist carried real weight. Even some progressives and liberals allowed themselves to be cowed into silence by right-wing fearmongers who conjured socialist sedition everywhere. Still, from the 1920s through the 1940s, Norman Thomas (a Princeton-educated Presbyterian minister) ran for public office on the Socialist Party ticket, including a bid for the presidency in every election from 1928 through 1948, and vibrant socialist organizing efforts have taken place throughout the past century in the United States.
Socialism has two core meanings: first, control by the public, or by employees, of the means of production and distribution of goods; and, second, the use of public funds to provide benefits and services for the people (especially disadvantaged people). Examples of the latter include government health insurance (begun in Germany in 1883, ironically, as an attempt to reduce the appeal of successful socialist politicians), old-age pensions (again, Germany, 1889) and unemployment compensation (Germany, 1927). In the Western world, this second meaning of socialism can be traced to the 19th-century movement called Christian Socialism , with origins in France, England, Germany and the U.S. (Karl Marx disdained these early socialists as “utopian” and “reactionary.”)
At Trump’s campaign website, we read, “Donate now to stand with President Trump against radical socialism.”
In times of capitalist crisis in the U.S., such as 2008, public funds have been used to bail out mismanaged automobile companies and banks (which sometimes used the public funds to give their managers big Christmas bonuses) — but that is not usually acknowledged as akin to socialism. Nor is the $17 billion in federal money spent each year to support U.S. farms considered socialism. But both contain elements of socialism.
The truth is, the U.S. and other countries employ a spectrum of social and economic practices, ranging from pure capitalism at one end to pure socialism at the other. “Communist China” actually embraces free-market economics and private enterprise. The U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and the Nordic nations — all wealthy capitalist countries — support many socialist institutions and practices.
In the U.S., examples of institutions that use public funds to serve the people — and could thus arguably be deemed “socialist” — include:
More than 98,000 public schools and about 1,750 public colleges and universities, plus numerous junior colleges, community colleges and vocational schools in every state;
The U.S. public transportation system (trains, trolleys, subways and buses, including school buses, plus the rails, roads and highways they run on that are owned by, run by, paid for by, and/or heavily subsidized and regulated by governments);
More than 10,000 public library systems;
Waste-collection systems across the U.S., which are mainly supported by public funds;
Almost 30,000 fire departments;
About 1,000 public hospitals;
911 emergency services; satellite communication systems; the backbone infrastructure of the internet; management of the public airwaves for radio and TV;
Numerous public beaches, parks, forests, recreation areas, nature preserves, reservations and grazing lands.
Those who are reluctant to admit that U.S. success is entirely dependent upon the enterprises and practices just mentioned may choose to view all of those organizations as business enterprises with the tax-paying public as joint owners. That way they can pretend that the U.S. has no socialist history because socialism destroys freedom. But in the current moment, we are all being forced to ask ourselves who is more free — a person whose health insurance is provided by the government and therefore continues whether they are employed or not? Or the person whose health insurance disappears when they get laid off by a pandemic?
Today, socialism is enjoying something of a renaissance as a skeptical generation asks probing questions about capitalism: “How can it be right that under capitalism some people have so much while others have so little? In particular, what do capitalists do to merit their stupendous wealth? That is to say, what is it that they do that entitles them, morally, to so large a slice of the economic pie?”
Such questions lead directly to a search for alternative systems: what could replace the worst elements of capitalism?
The answer from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is “more democracy.” Maria Svart, national director of DSA, says the problem with capitalism isn’t just that it’s unstable (as in 2008 or now), or that it leaves “whole layers of society starving in the street.” The problem is, additionally, “that it relies on a dictatorship of the rich,” she says. “The fundamental difference we expect from a socialist society is that we will all have a voice in the decisions that impact our lives.”
The Democracy Collaborative and many others are pointing the way toward a revived democracy, based on democratized ownership. Yes, socialism.
Want to know one of the best things the government has done to promote socialism? It has enabled by law many different forms of democratic ownership of business enterprises. Probably the most familiar form is the consumer-cooperative, like Recreational Equipment, Inc. (better known as REI) or the 6,000 member-owned credit unions now serving 110 million people in the U.S., managing assets of $1.1 trillion. Credit unions are socialist banks, wholly owned by their members.
Member ownership is not the only form of democratic ownership. There’s state ownership (e.g., the Bank of North Dakota, owned and operated by the state since 1919), or community ownership (e.g., the Green Bay Packers, publicly owned since 1923). There are also producer co-ops, common in the dairy business. Or retailer-owned co-ops, like Ace Hardware and Best Western hotels. The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives publishes an annual catalog of worker-owned co-ops functioning in every imaginable business sector all across the country. Worker-owned cooperatives are pure socialism and they’re nothing new in the U.S.
Today, many people in the U.S. experience democracy by paying taxes once a year, by voting every few years, and by not much else.
On the other hand, when workers own a business together, they have a real stake and a real voice in every part of the enterprise — its financing, its efficiency, the products or services it chooses to provide and the quality of those products, how its workers and their families are treated, and its relationship to the community and to the natural world. Workers may manage the business themselves, or they may hire managers. But they still experience real democracy every day.
At a time when democracy is in serious danger from a Republican Party that has set out to subvert majority rule — and has, so far, largely succeeded in that effort — a powerful antidote is the worker-owned co-op. If you want to learn more, check out the Democracy Collaborative (and their vision of a post-COVID world), the New Economy Coalition and the Democracy at Work Institute. They and many others are pointing the way toward a revived democracy, based on democratized ownership. Yes, socialism.
When Republicans try to scare our communities into believing that socialism is the enemy of democracy or freedom, we can act decisively to set them straight. Democratic control of the business enterprise, and generosity of spirit in helping people thrive, can only strengthen U.S. society and democratic governance. A better world is definitely possible, and socialism will continue to be an integral and important part of it.
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--2020-10-07--“Super-Spreader” Trump Returns to Oval Office Despite Being Contagious

At every turn , Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have opted to hide information around COVID-19 diagnoses rather than disclose it , despite the enormous health risks this creates for everyone around them .
In his latest selfish act of endangerment , Trump , still infected with coronavirus , left isolation Wednesday afternoon and worked from the Oval Office , requiring staff to wear personal protective equipment like a gown , surgical mask and eye protectors supplied at a so-called “ isolation cart.
” Trump ’ s combination of obfuscation and aggressive recklessness has unleashed a tide of infections and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House staff , but also on top military personnel and the broader populace of the District of Columbia .
The White House is still refusing to answer basic questions , such as when Trump ’ s last negative COVID-19 test was ; we still don ’ t know when Trump got infected .
The September 29 debate relied on an “ honor system ” that allowed the Trump campaign , which arrived too late to test and get back results on-site , to enter anyway .
But it ’ s possible Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the debate : The New York Times reported that the White House was merely creating an “ impression ” that Trump was being tested daily , and in fact , Trump was not tested daily .
What we do know is that even after the White House knew Trump ’ s close adviser Hope Hicks was experiencing coronavirus symptoms , the president traveled to a New Jersey fundraiser at his Bedminster golf resort anyway , exposing his security detail , staff and his donors , who paid up to attend .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hope Hicks had tested positive ; the story was broken by Bloomberg ’ s Jennifer Jacobs .
Without Jacobs ’ s reporting , it seems likely the White House would have hidden everything it could .
Trump has long relied on lies and obfuscation in his tenure , and now he and his inner circle are endangering both the nation and their own staff to try to maintain their grip on power .
Attorney General Bill Barr — who ’ s an integral part of Trump ’ s ongoing efforts to suppress the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1,600 former Department of Justice attorneys of trying to help Trump in the election — initially refused to quarantine despite his extensive exposure at a Rose Garden event on September 26 .
On October 4 , he did , but not before likely exposing many others due to his recklessness .
Republican lawmakers have been equally negligent .
Sen. Mike Lee experienced symptoms on October 1 , got a test , but went to the Senate anyway and potentially exposed his colleagues .
Lee was likely infected at the Amy Coney Barrett nomination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was taped hugging people without wearing a mask .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to tell reporters the last time he was tested ; and Sen. Chuck Grassley , who ’ s 87 years old and third in line of succession after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , has said he will not bother to get tested .
Sen. Ron Johnson got tested for COVID-19 on October 2 , but rather than quarantine while awaiting results , he went to an Oktoberfest-themed fundraiser .
And Sen. Roger Wicker was photographed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Delta flight out of Washington , D.C. , leading to the airline announcing it would investigate the incident .
This behavior is happening even as the entire Republican Senate caucus has likely been exposed , as they meet three times a week in person for lunch , and they remove their masks while eating and talking .
This cavalier attitude extends to Republican lawmakers outside D.C. and has already had lethal consequences : A GOP county chair in Arkansas died from COVID-19 , after his committee hosted a maskless gathering last month that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gohmert attended .
Trump and Republicans ’ behavior is also likely responsible for stymieing the nation ’ s military leadership .
Admiral Charles Ray , the vice commandant of the Coast Guard , tested positive on Monday , creating a risk of exposure throughout senior military leadership , and leading all the Joint Chiefs of Staff to quarantine .
Ray attended a September 27 event at the White House with Gold Star families where guests were indoors , without masks .
Trump ’ s deputies have also been reckless with the health of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) guidelines to quarantine after exposure .
White House Spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany briefed the press without a mask just one day before she tested positive .
One of McEnany ’ s staff assistants has subsequently tested positive , too .
The consequences have been devastating for the region .
Trump ’ s series of maskless , close-quarter events , from the Rose Garden to the Gold Star families event on September 27 , haven ’ t just infected the White House ’ s inner circle — their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Columbia overall .
On October 5 , Washington , D.C. , saw 105 new cases , its largest one-day spike in new infections since June .
At the U.S. Capitol , several people are on leave after testing positive , or presumed positive .
Two members of the White House residence staff have tested positive , and were told to use “ discretion ” when discussing it .
The residence staff numbers nearly 90 , are largely Black and Latino , and often elderly .
Meanwhile , in an abject display of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not allowing staff to test for the coronavirus at the White House Medical Unit clinic , according to an October 4 report from CNN ’ s Kaitlan Collins .
Instead , the White House is directing staff members to stay home and talk to their primary care physicians if they are experiencing symptoms .
The lack of care for White House staff may have contributed to a spike in the number of people using the District of Columbia ’ s free , outdoor coronavirus testing sites .
On October 5 , 600 coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site — about double the daily average .
As a result of the chaos in the region and the vacuum of leadership , members of Congress from the D.C. , Maryland and Virginia region wrote to the White House demanding it release the total number of positive tests among White House personnel .
The lawmakers are also demanding that the White House conduct expedited contact tracing to identify and notify anyone who came into contact with Trump .
But the White House has refused to do so , even as the CDC has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of crucial transparency from the White House , Middlebury college student Benjy Renton has partnered with infectious disease researcher Jesse O ’ Shea and media analytics professional Peter Walker to launch a crowdsourced website to track the events that likely led to infections , and compiled the results of White House staff ’ s tests .
Meanwhile , reporters have been compiling timelines .
No one has been as reckless with others ’ health than Trump himself , nor as shamelessly theatrical about it .
On Monday , Trump tweeted the ableist sentiment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ dominate your life , ” implying that the more than 210,000 who ’ ve died from the virus thus far did so due to some personal failing , rather than succumbing to a deadly disease .
And when he left Walter Reed hospital to return to ongoing medical care at the White House on Monday , he stood on the balcony before cameras , dramatically removing his mask — his breathing visibly strained .
It was a visual meant to project strength , but most saw through it for the larger symbolism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wearer from large droplets expelled by others , they are most effective in preventing the wearer from spreading the virus to others .
By ceremoniously removing his mask on Monday , Trump was implicitly declaring , “ I will infect you ” to a nation on edge .
Note : This article was updated late Wednesday to incorporate new information about Trump ’ s return to the Oval Office .

At every turn, Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have opted to hide information around COVID-19 diagnoses rather than disclose it, despite the enormous health risks this creates for everyone around them. In his latest selfish act of endangerment, Trump, still infected with coronavirus, left isolation Wednesday afternoon and worked from the Oval Office, requiring staff to wear personal protective equipment like a gown, surgical mask and eye protectors supplied at a so-called “isolation cart.”
Trump’s combination of obfuscation and aggressive recklessness has unleashed a tide of infections and increased exposure risks not only on the White House staff, but also on top military personnel and the broader populace of the District of Columbia.
The White House is still refusing to answer basic questions, such as when Trump’s last negative COVID-19 test was; we still don’t know when Trump got infected. The September 29 debate relied on an “honor system” that allowed the Trump campaign, which arrived too late to test and get back results on-site, to enter anyway. But it’s possible Trump hadn’t been tested for days before the debate: The New York Times reported that the White House was merely creating an “impression” that Trump was being tested daily, and in fact, Trump was not tested daily.
What we do know is that even after the White House knew Trump’s close adviser Hope Hicks was experiencing coronavirus symptoms, the president traveled to a New Jersey fundraiser at his Bedminster golf resort anyway, exposing his security detail, staff and his donors, who paid up to attend. It was not the White House that announced Hope Hicks had tested positive; the story was broken by Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs. Without Jacobs’s reporting, it seems likely the White House would have hidden everything it could.
Trump has long relied on lies and obfuscation in his tenure, and now he and his inner circle are endangering both the nation and their own staff to try to maintain their grip on power. Attorney General Bill Barr — who’s an integral part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to suppress the vote, and who stands accused by 1,600 former Department of Justice attorneys of trying to help Trump in the election — initially refused to quarantine despite his extensive exposure at a Rose Garden event on September 26. On October 4, he did, but not before likely exposing many others due to his recklessness.
Republican lawmakers have been equally negligent. Sen. Mike Lee experienced symptoms on October 1, got a test, but went to the Senate anyway and potentially exposed his colleagues. Lee was likely infected at the Amy Coney Barrett nomination announcement in the Rose Garden, where he was taped hugging people without wearing a mask. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to tell reporters the last time he was tested; and Sen. Chuck Grassley, who’s 87 years old and third in line of succession after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has said he will not bother to get tested. Sen. Ron Johnson got tested for COVID-19 on October 2, but rather than quarantine while awaiting results, he went to an Oktoberfest-themed fundraiser. And Sen. Roger Wicker was photographed with his mask below his face on a Delta flight out of Washington, D.C., leading to the airline announcing it would investigate the incident.
The White House is still refusing to answer basic questions, such as when Trump ’ s last negative COVID -19 test was .
This behavior is happening even as the entire Republican Senate caucus has likely been exposed, as they meet three times a week in person for lunch, and they remove their masks while eating and talking. This cavalier attitude extends to Republican lawmakers outside D.C. and has already had lethal consequences: A GOP county chair in Arkansas died from COVID-19, after his committee hosted a maskless gathering last month that Republican Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Louie Gohmert attended.
Trump and Republicans’ behavior is also likely responsible for stymieing the nation’s military leadership. Admiral Charles Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, tested positive on Monday, creating a risk of exposure throughout senior military leadership, and leading all the Joint Chiefs of Staff to quarantine. Ray attended a September 27 event at the White House with Gold Star families where guests were indoors, without masks.
Andrea Hanks / White House
Trump’s deputies have also been reckless with the health of those around them, flouting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines to quarantine after exposure. White House Spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany briefed the press without a mask just one day before she tested positive. One of McEnany’s staff assistants has subsequently tested positive, too.
The entire Republican Senate caucus has likely been exposed, as they meet three times a week in person for lunch, and they remove their masks while eating and talking.
The consequences have been devastating for the region. Trump’s series of maskless, close-quarter events, from the Rose Garden to the Gold Star families event on September 27, haven’t just infected the White House’s inner circle — their effect has spread out into the District of Columbia overall. On October 5, Washington, D.C., saw 105 new cases, its largest one-day spike in new infections since June. At the U.S. Capitol, several people are on leave after testing positive, or presumed positive. Two members of the White House residence staff have tested positive, and were told to use “discretion” when discussing it. The residence staff numbers nearly 90, are largely Black and Latino, and often elderly.
Meanwhile, in an abject display of medical malfeasance, the White House is not allowing staff to test for the coronavirus at the White House Medical Unit clinic, according to an October 4 report from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Instead, the White House is directing staff members to stay home and talk to their primary care physicians if they are experiencing symptoms. The lack of care for White House staff may have contributed to a spike in the number of people using the District of Columbia’s free, outdoor coronavirus testing sites. On October 5, 600 coronavirus tests were conducted at just one testing site — about double the daily average.
As a result of the chaos in the region and the vacuum of leadership, members of Congress from the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region wrote to the White House demanding it release the total number of positive tests among White House personnel. The lawmakers are also demanding that the White House conduct expedited contact tracing to identify and notify anyone who came into contact with Trump. But the White House has refused to do so, even as the CDC has offered its help. In the absence of crucial transparency from the White House, Middlebury college student Benjy Renton has partnered with infectious disease researcher Jesse O’Shea and media analytics professional Peter Walker to launch a crowdsourced website to track the events that likely led to infections, and compiled the results of White House staff’s tests. Meanwhile, reporters have been compiling timelines.
In an abject display of medical malfeasance, the White House is not allowing staff to test for the coronavirus at the White House Medical Unit clinic.
No one has been as reckless with others’ health than Trump himself, nor as shamelessly theatrical about it. On Monday, Trump tweeted the ableist sentiment that one shouldn’t let coronavirus “dominate your life,” implying that the more than 210,000 who’ve died from the virus thus far did so due to some personal failing, rather than succumbing to a deadly disease. And when he left Walter Reed hospital to return to ongoing medical care at the White House on Monday, he stood on the balcony before cameras, dramatically removing his mask — his breathing visibly strained. It was a visual meant to project strength, but most saw through it for the larger symbolism. While cloth masks may help protect the wearer from large droplets expelled by others, they are most effective in preventing the wearer from spreading the virus to others. By ceremoniously removing his mask on Monday, Trump was implicitly declaring, “I will infect you” to a nation on edge.
Note: This article was updated late Wednesday to incorporate new information about Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
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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.
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truthout--2020-10-08--Did Trump’s “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” Tweet Inspire Militia Plot Against Gov. Whitmer?

Federal investigators uncovered and thwarted a plot planned by six individuals , some of whom were part of a militia in Michigan planning to kidnap Democratic Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer .
Four of the six men were planning to meet on Wednesday to pay for explosives as part of their plot to abduct Whitmer .
The FBI arrested all six individuals on Wednesday night .
The men had planned to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and transport her to Wisconsin , where they would set up their own tribunal and try her for treason .
They believed that Whitmer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issuing emergency orders related to preventing the spread of coronavirus in Michigan .
Five of the six men — Adam Fox , Ty Garbin , Kaleb Franks , Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta , according to court documents — are from Michigan .
A sixth member of the group , Barry Croft , is from Delaware .
The affidavit related to their arrests states that two of the men involved first conceived of the idea to take action against Whitmer while meeting with about 13 other individuals from other states in Dublin , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discuss the creation of a new society with a foundation in the U.S. Bill of Rights “ where they could be self-sufficient , ” which suggests that the group held anti-government views .
The group reportedly discussed peaceful and violent methods of achieving their ends , including murdering leaders they viewed as “ tyrants ” or possibly “ taking ” a governor hostage .
Before agreeing on any action , the group decided it needed to increase its numbers .
Upon returning to Michigan , Fox reached out to a militia group in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be receptive to his and Croft ’ s views .
Four members from that militia joined him and Croft in formulating their eventual plan .
The group originally intended to recruit 200 other men to storm the capitol building in Lansing , Michigan , to kidnap Whitmer and others , but later shifted its plan to focus on Whitmer alone , whom they planned to try to abduct from her summer home .
“ Snatch and grab , man .
Grab the fuckin ’ Governor .
Just grab the bitch , ” Fox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to authorities .
The idea had gotten far enough along in the planning stages that the men had already surveilled Whitmer ’ s property on at least two occasions , once in August and again in September .
A final training exercise was planned to take place in late October , with the actual kidnapping of the governor set to happen sometime before the election .
Each of the men involved , if convicted , faces up to a lifetime in prison .
Though the group ’ s political motivations at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believed that their original intent to take control of the Michigan capitol building may have been inspired by the incidents of last April , when far right militia , some of them armed with assault rifles , barged into the building to protest the governor ’ s emergency public health orders .
In May , there was another protest at the capitol where violent imagery against the governor — including a doll meant to represent Whitmer shown hanging off a noose — was on full display .
Just before the protest in April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publicly feuded with Whitmer over her criticisms of his administration ’ s response to COVID-19 , tweeted out to his followers in the Great Lakes State to “ LIBERATE MICHIGAN.
” Many at the time had condemned Trump ’ s words and warned that they likely would incite violence against Whitmer and others in the state .

Federal investigators uncovered and thwarted a plot planned by six individuals, some of whom were part of a militia in Michigan planning to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Four of the six men were planning to meet on Wednesday to pay for explosives as part of their plot to abduct Whitmer. The FBI arrested all six individuals on Wednesday night.
The men had planned to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and transport her to Wisconsin, where they would set up their own tribunal and try her for treason. They believed that Whitmer had exercised “uncontrolled power” in issuing emergency orders related to preventing the spread of coronavirus in Michigan.
Five of the six men — Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, according to court documents — are from Michigan. A sixth member of the group, Barry Croft, is from Delaware.
The affidavit related to their arrests states that two of the men involved first conceived of the idea to take action against Whitmer while meeting with about 13 other individuals from other states in Dublin, Ohio. That gathering reportedly was to discuss the creation of a new society with a foundation in the U.S. Bill of Rights “where they could be self-sufficient,” which suggests that the group held anti-government views. The group reportedly discussed peaceful and violent methods of achieving their ends, including murdering leaders they viewed as “tyrants” or possibly “taking” a governor hostage.
Before agreeing on any action, the group decided it needed to increase its numbers. Upon returning to Michigan, Fox reached out to a militia group in the state, believing some members might be receptive to his and Croft’s views. Four members from that militia joined him and Croft in formulating their eventual plan.
The group originally intended to recruit 200 other men to storm the capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, to kidnap Whitmer and others but later shifted its plan to focus on Whitmer alone, whom they planned to try to abduct from her summer home.
“Snatch and grab, man. Grab the fuckin’ Governor. Just grab the bitch,” Fox is quoted as saying regarding their plan, according to authorities.
The idea had gotten far enough along in the planning stages that the men had already surveilled Whitmer’s property on at least two occasions, once in August and again in September. A final training exercise was planned to take place in late October, with the actual kidnapping of the governor set to happen sometime before the election.
Each of the men involved, if convicted, faces up to a lifetime in prison.
Though the group’s political motivations at this time are unclear, it is believed that their original intent to take control of the Michigan capitol building may have been inspired by the incidents of last April, when far right militia, some of them armed with assault rifles, barged into the building to protest the governor’s emergency public health orders. In May, there was another protest at the capitol where violent imagery against the governor — including a doll meant to represent Whitmer shown hanging from a noose — was on full display.
Just before the protest in April, President Donald Trump, who had publicly feuded with Whitmer over her criticisms of his administration’s response to COVID-19, tweeted out to his followers in the Great Lakes State to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.” Many at the time had condemned Trump’s words and warned that they likely would incite violence against Whitmer and others in the state.
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.