shadowproof--2020-05-21--In ‘Right-To-Work’ States, Restaurant Workers Mobilize During COVID-19 For Better Conditions

In ‘ Right-To-Work ’ States , Restaurant Workers Mobilize During COVID-19 For Better Conditions For the past eight years , Johnathan Bo-o has worked on and off in the service industry , starting as a dishwasher at a restaurant in an Atlanta suburb when he was 17 .
The restaurant Bo-o was serving at prior to the pandemic was better than his previous workplaces .
He thought to himself , “ I ’ m doing fine for right now.
” Bo-o , who is 25 years-old , now receives unemployment benefits after losing his restaurant job due to coronavirus-related shutdowns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not so lucky .
Because of slightly improved work conditions , Bo-o shared , “ I almost stopped questioning .
I started to realize that ’ s not okay , ” and found ShiftChange Atlanta .
The collapse of the Atlanta food and beverage industry affected around 300,000 people in the metro area alone .
ShiftChange is trying to use the period before Georgia fully re-opens—a process Gov .
Brian Kemp already began—to organize restaurant workers for better conditions .
ShiftChange is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World ( IWW @ @ @ @ @ @ @ battle organizing in a right-to-work state , where servers may only make $ 2.13 an hour .
Instead of building a traditional union , the group is a loose responsive network across many restaurants .
According to Bo-o , the group of about 50 to 60 active organizers are using online tools to develop demands and plan outreach .
Like many , they use Zoom calls to replace in-person meetings .
The group is creating a map of restaurants in Atlanta with frequent disputes over unpaid wages .
And to grow awareness , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on where service workers typically live .
Literature is available in English and Spanish .
ShiftChange seeks to mobilize communities for better wages , access to health care , and consistent shifts .
Rather than trying to form a legal union in a right-to-work state , Bo-o stated , “ We are a volunteer organization at this point .
We are less constrained by the law.
” ( ShiftChange members also stressed they do not have centralized authority so there is no waiting for approval before taking action . )
For example , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the metro area censored posts after arguments broke out over restaurant re-openings .
So , the network of activists started their own forum .
No management allowed .
A couple hundred users migrated soon after .
Confronting New Normal : Management May Need Fewer Workers The demands and methods may seem simple , but the path toward building a unionized service industry is not .
Unions in the United States typically organize by workplace and then file for recognition with the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB ) .
The next step @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but even if a union wins the vote , management may still refuse to negotiate .
Labor historian Bryant Simon wrote about the process of organizing Starbucks workers in his book , Everything But the Coffee .
He said , “ To be recognized by the National Labor Relations Board is a really hard thing to do.
” It is a slow process and , while you wait for recognition , “ you can be subject to anti-union tactics Add to that the high turnover rate for workers at restaurants and bars , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across many locations with different owners , and the challenges may seem insurmountable .
Then , there is the fear of retaliation while building support among co-workers .
Restaurants are now operating with limited capacity as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus .
Some restaurants will not be coming back now , or at all , which means management needs fewer workers .
S.F .
is an IWW organizer working with ShiftChange Atlanta .
He asked to be identified by his initials after receiving threats from a restaurant owner who , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one too many mob movies.
” A number of ShiftChange organizers were worried about retaliation if they spoke on the record about their membership .
The group , according to S.F.
, is focused on talking to furloughed restaurant workers about how they are holding up during the pandemic .
They ’ re building connections through mutual aid .
“ There are groups of people who want to support them in ways their employers are not , ” S.F .
tells workers .
In the past , owners pointed to the low profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not afford to pay workers more .
S.F .
replied , “ They wouldn ’ t be running these restaurant groups if they weren ’ t profiting off them .
There ’ s a lot of room to improve working conditions.
” Activists with ShiftChange point to their past successes within the food and beverage industry .
The Burgerville Workers Union defied what many thought was possible when it received NLRB recognition in 2018 at a third location , making it the largest fast food workers union nationally .
IWW worked with Burgerville @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for recognition .
‘ To See A City Pride Itself On An Industry Built On Broken Backs Is Hard ’ ShiftChange Atlanta is modeled off a slightly different campaign .
Randal McGarry , a 31-year-old in Richmond , Virginia , worked as a front-of-house manager and server at two different restaurants a couple of years ago .
Like Bo-o and many service workers , he started in restaurants at a young age .
McGarry said he has worked as a dishwasher to general manager and everything in between .
The New York Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destinations , calling it a “ dynamic cultural center.
” Despite the recognition , McGarry and his friends were not seeing better work conditions .
One day , McGarry decided complaining about his workplace on Twitter wasn ’ t enough .
McGarry said , “ [ Service workers ] all know how broke we are .
So , to see a city pride itself on an industry that is built on broken backs is hard.
” Instead of participating in direct actions after receiving recognition , Richmond workers thought , “ Let ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do the direct actions like work stoppages and slowdowns [ first ] .
” “ In states like Virginia and Georgia , [ union recognition ] gives you very little legal protection anyhow , according to McGarry ” He is referring to right-to-work states , which allow workers to opt out of recognized unions in their industry .
Critics say it weakens unions and increases corporate power .
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic , ShiftChange RVA members used walkouts , social media shaming , and letter-writing to address work conditions at local restaurants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread across a city does not have to be a challenge to organizing , McGarry contended .
“ It ’ s not difficult to get four guys to walk out.
” In a city with many locally-owned restaurants and bars , McGarry suggested it is always worth asking for better conditions first .
“ A lot of time , [ the owners ] are more sad than angry.
” But going to the boss as a unified front still requires organizing .
By keeping the network loose , the group is also nimble @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on government assistance , the group engaged in mutual aid and tried to get financial assistance for those in need .
McGarry said now that unemployment insurance has started to appear in people ’ s bank accounts , RVA ShiftChange is distributing money to undocumented workers .
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam started re-opening the state on May 15 .
Yet , public health officials have repeatedly warned against ending stay-at-home orders too early , acknowledging the effects it may have on staff .
If workers choose not to return to work out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits and public sympathy .
But Simon thinks the pandemic may push citizens to re-think work and how staff organize in the workplace .
“ We ’ ve had a spotlight on work that we haven ’ t seen in a while .
We [ now ] have an appreciation of the labor of people who are so often hidden from us , ” Simon concluded .

For the past eight years, Johnathan Bo-o has worked on and off in the service industry, starting as a dishwasher at a restaurant in an Atlanta suburb when he was 17.
The restaurant Bo-o was serving at prior to the pandemic was better than his previous workplaces. He thought to himself, “I’m doing fine for right now.”
Bo-o, who is 25 years-old, now receives unemployment benefits after losing his restaurant job due to coronavirus-related shutdowns. In Georgia, many unemployed workers are not so lucky.
Because of slightly improved work conditions, Bo-o shared, “I almost stopped questioning. I started to realize that’s not okay,” and found ShiftChange Atlanta.
The collapse of the Atlanta food and beverage industry affected around 300,000 people in the metro area alone. ShiftChange is trying to use the period before Georgia fully re-opens—a process Gov. Brian Kemp already began—to organize restaurant workers for better conditions.
ShiftChange is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The group faces an uphill battle organizing in a right-to-work state, where servers may only make $2.13 an hour. Instead of building a traditional union, the group is a loose responsive network across many restaurants.
According to Bo-o, the group of about 50 to 60 active organizers are using online tools to develop demands and plan outreach.
Like many, they use Zoom calls to replace in-person meetings. The group is creating a map of restaurants in Atlanta with frequent disputes over unpaid wages. And to grow awareness, ShiftChange members also flyer the city based on where service workers typically live. Literature is available in English and Spanish.
ShiftChange seeks to mobilize communities for better wages, access to health care, and consistent shifts.
Rather than trying to form a legal union in a right-to-work state, Bo-o stated, “We are a volunteer organization at this point. We are less constrained by the law.” (ShiftChange members also stressed they do not have centralized authority so there is no waiting for approval before taking action.)
For example, a popular online forum for restaurant workers in the metro area censored posts after arguments broke out over restaurant re-openings. So, the network of activists started their own forum. No management allowed. A couple hundred users migrated soon after.
Confronting New Normal: Management May Need Fewer Workers
The demands and methods may seem simple, but the path toward building a unionized service industry is not.
Unions in the United States typically organize by workplace and then file for recognition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The next step is holding a vote among employees, but even if a union wins the vote, management may still refuse to negotiate.
Labor historian Bryant Simon wrote about the process of organizing Starbucks workers in his book, Everything But the Coffee. He said, “To be recognized by the National Labor Relations Board is a really hard thing to do.” It is a slow process and, while you wait for recognition, “you can be subject to anti-union tactics
Add to that the high turnover rate for workers at restaurants and bars, and the fact that workers are spread across many locations with different owners, and the challenges may seem insurmountable.
Then, there is the fear of retaliation while building support among co-workers. Restaurants are now operating with limited capacity as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus. Some restaurants will not be coming back now, or at all, which means management needs fewer workers.
S.F. is an IWW organizer working with ShiftChange Atlanta. He asked to be identified by his initials after receiving threats from a restaurant owner who, S.F. joked, “has seen one too many mob movies.” A number of ShiftChange organizers were worried about retaliation if they spoke on the record about their membership.
The group, according to S.F., is focused on talking to furloughed restaurant workers about how they are holding up during the pandemic. They’re building connections through mutual aid.
“There are groups of people who want to support them in ways their employers are not,” S.F. tells workers.
In the past, owners pointed to the low profit margins in restaurants, saying they could not afford to pay workers more. S.F. replied, “They wouldn’t be running these restaurant groups if they weren’t profiting off them. There’s a lot of room to improve working conditions.”
Activists with ShiftChange point to their past successes within the food and beverage industry. The Burgerville Workers Union defied what many thought was possible when it received NLRB recognition in 2018 at a third location, making it the largest fast food workers union nationally. IWW worked with Burgerville workers, too, in their fight for recognition.
‘To See A City Pride Itself On An Industry Built On Broken Backs Is Hard’
ShiftChange Atlanta is modeled off a slightly different campaign. Randal McGarry, a 31-year-old in Richmond, Virginia, worked as a front-of-house manager and server at two different restaurants a couple of years ago.
Like Bo-o and many service workers, he started in restaurants at a young age. McGarry said he has worked as a dishwasher to general manager and everything in between.
The New York Times listed Richmond as one of its top destinations, calling it a “dynamic cultural center.” Despite the recognition, McGarry and his friends were not seeing better work conditions.
One day, McGarry decided complaining about his workplace on Twitter wasn’t enough. McGarry said, “[Service workers] all know how broke we are. So, to see a city pride itself on an industry that is built on broken backs is hard.”
Instead of participating in direct actions after receiving recognition, Richmond workers thought, “Let’s reverse that. We’ll do the direct actions like work stoppages and slowdowns [first].”
“In states like Virginia and Georgia, [union recognition] gives you very little legal protection anyhow, according to McGarry” He is referring to right-to-work states, which allow workers to opt out of recognized unions in their industry. Critics say it weakens unions and increases corporate power.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, ShiftChange RVA members used walkouts, social media shaming, and letter-writing to address work conditions at local restaurants.
Having individual restaurants with small staffs spread across a city does not have to be a challenge to organizing, McGarry contended. “It’s not difficult to get four guys to walk out.”
In a city with many locally-owned restaurants and bars, McGarry suggested it is always worth asking for better conditions first. “A lot of time, [the owners] are more sad than angry.” But going to the boss as a unified front still requires organizing.
By keeping the network loose, the group is also nimble. When many workers were still waiting on government assistance, the group engaged in mutual aid and tried to get financial assistance for those in need. McGarry said now that unemployment insurance has started to appear in people’s bank accounts, RVA ShiftChange is distributing money to undocumented workers.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam started re-opening the state on May 15. Yet, public health officials have repeatedly warned against ending stay-at-home orders too early, acknowledging the effects it may have on staff.
If workers choose not to return to work out of health concerns, they could lose unemployment benefits and public sympathy.
But Simon thinks the pandemic may push citizens to re-think work and how staff organize in the workplace.
“We’ve had a spotlight on work that we haven’t seen in a while. We [now] have an appreciation of the labor of people who are so often hidden from us,” Simon concluded.


shadowproof--2020-05-21--What Happens To Restaurant Workers State-By-State Is Of National Consequence

What Happens To Restaurant Workers State-By-State Is Of National Consequence In April , after Shadowproof put out a call for pitches from journalists , Clare Busch proposed a report on labor and organizing among restaurant workers in Georgia .
We are really glad she did because the impacts from the coronavirus outbreak remain intense .
Restaurant workers have endured some of the worst aspects of the coronavirus crisis , with eight million or more workers fired or furloughed .
The National Restaurant Association estimated in April that two out of three employees no longer have a job in the industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , workers who have already put their lives at risk to serve customers during the COVID-19 outbreak are expected to restore dining in some capacity , which may fuel new spikes in infections .
“ The problems that we see appearing within the service industry are the most extreme iterations of our economy ’ s disregard for workers : lack of health care , low pay for physically demanding labor , living paycheck to paycheck , no job security , no protection from harassment from coworkers or customers , etc , ” Clare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happens to “ essential workers , ” or workers on the front lines , will impact all making lower wages , especially as the impacts of COVID-19 continue to ripple through the economy .
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic , Clare has followed the plight of restaurant workers closely .
On April 27 , Civil Eats published a report by Clare that amplified the concerns of workers who feared the state of Georgia was turning them into “ guinea pigs ” by re-opening restaurants too soon .
Cameren Cook , 34 , was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Atlanta ’ s midtown neighborhood .
She has been furloughed for a little over a month .
After several weeks she has finally started receiving unemployment benefits and has started paying off her debts .
Now , that lifeline is in question .
“ I refuse to go back to work , because I know that it is too soon , ” she told Civil Eats .
Cook said she does not have health insurance , like many service workers , and doesn ’ t want to expose herself to the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ’ m always interested in reporting on restaurant workers partially because I ’ ve worked on and off in service since I was 15 , ” Clare told Shadowproof .
Clare says she has had “ trouble interesting publications in stories centered on workers within the service industry , especially with the focus on Georgia workers , compared to say New York or California.
” “ I had an editor once tell me something along the lines of if the story I proposed was of national consequence , they might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s my failure in pitching to mainstream publications or their disinterest , I don ’ t know.
” We did not hesitate to green light Clare ’ s proposed story about restaurant workers organizing in Georgia and Virginia .
This is the kind of journalism that deserves as much support as possible , and we encourage you to read the excellent work she did for us .

In April, after Shadowproof put out a call for pitches from journalists, Clare Busch proposed a report on labor and organizing among restaurant workers in Georgia. We are really glad she did because the impacts from the coronavirus outbreak remain intense.
Restaurant workers have endured some of the worst aspects of the coronavirus crisis, with eight million or more workers fired or furloughed.
The National Restaurant Association estimated in April that two out of three employees no longer have a job in the industry. And now, with states re-opening, workers who have already put their lives at risk to serve customers during the COVID-19 outbreak are expected to restore dining in some capacity, which may fuel new spikes in infections.
“The problems that we see appearing within the service industry are the most extreme iterations of our economy’s disregard for workers: lack of health care, low pay for physically demanding labor, living paycheck to paycheck, no job security, no protection from harassment from coworkers or customers, etc,” Clare said.
It makes sense. What happens to “essential workers,” or workers on the front lines, will impact all making lower wages, especially as the impacts of COVID-19 continue to ripple through the economy.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Clare has followed the plight of restaurant workers closely.
On April 27, Civil Eats published a report by Clare that amplified the concerns of workers who feared the state of Georgia was turning them into “guinea pigs” by re-opening restaurants too soon.
Cameren Cook, 34, was a line cook at the Lazy Llama Cantina in Atlanta’s midtown neighborhood. She has been furloughed for a little over a month. After several weeks she has finally started receiving unemployment benefits and has started paying off her debts. Now, that lifeline is in question. “I refuse to go back to work, because I know that it is too soon,” she told Civil Eats. Cook said she does not have health insurance, like many service workers, and doesn’t want to expose herself to the virus for the sake of a low-paying job.
“I’m always interested in reporting on restaurant workers partially because I’ve worked on and off in service since I was 15,” Clare told Shadowproof.
Clare says she has had “trouble interesting publications in stories centered on workers within the service industry, especially with the focus on Georgia workers, compared to say New York or California.”
“I had an editor once tell me something along the lines of if the story I proposed was of national consequence, they might cover it. Now, whether that’s my failure in pitching to mainstream publications or their disinterest, I don’t know.”
We did not hesitate to green light Clare’s proposed story about restaurant workers organizing in Georgia and Virginia. This is the kind of journalism that deserves as much support as possible, and we encourage you to read the excellent work she did for us: In ‘Right-To-Work’ States, Restaurant Workers Mobilize During COVID-19 For Better Conditions


shadowproof--2020-05-22--Dissenter Weekly: Key Regulatory Agency For Workers Has Massive Backlog Of Whistleblower Complaints

Dissenter Weekly : Key Regulatory Agency For Workers Has Massive Backlog Of Whistleblower Complaints On this edition of the “ @ @ @ @ @ and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola highlights how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA @ @ @ @ @ dozen complaints a day during the coronavirus pandemic .
The agency has over 1,000 complaints @ @ @ @ @ in the show , Gosztola covers a report from ProPublica on a whistleblower complaint that @ @ @ @ @ Street banks are engaged in systemic fraud ( again ) .
Gosztola also discuss a @ @ @ @ @ right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson ’ s role in the U.S.-backed espionage operation against WikiLeaks founder @ @ @ @ @ Who Worked On Reality Winner ’ s Leaked Report Now Works For NYPD Court files @ @ @ @ @ ’ s security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange This show is brought @ @ @ @ @ a 100 % reader-funded press organization .
If you enjoy our work , you can @ @ @ @ @ or by subscribing for $ 5/month or more : https : //shadowproof.com/donate

On this edition of the “Dissenter Weekly,” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola highlights how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has received around two dozen complaints a day during the coronavirus pandemic. The agency has over 1,000 complaints in their backlog.
Later in the show, Gosztola covers a report from ProPublica on a whistleblower complaint that points to evidence that Wall Street banks are engaged in systemic fraud (again).
Gosztola also discuss a story at The Grayzone on right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s role in the U.S.-backed espionage operation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
This week’s stories:
Intercept Contributor Who Worked On Reality Winner’s Leaked Report Now Works For NYPD
Court files expose role of Sheldon Adelson’s security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange
***
Send tips and feedback to editor@shadowproof.com
This show is brought to you by Shadowproof.com, a 100% reader-funded press organization. If you enjoy our work, you can support us with a donation or by subscribing for $5/month or more: https://shadowproof.com/donate


shadowproof--2020-05-27--US Government Attempts To Bureaucratically Thwart NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner’s Appeal For Comp

US Government Attempts To Bureaucratically Thwart NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner’s Appeal For Compassionate Release

US Government Attempts To Bureaucratically Thwart NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner ’ s Appeal For Compassionate Release The coronavirus may infect NSA whistleblower Reality Winner while she is incarcerated at a women ’ s prison hospital .
She has a history of respiratory illness that makes her exceptionally vulnerable .
Yet , the United States government contends they have no record of Winner ever submitting a request for relief .
Prosecutors further suggest—even if the warden for Federal Medical Center Carswell received a request for release from Winner—that she did not follow the appropriate process so her appeal should be denied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept .
She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election .
She has served more than half of her 63-month sentence , and her attorneys urged a federal court to release her to home confinement to serve the remaining 19 months of her sentence .
But Judge Randal Hall sided with the Justice Department on April 24 and contended the “ medical prison , ” where Winner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipped than most to deal with any onset of COVID-19 in its inmates.
” Hall refused to grant Winner a hearing to present specific evidence on the risks posed to her health by the coronavirus .
In response to the U.S. government , Winner ’ s attorneys said [ PDF ] prosecutors presented “ no grounds ” to deny Winner ’ s request to “ treat her motion for compassionate release as the life-and-death matter it ( and COVID-19 ) really is.
” “ Winner ’ s request for compassionate release presents compelling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she seeks , ” they added .
“ Her good luck thus far is the only thing that separates her from the thousands of inmates in the Bureau of Prisons custody who have contracted COVID-19 on BOP ’ s watch.
” Her attorneys point out 57 people in BOP custody died and “ paid the ultimate price for BOP ’ s egregious mishandling.
” The manner in which the government is bureaucratically seeking to thwart Winner ’ s appeal does not bode well for prisoners seeking to invoke the First Step Act to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PDF ] , “ Winner alleged , without documentary support , that on April 8 , 2020 , she ‘ submitted a written request to the warden of FMC Carswell in Fort Worth , Texas , asking that he petition the Bureau of Prisons for a reduction of her sentence.
” [ Note : Part of this is quoted from Winner ’ s appeal , but the government didn ’ t include an end quote . ]
The government insists it inquired , and the BOP never received any request .
“ Only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide evidence showing she actually submitted a request.
” “ None of the documents though were Winner ’ s actual request or detailed what the basis of the request was .
This is important because the date , as well as the content , of the request determines whether the defendant has appropriately exhausted her administrative remedies prior to filing in district court , ” the government added .
As of May 1 , according to BOP , seventy percent of the prisoners , who correctional staff choose to test , have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ special report , “ Death Sentence , ” which documented the “ hidden coronavirus toll in U.S. jails and prisons , ” called attention to figures compiled by the U.S. government , which “ appear to undercount the number of infections dramatically in correctional settings.
” Still , the government presses on .
“ Because Winner did not include among her reply brief ’ s exhibits a copy of her request to BOP , neither the district court nor this court can ascertain if she ( as many inmates do ) asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than to be compassionately released.
” To this argument , Winner ’ s attorneys note they had Alison Grinter , one of Winner ’ s Texas-based attorneys , submit a statement to the appeals court under penalty of perjury that she helped Winner file a request “ not once , but twice.
” “ Reality ’ s BOP correctional counselor Bill Pendergraft provided Reality with the form as emailed to him by Ms. Grinter , and BOP staff-member Mary Gruszka assured Reality that she would hand-deliver the completed form to the warden.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and after necessitating an appeal ) , the government acknowledges what Reality knew all along—that BOP received the request ( s ) at least as of April 20 , 2020 .
But the government claims it was not reviewed as a request for compassionate release .
This is astounding given that the written request cited to the applicable compassionate release statute , ” Winner ’ s attorneys declare .
“ If the BOP is not aware that Reality is seeking compassionate release ” under the First Step Act , “ members of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the district court , Reality , and the government have all briefed the issue under the compassionate release statute.
” The government ’ s response fits in with a culture at the Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr , which has resulted in the release of only 1.8 percent of people in BOP custody during the pandemic .
On May 26 , ProPublica reported the Bureau of Prisons has a secret policy that made it harder for prisoners to qualify for release .
A federal judge “ accused officials at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — the site of a deadly coronavirus outbreak cited by Barr in his order — of moving too slowly to release inmates and ‘ thumbing their noses ' ” at a directive Barr issued on releasing prisoners into home confinement .
The judge instructed the government to “ expand the class of inmates eligible for home confinement by including inmates not only with minimum-risk scores , but also those said to have a low risk.
” The same day the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from the Justice Department to halt the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are 837 “ medically vulnerable inmates ” potentially eligible for transfer .
Aside from the game being played by the BOP and prosecutors , Winner ’ s attorneys suggest one of the reasons the government is able to shiftily claim they never received a request is because the district court did not hold a hearing on evidence relevant to the case .
“ The court could have heard from stakeholders at BOP and FMC Carswell about the BOP response generally and specifically at FMC Carswell , ” her attorneys assert .
Winner ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ via subpoenaed documents or testimony Reality ’ s more recent medical records , which are ( of course ) in the possession , custody , and control of the government.
” “ All of this is critical evidence the district court needed in order to actually , appropriately , and effectively exercise its discretion.
” Unfortunately , Judge Randal Hall was largely uninterested in exercising discretion and deferred to the arguments of prosecutors .
He did not verify statements prosecutors made about the BOP ’ s coronavirus response .
Billie Winner-Davis , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ deeply concerned about the irreparable damage that is being done ” to her daughter ’ s “ mental state.
” “ I have heard my daughter tell me , ‘ Mom , I am not okay , ’ and as her mother , this tears me apart .
”

The coronavirus may infect NSA whistleblower Reality Winner while she is incarcerated at a women’s prison hospital. She has a history of respiratory illness that makes her exceptionally vulnerable. Yet, the United States government contends they have no record of Winner ever submitting a request for relief.
Prosecutors further suggest—even if the warden for Federal Medical Center Carswell received a request for release from Winner—that she did not follow the appropriate process so her appeal should be denied.
Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept. She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election.
She has served more than half of her 63-month sentence, and her attorneys urged a federal court to release her to home confinement to serve the remaining 19 months of her sentence.
But Judge Randal Hall sided with the Justice Department on April 24 and contended the “medical prison,” where Winner is incarcerated, is “presumably better equipped than most to deal with any onset of COVID-19 in its inmates.”
Hall refused to grant Winner a hearing to present specific evidence on the risks posed to her health by the coronavirus.
In response to the U.S. government, Winner’s attorneys said [PDF] prosecutors presented “no grounds” to deny Winner’s request to “treat her motion for compassionate release as the life-and-death matter it (and COVID-19) really is.”
“Winner’s request for compassionate release presents compelling and extraordinary reasons to justify the relief she seeks,” they added. “Her good luck thus far is the only thing that separates her from the thousands of inmates in the Bureau of Prisons custody who have contracted COVID-19 on BOP’s watch.”
Her attorneys point out 57 people in BOP custody died and “paid the ultimate price for BOP’s egregious mishandling.”
The manner in which the government is bureaucratically seeking to thwart Winner’s appeal does not bode well for prisoners seeking to invoke the First Step Act to win compassionate release.
Prosecutors claim [PDF], “Winner alleged, without documentary support, that on April 8, 2020, she ‘submitted a written request to the warden of FMC Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, asking that he petition the Bureau of Prisons for a reduction of her sentence.” [Note: Part of this is quoted from Winner’s appeal, but the government didn’t include an end quote.]
The government insists it inquired, and the BOP never received any request. “Only in her reply brief did Winner attempt to provide evidence showing she actually submitted a request.”
“None of the documents though were Winner’s actual request or detailed what the basis of the request was. This is important because the date, as well as the content, of the request determines whether the defendant has appropriately exhausted her administrative remedies prior to filing in district court,” the government added.
As of May 1, according to BOP, seventy percent of the prisoners, who correctional staff choose to test, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Reuters’ special report, “Death Sentence,” which documented the “hidden coronavirus toll in U.S. jails and prisons,” called attention to figures compiled by the U.S. government, which “appear to undercount the number of infections dramatically in correctional settings.”
Still, the government presses on. “Because Winner did not include among her reply brief’s exhibits a copy of her request to BOP, neither the district court nor this court can ascertain if she (as many inmates do) asked to be placed on home confinement rather than to be compassionately released.”
To this argument, Winner’s attorneys note they had Alison Grinter, one of Winner’s Texas-based attorneys, submit a statement to the appeals court under penalty of perjury that she helped Winner file a request “not once, but twice.”
“Reality’s BOP correctional counselor Bill Pendergraft provided Reality with the form as emailed to him by Ms. Grinter, and BOP staff-member Mary Gruszka assured Reality that she would hand-deliver the completed form to the warden.”
“Finally (nearly a month later and after necessitating an appeal), the government acknowledges what Reality knew all along—that BOP received the request(s) at least as of April 20, 2020. But the government claims it was not reviewed as a request for compassionate release. This is astounding given that the written request cited to the applicable compassionate release statute,” Winner’s attorneys declare.
“If the BOP is not aware that Reality is seeking compassionate release” under the First Step Act, “members of the press have had no trouble following along, and the district court, Reality, and the government have all briefed the issue under the compassionate release statute.”
The government’s response fits in with a culture at the Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr, which has resulted in the release of only 1.8 percent of people in BOP custody during the pandemic.
On May 26, ProPublica reported the Bureau of Prisons has a secret policy that made it harder for prisoners to qualify for release.
A federal judge “accused officials at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Ohio — the site of a deadly coronavirus outbreak cited by Barr in his order — of moving too slowly to release inmates and ‘thumbing their noses'” at a directive Barr issued on releasing prisoners into home confinement. The judge instructed the government to “expand the class of inmates eligible for home confinement by including inmates not only with minimum-risk scores, but also those said to have a low risk.”
The same day the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from the Justice Department to halt the lower court’s order. There are 837 “medically vulnerable inmates” potentially eligible for transfer.
Aside from the game being played by the BOP and prosecutors, Winner’s attorneys suggest one of the reasons the government is able to shiftily claim they never received a request is because the district court did not hold a hearing on evidence relevant to the case.
“The court could have heard from stakeholders at BOP and FMC Carswell about the BOP response generally and specifically at FMC Carswell,” her attorneys assert.
Winner’s legal team could have “introduced via subpoenaed documents or testimony Reality’s more recent medical records, which are (of course) in the possession, custody, and control of the government.”
“All of this is critical evidence the district court needed in order to actually, appropriately, and effectively exercise its discretion.”
Unfortunately, Judge Randal Hall was largely uninterested in exercising discretion and deferred to the arguments of prosecutors. He did not verify statements prosecutors made about the BOP’s coronavirus response.
Billie Winner-Davis, who is Reality’s mother, remains “deeply concerned about the irreparable damage that is being done” to her daughter’s “mental state.”
“I have heard my daughter tell me, ‘Mom, I am not okay,’ and as her mother, this tears me apart.”


shadowproof--2020-05-27--LAPD’s Hollywood Office: How The Department Shaped ABC’s ‘The Rookie’

Through this video essay , Tom Secker examines the Los Angeles Police Department ’ s Entertainment Trademark Unit , which deals with Hollywood .
Secker , host of “ Spy Culture , ” focuses on ABC ’ s “ The Rookie , ” a television show that he says “ dilutes and trivializes sexism and racism in the LAPD , police brutality , and excessive force , violation of civil rights , predictive policing and rogue cops and LAPD corruption , including the Rampart scandal.
” He highlights how the LAPD has used the show to boost recruitment and how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s main character , has admitted much of the drama is propaganda .
Secker has obtained hundreds of pages of documents detailing how LAPD ’ s Hollywood unit operates .
As Secker notes , “ Police documents show that they worked on season 1 of ‘ The Rookie ’ and signed a location agreement allowing the producers to film at police headquarters.
” Fillion ’ s character is based on a man named Bill Norcross , who works for the LAPD .
Not only has he trained the cast but conversations with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And Norcross “ now serves as a script consultant on ‘ The Rookie , ’ an on-set technical advisor , and is a credited executive producer on the series , ” according to Secker .
Watch Tom Secker ’ s video essay by clicking the above player or going here .

Through this video essay, Tom Secker examines the Los Angeles Police Department’s Entertainment Trademark Unit, which deals with Hollywood.
Secker, host of “Spy Culture,” focuses on ABC’s “The Rookie,” a television show that he says “dilutes and trivializes sexism and racism in the LAPD, police brutality, and excessive force, violation of civil rights, predictive policing and rogue cops and LAPD corruption, including the Rampart scandal.”
He highlights how the LAPD has used the show to boost recruitment and how Nathan Fillion, who plays the show’s main character, has admitted much of the drama is propaganda.
Secker has obtained hundreds of pages of documents detailing how LAPD’s Hollywood unit operates.
As Secker notes, “Police documents show that they worked on season 1 of ‘The Rookie’ and signed a location agreement allowing the producers to film at police headquarters.”
Fillion’s character is based on a man named Bill Norcross, who works for the LAPD. Not only has he trained the cast but conversations with Norcross inspired early drafts of the script. And Norcross “now serves as a script consultant on ‘The Rookie,’ an on-set technical advisor, and is a credited executive producer on the series,” according to Secker.
Watch Tom Secker’s video essay by clicking the above player or going here.


shadowproof--2020-05-29--Dissenter Weekly: Reality Winner Predicted DOJ Would Pretend They Never Received Request For Release

Dissenter Weekly : Reality Winner Predicted DOJ Would Pretend They Never Received Request For Release Billie Winner-Davis , the mother of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner , admits she did not believe it .
Her daughter told her the Justice Department , or Bureau of Prisons , would claim she never filed for compassionate release at Federal Medical Center Carswell .
Winner also suggested they would “ mysteriously lose the form , ” and as it turns out , that is essentially the bureaucratic game they are playing with her life as the coronavirus remains a risk in prisons throughout the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Dissenter Weekly , ” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola breaks down the Justice Department ’ s effort to thwart Winner ’ s appeal for release from prison .
Later in the show , Gosztola discusses a report [ PDF ] from Florida Public Environmental Employees for Responsibility ( PEER ) on a major Orlando wastewater treatment facility that they say is “ responsible for nearly 200 sewage overflows spewing 3.4 million gallons into both local surface waters and wetlands ” as well as “ city streets.
” The pollution is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water ecosystems , and authorities with the ability to enforce regulations are doing nothing about this massive contamination .
Julian Assange Update : Next Hearing To Focus On COVID-19 Risks In Belmarsh Prison This show is brought to you by Shadowproof.com , a 100 % reader-funded press organization .
If you enjoy our work , you can support us with a donation or by subscribing for $ 5/month or more : https : //shadowproof.com/donate

Billie Winner-Davis, the mother of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, admits she did not believe it. Her daughter told her the Justice Department, or Bureau of Prisons, would claim she never filed for compassionate release at Federal Medical Center Carswell.
Winner also suggested they would “mysteriously lose the form,” and as it turns out, that is essentially the bureaucratic game they are playing with her life as the coronavirus remains a risk in prisons throughout the United States.
On this edition of the “Dissenter Weekly,” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola breaks down the Justice Department’s effort to thwart Winner’s appeal for release from prison.
Later in the show, Gosztola discusses a report [PDF] from Florida Public Environmental Employees for Responsibility (PEER) on a major Orlando wastewater treatment facility that they say is “responsible for nearly 200 sewage overflows spewing 3.4 million gallons into both local surface waters and wetlands” as well as “city streets.”
The pollution is fueling algal blooms that are devastating to water ecosystems, and authorities with the ability to enforce regulations are doing nothing about this massive contamination.
This week’s stories:
Julian Assange Update: Next Hearing To Focus On COVID-19 Risks In Belmarsh Prison
***
Send tips and feedback to editor@shadowproof.com
This show is brought to you by Shadowproof.com, a 100% reader-funded press organization. If you enjoy our work, you can support us with a donation or by subscribing for $5/month or more: https://shadowproof.com/donate


shadowproof--2020-06-02--Beyond Prisons: Evolving Political Consciousness feat. Anthony Williams

Beyond Prisons hosts Brian Sonenstein and Kim Wilson sit down with Anthony Williams to talk about co-founding the hashtag “ # MasculinitySoFragile , ” leveraging social capital online , how their political consciousness evolved over time , and overcoming isolation through reading .
We recorded this episode in early March just as the pandemic was gaining steam .
The subsequent weeks have forced us all to contend with a new reality that intensifies our vulnerability and underscores the need for organizing and collective liberation .
Anthony talks about cultivating joy as we live with trauma , and tells us why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” by Adrianne Maree Brown .
Anthony James Williams is a Black queer non-binary writer , sociology PhD student , and facilitator .
Online , they ’ re responsible for co-creating and popularizing the hashtags # MasculinitySoFragile and # BlackWomenDidThat .
Offline , their prior Black student organizing led the University of California system to divest $ 25 million from private prisons in 2016 .
Find them on Twitter @ anthoknees or antjwilliams.com .
Sandra Bland : Beware the day they change their mind !
Created and hosted by Kim Wilson and Brian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Patreon .
Check out our other donation options as well .
Please listen , subscribe , and rate/review our podcast on iTunes , Spotify , and on Google Play Join our mailing list for updates on new episodes , events , and more Kim Wilson is available for speaking engagements and to facilitate workshops .
Please contact beyondprisonspodcast @ gmail.com for more information

Beyond Prisons hosts Brian Sonenstein and Kim Wilson sit down with Anthony Williams to talk about co-founding the hashtag “#MasculinitySoFragile,” leveraging social capital online, how their political consciousness evolved over time, and overcoming isolation through reading.
We recorded this episode in early March just as the pandemic was gaining steam. The subsequent weeks have forced us all to contend with a new reality that intensifies our vulnerability and underscores the need for organizing and collective liberation.
Anthony talks about cultivating joy as we live with trauma, and tells us why we should all read “Pleasure Activism” by Adrianne Maree Brown.
Anthony James Williams is a Black queer non-binary writer, sociology PhD student, and facilitator. Online, they’re responsible for co-creating and popularizing the hashtags #MasculinitySoFragile and #BlackWomenDidThat. Offline, their prior Black student organizing led the University of California system to divest $25 million from private prisons in 2016.
Find them on Twitter @anthoknees or antjwilliams.com.
Episode Resources
The painful & personal process of Black Consciousness
Sandra Bland: Beware the day they change their mind!
The Year in Creating Black Joy
social justice work is exhausting: ableism, racism, and joy
Credits
Created and hosted by Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein
Edited by Ellis Maxwell
Website & volunteers managed by Victoria Nam
Theme music by Jared Ware
Support Beyond Prisons
Support our show and join us on Patreon. Check out our other donation options as well.
Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and on Google Play
Visit our website at beyond-prisons.com
Join our mailing list for updates on new episodes, events, and more
Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com
Kim Wilson is available for speaking engagements and to facilitate workshops. Please contact beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com for more information
Twitter: @Beyond_Prison
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondprisons/


shadowproof--2020-06-03--Beyond Prisons: Reflecting On The Protests

Beyond Prisons : Reflecting On The Protests Kim and Brian sit down for an extended conversation on the current Black @ @ @ @ @ and police reform , media literacy , and more .
Created and hosted by Kim @ @ @ @ @ our show and join us on Patreon .
Check out our other donation options as @ @ @ @ @ subscribe , and rate/review our podcast on iTunes , Spotify , and on Google Play @ @ @ @ @ updates on new episodes , events , and more Kim Wilson is available for speaking @ @ @ @ @ .
Please contact beyondprisonspodcast @ gmail.com for more information

Kim and Brian sit down for an extended conversation on the current Black Lives Matter protests, policing and police reform, media literacy, and more.
Credits
Created and hosted by Kim Wilson and Brian Sonenstein
Edited by Ellis Maxwell
Website & volunteers managed by Victoria Nam
Theme music by Jared Ware
Support Beyond Prisons
Support our show and join us on Patreon. Check out our other donation options as well.
Please listen, subscribe, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and on Google Play
Visit our website at beyond-prisons.com
Join our mailing list for updates on new episodes, events, and more
Send tips, comments, and questions to beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com
Kim Wilson is available for speaking engagements and to facilitate workshops. Please contact beyondprisonspodcast@gmail.com for more information
Twitter: @Beyond_Prison
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondprisonspodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondprisons/


shadowproof--2020-06-03--Protest Song Of The Week: ‘I Can’t Breathe’ By Chloë Nixon

Protest Song Of The Week : ‘ I Can ’ t Breathe ’ By Chloë Nixon The post was originally published at Ongoing History Of Protest Songs .
On May 25 , George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by a white police officer who placed his knee on Floyd ’ s neck .
He uttered the words , “ I can ’ t breathe.
” Three other police officers served as accomplices to the murder .
In the aftermath , there were countless protests throughout America and other countries .
The ongoing protests and the differing responses to them call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exists .
The anger and sadness felt during such traumatic events can be hard to express .
If you happen to be a musician it is only natural to want to express your feelings in song , which is exactly what Chloë Nixon did .
The 16-year-old singer-songwriter wrote “ I Can ’ t Breathe , ” a poignant tune that articulates her feelings on the tragedy .
“ I couldn ’ t help but use the most powerful language in the world to speak on the tragic injustices towards black people that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I dedicate this song to George Floyd and family , all other victims and their families , humanity , everyone in pain , and everyone lost during these difficult times.
” “ Know that it is crucial to fight for justice and make sure it is known that we see the toxic conditions of our system and that we will not tolerate it !
Also know that humanity must keep our vibrations of love and strength !
” Nixon also declared , “ We must invest more in the victimized communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When we unite , we shall overcome .
We shall not let any entity take our attention away from the justice that we are fighting for.
” In the history of protest movements , it is often the young ones who speak the loudest .
The previous generations have failed them , and they won ’ t take it anymore .
For those of us who are older , it is important that we listen and support youth , who desire a better world than the one we are currently leaving to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white need to listen to black people and amplify black voices .
Only then will lasting change be possible .

The post was originally published at Ongoing History Of Protest Songs.
On May 25, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by a white police officer who placed his knee on Floyd’s neck. He uttered the words, “I can’t breathe.” Three other police officers served as accomplices to the murder.
In the aftermath, there were countless protests throughout America and other countries. The ongoing protests and the differing responses to them call further attention to the racial divide that exists.
The anger and sadness felt during such traumatic events can be hard to express. If you happen to be a musician it is only natural to want to express your feelings in song, which is exactly what Chloë Nixon did.
The 16-year-old singer-songwriter wrote “I Can’t Breathe,” a poignant tune that articulates her feelings on the tragedy.
“I couldn’t help but use the most powerful language in the world to speak on the tragic injustices towards black people that have been occurring,” Nixon wrote. “I dedicate this song to George Floyd and family, all other victims and their families, humanity, everyone in pain, and everyone lost during these difficult times.”
“Know that it is crucial to fight for justice and make sure it is known that we see the toxic conditions of our system and that we will not tolerate it! Also know that humanity must keep our vibrations of love and strength!”
Nixon also declared, “We must invest more in the victimized communities and stop investing in the privileged ones. When we unite, we shall overcome. We shall not let any entity take our attention away from the justice that we are fighting for.”
In the history of protest movements, it is often the young ones who speak the loudest. The previous generations have failed them, and they won’t take it anymore.
For those of us who are older, it is important that we listen and support youth, who desire a better world than the one we are currently leaving to them. Those of us who are white need to listen to black people and amplify black voices. Only then will lasting change be possible.


shadowproof--2020-06-04--Attempts By Officials To Blame ‘Outside Agitators’ For George Floyd Protests Failed

Attempts By Officials To Blame ‘ Outside Agitators ’ For George Floyd Protests Failed Days after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd and sparked a rebellion , Minnesota Governor Tim Walz claimed state officials “ assessed that up to 80 percent of those protesting or rioting came from outside Minnesota.
” He suggested “ far-right white supremacists ” and “ organized drug cartels ” were responsible .
“ We are now confronting white supremacists , members of organized crime , out-of-state instigators , and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region , ” Walz declared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in place , Walz deployed the state ’ s National Guard and insisted that “ United States intelligence agencies were providing the state with information about who was behind the protests.
” Yet , according to the Washington Post , an unnamed “ federal law enforcement official was not aware of any intelligence about cartels infiltrating the protests.
” Anonymous U.S. officials also indicated they were “ skeptical that foreigners were taking part in protests or had helped organize them.
” Minnesota Public Radio analyzed county jail records and found 83 percent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the protests from May 28-29 , were from Minnesota .
“ Fifty-six percent were from Minneapolis or St. Paul.
” President Donald Trump seized upon this falsehood to reinforce his administration ’ s belief that “ anarchists ” and anti-fascist groups ( “ antifa ” ) were responsible for violence .
It eventually led the Justice Department to impulsively label “ antifa ” a “ domestic terrorist organization , ” even though there is no such organization because “ antifa ” is a movement .
As the Post acknowledged .
“ Leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local levels said large numbers of outsiders had seized upon protests begun by Minnesotans to advance their own political agendas.
” But the officials offered no evidence for this assertion , and they contradicted each other .
This is but one example of how efforts by officials to blame “ outside agitators ” for looting , vandalism , and arson flopped .
It contrasts sharply with events that unfolded in Ferguson , Missouri , in 2014 , and Baltimore , Maryland , in 2015 .
During the Baltimore uprising that occurred after police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ segment , where anchor Don Lemon and correspondent Sara Sidner attributed the “ unrest ” to “ professional protesters , ” who were not from the city .
When a grand jury refused to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown , Missouri authorities drafted contingency plans and sought intelligence from U.S. police departments on “ out-of-state agitators , fearing that fresh riots [ would ] erupt.
” Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson , who burnished his reputation as the city cracked down on protesters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have been coming to Ferguson are not from the area .
Tonight , some of those arrested came from as far away as New York and California.
” While ABC News examined jail records and challenged Johnson ’ s claim , the sense that officials were spreading claims about protesters that were probably false was not as pervasive in media coverage .
In Washington , D.C. , WUSA9 , a local CBS News affiliate , investigated claims by President Donald Trump , Attorney General Bill Barr , and others that “ rioting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work of “ outside agitators.
” “ Of the 104 arrests reviewed by WUSA9 , 79 subjects listed their residence as within 20 miles of D.C. Of those , 50 live in D.C. itself , ” WUSA9 reported .
“ Only one person arrested over the weekend , a 29-year-old man from North Carolina , listed an address outside of either D.C. , Maryland , or Virginia.
” Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat scrutinized the claims of Seattle officials , like the city ’ s police chief , who declared , “ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming into this city and literally tearing it up.
” “ Police listed general addresses for 62 of the people picked up Saturday and Sunday for looting , assault and other crimes , ” Westneat wrote .
Only two of the arrestees were from out-of-state .
“ All the rest are from Washington state .
Twenty-three have Seattle addresses , while the others are from close-in Puget Sound cities such as Kent , Federal Way , Bremerton or Sea-Tac .
Three are from Eastern Washington cities , ” Westneat additionally noted .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why saying the chaos was the product of “ outside agitators ” is so pernicious .
“ The claim in 2020 that this is all the fault of outside agitators is made for the same reason it was in 1964 : to deflect blame — blame for the violence and blame for the underlying circumstances causing it all , ” the editorial board argued .
“ It ’ s much easier for a politician to point a finger at people from afar than admit that the unrest is rooted in deep racial division @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individual racism ; in police brutality ; in lack of quality education , health care , housing and job opportunities ; and in the simmering anger that comes from knowing that nothing of consequence is being done about these social ills.
” “ Blaming outsiders avoids having to admit some responsibility for these maladies , ” the Baltimore Sun added .
It is possible journalists did not try to prove the “ outside agitator ” narrative this round because they sympathized with the rage that was sparked .
Like everyone , they watched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of eight minutes Derek Chauvin , Tou Thao , J. Alexander Kueng , and Thomas Lane participated in the murder of George Floyd who said , “ I can ’ t breathe.
” Three men , one an Army reservist and the other two former members of the Navy and Air Force , allegedly plotted to commit violence at protests in Las Vegas .
They were charged on June 3 with “ conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism , material support for committing an act of terrorism , and multiple explosives violations.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Boogaloo movement , which has members from the left and right but what supposedly unites the movement is a desire for a violent uprising against the U.S. government .
In the past , CNN and establishment media outlets would hold this case up as proof that the government claims around “ outside agitators ” hijacking protests were correct .
Yet , a day after the indictment , CNN.com published an article cautioning readers .
“ The narrative of the ‘ outside agitator ’ has long been used to undermine protest movements in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.—often invoked in conversations today about how people should demonstrate—was referred to by Southern white people as an outside agitator , ” CNN ’ s Harmeet Kaur declared .
It might as well have been published by Jacobin because it summarizes how the “ outside agitator ” label has been used to discredit movements , distract from underlying causes of protests , ignore how movements are connected across states , justify violence against protesters , and prevents movements from growing .
As time passes and the public processes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the time George Floyd was murdered to when all four officers were charged , it is worth recalling the work of John P. Spiegel , who was a psychiatrist who studied urban riots extensively in the 1960s .
Spiegel contended “ only rioting and violence seem to spur the white community to act on the problems of the ghetto.
” “ The contemporary ghetto riots , ” as he termed the rebellions of the 1960s , grew “ out of the failure of the civil rights movement in its attempt to achieve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protest.
” The Anti-Riot Act was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 , and during a hearing on the legislation , Spiegel outlined why it was inappropriate to suggest “ outside agitators ” were responsible for riots .
He assessed that the role of alleged “ outside agitators ” was typically so infinitesimal that they would not alter events .
“ If it had not been the outside agitator , it would have been an inside agitator , ” Spiegel said .
“ So the situation would have developed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his work studying riots , Spiegel testified , “ Riots are homegrown so to speak .
They occur because of problems within the city , and there are usually enough people within the city who are agitated by the integrating event , sufficiently agitated by it , to increase the tension and sort of direct the energy of the people toward the ‘ Roman Holiday ’ stage .
So that it certainly doesn ’ t require an outside agitator to produce the riot.
” To Spiegel , there were four stages in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Roman Holiday ” event , which is when youth typically feel emboldened to throw rocks and bottles and taunt police , and war , when adults join the youth in their acts against police .
Correspondents covering protests frequently sought to distinguish those looting , vandalizing property , and setting fire to buildings as individuals who are not part of peaceful protests and therefore they have no message .
However , those acts did not occur in a vacuum .
The message was the acts themselves , which so offend authorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no longer obey “ law and order ” because it fuels their oppression .
[ Note : In 2019 , the Anti-Riot Act was declared “ unconstitutionally broad ” by a federal judge . ]
‘ Right Out Of The Russian Playbook ’ Remarkably , the most incredible example of how the “ outside agitator ” narrative flopped may have come from Susan Rice , who was President Barack Obama ’ s national security adviser .
On May 31 , Rice appeared on CNN ’ s “ The Situation Room ” and blamed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ RICE : We have a problem here , Wolf .
We have peaceful protesters focused on the very real pain and disparities that we are all wrestling with that have to be addressed and then we have extremists who have come to try to hijack those protests and turn them into something very different .
And they probably also , I would bet based on my experience , I ’ m not reading the Intelligence today , or these days , but based on my experience , this is right out of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t allow the extremists , the foreign actors to distract from the real problems we have in this country that are long-standing , centuries-old and need to be addressed responsibly by new leadership .
BLITZER : You ’ re absolutely right on the foreign interference , because we know for decades , the Russians , when it was the Soviet Union , the communist , they ’ ve oftentimes tried to embarrass the United States by promoting the racial divide in our country , but what you are suggesting , Ambassador @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do that ?
Is that what you ’ re saying ?
RICE : Well , we see it all the time .
We ’ ve seen it for years , and , frankly , every day on social media , where they take any divisive painful issue whether it is immigration , whether it is gay rights , whether it is gun violence , and always racism , and they play on both sides .
Their aim is not simply to embarrass the United States , Wolf .
They ’ re aim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us to come into combat with each other .
To disintegrate from within , and I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides using social media .
Neither Rice nor Blitzer had any evidence to support their belief that Russia could be stirring up chaos in Minneapolis and other parts of the United States , and what this statement showed is how deeply Democrats are indoctrinated into this New Cold War belief that Russia is behind all dissent and turmoil .
In many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside agitator ” narrative , and it has dominated the political discourse throughout Trump ’ s administration .
This is dangerous when the White House is occupied by a counter-subversive president , who is hostile to social justice movements and will deploy the military to crush rebellion .
Rice even suggested it may be “ fine ” to designate antifa as a “ terrorist organization , ” and with widespread reports that arrested protesters are being questioned by the FBI about their associations with antifa or their views about the movement , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s Justice Department to target some activists .
Fortunately , the claims of Russia being behind “ outside agitators ” never gained any traction .

Days after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd and sparked a rebellion, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz claimed state officials “assessed that up to 80 percent of those protesting or rioting came from outside Minnesota.” He suggested “far-right white supremacists” and “organized drug cartels” were responsible.
“We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out-of-state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region,” Walz declared on May 29.
With a curfew in place, Walz deployed the state’s National Guard and insisted that “United States intelligence agencies were providing the state with information about who was behind the protests.”
Yet, according to the Washington Post, an unnamed “federal law enforcement official was not aware of any intelligence about cartels infiltrating the protests.”
Anonymous U.S. officials also indicated they were “skeptical that foreigners were taking part in protests or had helped organize them.”
Minnesota Public Radio analyzed county jail records and found 83 percent of people, who were arrested in connection with the protests from May 28-29, were from Minnesota. “Fifty-six percent were from Minneapolis or St. Paul.”
President Donald Trump seized upon this falsehood to reinforce his administration’s belief that “anarchists” and anti-fascist groups (“antifa”) were responsible for violence. It eventually led the Justice Department to impulsively label “antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization,” even though there is no such organization because “antifa” is a movement.
As the Post acknowledged. “Leaders at the federal, state, and local levels said large numbers of outsiders had seized upon protests begun by Minnesotans to advance their own political agendas.” But the officials offered no evidence for this assertion, and they contradicted each other.
This is but one example of how efforts by officials to blame “outside agitators” for looting, vandalism, and arson flopped. It contrasts sharply with events that unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015.
During the Baltimore uprising that occurred after police killed Freddie Gray, CNN aired a segment, where anchor Don Lemon and correspondent Sara Sidner attributed the “unrest” to “professional protesters,” who were not from the city.
When a grand jury refused to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown, Missouri authorities drafted contingency plans and sought intelligence from U.S. police departments on “out-of-state agitators, fearing that fresh riots [would] erupt.”
Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, who burnished his reputation as the city cracked down on protesters, declared, “Many a criminal element that have been coming to Ferguson are not from the area. Tonight, some of those arrested came from as far away as New York and California.”
While ABC News examined jail records and challenged Johnson’s claim, the sense that officials were spreading claims about protesters that were probably false was not as pervasive in media coverage.
In Washington, D.C., WUSA9, a local CBS News affiliate, investigated claims by President Donald Trump, Attorney General Bill Barr, and others that “rioting and looting” that erupted was the work of “outside agitators.”
“Of the 104 arrests reviewed by WUSA9, 79 subjects listed their residence as within 20 miles of D.C. Of those, 50 live in D.C. itself,” WUSA9 reported. “Only one person arrested over the weekend, a 29-year-old man from North Carolina, listed an address outside of either D.C., Maryland, or Virginia.”
Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat scrutinized the claims of Seattle officials, like the city’s police chief, who declared, “What we can’t have is people coming into this city and literally tearing it up.”
“Police listed general addresses for 62 of the people picked up Saturday and Sunday for looting, assault and other crimes,” Westneat wrote. Only two of the arrestees were from out-of-state.
“All the rest are from Washington state. Twenty-three have Seattle addresses, while the others are from close-in Puget Sound cities such as Kent, Federal Way, Bremerton or Sea-Tac. Three are from Eastern Washington cities,” Westneat additionally noted.
The Baltimore Sun editorial board published clearly articulated why saying the chaos was the product of “outside agitators” is so pernicious.
“The claim in 2020 that this is all the fault of outside agitators is made for the same reason it was in 1964: to deflect blame — blame for the violence and blame for the underlying circumstances causing it all,” the editorial board argued.
“It’s much easier for a politician to point a finger at people from afar than admit that the unrest is rooted in deep racial division and long-standing inequities, in systemic and individual racism; in police brutality; in lack of quality education, health care, housing and job opportunities; and in the simmering anger that comes from knowing that nothing of consequence is being done about these social ills.”
“Blaming outsiders avoids having to admit some responsibility for these maladies,” the Baltimore Sun added.
It is possible journalists did not try to prove the “outside agitator” narrative this round because they sympathized with the rage that was sparked. Like everyone, they watched a video, where over a span of eight minutes Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane participated in the murder of George Floyd who said, “I can’t breathe.”
Three men, one an Army reservist and the other two former members of the Navy and Air Force, allegedly plotted to commit violence at protests in Las Vegas. They were charged on June 3 with “conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, material support for committing an act of terrorism, and multiple explosives violations.”
The FBI says they identify with the Boogaloo movement, which has members from the left and right but what supposedly unites the movement is a desire for a violent uprising against the U.S. government.
In the past, CNN and establishment media outlets would hold this case up as proof that the government claims around “outside agitators” hijacking protests were correct. Yet, a day after the indictment, CNN.com published an article cautioning readers.
“The narrative of the ‘outside agitator’ has long been used to undermine protest movements in the United States. Even Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.—often invoked in conversations today about how people should demonstrate—was referred to by Southern white people as an outside agitator,” CNN’s Harmeet Kaur declared.
It might as well have been published by Jacobin because it summarizes how the “outside agitator” label has been used to discredit movements, distract from underlying causes of protests, ignore how movements are connected across states, justify violence against protesters, and prevents movements from growing.
Riots Are Homegrown
As time passes and the public processes what unfolded over these ten days, from the time George Floyd was murdered to when all four officers were charged, it is worth recalling the work of John P. Spiegel, who was a psychiatrist who studied urban riots extensively in the 1960s.
Spiegel contended “only rioting and violence seem to spur the white community to act on the problems of the ghetto.”
“The contemporary ghetto riots,” as he termed the rebellions of the 1960s, grew “out of the failure of the civil rights movement in its attempt to achieve normative readjustment for black people through nonviolent protest.”
The Anti-Riot Act was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and during a hearing on the legislation, Spiegel outlined why it was inappropriate to suggest “outside agitators” were responsible for riots.
He assessed that the role of alleged “outside agitators” was typically so infinitesimal that they would not alter events.
“If it had not been the outside agitator, it would have been an inside agitator,” Spiegel said. “So the situation would have developed in that direction probably anyway.”
Reflecting on his work studying riots, Spiegel testified, “Riots are homegrown so to speak. They occur because of problems within the city, and there are usually enough people within the city who are agitated by the integrating event, sufficiently agitated by it, to increase the tension and sort of direct the energy of the people toward the ‘Roman Holiday’ stage. So that it certainly doesn’t require an outside agitator to produce the riot.”
To Spiegel, there were four stages in a riot—the spark, the confrontation, the “Roman Holiday” event, which is when youth typically feel emboldened to throw rocks and bottles and taunt police, and war, when adults join the youth in their acts against police.
Correspondents covering protests frequently sought to distinguish those looting, vandalizing property, and setting fire to buildings as individuals who are not part of peaceful protests and therefore they have no message. However, those acts did not occur in a vacuum. The message was the acts themselves, which so offend authorities and show that a population refuses to no longer obey “law and order” because it fuels their oppression.
[Note: In 2019, the Anti-Riot Act was declared “unconstitutionally broad” by a federal judge.]
‘Right Out Of The Russian Playbook’
Remarkably, the most incredible example of how the “outside agitator” narrative flopped may have come from Susan Rice, who was President Barack Obama’s national security adviser.
On May 31, Rice appeared on CNN’s “The Situation Room” and blamed Russia for the rioting in Minneapolis:
RICE: We have a problem here, Wolf. We have peaceful protesters focused on the very real pain and disparities that we are all wrestling with that have to be addressed and then we have extremists who have come to try to hijack those protests and turn them into something very different. And they probably also, I would bet based on my experience, I’m not reading the Intelligence today, or these days, but based on my experience, this is right out of the Russian playbook as well, but we can’t allow the extremists, the foreign actors to distract from the real problems we have in this country that are long-standing, centuries-old and need to be addressed responsibly by new leadership. BLITZER: You’re absolutely right on the foreign interference, because we know for decades, the Russians, when it was the Soviet Union, the communist, they’ve oftentimes tried to embarrass the United States by promoting the racial divide in our country, but what you are suggesting, Ambassador is that they’re still trying to do that? Is that what you’re saying? RICE: Well, we see it all the time. We’ve seen it for years, and, frankly, every day on social media, where they take any divisive painful issue whether it is immigration, whether it is gay rights, whether it is gun violence, and always racism, and they play on both sides. Their aim is not simply to embarrass the United States, Wolf. They’re aim is to divide us, to cause us to come into combat with each other. To disintegrate from within, and I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides using social media.
Rice continued:
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they are funding it in some way, shape or form, and that is something that we need to take seriously, but we cannot allow it to distract us from the real problem that is an American problem, that we alone can address and we need leadership desperately, Wolf, that doesn’t demonize peaceful protesters from — frankly from Colin Kaepernick to those who have tried peacefully protest in recent days.
Neither Rice nor Blitzer had any evidence to support their belief that Russia could be stirring up chaos in Minneapolis and other parts of the United States, and what this statement showed is how deeply Democrats are indoctrinated into this New Cold War belief that Russia is behind all dissent and turmoil.
In many ways, Russiagate is the ultimate “outside agitator” narrative, and it has dominated the political discourse throughout Trump’s administration. This is dangerous when the White House is occupied by a counter-subversive president, who is hostile to social justice movements and will deploy the military to crush rebellion.
Rice even suggested it may be “fine” to designate antifa as a “terrorist organization,” and with widespread reports that arrested protesters are being questioned by the FBI about their associations with antifa or their views about the movement, this represents the bipartisan consensus that will allow Trump’s Justice Department to target some activists.
Fortunately, the claims of Russia being behind “outside agitators” never gained any traction.