thenation--2020-06-10--The Bravery of Marching for Black Lives in the Middle of a Pandemic

The autopsy of George Floyd revealed that he had contracted the coronavirus .
But it didn ’ t have anything to do with his death , the medical examiner said .
This man survived a pandemic that is disproportionately killing black folks but couldn ’ t survive a police force that disproportionately targets black folks .
In a normal society , we ’ d be heartbroken , frustrated , and angry that black people have been pushed out into the streets to demand equal justice at a time when all people should be staying at home and avoiding large crowds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to manage the urgent need for social justice within the confines of the urgent need for social distancing .
We ’ d be trying to keep protesters safe from the police and from Covid-19 at the same time .
But we don ’ t live in a normal society ; we live in a white one .
And so it shouldn ’ t be surprising that some white people have used this moment not to think about how the victims of police brutality can avoid being re-victimized by an infectious disease but instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the progressives who support protests against police violence .
Whiteness apologist J.D .
Vance weighed in : “ I ’ m still amazed at how quickly the moral scolding ceased as soon as elite-favored protests began taking place .
( I guess I shouldn ’ t be amazed anymore .
I should just expect it . )
But it has further eroded trust in our country ’ s experts.
” The Washington Examiner ’ s Tim Carney refused to let a good crisis go to waste : “ So here ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to give up control over our lives : Please check back in two weeks .
If these protests do not prove to have spread the virus significantly , you liberate all outdoor activities ( perhaps with mask requirements ) immediately .
All outdoor July 4 activities should be back on .
Summer league baseball should be back on .
Pools should be open.
” I can ’ t tell if these people are hoping black people get Covid-19 to punish them for daring to question the police—or hoping people don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pedicure .
But I can tell that these people are not interested in the health and well-being of protesters .
I can tell that these people are pushing a conservative political agenda and not an impartial health one .
That ’ s because people who are actually concerned about black lives , and how those lives might be protected from both the cops and the coronavirus , are pointing out three things .
1 .
Many Protesters Are Wearing Masks , Just as Everybody Should Be Compared to the white-bread , gun-waving Confederate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve seen since the death of George Floyd have been pretty masked up .
Not every protester is wearing a mask , but many of them are .
It ’ s hard to tell from television cameras or anecdotal street reports what percentage of protesters are covering up , but we can see with our own eyes that a majority are .
That ’ s not surprising , because those agitating for racial equality are not hostile to the notion of public health , unlike the All Haircuts Matter protesters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ raging against quarantine orders , were explicitly committed to going mask-free .
Their leader , Donald Trump , refuses to wear a mask because , when he ’ s not hiding in a bunker , he thinks wearing a mask makes him look “ weak.
” It makes sense to point out the lack of concern for public health in a protest that is essentially against public health .
In contrast , the protests against police brutality are not ideologically antithetical to public health guidelines .
Nobody protesting for black lives acts like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bravery .
Going out and protesting cops is plenty brave enough .
In fact , these protests are telling us that people are willing to risk their own personal health—from the coronavirus , and from police brutality—to advocate for justice .
More protesters should be wearing masks , though .
That is something that I ’ ve said , and many other black people have said when speaking about the protests .
Unfortunately , our voices kind of get drowned out by anchors and commentators having a conniption every time a sacred Target @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spend more time talking about appropriate social distancing during direct action , but unfortunately I have to waste my time debating white people who don ’ t think racism exists .
The “ moral scolding ” of people who refuse to wear protection has not ceased ; it ’ s been shouted down by people who want to morally scold people who destroy property .
If Andrew Sullivan needs me to tell people to loot a Walmart to get the personal protective equipment they need to continue protesting safely , let me know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It Harder for Protesters To Be Safe Any honest expressions of concern about managing protests during the pandemic would include an examination of whether the tactics used by the police against the protesters promote or frustrate public health .
Not surprisingly , the commentators who cry public health hypocrisy offer no examination of the tactics employed by armed agents of the state .
In reality , many of the protesters who get Covid-19 will be victims of police tactics that made it all but impossible not to contract the virus .
One common @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Police surround protesters , jamming them into an enclosed area that is easier for police to control .
The most infamous example of this during these protests took place when the New York Police Department trapped 5,000 people on the Manhattan Bridge for over an hour .
Far from promoting social distancing , police forces around the country are trying to force protesters together like sardines .
When not kettling protesters , police are busy arresting them .
That means protesters are thrown together in tight quarters for a night—or longer—which also promotes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White People Who Keep Asking How to ‘ Help ’ People Can Only Bear So Much Injustice Before Lashing Out And when not being arrested or kettled , people are being teargassed , pepper-sprayed , and beaten .
One officer ( that we know of ) pulled off a person ’ s mask so that the police officer could pepper-spray the protester more effectively .
It ’ s hard to keep your mask on when somebody is trying to pour water all over your face to get the tear gas out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to keep your mask on when cops are beating you about the back and neck with clubs .
It ’ s hard to maintain a concern for social distance when you are being brutalized and terrorized by police officers using counter-insurgency tactics against you .
A government concerned with keeping citizens safe from the coronavirus would not be employing any of these tactics during a pandemic .
Police could be using the T-shirt cannons that are not being used at sporting events to fire masks into crowds of people .
Instead , police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because the snowflake cops didn ’ t like the messages printed on those masks .
Protesting during a pandemic is inherently dangerous .
The police , through their tactics , are making it immeasurably more dangerous , and none of the keyboard heroes who suddenly care about intellectual consistency in public health can be bothered to talk about who is making these public health concerns worse for everybody .
3 .
The Protesters Against Police Brutality Are , in Fact , Morally Superior to the Reopen Protesters Covid-19 does not care about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not care who has the moral high ground .
The virus is going to kill people regardless of their political ideology , because it ’ s a lethal virus and that ’ s what it does .
Any discussion of the pandemic and protests has to acknowledge that infectious diseases do not care if you are on the side of angels or not .
But how we think about people who engage in activities that puts them at risk from disease can be informed by how we think about the importance of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instance , engage in high-risk activities all the time .
And we applaud and thank them .
We can make a moral distinction between a nurse who works in enclosed spaces ministering to the sick and a boxer who gets in close to minister an uppercut for prize money .
One of the consistent , relentless demands of the miasma that is white , male , heteronormative ideology ( yes , all three ) is that we treat the beliefs of those who practice it as the objective ones and everybody else ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inferior , or deficient in some way .
That ’ s how these people end up acting like the desire to ostracize and humiliate LGBTQ people is just as valid as—no , make that more valid than—a gay or trans person ’ s desire to buy a cake like any other person walking around this country .
They tell themselves they are fighting for an objective right , while everybody else is allowing their subjective desires to cloud their judgement .
This alleged objectivity allows people to ignore the inequality and unfairness inherent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a society where only the most powerful prevail .
If these white people think they are fighting for a default normalcy , then some of them will think it ’ s okay to use guns , gerrymandering , and voter suppression to maintain society as they see fit .
Or they ’ ll argue that their desire to gather in a park to enjoy a sunny day should be treated with the same deference as somebody else ’ s desire to gather in a park to object to state sponsored murder .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it ’ s intellectually dishonest to claim they are .
It ’ s intellectually dishonest—and lazy and ignorant—to look at someone ’ s desire , say , to go to baseball game as the equivalent of another ’ s desire not to be murdered by police .
White inconvenience is not a national crisis .
Police brutality against black people is .
The only people who will tell you differently are sociopaths who are unable to properly value human life , or white people who simply do not value black lives .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ what most of them have been saying : Acknowledge that demands for justice are more important than the desire to go shopping , and advocate for people to be as safe as possible while participating in the medically risky yet socially necessary process of protests .
That is a subjective standard , but it ’ s not a hypocritical one .
It ’ s also the right standard , and just because some people would evidently shoot me to get into a Cracker Barrel doesn ’ t make their position equally valid to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ hypocrisy ” of police brutality protests gives one damn about the lives of people participating in the protests .
They ’ re not trying to think through how to protest safely , and they ’ re certainly not trying to think through how they can help end the police ’ s destruction of black lives while remaining socially distant and safe .
They ’ re just doing their usual false equivalency thing : casting demands of an oppressed minority for justice in the same moral light as the self-pity a white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed to rule the earth for eight seconds .
Protesters should wear masks .
The police should stop using tactics that make it harder for protesters to avoid catching the coronavirus .
And Martin Luther King Jr. did not die so white people could get a tan at the beach during a pandemic .

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The autopsy of George Floyd revealed that he had contracted the coronavirus. But it didn’t have anything to do with his death, the medical examiner said. This man survived a pandemic that is disproportionately killing black folks but couldn’t survive a police force that disproportionately targets black folks.
In a normal society, we’d be heartbroken, frustrated, and angry that black people have been pushed out into the streets to demand equal justice at a time when all people should be staying at home and avoiding large crowds. We’d be desperately trying to manage the urgent need for social justice within the confines of the urgent need for social distancing. We’d be trying to keep protesters safe from the police and from Covid-19 at the same time.
But we don’t live in a normal society; we live in a white one. And so it shouldn’t be surprising that some white people have used this moment not to think about how the victims of police brutality can avoid being re-victimized by an infectious disease but instead to call hypocrisy on public health organizations and the progressives who support protests against police violence.
Whiteness apologist J.D. Vance weighed in: “I’m still amazed at how quickly the moral scolding ceased as soon as elite-favored protests began taking place. (I guess I shouldn’t be amazed anymore. I should just expect it.) But it has further eroded trust in our country’s experts.” Current Issue View our current issue
The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney refused to let a good crisis go to waste: “So here’s a proposal for politicians who are not ready to give up control over our lives: Please check back in two weeks. If these protests do not prove to have spread the virus significantly, you liberate all outdoor activities (perhaps with mask requirements) immediately. All outdoor July 4 activities should be back on. Summer league baseball should be back on. Pools should be open.”
I can’t tell if these people are hoping black people get Covid-19 to punish them for daring to question the police—or hoping people don’t get Covid-19 so they can get a pedicure.
But I can tell that these people are not interested in the health and well-being of protesters. I can tell that these people are pushing a conservative political agenda and not an impartial health one. That’s because people who are actually concerned about black lives, and how those lives might be protected from both the cops and the coronavirus, are pointing out three things.
1. Many Protesters Are Wearing Masks, Just as Everybody Should Be
Compared to the white-bread, gun-waving Confederate protests during the spring, the protests we’ve seen since the death of George Floyd have been pretty masked up. Not every protester is wearing a mask, but many of them are. It’s hard to tell from television cameras or anecdotal street reports what percentage of protesters are covering up, but we can see with our own eyes that a majority are. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
That’s not surprising, because those agitating for racial equality are not hostile to the notion of public health, unlike the All Haircuts Matter protesters. Those protesters, whom we last saw raging against quarantine orders, were explicitly committed to going mask-free. Their leader, Donald Trump, refuses to wear a mask because, when he’s not hiding in a bunker, he thinks wearing a mask makes him look “weak.” It makes sense to point out the lack of concern for public health in a protest that is essentially against public health.
In contrast, the protests against police brutality are not ideologically antithetical to public health guidelines. Nobody protesting for black lives acts like wearing a mask is insulting to their bravery. Going out and protesting cops is plenty brave enough. In fact, these protests are telling us that people are willing to risk their own personal health—from the coronavirus, and from police brutality—to advocate for justice.
More protesters should be wearing masks, though. That is something that I’ve said, and many other black people have said when speaking about the protests. Unfortunately, our voices kind of get drowned out by anchors and commentators having a conniption every time a sacred Target gets looted. I would love to spend more time talking about appropriate social distancing during direct action, but unfortunately I have to waste my time debating white people who don’t think racism exists. The “moral scolding” of people who refuse to wear protection has not ceased; it’s been shouted down by people who want to morally scold people who destroy property.
If Andrew Sullivan needs me to tell people to loot a Walmart to get the personal protective equipment they need to continue protesting safely, let me know.
2. The Cops Are Making It Harder for Protesters To Be Safe
Any honest expressions of concern about managing protests during the pandemic would include an examination of whether the tactics used by the police against the protesters promote or frustrate public health. Not surprisingly, the commentators who cry public health hypocrisy offer no examination of the tactics employed by armed agents of the state. In reality, many of the protesters who get Covid-19 will be victims of police tactics that made it all but impossible not to contract the virus.
One common police tactic is called “kettling.” Police surround protesters, jamming them into an enclosed area that is easier for police to control. The most infamous example of this during these protests took place when the New York Police Department trapped 5,000 people on the Manhattan Bridge for over an hour. Far from promoting social distancing, police forces around the country are trying to force protesters together like sardines.
When not kettling protesters, police are busy arresting them. That means protesters are thrown together in tight quarters for a night—or longer—which also promotes the spread of the coronavirus. More from Mystal To the White People Who Keep Asking How to ‘Help’ Elie Mystal People Can Only Bear So Much Injustice Before Lashing Out Elie Mystal You Can’t Mask Stupid Elie Mystal
And when not being arrested or kettled, people are being teargassed, pepper-sprayed, and beaten. One officer (that we know of) pulled off a person’s mask so that the police officer could pepper-spray the protester more effectively.
It’s hard to keep your mask on when somebody is trying to pour water all over your face to get the tear gas out of your eyes. It’s hard to keep your mask on when cops are beating you about the back and neck with clubs. It’s hard to maintain a concern for social distance when you are being brutalized and terrorized by police officers using counter-insurgency tactics against you.
A government concerned with keeping citizens safe from the coronavirus would not be employing any of these tactics during a pandemic. Police could be using the T-shirt cannons that are not being used at sporting events to fire masks into crowds of people. Instead, police were caught seizing masks meant for protesters, because the snowflake cops didn’t like the messages printed on those masks.
Protesting during a pandemic is inherently dangerous. The police, through their tactics, are making it immeasurably more dangerous, and none of the keyboard heroes who suddenly care about intellectual consistency in public health can be bothered to talk about who is making these public health concerns worse for everybody.
3. The Protesters Against Police Brutality Are, in Fact, Morally Superior to the Reopen Protesters
Covid-19 does not care about who is “right.” It does not care who has the moral high ground. The virus is going to kill people regardless of their political ideology, because it’s a lethal virus and that’s what it does. Any discussion of the pandemic and protests has to acknowledge that infectious diseases do not care if you are on the side of angels or not.
But how we think about people who engage in activities that puts them at risk from disease can be informed by how we think about the importance of those activities. Health care professionals, for instance, engage in high-risk activities all the time. And we applaud and thank them. We can make a moral distinction between a nurse who works in enclosed spaces ministering to the sick and a boxer who gets in close to minister an uppercut for prize money.
One of the consistent, relentless demands of the miasma that is white, male, heteronormative ideology (yes, all three) is that we treat the beliefs of those who practice it as the objective ones and everybody else’s beliefs as subjective, partisan, inferior, or deficient in some way. That’s how these people end up acting like the desire to ostracize and humiliate LGBTQ people is just as valid as—no, make that more valid than—a gay or trans person’s desire to buy a cake like any other person walking around this country. They tell themselves they are fighting for an objective right, while everybody else is allowing their subjective desires to cloud their judgement.
This alleged objectivity allows people to ignore the inequality and unfairness inherent in their status quo, while promoting a society where only the most powerful prevail. If these white people think they are fighting for a default normalcy, then some of them will think it’s okay to use guns, gerrymandering, and voter suppression to maintain society as they see fit. Or they’ll argue that their desire to gather in a park to enjoy a sunny day should be treated with the same deference as somebody else’s desire to gather in a park to object to state sponsored murder.
But the two are far from equivalent, and it’s intellectually dishonest to claim they are. It’s intellectually dishonest—and lazy and ignorant—to look at someone’s desire, say, to go to baseball game as the equivalent of another’s desire not to be murdered by police.
White inconvenience is not a national crisis. Police brutality against black people is. The only people who will tell you differently are sociopaths who are unable to properly value human life, or white people who simply do not value black lives.
Public health officials should be saying exactly what most of them have been saying: Acknowledge that demands for justice are more important than the desire to go shopping, and advocate for people to be as safe as possible while participating in the medically risky yet socially necessary process of protests. That is a subjective standard, but it’s not a hypocritical one.
It’s also the right standard, and just because some people would evidently shoot me to get into a Cracker Barrel doesn’t make their position equally valid to mine.
Not a single person decrying the “hypocrisy” of police brutality protests gives one damn about the lives of people participating in the protests. They’re not trying to think through how to protest safely, and they’re certainly not trying to think through how they can help end the police’s destruction of black lives while remaining socially distant and safe. They’re just doing their usual false equivalency thing: casting demands of an oppressed minority for justice in the same moral light as the self-pity a white man feels when he’s not allowed to rule the earth for eight seconds.
Protesters should wear masks. The police should stop using tactics that make it harder for protesters to avoid catching the coronavirus. And Martin Luther King Jr. did not die so white people could get a tan at the beach during a pandemic.


thenation--2020-06-10--Stop Blaming ‘Outside Agitators’ for America’s Problems

Donald Trump can always be trusted to increase the sting of injury with his own deranged brand of insult .
While there is no shortage of videos of police brutality during the current uprising , one of the most shocking appeared on Saturday , showing two police officers in Buffalo shoving Martin Gugino , an elderly man , to the ground .
As police continued to walk past his body , Gugino lay there with blood draining from his ears .
He ’ s currently in the hospital recovering .
On Tuesday , Trump tweeted : “ Buffalo protester shoved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment .
@ OANN I watched , he fell harder than was pushed .
Was aiming scanner .
Could be a set up ?
” America Is Fracturing—and So Is ‘ The New York Times ’ Tom Cotton Is Preparing to Be Trump 2.0 Trump Is Using the Military to Hide His Weakness Needless to say , Trump ’ s tweet was total nonsense .
Far from being an antifa provocateur , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Catholic Workers Movement .
Although known for direct action , the Catholic Workers are not provocateurs .
Antifa is a frequent bogeyman Trump likes to conjure up , but it also doesn ’ t fit the model of agitation Trump is describing .
Antifa is not a cohesive , organized group but an informal ideological network of activists engaged in anti-fascist protests .
While antifa activists have on occasion scuffled with police , there ’ s no evidence that they are major players in the nationwide protests .
Trump has repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrorist group .
As The New York Times notes , Trump is having trouble achieving this goal because “ the federal government can only designate foreign-based groups as terrorist entities , and anti-fascism is a political idea , like pacifism or communism , not an organization.
” Trump ’ s tweet is part of a larger push by his administration to revive the classic trope of the outside agitator in order to discredit the uprising against police violence .
On May 31 , Attorney General Bill Barr alleged that “ groups of outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pursue their own separate and violent agenda.
” Like Trump ’ s claims about antifa , Barr ’ s statement is rhetorical bullshit hiding a lack of evidence .
Protests are taking place all over America on a scale not seen since the 1960s .
They have also inspired similar movements on every continent save Antarctica .
It ’ s undoubtedly the case that the protests have drawn people with a range of motives .
This includes white supremacists motivated by the desire to infiltrate and discredit .
But there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and agitators ” are the main cause of violence .
NPR observed that “ U.S .
Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly blamed anti-fascist activists for the violence that has erupted during demonstrations over George Floyd ’ s death , but federal court records show no sign of so-called antifa links so far in cases brought by the Justice Department.
” As my colleague Ken Klippenstein reported , the FBI ’ s Washington Field Office was also quick to pour cold water on Barr ’ s charges , stating that the agency has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the Trump administration isn ’ t the only one trying to revive the trope of the outside agitator .
Shamefully , Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown , a Democrat , also described Martin Gugino as an “ agitator.
” Similar language blaming outside groups for local political violence has been used by Democratic mayors in many cities .
When the uprising first started , Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey claimed , again without credible evidence , that protesters “ are coming in largely from outside of the city , from outside of the region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ built over the last several decades.
” It ’ s strange to hear this language , so steeped in reactionary mythology , taken up by Democrats like Brown and Frey .
The trope of the outside agitator goes back to the earliest days of slave rebellions and enjoyed a resurgence during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and ’ 60s .
As University of Chicago historian Thomas C. Holt told The New York Times , “ The notion—or rather fiction—of the ‘ outside agitator ’ was a persistent trope , especially during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement.
” Holt added , “ Part of the motivations for the charge was to sustain the myth that the locals were satisfied with things as they were , and if you could just crack down on the outsiders , the protests would cease .
As the movement grew and spread , that myth became more difficult to sustain.
” The fact that Democratic mayors are so quick to resort to the outside agitator trope is evidence of how conservative their politics are .
Squeezed between protesters who want change and powerful police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , mayors like Brown and Frey are conjuring up mythical agitators as a scapegoat .
It is also a way of deflecting attention from the intensity of local anger .
Nor are violent protesters the only imaginary scapegoat .
Responding to Trump comments about Martin Gugino , Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy , a Democrat , tweeted , “ The story Trump is referencing was written by a Russian working for the Kremlin ’ s propaganda agency .
Get ready—this is the next five months .
Russia and the Trump campaign openly collaborating to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If we were generous , we could say there is a bare modicum of truth to Murphy ’ s claims .
Trump ’ s tweet was based on a report on the right-wing OANN network that was made by Kristian Brunovich Rouz , a Russian national who immigrated to the United States in 2015 .
Rouz does occasionally write , as a freelancer , for the Russian journal Sputnik .
But there is really no reason to think that this is proof that the Trump campaign is “ openly collaborating ” with Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relying on conspiracy theories that appeared in the blog The Conservative Treehouse .
Fantasies about antifa are common in the right-wing media , including on Fox News .
Rouz may have been elevating these fantasies , but he didn ’ t create them .
Conspiracy mongering in America is not something Vladimir Putin invented .
Nor are right-wingers the only ones who believe lurid and absurd claims about antifa .
On June 1 , Jonathan Chait , a liberal journalist who works for New York magazine , tweeted , “ One sign that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that it ’ s literally impossible to distinguish them from white supremacist militias right now.
” Like Trump and Barr , Chait ’ s claim is factually dubious .
There is actual evidence of white supremacist violence in the protests , including a self-described member of the Ku Klux Klan driving into protesters .
The antifa threat is , based on all credible evidence to date , imaginary .
Not all liberals are hawking the outside agitator threat .
But to the extent they are , it is for the same reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uprising has made visible a massive social crisis in America .
To solve this problem , sweeping change is needed .
The rising chorus of “ defund the police ” acknowledges the depth of the problem .
Those who are uncomfortable with radical reforms fall back on blaming outside agitators as a way to stalling needed change .
Accepting reality is the beginning of any solution .
America needs to admit that its problems are not caused by antifa or Putin but by a deeply racist criminal justice system .

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Donald Trump can always be trusted to increase the sting of injury with his own deranged brand of insult. While there is no shortage of videos of police brutality during the current uprising, one of the most shocking appeared on Saturday, showing two police officers in Buffalo shoving Martin Gugino, an elderly man, to the ground. As police continued to walk past his body, Gugino lay there with blood draining from his ears. He’s currently in the hospital recovering.
Two Buffalo police officers have been suspended without pay after a widely shared video showed them shoving an elderly man to the ground, causing him a serious head injury (warning: distressing) pic.twitter.com/uc1GAxNSgY — NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 6, 2020
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” More From Jeet Heer The Indigenous Roots of Robbie Robertson’s Rock and Roll Revolution August 14, 2023 Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money? August 11, 2023 When Phallocrats Go Limp August 4, 2023
Needless to say, Trump’s tweet was total nonsense. Far from being an antifa provocateur, Gugino is a longtime pacifist who belongs to the Catholic Workers Movement. Although known for direct action, the Catholic Workers are not provocateurs. Antifa is a frequent bogeyman Trump likes to conjure up, but it also doesn’t fit the model of agitation Trump is describing. Antifa is not a cohesive, organized group but an informal ideological network of activists engaged in anti-fascist protests. While antifa activists have on occasion scuffled with police, there’s no evidence that they are major players in the nationwide protests.
Trump has repeatedly promised to have antifa designated as a terrorist group. As The New York Times notes, Trump is having trouble achieving this goal because “the federal government can only designate foreign-based groups as terrorist entities, and anti-fascism is a political idea, like pacifism or communism, not an organization.” Current Issue View our current issue
Trump’s tweet is part of a larger push by his administration to revive the classic trope of the outside agitator in order to discredit the uprising against police violence. On May 31, Attorney General Bill Barr alleged that “groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda.” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Like Trump’s claims about antifa, Barr’s statement is rhetorical bullshit hiding a lack of evidence. Protests are taking place all over America on a scale not seen since the 1960s. They have also inspired similar movements on every continent save Antarctica. It’s undoubtedly the case that the protests have drawn people with a range of motives. This includes white supremacists motivated by the desire to infiltrate and discredit. But there’s no reason to believe that “radicals and agitators” are the main cause of violence.
NPR observed that “U.S. Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly blamed anti-fascist activists for the violence that has erupted during demonstrations over George Floyd’s death, but federal court records show no sign of so-called antifa links so far in cases brought by the Justice Department.” As my colleague Ken Klippenstein reported, the FBI’s Washington Field Office was also quick to pour cold water on Barr’s charges, stating that the agency has “no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence.”
But the Trump administration isn’t the only one trying to revive the trope of the outside agitator. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, a Democrat, also invoked the trope in a press conference last week. Similar language blaming outside groups for local political violence has been used by Democratic mayors in many cities. When the uprising first started, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey claimed, again without credible evidence, that protesters “are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything we have built over the last several decades.”
It’s strange to hear this language, so steeped in reactionary mythology, taken up by Democrats like Brown and Frey. The trope of the outside agitator goes back to the earliest days of slave rebellions and enjoyed a resurgence during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and ’60s.
As University of Chicago historian Thomas C. Holt told The New York Times, “The notion—or rather fiction—of the ‘outside agitator’ was a persistent trope, especially during the early years of the civil rights movement.” Holt added, “Part of the motivations for the charge was to sustain the myth that the locals were satisfied with things as they were, and if you could just crack down on the outsiders, the protests would cease. As the movement grew and spread, that myth became more difficult to sustain.”
The fact that Democratic mayors are so quick to resort to the outside agitator trope is evidence of how conservative their politics are. Squeezed between protesters who want change and powerful police unions seeking to preserve the status quo, mayors like Brown and Frey are conjuring up mythical agitators as a scapegoat. It is also a way of deflecting attention from the intensity of local anger. Antifa The FBI Finds ‘No Intel Indicating Antifa Involvement’ in Sunday’s Violence Ken Klippenstein
Nor are violent protesters the only imaginary scapegoat. Responding to Trump comments about Martin Gugino, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, tweeted, “The story Trump is referencing was written by a Russian working for the Kremlin’s propaganda agency. Get ready—this is the next five months. Russia and the Trump campaign openly collaborating to spread lies and manipulate the election.”
If we were generous, we could say there is a bare modicum of truth to Murphy’s claims. Trump’s tweet was based on a report on the right-wing OANN network that was made by Kristian Brunovich Rouz, a Russian national who immigrated to the United States in 2015. Rouz does occasionally write, as a freelancer, for the Russian journal Sputnik.
But there is really no reason to think that this is proof that the Trump campaign is “openly collaborating” with Russia. For one thing, Rouz was relying on conspiracy theories that appeared in the blog The Conservative Treehouse. Fantasies about antifa are common in the right-wing media, including on Fox News. Rouz may have been elevating these fantasies, but he didn’t create them. Conspiracy mongering in America is not something Vladimir Putin invented.
Nor are right-wingers the only ones who believe lurid and absurd claims about antifa. On June 1, Jonathan Chait, a liberal journalist who works for New York magazine, tweeted, “One sign that liberals shouldn’t be defending antifa is that it’s literally impossible to distinguish them from white supremacist militias right now.” Like Trump and Barr, Chait’s claim is factually dubious. There is actual evidence of white supremacist violence in the protests, including a self-described member of the Ku Klux Klan driving into protesters. The antifa threat is, based on all credible evidence to date, imaginary.
Not all liberals are hawking the outside agitator threat. But to the extent they are, it is for the same reason that the Trump administration is. The uprising has made visible a massive social crisis in America. To solve this problem, sweeping change is needed. The rising chorus of “defund the police” acknowledges the depth of the problem. Those who are uncomfortable with radical reforms fall back on blaming outside agitators as a way to stalling needed change.
Accepting reality is the beginning of any solution. America needs to admit that its problems are not caused by antifa or Putin but by a deeply racist criminal justice system.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown had described activist Martin Gugino as an “agitator.” This story has been updated.


thenation--2020-06-10--Phara Souffrant Forrest Wants to Cancel Your Rent

Phara Souffrant Forrest is a daughter of Haitian American immigrants , a union nurse , a tenant activist , and a member of Democratic Socialists of America ( DSA ) , and she is running to represent the 57th Assembly District in Brooklyn .
Growing up in Crown Heights , an area of Brooklyn she now hopes to represent , Forrest witnessed firsthand police injustice , and went to her first protest against NYPD brutality at just 8 years old .
She supports tenant unions , universal health care for all New Yorkers , and police transparency .
On June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the campaign has hit twin obstacles : the Covid-19 pandemic and Governor Andrew Cuomo ’ s decision to pull the presidential primary off the the state ballot ( a court later forced him to reinstate it ) , which left many New York voters confused about this election .
In an interview compiled from two conversations—one before and one after the unrest—Forrest and I discussed health care , climate change , housing , gentrification , police racism , and the importance of voting on June 23. ara aig : How did you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
hara orrest : At 16 , I organized with PACC [ Pratt Area Community Council ] to talk about lead-based poisoning in tenants ’ buildings .
In high school , I was a part of a group advocating for the Dream Act to ensure undocumented students got the same opportunity to go to school , and not pay astronomical fees .
My most recent activist work started in 2016 when my building was being converted from a rent-stabilized building to luxury condos .
We knew we were going to be subject to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something in place .
I started making an association alongside neighbors in my building and my community to push for stronger rent laws .
Eventually , I ended up in Albany , with the statewide tenants ’ movement .
I got arrested in June of last year , standing up to ensure that stabilization laws were kept in place permanently .
I didn ’ t know I was going to run for state Assembly at the time , but I knew that I had to step up because we didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much as part of the problem if you don ’ t stand up .
SB : Growing up in Crown Heights , how did you see police violence affect your area ?
PSF : That was the conversation in high school , in college , like , it was expected .
That was the law of the land : If you ’ re black or a person of color , you ’ re going to be stopped , so you had to be educated on how to deal with the police .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the young men and women I grew up with ; everything was affected by police brutality .
SB : What have you seen at the protests in your community ?
PSF : I went to a protest yesterday organized by New York Community for Change Crown Heights Tenants Union and a couple of other tenant unions and talked about housing and George Floyd .
People are protesting police brutalization in light of coronavirus , poor housing , and the loss of jobs .
There are huge gaps in our children ’ s education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent and $ 400 million from health care while leaving the New York City Police Department budget intact .
My first protest was when I was 8 years old in 1997 , when the police sodomized Abner Louima .
Louima received a settlement , but I remember it took a long time for the police officers to face justice .
That was 23 years ago , and now we have on camera , a police officer kneeling on the neck of George and killing him .
Eric Garner , Breonna Taylor—it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the streets .
SB : What needs to be done to stop police brutality ?
PSF : The bare minimum is passing the Safer New York Act backed by Communities United for Police Reform .
The package includes a full repeal of 50-A [ which conceals police misconduct from the public and was repealed on June 9 ] .
Repealing 50-A will allow us to see police disciplinary records and help hold police accountable .
The next step is reducing the NYPD budget— $ 5.6 billion a year—and reinvesting in social welfare like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being cut .
We can keep our city safe and healthy without resorting to the constant use of force .
We can provide better jobs and living conditions and educate more social workers to respond to our society ’ s problems .
SB : Have you seen any improvement in police violence growing up in Crown Heights and now ?
PSF : No , Louima was sodomized , and Amadou Diallo was shot 19 times .
Now we have police laying their knee on somebody ’ s neck and feeling the breath leave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people out like Eric Garner .
Breonna Taylor was shot up in her home .
No , it has not gotten better .
Thank God for social media ; we know better .
SB : As someone running for office to represent neighborhoods with continuing gentrification .
What do you think should be the proper response to combating an issue that affects mainly low income and people of color ?
PSF : With the issue of housing , the system has to change .
If you ’ re in the business of housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of housing people humanely , not focusing on profits .
Real estate developers and corporations need to understand housing is a human right ; we need to fundamentally overhaul everything that our system of housing is based on .
I think I ’ m very progressive , and I have some ideas about what progressive housing can look like : tenants owning their building or some mutual arrangement where housing is shared amongst the occupants .
The idea that a landlord sits and collects checks from tenants in the name of profits—that system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
SB : How has climate change affected your community ?
PSF : My community extends beyond District 57 in New York City , I see a similar thing happening here comparable to the disasters tied to climate change in Haiti .
Hurricane Sandy , the blackouts and brownouts of 2019 , heat waves , and the loss of some shoreline have been occurring in Haiti , and we think this community is so far away , but it ’ s so close .
We need to get serious about climate change and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most vulnerable communities : black and brown people and those who live along shorelines .
We ’ re being pushed out by people who are moving in from other areas of Brooklyn that have been affected .
The fact that we live in the center of Brooklyn and on higher grounds makes this a hot pocket for more displacement and gentrification .
Nobody is protected from climate change ’ s effects .
SB : As a nurse , you have seen firsthand how unfair the health system is especially toward black women who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How would you tackle this issue to provide a safer and healthier environment for women of color ?
‘ Starve the Beast ’ : A Q & A With Alex S. Vitale on Defunding the Police Finding Humor When ‘ Shit Is So Terrible ’ : A Conversation With Samantha Irby PSF : If I were an assemblywoman right now , I would say to our government , “ Cut the malarkey , get us back in session.
” We have so many things to do right now .
If we were in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the New York Health Act [ which would provide universal health care for New York residents covered by a statewide public fund ] .
But once we ’ re not in session anymore , you essentially cut off our communities and the assistance that we can give to our communities because we ’ re no longer able to debate and legislate .
As a nurse , I will always continue to fight for the New York Health Act .
I will always fight for safe staffing .
When we talk about safe staffing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to protect patients , because when there ’ s not enough nurses and staff , patients die .
These are the first two things that I would fight for in terms of pandemic care .
We need to make sure that we ’ re not cutting health care budgets .
In the light of this pandemic , our lovely governor has cut $ 6.5 billion in Medicaid and the health care budget .
That is disgusting , and it ’ s because we have a governor that ’ s unchecked , and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be focused on taxing the rich to fight for the poor , period .
SB : What have been your experiences as a union nurse during Covid-19 , and how do you think Governor Cuomo has managed this pandemic ?
PSF : There has not been an emphasis on protecting patients and protecting staff .
When we talk about personal protective equipment [ PPE ] , we ’ re talking about forming a barrier ; it ’ s preventing me , the nurse from spreading the disease from one patient to another or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessary to keep whoever ’ s germ to themselves .
If you take it out , the hospital becomes a petri dish .
If you , as a governor , are allowing other people to donate PPE , I think that ’ s disgusting .
You should have been the one to give the PPE , which is a state and federal responsibility .
You should have made sure these hospitals have the things they need today .
But you systematically have been cutting beds , staff , and funds .
Now we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disaster ; the hospitals are a disaster .
SB : How have you seen your community respond to the pandemic ?
PSF : The pandemic caused people to lose work , and then you don ’ t have health insurance .
That ’ s a problem .
People are struggling to pay the rent .
That ’ s why we have the “ cancel the rent ” movement .
The Crown Heights mutual aid community is a hotbed for real community activism .
Neighbors coming together and helping each other out makes me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because we are a neighborhood of movers and shakers .
Once we have the right leadership , we ’ ll be able to do so much .
SB : How do you think Cuomo ’ s decision to pull the presidential primary from the ballot and then the court ’ s decision to reinstate it will affect down-ballot elections like yours ?
PSF : All this pulling and pushing only confuses people .
It makes a lot of people in the community suspicious , and breeds an attitude towards the primary that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do to repair and ensure people have faith in the system so they feel that they can vote safely , seriously , and be represented .

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Phara Souffrant Forrest is a daughter of Haitian American immigrants, a union nurse, a tenant activist, and a member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and she is running to represent the 57th Assembly District in Brooklyn. Growing up in Crown Heights, an area of Brooklyn she now hopes to represent, Forrest witnessed firsthand police injustice, and went to her first protest against NYPD brutality at just 8 years old. She supports tenant unions, universal health care for all New Yorkers, and police transparency. On June 9, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed her. But the campaign has hit twin obstacles: the Covid-19 pandemic and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to pull the presidential primary off the the state ballot (a court later forced him to reinstate it), which left many New York voters confused about this election.
In an interview compiled from two conversations—one before and one after the unrest—Forrest and I discussed health care, climate change, housing, gentrification, police racism, and the importance of voting on June 23.
—Sara Baig
S ara B aig: How did you get involved with advocating for your community?
P hara Souffrant F orrest: At 16, I organized with PACC [Pratt Area Community Council] to talk about lead-based poisoning in tenants’ buildings. In high school, I was a part of a group advocating for the Dream Act to ensure undocumented students got the same opportunity to go to school, and not pay astronomical fees. My most recent activist work started in 2016 when my building was being converted from a rent-stabilized building to luxury condos. We knew we were going to be subject to harassment, and we needed to have something in place. I started making an association alongside neighbors in my building and my community to push for stronger rent laws. Eventually, I ended up in Albany, with the statewide tenants’ movement. I got arrested in June of last year, standing up to ensure that stabilization laws were kept in place permanently.
I didn’t know I was going to run for state Assembly at the time, but I knew that I had to step up because we didn’t have anybody. You’re just as much as part of the problem if you don’t stand up.
SB: Growing up in Crown Heights, how did you see police violence affect your area? Current Issue View our current issue
PSF: That was the conversation in high school, in college, like, it was expected. That was the law of the land: If you’re black or a person of color, you’re going to be stopped, so you had to be educated on how to deal with the police. I had seen it affect a lot of the young men and women I grew up with; everything was affected by police brutality.
SB: What have you seen at the protests in your community? Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
PSF: I went to a protest yesterday organized by New York Community for Change Crown Heights Tenants Union and a couple of other tenant unions and talked about housing and George Floyd. People are protesting police brutalization in light of coronavirus, poor housing, and the loss of jobs. There are huge gaps in our children’s education. The governor cut education by 20 percent and $400 million from health care while leaving the New York City Police Department budget intact.
My first protest was when I was 8 years old in 1997, when the police sodomized Abner Louima. Louima received a settlement, but I remember it took a long time for the police officers to face justice. That was 23 years ago, and now we have on camera, a police officer kneeling on the neck of George and killing him. Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor—it’s too much, so we are hitting the streets.
SB: What needs to be done to stop police brutality?
PSF: The bare minimum is passing the Safer New York Act backed by Communities United for Police Reform. The package includes a full repeal of 50-A [which conceals police misconduct from the public and was repealed on June 9]. Repealing 50-A will allow us to see police disciplinary records and help hold police accountable. The next step is reducing the NYPD budget—$5.6 billion a year—and reinvesting in social welfare like health care and education, which is being cut. We can keep our city safe and healthy without resorting to the constant use of force. We can provide better jobs and living conditions and educate more social workers to respond to our society’s problems.
SB: Have you seen any improvement in police violence growing up in Crown Heights and now?
PSF: No, Louima was sodomized, and Amadou Diallo was shot 19 times. Now we have police laying their knee on somebody’s neck and feeling the breath leave their body. We have police choking people out like Eric Garner. Breonna Taylor was shot up in her home. No, it has not gotten better. Thank God for social media; we know better.
SB: As someone running for office to represent neighborhoods with continuing gentrification. What do you think should be the proper response to combating an issue that affects mainly low income and people of color?
PSF: With the issue of housing, the system has to change. If you’re in the business of housing, you should be in the business of housing people humanely, not focusing on profits. Real estate developers and corporations need to understand housing is a human right; we need to fundamentally overhaul everything that our system of housing is based on. I think I’m very progressive, and I have some ideas about what progressive housing can look like: tenants owning their building or some mutual arrangement where housing is shared amongst the occupants. The idea that a landlord sits and collects checks from tenants in the name of profits—that system has to be tossed out the window.
SB: How has climate change affected your community?
PSF: My community extends beyond District 57 in New York City, I see a similar thing happening here comparable to the disasters tied to climate change in Haiti. Hurricane Sandy, the blackouts and brownouts of 2019, heat waves, and the loss of some shoreline have been occurring in Haiti, and we think this community is so far away, but it’s so close. We need to get serious about climate change and address it from the perspective of the most vulnerable communities: black and brown people and those who live along shorelines. We’re being pushed out by people who are moving in from other areas of Brooklyn that have been affected. The fact that we live in the center of Brooklyn and on higher grounds makes this a hot pocket for more displacement and gentrification. Nobody is protected from climate change’s effects.
SB: As a nurse, you have seen firsthand how unfair the health system is especially toward black women who have the highest maternal mortality rate. How would you tackle this issue to provide a safer and healthier environment for women of color? The Q&A ‘Starve the Beast’: A Q&A With Alex S. Vitale on Defunding the Police Zachary Siegel When Undocumented Activists Infiltrated ICE Mark Engler Finding Humor When ‘Shit Is So Terrible’: A Conversation With Samantha Irby Rima Parikh
PSF: If I were an assemblywoman right now, I would say to our government, “Cut the malarkey, get us back in session.” We have so many things to do right now. If we were in session, then we can talk about the New York Health Act [which would provide universal health care for New York residents covered by a statewide public fund]. But once we’re not in session anymore, you essentially cut off our communities and the assistance that we can give to our communities because we’re no longer able to debate and legislate. As a nurse, I will always continue to fight for the New York Health Act. I will always fight for safe staffing. When we talk about safe staffing, we’re talking about ratios to protect patients, because when there’s not enough nurses and staff, patients die. These are the first two things that I would fight for in terms of pandemic care. We need to make sure that we’re not cutting health care budgets. In the light of this pandemic, our lovely governor has cut $6.5 billion in Medicaid and the health care budget. That is disgusting, and it’s because we have a governor that’s unchecked, and a legislature full of followers. You should be focused on taxing the rich to fight for the poor, period.
SB: What have been your experiences as a union nurse during Covid-19, and how do you think Governor Cuomo has managed this pandemic?
PSF: There has not been an emphasis on protecting patients and protecting staff. When we talk about personal protective equipment [PPE], we’re talking about forming a barrier; it’s preventing me, the nurse from spreading the disease from one patient to another or to my staff members. PPE is necessary to keep whoever’s germ to themselves. If you take it out, the hospital becomes a petri dish.
If you, as a governor, are allowing other people to donate PPE, I think that’s disgusting. You should have been the one to give the PPE, which is a state and federal responsibility. You should have made sure these hospitals have the things they need today. But you systematically have been cutting beds, staff, and funds. Now we have Covid-19, it’s a disaster; the hospitals are a disaster.
SB: How have you seen your community respond to the pandemic?
PSF: The pandemic caused people to lose work, and then you don’t have health insurance. That’s a problem. People are struggling to pay the rent. That’s why we have the “cancel the rent” movement. The Crown Heights mutual aid community is a hotbed for real community activism. Neighbors coming together and helping each other out makes me feel empowered to represent this neighborhood, because we are a neighborhood of movers and shakers. Once we have the right leadership, we’ll be able to do so much.
SB: How do you think Cuomo’s decision to pull the presidential primary from the ballot and then the court’s decision to reinstate it will affect down-ballot elections like yours?
PSF: All this pulling and pushing only confuses people. It makes a lot of people in the community suspicious, and breeds an attitude towards the primary that’s undemocratic. We have much to do to repair and ensure people have faith in the system so they feel that they can vote safely, seriously, and be represented.