huffpost--2020-06-04--Airlines Are Setting Their Own Rules And Packing Flights

Like most industries , the coronavirus has hit airlines hard , and they are eager to return to normal .
But unlike many others , the companies have received billions in dedicated relief funding with very little federal oversight on how to ramp up operations safely .
Most airlines suggest but don ’ t require that passengers wear masks .
Some have encouraged social distancing by not filling middle seats .
But others continue to pack passengers into all available seats .
Ultimately , the need to fill seats , combined with limited regulation , means the number of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Load factor ” is the industry measure of how full a plane is .
Airlines report those numbers in quarterly financial filings and in monthly reports to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics .
But those reports are typically not released until weeks or even months later .
In late March , as the coronavirus ravaged the industry , the trade association Airlines for America began voluntarily posting daily data on its website that included average load factors .
Airlines responded to the low demand in part by cutting the number of flights .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to resume air travel , the available flights were carrying more passengers and the load factor began rising again .
By the week of April 27 , domestic flights were averaging 22.5 % full .
That ’ s when the industry group dropped the average load factor from its daily updates .
But since then , other indicators show air travel has continued to recover .
The number of travelers passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints has increased significantly since April 27 .
And data that Airlines for America continues to report shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rose to 54 as of June 3 from as few as 15 in April .
Airlines Plot Their Own Course Some , like Southwest and Hawaiian Airlines , claim to have capped capacity at around two-thirds by not selling middle seats ( though neither provided data to verify compliance ) .
Delta said it ’ s adding flights to keep loads below 60 % .
But other carriers have announced no restrictions on how many people fly on their planes .
“ Well silly me thinking that an airline would adhere to social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Airlines passenger in late April .
A doctor on his way home from New York posted a picture of a crowded plane , writing , “ I guess @ united is relaxing their social distancing policy these days ?
Every seat is full on this 737.
” In response to the criticism , United began notifying passengers if their flights were expected to be more than 70 % full — and giving them options to rebook .
American Airlines later followed with a similar system .
Southwest said its policy of keeping middle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for us to message on individual flights.
” “ The Department guidance should clearly lead the airlines to either keep middle or adjacent seats open , or limit capacity of aircraft to a level that allows adequate social distancing , ” wrote Sen. Maria Cantwell ( D-Wash. ) in a May 18 letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao .
“ The traveling public deserves and should expect your leadership during this public health crisis.
” The Department of Transportation confirmed that it “ has not issued any new regulations about how many seats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not respond to repeated requests for more detailed comment .
The Federal Aviation Administration said it does not regulate how many people can be on a plane , beyond certifying the maximum number of seats on an aircraft .
“ If they chose to regulate something like that , I think they could , ” said Sharon Pinkerton , Airlines for America ’ s senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy .
“ CDC hasn ’ t made any such pronouncements , but has said that because of how air circulates and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other germs do not spread easily on flights .
”

This article is published in partnership with Newsy.
As America creeps — or in some cases, sprints — back to business amid an ongoing pandemic, there’s at least one industry that’s largely charting its own course through the crisis: airlines.
Like most industries, the coronavirus has hit airlines hard, and they are eager to return to normal. But unlike many others, the companies have received billions in dedicated relief funding with very little federal oversight on how to ramp up operations safely.
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Most airlines suggest but don’t require that passengers wear masks. Some have encouraged social distancing by not filling middle seats. But others continue to pack passengers into all available seats. Ultimately, the need to fill seats, combined with limited regulation, means the number of people traveling on planes is rebounding.
“Load factor” is the industry measure of how full a plane is. Airlines report those numbers in quarterly financial filings and in monthly reports to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. But those reports are typically not released until weeks or even months later. In late March, as the coronavirus ravaged the industry, the trade association Airlines for America began voluntarily posting daily data on its website that included average load factors.
In 2019, the average domestic flight was 85.1% full. In mid-April ― the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. ― that figure plummeted to 9.4%.
Airlines responded to the low demand in part by cutting the number of flights. That meant that, as people started to resume air travel, the available flights were carrying more passengers and the load factor began rising again. By the week of April 27, domestic flights were averaging 22.5% full. That’s when the industry group dropped the average load factor from its daily updates.
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The organization said it stopped providing the figure because it was being “misconstrued with the financial health of the industry,” at a time when passenger numbers remain historically low and many planes sit idle.
But since then, other indicators show air travel has continued to recover. The number of travelers passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints has increased significantly since April 27. And data that Airlines for America continues to report shows the average number of passengers per plane rose to 54 as of June 3 from as few as 15 in April.
Upon request, Airlines for America provided updated load factor data to Newsy and HuffPost for the week ending May 31. That also showed a dramatic rise ― to 48.6% full. That’s still below pre-pandemic levels, but a more than fivefold increase from two months earlier.
Watchdogs say allowing airlines to dictate how full flights are should be cause for concern as the pandemic wears on ― and one that federal regulators should be addressing.
“The Department of Transportation hasn’t come out with any guidelines,” said Lauren Wolfe, counsel for Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group for travelers. “So airlines have set their own rules.”
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Graph of airplane load factors. Andrew Lawler/Newsy
Airlines Plot Their Own Course
As airlines decide how to navigate the pandemic, Airlines for America’s chief economist John Heimlich said they are weighing many factors.
“The goal is to maximize safety without going out of business,” Heimlich said. “It’s up to each carrier how they want to ensure public health.”
Some, like Southwest and Hawaiian Airlines, claim to have capped capacity at around two-thirds by not selling middle seats (though neither provided data to verify compliance). Delta said it’s adding flights to keep loads below 60%. But other carriers have announced no restrictions on how many people fly on their planes.
“We want to ensure that we have seats available for customers to get to their destinations,” Charles Hobart, a spokesperson for United, said of the company’s decision not to limit capacity.
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Airlines for America data shows that U.S. carriers are operating nearly 500 flights a day that depart more than 70% full. Passengers are noticing, and complaints on social media have gone viral.
“Well silly me thinking that an airline would adhere to social distancing guidelines,” tweeted an American Airlines passenger in late April. A doctor on his way home from New York posted a picture of a crowded plane, writing, “I guess @united is relaxing their social distancing policy these days? Every seat is full on this 737.”
In response to the criticism, United began notifying passengers if their flights were expected to be more than 70% full — and giving them options to rebook. American Airlines later followed with a similar system. Southwest said its policy of keeping middle seats open is “preempting the need for us to message on individual flights.”
American Airlines is the only Airlines for America member that separately provides its own load data. Its domestic flights averaged 47.4% full in May, significantly higher than the trade group’s average of 37.5% for the month.
Even members of Congress have found themselves on unexpectedly packed planes. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) took to Twitter last month to voice concern about his American flight. “Packed,” he wrote. “Not safe and not OK.”
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No Federal Oversight
Airlines and some academics argue coronavirus risk is greatly mitigated by the air filtration systems on planes, combined with safety measures encouraging face masks and extra cleaning.
“We have technology that does a really good job of controlling airborne bacteria and viruses,” United’s Hobart said.
But there remains little oversight of the airline industry’s response to the coronavirus.
“There’s no rules right now regarding coronavirus and capacity on airplanes,” said Wolfe, adding that she wouldn’t be surprised to see flights become even more packed. “Airlines make their money when the flight is full.”
Lawmakers have started to call on the Department of Transportation to do more.
“The Department guidance should clearly lead the airlines to either keep middle or adjacent seats open, or limit capacity of aircraft to a level that allows adequate social distancing,” wrote Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in a May 18 letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. “The traveling public deserves and should expect your leadership during this public health crisis.”
The Department of Transportation confirmed that it “has not issued any new regulations about how many seats airlines can sell,” but did not respond to repeated requests for more detailed comment. The Federal Aviation Administration said it does not regulate how many people can be on a plane, beyond certifying the maximum number of seats on an aircraft.
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The industry’s trade group pointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the more appropriate regulator of virus-related issues such as middle seats and capacity.
“If they chose to regulate something like that, I think they could,” said Sharon Pinkerton, Airlines for America’s senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy. “CDC hasn’t made any such pronouncements, but has said that because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights.”
The CDC told Newsy/HuffPost that it “does not regulate the airline industry” and continues to recommend that people avoid nonessential travel. The CDC’s website says “social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others (within 6 feet), sometimes for hours. This may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Airlines for America continues to exclude load factor data from its daily COVID-19 updates. And Pinkerton insisted that flying on a full flight is completely safe.
“If it weren’t,” she said, ”we wouldn’t be doing it.”
A sign reminding passengers to stay six feet apart is seen at a screening checkpoint at Orlando International Airport. SOPA Images via Getty Images


huffpost--2020-06-04--One Woman Is Baking Pies — And Giving Them Away — For A Grieving Minneapolis

One basic fact about being human is that no matter what else is happening , you still need to eat .
And if what you eat can do more than merely sustain you — if it can encourage , inspire and elevate — then you might be a little stronger when you get up from the table .
How the concept of “ comfort pie ” began .
In Ferguson , she learned how best to give pies away and how to prepare for people ’ s reactions .
“ I realized that I needed to begin by asking permission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I needed to be ready for the sometimes very deep emotions that were shared with me .
Time after time , I would hear that this pie had arrived in someone ’ s life at exactly the right time , when it was most needed.
” Volunteers bake one pie for each year since King ’ s birth — 91 pies this year .
Once the pastry is ready , there ’ s a community-wide gathering to share stories and engage in small-group conversations on issues of race and empathy .
The attendees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be given a pie .
In the past , pies have been presented to first responders , health professionals , teachers and community leaders .
Some youth groups and racial justice organizations have received them , as have St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey .
She has also crisscrossed the country to deliver Sweet Potato Comfort Pies to communities that are experiencing tragedy .
She brought her baked goods to survivors of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston , South Carolina , after the mass shooting of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ baked pies alongside Nebraska ’ s Native American Circle of Grandmothers to bring to the “ Water Protectors ” at the Standing Rock pipeline protests in 2017 .
She made kosher pies in 2018 for survivors of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh .
And after bringing pies to those in the Twin Cities mourning and protesting the fatal officer-involved shootings of Jamar Clark in 2015 and Philando Castile in 2016 , she is once again in her own community during a time of tragedy baking pies with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that McGee also has a full-time job as a program officer for the Minnesota Humanities Center in East St. Paul .
Gathering takes on a whole new meaning in a pandemic .
Asked if distributing pies had encouraged any healing that day , she said she thought it did .
“ I have never handed a pie to someone without getting a smile back .
You know , nothing can come into your life through a closed hand .
Blessings flow through you as you give and receive with an open hand .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so they can go forth and be a blessing .
After all , food is love.
” McGee said she ’ s not sure what direction her work will take next , but she knows it will involve pie .
Another Facebook Live cooking event will be held in anticipation of pie distribution at ARTS-Us , a St. Paul youth arts organization that has become a center for food distribution in an area where many grocery stores have been destroyed .
After the event , McGee will host a virtual opportunity for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pies .
“ This is a recipe of love that has been in our family for decades , ” she told HuffPost .
“ My great-great-grandmother baked these pies , and now my mother bakes them .
Sweet potato pies have been a staple of our culture since slavery .
Blood , sweat and tears have been poured into them .
The pies we distribute today honor generations of Black women who worked hard to provide soulful meals to their families , using minimal ingredients and with limited financial means.
” McGee echoes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pie ’ s lineage .
“ You hear so many stories of how important food was in the civil rights era , how people cooked for those on the front lines and how they gathered together to get strength , ” she said .
“ Sweet potato pie was always on the table back then , so we ’ re making a connection when we ’ re giving it away now .
Plus , it just tastes so good .
It ’ s called comfort food for a reason.
” The power of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
First , there ’ s the opportunity to bake them .
“ I had so many people who were baking along with me Sunday night , which was the first night of curfew in our area , who told me that the experience of baking , and the wonderful way the pies made their house smell , was so soothing , ” she said .
Then there ’ s the experience of giving the pies away .
“ One African American woman at the memorial site said , ‘ Those pies are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ card so I can find out where to buy one ?
’ And I asked , ‘ Would you like to have one right now , for free ?
’ I ’ ll never forget that look on her face — just the joy and surprise of someone giving her something so valuable and made with so much love .
”

LOADING ERROR LOADING
One basic fact about being human is that no matter what else is happening, you still need to eat. And if what you eat can do more than merely sustain you — if it can encourage, inspire and elevate — then you might be a little stronger when you get up from the table.
In Minneapolis, one woman has been baking and giving away pies that are intended to fortify a community in need. On Monday evening, just hours before the citywide curfew went into effect, Rose McGee, 69, arrived with an automobile caravan of volunteers at the now-memorial site where George Floyd was killed by a police officer on May 25.
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The volunteers got out of their cars and began distributing boxes of her signature Sweet Potato Comfort Pies, each packaged with a poem, written by McGee’s daughter, Roslyn Harmon. It reads in part: “Remember to eat, pray and love as you partake in making a difference, for there is much to be proud of.”
Courtesy of Rose McGee Rose McGee takes one of her famous Sweet Potato Comfort Pies out of the oven.
“This is the sacred dessert of Black culture,” McGee told HuffPost. At a time when many people feel hopeless and exhausted, these particular pies offer much more than physical sustenance. “They link us to our history, they soothe our souls and they renew us for the work ahead,” she said.
How the concept of “comfort pie” began.
Like so many people in the summer of 2014, McGee was heartsick at the news about the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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“I sat in my living room, watching the news, and I saw the hopelessness on the faces of the people there,” she said. “I knew that I needed to do something. Right then, the Lord spoke to me: ‘Get up and bake some pies and take them down there.’”
“The pies are who we are — a beautiful caramel color on the outside, filled with sweetness on the inside.” - Roslyn Harmon, daughter of Rose McGee
She baked 30 sweet potato pies and drove more than 500 miles to give sustenance to mourners, protesters and other troubled souls she met along the way.
In Ferguson, she learned how best to give pies away and how to prepare for people’s reactions. “I realized that I needed to begin by asking permission to give this gift. And then I needed to be ready for the sometimes very deep emotions that were shared with me. Time after time, I would hear that this pie had arrived in someone’s life at exactly the right time, when it was most needed.”
Courtesy of Rose McGee Each pie is packaged with a poem written by McGee’s daughter, Roslyn Harmon.
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Driving home from Ferguson, McGee realized she had a calling. She contacted Shep Harris, mayor of Golden Valley, the first-ring Minneapolis suburb where she lives, and told him about her vision for an annual event to be held over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Harris and other city leaders supported her idea, and the sixth annual event was held this year in January.
Volunteers bake one pie for each year since King’s birth — 91 pies this year. Once the pastry is ready, there’s a community-wide gathering to share stories and engage in small-group conversations on issues of race and empathy. The attendees themselves decide which people in their community will be given a pie. In the past, pies have been presented to first responders, health professionals, teachers and community leaders. Some youth groups and racial justice organizations have received them, as have St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
She has also crisscrossed the country to deliver Sweet Potato Comfort Pies to communities that are experiencing tragedy. She brought her baked goods to survivors of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, after the mass shooting of African American churchgoers in 2015. She baked pies alongside Nebraska’s Native American Circle of Grandmothers to bring to the “Water Protectors” at the Standing Rock pipeline protests in 2017. She made kosher pies in 2018 for survivors of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
And after bringing pies to those in the Twin Cities mourning and protesting the fatal officer-involved shootings of Jamar Clark in 2015 and Philando Castile in 2016, she is once again in her own community during a time of tragedy baking pies with her neighbors. It should be noted that McGee also has a full-time job as a program officer for the Minnesota Humanities Center in East St. Paul.
Gathering takes on a whole new meaning in a pandemic.
While baking together looks different in an age of COVID-19 and curfews, McGee has adapted. She created a Facebook Live event and invited people to bake pies in their homes along with her. People joined from as far away as Florida and Nebraska, with the far-flung participants pledging to donate pies in their own communities.
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“Nothing can come into your life through a closed hand. Blessings flow through you as you give and receive with an open hand. I think we blessed some people there, so they can go forth and be a blessing. After all, food is love.” - Andrena Seawood
Back in Minnesota, McGee pulled her last pie out of the oven in the wee hours of Monday morning, got a few hours’ sleep and then met with volunteers in her driveway for the trip to the memorial site. Being mindful of the coronavirus, they all wore masks and rubber gloves.
Andrena Seawood, who lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, first met McGee at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis and now is a frequent volunteer for Sweet Potato Comfort Pie projects. Seawood and her son, Matthew, baked their pies together on Sunday night. Matthew, who will be a freshman at Morehouse College in the fall, “helps me help get the spices just right,” Seawood told HuffPost. On Monday, the two were by McGee’s side.
Courtesy of Andrena Seawood Volunteers Matthew and Andrena Seawood, son and mother, pose in front of artwork honoring George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We gave pies to a volunteer who was just wrapping up a media interview on why he showed up to help,” Seawood said. “Another pie went to a mother who had brought her three children to pay their respects.”
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Asked if distributing pies had encouraged any healing that day, she said she thought it did. “I have never handed a pie to someone without getting a smile back. You know, nothing can come into your life through a closed hand. Blessings flow through you as you give and receive with an open hand. I think we blessed some people there, so they can go forth and be a blessing. After all, food is love.”
Volunteer Hannah Carney, another Golden Valley resident, told HuffPost that the experience of distributing pies at the memorial site was “transformative.” She said, “Rose serves as a beacon of hope for those in pain and her pies are an expression of love. They bring power to those who accept them. The entire experience connects and strengthens our community.”
McGee said she’s not sure what direction her work will take next, but she knows it will involve pie. Another Facebook Live cooking event will be held in anticipation of pie distribution at ARTS-Us, a St. Paul youth arts organization that has become a center for food distribution in an area where many grocery stores have been destroyed. After the event, McGee will host a virtual opportunity for reflection for those who made or delivered pies.
“Rose serves as a beacon of hope for those in pain and her pies are an expression of love. They bring power to those who accept them. The entire experience connects and strengthens our community.” - Hannah Carney, a volunteer who distributed pies
“Not only does this help process the experience, but it also helps each of us identify how to actively work in communities and schools to promote racial justice,” she said.
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“It’s called comfort food for a reason.”
Roslyn Harmon, who lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, is the founder and senior pastor of Circle of Healing Ministry. As McGee’s daughter, she has some familial insights into the significance of the pie her mother bakes.
“This is a recipe of love that has been in our family for decades,” she told HuffPost. “My great-great-grandmother baked these pies, and now my mother bakes them. Sweet potato pies have been a staple of our culture since slavery. Blood, sweat and tears have been poured into them. The pies we distribute today honor generations of Black women who worked hard to provide soulful meals to their families, using minimal ingredients and with limited financial means.”
“The pies are who we are — a beautiful caramel color on the outside, filled with sweetness on the inside,” Harmon said.
McGee echoes her daughter’s appreciation of the pie’s lineage. “You hear so many stories of how important food was in the civil rights era, how people cooked for those on the front lines and how they gathered together to get strength,” she said. “Sweet potato pie was always on the table back then, so we’re making a connection when we’re giving it away now. Plus, it just tastes so good. It’s called comfort food for a reason.”
The power of these pies is exponential, McGee said. First, there’s the opportunity to bake them. “I had so many people who were baking along with me Sunday night, which was the first night of curfew in our area, who told me that the experience of baking, and the wonderful way the pies made their house smell, was so soothing,” she said.
Advertisement
Then there’s the experience of giving the pies away. “One African American woman at the memorial site said, ‘Those pies are beautiful — could you give me your card so I can find out where to buy one?’ And I asked, ‘Would you like to have one right now, for free?’ I’ll never forget that look on her face — just the joy and surprise of someone giving her something so valuable and made with so much love.”
Finally, of course, there’s what McGee describes as the healing power of eating this particular food. “When you think about pie, it’s not essential, but when you think about how it makes you feel, maybe it is.”
See the recipe below ...
Courtesy of Rose McGee Learn how to make McGee's recipe at home and share the love with your community.
Sweet Potato Comfort Pie
Makes two 9-inch pies
4 medium to large sweet potatoes (boiled with skin on until tender), cooled and peeled
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup condensed milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 unbaked pie shells
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend sweet potatoes with brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat in eggs. Add melted butter, then stir in ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla extract, and mix well. Stir in milk. Then stir in lemon extract.
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huffpost--2020-06-04--COVID-19's Economic Fallout Is Hitting The Black Community Hard, Too

The Black unemployment rate was 16.7 % in April , compared with 14.2 % for white workers .
Expect those numbers to get worse on Friday morning , when the Department of Labor will release its data for May .
Overall , the jobless rate is expected to hit a new high ― perhaps touching 20 % , according to some estimates .
For Black workers , the latest figures will almost assuredly be higher .
Of course , a lot of Americans are out of work now .
The crucial difference for Black Americans is their safety net ― @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Black Americans have less of a cushion to fall back on during a time of economic stress .
“ Institutional racism and historical discrimination have meant that Black workers have fared worse in the labor market , even in good times , ” said Elise Gould , a senior economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute who co-authored a report this week looking at the devastating toll COVID-19 has taken on Black workers .
“ When we have a severe economic downturn like we ’ re having right now , it disproportionately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They ’ re the ones more likely to lose their jobs , but they ’ re also the ones less able to weather the storm.
” Black workers have less savings to fall back on .
They earn less money ; the median income for Black households is $ 41,692 , compared to $ 70,642 for whites .
And the rate of people living below the poverty line ― for a family of four , that ’ s less than $ 26,000 ― for Black Americans is 20 % .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 1863 , the Black community owned 0.5 % of all the wealth in the U.S. ― think homes , property , stocks , cash savings .
That might have made more sense 157 years ago because enslaved people weren ’ t allowed to own anything , but it doesn ’ t now .
And the number today is around 1 % , Baradaran wrote in her 2017 book “ The Color of Money.
” It is worth pausing here to sit with that number : More than a century and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth owned by Black Americans increased by just one-half of a percentage point .
Considering that wealth confers power in the U.S. , that number says a lot .
People Who Still Have Jobs Are Also Struggling Meanwhile , Black Americans who are still employed are more likely to be in front-line jobs at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus , the EPI report notes .
And those jobs are typically lower-paying with little or no benefits .
The weak safety net and the likelihood of Black Americans to be unable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here .
Black workers are 60 % less likely to have health insurance , EPI ’ s report notes .
They ’ re also less likely to have paid sick days or to be able to work from home .
Black women in particular are in a really precarious spot .
They ’ re more likely than white women to be the sole breadwinner at home with young children ― 14.4 % of Black women are in that situation , compared with 4 % of white women , EPI points out .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave the workforce amid school and day care closures caused by coronavirus .
The Recovery Will Be Slower It ’ s likely that the last jobs to come back will be those in higher-risk , high-touch sectors ― such as restaurants and nail salons ― where customers might be reluctant to return right away .
And those jobs are disproportionately held by workers of color , notes a report released Thursday from the National Equity Atlas and PolicyLink , which took a granular look at the job listings to find the occupations most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you fall ― whether you ’ re in the camp of people who lost their livelihoods or the camp of people who still go to work ― people of color are at significantly greater risk than the general populations , ” said Abigail Langston , a senior associate at PolicyLink and a co-author of that report .
The $ 1,200 stimulus checks are just one example .
They were a quick windfall for those with bank accounts , as the federal government was able to instantly deposit the money .
But for those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and is possibly still going on .
A shocking 12 % of Black households are unbanked , compared to 3 % of white .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The economic impact of coronavirus is hitting Black communities disproportionately hard.
The Black unemployment rate was 16.7% in April, compared with 14.2% for white workers. Expect those numbers to get worse on Friday morning, when the Department of Labor will release its data for May. Overall, the jobless rate is expected to hit a new high ― perhaps touching 20%, according to some estimates. For Black workers, the latest figures will almost assuredly be higher.
Of course, a lot of Americans are out of work now. The crucial difference for Black Americans is their safety net ― or lack thereof. At every level, Black Americans have less of a cushion to fall back on during a time of economic stress.
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“Institutional racism and historical discrimination have meant that Black workers have fared worse in the labor market, even in good times,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the progressive Economic Policy Institute who co-authored a report this week looking at the devastating toll COVID-19 has taken on Black workers.
“When we have a severe economic downturn like we’re having right now, it disproportionately disadvantages Black workers,” she added. “They’re the ones more likely to lose their jobs, but they’re also the ones less able to weather the storm.”
The economic devastation is coming not only during the pandemic but also at a time of massive social unrest over the brutal way the police treat Black Americans, setting up a crisis of staggering proportions.
Black workers have less savings to fall back on. They earn less money; the median income for Black households is $41,692, compared to $70,642 for whites. And the rate of people living below the poverty line ― for a family of four, that’s less than $26,000 ― for Black Americans is 20%. For whites, it’s 8.1%.
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“Job loss for those living at such low incomes is absolutely shattering,” Gould and her co-author, Valerie Wilson, write in their report.
Economic Policy Institute
Then there’s also a massive racial wealth gap — the legacy of racial discrimination embedded into U.S. policy going back to slavery, through Reconstruction and the New Deal, which essentially only benefitted whites.
“It rewrote our economy from scratch basically, and Blacks were completely left out,” said Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who has closely studied the wealth gap.
White families hold five times as much in liquid assets like savings accounts, a home, stocks, bonds as Black families, the EPI report points out: $49,529 versus $8,762.
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In 1863, the Black community owned 0.5% of all the wealth in the U.S. ― think homes, property, stocks, cash savings. That might have made more sense 157 years ago because enslaved people weren’t allowed to own anything, but it doesn’t now. And the number today is around 1%, Baradaran wrote in her 2017 book “The Color of Money.”
It is worth pausing here to sit with that number: More than a century and a half after emancipation, the percentage of wealth owned by Black Americans increased by just one-half of a percentage point. Considering that wealth confers power in the U.S., that number says a lot.
People Who Still Have Jobs Are Also Struggling
Meanwhile, Black Americans who are still employed are more likely to be in front-line jobs at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus, the EPI report notes. And those jobs are typically lower-paying with little or no benefits.
Reports of Walmart workers, grocery store clerks, Amazon warehouse workers and meatpacking plant employees contracting and dying from COVID-19 have been all over the news.
The health effects of COVID-19 have also been worse for Black Americans, who are dying at nearly twice the rate of white people.
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“Sociologists and epidemiologists say that nearly every condition that increases patients’ vulnerability to coronavirus — from asthma to diabetes to HIV — appears at higher rates in the Black population,” HuffPost’s Michael Hobbes wrote in April.
The weak safety net and the likelihood of Black Americans to be unable to shelter at home also play a role here. Black workers are 60% less likely to have health insurance, EPI’s report notes. They’re also less likely to have paid sick days or to be able to work from home.
Black women in particular are in a really precarious spot. They’re more likely than white women to be the sole breadwinner at home with young children ― 14.4% of Black women are in that situation, compared with 4% of white women, EPI points out. That’s meant many have had to leave the workforce amid school and day care closures caused by coronavirus.
Barbers in Florida wear masks to protect against the coronavirus while at work on May 21. Personal grooming shops were allowed to open the day before, during a phased reopening of certain businesses in Miami-Dade County. Wilfredo Lee/AP
The Recovery Will Be Slower
As the country “opens back up,” any kind of recovery will be slower for Black workers.
It’s likely that the last jobs to come back will be those in higher-risk, high-touch sectors ― such as restaurants and nail salons ― where customers might be reluctant to return right away. And those jobs are disproportionately held by workers of color, notes a report released Thursday from the National Equity Atlas and PolicyLink, which took a granular look at the job listings to find the occupations most impacted by the downturn.
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According to the report, 43% of white workers are in the kind of higher-risk, nonessential jobs that will be slower to come back, compared with 52% of Black workers and 57% of Latinx workers.
“Wherever you fall ― whether you’re in the camp of people who lost their livelihoods or the camp of people who still go to work ― people of color are at significantly greater risk than the general populations,” said Abigail Langston, a senior associate at PolicyLink and a co-author of that report.
The fact that Black Americans would struggle more in a public health crisis like COVID-19 could have been planned for. But so far, policy solutions haven’t grappled with the racial disparities of COVID-19.
The $1,200 stimulus checks are just one example. They were a quick windfall for those with bank accounts, as the federal government was able to instantly deposit the money. But for those without accounts, the wait was longer — and is possibly still going on. A shocking 12% of Black households are unbanked, compared to 3% of white.
Increased unemployment benefits are also harder to get, especially for the lowest-paid workers, like tipped minimum wage workers or those who are working off the books. Women of color are particularly suffering here.
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The small business loan program created as part of the CARES Act also sent less help to Black businesses, according to one survey released last month.
None of this should be surprising, Langston said.


huffpost--2020-06-04--William Barr's Vast, Nameless Army Is Being Brought To Bear On D.C. Protesters

WASHINGTON ― Just a few hundred feet north of the White House on Wednesday afternoon , armed agents of the federal government , dressed in a patchwork of colors and protective gear , stared down peaceful protesters demonstrating for Black lives .
Yet what was perhaps most alarming was what was not visible on many of the officers : any insignia revealing their identity or even the name of the agency they work for .
Some members of the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI stationed throughout downtown Washington wore outfits that at least identified their agency , even if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ identified them personally .
But the police line just north of the White House on Wednesday afternoon featured different uniforms and agents wearing generic outfits ― sometimes what appeared to be just T-shirts under their protective gear that gave no indication of even their department or military branch .
Many of these Justice Department components , especially the BOP , have opaque internal affairs systems that don ’ t hold federal law enforcement officers accountable even in normal circumstances .
But Bromwich said he has never seen a situation in which large numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been identifiable by name or even by agency .
“ I don ’ t know if there ’ s any historical precedent for that.
” “ We ’ re pulling in people from all over the country to help secure a city , ” the senior DOJ official said .
“ We ’ re focused on getting them fed ... making sure that they have the proper equipment they need .
Frankly , the logistical elements that have been done here have been amazing.
” The senior DOJ official chalked it up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the protests .
“ So to the extent people are asking ‘ Who are you , who are you with , what are you doing ?
’ I don ’ t think you should read anything [ into it ] if people aren ’ t responding .
This is very different than a normal law enforcement function.
” During the Obama administration , the DOJ said in a letter to the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri that allowing officers to work anonymously creates “ mistrust and undermines accountability ” and “ conveys a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anonymity , officers may seek to act with impunity.
” An after-action report of the police response to the Ferguson demonstrations over the police killing of Michael Brown ― a report that former members of law enforcement co-authored ― said that the removal of nameplates “ defeated an essential level of on-scene accountability that is fundamental to the perception of procedural justice and legitimacy.
” “ By failing to ensure that their officers are identifiable , and thus more readily held accountable if they violate people ’ s rights , federal law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officers in Minneapolis : aligning themselves with those who would commit and conceal police abuse rather than sending a clear message to the public and to their own officers that such abuse will not be tolerated , ” Lopez said .
Rep. Don Beyer ( D-Va. ) and Del .
Eleanor Holmes Norton ( D-D.C. ) are working on writing a bill to require federal law enforcement officers in uniform to clearly show their names and agencies when patrolling First Amendment protests .
The law wouldn ’ t apply to undercover law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Guard , which has also been deployed to protests .
Beyer said military personnel are typically easily identifiable because of their recognizable fatigues .
Beyer and Holmes Norton proposed legislation requiring body cameras on federal law enforcement in 2019 ; last November , the DOJ started a pilot program allowing federally deputized officers to wear body cameras for the first time .
The law enforcement officers at the protests were not seen wearing body cameras .
“ When you can ’ t tell who people are , then there is no accountability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ You can go out and bust any heads you want to because who is going to hold you accountable if you are anonymous — especially with the big face masks.
” Beyer , who has been watching videos of protests , said he could not distinguish federal personnel but that local law enforcement officers were also covering their badge numbers with black tape , a practice that was initially done to honor colleagues who died of the coronavirus .
Police in D.C. are required in police guidelines to identify themselves when asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the job .

Illustration: Isabella Carapella/ HuffPost; Photos: Getty Images and Associated Press
WASHINGTON ― Just a few hundred feet north of the White House on Wednesday afternoon, armed agents of the federal government, dressed in a patchwork of colors and protective gear, stared down peaceful protesters demonstrating for Black lives. Yet what was perhaps most alarming was what was not visible on many of the officers: any insignia revealing their identity or even the name of the agency they work for.
Some members of the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI stationed throughout downtown Washington wore outfits that at least identified their agency, even if they weren’t wearing name tags that identified them personally. But the police line just north of the White House on Wednesday afternoon featured different uniforms and agents wearing generic outfits ― sometimes what appeared to be just T-shirts under their protective gear that gave no indication of even their department or military branch.
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Attorney General William Barr is leading this aggressive response that has brought in an alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies to guard federal property and suppress unrest: FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the U.S. Marshals; and the federal Bureau of Prisons. Those Department of Justice forces join Homeland Security officers, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police, the Federal Protective Service, the Secret Service and the District of Columbia National Guard.
Bringing in so many law enforcement agencies has the potential to create problems ― each has its own culture, practices and command structures. Allowing federal law enforcement to operate with anonymity all but eliminates accountability when force is inevitably used against demonstrators. Critics say it also breeds government distrust and is reminiscent of authoritarian regimes.
Members of federal law enforcement line up with riot gear and face shields near the White House on Wednesday. Ryan J. Reilly/HuffPost
At least some of the officers on the police line by the White House appeared to be with the Bureau of Prisons, which dispatched Special Operations Response Teams that the BOP told HuffPost are “highly trained tactical units capable of responding to prison disturbances” and “specialize in crowd control scenarios” behind bars.
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A senior Justice Department official credited Barr with the idea of bringing in federal prison corrections officers, calling it an example of Barr’s “outside the box” thinking. “He brought those people in,” the official said, because dealing with riots is “exactly what they do best.”
The senior Justice Department official confirmed that the prison bureau officers were stationed near the White House, though the BOP declined to verify whether the armed men photographed facing off with peaceful demonstrators Wednesday did, in fact, work for BOP.
Back outside the White House. Today the perimeter has been pushed back another half block. Federal law enforcement of some kind, but they won’t identify themselves, and all insignias and name plates have been removed. pic.twitter.com/q5dmdMgkLV — Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) June 3, 2020
“We cannot verify the individuals in the photos you referenced,” the Bureau of Prisons told HuffPost. “For safety and security reasons, we are not providing more specific information about law enforcement operations.”
A Huge Problem For Oversight
Michael Bromwich, the former inspector general of the Justice Department who oversaw internal investigations, said that allowing federal law enforcement officers to operate anonymously “creates a huge problem” for oversight.
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“It completely undermines the ability to hold law enforcement personnel who engage in misconduct accountable,” said Bromwich. “You’ve got to know who they are, and certainly which agency they represent.”
Many of these Justice Department components, especially the BOP, have opaque internal affairs systems that don’t hold federal law enforcement officers accountable even in normal circumstances. But Bromwich said he has never seen a situation in which large numbers of law enforcement personnel haven’t been identifiable by name or even by agency. “I don’t know if there’s any historical precedent for that.”
The senior Justice Department official said that concerns about officer identity are a “red herring” because surveillance video would make it easy to identify any officers as necessary.
“We’re pulling in people from all over the country to help secure a city,” the senior DOJ official said. “We’re focused on getting them fed... making sure that they have the proper equipment they need. Frankly, the logistical elements that have been done here have been amazing.”
The Justice Department has downplayed concerns that federal government agents refused to identify their agency to protesters or to journalists.
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“I could understand why some of these individuals simply wouldn’t want to talk to people about who they are,” Barr told reporters at a press conference Thursday.
The senior DOJ official chalked it up to the “incredibly volatile scene” at the protests. “So to the extent people are asking ‘Who are you, who are you with, what are you doing?’ I don’t think you should read anything [into it] if people aren’t responding. This is very different than a normal law enforcement function.”
A member of federal law enforcement stands among members of the National Guard on Wednesday. Without nametags or ID on uniforms, especially for officers in riot gear, it could be difficult to identify a particular officer in a misconduct complaint. Ryan J. Reilly/HuffPost
During the Obama administration, the DOJ said in a letter to the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri that allowing officers to work anonymously creates “mistrust and undermines accountability” and “conveys a message to community members that, through anonymity, officers may seek to act with impunity.” An after-action report of the police response to the Ferguson demonstrations over the police killing of Michael Brown ― a report that former members of law enforcement co-authored ― said that the removal of nameplates “defeated an essential level of on-scene accountability that is fundamental to the perception of procedural justice and legitimacy.”
Christy Lopez, the former Justice Department official who warned Ferguson about the lack of nameplates, said the anonymity of officers on the streets of D.C. was “an indication of how upside-down this administration is.”
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“By failing to ensure that their officers are identifiable, and thus more readily held accountable if they violate people’s rights, federal law enforcement officials are acting akin to the bystander officers in Minneapolis: aligning themselves with those who would commit and conceal police abuse rather than sending a clear message to the public and to their own officers that such abuse will not be tolerated,” Lopez said.
Bromwich said it was “very problematic” to send components of the Justice Department with very specific responsibilities into an environment divorced from their typical duties. Members of the FBI hostage team, who have also been spotted on the streets of D.C., are “not used to dealing with mass protests,” Bromwich said.
“They’ve probably never had even an hour training about that,” Bromwich said. “It’s unfair to them and unfair to protesters to have them deployed to do this.”
Congress Doesn’t Know Either
House Democrats, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), have formally requested information on the various agencies policing protesters in D.C. In a letter delivered Wednesday to Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, Nadler and other Democratic leaders asked which authority the administration used to establish this interagency force, and when.
Democratic leaders were not informed of the agencies deputized to patrol the protests. A House Democratic aide familiar with the committee’s work said it is in the process of figuring out what each agency has been deployed to do as the scene unfolds around them.
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Members of Congress also asked for specifics on which agencies had officers on the ground Monday, when federal law enforcement advanced on peaceful protesters with pepper spray, smoke canisters and nonlethal projectiles as they cleared the way for President Donald Trump to hold a photo-op outside of St. John’s Church.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also formally requested that the DOJ inspector general investigate Barr’s role in the Monday evening incident.
Federal law enforcement officers wear unidentifiable uniforms, some with plain T-shirts under their military-style gear, while they hold a line near the White House on Wednesday. Ryan J. Reilly/HuffPost
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) are working on writing a bill to require federal law enforcement officers in uniform to clearly show their names and agencies when patrolling First Amendment protests. The law wouldn’t apply to undercover law enforcement officers or to military units like the National Guard, which has also been deployed to protests. Beyer said military personnel are typically easily identifiable because of their recognizable fatigues. Beyer and Holmes Norton proposed legislation requiring body cameras on federal law enforcement in 2019; last November, the DOJ started a pilot program allowing federally deputized officers to wear body cameras for the first time. The law enforcement officers at the protests were not seen wearing body cameras.
“When you can’t tell who people are, then there is no accountability at all,” Beyer said. “You can go out and bust any heads you want to because who is going to hold you accountable if you are anonymous — especially with the big face masks.”
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Beyer, who has been watching videos of protests, said he could not distinguish federal personnel but that local law enforcement officers were also covering their badge numbers with black tape, a practice that was initially done to honor colleagues who died of the coronavirus. Police in D.C. are required in police guidelines to identify themselves when asked and keep their badge numbers present while on the job.
“You don’t know who they are, who they represent,” Beyer said. “Are they even allowed to carry weapons in Washington, D.C.?”
Beyer hopes they can bring the bill up for a vote in the next two months.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) also tweeted Wednesday night that he planned to introduce legislation “to require uniformed federal officers performing any domestic security duties to clearly identify what military branch or agency they represent.”
We cannot tolerate an American secret police.
I will be introducing legislation to require uniformed federal officers performing any domestic security duties to clearly identify what military branch or agency they represent. pic.twitter.com/2kaFAlWUow — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 4, 2020
“We cannot tolerate an American secret police,” the senator wrote.
Bromwich, the former Justice Department watchdog, said that the rhetoric from Trump and Barr could give federal law enforcement officials cover to use excessive force on demonstrators.
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huffpost--2020-06-04--3 Men With Right-Wing Extremist Ties Plotted To Terrorize Vegas Protests, Prosecutors Say

LAS VEGAS ( AP ) — Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government have been arrested on terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas .
Federal prosecutors say the three white men with U.S. military experience are accused of conspiring to carry out a plan that began in April in conjunction with protests to reopen businesses closed because of the coronavirus .
More recently , they sought to capitalize on protests over the death of George Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air , prosecutors said .
The three men were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles , according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press .
“ People have a right to peacefully protest .
These men are agitators and instigators .
Their point was to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nicholas Trutanich , U.S. attorney in Nevada , told AP .
He referred to what he called “ real and legitimate outrage ” over Floyd ’ s death .
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of the “ boogaloo ” movement , which U.S. prosecutors said in the document is “ a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.
” Stephen T. Parshall , 35 , Andrew T. Lynam Jr. , 23 , and William L. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on $ 1 million bond each in the Clark County jail Wednesday , according to court records .
Lynam is from suburban Henderson and the others are from Las Vegas .
Each currently faces two federal charges — conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive , and possession of unregistered firearms .
In state court , they ’ ve been accused of felony conspiracy , terrorism and explosives possession .
Trutanich said they ’ ll be prosecuted in both jurisdictions .
A confidential informant met Lynam and Parshall at an early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reopening of the state ’ s economy , the federal complaint said .
The men were carrying firearms and Lynam said the group “ was not for joking around and that it was for people who wanted to violently overthrow the United States government , ” according to the complaint .
The informant said that during a May 27 meeting , Parshall and Loomis “ discussed causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot , in response to the death of a suspect , ” a reference to Floyd .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the group to observe the riots occurring nationwide and use that momentum as a driving force to possibly take action against a fee station at Lake Mead on federal land north of the Hoover Dam , on May 30 .
Other targets discussed included a U.S. Forest Service ranger station , the complaint said .
They wanted to use the momentum from riots occurring nationwide because of Floyd ’ s death “ to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement , that others see the explosions and police presence and begin to riot in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the complaint said .
On May 28-29 , FBI agents observed Parshall buy fireworks at a tribal travel plaza , and he indicated to the informant that he had glass bottles , rags and gasoline Molotov cocktails , the complaint said .

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Three Nevada men with ties to a loose movement of right-wing extremists advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government have been arrested on terrorism-related charges in what authorities say was a conspiracy to spark violence during recent protests in Las Vegas.
Federal prosecutors say the three white men with U.S. military experience are accused of conspiring to carry out a plan that began in April in conjunction with protests to reopen businesses closed because of the coronavirus.
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More recently, they sought to capitalize on protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air, prosecutors said.
The three men were arrested Saturday on the way to a protest in downtown Las Vegas after filling gas cans at a parking lot and making Molotov cocktails in glass bottles, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
“People have a right to peacefully protest. These men are agitators and instigators. Their point was to hijack the protests into violence,” Nicholas Trutanich, U.S. attorney in Nevada, told AP. He referred to what he called “real and legitimate outrage” over Floyd’s death.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday said they self-identified as part of the “boogaloo” movement, which U.S. prosecutors said in the document is “a term used by extremists to signify coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.”
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Stephen T. Parshall, 35, Andrew T. Lynam Jr., 23, and William L. Loomis, 40, were being held on $1 million bond each in the Clark County jail Wednesday, according to court records. Lynam is from suburban Henderson and the others are from Las Vegas.
The complaint said Lynam is an Army reservist, with Parshall formerly enlisted in the Navy and Loomis formerly enlisted in the Air Force.
Each currently faces two federal charges — conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosive, and possession of unregistered firearms. In state court, they’ve been accused of felony conspiracy, terrorism and explosives possession. Trutanich said they’ll be prosecuted in both jurisdictions.
“This type of planning and intent on causing mayhem is terroristic and will not be tolerated,” said Steve Wolfson, the district attorney in Las Vegas.
Attorney Monti Levy, representing Loomis, declined to comment about the state case and did not immediately respond to a question about whether she’ll represent Loomis in federal court.
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A deputy public defender representing Parshall declined to comment and an attorney appointed to represent Lynam did not immediately respond to messages.
A confidential informant met Lynam and Parshall at an early April rally in Las Vegas calling for the reopening of the state’s economy, the federal complaint said. The men were carrying firearms and Lynam said the group “was not for joking around and that it was for people who wanted to violently overthrow the United States government,” according to the complaint.
The informant said that during a May 27 meeting, Parshall and Loomis “discussed causing an incident to incite chaos and possibly a riot, in response to the death of a suspect,” a reference to Floyd.
Loomis stated he wanted to firebomb a power substation, according to the informant in the criminal complaint.
But on May 28, Lynam instructed the group to observe the riots occurring nationwide and use that momentum as a driving force to possibly take action against a fee station at Lake Mead on federal land north of the Hoover Dam, on May 30. Other targets discussed included a U.S. Forest Service ranger station, the complaint said.
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The informant stated that Parshall and Loomis’ “idea behind the explosion was to hopefully create civil unrest and rioting throughout Las Vegas.”
They wanted to use the momentum from riots occurring nationwide because of Floyd’s death “to hopefully stir enough confusion and excitement, that others see the explosions and police presence and begin to riot in the streets out of anger,” the complaint said.
On May 28-29, FBI agents observed Parshall buy fireworks at a tribal travel plaza, and he indicated to the informant that he had glass bottles, rags and gasoline Molotov cocktails, the complaint said.
On May 30, all three and the informant agreed to take part in the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Las Vegas, the complaint said.
The charges come as intelligence officials are warning that “violent opportunists” have been emboldened nationwide by attacks on law enforcement officials amid protests.
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In a Tuesday internal intelligence assessment, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials warned “this could lead to an increase in potentially lethal engagements with law enforcement officials as violent opportunists increasingly infiltrate ongoing protest activity.”
AP obtained a copy of the document, which cites the shooting of a Las Vegas police officer during protests, and two other officers shooting a heavily armed man at a nearby federal courthouse.
“Law enforcement officers continue to be the primary targets of firearm attacks, though several incidents last night involved violent opportunists shooting into crowds of protesters,” the assessment states.
The anti-government “boogaloo” movement is a loose network of gun enthusiasts who often express support for overthrowing the U.S. government. Its name, a reference to a 1984 movie sequel called “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” is a code word for a second civil war.
The movement is rooted in online meme culture, but the coronavirus pandemic has become a catalyst for real-world activity. Many “boogaloo” followers have shown up at COVID-19 lockdown protests armed with rifles and wearing tactical vests over Hawaiian shirts and leis, a nod to the “big luau” derivation of the movement’s name.
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While some “boogaloo” promoters insist they aren’t genuinely advocating for violence, law-enforcement officials say they have foiled bombing and shooting plots by people who have connections to the movement or at least used its terminology.
___
This story has been corrected to accurately spell the name of Monti Levy.
___


huffpost--2020-05-31--Massive U.S. Protests Raise Fears Of New Coronavirus Outbreaks

LOS ANGELES ( AP ) — The mayor of Atlanta , one of dozens of U.S. cities hit by massive protests in recent days , has a message for demonstrators : “ If you were out protesting last night , you probably need to go get a COVID test this week.
” As more beaches , churches , schools and businesses reopened worldwide , civil unrest in the United States over repeated racial injustice is raising fears of new coronavirus outbreaks in a country that has seen more infections and deaths than anywhere else in the world .
Violent protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shaken the country from New York City to Minneapolis , from Atlanta to Los Angeles .
Some protests have turned into riots and clashes with police , leaving stores burned and torched cars in the streets .
City officials have ordered overnight curfews to quell the violence .
Floyd , a black man , died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck .
It was the latest in a series of deaths of black men and women at the hands of police in America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up or not , that doesn ’ t prevent them from getting the virus , ” said Bradley Pollock , chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California , Davis .
The U.S. has seen over 1.7 million infections and nearly 104,000 deaths in the pandemic , which has disproportionately affected racial minorities in a nation that does not have universal health care .
Even for the many protesters wearing masks , those don ’ t guarantee protection .
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus but are not designed to protect wearers from getting it .
On Sunday , many Americans were returning to in-person church services for the first time in many weeks as some emergency measures are lifted and mosques reopened across the Middle East , but in countries from India to Colombia the number of new infection was still on the rise .
In Europe , unions in Paris flouted a ban on large gatherings Saturday to protest the dire conditions facing workers in the country illegally .
Police used tear gas to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned the march due to health risks .
Hong Kong police have used tear gas , pepper spray and rubber bullets to break up protests in recent weeks .
A ban on gatherings of more than eight people has been extended to June 4 , the day of an annual candlelight vigil to mark the Chinese military ’ s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing ’ s Tiananmen Square .
More than 6 million infections have been reported worldwide , with nearly 370,000 deaths , according to a tally by Johns Hopkins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believed to be significantly higher , with experts saying many victims died of the virus without ever being tested .
Doctors , front , demonstrate in favor of the government-ordered lockdown to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus while dueling protesters demand an end to the lockdown , in Buenos Aires , Argentina , Saturday , May 30 , 2020 .
( AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko ) The situation worsened Sunday in India , where new daily cases topped 8,000 for the first time and 193 more deaths were reported .
India @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public transport in more states beginning Monday , although subways and schools will remain closed .
In Saudi Arabia , tens of thousands of mosques reopened Sunday for the first time in more than two months , but Islam ’ s holiest site in Mecca remained closed .
In Jerusalem , throngs of worshippers waited outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque before it reopened .
Many wore surgical masks and waited for temperature checks as they entered .
Mayor Claudia Lopez said no one in the working-class Kennedy area — inaugurated by late U.S. President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be allowed out , except to seek food or medical care or in case of an emergency .
Factories that had been allowed to operate must close .
The area has reported more nearly 2,500 infections and hospitals are reaching their limits .

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mayor of Atlanta, one of dozens of U.S. cities hit by massive protests in recent days, has a message for demonstrators: “If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week.”
As more beaches, churches, schools and businesses reopened worldwide, civil unrest in the United States over repeated racial injustice is raising fears of new coronavirus outbreaks in a country that has seen more infections and deaths than anywhere else in the world.
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Protesters take a knee while marching through Harlem during a solidarity rally for George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms warned that “there is still a pandemic in America that’s killing black and brown people at higher numbers.”
Violent protests over the death of George Floyd have shaken the country from New York City to Minneapolis, from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Some protests have turned into riots and clashes with police, leaving stores burned and torched cars in the streets. City officials have ordered overnight curfews to quell the violence.
Protesters rally Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Las Vegas, over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck. It was the latest in a series of deaths of black men and women at the hands of police in America.
Health experts fear that silent carriers of the virus who have no symptoms could unwittingly infect others at protests where people are packed cheek to jowl, many without masks.
“Whether they’re fired up or not, that doesn’t prevent them from getting the virus,” said Bradley Pollock, chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis.
The U.S. has seen over 1.7 million infections and nearly 104,000 deaths in the pandemic, which has disproportionately affected racial minorities in a nation that does not have universal health care.
After another night of unrest in Minneapolis, the Minnesota health commissioner warned that the protests are almost certain to fuel new infections.
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“We have two crises that are sandwiched on top of one other,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
Even for the many protesters wearing masks, those don’t guarantee protection. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cloth masks keep infected people from spreading the virus but are not designed to protect wearers from getting it.
On Sunday, many Americans were returning to in-person church services for the first time in many weeks as some emergency measures are lifted and mosques reopened across the Middle East, but in countries from India to Colombia the number of new infection was still on the rise.
In Europe, unions in Paris flouted a ban on large gatherings Saturday to protest the dire conditions facing workers in the country illegally. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds and said they had banned the march due to health risks.
Hong Kong police have used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to break up protests in recent weeks. A ban on gatherings of more than eight people has been extended to June 4, the day of an annual candlelight vigil to mark the Chinese military’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
More than 6 million infections have been reported worldwide, with nearly 370,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The true death toll is believed to be significantly higher, with experts saying many victims died of the virus without ever being tested.
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Doctors, front, demonstrate in favor of the government-ordered lockdown to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus while dueling protesters demand an end to the lockdown, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, May 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) ASSOCIATED PRESS
The situation worsened Sunday in India, where new daily cases topped 8,000 for the first time and 193 more deaths were reported. India still is easing restrictions on shops and public transport in more states beginning Monday, although subways and schools will remain closed.
In Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of mosques reopened Sunday for the first time in more than two months, but Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed. In Jerusalem, throngs of worshippers waited outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque before it reopened. Many wore surgical masks and waited for temperature checks as they entered.
In Bogota, the capital of Colombia, authorities were locking down an area of nearly 1.5 million people as cases continue to rise.
Mayor Claudia Lopez said no one in the working-class Kennedy area — inaugurated by late U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961 — will be allowed out, except to seek food or medical care or in case of an emergency. Factories that had been allowed to operate must close. The area has reported more nearly 2,500 infections and hospitals are reaching their limits.
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Elite sporting events will be allowed to resume in England starting Monday, but without spectators, paving the way for the planned June 17 return of the Premier League, the world’s richest soccer competition.
But England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam warned that the situation remained precarious. Britain has seen nearly 38,500 deaths in the pandemic, the second-highest number of confirmed virus deaths after the United States.
“I believe this is also a very dangerous moment,” he said. “We have to get this right.”
Pope Francis, meanwhile, cautioned against pessimism as people emerge from coronavirus lockdowns.
During Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark Pentecost Sunday, Francis noted a tendency to say that “nothing will be the same.” That kind of thinking, Francis said, guarantees that “the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.”
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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. AP reporters from around the world contributed to this report.
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huffpost--2020-05-31--U.S. Cities Assess Protest Damage, Await Another Day Of Unrest

The turbulence sparked by the death of George Floyd — a black man who died after being pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer — shook not only the streets of New York and Los Angeles , but dozens of smaller communities such as Fargo , North Dakota , and Lincoln , Nebraska .
The damage extended even to buildings near the White House .
Disgust over generations of racism in a country founded by slaveholders combined with a string of recent high-profile killings to stoke the anger .
Three months before Floyd ’ s death , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jogged through a Georgia neighborhood .
A white father and son are charged in the slaying .
The month after Arbery was killed , an EMT named Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by Louisville , Kentucky , narcotics detectives who knocked down her front door .
No drugs were found in her home .
Adding to that was angst from months of lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic , which has disproportionately hurt communities of color , not only in terms of infections but in job losses and economic stress .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests began , police , state troopers and National Guard members moved in soon after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect Saturday to break up demonstrations .
The show of force came after three days in which police largely avoided engaging protesters , and after the state poured more than 4,000 National Guard troops into Minneapolis .
Authorities said that number would soon rise to nearly 11,000 .
At the Minneapolis intersection where Floyd was killed , people gathered with brooms and flowers , saying it was important to protect what they called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was blocked with the traffic cones while a ring of flowers was laid out .
Conley said the demonstrations and confrontations with police would continue until the other three officers who were at the scene when Floyd was pinned down are arrested and prosecuted .
The officer who put his knee on Floyd ’ s neck , Derek Chauvin , was charged last week with murder .
All four officers have been fired .
Few parts of America were untouched .
Protesters set fires inside Reno ’ s city hall , and police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fargo , North Dakota .
In Salt Lake City , demonstrators flipped a police car and lit it on fire .
Police said six people were arrested and an officer was injured after being struck in the head with a baseball bat .
In New York , a video showed two police cruisers lurching into a crowd of demonstrators who were pushing a barricade against one of them and pelting it with objects .
Several people were knocked to the ground .
It was unclear if anyone was hurt .

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — America’s cities boarded up windows, swept up glass and covered graffiti Sunday as the country’s most significant night of protests in a half-century promised to spill into another day of unrest fueled by killings of black people at the hands of police.
The turbulence sparked by the death of George Floyd — a black man who died after being pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer — shook not only the streets of New York and Los Angeles, but dozens of smaller communities such as Fargo, North Dakota, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The damage extended even to buildings near the White House.
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Peaceful protests involving tens of thousands of people on Saturday gave way, in some places, to rioting, looting and violence, with police vehicles torched, stores emptied and objects hurled at officers. The police response varied from restrained to aggressive, with officers at times firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
Police and peaceful protesters alike pleaded for a stop to violence, saying it only hindered calls for justice and reform.
“It only hurts the cause,” said Danielle Outlaw, head of the police force in Philadelphia, where more than 200 people were arrested as fires and looting engulfed Center City.
Disgust over generations of racism in a country founded by slaveholders combined with a string of recent high-profile killings to stoke the anger. Three months before Floyd’s death, Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot as he jogged through a Georgia neighborhood. A white father and son are charged in the slaying. The month after Arbery was killed, an EMT named Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by Louisville, Kentucky, narcotics detectives who knocked down her front door. No drugs were found in her home.
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Adding to that was angst from months of lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately hurt communities of color, not only in terms of infections but in job losses and economic stress.
The droves of people congregating in chanting demonstrations threatened to trigger new outbreaks, a fact overshadowed by the boiling tensions.
“We’re sick of it. The cops are out of control,” protester Olga Hall said in Washington, D.C. “They’re wild. There’s just been too many dead boys.”
The scale of the protests, sweeping from coast to coast and unfolding on a single night, rivaled the historic demonstrations of the civil rights and Vietnam War eras.
Curfews were imposed in major cities around the U.S., including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. About 5,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
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In Minneapolis, the city where the protests began, police, state troopers and National Guard members moved in soon after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect Saturday to break up demonstrations. The show of force came after three days in which police largely avoided engaging protesters, and after the state poured more than 4,000 National Guard troops into Minneapolis. Authorities said that number would soon rise to nearly 11,000.
President Donald Trump appeared to cheer on the tougher tactics, commending the National Guard deployment in Minneapolis and declaring “No games!” He said police in New York City “must be allowed to do their job!”
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the violence as he continued to express common cause with those demonstrating after Floyd’s death.
“The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest,” Biden said in a late-night statement.
Dozens of additional protests were underway or expected on Sunday, from Miami to Kansas City to San Francisco. They went forth largely without incident, but sparks of crime continued.
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In Philadelphia, looters robbed stores in broad daylight and at least one more police vehicle was set ablaze. Streets leading downtown were closed. Chicago likewise restricted downtown access and called in the National Guard.
At the Minneapolis intersection where Floyd was killed, people gathered with brooms and flowers, saying it was important to protect what they called a “sacred space.” The intersection was blocked with the traffic cones while a ring of flowers was laid out.
County Commissioner Angela Conley showed up shortly after the curfew lifted, saying that police had trampled flowers and photos of Floyd. “The community needs healing, and what happened last night only exacerbated the pain that’s been felt,” she said.
Conley said the demonstrations and confrontations with police would continue until the other three officers who were at the scene when Floyd was pinned down are arrested and prosecuted. The officer who put his knee on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, was charged last week with murder. All four officers have been fired.
“We’ll continue to have this militarized presence in our community until justice is done,” Conley said.
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In tweets Sunday, Trump blamed anarchists and the media for fueling the violence. Attorney General William Barr pointed a finger at “far left extremist” groups. Police chiefs and politicians around the country accused outsiders of coming in and causing the problems.
Few parts of America were untouched. Protesters set fires inside Reno’s city hall, and police launched tear gas at rock-throwing demonstrators in Fargo, North Dakota. In Salt Lake City, demonstrators flipped a police car and lit it on fire. Police said six people were arrested and an officer was injured after being struck in the head with a baseball bat.
By Sunday, the fury had spread to Europe, where thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square, clapping and waving placards despite government rules barring crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In New York, a video showed two police cruisers lurching into a crowd of demonstrators who were pushing a barricade against one of them and pelting it with objects. Several people were knocked to the ground. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.
“The mistakes that are happening are not mistakes. They’re repeated violent terrorist offenses, and people need to stop killing black people,” Brooklyn protester Meryl Makielski said.
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In Indianapolis, two people were reported dead in bursts of downtown violence, adding to deaths reported in Detroit and Minneapolis in recent days.
Sites around the U.S. were defaced with spray-painted messages, from the facade of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to the historic Hay-Adams hotel near the White House. Some of Floyd’s gasped last words — “I can’t breathe” — were repeated around the country, alongside anti-police messages.
On Sunday, maintenance crews near the White House worked to replace windows that had been shattered with large pieces of wood. Buildings for blocks were marked with graffiti, including curses about Trump. Shattered glass still covered the sidewalks. The damaged buildings included the Department of Veterans Affairs, directly across the street from the White House.
Some leaders prepared to put more soldiers in the streets. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp authorized the deployment of up to 3,000 National Guard troops to Athens, Savannah and any other cities where more demonstrations were planned. Kemp had already approved up to 1,500 Guardsmen to help enforce a 9 p.m. Saturday curfew in Atlanta.
This week’s unrest recalled the riots in Los Angeles nearly 30 years ago after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Rodney King, a black motorist who had led them on a high-speed chase. The protests of Floyd’s killing have gripped many more cities, but the losses have yet to approach the staggering totals LA saw during five days of rioting in 1992, when more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were injured and thousands arrested, with property damage topping $1 billion.
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huffpost--2020-06-16--Ilhan Omar Isn't Done Fighting

Ilhan Omar Isn't Done Fighting

As the first Somali-American elected to Congress and one of the two first Muslim women elected to Congress , Omar knows firsthand the impact policies have on marginalized communities .
In her new memoir , “ This Is What America Looks Like : My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman , ” published on May 26 , Omar chronicles her life so far , including her time in Mogadishu , fleeing to a refugee camp , coming to the U.S. and , now , fighting for justice in Congress .
In Minnesota , we ’ re slowly transitioning back to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There were already a lot of people who were food insecure and now with the destruction of food places and many of the places where people would get their essential needs , we are doubling up our efforts and helping with food distribution and essential items .
We turned my campaign headquarters and our parking lot into a distribution center .
I really work hard to introduce legislation that has a 360-degree lens in solving social and economic problems .
The legislation we ’ ve introduced have all been comprehensive .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important for us to lay down the seeds today so we can eat the fruits tomorrow .
The ability to also build relationships and be courageous in the rooms that I ’ m in has allowed us to have the highest numbers of amendments in committee and on the floor as a freshman and as the Minnesota delegation in Congress .
It ’ s just an ability to think who should be there and when you ’ re confronted with something different , your brain struggles to recognize that this is like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for those people who struggled with seeing change , they are also struggling in having my presence in Congress .
I don ’ t know when a nation like ours that has gone through what it has been through would ever be ready to actually see a very visible Muslim woman , let alone one that comes from one of the countries that are on a Muslim ban and that the president describes as a “ shithole ” country .
In your memoir , you write that an individual can ’ t decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an issue because it ’ s too controversial.
” In the wake of George Floyd ’ s death , there have been increased calls to tackle police brutality and racism in controversial and bold ways , including calls to defund the police .
What policing reforms and changes do you want to see ?
Do you think your state can lead the way with those changes ?
Now we have certain policies that we are going to review on a state level and a municipal level in Minneapolis .
We ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ departments because there is a crisis in confidence .
There is no amount of reform that will restore that .
This is our opportunity to reimagine what public safety looks like for our community and what the role of community-led initiatives should be in dealing with substance abuse and homelessness and crime prevention and gang violence prevention and domestic violence prevention .
This is our chance to really look at the kind of social and economic neglect at this moment , holistically .
I think the nation also has that opportunity .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give the nation the opportunity to have a vision for what is possible .
I ’ m actually really proud of many of the city council members here , who are who have the moral clarity and the courage to push for serious systematic change .
There ’ s always a disconnect in the way in which I operate and the way in which my voice gets sensationalized .
I ’ m a consensus-builder and someone who tries to find a place of agreement with people .
So I can have respect and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share many of the progressive values that I have or the views that I have .
Internally , a lot of my colleagues have a closer relationship with me because of that , and that is the root of my success and in being able to have the legislative successes we ’ ve been able to have .

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As a Black Muslim woman, and one in the public eye, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is a frequent target of xenophobia, racism, and sexism ― sometimes all at once. She’s eager to do what she can to combat bigotry, and has turned her focus to police brutality since George Floyd, a Black man, died at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis last month.
Omar wants to see her state lead the way for systemic change, while she pushes to do the same through Congress. Last week, she introduced four bills that would address police accountability by establishing a new federal agency aimed to investigate police misconduct, limiting the president’s ability to deploy troops against American citizens, and providing economic relief to those impacted in the wake of Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests.
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As the first Somali-American elected to Congress and one of the two first Muslim women elected to Congress, Omar knows firsthand the impact policies have on marginalized communities. In her new memoir, “This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman,” published on May 26, Omar chronicles her life so far, including her time in Mogadishu, fleeing to a refugee camp, coming to the U.S. and, now, fighting for justice in Congress.
HuffPost spoke with Omar from Minnesota about her journey finding and fighting for a better America.
What has life been like for you, between the pandemic and the protests? (Note: On Monday, Omar said that her father died from complications of the coronavirus. This interview was conducted before her father’s death.)
It’s been really challenging. The public health crisis is still real. We’re still dealing with the coronavirus while still dealing with the economic crisis and pushing legislation to try to cancel rent and mortgages for people who are watching debt pile up as this pandemic continues.
In Minnesota, we’re slowly transitioning back to work and it’s a slow move. There were already a lot of people who were food insecure and now with the destruction of food places and many of the places where people would get their essential needs, we are doubling up our efforts and helping with food distribution and essential items. We turned my campaign headquarters and our parking lot into a distribution center.
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So the work is still happening. The pain and the hurt and the devastation has compounded. It’s a very challenging time for us here in Minneapolis.
You share stories about resilience, ranging from fleeing Somalia and being bullied at school once in America. In the memoir, you write, “Fighting didn’t feel like a choice. It was a part of me. Respect goes both ways.” How has being a fighter prepared you for your time in Congress?
I really work hard to introduce legislation that has a 360-degree lens in solving social and economic problems. The legislation we’ve introduced have all been comprehensive. The fighter aspect in me believes it is important for us to lay down the seeds today so we can eat the fruits tomorrow. The ability to also build relationships and be courageous in the rooms that I’m in has allowed us to have the highest numbers of amendments in committee and on the floor as a freshman and as the Minnesota delegation in Congress.
I’m someone who has always had trials and triumphs run in parallel. As many difficulties as I have had in walking in the halls of Congress, I’ve also had really unique successes for a freshman.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the scene on Capitol Hill before you were sworn in and a member of the Capitol police mistook Connor McNutt, your white male chief of staff, for the elected official and didn’t acknowledge you. Why do you think someone like you, a Black, Somali, hijab-wearing Muslim woman in Congress was so unfathomable for someone like him?
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Here is someone who is in charge of our safety. So you know he’s got pictures and supposed to have an actual understanding of who he’s supposed to be briefing but his subconscious has not allowed for him to recognize me as a congresswoman and that is strange cognitive dissonance.
It’s sort of like what our Black president used to experience and I’m sure that experience was also true for some of the first Black people or Latino people who were elected.
It’s just an ability to think who should be there and when you’re confronted with something different, your brain struggles to recognize that this is like the reality of the moment. I think for those people who struggled with seeing change, they are also struggling in having my presence in Congress.
I don’t know when a nation like ours that has gone through what it has been through would ever be ready to actually see a very visible Muslim woman, let alone one that comes from one of the countries that are on a Muslim ban and that the president describes as a “shithole” country.
In your memoir, you write that an individual can’t decide whether or not “to engage in an issue because it’s too controversial.” In the wake of George Floyd’s death, there have been increased calls to tackle police brutality and racism in controversial and bold ways, including calls to defund the police. What policing reforms and changes do you want to see? Do you think your state can lead the way with those changes?
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Certainly. I’ve always believed that when we have the opportunity to create transformative change we should. We find ourselves here in Minneapolis in a moment where that opportunity exists and we can push for transformative change.
“We’re going to have to work on dismantling police departments because there is a crisis in confidence. There is no amount of reform that will restore that.” - Rep. Ilhan Omar
Now we have certain policies that we are going to review on a state level and a municipal level in Minneapolis. We’re going to have to work on dismantling police departments because there is a crisis in confidence. There is no amount of reform that will restore that. This is our opportunity to reimagine what public safety looks like for our community and what the role of community-led initiatives should be in dealing with substance abuse and homelessness and crime prevention and gang violence prevention and domestic violence prevention. This is our chance to really look at the kind of social and economic neglect at this moment, holistically.
I think the nation also has that opportunity. But what we do here in Minnesota would give the nation the opportunity to have a vision for what is possible. I’m actually really proud of many of the city council members here, who are who have the moral clarity and the courage to push for serious systematic change.
You also mentioned in your book a moment where you asked yourself how to “maintain your ideals and outspokenness while remaining respectful to your colleagues.” Have you found an answer to that, especially in the Democratic party where the establishment and progressive often have very different views and ways of doing things as a party?
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I grew up in a large family and we encouraged discussion and debate. At a young age, I learned that’s really healthy. With my colleagues, I always can understand their point of view and how they find themselves in the positions that they are in when it comes to advocacy.
There’s always a disconnect in the way in which I operate and the way in which my voice gets sensationalized. I’m a consensus-builder and someone who tries to find a place of agreement with people. So I can have respect and admiration for people who don’t share many of the progressive values that I have or the views that I have. Internally, a lot of my colleagues have a closer relationship with me because of that, and that is the root of my success and in being able to have the legislative successes we’ve been able to have.
When you arrived in the U.S., you were shocked at the trash-filled NYC you landed in and your dad tried to reassure you by telling you, “This isn’t our America. We’ll get to our America,” as you share in your memoir. Did you find your America yet?
My worry throughout the years has been that the level of complacency that I’ve seen would lead to there only being incremental changes and not transformative change.
I’m inspired by historic demonstrations that are taking place in nearly all 50 states and I think we will see serious, serious policies that will address the economic and social neglect that will address the systematic racism that is codified in many of the policies that govern our country.
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I am hopeful because of the new voices that are emerging that are mainly young and diverse groups of people who are really good at creating coalitions across the country to fight for bold changes. I know the legislation we’ve been able to introduce and have hearings for in the last few weeks would not have been possible without them.
I also know that the kind of commitment we have from the Minneapolis City Council in dismantling our police department would not exist without them. I know that the transferring of the George Floyd case to Keith Ellison as the lead attorney general would not have happened without them


huffpost--2020-06-16--15 Tweets That Sum Up Father's Day During A Pandemic

During a Zoom call with his teacher , my kid was filling out one of those `` all about my @ @ @ @ @ 's Day .
He keeps his volume at full blast ( because of course he @ @ @ @ @ as a bell I heard her ask : `` What 's your dad good at @ @ @ @ @ was DEAFENING .

During a Zoom call with his teacher, my kid was filling out one of those "all about my dad" sheets for Father's Day. He keeps his volume at full blast (because of course he does), so clear as a bell I heard her ask: "What's your dad good at?"
The ensuing silence was DEAFENING.