Hundreds of people could die from coronavirus for each day of protests
Each day of protests across the US could kill up to 540 people from coronavirus, an expert said while blaming mass arrests and cops’ use of tear gas for “exacerbating” the spread of the virus.
“At the high end … we’d expect 54k downstream infections and 540 eventual deaths,” warned Trevor Bedford, who has been tracking the pandemic since January.
“I’d give a highly speculative ‘more than 50 and less than 500‘ estimate for the number of eventual deaths for each day of protests,” he added in a series of tweets Sunday night modeling the potential dangers of the mass protests.
“These deaths will likely be disproportionately among black individuals,” he also warned.
Bedford, a virus expert at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said the numbers do not represent “a massive spike in cases” given the US has had almost 2 million infections and more than 110,000 deaths as of Monday morning.
“But it’s still large in absolute numbers,” he said.
The scientist wrote that there is “no doubt that mass gatherings facilitate transmission,” with the concern so bad, New York is opening 15 testing centers solely for protesters.
“Wearing masks and protesting outdoors has to help,” Bedford wrote in a separate thread — while putting the onus on police.
“Current responses of tear gas, pepper spray and jailing after curfew are actively exacerbating it,” he wrote.
Bedford’s warning comes as other studies say tear gas could increase the chances of coronavirus infections — with asymptomatic carriers also likely to suffer worse from the chemicals, Discover magazine noted.
“Police must seek responses that minimize transmission potential … Deescalation is even more critical in light of COVID,” Bedford said of the controversy over heavy-handed tactics in some states.
Bedford fears the protests are just a general trend that “feels as though we’ve largely given up on controlling the epidemic.”
“Because of the pandemic, we’re in a terrible situation where addressing systemic racism and bringing economy back online carry health risks,” he tweeted.
“It is a cruel twist that the US’s inability to control the epidemic has made it dangerous to protest entrenched police brutality,” he said, calling the “harms of systemic racism … real and utterly pernicious.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/hundreds-could-die-from-coronavirus-for-each-day-of-protests-experts/
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Tamara Harrian’s husband blames mental illness for ‘indefensible’ Arizona attack
The lawyer husband of the Arizona “Karen” who was slapped by a Native American whom she told to “go back to Mexico” has tearfully apologized for the “indefensible” slur — blaming it on mental illness.
“Karina, I don’t know what to say. I’m just so sorry,” Bob Harrian told Fox 10 Phoenix in a direct appeal to Karina Rodriguez, the woman who slapped his wife during the ugly confrontation caught in a now-viral video.
“I’m just so sorry that this happened. You never walked into that store thinking something like this was going to happen,” he said, breaking into sobs Monday as he sought help for his wife’s mental health problems.
“I understand, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what she said. It was very hateful. It was — it’s indefensible,” he told Fox 10.
“But I just have to tell you this: It’s her mental illness. A year ago, she would … never have even thought of that,” he insisted of his wife, who had falsely claimed to be the store manager during the fight.
The lawyer was so concerned for his wife that he called out a crisis management team that interviewed her for more than an hour, he told the station, which said it confirmed the visit.
His wife had started showing alarming signs of paranoia — making up wild stories — following a break-in at their home last year, he said.
He hopes it may be the wake-up call to get help for his wife.
“This is your spouse you have known and loved for 30 years and she is starting to slip away. And you are trying to get her help but you can’t get her help because she doesn’t think there is anything wrong with her,” he told 12 News in a separate interview.
Harrian also returned to the Phoenix Shell station where the confrontation happened to apologize to staff and customers — and told Fox 10 he has no plans to sue Rodriguez for the slap.
The “Karen” moniker is social media shorthand for white women who call the cops on black people over harmless incidents.
The incident comes nearly two weeks after the “Central Park Karen” fiasco — in which Amy Cooper called the police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper after he asked her to leash her dog.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/tamara-harrians-husband-blames-mental-illness-for-arizona-incident/
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Probate attorney arrested for spitting on 17 year old protester
(Meredith) – A 64-year-old woman was arrested after a video showed her spitting on a teenage protester during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Wisconsin.
Stephanie Rapkin parked her car in the middle of a street on Saturday, blocking a protest march in Shorewood, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Video shows Rapkin get out of her car, walk to the sidewalk, and confront protesters. Several people urged her to move her car. Moments later, another group of protesters approached the woman and began shouting at her as she shouted back.
“We were yelling, ‘Black lives matter. I’m black, and I’m proud.’ And she got mad,” protester Ilijah Taylor-Jordan told WDJT-TV.
Rapkin can then be seen spitting on 17-year-old Eric Patrick Lucas.
“When that happened, it was just a quick rush of anger, pain, and confusion. I didn’t know how to feel,” Lucas said, adding that he was traumatized.
Police arrested Rapkin later that night on suspicion of battery and disorderly conduct. She did not stay at the Milwaukee County Jail due to the jail’s current policy related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Within 24 hours, Rapkin was arrested again.
This time, about 10 people had gathered outside her house on Sunday around 4 p.m. to stage what police called a peaceful protest.
The Journal Sentinel reported that one of the demonstrators, Joe Friedman, admitted to writing a few notes in chalk on the sidewalk in front of Rapkin’s home after hearing about her initial arrest.
Among other things, he wrote: “Be better than this” and “I spit on a child. How dare you!”
After about an hour, police said Rapkin came out of her house and started arguing with the protesters. She then “slapped both of her hands” on Friedman’s chest and shoved him before returning to her home, according to police.
When officers arrived at Rapkin’s home and told her she was under arrest, she resisted their attempts to handcuff her. Police said she then struck one of the officers in the groin.
Shorewood police are now seeking charges of battery, disorderly conduct, battery to a law enforcement officer, and resisting/obstructing an officer.
A legal complaint was also filed against Rapkin, who works as an estate planning and probate attorney.
Michael S. Maistelman, an election law attorney, filed the complaint Sunday night with the State Office of Lawyer Regulation, asking it to investigate Rapkin’s possible professional misconduct.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Police chief announces his own arrest, charges over missing cash
A Louisiana police chief has been charged after $3,650 of seized cash went missing from his station — announcing his own arrest in an online news statement.
Grayson Police Chief Mitch Bratton announced on Facebook that Louisiana State Police (LSP) had charged him with obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office — and that he would not step down.
“I won’t debate the validity of the charge. I wanted to be in full disclosure,” he said just before 7 p.m Thursday — more than four hours before state cops made their own announcement.
“This does not affect me being the chief of police and I intend to be as accessible as I always have while I let the criminal justice system work this issue out,” he insisted.
Bratton claimed that he had been the one to call in state police over “some concerns that I had with a town employee” — saying the focus turned on him while he was “cooperating” with the investigators.
State police claimed that officers “determined Bratton seized $2,500 and $1,150 on two separate cases. The seized currency could not be accounted for and was never logged as evidence.”
Bratton “intentionally concealed the missing currency,” the department claimed.
The chief was booked into Caldwell Parish Jail and bonded out a few hours later, Newsweek said. Bratton and LSP refused to discuss the ongoing investigation, the magazine said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/07/police-chief-announces-his-own-arrest-charges-over-missing-cash/
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Arizona ‘Karen’ slapped across the face for telling woman to ‘go back to Mexico’
A so-called “Karen” in Arizona was slapped across the face for telling a Native American woman to “go back to Mexico.”
The caught-on-camera scuffle happened Saturday inside a Shell convenience store in Phoenix, fellow customer Greg Conn posted to Facebook.
In the moments before Conn started filming, he said “Karen,” a middle-aged white woman in a black-and-white dress, stormed into the store flustered because her gas pump wasn’t working.
Conn said “Karen” got into a back-and-forth with a younger woman who was being helped at the counter. “Karen” told the woman “to go back to her country.”
Then he turned on his camera.
“Native Americans are from this country,” the younger woman can be heard saying. Then she tells a clerk, “Don’t serve her racist ass.”
“Karen” then confronts Conn, telling him he needs to leave because “you’re not a part of this.”
Then she returns to the counter and asks the younger woman, “Where are you from? Where were you born?”
“Where are you from, b—h?” the younger woman shoots back. “I was born in America. Where are your ancestors from? They’re not from this country.”
“You better go back to Mexico,” the older woman says, before the two get in each other’s faces.
”Karen” appears to shove the younger woman, who slaps her across the face — prompting the older woman to storm out in a huff.
“You deserved it, in my opinion,” Conn says while still recording. “Self-defense on her part.”
“Karen,” who initially claimed she was the manager of the convenience store, is not employed there and is no longer welcome at any of its locations nationwide, the owners told TMZ.
The “Karen” moniker is social media shorthand for white women who call the cops on black people over harmless incidents.
The incident comes nearly two weeks after the “Central Park Karen” fiasco — in which Amy Cooper called the police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper after he asked her to leash her dog.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/arizona-karen-slapped-for-telling-woman-to-go-back-to-mexico/
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Trump mocks Mitt Romney’s participation in George Floyd protests
President Trump mocked GOP Sen. Mitt Romney for marching in Washington, DC, in protest over George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis, saying “what a guy.”
“Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would ‘tank’ so badly in Utah!,” the president wrote on Twitter Monday.
Romney, according to the New York Times, is among a group of Republicans like former President George W. Bush not expected to support Trump’s re-election this November.
Romney, who walked with a group of Christians, told the Washington Post that he joined the protest because “we need a voice against racism.”
“We need many voices against racism and against
brutality. And we need to stand up and say ‘black lives matter,’” said Romney, who has a 52 percent approval rating in Utah.
Floyd, who was black, was killed on May 25 when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder, and the US Department of Justice said it has made its civil rights investigation into the death of Floyd a “top priority.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/trump-mocks-mitt-romneys-for-going-to-george-floyd-protests/
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Cop who shoved woman to ground during George Floyd protest to be arrested
The NYPD cop shown in a viral video pushing a woman to the ground during Brooklyn protests over the death of George Floyd is expected to be arrested Tuesday, police sources said.
The officer, who hasn’t been officially identified, was a 73rd Precinct cop. He has already been suspended without pay.
It was unclear what he would be charged with.
The video shows him shove Dounya Zayer at a protest near Barclays Center on May 29.
The officer can be heard calling Zayer a “stupid b—h” before shoving her to the pavement. She suffered a seizure and concussion, she has said.
Zayer tweeted about the incident from her hospital bed, begging protesters to be careful.
“I beg everyone who is going back out tonight to protest to be careful. These police want to make an example out of us. They want to prove that they can hurt us and get away with it. Prove them wrong,” she tweeted.
A second cop was suspended after he was caught on video the next day pulling down a protester’s mask and pepper-spraying him in his face. The outcome of the investigation into that case hasn’t been released.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch raged against the planned arrest.
“Once again, Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD brass are sacrificing cops to save their own skin,” he said. “They created the failed strategy for managing these demonstrations. They sent police officers out to do the job with no support and no clear plan. They should be the ones facing this mob-rule justice.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/cop-who-shoved-woman-during-george-floyd-protest-to-be-arrested/
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Elmer Fudd stripped of rifle in new Looney Tunes cartoon series in response to the gun violence in the US
Warner Bros is stripping Elmer Fudd of his rifle in a new Looney Tunes cartoon series on HBO Max, handicapping the grumpy hunter as he continues his decades-long pursuit of the wise-cracking Bugs Bunny, according to reports.
The change in the latest incarnation of the iconic animated series is a response to the gun violence in the US, the Telegraph reported.
Historically the toons have largely revolved around Fudd’s persistent chase of the carrot-chomping Bugs, with his classic catchphrase, “What’s up, Doc?”
Fudd, known for his own catchphrase, “Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits,” gets outsmarted by Bugs at every turn, even though he’s always had his trusty shotgun at his side — until now.
“We’re not doing guns,” Peter Browngardt, executive producer of the new series, told the New York Times. “But we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All of that was kind of grandfathered in.”
Fudd won’t be empty-handed, however — he’ll now use a scythe to try to bag Bugs
The 200 new cartoons, which will feature other Looney Tunes “stars,” will still have an edge — Porky Pig sucks the poison out of Daffy Duck’s leg in one skit, Sylvester the Cat is haunted by the ghost of his traditional target, Tweety Bird, and Satan even makes a cameo in one toon.
“Some of them have maybe gone a little too far, so they might come out in a different format,” Browngardt told the outlet.
“We’re going through this wave of anti-bullying, everybody needs to be friends, everybody needs to get along,” he said. “Looney Toons is pretty much the antithesis of that. It’s two characters in conflict, sometimes getting pretty violent.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/06/07/elmer-fudd-stripped-of-rifle-in-new-looney-toons-cartoon-series/
Photo Credit: Warner Brothers
These Bollywood stars support Black Lives Matter — and skin-lightening creams
These Bollywood celebrities are fair-skinned — and two-faced, critics say.
Indian movie stars are catching heat for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement online even while endorsing skin-lightening facial creams in advertisements.
Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, 37 — the wife of singer Nick Jonas, and among India’s highest-paid entertainers — shared a post on Instagram last week urging people to end the “race war” after the death of George Floyd.
“Wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, NO ONE deserves to die, especially at the hands of another because of their skin color,” she wrote under an image that read, “‘Please, I can’t breathe.”
But observers quickly shot down her comments, calling her “hypocritical” for appearing in a Garnier ad for “fairness” cream, which is used by some people of color to lighten their skin tone.
“Pri was the face of skin lightening creams in India. Pri is part of the problem,” one critic posted on Twitter along with the ad.
In the advertisement, the star is shown posing next to the face lotion, which is described as “ultra-light fairness and dark spots reduction cream.”
Indian actress was also criticized for shunning racism while promoting a skin-lightening cream.
“All colors are beautiful,” she wrote on Twitter — only to be called out for appearing in an ad for a similar product, Pond’s “fairness” cream.
“Irony is celebs advertising for fairness creams are being vocal about #BlackLivesMatter! First bring the change within you then only you can change the world,” one critic, Satyam Shivam, slammed on Twitter.
Indian actor Abhay Deol criticized fellow celebrities saying, “Now that ‘woke’ Indian celebrities and the middle class stand in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard?,” according to the UK Metro.
Other Indian celebs, including actresses Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor, were also slammed for speaking out about the Black Lives Matter movement while promoting skin-lightening creams, the outlet reported.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Man arrested for wearing blackface to anti-black racism protest in Toronto
A man was arrested in Toronto Saturday after showing up to an anti-racism protest while wearing blackface.
The man, whose name was not released by officials, was filmed getting into a shouting match with demonstrators after protest organizers asked him to leave.
“If I want to put this on my face then I can put this on my face!” the man can be heard saying in the clip before he was placed in custody.
“You’re f–king disrespectful!” a demonstrator shouts back. “You’re a shame to all who came here.”
The man then announced, “I’m not trying to be disrespectful–” but it appeared clear in the clip that none of the protesters bought that claim.
The demonstration was one of several to take place Saturday in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has sparked global protests against police brutality and racism.
Toronto bike police were filmed hauling him off as he continued to shout out protesters.
Police originally told Global News he was arrested for breach of the peace and charged, but later told the outlet no charges have been made and “inquiries continue.”
Photo Credit: twitter