Florida Police: To Serve & Infect

Florida’s pro-virus governor Ron DeSantis has invited vaccination-resisting cops fleeing vaccine mandates in other states to come and infect his state’s surviving citizens. He’s offered to pay unvacinated officers a $5,000 signing bonus. 58,933 Floridians have died of COVID while Ron DeSantis has been in office. So far.

This year, the number one cause of police deaths is COVID-19, not firearms.

In other Florida Man news, Florida’s surgeon general nominee won’t share his Covid-19 vaccine status.

More:

“As some police fight vaccine rules, DeSantis says Florida will pay them $5,000 to relocate: ‘We’ll treat you better,’” Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post

“Ron DeSantis Goes All In on Vaccine Skepticism,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“Covid has killed more active-duty police officers than 9/11 did,” Phillip Bump, Washington Post

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Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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A History of Policing in America

 A quick overview of the history of policing in America through the lens of race, by Khalil Gibran Muhammad. A clip from an NPR podcast.

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Trump’s Capitol Mob Waved Pro-Police Flags, Killed Cop

The raging mob that Donald Trump set loose on the U.S. Capitol waved “thin blue line” flags and wore “Blue Lives Matter” T-shirts. They attacked police with lead pipes and mace, injured 60 police officers, and killed Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

Reminder: Donald John Trump ran as the Law & Order candidate; instead, he’s unleashed the “American Carnage” he swore to protect us from.

More:

“MAGA Mob Kills Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, Iraq War Veteran Defending Congress From Trump Rioters,” Pilar Melendez, Ana Lucia Murillo, Will Lennon, and Matt Taylor, BuzzFeed News

“Capitol Police Officer Dies From Injuries in Pro-Trump Rampage,” Marc Santora, Megan Specia and Mike Baker, New York Times

“Capitol Police officer’s death investigated as homicide; Trump’s legal exposure questioned,” Kristine Phillips and Kevin Johnson, USA Today

“Bleeding Capitol cop screams for help as he is crushed against a metal door by MAGA mob that stormed police lines and bludgeoned officers with stolen shields,” Snejana Farberov, Daily Mail

“The Mob at the Capitol Proves That Blue Lives Have Never Mattered to Trump Supporters,” Nathalie Baptiste, Mother Jones

“Rioters breached the Capitol as they waved pro-police flags. Police support on the right may be eroding, experts warn.” Marissa J. Lang and Peter Jamison, Washington Post

Updates:

“‘They Got a Officer!’: How a Mob Dragged and Beat Police at the Capitol,” Evan Hill, Arielle Ray and Dahlia Kozlowsky, New York Times

“FBI, NYPD told Capitol Police about possibility of violence before riot, senior officials say,” Ken Dilanian, Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst and Andrew Blankstein, NBC News

“Video shows Capitol mob dragging police officer down stairs. One rioter beat the officer with a pole flying the U.S. flag.” Katie Shepherd, Washington Post

“New Video Shows Officer Beaten by Trump Insurrectionists,” TMZ

“Guns, Brass Knuckles, Homemade Napalm: Read Some of the Documents From Arrests After the Capitol Riot,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“MAGA Mob Assaulted at Least 139 Cops at Capitol: Prosecutors,” Jamie Ross, Daily Beast

Related:

“Decoding the flags and banners seen at the Capitol Hill insurrection,” By Anne Quito and Amanda Shendruk, Quartz

“Decoding the Far-Right Symbols at the Capitol Riot,” Matthew Rosenberg and Ainara Tiefenthäler, New York Times

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Trump: 7 Shots in the Back is Like a Missed Putt

U.S. President, Commander-in-Chief, and celebrity golf cheat Donald Trump compared the police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times last month to a golfer who missed a simple putt:

“They can do 10,000 great acts, which is what they do, and one bad apple – or a choker, you know, a choker, they choke – shooting the guy in the back many times. But they choke, just like in a golf tournament, they miss a 3-foot putt.”

More:

“Trump compares police brutality to golfers who ‘miss a three-foot putt,’” Quint Forgey. Politico

“How to sort the good cops from the rotten: Ask them about Trump’s golf-putt metaphor,” Philip Kennicott, Washington Post

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Why U.S. Policemen Look Like Soldiers

Why are the police bringing military assault rifles to political protests? Where did they get them? A Vox video by Madeline Marshall, Adam Freelander, and Dion Lee.

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How Modern Policing Developed

Lewis Waller argues that the modern police force is rooted in Jeremy Bentham’s views on crime and deterrence, and the means of the powerful to protect themselves and their property.

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You have the right to this birthday. Do you understand this birthday?

On June 13, 1966, fifty years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona and established guidelines safeguarding the rights of suspects in criminal cases, embodied in the “Miranda Warning.”

More:

“The Miranda warning is born 50 years ago today,” National Constitution Center

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Republicans: Welcome to Cleveland!

The city of Cleveland is looking forward to hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention in July. The Cleveland Division of Police is buying snappy new uniforms, riot-control suits that look like samurai armor. Officers will wave hello to visitors with new 26-inch expandable steel batons with weighted tips, and 300 bicycle-riding armored cops will entertain the sidewalk throngs. Cleveland police will also decorate the streetscape with miles of interlocking steel crowd-control barriers.

Congress gave Cleveland $30 million for event security, so the Ohio town is really gearing up to greet the 50,000 visiting GOP conventioneers, including Donald Trump’s legion of goons, bikers, and KKK followers. Suburban law enforcement will lend officers to bring the Cleveland force up to 5,000, but maybe Governor Kasich can have his confetti bomber on call for emergency crowd immobilization, just in case.

Hopscotch

On March 30th, Huntington Beach police officers found a mother and daughter living out of their car. While others found them housing, HPD Officer Zach Pricer cajoled the 11-year-old girl into a game of hopscotch.

More:

“Watch a middle-aged cop teach an 11-year-old homeless girl how to play hopscotch,”Jenny Starrs, Washington Post

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Eric Garner, July 17, 2014.