A Virginia state senator seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination shared bogus memes about George Floyd protesters -- and fantasized about shooting them.
Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) shared a series of screenshots from phony social media accounts that purported to show violent plots against white Americans, and she warned that anti-fascist Antifa activists were threatening to rob Richmond residents, reported The Daily Beast.
“WE WILL BE ASSASSINATING WHITE FAMILIES UNTILL [sic] JUSTICE IS SERVED!!!” read hysterical posts from the fake “Blacklivess Matter” account, which has since been taken down.
“WE WILL SET UP IN WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS AND CITIES. ITS TIME TO TAKE ACTION!!!!!" the posts read. "ALL WHITE PEOPLE MUST PAY FOR THEIR SINS. THEY ARE EVIL AND JEALOUS HUMAN BEINGS. LETS SEE YOU MOURN OVER YOUR UNCOOKED DISEASE HAVING FAMILIES FOR ONCE. WHITE BABIES, OLD WHITE PEOPLE, LAWYERS, POLICE, ETC!! P.S. THERE ARE OVER 100 OF US THE MISSION WILL BE DONE!!!!”
She also shared Facebook posts from a Twitter account called “Antifa America” -- which was actually operated by white supremacists -- threatening to “move into the residential areas … the white hoods … and take what’s ours,” and broadcast Facebook Live videos warning gun owners that anti-fascist activists were attempting to "hijack" the protests.
“If you are a gun owner and proficient in using, I’m just putting you on notice,” Chase said Monday. “Be aware of your surroundings. Be vigilant. Keep extra lights on this evening. If you have a garage, park your car in your garage. I just want you all to be careful, not fearful. Be on alert. If you see something, say something.”
Police said some members of loosely organized Antifa groups were among the 233 arrested later that night, but it's not clear how many or what charges they might face.
Chase also shared a screenshot from the Anti-Fascists of the Seven Hills group that operates in her Senate district, claiming that genuine group was associated with the fake group calling for violence.
“Amanda Chase has a skewed perception of reality," a representative from the Seven Hills group told The Daily Beast, "and regularly tries to promote right-wing conspiracies and promote fear throughout her constituency and beyond."
The city of Birmingham, Alabama this week removed a massive obelisk that's dedicated to the memory of soldiers who died for the Confederacy during the American civil war, only to be sued one day later by the state's attorney general.
In an action filed on Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall alleged that Birmingham violated the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act aimed at preventing city governments from removing Confederate monuments.
At issue is the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which was taken down this week after it had become the target of vandalism during protests for the killing of George Floyd.
The Alabama AG's office is demanding that the city pay a $25,000 fine for the removal of the monument, which is the standard fine for violating the Memorial Preservation Act.
Birmingham already paid a $25,000 fine once this year for obstructing views of the monument by constructing a plywood screen around it.
According to a report from Page Six, Fox News host Sean Hannity and his wife are divorcing after more than 20 years of marriage.
"Hannity, 58, and former journalist Rhodes, 57, were married in 1993 and have two children, a son, Patrick, and a daughter, Merri Kelly," Page Six reports. "Friends of the former couple say they have been legally divorced for more than a year and separated many years prior to that, but kept it under wraps."
“Sean and Jill are committed to working together for the best interests of their children. Amicable agreements were entered into over four years ago between Sean and Jill. They maintain a close relationship as parents to their children. Neither will have any further comments and ask for the sake of their children that their privacy be respected,” the former couple said in a joint statement.
This Wednesday, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the origins of the Russiainvestigation.
During one portion of the hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) reinforced the "bottom line" conclusions of the Mueller report, namely the fact that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election. Durbin then pointed out that the committee will issue "53 subpoenas" for witnesses.
"What an irony that we began this year in an impeachment trial where the Republicans refused to produce one document or one witness, not one witness, when it came to questions of the impeachment of the President," Durbin said. "Tomorrow there will be 53 names submitted, and they will not be cleared with the minority [Democrats] ... We will attempt to amend his subpoena on the Democratic side to make sure we're clearly trying to find the truth in this matter about whether this was an utterly baseless investigation, we believe we should also be calling a few other witnesses."
Durbin went on to read a list of former Trump associates who he would subpoena. Later in the hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took a moment to address Durbin's suggestion.
"This committee looked at everything you wanted us to look at in terms of Russian behavior," Graham said, later adding that it wasn't the Russians who signed what he says are the illegal FISA warrants.
Former President Barack Obama will address the nation on Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM ET to discuss the killing of George Floyd and the protests that have taken over the nation. The broadcast will be part of a town hall, and will be live-streamed on his official website.
"It will be part of the former president's 'My Brother's Keeper Alliance Town Hall' series, and with Obama will be former Attorney General Eric Holder along with other activists who are fighting for reform in policing," NBC affiliate WTHR reports.
The former President over the past few days has been advocating for change via social media, and in a post on Medium:
It does not appear his remarks will be carried by the cable news networks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this past March reportedly agreed to help consult with Trump administration officials on the design of "Make America Healthy Again" face masks that would be given out to promote both public health and President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.
The New York Times reports that Trump administration official in March "asked the agency to provide feedback on possible logos -- including 'Make America Healthy Again' -- for cloth face masks they hoped to distribute to millions of Americans."
The initiative eventually fell through, but once source tells the Times that "CDC leaders agreed to the request."
The discussion about Trump-branded face masks came at a time when hospitals across the United States were desperate to have more COVID-19 testing kits and protective gear for their staff members who were struggling to handle a surge in hospitalizations at the start of a pandemic that would go on to kill more than 100,000 Americans in less than three months.
“They let us down,” Dr. Stephane Otmezguine, an anesthesiologist who treated COVID-19 patients in Florida, tells the Times.
The Internet cried out in laughter on Wednesday after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) showed up at a Judiciary Committee hearing with a new hair color.
"OH MY GOD. Lindsay dyed his hair to look like Trump," Rick Wilson wrote at the top of the hearing. "CANNOT UNSEE."
Although the hearing intended to focus on Rod Rosenstein and the investigation into Russia's election interference, commenters on the Internet were fixated on the chairman's hair.
Take a look at the photos and read some of the remarks below.
President Donald Trump declared on Fox News Radio religious leaders who criticized his visit to St. John's Episcopal Church to be members of the "opposition party."
The president has drawn widespread criticism for his visit to the vandalized church, which came after the U.S. Park Service and National Guard troops used chemical irritants to clear peaceful protesters from the area.
"Most religious leaders loved it," Trump told Fox host Brian Kilmeade. "I heard Franklin Graham this morning thought it was great. I heard many other people think it was great, and it's only the other side that didn't like it, the opposing -- the opposition party, as the expression goes."
"They burned down the church the day before," he added. "I heard how nice and wonderful the protesters were over there. Really? Then why did they burned down the church the day before?"
Wondering why you didn’t get the full $1,200 stimulus payment you heard about?
If you earned more than $75,000 last year, or earned more than $150,000 as a married couple, your check was reduced according to a formula in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Individuals with adjusted gross incomes less than $75,000 were eligible for $1,200 in benefits, along with married couples with adjusted gross incomes below $150,000.
The amounts decreased $5 for every $100 of income above the $75,000/$150,000 line. Those earning more than $99,000 ($198,000 for married couples) received nothing.
The feds also dished out $500 for every qualifying dependent child younger than 17.
If you’re receiving Social Security or government disability payments you should have received your payment sometime in May.
Missing your check or direct deposit? The IRS has created a handy “Get My Payment” website to track the status of the economic impact payments.
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After being told he wasn't allowed to take a knee with protesters in Oklahoma over the weekend, a police officer resigned from the force, KOCO reports.
The officer, who is not identified by name in the report, posted a video that went viral where he explains his actions. According to the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office, the officer was needed to guard jail inmates during a protest. The officer says he was told he couldn't protest outright.
“I turned in my badge, and now I’m out here,” the man can be heard saying in the video.
“Y’all told me I couldn’t take a knee,” he said. “So today, I’m going to take a knee."
The Sheriff’s Office said there's a way officers can participate in protests.
“Take the day off,” said Mark Myers of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Wednesday seemed to be at odds with President Donald Trump when it comes to invoking the Insurrection Act to quell protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Esper explained at a press conference that members of the National Guard had been deployed to keep order "in support of local law enforcement."
"The option to use active duty forces should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations," he explained. "We are not in one of those situations now."
The Defense secretary went on to admit that he "did know" that the president planned to visit St. John's Episcopal Church Monday night when protesters were forcefully cleared from the streets.
President Donald Trump denied reports that he was whisked away to the White House's underground bunker, and his excuse prompted widespread ridicule.
The president insisted he only went to down to the bunker for a brief Friday-night inspection, adding that he'd visited the bunker only "two and a half times," but his claims didn't fly with many social media users.
California provides an important case study for several reasons. This is a state which not only implemented its social distancing measures early in terms of the date, but also early relative to the growth rate of the statewide outbreak.
The average daily growth in confirmed coronavirus cases in the four days before enactment in California was 19.1%. As a comparison, New York, which was the hardest-hit state, had an average daily coronavirus case growth rate of 39.5% in the four days before enacting the New York state shelter-in-place order.
While both states acted quickly in terms of the calendar, California was faster relative to the progression of its outbreak.
Additional research has shown that social distancing measures tend to be more effective in more urbanized locations. California continues to serve as a bellwether case allowing other states and researchers to obtain valuable early data.
Restaurants stopped letting people sit in early on in California.
The difficulty with looking at a single state is that it is difficult to tell what would have happened in the absence of the shelter-in-place order.
This is where California moving early helps from a research perspective. At the same time California put its policy in place, many states which share attributes with California, such as Massachusetts and Colorado, did not.
We constructed a counterfactual California using a method called synthetic control. To create a “fake California,” we averaged other states together to match California’s characteristics as closely as possible. We did this based on California’s rate of COVID-19 spread, as well as based on more general characteristics such as population density.
The first question that we sought to answer was whether California’s shelter-in-place order actually got individuals to stay at home since some – but not all – people were already avoiding social contact when it went into effect. We wanted to see if California’s new rules increased social distancing, keeping in mind that violation of the new order counts as a misdemeanor offense and can carry jail time.
To do this, we used anonymous cellphone data from SafeGraph, which has made its resources available to researchers for free to study the pandemic. These data track what percent of cellphones leave their owner’s home in given day. From this, we gathered that due to the order, individuals stayed home for the entire day about 2% to 3% more than they would have otherwise.
Next, we looked at daily case and death rates using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Times. We estimated that California’s shelter-in-place order reduced the number of confirmed cases by roughly 50,000 in the month following the policy.
We found smaller – but still substantial – reductions in COVID-19 fatalities, approximately 1,600 COVID-19 avoided fatalities in the same month.
California penalized folks who violated shelter-in-place orders.
If we conservatively attribute all of these lost jobs to the new policies, then our estimates imply a trade-off of around 400 jobs lost per COVID-19 death averted. Reality is likely more nuanced. Some of these jobs would have been lost anyway due to individuals social distancing on their own and spending less, practices that reduced the the need for workers.
This leads to two important types of questions.
First, is the trade-off worth it? This question is going to be debated for some time to come. We hope our numbers can help individuals understand the trade-off when forming their opinions.
These are the big questions that will shape the trajectory of the pandemic, the economic recovery to follow and policy surrounding the two. It is what we and other economists will be watching carefully in the months to come.
