Her name is Keke Palmer.

She is amazing. Read the rest

Along with a gathering of peaceful protesters, clergy members of St. John’s Episcopal Church were gassed and grenaded to clear a path for Trump to pose in front of the church holding a Bible,  said Reverend Gini Gerbasi in a Facebook post.

From her post:

We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John’s, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually – with SO MANY concussion grenades – back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John’s, Lafayette Square.

I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN’S – a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day – SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!

To be clear: I have absolutely no sympathy for the selfish so-called "protestors" who are being irresponsibly cheered on by the President to "re-open the economy" and endanger millions of American lives. While I can understand economic stresses and concerns about an overreaching government, I simply cannot abide by a movement that was literally organized by nihilistic white nationalists bankrolled by greedy right-wing donors who want other people to die in order to boost a bunch of inherently hollow economic statistics that cannot hold any meaning without human life.

That being said, the Raleigh Police response to the "ReOpen North Carolina" protest was also painfully ridiculous.

The protestors are in violation of the Governor’s Executive Order and have been asked to leave. #ReopenNC pic.twitter.com/AIEetS42NE

— Raleigh Police (@raleighpolice) April 14, 2020

Protesting is a non-essential activity.

— Raleigh Police (@raleighpolice) April 14, 2020

"Protesting is a non-essential activity." That's what the police said.

Humans are complex beings, and we are capable of holding more than two thoughts in our minds at once. That's how I'm able to recognize that these protestors were, at best, the unwitting patsies of a bigoted death cult — while also acknowledging that a police department deeming protest as "non-essential" is, at best, dumb, and at worst, utterly horrifying.

Even if one is to agree that these protestors should have been arrested, this is a terrible way to justify that action. They could have just as easily written this off retroactively as reckless endangerment, or simply left it as a public safety violation. Read the rest

We are watching Facebook unravel in real time. I hope. Read the rest

Internal emails show that the Berkeley, California Police Department (BPD) talked of building a “counter-narrative” on social media against anti-fascist protesters as BPD tweeted out their names and mugshots, then boasted of retweets and “engagement” metrics when mugshots went viral. This amounts to cops doxxing protesters and high-fiving each other over it. That's creepy, and seems like an obvious abuse of power, if not also an abuse of the law. Read the rest

A topless woman with "women's lives matter" written across her chest jumped over a barrier and ran towards Bill Cosby, who was on his way to the Montgomery County courthouse this morning. The protester, who was with around six other protesters, was handcuffed and taken away by police.

Cosby, who has been accused by over 50 women for sexual assault (and has denied everything), is in court today for a retrial, charged with "three counts of aggravated indecent assault," according to the Huffington Post.

He’s accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former women’s basketball coach at Temple University, in 2004. In June, a jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on the charges and the judge declared a mistrial.

Crazy scene as naked protester is taken down by police as #Cosby arrives at court in Norristown. pic.twitter.com/mduaASyjG3

— Steve Lindsay CBS (@SteveLindsayCBS) April 9, 2018

UPDATE: The protestor has been identified as 39-year-old Nicolle Rochelle, an actress who appeared on several episodes of The Cosby Show as a child actress. About her protest today, she says "The main goal was to make Cosby uncomfortable because that is exactly what he has been doing for decades to women and to show him that the body can be aggressive and empowered."

According to AP:

Rochelle, an actress, said she didn’t have any bad experiences with Cosby when she was on the show, nor did she intend to physically hurt him. She is a member of the European feminist group Femen, which is known for staging topless protests around the world.

A short film by Paul Sullivan that chillingly breaks down the creepy tactics New York City police used to intimidate and harass protesters, and arrest them for expressing their first amendment rights in public space. In these examples, it seems they used "the momentum of arrests" to deter the spirit of the crowd--not because the individuals shown here actually posed a threat to the public, or had harmed anyone or done anything bad.

[via Sparrow Media, HT: Glen E. Friedman]

Read the rest