Crosstalk: June 8, 2020

The ‘Round-Up’ this week was highlighted by the following stories and more:

–Hundreds of mourners, including the Reverend Al Sharpton and the mother of Eric Garner, filed into a private memorial service in Minneapolis yesterday afternoon to honor George Floyd, the man whose death while in police custody sparked the nation’s protest against police brutality and racial injustice.

–New York released over 2,650 criminals from prison to protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic.

–Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office upgraded the charges against the former officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck.

–Several members of the Minneapolis city council want to disband the Minneapolis Police Department.

–Rashida Tlaib is calling for the defunding of police.    

–Black Lives Matter website communicates their demands, including ‘reproductive justice’ and ‘sexual self-determination.’

–Attorney General Bill Barr announced that the Justice Department has evidence that ANTIFA and similar extremist groups instigated violent activity among those who were protesting George Floyd’s death during the police arrest in Minnesota last month.

–New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio was drowned out by boos at a memorial for George Floyd in Brooklyn. 

–If Black lives matter, why were Black businesses destroyed in recent riots?

–Congresswoman Ilhan Omar claims that those who were breaking the curfew were terrorized by the presence of tanks and the National Guard.

–2 federal protective officers were shot outside the federal courthouse in Oakland, California.  One survived in critical condition.

–Polk County, Florida, Sheriff has stern words for potential rioters.

–The Robert Gould Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, one of 16 public artworks, was damaged when thousands of protesters stormed Boston Common Sunday evening.  Ironically, it was dedicated to Black Civil War soldiers.

–An American archaeologist and Egyptologist ‘tweeted’ detailed instructions on how someone can safely destroy monuments.

–Looters also targeted the office of Philadelphia area Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle.