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The Portland Observer

The Portland Observer The Portland Observer is Oregon's oldest minority-owned publication. Published bi-weekly.

The Portland Observer is the oldest continuous African-American owned publication in the State of Oregon. Our website portlandobserver.com and our bi-weekly newspaper are committed to cultural diversity. Our focus is to bring stories focusing on education, health, politics, law, and justice to our readers.

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08/30/2022

We are looking to highlight certified local businesses for our Minority Business Special Edition that is coming up in October! Like and Share this post for a chance to be featured in this great edition. This is an awesome way to promote and share your business with the community. Slots are limited.

Go follow our Instagram page portlandobserver to be entered into the lottery for a web advertisement slot.

Dean's Beauty Salon And Barber Shop Gets Historic Acknowledgment! From this week's issue, out today! http://portlandobse...
08/04/2022

Dean's Beauty Salon And Barber Shop Gets Historic Acknowledgment! From this week's issue, out today! http://portlandobserver.com/

Ballots are about to go out in Clark County on measure to pay for police body cameras, drawing cautious support from the...
07/06/2022
Cautious Support for Body Cams

Ballots are about to go out in Clark County on measure to pay for police body cameras, drawing cautious support from the Vancouver NAACP. From this week's issue, out today!
https://bit.ly/3NHG2WE

Primarily, the cameras would make the sheriff’s office more accountable to the public, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said.

06/27/2022

Grassroots nonprofit in NE Portland that helps pregnant women but does not steer people away from abortion still gets hit by protesters recoiling at Supreme Court decision erasing abortion rights.
fhttps://bit.ly/3nhKbpA

06/23/2022
06/22/2022

Apprenticeships empower women and people of color. The story from our special focus issue on education and careers, out today.
https://bit.ly/3OsXPSa

Portland ensemble shows love for iconic musical 'Rent.' https://bit.ly/3Qkmzh7
06/13/2022
Powerful Musical ‘Rent’ Takes Stage

Portland ensemble shows love for iconic musical 'Rent.'
https://bit.ly/3Qkmzh7

For some audience members, a revival of “Rent” sells itself—the iconic musical is a cultural phenomenon, and its many ardent fans will jump at the opportunity to see it where it belongs, live on stage

Activists rooted in the black community have joined a statewide group of interfaith leaders to encourage others to join ...
06/08/2022
‘Put Gun Control on the Ballot’

Activists rooted in the black community have joined a statewide group of interfaith leaders to encourage others to join them by adding their name to a petition to put gun control on the November ballot. This week's top story...
https://bit.ly/3toLzKk

Gun control activists rooted in the black community have joined Lift Every Voice Oregon, a statewide group of interfaith leaders, to encourage others to join them by adding their name to a petition to put gun control on the November ballot.

Howard to Offer Free Virtual Journalism Program for High School Students (photo credit📷: Jarrad Henderson)WASHINGTON – T...
06/02/2022

Howard to Offer Free Virtual Journalism Program for High School Students (photo credit📷: Jarrad Henderson)

WASHINGTON – The Howard University Multicultural Media Academy invites high school students to attend a free journalism workshop from June 20 to July 1, 2022. The virtual 10-day program is open to U.S. high school students in ninth through 12th grades, and new graduates who will be entering college in the fall. The program will focus on how to use the power of multimedia journalism to cover health and wellness in underserved communities.

The application for the summer program is available at https://bit.ly/2022HowardHealthJournalism. The deadline for application submission is at 11 p.m. Friday, June 10. The workshop is sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Department of Media, Journalism and Film in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.

The workshops will be held virtually from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The free workshops include sessions on reporting, interviewing, scriptwriting, editing, multimedia, social media, ethics, professional development and other topics. Students will work under the guidance of a talented pool of professional journalists along with Howard professors, college students and alumni.

High school students will learn how to write news stories, capture audio, shoot and edit video, take photos, use interactive tools, incorporate social media and build a portfolio of their work. They will also develop an understanding of interrelated social issues — such as housing and hunger — that contribute to making communities unhealthy. Their work will be published and distributed by the award-winning Howard University News Service and VoicesofTomorrow.news. Participants are also eligible for Dow Jones News Fund scholarships.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or (202) 806-7694.

Neighbors rally to help James Dixon stay in business and housed. The well known Dixon’s Rib Pit operator recently had hi...
05/24/2022
Barbecue Chef Gets Much Needed Help

Neighbors rally to help James Dixon stay in business and housed. The well known Dixon’s Rib Pit operator recently had his grilling equipment stolen and may soon have the house he has rented for years taken from him.
bit.ly/3GgA2Cj

James Dixon, a well known Portland entrepreneur who has served generations of families from his Dixon’s Rib Pit barbecue cart in the Alberta district is getting some much needed help after the theft of his grilling equipment and the pending loss of his rented home in the same neighborhood.

Bella: An American Tall Tale is a playful pushback to erased Black histories from Portland Playhouse. Darleen Ortega att...
05/23/2022
Playhouse Celebrates Black Experience

Bella: An American Tall Tale is a playful pushback to erased Black histories from Portland Playhouse. Darleen Ortega attends the production to give us this review....
https://bit.ly/3lBRJma

Portland Playhouse celebrates the Black Experience with “Bella: An American Tall Tale’ a playful pushback on erased histories.

05/19/2022

Vancouver's selection of a new police chief comes with endorsement from civil rights organization on front lines of advocating for police reforms, the Vancouver NAACP.
https://bit.ly/3luf5tX

05/18/2022

Ivory N. Mathews, beginning work as the first Black woman to lead Home Forward, reflects on her own journey from poverty to activism and the current plans for housing residents. From this week's issue, out today!
https://bit.ly/3LrGh6Y

05/18/2022

Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan wins outright; Jo Ann Hardesty finishes first against 10 other candidates, and Multnomah County will have its first female sheriff in history. From Tuesday's election...
https://bit.ly/3lnQqHo

05/17/2022

An open house tonight begins the discussion on what direction to take on choosing a plan for renovating Jefferson High School, the most prominent school in Portland’s historic Black community.
https://bit.ly/3PpFVRJ

Kids N’ Tennis, nonprofit serving culturally, ethnically and economically diverse young people, promotes Tennis Play Day...
05/10/2022
Summer Tennis Camps Offered

Kids N’ Tennis, nonprofit serving culturally, ethnically and economically diverse young people, promotes Tennis Play Day this Saturday to kick off free spring and summer tennis camps; also invite for all to support Juneteenth tournament...
https://bit.ly/3vZ7Ujw

Kids N’ Tennis, a nonprofit tennis program serving culturally, ethnically and economically diverse young people, is reaching out to encourage sign-ups for free spring and summer tennis camps

A man suspected of using accelerant to start a fire last week at the Muslim Community Center of Portland was arrested Sa...
05/09/2022
Muslim Center Arson Arrest

A man suspected of using accelerant to start a fire last week at the Muslim Community Center of Portland was arrested Saturday and also charged with recent acts of arson and vandalism at two synagogues in the city.
https://bit.ly/3vXN9EN

Portland police have arrested a man who used accelerant to start a fire last week at the Muslim Community Center of Portland, also charging him with recent acts of arson and vandalism at two synagogues in the city.

Someone deliberately tried to start a fire at the faith-based Muslim Community Center of Portland Tuesday and now police...
05/05/2022
Muslim Center Arsonist Sought

Someone deliberately tried to start a fire at the faith-based Muslim Community Center of Portland Tuesday and now police are asking for the public's help to solve what looks like arson and bias hate crimes.
https://bit.ly/39Hjze4

Someone deliberately tried to start a fire at the faith-based Muslim Community Center of Portland Tuesday and now police are asking for help to help solve what looks like crimes of arson and hate.

A legacy of fostering respectful work environments for diverse employees. Northeast Portland memorial honors the late Ro...
05/05/2022
A Legacy Honored

A legacy of fostering respectful work environments for diverse employees. Northeast Portland memorial honors the late Robert Phillips for a lifetime of economic and racial justice advocacy. From this week's issue...
https://bit.ly/3kFzRXb

A new memorial street sign topper in northeast Portland pays tribute to Robert Phillips, a late member of Portland’s black community, for his lifetime of work advocating for economic and racial justice.

“As a Black composer in today’s America, I feel like I've been writing this my entire life,” -- Portland's Damien Geter ...
05/03/2022
An African American Requiem

“As a Black composer in today’s America, I feel like I've been writing this my entire life,” -- Portland's Damien Geter examines the impact of 400 years of racial violence in his original work “An African American Requiem,” debuting Saturday with concert and national radio broadcast....
https://bit.ly/3LLxCxi

Portland composer Damien Geter examines the impact of 400 years of racial violence against Black Americans in his original work “An African American Requiem,” debuting with a special concert and national radio broadcast on Saturday, May 7 from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

04/28/2022
Dr. Robert Kelly was introduced Tuesday as the first lay president and first African American to lead the University of ...
04/26/2022
University of Portland Picks Black President

Dr. Robert Kelly was introduced Tuesday as the first lay president and first African American to lead the University of Portland in its 121-year history...
https://bit.ly/37G8glR

In a history-making announcement, the University of Portland has appointed Dr. Robert Kelly as its 21st president, the first lay president and the first African American to lead the Catholic university in its over 121 years of existence.

President Biden in Portland promotes public works, meets with workers, jobs made possible by infrastructure bill, includ...
04/21/2022
Biden in Portland Touts Public Works

President Biden in Portland promotes public works, meets with workers, jobs made possible by infrastructure bill, including earthquake-resistant runway and mass timber roof utilizing latest technologies....
https://bit.ly/3Mq9lwS

President Joe Biden focused on improvements planned for the runway and roof at Portland International Airport Thursday where he landed Thursday to promote public works projects made possible by his infrastructure bill.

Expanding career pathways for adult learners, dislocated workers, people of color, women, people with low incomes, and m...
04/20/2022
Future Ready Careers

Expanding career pathways for adult learners, dislocated workers, people of color, women, people with low incomes, and more. PCC's new focus on Future Ready Careers is explored in our special career issue this week....
https://bit.ly/3vxe1Kn

In his State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden called community colleges “America's best kept secret” for preparing America’s workforce for future careers. The sentiment is shared at Portland Community College which just took new steps for students to quickly become job ready.

One of the few Black drag racers in the state, Doug Lyons,  encourages young people to drive legit and get off the stree...
04/06/2022
Racing Sanctioned

One of the few Black drag racers in the state, Doug Lyons, encourages young people to drive legit and get off the streets. “If you want to be a drag racer, it’s best to do it on a track,” he says. From our new issue, out today!
https://bit.ly/3x6gQob

Doug Lyons is champion drag racer who is promoting safe alternatives to illegal street racing.

Avel Gordly Day at Portland City Hall honors longtime civil rights champion and historic state lawmaker.https://bit.ly/3...
03/31/2022
Avel Gordly Day Proclaimed

Avel Gordly Day at Portland City Hall honors longtime civil rights champion and historic state lawmaker.

https://bit.ly/36KUrlx

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty led a city council session Wednesday proclaiming March 30 to be Avel Gordly Day.

What is a responsible way to portray unchecked violence and brutality on stage? Portland Playhouse’s production of “Titu...
03/30/2022
Play Turns Violence Inside Out

What is a responsible way to portray unchecked violence and brutality on stage? Portland Playhouse’s production of “Titus” rises to the challenge, says our theater and film critic Darleen Ortega.
https://bit.ly/3wOjCy2

What is a responsible way to portray unchecked violence and brutality on stage? Portland Playhouse’s production of “Titus” rises to the challenge.

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty announces the expansion of Portland’s new Street Response team with the backi...
03/29/2022
Street Response Goes Citywide

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty announces the expansion of Portland’s new Street Response team with the backing of other city officials...
https://bit.ly/3DlctGG

The Portland Street Response team has officially expanded citywide, significantly growing a non-armed public safety emergency response to non-life-threatening behavioral and mental health crisis calls.

‘Help shape the future’ chief says. The Portland Police Bureau is moving toward a large-scale hiring effort after months...
03/24/2022
Police Hiring Moves to High Gear

‘Help shape the future’ chief says. The Portland Police Bureau is moving toward a large-scale hiring effort after months and even years of failing to keep up with vacancies.
https://bit.ly/3tBWwbZ

The Portland Police Bureau is moving toward a large-scale hiring effort for police officers after months and even years of failing to keep up with vacancies.

Oregon Law Center attorneys reach out to help residents facing  eviction as housing relief dries up and crisis moves to ...
03/23/2022
Eviction Fears Grow

Oregon Law Center attorneys reach out to help residents facing eviction as housing relief dries up and crisis moves to a new stage. From our new issue, out today!
https://bit.ly/3txDROq

There are still some options to help renters trying to avoid eviction during the current housing crisis even though the state agency managing an emergency rental assistance fund shut down all applications on Monday.

The former Albina Arts Center, a nostalgic symbol of Black Portland’s creativity and self-determination is going to be h...
03/22/2022
Reclaiming Black Spaces

The former Albina Arts Center, a nostalgic symbol of Black Portland’s creativity and self-determination is going to be handed back to the city’s Black community.
https://bit.ly/36BpVKn

Portland’s Albina Arts Center, a nostalgic symbol of Black Portland’s creativity and self-determination, is going to be handed back to the city’s Black community, partly as a way to make amends for decades of disruption, neglect and disinvestment.

An August Wilson play beautifully told on Portland Center Stage. Our film critic Darleen Ortega reviews Gem of the Ocean...
03/16/2022
A Window into Our History

An August Wilson play beautifully told on Portland Center Stage. Our film critic Darleen Ortega reviews Gem of the Ocean....
https://bit.ly/3Ih87RO

“Gem of the Ocean” helped me to feel the further importance of experiencing August Wilson as a chronicler of American history and present.

A new program to empower Black youth and eradicate racism is introduced at the newly designated Soul Restoration Center....
03/09/2022
Elevating Black Youth

A new program to empower Black youth and eradicate racism is introduced at the newly designated Soul Restoration Center. From our latest issue, out today!
https://bit.ly/3pMnE5V

The Portland City Council has earmarked $950,000 to improve the lives of Black youth while giving the young people of color themselves the ability to decide where the money goes.

Reward grows for information in Feb. 20 car shooting at Southeast 128th and Foster that left a mother dead and her two c...
03/03/2022
Reward Grows in Mother’s Death

Reward grows for information in Feb. 20 car shooting at Southeast 128th and Foster that left a mother dead and her two children and a boyfriend injured.
https://bit.ly/3hyA10Q

A reward has grown to $2,500 for information to help solve the murder of Adau Duop, a 25 year old Black mother who was killed in a shooting that also injured her two children and a boyfriend inside a vehicle near Southeast 128th and Foster on Feb. 20

Discrimination, retaliation and harassment. The reasons given for former police union leader's firing Tuesday for leakin...
03/02/2022
Police Officer Fired for Hardesty Leak

Discrimination, retaliation and harassment. The reasons given for former police union leader's firing Tuesday for leaking false allegations against City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty...

https://bit.ly/3touAXP

The former head of Portland’s police union was fired Tuesday for leaking allegations against City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty, the first Black woman to serve on the City Council and a lifeline advocate for police reforms.

Beloved African American congregation Allen Temple CME Church invites community in for its first grand opening since ele...
02/24/2022
Rising from the Ashes

Beloved African American congregation Allen Temple CME Church invites community in for its first grand opening since electrical fires damaged the 100 year old church in 2015.
https://bit.ly/3vdLN8V

Allen Temple CME Church, a beloved African American congregation, will observe Black History Month by celebrating its first grand opening since electrical fires damaged the 100 year old church in 2015.

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I am a White, 65 year old male. I have been an active member of the Portland NAACP branch for several years. Mr. Mondaine’s Jan. 12 article in The Portland Observer was troubling to me. This is the first statement (private or public) from him that I have read since the October 2020 Mercury article alleging s*xual (and other) improprieties and his subsequent resignation from the branch. While he was congratulatory of the new officer slate, many things about the article were disingenuous:

1. It is true, as he states, that branch membership and fundraising increased dramatically under his watch. What he fails to acknowledge is that those increases were in direct response to the racial justice uprising of 2020. Omitting this context helps to portray him as the driving force behind the changes. The reality is that before those events, public engagement with the NAACP chapter was on a downward trajectory.
2. Regarding his and the branch’s involvement in passing the Portland Clean Energy Fund, Mr. Mondaine and the local NAACP were a helpful, but relatively small, part of a large coalition of People of Color led organizations that helped the measure pass. 3. Finally, and probably most concerning, is that Mr. Mondaine’s article presents him as graciously conceding his position to a leadership that he supports. This could not be further from the truth. He did all he could to silence anyone who presented any kind of challenge to his authority and opinions, including illegally (according to NAACP bylaws) dumping people from the Executive Committee and deposing committee chairs. He even attempted to void memberships of several people who contested his decisions - something the branch president has no authority to do. Two of those people currently sit on the new leadership team he claims to support. To my knowledge, he has made no attempt to apologize for his bad behavior or to reconcile with people that he has harmed. His congratulatory words ring hollow.

It further troubles me that there has been so little comment from Portland leaders who formerly were anxious to curry Mr. Mondaine’s support and friendship. My hope is that he never again is given the opportunity to lead publicly at any level. His words and actions are not ultimately becoming of a true leader. To the contrary, he has caused deep and extensive harm. Portland will be far better off moving forward without his voice.
If the wealthy dont like paying high taxes they should trickle the wealth down through increase wages, profit sharing, lower prices increasing the value of the $, donating, etc. which would put them in a lower tax bracket, rather than relinquishing control of my money to invest in retirement schemes which make the wealthy wealthier, talk about one world order where the few control the many, it wasn't those invested in these schemes that sold off shares causing it recent collapse and then rebound from using tax reductions to buy stock shares to drive up the price. If not for tax $ our infrastructure including communications network would never have been built but which in turn made many extemely wealthy. send the trading traitors to the 3rd world country who's low cost of living they which to exploit if they don't want to contribute to it.
RACIST, MARQUISE LOVE, on de RUN, cath this CRIMINAL, PRISON for beating a man, stop the RACISM ALL!.
BARCELONA'S CONCERT FOR PLANTS TAKEN FOR A COVER BY ARGENTINE BAND REYNOLS
https://la.indymedia.org/js/?v=cont&url=/news/2020/07/299761.json
I am a fairly new customer of this newspaper. It seems OK, but it sure would help if the headlines were at least in bold print. Everything looks like an afterthought.
New Normal XVI: A Choice Between Talking and Doing!!!!
By John Burl Smith
I try not to get involved with “biter people on the left who inflict or suffer self-inflicted wounds based on not getting what they want, as a political outcome.” A recent statement by Nina Turner, a co-chair of the Sanders campaign, during an interview with Joseph A. Wulfsohn on Fox News, where she declared “The decision between Trump and Biden is, ‘Like saying to somebody, You have a bowl of s--- in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing. It’s still s---,” illustrates my point. Her statement was very disappointing, coming from someone who is identified as a leading personality on the left. I reference her statement because it could reflect negatively on all supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

I was a Sanders supporter from 2016, as well as 2020. Moreover, I have supported Democrats campaigns for President going back to 1952, as a nine year old, walking door-to-door with my mother. Along the way there were some candidates I loved and others I disagreed with some of their policies. My mother, Mrs. Willie May Gray, who is a lifelong Democrat, at 100, is looking forward to voting from home for Former Vice President Joe Biden and she taught me that “politics is the art of the possible.” For her that meant, “You work as hard as you can for what you want, but when the smoke clears, one must accept the outcome, and try to make ‘gains’ in the situation you find yourself.” She would say, “If the house is dirty, rather than burning it down, help clean it up!!”

The election in November is about for more than any one or group of people getting what they want. The choices before the country are what they are. Progressives that are in this for the long haul, are fighting for “what is possible and best under those circumstances for America,” at this point. Progressives must learn to fight for relevance within the Democratic Party in order to gain real political position in American politics, and because we have a democracy, we live to fight another day.” I have never been a sideline heckler; only those willing to get into the fight can help make things better. That is why I continually tip my hat to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, Tik Tokers, K-poppers and our other children, who have joined the effort to help save American democracy, without being invited to join the fight or given a seat at the table.

For instance, another news story by Starr Bowenbank entitled “So K-Pop Stans Are...Saving Us All!”, in Cosmopolitan Magazine, which begins by outlining how busy K-Popers are. If you are not a K-Popper or Tic-Tokers, you were like Donald Trump and his campaign coming up to his Tulsa boondoggle. Although Trump, is arguably, the most powerful man in the world, with the FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service, CIA, Homeland Security and countless other law enforcement agencies at his disposal, how was it possible that he was not only outwitted and snookered by teenyboppers, and no Trump-iteers ever had a clue? Trump’s entire campaign was fooled so well by these children, it blew over 5 million bucks on the pipe dream of over 100, 000 nonexistent rabid screaming Trumpty-Dumpies would show up.

After Trump’s encounter with Tic-Tokers and K-poppers in Tulsa, disembarking back in Washington, he showed the world what a whipped puppy looks like. Crushed by America’s children, who saw him for the fraud he truly is, they stuck it to him, like a hot poker. With his fragile ego dragging along behind, like a tail, the smartest man in the world was psyched out, hornswoggle and bamboozle by a gang of kids, many still in junior high, that took this flimflammer, who is continually toting his intelligence, to the cleaners.

The write-up begins by detailing K-pop’s activities, “Busy as in: protecting peaceful protesters in Dallas by flooding the police department’s crowd-sourced surveillance app with footage of K-pop concerts. Or Busy as in: drowning out racist tweets filed under by using that hashtag to post more concert videos.” Given that the current resident of the White House loves to try and bring thousands of people together to show his drawing power, even though we’re in a pandemic, thanks to K-pop and Tic-Tok, American voters know Trump’s genius is only a figment in his imagination.

With tens-of-millions-strong, these groups hit Trump exactly where it hurts most, in Trumpty-dumpty’s pocket, without even leaving home, while making their disapproval known. Wielding social media like Excalibur, their exploits have become legendary in the annals of politics. They have become so efficient and motivated they are planning their own “October surprise,” with their fun-to-swing sword, as a spoof on King Arthur, while killing Trump’s threat not to leave office on January 20th.

Their capper—K-poppers and Tic-Tokers—will have a MAGA-improvement on Tulsa, and will be reminiscent of when they used hashtag spamming, involving an all-night streaming to make BTS’s “Boy With Luv” the most viewed YouTube video ever in a 24-hour period. Or the time they helped the band “Blackpink,” set three Guinness World Records streaming titles. Now, Stans are using these same mimics—spamming, streaming, ticketing—for the greater good, says Tamar Herman, author of BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears, replicating when the BTS Army raised $1 million to match the band’s donation to Black Lives Matter.

The fans themselves, explains Herman, are a diverse mix of people who are eager to actively combat racism and police brutality, and those who hop on the bandwagon because it seems kind of awesome to be a part of. (And, just guessing here, but maybe, also because it feels pretty damn empowering being able to actually subvert intolerant authorities at a time when so many people feel so powerless.) Children at heart, there are spinoff groups, plotting to be the dagger in Trump’s heart, killing his reelection nightmare looming over America.

If all this seems like the most hilarious 2020 slam bank thing to ever explode upon the political scene, that’s because…it is. As social media and political engagement become inextricably linked, the barrier to the entry level participation in politics has been hacked by America’s children, thankfully this time not by Russia, and that is good news for everyone! All it takes to join this army of tiny-tots, and a new wave of activism is a smartphone or computer, a desire to do something, and a bit of free time. Which, if our screen-time reports are to be believed there’s plenty of it going on right now. When it comes to what K-Popper and Tic-Toker devotees can accomplish, the limit probably does not exist. And let everyone take it as the new type of protest evolving, as we speak, of how democracy can fight for survival in a hyper militarized free society, according to the reporting of Bowenbank.

This is a time for patriots like Major Adam DeMarco, who served as a liaison between the D.C. National Guard and the Park Police at Lafayette Square. He plans to tell the House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday why the disproportionate use of force he witnessed against largely peaceful protesters is “deeply disturbing” to him and other Guardsmen. Major DeMarco believes the “excessive” use of force around Lafayette Park in June, when law enforcement, some on horseback, used rubber bullets, shields and chemical irritants to clear protesters gathered near the White House ahead of President Trump’s controversial photo op at St. John’s Church. The National Guard was not actively involved in the assault on protesters on June 1, but was at the scene to “reinforce and relieve” the Park Police if needed, according to Major DeMarco’s prepared remarks.

Also, he will relay to lawmakers the impact of tear gas, which he felt irritated his eyes and nose during his time at Lafayette Park. Based on his exposure to tear gas both at West Point and in the Army, DeMarco said, effects were “consistent with CS or tear gas.” He later found spent tear gas canisters on the street, but was told by Park Police no tear gas was used that day against protesters, and that the smoke at the scene was “stage smoke.” Having worked in stage production, I can tell readers there is a world of difference between “tear gas” and “stage Smoke” at a concert. DeMarco went on, “From my observation, those demonstrators—our fellow American citizens—were engaged in the peaceful expression of their First Amendment rights. Yet they were subjected to an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force.”

The Trumpty-dumpty administration has denied any connection between the photo op and the clearing of protesters, as well as denying the use of tear gas on the protesters. Asked whether the Park Police had used tear gas against the protesters on June 1, Acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan said the Park Police’s rules of engagement “specifically prohibited the use of CS gas on June 1,” but they did use smoke canisters and “Stinger ball” grenades that explode and disperse rubber pellets.

In response to Monahan’s testimony, Democratic lawmakers connected the clearing of protesters to current controversy over the Trump administration’s response to protests in Portland and Seattle. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., slammed the incident as “motivated by partisan hostility directed from above” against Black Lives Matter protesters. Republican Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia, a Trumpty-dumpty who used Trump’s talking points to railed against the hearing, calling the format a “pre-determined narrative” about Lafayette Square, whereas the “reality of the case is much different.” Law enforcement was simply involved in “restoring the peace” on June 1, he said.

The entourage included former Trump Defense Secretary James Mattis, who blasted the administration for clearing protesters and called the event a “bizarre photo op.” Gen. Mark Milley said it was a “mistake to accompany President Donald Trump, after protesters were cleared from Lafayette Square, on his walk to St. John’s Church.” The entourage also included Patrick Semansky, Ivanka representing her defunct “Be Best” initiative, and son-in-law Jared Kushner on the walk to St. John’s. The Interior Department’s inspector general’s office later opened an investigation into the clearing of protesters. He may soon go the way of other IGs that were brave enough to investigate Trump.

“There’s not much going on here in the United States,” mused Seth Meyers, the new guy in for David Letterman—“unless you count all that is basically happening all at once. It’s overwhelming, but it’s also just another week in America in 2020.” In any case, Seth Meyers had some thoughts about all of it, with his new “A Closer Look” on Monday where he showcases Republicans trying to pretend they haven’t botched the pandemic response (It is all Barak Obama’s fault). Seth used Kayleigh McEnany, Donald Trump’s press secretary, for target practice, after her Trumpty-dumpty’ “new hoax” calling it all “cancel culture” by mentioning that kids’ “Paw Patrol” was canceled because of the protests against unlawful police violence, trying to make a point about Trump’s great response to COVID-19. Of course, as usual, she didn’t make sense.
According to Seth, “This is where the Trump administration and the Republican Party are: whining about cartoons and Legos while sending secret police to gas moms and vets, while they send sen. Tom Cotton out,” as their point man. Cotton thought he was being cute, as well as informative, arguing that slavery was a “necessary evil.” Meyers zinged him, “Cotton looks like the Confederate slender man.” Seth Meyers doubled down with, “Trump Is ‘Obsessed with proving to everyone that his brain works,’” sometimes. If you doubt this just wait until the so-called “Presidential Debates,” now that would be hilarious, if it wasn’t so tragic.

However, Trevor Noah brought the house down when he hung Tom Cotton out like a confederate flag, flapping in the wind, ripping him for his remarks, calling slavery a “NECESSARY EVIL.” A month ago Tom Cotton denounced a New York Times op-ed, saying “it is time for the U.S. government to squash protests against systemic racism, police brutality and use of the military,” the Arkansas senator ignited even more controversy with his explanation. For those that are unaware, “In an interview on Sunday, Cotton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that a proposed school curriculum based on the New York Times’s 1619 Project was ‘left-wing propaganda’ and ‘revisionist history at its worst,’ because it postulates that ‘slavery is inextricably tied to the founding of America.’”

Trevor Noah could be heard all the way to Atlanta screaming “Hooold up!!! Hooooold up!!!” Monday night, during an episode of The Daily Show. Trevor skewered Tom, “So Senator Cotton thinks this curriculum is racially divisive? You know what’s really racially divisive, Slavery? This guy acts like racial division didn’t exist until the suggestion slavery be taught in school.” Cotton’s actual quote is, “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the founding fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.” “BULL!!!!!” Cotton must thing slavery’s descendants do not still suffer from the same kind of mental impairment Donald Trump is presently showing, except he is white, and black people got theirs doing slavery.

“Seriously, these guys just keep coming up with winners,” Meyers continued. “I mean, what’s next? Is Trump gonna say something nice about his partner in crime, they chased teenage girls, an alleged s*x trafficker and predator, who after his arrest by the FBI, allegedly committed su***de and his other alleged partner in crime, now sits in jail awaiting trial. Tune in next week for the next exciting episode of “As the White House Turns!” starring “Donald Trump and his Little Rascals!!!” Ho! Hold up!! By the way, maybe they can get Nina Turner for that show, as a foil, since she loves doing “standup” and cracking jokes. She would fit right in!!!
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