US police murders George Floyd, worldwide condemnation

This 10 June 2020 video says about itself:

Amsterdam protest: Thousands rally against racism in capital city

More than 10,000 people have rallied in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.

Protesters are highlighting the country’s colonial past, but that is not the only focus of the demonstration.

Activists are demanding an end to systemic racism in the Netherlands.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports from Amsterdam.

JEFFERSON DAVIS FALLS Nationwide anger over police brutality and systemic racism has turned toward symbols of America’s troubled past still scattered across the country: statues honoring Confederate figures and colonizers that have long invited heated debate. In Portsmouth, Virginia, protesters covered a large Confederate monument dating to the 1800s with trash bags and spray paint. A crowd of demonstrators later took bolt cutters and sledgehammers to the heads of the statues, removing them as a marching band blasted in the background. In Richmond, Virginia, demonstrators removed a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. [HuffPost]

Sunny Hostin has no time for Meghan McCain’s “Gone With The Wind” lament.

“Song of the South” trends as fans debate the legacy of “Disney’s most notorious film.”

TRUMP ‘WON’T CONSIDER’ RENAMING BASES NAMED FOR CONFEDERATE GENERALS Trump said he “will not even consider” renaming military bases named for Confederate generals, claiming it would be a disrespect to the armed forces. Trump, in remarks he tweeted and directed press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to read at a White House press briefing, did not acknowledge that the bases are named for men who fought during the Civil War to preserve the enslavement of Black people ― America’s “original sin” that still affects the life of Black Americans today. Meanwhile, NASCAR announced Wednesday that it would ban the display of the Confederate flag at all its events and properties. [HuffPost]

Republican Group Says Trump Just Became The ‘Confederacy’s Second President’. The president is honoring those who fought “to preserve slavery and uphold white supremacy,” the Lincoln Project says: here.

OVER 1,250 EX-DOJ WORKERS DEMAND PROBE OF A.G. BARR More than 1,250 former Justice Department workers have signed a letter calling for an independent investigation into Attorney General William Barr’s role in last week’s violent removal of anti-racism demonstrators near the White House. The letter addressed to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz called Barr’s role in the protesters’ June 1 removal ahead of Trump’s photo-op at a nearby church “disturbing” as well as a likely violation of the demonstrators’ constitutional rights. [HuffPost]

A security fence erected around the White House has become a massive, makeshift art project that demands equal protection for all Americans.

WHITE HOUSE DOUBLES DOWN ON TRUMP’S SMEAR AGAINST PROTESTER White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended Trump’s tweet that falsely accused a 75-year-old anti-racism protester who was shoved to the ground by police of being an “ANTIFA provocateur.” During an interview with “Fox & Friends,” McEnany said Trump was simply raising questions based on a report he saw. The president’s tweet appeared to reference a segment that aired on OANN, a right-wing network that routinely disseminates conspiracy theories. [HuffPost]

TRUMP BELIEVES ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ IS A POLITICAL GIFT While Trump’s unhinged tweets may have already stepped on the message, senior White House aides are betting that his conspiracy theories about a 75-year-old Buffalo, New York, protester will fade quickly while “defund the police” could be a key campaign flashpoint for months to come. “The Democrats are giving a wink and a nod to the ‘defund the police’ movement all on their own ― even if Biden was hedging all over himself,” a senior White House aide told HuffPost, referring to Joe Biden’s careful statement on Monday. [HuffPost]

LEBRON JAMES IS FIGHTING FOR BLACK VOTERS’ RIGHTS Spurred by the death of George Floyd, NBA superstar LeBron James said he’s launching a new initiative with a group of other renowned African American athletes and celebrities aimed at protecting Black voting rights. James said Floyd’s death convinced him that he needed “to get out and do a little bit more” to empower and inspire African Americans across the nation to vote in the November election — and also to draw attention to efforts to suppress the votes of minority groups. [HuffPost]

A racial trauma therapist breaks down the Black Lives Matter protests.

L’Oreal dropped this model for commenting on systemic racism. Now it wants her back

Listen: How Gen Z and Millennial Jews are talking to their parents and children about George Floyd.

Auschwitz survivor voices support for Chicago protesters.

Scribe | I protested in DC — in my tallis.