Page 25 - bon-dia-aruba-20200907

A25
u.s. news Dialuna 7 September 2020

Summer of protest: Chance for change, but obstacles exposed

By COLLEEN LONG, try better through the pro- of attention to police brutal-
KAT STAFFORD and tests. An ABC News/Ipsos ity and racial injustice," said
R.J. RICO poll out Friday showed that Ashley Jardina, assistant pro-
Associated Press 55% of Americans believe fessor of political science at
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump is aggravating the sit- Duke University, and author
Memorial Day brought the uation. When it comes to re- of the book "White Identity
death of George Floyd at the ducing violence, Americans Politics." "But white Ameri-
hands of Minneapolis po- favor Biden to Trump, 59% cans have always had a low
lice, prompting hundreds of to 39%. tolerance for protests and un-
thousands of Americans to "No matter what he says or rest around race in the U.S.,
take to the streets in protest. what he claims, you are not and that's particularly true
President Donald Trump safer in Donald Trump's when they think that protests
called Floyd's death a "dis- America," Biden said Friday. become violent or involve
grace" and momentum built Yet Trump's campaign also the destruction of property,"
around policing reform. sees an opportunity to ap- Jardina added.
But by Labor Day, the pros- peal to some voters who may The majority of racial justice
pects for federal legislation be turned off by scenes of protests have been peace- In this July 17, 2020, file photo protesters lie in the street to
have evaporated. And Trump violence cropping up around ful. But some, including in block a downtown Kansas City, Mo. intersection.
is seeking to leverage the vio- some of the protests, includ- Kenosha and Minneapo- Associated Press
lence that has erupted around ing in Kenosha, Wiscon- lis, saw vandalism and vio-
some of the protests to scare sin, where police shot Jacob lence. A Trump supporter is or month-to-month. Dan light fires," he said. "When
white, suburban voters and Blake, a Black man, seven charged with homicide in the Cooper, a white 51-year-old you see a burnt building, that
encourage them to back his times last month. The presi- shooting deaths of two pro- software engineer in Port- is helping the wrong side of
reelection campaign. dent has openly directed his testers in Kenosha, and an land, remains supportive of the narrative. It's not as effec-
The three-month stretch appeals at the "suburban anti-fascist shot and killed a the protests and the Black tive for the BLM movement
between the symbolic kick- housewives of America" — right-wing protester in Port- Lives Matter movement but and keeping their message
off and close of America's especially white housewives land, Oregon, and was later fears the vandalism is "play- for what it should be."
summer has both galvanized — casting his reelection as killed during his arrest by law ing into the right's hands.""A National Black Lives Matter
broad public support for the the only thing preventing vi- enforcement. Trump has also few months ago they started organizers have never asked

racial justice movement and olence in cities from spilling tried to link the protests to off in a more BLM-focused for, encouraged or condoned
exposed the obstacles to turn- into their neighborhoods. local increases in shootings, way. It does seem like they've looting or fighting with law
ing that support into concrete Trump traveled to Kenosha murders and other crimes in lost their way a little bit," enforcement or police sup-
political and policy changes. this past week, thanked law cities, including Kansas City, Cooper said of the protests. porters on the streets, be-
It has also clarified the choice enforcement for their efforts Missouri, Detroit, Chicago Steve DeFeo, a white 49-year- cause they are protesting the
for voters in the presiden- and met with people whose and New York, even though old manager at an insurance violent harm done to their
tial race between Trump, businesses were destroyed in criminal justice experts say company in Edgewater, Flor- communities.
who rarely mentions Floyd fires. He did not meet with the spike defies easy expla- ida, shares that concern. He Thenjiwe McHarris, a strate-
or other Black Americans Blake's family. Biden did, on nation in a year with historic said that while he supports gist with the Movement for
killed by police anymore, and Thursday, while on a visit to unemployment and a pan- the protests and the Black Black Lives, a coalition of
Democrat Joe Biden, who ar- the city. "I think that there was demic that has killed more Lives Matter movement, he more than 150 organizations,
gues that the summer of pro- a lot of optimism surround- than 180,000 people. Crime worries that violent protest- said Trump's effort was a
tests can become a catalyst ing the protests this summer overall remains lower than ers allow others to inaccu- "desperate tactic to paint our
for tackling systemic racism. in the wake of George Floyd it has been in years past and rately portray the movement movement a particular kind
Polls show Biden has an ad- because for the first time, criminologists also caution as dangerous. of way to stoke fear in com-
vantage among Americans we were starting to see all against a focus on crime "That message gets amplified munities across the country
when it comes to which can- of these white people in the statistics over a short time when you go out and spray- and to try to steal this elec-
didate can manage the coun- United States pay a great deal frame, such as week-to-week paint and throw rocks and tion." q

Jacob Blake speaks out for first time since

police shooting

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ja- your life, your legs, some- sparking several nights of
cob Blake has spoken pub- thing you need to move protests and unrest in Keno-
licly for the first time since around and forward in life, sha, a city of about 100,000
a Kenosha, Wisconsin, po- can be taken from you like between Milwaukee and
lice officer shot him seven this," Blake said, snapping his Chicago.
times in the back, saying he's fingers. Sheskey and the other of-
in constant pain from the He added: "Stick together, ficers who were at the scene In this photo from Kenosha County Court video, Jacob Blake
shooting, which doctors fear make some money, make ev- were placed on administra- answers questions during a hearing Friday, Sept. 4. 2020 in
will leave him paralyzed from erything easier for our peo- tive leave pending the out- Kenosha, Wis.
the waist down. ple out there, man, because come of an investigation by Associated Press
In a video posted Saturday there's so much time that's the Wisconsin Department of
night on Twitter by his fam- been wasted." Justice. None of them have tie. He spoke only to respond officers and heard them yell,
ily's lawyer, Ben Crump, Blake, who is Black, was shot been charged. to the judge's questions. "Drop the knife! Drop the
Blake said from his hospi- in the back by a white police Blake, who had an outstand- The state Justice Department knife!" before gunfire erupt-
tal bed that, "Twenty-four officer on Aug. 23 after walk- ing arrest warrant when he has said a knife was recovered ed. He said he didn't see a
hours, every 24 hours it's ing away from the officer and was shot, pleaded not guilty from Blake's vehicle, but it knife in Blake's hands.
pain, nothing but pain. It two others who were try- Friday to charges accusing has not said whether he was The Kenosha police union
hurts to breathe, it hurts to ing to arrest him. The offi- him of sexually assaulting a holding it when officers tried said Blake had the knife and
sleep, it hurts to move from cer, Rusten Sheskey, opened woman in May and waived to arrest him. refused orders to drop it.
side-to-side, it hurts to eat." fire after Blake opened his his right to a preliminary The man who made the Blake fought with police, in-
Blake, a 29-year-old father of own SUV's driver-side door hearing. Blake appeared re- widely seen cellphone video cluding putting one officer in
six, also said he has staples in and leaned into the vehicle. motely via video conference of the shooting, 22-year-old a headlock, the union said.
his back and stomach. The shooting was captured from his Milwaukee hospital Raysean White, said he saw Police twice used a Taser,
"Your life, and not only just on video and posted online, bed, wearing a dress shirt and Blake scuffling with three which did not stop Blake.q