Steve Klein addresses current issues impacting Yelm and vicinity and provides a meeting place for anyone with an interest in this area to provide their ideas and opinions
“The scale of giving in Minneapolis right now – with basically every grocery store burned or shuttered, and food and diapers etc totally unavailable to many people – is pretty staggering. Here’s photos of just one donation site in South Mpls [May 30].” Credit: @MollyHC
“In this Monday, May 25, 2020, frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, a Minneapolis officer kneels on the neck of a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe in Minneapolis. Four Minneapolis officers involved in the arrest of a George Floyd who died in police custody were fired Tuesday.” Darnella Frazier | AP
“Minneapolis police rendered 44 people unconscious with neck restraints in five years”
Editor’s note: The won ton disregard for human life with this officer causally restraining Mr. Floyd with left hand in his pocket, with citizen onlookers telling the officer that Floyd is not responding, and fellow officers look on, is the most outrageous story ever reported here in 14+ years.
“Since the beginning of 2015, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have rendered people unconscious with neck restraints 44 times, according to an NBC News analysis of police records. Several police experts said that number appears to be unusually high.
“Minneapolis police used neck restraints at least 237 times during that span, and in 16 percent of the incidents the suspects and other individuals lost consciousness, the department’s use-of-force records show. A lack of publicly available use-of-force data from other departments makes it difficult to compare Minneapolis to other cities of the same or any size.
“Police define neck restraints as when an officer uses an arm or leg to compress someone’s neck without directly pressuring the airway. On May 25, Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was captured on video kneeling on the neck of a prone and handcuffed George Floyd for eight minutes — including nearly three minutes after he had stopped breathing.
“More than a dozen police officials and law enforcement experts told NBC News that the particular tactic Chauvin used — kneeling on a suspect’s neck — is neither taught nor sanctioned by any police agency.A Minneapolis city official told NBC News Chauvin’s tactic is not permitted by the Minneapolis police department. For most major police departments, variations of neck restraints, known as chokeholds, are highly restricted — if not banned outright.
“The version of the Minneapolis Police Department’s policy manual that is available on-line, however, does permit the use of neck restraints that can render suspects unconscious, and the protocol for their use appears not to have been updated for more than eight years,” by Emily R. Siegel, Andrew W. Lehren and Andrew Blankstein, CNBC. Read more
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, right, and safety Eric Reid kneel during the national anthem on Sept. 12, 2016. Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP file
Reopening Resources for Your Business – The Thurston County Chamber and Association of Washington Business have developed online toolkits to guide local companies in reopening.
Editor’s note: I recall no time since the summer of 1968 after Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated and ripped off America’s scab to reveal the puss in the wound of persistent racism.
The newspaper reported, “Facing off — young against old, black against white — Americans wondered whether they could ever find their way back toward one another.”
Now, 52 years later, we approach the summer of 2000, though not gripped by a Vietnam-type war.
The eve of summer 2000 finds America in a war of a pandemic without a plan nor national leadership, unemployment rivaling The Great Depression of the 1930’s, and emotional anxiety/depression from months of shelter-in-place.
Instead of assassinations, we now find the match was lit by police brutality against our black citizens revealing the underbelly of seething racism, inflaming our national outrage!
What is so dangerous is that we have the President encouraging his “base” and MAGA supporters to join with the protestors implying their anger at government is the same, when such is far from the truth. The protestors are marching against police brutality. Trump’s MAGA supporters are all about Trump’s re-election in wanting him to reduce government intrusions in their lives.
Beyond the protests, reports of out-of-town extremists causing anarchy persist in many cities.
Taylor Swift’s Tweet put Trump on-notice: “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November.”
All of this while American pandemic deaths keep climbing as we approach 105,000 dead today.
The headlines below echo a nation on edge. A long, hot summer seething with tension is ahead!
LIGHTFOOT: “Donald Trump’s comment last night was profoundly dangerous, and we must stand in firm solidarity and say this is totally unacceptable no matter who is the speaker. And, folks, we see the game he’s playing because it’s so transparent and he’s not very good at it. He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders to throw red meat to his base. His goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and inflame racist urges, and we can absolutely not let him prevail. And I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It’s two words. It begins with ‘F’ and it ends with ‘you.’ I will not remain silent while this man cynically tries to turn this incredibly painful moment into one for his own political gain.”
Trump praises Secret Service response to White House protests, warns greater force could have been used
From NBC News:
[Editor’s note: Trump does nothing to call for unity and/or to be a voice of calm. His only thoughts are if protestors would engage The White House perimeter, they would be met with harm and potential death!]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump praised the Untied (sic) States Secret Service for their response to protesters outside the White House Friday night, warning that if the the demonstrators had breached the White House fence they would have been “greeted” with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”
Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. [Secret Service],” Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday morning. “I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe.”
“Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence,” Trump continued, adding that if they had they would “have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least.”
Thousands of people gathered in front of the White House Friday night in protest of George Floyd’s death, prompting the Secret Service to put the White House on lockdown.
Trump also said that the protesters had “little to do with the memory” of Floyd and were “just there to cause trouble.” Trump said Saturday would be “MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE,” but it is unclear what he is referencing. Read more
“‘A new study says the time has arrived: a megadrought as bad or worse than anything even from known prehistory is very likely in progress, and warming climate is playing a key role,’ the Earth Institute said.”
“The study looked at nine states in the western U.S.: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, according to a map from Science,” by Maddie Capron, The Olympian. Read more
“Last week I attended a three day zoom conference [May 19-20] for the Auditors Association annual conference. I was honored to win two awards. One was the heavy hitter award for my work during the legislative session. The second was a total surprise. It was the Presidents award for outstanding service! It was very humbling. It’s nice to be recognized by your peers.” Read more
Yelm Cinemas’ Popular Popcorn Drive-Thru Event this Saturday
From Yelm Cinemas:
“In efforts to improve your experience we are extending our popcorn drive thru hours for Saturday May 30th. Our new hours will be 12-7pm. We want to thank you all for showing up and waiting in line, even wait to took a long time. We love our community! We can’t wait to show you movies again.”
“Please invite popcorn lovers! Large popcorn bucket $6 or 2 buckets for $10. Candy $2 each.”
“Customer will stay in their vehicles and may hand over exact cash to limit interaction and money handling. Customers may also use their cards and enter their pin or sign with a sterilized stylus. “We are looking forward to seeing everyone!” Read more
