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Good Morning, Portland! And Happy Queer Week!
Here are the headlines.
⢠Last night was the 19th consecutive night of protests against police brutality and racism in downtown Portland. Last nightâs protest was a shift from previous nights for two reasons: The group that normally meets at Revolution Hall and marches around the eastside joined protesters downtown, and the Justice Center was down one of its two fences. What didnât change was the officerâs response to protesters. After throwing a few bottles and other items over the remaining fence at officers, a crowd of 500 demonstrators were hit with rubber bullets and pepper balls. One person was hit in the head, and needed urgent medical attention. The night ended after a fire was ignited (and extinguished) in front of Chipotle and armored officers bum-rushed journalists, youth, and other demonstrators out of public spaces. Another night of cops inflicting terror in downtown Portland.
Medics attending to protester who was shot in the head by PPB while standing west of broadway in an area that was NOT shut down by the dispersal order. pic.twitter.com/NPwgxFa2RQ
â Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) June 16, 2020
Portland police officer âyour asked to disperse, wearing the press does not give you the right to be hereâ
â Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) June 16, 2020
Reporter @_jlevinson: âweâre movingâ
Police: âyouâve been given warnings, so if you donât move faster your gonna go to jailâ
âSo you want us to run?â
âyes I doâ pic.twitter.com/I9zrFRnwhf
⢠Oregon saw a big spike of new COVID-19 cases yesterday, with 99 cases alone coming from sparsely populated Union County. It turns out many of those cases are linked to a church that recently hosted a testing clinic.
⢠If youâve participated in any of the Portland protests in the last two and a half weeks, thereâs a decent chance youâve heard Lilith Sinclairâs voice through a megaphone. For Queer Week, I interviewed the activist about the current protests, the power that comes from working for abolition, and how being nonbinary shapes their activism.
⢠Scientists at the University of Oxford have identified a steroidâDexamethasoneâ that reduced COVID-19 deaths by one third for patients using ventilators. It's the first drug shown to actually reduce coronavirus deaths, and per the BBC, it's old and "cheap-as-chips."
⢠Donald Trump is expected to unveil some police reform plans soonâbut don't hold your breath for them to include anything meaningful. According to the Washington Post, they'll mostly be funds used for police officer training, which is something that's already been happening for years without any marked improvements.
⢠United States retail sales went up by nearly 18 percent last monthâthough they really didn't have anywhere to go but up after the devastating economic impacts of COVID-19.
⢠It appears that after journalists and protesters, police officers are most afraid of Shake Shack employees. The New York Police Department's union reported last night that three of its officers had been given poisoned milkshakes at the upscale fast food restaurant. Just hours later, NYPD reported that it had found no evidence of foul-play.
if you drink a milkshake and have a stomach ache, your first thought shouldn't be "was i poisoned?" it should be "well this is what i get for drinking 12 to 16 ounces of milk, cream and sugar as a grown-ass person"
â b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) June 16, 2020
⢠Some good news: After yesterday's historic Supreme Court victory for LGBTQ+ employment rights, the Trump administration's attempt to reverse trans healthcare rights appears to be dead in the water.
⢠Time to get busy!
Queer Town Hall: A Discussion with Black Leaders, Drag Queen Storytime with Poison Waters, and tons of streaming contentâhere are some ways you can celebrate Pride while staying at home.https://t.co/q59XIqyG38
â Portland Mercury đ đłď¸âđ (@portlandmercury) June 15, 2020