Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider donating to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)
• Last night marked the most inspiring and disturbing evening of protests yet in Portland, with an estimated 10,000 Portlanders marching into town to fill Pioneer Square. The night was marred by police going on a tear gas frenzy and driving recklessly through the downtown corridor for reasons they have yet to adequately explain. For a full breakdown on what happened, check out our live blog here, and stay tuned for our protest coverage tonight.
This was the clip that made @LauralPorter & me gasp on live TV.
We saw people moving barricades & equipment around Pioneer Square... when a police SUV came speeding through. Ppl ran out of the way.
This was around 12:14 a.m. @PortlandPolice can you tell us what happened? pic.twitter.com/K7ejbx1FHi
— Maggie Vespa KGW (@Maggie_Vespa) June 3, 2020
• Following the fifth night of protests (and five nights of police using tear gas on protesters), some Portland City Council members are calling to defund the cops. Our Alex Zielinski has more.
• If you're looking for a nuanced look at the local protests, check out this great short documentary from our Arthur Bradford which depicts candid conversations between protesters and cops.
• Headline: "Oregon’s new employment department chief may call on the National Guard to help with backlogged jobless claims." The National Guard: Is there anything they can't do?" LOL!
Meanwhile, in Portland’s Justice Center. (Keeping photog anon). pic.twitter.com/S8zY8LChQA
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) June 3, 2020
• AND YES, we do still have the pandemic to deal with. As of Wednesday morning, there were 33 new COVID-19 cases statewide, and three new deaths, one of which was the first fatality in Multnomah County for someone under 40-years-old. The total cases now stands at 4,335, and total deaths at 157.
• While Multnomah County has yet to file for Phase 1 reopening, Gov. Kate Brown held a conference this afternoon to detail what Phase Two will look like. 26 counties have already applied to enter Phase 2 as early as this Friday.
IN NATIONAL NEWS:
• There was some actual POSITIVE NEWS yesterday! For example, disgusting racist/Iowa Rep. Steve King was defeated in Tuesday's Republican primary.
• Even better news! Elia Jones is the first Black woman to be elected mayor of Ferguson, Missouri—the town where a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, a Black teenager, in 2014.
• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded Derek Chauvin's charge from third- to second-degree murder this afternoon, and charged the other three (former) officers with aiding and abetting in that murder of George Floyd.
• Also in Minnesota: Minneapolis City Councilman Steve Fletcher proposed the disbanding of the Minneapolis Police Department, replacing it with a new form of community-oriented public safety organization. PORTLAND TAKE NOTE.
I don’t know yet, though several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD and start fresh with a community-oriented, non-violent public safety and outreach capacity.
— Steve Fletcher - Minneapolis Ward 3 (@MplsWard3) June 2, 2020
• More from Minnesota! ACLU files a class-action lawsuit against Minnesota authorities for shooting, beating, and gassing over a dozen journalists.
• A new, nationwide police reform initiative led by Campaign Zero is spreading, called #8cantwait, promoting the widespread adoption of eight policies proven to reduce police violence by 72 percent.
• Leave it to Senator Rand Paul to find new and interesting ways to distinguish himself as a rank turd while nobody's really looking: Instead of unanimously passing the House's recent anti-lynching bill, he's going out of his way to hold it up, saying "if they want to pass it the easy way, they have to talk to me about it," and suggesting that only he can "improve" it, because as written he has concerns the bill could "demean how horrible lynching actually was."
Powerful words from Tom Cotton in the New York Times. pic.twitter.com/XDcFfW458E
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) June 3, 2020
• Speaking of lies: "Trump denies being rushed to bunker during protest, says he went during the day ‘for an inspection.’"
• After Democrats in Charlotte, North Carolina tried to insist that Republicans take safety measures and restrict crowd size at the upcoming Republican National Convention, Trump threw a hissy fit and now they're moving it elsewhere.
• The NBA is planning on coming back in July, finishing their postponed season with eight regular games to determine playoff seeding, and then a full playoff slate, all taking place at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Audiences would not be present for the games. The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the 22 teams involved.
• A day after audio of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's meeting with angry employees was leaked and showed the former Harvard creep to have grown into quite the disingenuous coward, social media app Snapchat announced they will stop promoting our idiot president's content in their "Discover" section, saying "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice."
• If you're looking for a way to support Portland's Black community or educate yourself on America's systemic racism, here's a great list to start with! (Looking for great food tonight? Support these local Black-owned restaurants!)
• Do you have sex and/or relationship questions? OF COURSE YOU DO. So get your tickets now for the SAVAGE LOVE LIVESTREAM that's tomorrow night, where our Dan Savage will answer your real questions LIVE!
• And finally, last night may have ended badly... but don't miss this gorgeous video of Portlanders at their best.
My Portland. Showing up.
Thousands lay on the Burnside Bridge with their hands behind their back. #ICantBreathe pic.twitter.com/vmmy05esW6
— Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 #DemCast (@DemWrite) June 3, 2020