This afternoon, starting a little before 2:00 p.m. in downtown Warrensburg, Missouri.
“Black Lives Matter”
Warrensburg Police had a relaxed presence with officers at the south end of the demonstration at the intersection of Holden and Pine and officers at the north end of the demonstration on Holden Street. On occasion police vehicles would drive by.
A conversation.
“Black Lives Matter”
A good p0rtion of the crowd wore masks. Some wore gloves. Social distancing was haphazard.
“No justice, no peace”
“End Police Brutality”
“White silence is compliance”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about what matters”
“Black Lives Matter”
“Justice”
“United Against Racism”
“Justice for George Floyd”
“No justice, no peace”
“I can’t breathe”
“Justice for George Floyd”
One individual, who had been praying on the sidewalk, took to Holden Street. Someone from the crowd held traffic while he prayed.
Praying in the street.
“Black Lives Matter”
“Cop are not above the law”
“Black Lives Matter”
“Black Live Matter” “End Police Brutality”
Writing his name – George Floyd.
This was one of the largest crowds I’ve seen at a demonstration in Warrensburg in a long time. The group was much younger than usual, with a good representation of the older, experienced crowd – the usual suspects.
According to social media posts, after we left the demonstration, the crowd marched to the University and quite a distance around Warrensburg. One social media post estimated the crowd to number between 150 and 200.
Darryl Forte’
@sheriffforte
Many are shocked this morning. I’m not because the pulse of some segments of the community indicated that we were sitting on a powder keg. Discussion and action regarding perceptions and realities of police mistreatment of minorities should be ongoing.
@JacksonCountyMO @KCMO
[….] 5:23 AM · May 31, 2020
These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.
Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.
The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.
I know that there are people all across this country who are suffering tonight. Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still gripping our nation. Suffering economic hardships, whether due to COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system. And I know that a grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.
I know.
And I also know that the only way to bear it is to turn all that anguish to purpose. So tonight, I ask all of America to join me — not in denying our pain or covering it over — but using it to compel our nation across this turbulent threshold into the next phase of progress, inclusion, and opportunity for our great democracy.
We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted, but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.
As President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless of race, believes that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve them. Only by standing together will we rise stronger than before. More equal, more just, more hopeful — and that much closer to our more perfect union.
Governor Mike Parson @GovParsonMO
Today I signed Executive Order 20-11 to declare that a State of Emergency exists in Missouri due to civil unrest. The Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol stand ready to support local authorities.
[….] 9:28 PM · May 30, 2020
Jefferson City Governor Mike Parson today signed Executive Order 20-11 to declare that a State of Emergency exists in Missouri due to civil unrest. The Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol stand ready to support local authorities.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of George Floyd. We are also saddened by the acts of violence that have transpired across our nation and state in response to this event. At this time, we are taking a proactive approach to protect Missouri and its people,” Governor Mike Parson said.
Citizens have the right to peacefully assemble and protest, and the State of Missouri is committed to protecting the lawful exercise of these rights.
Despite the many peaceful assemblies, there are other events occurring throughout Missouri that have created conditions of distress and hazards to the safety, welfare, and property of residents and visitors in our communities that are beyond the capacities of local authorities.
“Violence and destruction are not the answers,” Governor Mike Parson said. “I support those who are calling for justice and peace. However, a small element has seized on these peaceful demonstrations to commit violent acts that endanger the lives of citizens and bring destruction to our communities. This violence not only threatens public safety and destroys economic opportunity; it drowns out the voices of the peaceful demonstrators calling for justice and working to improve our nation.”
This Executive Order calls the Adjutant General of the State of Missouri, or his designee, to forthwith call and order into active service such portions of the National Guard as he deems necessary to aid the executive officials of Missouri to protect life and property.
It is further ordered and directed that the Adjutant General or his designee, and through him, the commanding officer of any unit or other organization of the National Guard, to take such action and employ such equipment as may be necessary in support of civilian authorities and provide such assistance as may be authorized and directed by Governor Parson.
Earlier at today’s George Floyd protest in Kansas City, Missouri at Mill Creek Park near the entrance to the Plaza:
photo: Bob Yates
photo: Bob Yates
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” “No lives matter until black lives matter” – photo: Bob Yates
Andrew Havranek KY3 @Andrew_Havranek
#BREAKING: The Camden County Health Department says a positive COVID-19 case out of Boone County, Missouri, visited pool bars at the Lake of the Ozarks during Memorial Day Weekend, including ones seen in viral video and photos.
[….] 5:10 PM · May 29, 2020
“…You know, I hope people feel safe, but, uh, to go out and vote. But, if they don’t, you know, the number one thing is their safety should be number one, so if they don’t, um, then, then, don’t go out and vote. You know, you know, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard myself say that, but, but, you know if you didn’t feel safe than I wouldn’t do that…”
Governor Mike Parson (r) – press conference – May 28, 2020.
On voting in the June 2, 2020 local elections:
Question: …Uh, Governor, there’s gonna be, uh, municipal and local elections all over the state June second. Um, do you plan on voting in the local elections, and, uh, are you gonna go in person?
Gov. Mike Parson (r): You know, I don’t know if I’ll go in person or absentee, yet, you know. Not for sure. But I’ll plan on voting then. If at all possible, if I can.
Question: Okay. And, um, is there any message that you have for Missourians who are contemplating, uh, going to vote in person on Tuesday?
Gov. Mike Parson (r): Yeah, I hope they get out and I hope they vote. That’s one of the most, uh, important things we can all do is to vote. I think most of your elected officials that I know of across the state, I think they’re well prepared, they know the situation. And I think they’re gonna make that safe. As any where else you go in the State of Missouri, whether it’s some other business or that. But, I, I’m confident that counties and the local elected officials understand, uh, what we’re up against here. And they’re gonna be, uh, uh, above all means they’re gonna be making sure it’s safe. It’s there. I think the Secretary of State was out a week or two ago, I mean to almost every polling place in the state making sure they had equipment there. Making sure they were prepared when this vote comes, so. You know, I hope people feel safe, but, uh, to go out and vote. But, if they don’t, you know, the number one thing is their safety should be number one, so if they don’t, um, then, then, don’t go out and vote. You know, you know, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard myself say that, but, but, you know if you didn’t feel safe than I wouldn’t do that. So, but I hope people feel safe enough to go out and vote. For those elections are important. They’re important for what happens down the road as we all see right now what elected officials on the local level are doing and how important it is to make sure you got the right people in the right place.
May 27, 2020
Jack Dorsey
CEO
Twitter
1355 Market Street, Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94103
Dear Mr. Dorsey:
Twitter’s unprecedented decision to single out the President for disfavor, based on his political speech, is alarming. Yesterday, for the first time ever, Twitter branded the President’s tweets with a “fact check” designed to encourage readers to believe that the President’s political speech was inaccurate. Twitter’s decision to editorialize regarding the content of political speech raises questions about why Twitter should continue receiving special status and special immunity from publisher liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Twitter’s “fact check” raises serious questions about whether Twitter targeted the President for political reasons. Employees working for the team responsible for Twitter’s fact-checking policies have a stark history of derogatory comments against both the President and people who voted for him. For example, Twitter’s Head of Site Integrity encouraged people to “fly over” states like Missouri because Missourians supposedly “voted for a racist tangerine.” That employee also called people who work for the President “actual Nazis.”
Meanwhile, where has Twitter been in response to the outright lies and propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party and its so-called “wolf warriors,” busy blaming American soldiers for the start of COVID-19 on social media? Will Twitter also “fact check” these outrageous statements? What about other candidates for political office, like former Vice-President Joe Biden? Will Twitter editorialize regularly in response to his comments on social media? Or will Twitter only go after people its employees dislike?
Instead of allowing viewers to look at the dialogue around the President’s tweets and assess for themselves the merits of the President’s views, Twitter decided to editorialize, appending its own comments and assessment to the President’s speech. But editorializing is what publishers do, like the New York Times and the Washington Post. Your company is treated very differently from publishers, as you know. Traditional publishers are liable when they mess up. But under Section 230, Twitter receives a special government carve-out that shields it from liability. That statute tells courts to treat Twitter like a passive distributor of third-party content. Twitter’s decision to affix its own editorial content to users’ posts brings into question the basis for that immunity.
It makes little sense to treat companies that publish their editorial comments about others’ content as if they are mere distributors. Companies that act like publishers should be treated like publishers. Section 230 should not treat Twitter and neutral internet service providers in the same way when they function so differently.
Please send a prompt response by June 15 identifying the sources on which Twitter relied to decide to editorialize regarding the President’s political speech, and please explain why you think that companies that act like publishers should not be treated like publishers.
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
U.S. Senator
Pompous ass.
“…Twitter’s ‘fact check’ raises serious questions about whether Twitter targeted the President for political reasons…”
Only a shameless, albeit not very competent, hack would characterize presenting facts as political targeting.
It’s not a serious question, that’s just your arrogance in believing the rest of us are too stupid to realize what you’re doing and who you really are.
The man breaks every Term and Condition of use and threatens people using the service, and they _one time_ point out that he’s lying to undermine our democracy, and you call that a “war”.
Factchecking isn’t censorship.
You are worse than pathetic, Thirsty McScapegoatFace.
Dude, you are lost.
Bruh, you’re really doing this as a constitutional lawyer? LMAO. Good luck.
Identifying lies from the president isn’t censorship.
Blah Blah Blah
No censorship was done, just a link added to the actual facts @realDonaldTrump doesn’t know.
I think the war on Covid could use some of your attention. 100,000 dead and rising…
“Censorship” would be kicking him off the platform. This is called “refuting Trump’s lies”, a concept with which you’re evidently not familiar.
Kicking him off the platform is well within their rights too. Twitter is not a branch of the government. They are a corporation with a written terms of service we all sign up to. trump should have been removed a long time ago based on the TOS.
Distract, distract, distract.
Geeze Senator… Could you skip a day from being on Fox News to host a virtual town hall or something? Everyday it’s about Google, Fox, FB, Hong Kong… What about Missouri?
He doesn’t give a damn about Missourians. He is a career politician.
You mean, like a ladder climber?
@realDonaldTrump tweet was neither suppressed or prohibited. A disclaimer was added, so, not censorship.
Perhaps you could spend more time & energy working to bolster the educational quality in your state? Clearly, you are a poster child for the shortcomings of a MO education.
Actually, he attended one of those fancy ones.
You are acting malicious on purpose. If something should be considered federal offense this type of gas-lighting should be it. Censorship is suppression/prohibition of something. Trump was not prohibited (unfortunately) from tweeting bs he tweets. They simply pointed to facts!
Twitter is a private corporation with the right to do what they want with its users. What you’re proposing is literal fascism.
No censorship happened – quite the opposite – free forum for him to use – but not to lie unabashedly
– he has been Tweeting non-stop – calling out his BS or giving an alternate view is not censorship – WTF ?
By all means, do that, not discuss the 100,000 dead Americans.
Censorship? Really? How about a grown ass man being responsible for his words?
Of course you are. Grandstanding for Trump, not Missourians.
You are so embarrassing to MO
How do people with such a profound lack of understanding, or such obvious willingness to lie about their understanding of what “censorship” really is, have the balls to go on TV and proclaim their disingenuousness? It must be utter stupidity or zero shame, I guess. Or both.
Partisan hack is too afraid to venture outside the Fox News bubble. Worthless…just like his leader.
@realDonaldTrump if you don’t like it, don’t use it. Twitter is a company that has terms of service. If you don’t like those terms of service, move on. Everyone knows that you are just defecting hoping no one notices that 100,000 Americans are dead because of your stupidity.
How does this concern the state of Missouri? You’re our representative in Congress. Not Donald Trump’s.
Mr “Constitutional lawyer”. The 1st Amendment protects citizen’s free speech from government censorship. You are literally advocating for the government to violate Twitters 1A rights so the President can lie without getting his feelings hurt. Could you be more of a partisan hack?
This is fucking pathetic. You suck at being an American, Josh.
You are simply an attention whore, a clown masquerading as a senator. You care for your Missouri constitutes like trump cares for Americans: not at all. You are both motivated only by self interest, and are morally bankrupt. Resign.
Josh Hawley (r) [2016 file photo].
Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…
