George Floyd’s murder sparks nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism, Donald Trump responds by hiding in the White House and tweeting, and Joe Biden ventures out to meet with protesters and black community leaders. DeRay Mckesson joins to talk about what police reforms actually work, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms talks to Jon F. about grappling with this crisis as a mayor and a mother.

Show notes

The Protests 

• Al Jazeera: George Floyd: Mapping US National Guard deployments (6/1)
• NYT: A sixth day of protest gives way to a night of unrest.
• NYT: Global Anger Grows Over George Floyd’s Death in Minneapolis 
• WaPo: More cities impose curfews as police become increasingly aggressive 
• AP: US cities assess protest damage, await another day of unrest (5/31)
• NYT: George Floyd Protests: A Timeline 
• NYT: The toll of a night of unrest is coming into focus. 
• Star Tribune: Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin charged with murder, manslaughter in George Floyd death 
• NYT: Fired officer is charged with third-degree murder after George Floyd’s death. 
• LA Times: Derek Chauvin, officer arrested in George Floyd’s death, has a record of shootings and complaints
• BBC: George Floyd death: Thousands protest across central London
• Reuters: Hundreds of protesters rally in London, Berlin over U.S. death 
• Vox: The anger behind the protests, explained in 4 charts 
• New Yorker: Minneapolis, the Coronavirus, and Trump’s Failure to See a Crisis Coming 
• NYT: Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People. 
• New Yorker: The Death of George Floyd, in Context 
• CNN: The coronavirus pandemic is hitting black and brown Americans especially hard on all fronts
• The Nation: What We Know About the Covid-19 Race Gap 
• Slate: Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide
• Mother Jones: Nationwide Demonstrations Turn Violent as Police Attack Protesters 
• Daily Beast: Minneapolis Police Launch ‘Unprovoked’ Attacks on Protesters and Journalists
• WaPo: Police turn more aggressive against protesters and bystanders, alike, adding to violence and chaos 
• The Guardian: George Floyd: police forcefully crack down on protests across US – as it happened (5/31) [includes reports from journalists on the ground as incidents were occurring]
• WaPo: Journalists at several protests were injured, arrested by police while trying to cover the story 
• New Yorker: In Minneapolis, the Shocking Arrest of the Journalist Omar Jimenez Live on CNN 
• CNN: Minnesota police arrest CNN team on live television
• Daily Beast: Black Organizers ‘Enraged’ by White Agitators ‘Here to F*ck Shit Up’ 
• Yahoo News: On all sides, fears of ‘outside agitators’ in Floyd protests 
• Buzzfeed: Black Protesters Who Want To Demonstrate Peacefully Are Calling Out White People Who Instigate Violence
• WaPo: Officials blame differing groups of ‘outsiders’ for violence 
• CBS News: St. Paul mayor says earlier comments about arrested protesters being out of state were not correct 
• Vox: What we’re missing when we condemn “violence” at protests 

Trump, Biden, and the Political Fallout 

• NYT: As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump Shrinks Back 
• The Guardian: George Floyd’s brother says Trump ‘kept pushing me off’ during phone call 
• The Atlantic: Trump Is Terrified of Protest
• NYT: In Days of Discord, a President Fans the Flames 
• Politico: Trump warns protesters as unrest sweeps America
• NPR: Trump Says He Spoke With Floyd’s Family, Understands Hurt And Pain Of Community 
• Vox: The racist history of Trump’s “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” tweet 
• CNN: Trump tweets threat that ‘looting’ will lead to ‘shooting.’ Twitter put a warning label on it 
• NYT: Trump’s Looting and ‘Shooting’ Remarks Escalate Crisis in Minneapolis 
•  WaPo: Trump’s defense of his ‘shooting’ tweet doesn’t make much sense 
• AP: Trump walks back his incendiary Minneapolis ‘thugs’ post 
• CNN: A serious divide exists among Trump advisers over how to address nights of protests and riots in US after Floyd’s death
• Politico: The most volatile swing state of all
• Vox: Trump’s policies have enabled police violence against black Americans 
• FiveThirtyEight: After Minneapolis, Can Trump’s Law-And-Order Strategy Work? 
• Politico: Trump confronts a culture war of his own making as election looms
• WaPo: The issue of police violence entered the 2020 campaign with the death of George Floyd 
• Medium: We are a nation furious at injustice. 
• NYT: Biden Says ‘We Must Not Allow This Pain to Destroy Us’ of Violence in U.S. Cities 
• NYT: What Trump, Biden and Obama Said About the Death of George Floyd 
• Politico: Biden visits protest site in Delaware
• Vox: “We’re a country with an open wound”: Joe Biden condemns the police killing of George Floyd 
• CNN: Joe Biden says he spoke with George Floyd’s family
• Politico: ‘George Floyd’s life mattered’: Biden condemns death of black man in Minneapolis police custody
• WaPo: Biden calls for federal civil rights investigation into death of George Floyd What do we think of how Biden’s handling this? 
• NYT: Can Biden Emerge From the Basement and Meet the Moment? 
• WaPo: Protests pose a challenge for Biden: Appealing to older and younger black voters 
• WaPo: In George Floyd killing, Joe Biden seeks to project empathy as activists and party leaders demand details 
• NYT: Black Americans Have a Message for Democrats: Not Being Trump Is Not Enough 
• Politico: Minneapolis unrest shakes up VP shortlist
• WSJ: Minneapolis Protests Weigh on Joe Biden’s Running-Mate Search 
• WaPo: Racial tragedies add to pressure on Joe Biden to create a racially balanced ticket 
• Reuters: Biden urged to pick black VP, not Klobuchar as Minneapolis killing stokes racial tensions
• Campaign Zero: LIMIT USE OF FORCE
• Police of Use Force Project