AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT
Police back off as peaceful protests push deep reforms
Calls for deep police reforms gained momentum as leaders in the city where George Floyd died at the hands of police pushed to dismantle the entire department.
Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests demanding a reckoning with institutional racism that have sometimes resulted in clashes with police, but many officers took a less aggressive stance over the weekend when demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful.
Two weeks after Floyd, an out-of-work black bouncer, died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council vowed to dismantle the 800-member agency.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” City Council President Lisa Bender said Sunday. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
On Monday, Derek Chauvin — the officer filmed pressing his knee on Floyd's neck and one of four to be fired from the department in the aftermath of Floyd's death — is scheduled to make his first court appearance since the charge against him was upgraded to second-degree murder.
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Minneapolis council majority backs disbanding police force
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city's police department, an aggressive stance that comes just as the state has launched a civil rights investigation after George Floyd's death.
Nine of the council’s 12 members appeared with activists at a rally in a city park Sunday afternoon and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Council member Jeremiah Ellison promised that the council would “dismantle” the department.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” Lisa Bender, the council president, said. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
Bender went on to say she and the eight other council members that joined the rally are committed to ending the city’s relationship with the police force and “to end policing as we know it and recreate systems that actually keep us safe.”
Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died May 25 after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck, ignoring his “I can't breathe” cries and holding it there even after Floyd stopped moving. His death sparked protests — some violent, many peaceful — that spread nationwide.
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With recovery of last case, New Zealand has eradicated virus
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand appears to have completely eradicated the coronavirus — at least for now — after health officials said Monday the last known infected person had recovered.
The announcement was greeted with joy around the country and means the nation of 5 million people will be among the first to welcome throngs of fans back into sports stadiums, embrace crowded concerts and remove seating restrictions from flights.
It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported, during which time an additional 40,000 people have been tested, bringing the total number tested to about 300,000. Monday marked the first time since late February there have been no active cases.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was confident New Zealand had halted the spread of the virus but it still must be prepared for more.
“We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort,” she said at a news conference. “We almost certainly will see cases here again, and I do want to say that again, we will almost certainly see cases here again, and that is not a sign that we have failed, it is a reality of this virus. But if and when that occurs we have to make sure — and we are — that we are prepared.”
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'All eyes' on New York: Reopening tests city torn by crises
NEW YORK (AP) — The city that never sleeps had a curfew for much of last week. Famous stores were boarded up after days of unrest. The lights are out on Broadway theaters, and the subway no longer runs overnight.
But after three bleak months, New York City will try to turn a page when it begins reopening Monday after getting hit first by the coronavirus, then an outpouring of rage over racism and police brutality.
With the virus in check — at least for now — New York is easing restrictions that shut down schools, businesses and much of city life in March.
Construction, manufacturing, wholesalers and previously “nonessential” retailers can resume work, with restrictions. Retailers can reopen for delivery and pickup, though customers can't yet browse inside.
It’s an inflection point as the city tries to get back to business after becoming the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, suffering a surge that killed more than 500 people a day at its early-to-mid-April peak. Overall, more than 21,000 people citywide have died of confirmed or probable COVID-19.
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Houston to hold 6-hour public viewing of Floyd's casket
HOUSTON (AP) — Mourners will be able to view George Floyd's casket Monday in his hometown of Houston, the final stop of a series of memorials in his honor.
A six-hour viewing will be held Monday at The Fountain of Praise church in southwest Houston. The viewing is open to the public, though visitors will be required to wear a mask and gloves to comply with coronavirus-related guidelines.
Floyd's funeral will be Tuesday, followed by burial at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in suburban Pearland, where he will be laid to rest next to his mother, Larcenia Floyd.
Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to travel to Houston to meet with Floyd's family and will provide a video message for Floyd’s funeral service. A Biden aide on Sunday described the plans of the Democratic presidential candidate. They did not include attending the service.
Biden expects to give the family his condolences, said the aide, who discussed Biden’s plans on condition of anonymity.
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AP PHOTOS: Protests spotlight racial scars around the world
LONDON (AP) — Just like coronavirus, racism pays no attention to borders.
Across the world, people representing a broad spectrum of society have marched as one to protest racial injustice and police brutality at home and abroad.
Despite the risks posed by possibly the biggest public health hazard in a century, they still put their marching boots on and geared up for a long day of chanting.
They sought not just to show solidarity with protesters across the United States following the shocking police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis but also to shine a spotlight on the inequalities that scar their own nations. On May 25, Floyd, a black man, died handcuffed on the ground saying “I can't breathe” as a white policeman pushed his knee to his neck.
In Australia, tens of thousands highlighted the country's long mistreatment of Aboriginal people, notably of David Dungay, who died in a prison hospital in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.
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Cristobal weakens to tropical depression, rains persist
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cristobal weakened to a tropical depression Monday morning, after crashing ashore as a lopsided tropical storm a day prior in Louisiana and ginned up dangerous weather farther east, sending waves crashing over Mississippi beaches, swamping parts of an Alabama island town and spawning a tornado in Florida.
Cristobal made a Saturday afternoon landfall between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the since-evacuated barrier island resort community of Grand Isle, with 50-mph (85-kph) winds.
Making landfall well under hurricane strength, the storm had begun weakening as it moved inland — but heavy rainfall and a storm surge were continuing along the Gulf Coast, posing a threat across a wide area into the Florida Panhandle.
At 4 a.m. CDT Monday, Cristobal was centered about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, packing slowed winds of 35 mph (56 kmph). With its drenching rains, Cristobal — moving north-northwest at 10 mph (16 kmph) — was expected to keep inundating the northern Gulf Coast well into Monday, but all tropical storm warnings had been discontinued.
Cristobal's forecast path takes it inland through northeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi on Monday, continuing through Arkansas and eastern Missouri Monday night and Tuesday, and reaching Wisconsin and the western Great Lakes by Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said additional weakening was expected through Tuesday but some strengthening was expected Tuesday night and Wednesday.
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Virus, racial unrest force Trump campaign to recalibrate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than five months before voters will decide his fate, President Donald Trump is confronting a vastly different political reality than he once envisioned. For starters, if the election were held today, he’d likely lose.
The president, West Wing advisers and campaign aides have grown increasingly concerned about his reelection chances as they’ve watched Trump's standing take a pummeling first on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and now during a nationwide wave of protests against racial injustice. His allies worry the president has achieved something his November foe had been unable to do: igniting enthusiasm in a Democratic Party base that's been lukewarm to former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump was facing tougher political prospects even before the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee for almost nine minutes into Floyd's neck last month.
COVID-19’s mounting human and economic tolls -– and the president’s defiant response –- cost him support among constituencies his campaign believes are key to victory in November. His signature rallies had been frozen for months, and his cash advantage over Biden, while vast, wasn’t growing as quickly as hoped because the pandemic put a halt to high-dollar fundraisers.
Internal campaign surveys and public polling showed a steady erosion in support for Trump among seniors and in battleground states once believed to be leaning decisively in the president’s direction, according to six current and former campaign officials not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The campaign recently launched a television ad blitz in Ohio, a state the president carried by 8 percentage points four years ago, and it sees trouble in Arizona and warning signs in once-deep-red Georgia.
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Democrats proposing new police procedures, accountability
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures is being proposed by Democrats in response to the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, according to a draft outline obtained by The Associated Press.
The Justice in Policing Act, to be unveiled Monday, would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes. It is the most ambitious changes to law enforcement sought by Congress in years.
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is leading the effort, said called it “transformative.”
“We’re in a real moment in our country," she said Sunday on CNN, speaking after days of massive protests set off by the death of George Floyd and other African Americans involving the police.
Bass said the package from House and Senate Democrats will be bolder than any law enforcement changes of the past decade. “It is time for police culture in many departments to change,” she said. “And we believe that the legislation will make a major step forward in that direction.”
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'Create your own excitement': Players ponder empty buildings
The roar of the crowd has been such a staple of major sports, such an advantage for the home team, that NFL clubs have been accused at times of artificial amplification. The Atlanta Falcons even admitted to the mischief, leading to a 2015 punishment from the league.
When the coronavirus risk wanes enough to allow the games to begin again, something besides the fans will be missing: The very essence of these events will be gone, too, at least for a while. No cheers, no boos, no chants or whistles. No one behind the backboard trying to distract a free-throw shooter. No kids seeking autographs.
Playing in empty buildings, for these well-paid performers, will require a significant recalibration.
“You know how much I love to talk to the fans, you know? To be in conversation, to throw the ball to kids,” Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez said, hoping a baseball season will come to pass. "It’s going to be hard. It’s never happened before to me. If that’s going to be the best way to start playing, we have to do it, but I don’t think I’m going to feel good the first couple of games with no fans.”
One NASCAR driver called fan-less sports “weird” and he won't be the last. Even when there is the green light to reopen the gates to the public, near or full-capacity attendance figures are not likely for some time. Temporary caps on the amount of fans who can come in are expected, with the goal of maintaining social distancing.