memeorandum: More cities impose curfews as police become increasingly aggressive (Washington Post)

8:20 PM ET, May 31, 2020

Top Items:

As Protests and Violence Spill Over, Trump Shrinks Back — The president spent Sunday out of sight, berating opponents on Twitter, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending that he deliver a televised address to an anxious nation. — WASHINGTON — Inside the White House, the mood was bristling with tension.

Discussion: Althouse

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump privately scolded, warned by allies — Over the past couple of days, numerous advisers both inside and outside the White House have urged the president to tone down his violent rhetoric, which many worry could escalate racial tensions and hurt him politically.

Discussion: Raw Story, IJR, Washington Post, The Root, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Week, The Hill and The Dispatch, more at Techmeme »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

As cities burned, Trump stayed silent — other than tweeting fuel on the fire — In cities across America on Sunday, people awoke to see shattered glass, charred vehicles, bruised bodies and graffiti-tagged buildings. Demonstrators gathered again in peaceful daytime protest of racial injustice.

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA and UPI

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

Trump Is Terrified of Protest — Presidents live within a protective cocoon built and continually fortified for one purpose: keeping them alive. But inside the White House compound these days, Donald Trump seems rattled by what's transpiring outside the windows of his historic residence.

Discussion: Voice of America, wusa9.com, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Vox, Washington Post, DCist, POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump envisioned ‘American carnage.’ Now, he's got it.

Discussion: Breitbart and MSNBC

Danica Kirka / Associated Press:

World alarmed by violence in US; thousands march in London — LONDON (AP) — Nations around the world have watched in horror at the civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing.

Discussion: Slate, The Week and Daily News

Associated Press:

'We're sick of it': Anger over police killings shatters US — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Americans began cleaning up charred and glass-strewn streets Sunday after another night of unrest fueled by rage over police mistreatment of African Americans destroyed businesses, damaged landmarks …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, KRON4, WHTM-TV, Daily News, WGN-TV and KTLA

Associated Press:

Officials see extremist groups, disinformation in protests — WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials sought to determine Sunday whether extremist groups had infiltrated police brutality protests across the country and deliberately tipped largely peaceful demonstrations toward violence …

Discussion: KTLA

Dan Balz / Washington Post: America is at a low ebb, shaken by multiple blows, and Trump adds to the distress

Associated Press:
The Latest: Tanker drives into crowd; no apparent injuries

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
From Minneapolis to broken streets of Philly, the ‘human capital stock’ has finally had enough

Discussion: TheGrio, The Guardian and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

ABC News:
George Floyd protest updates: Police arrest almost 1,700 people across 22 cities in 3 days

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, Mediaite, One America News Network, IJR, The Hill, WTRF-TV, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, RealClearPolitics and CBS News

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
D.C., Atlanta mayors call for calm, say ‘solution is not to destroy our cities’

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, CBS Baltimore, One America News Network, UPI, The Daily Beast and CBS News

Joe Biden:
We are a nation furious at injustice.

Discussion: The Nation, Breitbart, NPR, IJR, Mother Jones and Outside the Beltway

Nick Waters / bellingcat:
US Law Enforcement Are Deliberately Targeting Journalists During George Floyd Protests

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Vox and Slate, more at Mediagazer »

Stephen L. Miller / Spectator USA:
End the lockdown. Stop the riots

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Instapundit and NBC News

U.S. Department of Justice:

Attorney General William P. Barr's Statement on Riots and Domestic Terrorism — Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement: — “With the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical elements.

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, Twitchy, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Axios

Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal: George Floyd Probe Echoes William Barr's Oversight of Rodney King Case

Betsy Woodruff Swan / Politico:
Trump says he's naming antifa a ‘Terrorist Organization.’ Can he do that?

Discussion: Axios, Vox, CNN, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Axios:
DOJ to treat antifa involvement in protests as domestic terrorism

Discussion: Redstate, Fox News, Daily Kos and IJR

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Record Ratings and Record Chaos on Cable News — Cable networks are facing threats, and opportunities, in a national crisis. Now, Fox is fighting back and CNBC is looking to the right. CNN is defined by Jeff Zucker, and he may run for mayor. — Last week, Fox News's anchors competed …

New York Daily News:

Pair of Brooklyn lawyers including Ivy League corporate attorney charged in Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD cruiser — Two Brooklyn lawyers, including an Ivy League graduate corporate attorney, are facing federal charges for tossing a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD vehicle early Saturday morning during …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Trump Plays Macho Man as America Burns — There was a moment on Saturday afternoon when President Trump stood on a rooftop in Florida for what could have been a sorely needed moment of national unity. A made-in-the-U.S.A. spacecraft was about to blast off from Cape Canaveral …

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Donald Trump and the spectre of a race-based US election — America faces a long summer of unrest, with the president stoking the polarisation — The novelist William Faulkner said: “The past is not dead. It is not even past.” The past 72 hours of burning US cities triggered parallels with 1968 …

Discussion: Reuters and Washington Post

Anna Wintour / Vogue:
Joe Biden Should Choose a Woman of Color to Be His Vice President—and He Should Do It Now

Discussion: The Hill

Amanda Watts / CNN:
George Floyd's brother says Trump 'didn't give me an opportunity to even speak' during phone call

Discussion: The Root

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

Florida's Seen a ‘Statistically Significant’ Uptick in Pneumonia Deaths. The CDC Says It's Likely COVID. — There's a conspiracy theory brewing on the left that Gov. DeSantis is cooking the books. Instead, it's very likely due to lack of testing. — Since the beginning of this year …

Discussion: Raw Story

Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:
Will the Protests Spark a Second COVID-19 Outbreak?

Discussion: Daily News, Associated Press, New York Magazine and KTLA

Harry Enten / CNN:

Warren as Biden's running mate makes no electoral sense — (CNN)Poll of the week: A new national Ipsos/Reuters poll finds former Vice President Joe Biden with a 45% to 39% lead over President Donald Trump. — Biden's lead is confirmed by an ABC News/Washington Post poll out Sunday morning putting Biden …

Harry Enten / CNN:
Biden's in one of the best positions for any challenger since scientific polling began

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Matthew Dessem / Slate:

Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide — Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling “light em up” #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bW48imyt55 — Tanya Kerssen (@tkerssen) May 31, 2020

Discussion: Wired, Politico, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone and Daily Kos

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Trump Tweets QAnon Conspiracy Theory Message Amid Unrest — ‘STRENGTH’ — President Trump reposted a message amid national unrest on Sunday expressing support for the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, a movement the FBI considers a potential domestic terror threat.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don't understand the protests? What you're seeing is people pushed to the edge — What was your first reaction when you saw the video of the white cop kneeling on George Floyd's neck while Floyd croaked, “I can't breathe”? — If you're white …

Discussion: Vox, Damian J. Penny, Vanity Fair, KTLA and Lawyers, Guns & Money

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

Is This the Worst Year in Modern American History? — The most traumatic year in modern American history was 1968. But what is now the second-most traumatic year, 2020, still has seven months to run. The comparison provides little comfort, and several reasons for concern.

CNN:
It's been five decades since 1968, and things are somehow worse

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

NBC News:

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio defends police after video shows NYPD SUV driving into protesters — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the New York City Police Department after a pair of the force's SUVs drove into a crowd during Saturday's protest against George Floyd's death.

Discussion: Axios and Politico