memeorandum: Pentagon disarms guardsmen in Washington, D.C., in signal of de-escalation (Washington Post)

9:35 PM ET, June 5, 2020

Top Items:

Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:

Barr says he didn't give tactical order to clear protesters — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr says law enforcement officers were already moving to push back protesters from a park in front of the White House when he arrived there Monday evening, and he says he did not give …

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
D.C. Mayor Bowser has ‘Black Lives Matter’ painted on street leading to White House

Discussion: New York Times, DCist, Breitbart, Mediaite, Townhall, CityLab, Washington Post, NPR and Althouse

Washington Post:
In giant yellow letters, D.C. mayor sends message to protesters, and to Trump

Discussion: NBC4 Washington, PAPER, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, Redstate, New York Post and UPI

Sarah Westwood / CNN:
Former White House chief of Staff John Kelly: ‘I agree’ with Jim Mattis on Trump

Discussion: The Guardian and fox8.com

Edmund DeMarche / Fox News:
GOP's Mike Lee blasts claim of DC plan to evict National Guard troops from city hotels

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Salt Lake Tribune, The Daily Signal, One America News Network, Redstate, American Greatness and CNN

Morgan Phillips / Fox News:
DC readies for Saturday protests as police chief says it may be 'largest we've had in the city'

Discussion: Associated Press and DCist

Maki Becker / The Buffalo News:

57 members of Buffalo police riot response team resign — Police with batons and riot helmets arrive to clear Niagara Square of protestors as the curfew takes effect, Thursday, June 4, 2020. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News) — All 57 of the members of the Buffalo Police Department's Emergency …

Discussion: Axios, WBFO, Bloomberg and Mother Jones

Ali Ingersoll / Investigative Post:

Police crowd-control unit resigns in protest — A special squad on the Buffalo Police Department — the Emergency Response Team — has resigned from their posts, according to the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. — The announcement comes one day after two members were suspended without pay …

Discussion: WGRZ-TV, NBC News, Breitbart, KTLA, The Daily Caller, INSIDER, Common Dreams, Gothamist, The Daily Beast, fox8.com and CBS New York

Washington Post:

57 Buffalo officers resign from special squad over suspension of two who shoved 75-year-old — Fifty-seven members of the Buffalo Police Department resigned from a special squad Friday to protest the suspension of two officers shown on video shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground …

Discussion: WIVB-TV, The Atlantic, New York Post, The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, The Buffalo News and The American Independent

Maki Becker / The Buffalo News:

Protester pushed to ground by police is longtime peace activist from Amherst — Martin Gugino at an event from June 2019. (Photo provided by Terrence Bisson) — The protester who was pushed to the ground by Buffalo police Thursday night in front of City Hall in a video seen …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, Truthout, Politico, Twitchy and The Guardian

New York Times:
Buffalo Police Shove Man to the Ground

Discussion: Reuters, WKBW-TV, Mother Jones, IJR, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Intercept, Breitbart and Common Dreams

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
The Police Have Shown Their True Colors

Discussion: Twitchy, The Hill, Associated Press, Gizmodo and Axios

Jay Croft / CNN:
2 officers suspended after video shows 75-year-old man being pushed during protest

Discussion: The Verge, Investigative Post, WIVB-TV and Reason

Washington Post:

89 former Defense officials: The military must never be used to violate constitutional rights — President Trump continues to use inflammatory language as many Americans protest the unlawful death of George Floyd and the unjust treatment of black Americans by our justice system.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, The Hill, Mediaite, FactCheck.org, The Independent, Task & Purpose, The Nation and The Bulwark

Washington Post:

Pentagon disarms guardsmen in Washington, D.C., in signal of de-escalation — The Pentagon has told the District of Columbia National Guard and guardsmen from other states who have arrived in the nation's capital as backup to not use firearms or ammunition, a sign of de-escalation …

Discussion: The Mahablog and Fox News

Washington Post:

How Mattis reached his breaking point — and decided to speak out against Trump — For former defense secretary Jim Mattis, it was the last straw: the sight of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, walking the streets of downtown Washington in battle-ready camouflage amid a show of brute federal force.

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, The Bulwark, ABC News, Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, National Memo, Washingtonian, Business Insider, Fox News and Breitbart

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill: Esper, Milley won't testify before House panel on military response to protests

Jesse Pound / CNBC:

The recovery from the coronavirus sure looks V-shaped, going by these charts — The U.S. economy added a record number of jobs in May as it appeared to bounce off the bottom of the coronavirus recession, and now the chart of jobs gains and losses is starting to look like a “V.”

Tyler Clifford / CNBC: Jim Cramer: The pandemic led to ‘one of the greatest wealth transfers in history’

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
George Floyd protests created a surge in voter registrations, groups say

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
May sees biggest jobs increase ever of 2.5 million as economy starts to recover from coronavirus

Discussion: Fox Business, CNN, The Daily Caller, Spectator USA, The National Interest, Townhall, Washington Post and Disrn

HuffPost:

As They Scream Voter Fraud, Trump And His Press Secretary May Have Voted Illegally — Kayleigh McEnany was living in Washington, but voted in Florida. Trump used an address he promised Palm Beach officials would not be a residence. — WASHINGTON - Even as they both attack the idea of voting by mail …

Discussion: Raw Story and The New Civil Rights Movement

Jana Winter / Yahoo News:

Exclusive: Leaked document reveals details of federal law enforcement patrolling Washington amid protests — WASHINGTON — A leaked Trump administration document details the federal law enforcement and military personnel squaring off against protestors in Washington, D.C. …

Discussion: New York Times

Garrett M. Graff / Politico:
The Story Behind Bill Barr's Unmarked Federal Agents

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, Washington Post and Bloomberg

Alex Ward / Vox:

US Park Police said using “tear gas” in a statement was a “mistake.” It just used the term again. — Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators shooting tear gas next to St. John's Episcopal Church outside of the White House, June 1, 2020 in Washington DC.

Discussion: Business Insider, The American Independent, Washington Post, Axios, The Hill, WHYY, The Atlantic and BuzzFeed News

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Security Concerns Give the White House a Fortified New Look — It increasingly resembles a Washington version of the Green Zone that sheltered American and Iraqi officials in Baghdad. — WASHINGTON — President Trump was furious when news got out last weekend that as protesters gathered outside …

Harry Enten / CNN:

The Electoral College won't save Trump if this keeps up — (CNN)We've learned the lesson multiple times in the last few decades: There is no national presidential election. Candidates can get fewer votes and win, if they win enough states containing a majority of electoral votes.

Discussion: East Bay Times and Slate

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Poll: Two-Thirds Think Trump Made Racial Tensions Worse After Floyd Was Killed

Discussion: PBS NewsHour and ABC News

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

Federal Agents Release Coronavirus Masks Seized From Black Lives Matter Protesters — The U.S. Postal Inspection Service claimed it suspected that boxes of cloth masks meant to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 “contained non-mailable matter.” — WASHINGTON ― …

Discussion: GovExec.com, Raw Story, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rich Lowry / National Review:

The Inside Story of the Tom Cotton Op-Ed that Rocked the New York Times — The Cotton team explains how the explosive piece got accepted and edited. — When a newspaper publishes a bombshell op-ed, it doesn't want the chief casualty to be its own credibility.

Discussion: The Dispatch, The Wrap, The Guardian, New York Times and Instapundit

The Daily Beast:
New York Times Executives Take Turns Apologizing to Quell Staff Revolt

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon, National Memo, National Review, Vanity Fair, The Nation and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Laura Wagner / VICE:
‘New York Times’ Staffers Grill Leadership Over Tom Cotton Op-Ed During All-Hands

Discussion: Spectator USA, The Big Lead and Vox, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Directs U.S. Troop Reduction in Germany — The move would reduce the U.S. troop presence in Germany by 9,500 — President Trump has directed the Pentagon to remove thousands of U.S. troops from Germany by September, U.S. government officials said Friday.

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, The Daily Caller, Axios and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Press Herald:

Our View: To President Trump: You should resign now — He lacks the character, maturity and judgment to lead the country in a perilous time.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, The American Independent, Digby's Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Eddie Scarry / Washington Examiner:

Ivanka Trump's commencement speech was canceled because social justice is a disease — Academia is where the absolute horror called “social justice” multiplies, so it was only predictable that White House adviser Ivanka Trump, daughter of the president, would be the latest casualty of that sick ideology.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Ali Watkins / New York Times:

‘Kettling’ of Peaceful Protesters Shows Aggressive Shift by N.Y. Police — Officers have charged and swung batons at demonstrators after curfew with seemingly little provocation. The mayor said he would review any reports of inappropriate enforcement. — It was about 8:45 p.m. in Brooklyn …

Discussion: The Crime Report

Molly Crane-Newman / New York Daily News:

Manhattan DA won't prosecute protesters amid mass NYC arrests, commends New Yorkers exercising civil rights at George Floyd demonstrations — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Friday said his office will decline to prosecute marchers arrested for breaking the city's 8 p.m. curfew …

Meet Cy Vance / Manhattan District Attorney's Office:
D.A. Vance Declines to Prosecute Protest Arrests

Discussion: Raw Story, NPR and Gothamist

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

Backing for Military Presence at Floyd Protests Declines as Support for Demonstrations Grows — 62% support protests, while 48% plurality opposes supplementing police with active-duty military — 42% of U.S. adults say they'd support cities calling in the military to supplement local police forces …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and New York Post

Mark Maske / Washington Post:

Roger Goodell says NFL was wrong, encourages players ‘to speak out and peacefully protest’ — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday he and the league strongly support players expressing their opposition to inequality and police misconduct, saying the league's leadership was “wrong” …

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, Axios and Vox

Julia Marsh / New York Post:

Jumaane Williams to de Blasio: ‘You can no longer hide behind your black wife and children’ — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams just made his criticism of Bill de Blasio's handling of Big Apple protests personal — accusing the mayor of using his biracial family as a political shield.

Discussion: Gothamist and Breitbart