On Plugged In…
this week…
Loud but mostly peaceful …
protestors march ...
in towns and cities..
across the United States ...
against police brutality …
and racial inequality.
Militarized units …
withdraw from the streets …
leaving barricades …
around the White House.
Mourners pay tribute ...
to George Floyd ...
the black man who died ...
in police custody.
Thousands protest in the midst…
of the pandemic.
Will it cause the number of…
Corona virus cases …
to rise?
On Plugged In ...
Protests …
in the Age of COVID-19
((Greta))
Hello and welcome to Plugged In.
I’m Greta Van Susteren reporting from my home in Washington DC.
It has been a painful and difficult two weeks for America following the death of a handcuffed black man whose neck was pinned to the ground by the knee of a police officer who ignored his plea that he could not breathe. It was all captured on video.
46-year old George Floyd was remembered as a “gentle giant” at memorial services in Houston, Texas where he had lived and in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he died.
In the small town of Raeford, North Carolina where Floyd was born the county sheriff acknowledged that law enforcement is part of the problem, pleading to not let George Floyd die in vain.
Protests against police brutality and mistreatment of African Americans and other minorities continue across the United States but most without the violence we saw earlier.
Most military units activated to try to stop looting and vandalism have been recalled to their bases.
Prominent Americans such as former presidential candidate and current US Senator Mitt Romney and prominent American institutions such as the National Football League are now saying the phrase Black Lives Matter.
All this during a pandemic with concerns that the protests with its gatherings of thousands in close proximity will ignite a new wave of coronavirus.
And let’s not forget the pandemic has led to an economic meltdown, and all this during a U.S. presidential election year.
We begin our coverage with VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara.
((America at a Crossroads – Patsy Widakuswara report))
Video of a 75-year-old man shoved by police in Buffalo, New York went viral last week. The two officers involved have been charged with second-degree assault.
But President Donald Trump reignited the controversy Tuesday, tweeting a video by a right-wing outlet presenting an unproven conspiracy theory that the man was trying to block police communication equipment. Trump accused him of being an ANTIFA provocateur, saying “he fell harder than was pushed.”
((chants I can’t breathe))
((NARRATOR))
Trump’s tweet is the latest of a series of remarks that have stoked anger and racial division, in a nation shaken with more than two weeks of unrest over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being in the custody of a white police officer.
((Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute))
“This is not a president who is capable of looking at turmoil in the country and trying to find ways to heal wounds and bring people more broadly together. His success as he has seen it, is built on attacking even more harshly anybody who is critical of him and at trying to stoke divisions and excite his own narrower base.”
((NARRATOR))
A base that may be getting even more narrow.
Recent polls show 76 percent of Americans – including 71 percent of whites – call racism and discrimination “a big problem” in the U.S., compared to 50 percent in 2015.
((Jonathan Metzl, Author “Dying of Whiteness”))
“A lot of white Americans are waking up to the reality that they were part of a system that maybe privileged them but that has some pretty horrible implications for social justice and for everyone else.”
((NARRATOR))
A survey also shows that 78 percent of Americans support the protests, and 57 percent believe police officers are more likely to treat black people unfairly. This shift in attitudes has contributed to change on the ground. Some mayors have agreed to redirect police funds towards social services – an idea perceived as radical just a few years ago.
But meeting with law enforcement officials Monday, Trump rejected calls to defund the police, and the notion of institutionalized racism in law enforcement.
((President Donald Trump))
“Sometimes we’ll see some horrible things like we witnessed recently, but I say 99.9 – but let’s go with 99% of them – are great, great people."
((NARRATOR))
The White House press secretary says Trump is combating racism by ensuring economic opportunity for black Americans and pushing for criminal justice reform.
The president has spoken to George Floyd’s family on the phone but has not met with black community representatives or protesters.
His election rival, Joe Biden, has met with Floyd’s family and black leaders. While polls show Americans view Biden as more empathetic than Trump, the Democratic presidential nominee has his own challenges.
((Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute))
“He's going to have to walk a fine line getting support as he has in the past from law enforcement officials while also making the strong call for dramatic transformation in how we deal with police and police violence in the country.”
((NARRATOR))
Biden has denounced rioting and also rejected calls to defund the police. He is focusing on police reforms and has pledged “action to reverse systemic racism.”
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News, Washington.
((George Floyd Laid to Rest – Michael O’Sullivan report))
A private ceremony with hundreds of people inside the Houston church,
And many more along the route to cemetery.
The funeral service was broadcast on all major US networks. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee joined via video.
((Joe Biden, Democratic Presidential Candidate))
“We cannot leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul.”
((NARRATOR))
Houston police officers saluted as the casket entered the church.
Four officers in Minneapolis face charges in Floyd’s death, one of them charged with murder.
((Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Leader))
“Until the law is upheld and people know they will go to jail, they’re going to keep doing it because they’re protected by wickedness in high places.”
((NARRATORER))
A Houston police official called this a watershed moment.
((Art Acevedo, Houston Police Chief))
“And I really believe that there’s a great hope here in this city, and that hope is spreading nationwide.”
((NARRATOR))
This was the third memorial in states where George Floyd had lived, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas.
Tuesday, his family grieved.
((Philonise Floyd, Brother))
“I want justice for my brother, my big brother. Everybody’s going to remember him around the world.”
((NARRATOR))
And grapple with questions raised by his death.
Mike O’Sullivan, VOA News, Los Angeles.
((Greta))
Democrats in Congress are introducing legislation they say will reform law enforcement and provide more accountability of police.
James Craig has been a police officer for more than 40 years.
He is now the police chief for the city of Detroit his hometown.
We talked about what his officers faced during Detroit’s protests and how to prevent another death like George Floyd’s.
((Greta interviews Detroit Police Chief James Craig))
JC: Fortunately here in Detroit, on the first night there was some violence but nothing close to what we saw in other cities like Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, where there was looting, buildings were being burned and certainly attacks on police officers. The extent of our violence was no looting, the only property damage was to several of our police vehicles. And there were several attacks on our police officers using different projectiles. But that was the extent of it.
GVS: In response to what happened in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis City Council has now voted to dismantle the Minnesota, the Minneapolis police department. What do you think about that?
JC: Horrible idea, knee jerk reaction as I've said to many of your colleagues during different interviews. I mean, what's the plan? Now, I don't know enough about what the relationship of the Minneapolis police department was prior to the horrible death of Mr. Floyd, and one could surmise that maybe it wasn't a good one. And maybe there's a need to structurally change the police department there. And so, that's possible. And I certainly support that if leadership has failed, management has failed, culturally, the department hasn't properly served its residents. And yes, it should be revamped, or restructured. But to just simply say, we're going to dismantle. Then what's your plan, city? Are you going to replace it with sheriff's department? and if so, is the Sheriff’s department adequate and effective to engage in the kind of policing, that you want to see in Minneapolis? Those are questions that need to be answered. But just to have a knee jerk reaction to this situation and maybe prior situations, without a plan is really fruitless. I mean, what do you hope to accomplish?
GVS: Let me turn to another issue about police equipment. In the last 10 or so years, when we have these, when we have protests, or even looting is that we see some of the police equipment looks pretty militaristic. Is that a bad visual or does that protect the police? are we overdoing it? is there a way to measure that?
JC: It absolutely is designed to protect the police. We're not the military. We're peace officers. We are the community. We work for the community. And while some may argue that this image of armored vehicles certainly sends the wrong message, I would offer that here in Detroit, we deal with armed suspects, and sometimes during a critical incident, those armed suspects are barricaded into a location. And the most effective way to approach that situation, certainly reducing harm to our public, reducing harm to our officers, is you would use an armored style vehicle.
GVS: Do the protesters on the street, have a legitimate beef? Do we need to, in general, reform policing in this country?
JC: We embrace the message, certainly, I along with the men and women of the Detroit police department, but again not all police departments are created the same. You can't just do a broad brush. you know, I've maintained that what should happen is find police departments that are doing it right. But there are some departments that are in need of reform and restructure. And so, maybe there should be a uniform adoption of say, use of force standards. I mean, many of the departments that have come under oversight already have adopted those kind of standards. So maybe that's the answer.
GVS: But the problem that I'd like to zero in is how do we how do we prevent the incident from even occurring? Because if you take the instance of Mr. Floyd in Minneapolis is that accountability for the officers is important. but you know that they will be tried and and the jury will decide it. But Mr. Floyd is dead. I mean, what, what steps could have been taken or should have been taken so that we don't have more Mr. Floyds?
JC: Well, first and foremost, I'm a strong believer in strong leadership, good leadership. Leadership that understands accountability is the real key. We put a lot of focus on police officers, as you refer, the bad apples, who go out and engage in, at times, criminal misconduct. The key is what has the department's response been? And, unfortunately, there are a lot of departments that when they uncover criminal wrongdoing on the part of police officer, there's a delay in responding. So, the community is watching this, and I was very vocal in public early on when I applauded the chief of police and the mayor for quickly firing the 4 involved officers. What was missing was the decision to do what police departments do each and every day and that's make an immediate arrest. And you make that immediate arrest based on probable cause. So if there's probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, in this case murder, then you have the authority to make the arrest. We recognize as law enforcement officers that we don't make the decisions of what individuals will be charged with, but clearly, we have the authority to arrest. And when you don't arrest when you have evidence based on probable cause, it certainly sends the community the wrong message. And the message is being sent is, we treat police officers different, because if that was a community member same circumstances, and an officer conducted a preliminary investigation, they would know there's enough information here that I can make a lawful arrest. And then the prosecutors, again later will make a decision on what individual, if that individual, will be charged.
GVS: Is this racism? I mean, I mean the people who are protesting saying that this is racism against the African American by police in this country.
JC: Well unfortunately we've had too many incidents where police officers have killed mainly African American men and sometime women. And this came at the hands of police and mostly white police. Does that mean that white police officers across this country are inherently racist?
Absolutely not. The men and women, police officers who are Caucasian here do a fine job. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. So you can't paint a police department, nor can you paint one race with a broad brush. The key is to deal with individual incidents swiftly and in a transparent way. And if you have systemic racism in your department where African Americans are being targeted and there's excessive force, then one could argue, you can argue very clearly, there's a pattern. It just seems to me that is white police officers, taking the lives or engaging in excessive force against African Americans. And so, one size doesn't fit all. And we have to look at each situation very critically.
((Greta))
The president blames the more violent aspects of the massive protests on terrorists and thugs.
Who are these so-called terrorists?
And are outside groups taking advantage of the unrest to further destabilize the United States?
We spoke with Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security.
He’s also co-chair of a new task force that’s preparing Washington for the post COVID era.
((Michael Chertoff, former Sec. Homeland Security))
First of all, I would not at all be surprised to learn that Russia, China are using social media to exacerbate the tension and promote the violence. I know if we go back a couple of years, it's clear the Russians made an effort to ferment anger between Black Lives Matter and police and pro-police groups in order to stir up violence. Now the Chinese are dealing with a challenging issue in Hong Kong where the Chinese government is now really for the first time repudiating the original understanding that Hong Kong would have its own system and it is attempting to clamp down on the protesters and the freedoms in Hong Kong and are rightfully being criticized for it. So this is like a gift to Xi Jinping, because he gets to say, oh look what we're doing is no different from what the United States is doing. And it's a shame that our moral authority gets compromised by what a policeman does in Minneapolis, so that the Chinese can use this as an excuse to do the same thing in Hong Kong.
((Greta))
The massive demonstrations have become a contest between social justice and social distancing.
Many health professionals are fearful that these nationwide protests may be creating more and larger clusters of coronavirus infections as states are beginning to reopen their economies.
VOA's Kane Farabaugh spoke with medical experts in Illinois where civil unrest has forced some testing sites to close.
((COVID-19 Concerns - Kane Farabaugh report))
As he watched unrest unfold across the United States, under lockdown from his home office in Chicago, the director of Northwestern University’s Institute for Global Health, Dr. Robert Murphy, began to wonder if everyone had suddenly forgotten the country was dealing with a dangerous pandemic.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“COVID Doesn’t care about politics. It just likes to jump from person to person. So you are putting yourself at risk.”
((NARRATOR))
It was a message Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, echoed in her daily address to the public, on the same day she moved ahead with plans to loosen restrictions in the city - in place since March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus - despite continuing unrest.
((Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Mayor))
"That risk is real. It is present. And it will be with us for the foreseeable future. And you need to take the precautions not only just to protect yourself, but for others in your network, in your home that you care about, because now you are at heightened risk of COVID-19."
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“This is just setting us backwards. So instead of being able to control the virus, like we had hoped, now it’s either going to plateau, maybe go up a little bit, but whatever it is, it’s pushing us way down the timeline.”
((NARRATOR))
The risk of increasing violence and destruction led the Illinois Department of Public Health to temporarily close community COVID-19 testing facilities, delaying notifications of positive test results and interrupting the medical community’s ability to track the virus’ spread.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“It will obviously go down because we aren’t testing as many people. People are afraid to go out. You can’t even get anywhere near the downtown. There’s flare ups all around the city. They are staying home now more than ever.”
((NARRATOR))
When the gatherings subside, Rush University Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease Dr. Michael Lin says testing will likely return to pre-protest levels if not increase, but understanding how the recent unrest in the U.S. will impact the spread of the virus won’t be immediate.
((Dr. Michael Lin, Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Rush University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“If there is any spike it may happen sometime about a week or two weeks after the gatherings. That’s usually about the time it takes for the infection to incubate, manifest symptoms, and become severe enough that people need hospital care.”
((NARRATOR))
But Dr. Lin offers a glimmer of hope that virus spread might be limited among protesters.
((Dr. Michael Lin, Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Rush University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“Cause we know that a lot of spread tends to happen in indoor areas where there is poor ventilation. In the outdoors, with the air blowing around there may be less risk of spread. With the sun being out, UV rays can actually also kill the virus. But when it comes to transmission, it’s really difficult to predict.”
((NARRATOR))
Video of demonstrations show widespread but not universal use of masks that can limit the expulsion of germs in the air.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“So it only works if everybody is wearing a mask.”
((NARRATOR))
As the number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. nears two million, some Americans are weighing health risks while exercising their right to demonstrate. Meanwhile polling data continue to show clear majorities view curbing COVID-19 as a priority.
Kane Farabaugh, VOA News, Chicago, Illinois.
((Greta))
As demonstrators take to the streets health officials say the number of COVID-19 cases are inching closer to 2 million in the United States.
Experts are now targeting more resources to minority communities where the virus has hit particularly hard.
I spoke with Dr. Leana Wen. She is an Emergency Physician and former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore near Washington DC to learn more about the impact of the protests on the pandemic and efforts to fight it.
((Greta Interviews Dr. Leana Wen))
LW: Well, from an infectious disease standpoint, of course, whenever there are mass gatherings-- and the virus doesn't care why these mass gatherings are occurring, whether it's a protest for social justice or a rock concert-- when people are gathering, we, there is going to be person-to-person transmission. And this is also happening at the same time as all 50 states are reopening to some degree. So we are already seeing, as a result of reopening, and I think people letting down their guard, that there has been a surge in cases in 20 states. And unfortunately, this is a trend that is almost certain to continue. And I think it's a reminder to all of us that we cannot let down our guard, just because states are reopening doesn't mean that the virus has changed in any way. Actually it's just as contagious, it's just as deadly and could cause severe illness.
GVS: There's some criticism from some because churches in many parts of the country can't open because you can't congregate more than 10 people in a place, yet the protests are allowed to happen, I assume that the same rules that you'd apply to protest would apply to a group of people in a church in terms of safety.
LW: You know, one thing that reduces the likelihood of transmission in these protests, is that they are outdoors. And there is the possibility, and I've seen footage of many of these protests but it looks like people are able to social distance. Now of course, there are other confounding factors, including if protesters are arrested, and then put into a confined space for a period of time, that's certainly a concern. and I also have a concern that we don't have nearly the testing that we need. And so when I hear officials saying things like, all protesters should be tested. Sure. That would be nice if that could happen, but I don't know that we have nearly the capabilities across the country to do that.
GVS: But testing would have to be before you protest not after, because if it's after you've already theoretically is passed it to somebody.
LW: Well, I think it should be after really, too. Because right now we don't have the widespread testing that we need to be able to test everyone before they go and protest. After the protest, which could be considered to be a high-exposure event, depending on what you do. I mean if you go to an outdoor protest where you’re staying six feet away from others, that's not a high exposure event. But let's say that you went to a protest where you were corralled into a small space for hours. Then you were put into a police van, and then spend two hours in incarceration, or two days in incarceration, that's a high exposure event. You should be tested in that case.
GVS: Someone associated with the WHO has recently said that if you're asymptomatic if you don't show any signs of Coronavirus that you are not infectious. and that was, you know, that was something I thought, new for me. I hadn't heard that so can you clarify if you have no fever, no symptoms, is it possible you have coronavirus number one. And number two, are you still infectious?
LW: Yes to both, so I I'm still trying to get a grip of what exactly this, what exactly was said and what was meant by this. I think that there is a terminology issue that's important to distinguish and I think may have caused some of the confusion with that WHO statement. There's a difference between asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic. We know so talking about pre symptomatic we know that before somebody exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 that those two or three days before could actually be the period of time where they are the most infectious. And so somebody could certainly be exhibiting no symptoms right now, they could exhibit symptoms for two to three days, but of course they they aren't to know that. no one can predict right in two or three days time that they're going to get sick. That period of time, they could be highly contagious. And that's what we're concerned about that, people will develop symptoms later.
I think what the WHO the scientist was referring to is if somebody has no symptoms will never develop symptoms, maybe that person is not likely to infect others. But the question is, how would you know, at that point, when you're not exhibiting symptoms, whether you're going to be developing symptoms or not, without that widespread testing that we were referring to. And so I think it's still critical that we all treat each other and ourselves as if we could have coronavirus, because we know that people could certainly pass on the disease if they're not currently exhibiting any symptoms at all.
GVS: It appears when you look at the demographics of people who are infected here in the United States that it is particularly hit hard certain communities, racial disparities, our poorer neighbors, is you know, is there –do you have any sort of reflection on that?
LW: Yeah. So COVID-19 has unmasked many of the disparities and inequities that have long been present in our society, frankly. We know that COVID-19 strikes those the hardest who have underlying medical conditions. well who has underlying medical conditions? African Americans Latino Americans, they have disproportionate burden of chronic medical illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease and so forth. In addition, it's people who live in, who live in minority communities or part of minority communities, underserved communities who also are essential workers, who may also be living in crowded conditions and don't have the privilege of doing social distancing, who may depend on public transportation and have higher exposures that way as well. And so the solutions that we must implement must target these longer-term systemic inequities, while at the same time also addressing the resources or targeting the resources to areas that are the hardest hit.
GVS: I read that there's something like 70, different vaccines people are chasing around the world. I mean this is a global enterprise trying to find a vaccine. Do you have any, any sort of thought on whether will happen by the end of the year?
LW: I mean, that would be extremely optimistic. It would set a world record in that the vaccines to date, the fastest that vaccine has been developed we're looking at five to six years. So anything under a year or in that, in that kind of timeframe would be extremely optimistic. I hope that we can get there, but I also don't want us to sacrifice safety. Already there is the anti-vaxxer movement. The last thing that I would want to do is to give them fuel and say, “Well, this is a vaccine that isn't safe, it was rushed.” And I think we, we need to balance our need to have a vaccine with testing it properly, so that we do prove that it's safe and effective.
GVS: What about a bridge vaccine? I read that there's something I think was tuberculosis or even polio is sort of a bridge vaccine in the short run that they're looking at that until we can get a more perfect vaccine for the coronavirus. Have you seen anything that indicates that that's a possibility?
LW: You know it's a good point that probably the first vaccine candidate that comes on the market is not going to be the best one, as in, look at even the flu vaccine, the flu vaccine is 40 to 60% effective every season. There are other vaccines that have to be given as booster doses, there are multiple doses of it and you have to keep on getting it. It's very possible that the initial vaccine that's developed is not 100% effective or even anywhere close to it, that we have something that is partially effective or that requires multiple doses to be fully effective. And in the meantime, there is a more effective vaccine that's also being developed too. so I think that's why I'm glad that there are so many different dozens of vaccine candidates that are in the pipeline.
Do the Five – Help stop coronavirus:
Hands - Wash them often.
Elbow – Cough into it.
Face – Don’t touch it.
Feet – Stay more than 3 feet (1 meter) apart.
Feel Sick? Stay at home.
Do the five – help stop coronavirus.
((Greta))
My thanks to our guests and thanks to all of you for watching this episode of Plugged In.
We will continue to follow the protests and the pandemic.
And for the latest updates on these stories and more please visit our website at VOANews.com.
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Greta.
Thank you for being Plugged In.
We hope to see you again next week!
VOA – A Free Press Matters.
this week…
Loud but mostly peaceful …
protestors march ...
in towns and cities..
across the United States ...
against police brutality …
and racial inequality.
Militarized units …
withdraw from the streets …
leaving barricades …
around the White House.
Mourners pay tribute ...
to George Floyd ...
the black man who died ...
in police custody.
Thousands protest in the midst…
of the pandemic.
Will it cause the number of…
Corona virus cases …
to rise?
On Plugged In ...
Protests …
in the Age of COVID-19
((Greta))
Hello and welcome to Plugged In.
I’m Greta Van Susteren reporting from my home in Washington DC.
It has been a painful and difficult two weeks for America following the death of a handcuffed black man whose neck was pinned to the ground by the knee of a police officer who ignored his plea that he could not breathe. It was all captured on video.
46-year old George Floyd was remembered as a “gentle giant” at memorial services in Houston, Texas where he had lived and in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he died.
In the small town of Raeford, North Carolina where Floyd was born the county sheriff acknowledged that law enforcement is part of the problem, pleading to not let George Floyd die in vain.
Protests against police brutality and mistreatment of African Americans and other minorities continue across the United States but most without the violence we saw earlier.
Most military units activated to try to stop looting and vandalism have been recalled to their bases.
Prominent Americans such as former presidential candidate and current US Senator Mitt Romney and prominent American institutions such as the National Football League are now saying the phrase Black Lives Matter.
All this during a pandemic with concerns that the protests with its gatherings of thousands in close proximity will ignite a new wave of coronavirus.
And let’s not forget the pandemic has led to an economic meltdown, and all this during a U.S. presidential election year.
We begin our coverage with VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara.
((America at a Crossroads – Patsy Widakuswara report))
Video of a 75-year-old man shoved by police in Buffalo, New York went viral last week. The two officers involved have been charged with second-degree assault.
But President Donald Trump reignited the controversy Tuesday, tweeting a video by a right-wing outlet presenting an unproven conspiracy theory that the man was trying to block police communication equipment. Trump accused him of being an ANTIFA provocateur, saying “he fell harder than was pushed.”
((chants I can’t breathe))
((NARRATOR))
Trump’s tweet is the latest of a series of remarks that have stoked anger and racial division, in a nation shaken with more than two weeks of unrest over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being in the custody of a white police officer.
((Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute))
“This is not a president who is capable of looking at turmoil in the country and trying to find ways to heal wounds and bring people more broadly together. His success as he has seen it, is built on attacking even more harshly anybody who is critical of him and at trying to stoke divisions and excite his own narrower base.”
((NARRATOR))
A base that may be getting even more narrow.
Recent polls show 76 percent of Americans – including 71 percent of whites – call racism and discrimination “a big problem” in the U.S., compared to 50 percent in 2015.
((Jonathan Metzl, Author “Dying of Whiteness”))
“A lot of white Americans are waking up to the reality that they were part of a system that maybe privileged them but that has some pretty horrible implications for social justice and for everyone else.”
((NARRATOR))
A survey also shows that 78 percent of Americans support the protests, and 57 percent believe police officers are more likely to treat black people unfairly. This shift in attitudes has contributed to change on the ground. Some mayors have agreed to redirect police funds towards social services – an idea perceived as radical just a few years ago.
But meeting with law enforcement officials Monday, Trump rejected calls to defund the police, and the notion of institutionalized racism in law enforcement.
((President Donald Trump))
“Sometimes we’ll see some horrible things like we witnessed recently, but I say 99.9 – but let’s go with 99% of them – are great, great people."
((NARRATOR))
The White House press secretary says Trump is combating racism by ensuring economic opportunity for black Americans and pushing for criminal justice reform.
The president has spoken to George Floyd’s family on the phone but has not met with black community representatives or protesters.
His election rival, Joe Biden, has met with Floyd’s family and black leaders. While polls show Americans view Biden as more empathetic than Trump, the Democratic presidential nominee has his own challenges.
((Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute))
“He's going to have to walk a fine line getting support as he has in the past from law enforcement officials while also making the strong call for dramatic transformation in how we deal with police and police violence in the country.”
((NARRATOR))
Biden has denounced rioting and also rejected calls to defund the police. He is focusing on police reforms and has pledged “action to reverse systemic racism.”
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News, Washington.
((George Floyd Laid to Rest – Michael O’Sullivan report))
A private ceremony with hundreds of people inside the Houston church,
And many more along the route to cemetery.
The funeral service was broadcast on all major US networks. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee joined via video.
((Joe Biden, Democratic Presidential Candidate))
“We cannot leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul.”
((NARRATOR))
Houston police officers saluted as the casket entered the church.
Four officers in Minneapolis face charges in Floyd’s death, one of them charged with murder.
((Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Leader))
“Until the law is upheld and people know they will go to jail, they’re going to keep doing it because they’re protected by wickedness in high places.”
((NARRATORER))
A Houston police official called this a watershed moment.
((Art Acevedo, Houston Police Chief))
“And I really believe that there’s a great hope here in this city, and that hope is spreading nationwide.”
((NARRATOR))
This was the third memorial in states where George Floyd had lived, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas.
Tuesday, his family grieved.
((Philonise Floyd, Brother))
“I want justice for my brother, my big brother. Everybody’s going to remember him around the world.”
((NARRATOR))
And grapple with questions raised by his death.
Mike O’Sullivan, VOA News, Los Angeles.
((Greta))
Democrats in Congress are introducing legislation they say will reform law enforcement and provide more accountability of police.
James Craig has been a police officer for more than 40 years.
He is now the police chief for the city of Detroit his hometown.
We talked about what his officers faced during Detroit’s protests and how to prevent another death like George Floyd’s.
((Greta interviews Detroit Police Chief James Craig))
JC: Fortunately here in Detroit, on the first night there was some violence but nothing close to what we saw in other cities like Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, where there was looting, buildings were being burned and certainly attacks on police officers. The extent of our violence was no looting, the only property damage was to several of our police vehicles. And there were several attacks on our police officers using different projectiles. But that was the extent of it.
GVS: In response to what happened in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis City Council has now voted to dismantle the Minnesota, the Minneapolis police department. What do you think about that?
JC: Horrible idea, knee jerk reaction as I've said to many of your colleagues during different interviews. I mean, what's the plan? Now, I don't know enough about what the relationship of the Minneapolis police department was prior to the horrible death of Mr. Floyd, and one could surmise that maybe it wasn't a good one. And maybe there's a need to structurally change the police department there. And so, that's possible. And I certainly support that if leadership has failed, management has failed, culturally, the department hasn't properly served its residents. And yes, it should be revamped, or restructured. But to just simply say, we're going to dismantle. Then what's your plan, city? Are you going to replace it with sheriff's department? and if so, is the Sheriff’s department adequate and effective to engage in the kind of policing, that you want to see in Minneapolis? Those are questions that need to be answered. But just to have a knee jerk reaction to this situation and maybe prior situations, without a plan is really fruitless. I mean, what do you hope to accomplish?
GVS: Let me turn to another issue about police equipment. In the last 10 or so years, when we have these, when we have protests, or even looting is that we see some of the police equipment looks pretty militaristic. Is that a bad visual or does that protect the police? are we overdoing it? is there a way to measure that?
JC: It absolutely is designed to protect the police. We're not the military. We're peace officers. We are the community. We work for the community. And while some may argue that this image of armored vehicles certainly sends the wrong message, I would offer that here in Detroit, we deal with armed suspects, and sometimes during a critical incident, those armed suspects are barricaded into a location. And the most effective way to approach that situation, certainly reducing harm to our public, reducing harm to our officers, is you would use an armored style vehicle.
GVS: Do the protesters on the street, have a legitimate beef? Do we need to, in general, reform policing in this country?
JC: We embrace the message, certainly, I along with the men and women of the Detroit police department, but again not all police departments are created the same. You can't just do a broad brush. you know, I've maintained that what should happen is find police departments that are doing it right. But there are some departments that are in need of reform and restructure. And so, maybe there should be a uniform adoption of say, use of force standards. I mean, many of the departments that have come under oversight already have adopted those kind of standards. So maybe that's the answer.
GVS: But the problem that I'd like to zero in is how do we how do we prevent the incident from even occurring? Because if you take the instance of Mr. Floyd in Minneapolis is that accountability for the officers is important. but you know that they will be tried and and the jury will decide it. But Mr. Floyd is dead. I mean, what, what steps could have been taken or should have been taken so that we don't have more Mr. Floyds?
JC: Well, first and foremost, I'm a strong believer in strong leadership, good leadership. Leadership that understands accountability is the real key. We put a lot of focus on police officers, as you refer, the bad apples, who go out and engage in, at times, criminal misconduct. The key is what has the department's response been? And, unfortunately, there are a lot of departments that when they uncover criminal wrongdoing on the part of police officer, there's a delay in responding. So, the community is watching this, and I was very vocal in public early on when I applauded the chief of police and the mayor for quickly firing the 4 involved officers. What was missing was the decision to do what police departments do each and every day and that's make an immediate arrest. And you make that immediate arrest based on probable cause. So if there's probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, in this case murder, then you have the authority to make the arrest. We recognize as law enforcement officers that we don't make the decisions of what individuals will be charged with, but clearly, we have the authority to arrest. And when you don't arrest when you have evidence based on probable cause, it certainly sends the community the wrong message. And the message is being sent is, we treat police officers different, because if that was a community member same circumstances, and an officer conducted a preliminary investigation, they would know there's enough information here that I can make a lawful arrest. And then the prosecutors, again later will make a decision on what individual, if that individual, will be charged.
GVS: Is this racism? I mean, I mean the people who are protesting saying that this is racism against the African American by police in this country.
JC: Well unfortunately we've had too many incidents where police officers have killed mainly African American men and sometime women. And this came at the hands of police and mostly white police. Does that mean that white police officers across this country are inherently racist?
Absolutely not. The men and women, police officers who are Caucasian here do a fine job. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. So you can't paint a police department, nor can you paint one race with a broad brush. The key is to deal with individual incidents swiftly and in a transparent way. And if you have systemic racism in your department where African Americans are being targeted and there's excessive force, then one could argue, you can argue very clearly, there's a pattern. It just seems to me that is white police officers, taking the lives or engaging in excessive force against African Americans. And so, one size doesn't fit all. And we have to look at each situation very critically.
((Greta))
The president blames the more violent aspects of the massive protests on terrorists and thugs.
Who are these so-called terrorists?
And are outside groups taking advantage of the unrest to further destabilize the United States?
We spoke with Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security.
He’s also co-chair of a new task force that’s preparing Washington for the post COVID era.
((Michael Chertoff, former Sec. Homeland Security))
First of all, I would not at all be surprised to learn that Russia, China are using social media to exacerbate the tension and promote the violence. I know if we go back a couple of years, it's clear the Russians made an effort to ferment anger between Black Lives Matter and police and pro-police groups in order to stir up violence. Now the Chinese are dealing with a challenging issue in Hong Kong where the Chinese government is now really for the first time repudiating the original understanding that Hong Kong would have its own system and it is attempting to clamp down on the protesters and the freedoms in Hong Kong and are rightfully being criticized for it. So this is like a gift to Xi Jinping, because he gets to say, oh look what we're doing is no different from what the United States is doing. And it's a shame that our moral authority gets compromised by what a policeman does in Minneapolis, so that the Chinese can use this as an excuse to do the same thing in Hong Kong.
((Greta))
The massive demonstrations have become a contest between social justice and social distancing.
Many health professionals are fearful that these nationwide protests may be creating more and larger clusters of coronavirus infections as states are beginning to reopen their economies.
VOA's Kane Farabaugh spoke with medical experts in Illinois where civil unrest has forced some testing sites to close.
((COVID-19 Concerns - Kane Farabaugh report))
As he watched unrest unfold across the United States, under lockdown from his home office in Chicago, the director of Northwestern University’s Institute for Global Health, Dr. Robert Murphy, began to wonder if everyone had suddenly forgotten the country was dealing with a dangerous pandemic.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“COVID Doesn’t care about politics. It just likes to jump from person to person. So you are putting yourself at risk.”
((NARRATOR))
It was a message Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, echoed in her daily address to the public, on the same day she moved ahead with plans to loosen restrictions in the city - in place since March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus - despite continuing unrest.
((Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Mayor))
"That risk is real. It is present. And it will be with us for the foreseeable future. And you need to take the precautions not only just to protect yourself, but for others in your network, in your home that you care about, because now you are at heightened risk of COVID-19."
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“This is just setting us backwards. So instead of being able to control the virus, like we had hoped, now it’s either going to plateau, maybe go up a little bit, but whatever it is, it’s pushing us way down the timeline.”
((NARRATOR))
The risk of increasing violence and destruction led the Illinois Department of Public Health to temporarily close community COVID-19 testing facilities, delaying notifications of positive test results and interrupting the medical community’s ability to track the virus’ spread.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“It will obviously go down because we aren’t testing as many people. People are afraid to go out. You can’t even get anywhere near the downtown. There’s flare ups all around the city. They are staying home now more than ever.”
((NARRATOR))
When the gatherings subside, Rush University Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease Dr. Michael Lin says testing will likely return to pre-protest levels if not increase, but understanding how the recent unrest in the U.S. will impact the spread of the virus won’t be immediate.
((Dr. Michael Lin, Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Rush University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“If there is any spike it may happen sometime about a week or two weeks after the gatherings. That’s usually about the time it takes for the infection to incubate, manifest symptoms, and become severe enough that people need hospital care.”
((NARRATOR))
But Dr. Lin offers a glimmer of hope that virus spread might be limited among protesters.
((Dr. Michael Lin, Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Rush University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“Cause we know that a lot of spread tends to happen in indoor areas where there is poor ventilation. In the outdoors, with the air blowing around there may be less risk of spread. With the sun being out, UV rays can actually also kill the virus. But when it comes to transmission, it’s really difficult to predict.”
((NARRATOR))
Video of demonstrations show widespread but not universal use of masks that can limit the expulsion of germs in the air.
((Dr. Robert Murphy, Executive Director, Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University)) ((SKYPE Courtesy))
“So it only works if everybody is wearing a mask.”
((NARRATOR))
As the number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. nears two million, some Americans are weighing health risks while exercising their right to demonstrate. Meanwhile polling data continue to show clear majorities view curbing COVID-19 as a priority.
Kane Farabaugh, VOA News, Chicago, Illinois.
((Greta))
As demonstrators take to the streets health officials say the number of COVID-19 cases are inching closer to 2 million in the United States.
Experts are now targeting more resources to minority communities where the virus has hit particularly hard.
I spoke with Dr. Leana Wen. She is an Emergency Physician and former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore near Washington DC to learn more about the impact of the protests on the pandemic and efforts to fight it.
((Greta Interviews Dr. Leana Wen))
LW: Well, from an infectious disease standpoint, of course, whenever there are mass gatherings-- and the virus doesn't care why these mass gatherings are occurring, whether it's a protest for social justice or a rock concert-- when people are gathering, we, there is going to be person-to-person transmission. And this is also happening at the same time as all 50 states are reopening to some degree. So we are already seeing, as a result of reopening, and I think people letting down their guard, that there has been a surge in cases in 20 states. And unfortunately, this is a trend that is almost certain to continue. And I think it's a reminder to all of us that we cannot let down our guard, just because states are reopening doesn't mean that the virus has changed in any way. Actually it's just as contagious, it's just as deadly and could cause severe illness.
GVS: There's some criticism from some because churches in many parts of the country can't open because you can't congregate more than 10 people in a place, yet the protests are allowed to happen, I assume that the same rules that you'd apply to protest would apply to a group of people in a church in terms of safety.
LW: You know, one thing that reduces the likelihood of transmission in these protests, is that they are outdoors. And there is the possibility, and I've seen footage of many of these protests but it looks like people are able to social distance. Now of course, there are other confounding factors, including if protesters are arrested, and then put into a confined space for a period of time, that's certainly a concern. and I also have a concern that we don't have nearly the testing that we need. And so when I hear officials saying things like, all protesters should be tested. Sure. That would be nice if that could happen, but I don't know that we have nearly the capabilities across the country to do that.
GVS: But testing would have to be before you protest not after, because if it's after you've already theoretically is passed it to somebody.
LW: Well, I think it should be after really, too. Because right now we don't have the widespread testing that we need to be able to test everyone before they go and protest. After the protest, which could be considered to be a high-exposure event, depending on what you do. I mean if you go to an outdoor protest where you’re staying six feet away from others, that's not a high exposure event. But let's say that you went to a protest where you were corralled into a small space for hours. Then you were put into a police van, and then spend two hours in incarceration, or two days in incarceration, that's a high exposure event. You should be tested in that case.
GVS: Someone associated with the WHO has recently said that if you're asymptomatic if you don't show any signs of Coronavirus that you are not infectious. and that was, you know, that was something I thought, new for me. I hadn't heard that so can you clarify if you have no fever, no symptoms, is it possible you have coronavirus number one. And number two, are you still infectious?
LW: Yes to both, so I I'm still trying to get a grip of what exactly this, what exactly was said and what was meant by this. I think that there is a terminology issue that's important to distinguish and I think may have caused some of the confusion with that WHO statement. There's a difference between asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic. We know so talking about pre symptomatic we know that before somebody exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 that those two or three days before could actually be the period of time where they are the most infectious. And so somebody could certainly be exhibiting no symptoms right now, they could exhibit symptoms for two to three days, but of course they they aren't to know that. no one can predict right in two or three days time that they're going to get sick. That period of time, they could be highly contagious. And that's what we're concerned about that, people will develop symptoms later.
I think what the WHO the scientist was referring to is if somebody has no symptoms will never develop symptoms, maybe that person is not likely to infect others. But the question is, how would you know, at that point, when you're not exhibiting symptoms, whether you're going to be developing symptoms or not, without that widespread testing that we were referring to. And so I think it's still critical that we all treat each other and ourselves as if we could have coronavirus, because we know that people could certainly pass on the disease if they're not currently exhibiting any symptoms at all.
GVS: It appears when you look at the demographics of people who are infected here in the United States that it is particularly hit hard certain communities, racial disparities, our poorer neighbors, is you know, is there –do you have any sort of reflection on that?
LW: Yeah. So COVID-19 has unmasked many of the disparities and inequities that have long been present in our society, frankly. We know that COVID-19 strikes those the hardest who have underlying medical conditions. well who has underlying medical conditions? African Americans Latino Americans, they have disproportionate burden of chronic medical illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease and so forth. In addition, it's people who live in, who live in minority communities or part of minority communities, underserved communities who also are essential workers, who may also be living in crowded conditions and don't have the privilege of doing social distancing, who may depend on public transportation and have higher exposures that way as well. And so the solutions that we must implement must target these longer-term systemic inequities, while at the same time also addressing the resources or targeting the resources to areas that are the hardest hit.
GVS: I read that there's something like 70, different vaccines people are chasing around the world. I mean this is a global enterprise trying to find a vaccine. Do you have any, any sort of thought on whether will happen by the end of the year?
LW: I mean, that would be extremely optimistic. It would set a world record in that the vaccines to date, the fastest that vaccine has been developed we're looking at five to six years. So anything under a year or in that, in that kind of timeframe would be extremely optimistic. I hope that we can get there, but I also don't want us to sacrifice safety. Already there is the anti-vaxxer movement. The last thing that I would want to do is to give them fuel and say, “Well, this is a vaccine that isn't safe, it was rushed.” And I think we, we need to balance our need to have a vaccine with testing it properly, so that we do prove that it's safe and effective.
GVS: What about a bridge vaccine? I read that there's something I think was tuberculosis or even polio is sort of a bridge vaccine in the short run that they're looking at that until we can get a more perfect vaccine for the coronavirus. Have you seen anything that indicates that that's a possibility?
LW: You know it's a good point that probably the first vaccine candidate that comes on the market is not going to be the best one, as in, look at even the flu vaccine, the flu vaccine is 40 to 60% effective every season. There are other vaccines that have to be given as booster doses, there are multiple doses of it and you have to keep on getting it. It's very possible that the initial vaccine that's developed is not 100% effective or even anywhere close to it, that we have something that is partially effective or that requires multiple doses to be fully effective. And in the meantime, there is a more effective vaccine that's also being developed too. so I think that's why I'm glad that there are so many different dozens of vaccine candidates that are in the pipeline.
Do the Five – Help stop coronavirus:
Hands - Wash them often.
Elbow – Cough into it.
Face – Don’t touch it.
Feet – Stay more than 3 feet (1 meter) apart.
Feel Sick? Stay at home.
Do the five – help stop coronavirus.
((Greta))
My thanks to our guests and thanks to all of you for watching this episode of Plugged In.
We will continue to follow the protests and the pandemic.
And for the latest updates on these stories and more please visit our website at VOANews.com.
And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Greta.
Thank you for being Plugged In.
We hope to see you again next week!
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