June 1, 2020 5:36 pm
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – George Floyd’s brother is pleading for peace in the streets, saying violence is “not going to bring my brother back at all.” President Donald Trump is berating most of the nation’s governors as “weak” for not cracking down harder on the lawlessness that has convulsed cities from coast to coast. The competing messages, one conciliatory, one bellicose, come as cities brace for another round of violence. In the past few days, stores have been ransacked, cars burned and windows smashed in some of the most widespread racial unrest since the 1960s.
June 1, 2020 2:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is deriding the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanding tougher crackdowns on burning and stealing in the aftermath of more violent protests in dozens of American cities. Trump spoke Monday to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the state leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticizing their responses. The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. They turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in the park across from the White House.
June 1, 2020 2:42 pm
GRAFTON, W.Va. (AP) – Police say a man who recently moved from Texas to West Virginia has been charged in the beheading of his girlfriend’s father. The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office says 28-year-old Nicholas Padron of Grafton turned himself in Saturday and was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. Taylor County Sheriff Terry Austin says the body of 49-year-old Michael Blackburn was found in a home he shared with his daughter, her children and Padron. Austin told The Exponent Telegram the daughter wasn’t home at the time of Friday’s homicide. Padron is being held without bond in the North Central Regional Jail.
June 1, 2020 9:56 am
PITTSBURGH – The City of Pittsburgh declared a citywide curfew in response to violent protests on Saturday. The curfew was first put into place between 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. It was again in place Sunday night and has been extended again to go into effect Monday night AT 8:30 and last until 6:00 Tuesday morning.
June 1, 2020 4:24 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – SpaceX has delivered two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule arrived Sunday morning, hours after a historic liftoff from Florida. It’s the first time that a privately built and owned spacecraft has delivered a crew to the orbiting lab. The capsule docked automatically, barely 19 hours after liftoff. SpaceX launched the Dragon from Kennedy Space Center on Saturday afternoon, the first astronaut launch from the U.S. to orbit in nearly a decade.
June 1, 2020 4:22 am
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) – The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline rose 8 cents over the past two weeks, to $2.05 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that the jump comes as gasoline demand increases amid widespread easing of stay-at-home orders. Lundberg says the current average price is 88 cents less than it was a year ago. The highest average price in the nation for regular-grade gas is $3.10 per gallon in Honolulu. The lowest average is $1.55 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The average price of diesel is $2.55, up a penny.
June 1, 2020 4:21 am
Target, CVS, Apple and Walmart have all temporarily closed certain locations due to protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week. In some cases stores were damaged. Minneapolis-based Target closed or shortened hours at more than 200 of its stores over the weekend, but it says most would reopen Sunday or Monday. Six will remain closed for an extended period due to damage from the protests. CVS has closed stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Apple and Walmart also closed some locations, but wouldn’t say how many. Floyd, who was black, died after a white Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin his neck down for several minutes.
June 1, 2020 4:20 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – In the past 48 hours of protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, journalists covering the story have become targets for protesters and police in cities across the country. The Radio Television Digital News Association has counted more than 60 incidents in which reporters have been, “injured, assaulted or harassed by either protesters or police officers” in cities including Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Denver. RTDNA’s executive director Dan Shelley said that the attacks on journalists are harming the public at large. Shelley said, “It’s interfering with their ability to be eyewitnesses and chroniclers of what’s occurring in this country right now.”
June 1, 2020 4:18 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota’s governor says a man who drove his semitrailer into the midst of thousands of protesters on a Minneapolis freeway was confused. Authorities say it appeared no one was hurt when the driver rolled onto the Interstate 35W freeway near downtown Minneapolis on Sunday. Gov. Tim Walz said Monday that the driver got ahead of officials who were closing the freeway and became confused. The governor noted the driver braked as he rolled past the crowd. Officials estimate 5,000 to 6,000 people were on the freeway. Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said nothing indicates the driver was intentionally targeting protesters.
June 1, 2020 4:17 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Atlanta’s mayor says two police officers have been fired and three others placed on desk duty over excessive use of force during a weekend protest incident. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Sunday that she and the police chief made the decision after reviewing body-camera footage of a Saturday incident that first gained attention from video online and on local news. It shows police officers in riot gear and gas masks surround a car driven by a man with a woman passenger. The officers use stun guns on both the woman and the man.
