Things must change ... Now

The picture of The Donald holding a bible is farcical at best. A cynical photo-op showing that the emperor has no clothes, a man desperate to be reelected is the key here as Agent Orange knows the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is waiting to nail his ass on fraud and money laundering, among other crimes and misdemeanors, if he loses. 

As the hours ticked down to prime time, the White House prepared its unholy production. It was Monday afternoon, and President Trump was getting ready to deliver his first speech on the massive protests sweeping the country. After unflattering reports that he had spent Friday evening in a bunker, Trump summoned the press corps to the Rose Garden for maximum effect. Never mind that the chaos had given way to peaceful demonstrations outside the White House. Men and women, along the sunny edge of Lafayette Park, chanted and knelt. A young boy and girl, flanking their father, held protest signs. A vender touted coronavirus masks bearing the grim slogan of our time: “I Can’t Breathe.”

Normally, one of the most striking features of the White House is its nearness. For years, tourists who stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue have been startled to come so close to the building, which is situated with a confident, open face to the world, a contrast to the secluded warrens of power in Beijing or Moscow. In recent months, that has been less true. Last summer, the Trump Administration started building a new thirteen-foot fence, twice the height of the old one, equipped with “anti-climb and intrusion detection technology.” It closed off Pennsylvania Avenue to pedestrians and cloaked the building behind a tall, white construction wall. 

On Tuesday, in Minneapolis, hundreds of protesters, many wearing face masks to guard against the coronavirus, gathered to protest at the spot where Floyd died.

Endgame. 

For many in the crowd, Floyd’s death was the final spark to a reservoir of anger and despair. “It’s all of it. It’s all of it together,” Kandyce Baker, a thirty-one-year-old woman who held a sign with a painting of Floyd’s face, told me. “I think the tipping point for me started with Ahmaud Arbery. I’m an avid runner. I have a lot of friends who are avid runners. I ran nine marathons, and that could have been me. That could’ve easily been one of my friends.” (Arbery, who was twenty-five, was shot to death in February by two men while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia.) She added, “And then, after that, with Breonna Taylor and then George Floyd. It’s like having a Rodney King every day.”

Baker, who has a master’s degree in criminology, told me, “Not only do you have police protecting each other, but you also have police of color who are afraid to speak up because of the blue code of silence. And whether it’s because of retaliation, because they’re afraid that they’re going to lose their jobs . . . the police culture is incredibly toxic.

Times mus change ... Now