Police in Amsterdam have had to deal with thousands of demonstrators who gathered in the Dutch capital to protest coronavirus lockdowns and vaccinations. An emergency order by Mayor Femke Halsema ordered the city’s central Museum Square cleared Dec. 2 after a mostly unmasked mob violated a ban on public gatherings during the latest pandemic wave of infections. [node:read-more:link]
Migrant encampments at a key border crossing into Poland were cleared by the Belarusian government today, defusing a politically-explosive standoff with the EU. However Polish troops remain in place along a barbed-wire fence and Belarus offered no details on where the migrants had been sent. [node:read-more:link]
The Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa was delayed briefly while police investigated a suspicious package found minutes before the service was to begin. RCMP said its Explosive Disposal Union “cleared” the package a few minutes later. [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP is investigating after dozens of anti-vaxxers disrupted a Remembrance Day in B.C. “Kelowna RCMP officers support a person's or groups' right to protest, but when they choose to willfully interrupt the assembly of citizens at a Remembrance Day ceremony, this is a step too far,” Insp. Adam MacIntosh said, adding that the incident would be investigated “to determine what offence, criminal or otherwise, may have been committed and, if appropriate, the submission of charges or fines.” [node:read-more:link]
During months of unending turmoil after their April coup d'état, Myanmar security forces have killed more than 900 people, including shooting protesters and detaining thousands. An already fragile health care system has collapsed and now physicians and other health care providers have become targets. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. Capitol Police have confirmed that one of its officers has died from injuries sustained as President Donald Trump's supporters stormed Congress Jan. 6. It brought to five the number of deaths attributed to the riot; one protestor was evidently shot during the breach on Capitol Hill while three other demonstrators suffered unspecified “medical emergencies.” [node:read-more:link]
Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, says a New York-based company’s facial recognition technology “appears to pose particularly chilling privacy risks.” In a letter to Hoan Ton-That, the chief executive of Clearview AI, which provides its technology to the law enforcement community, Markey also says it could be exploited by criminals or foreign adversaries. [node:read-more:link]
Combing through digital media, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it expects to open more cases for a range of crimes including murder, sedition and theft of national security information arising from last week’s attack on Congress. The FBI says it has received more than 100,000 responses to its request for help in identifying protestors and so far has filed charges against 70 individuals. [node:read-more:link]
Legal experts are parsing President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the U.S. military to put down continued and sometimes violent protests in several cities after the death of a black man in police custody. Even though the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act precludes that kind of intervention, the 1807 Insurrection Act does give the President authority to deploy federal forces in states unable to put down an insurrection or where federal law is being defied. The exports do agree that legal challenges are inevitable and some state governors are calling Trump’s move an overreaction. [node:read-more:link]
A series of often violent protests in several major cities following the death of another black man in police custody in Minneapolis prompted President Donald Trump to insist 1 June that state governors call out their National Guard units to resolve the situations. “If a city or state refuses . . . I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” [node:read-more:link]
A series of often violent protests in several major cities following the death of another black man in police custody in Minneapolis prompted President Donald Trump to insist 1 June that state governors call out their National Guard units to resolve the situations. “If a city or state refuses . . . I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” [node:read-more:link]
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has denounced President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy Army personnel to quell protests in several U.S. cities. “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution,” the retired Marine General writes. Mattis quit the cabinet in 2018 over Trump’s policy on Syria. [node:read-more:link]
President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy active duty military personnel to crack down on public protests has been openly challenged by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. The former infantry officer said 3 June that invocation of the Insurrection Act must be “a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations.” [node:read-more:link]
President Donald Trump has indicated he is backing down on his threat to deploy federal troops to states or cities which refuse the option for suppressing widespread protests about the recent death of a black man in police custody. ““I don't think we'll have to,” Trump said in a televised interview 3 June, conceding that National Guard units, which under dual federal-state control, could be as effective. [node:read-more:link]
As debates continued this week over police services’ excessive use of force, Halifax city council has dropped plans to spend up to $500,000 on a “rescue” vehicle from Ontario-based Terradyne Armoured Vehicles. "We know that we can put some resources toward anti-black racism programs,” Mayor Mike Savage said. “A lot of us thought this was the right thing to do at this point in time, and partly to send a signal to people that we're listening to the concerns that people have.” [node:read-more:link]
