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Provided by Twin Cities Pioneer Press Noah McCourt, Chauntyll Allen, Satara Strong, Carolyn Szczepanski and Amelia Hansa are community activists who have met at a St. Paul gas station to organize supplies of hand sanitizer and homemade masks before hitting the streets to hand them out. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Chauntyll Allen and other volunteers have fanned out along St. Pauls University Avenue, passing out hand sanitizer and homemade masks to anyone in need.

I can find the spots where nobodys being talked to or nobodys even thinking about, Allen said.

But in the fight against COVID-19, health officials and community members say they are thinking about the disproportionate impact the virus is having on communities of color.

Although white people have accounted for more than their share of COVID-19 deaths, black and Hispanic Minnesotans have had the most positive tests on a per-capita basis, according to a Pioneer Press analysis.

In cases where the states data lists race, white Minnesotans accounted for about 90 percent of COVID-19 deaths. The median age of those who have died has been 83.

But for every 100,000 residents, blacks have had 76 positive tests and whites accounted for 33. Hispanics have had more than twice as many positive tests per capita as non-Hispanics.

The overrepresentation of black and Hispanic people contracting the coronavirus has been seen around the country.

Coronavirus can affect every single person it does not discriminate who will be infected, said Kris Ehresmann, the states chief infectious disease epidemiologist. But there are people who are at higher risk based on their age, based on their health conditions, based on their well-being in general.

Because people of color and American Indians experience inequities in income, housing and employment, they are disproportionately susceptible to multiple health issues and chronic conditions, such as asthma, heart disease and diabetes, according to Kou Thao, director of the Minnesota Department of Healths Center for Health Equity. Underlying health conditions can increase peoples risk of becoming sicker from COVID-19.

Diverse populations, particularly immigrants and refugees, also often work in manufacturing or the food industry, where the virus can spread in the absence of appropriate preventive measures, Thao said.

The pandemic isnt going to fix the racial disparities that we have within chronic disease rates in our communities, said Kathy Hedin, director of St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health. Its mirroring what were seeing and, unfortunately, we cant wipe away racial disparities in the six weeks that weve been dealing with coronavirus here in Minnesota.

Ashkiro Said, a member of a Somali interpreters association in the Twin Cities, said she and other interpreters have been volunteering to get the message out. Theyre going to apartment buildings in St. Paul to translate COVID-19 information from the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some people have nicknamed the coronavirus the arrogant flu in Somali, according to Said. They dont take it serious, they think its just a cold, she said.

Thats why Said has especially been talking to elderly people and handing out homemade masks that people have given her.

Theyre thankful and theyre confused, so I interpret for them what the guidelines are, according to Said. I tell them that this is very serious and they need to follow the guidelines.

The Minnesota Department of Health and local public health agencies have been working to distribute information in various languages, and theyre also looking at the best ways to make it resonate with people.

Sometimes that looks like changing the language, for example, around physical distancing, said Heather Gillich, manager of the Minneapolis Health Departments Healthy Living Initiative. In some communities, its not as relevant to say, Do this to protect yourself. Its more about, Do this to protect your loved ones.

Gov. Tim Walz has announced that the state is partnering with the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic to significantly ramp up testing.

Because testing has been limited thus far, it will need to be done widely to more truly see what the impacts are because we know the cases that were getting are just the tip of the iceberg, said Luisa Pessoa-Brando, manager of epidemiology, research and evaluation at the Minneapolis Health Department.

Theres no question there are disparities in Minnesota, but people should use caution when interpreting the data since testing has not been widespread, Ehresmann said.

Right now, we have been overtesting, if you will, in certain populations, she said. The data that we have is reflecting both where weve done testing, as well as the populations in those settings.

Testing has been prioritized because of limitations in supplies and personal protective equipment. Initially, it was focused on people who had traveled internationally. Then, it shifted to health care workers and people living or working in congregate care settings, such as senior housing and assisted living.

There are more workers of color in congregate care settings, Ehresmann said, and when testing increased at those locations, the state started to see more confirmed cases among those demographics.

An outbreak at the JBS pork plant in Worthington has led to the testing of its diverse workforce and their family members.

On the other hand, a large proportion of people living in congregate care settings who are over 80 are likely to be white, Ehresmann said, and senior living facilities have been hit especially hard by COVID-19 fatalities.

The state doesnt have demographic data for everyone who is tested, only those who are confirmed to have COVID-19. When Minnesota Department of Health workers interview people with confirmed cases to determine who they may have been in contact with, they also ask them their race and ethnicity.

In about 20 percent of the cases, the race of patients was listed as unknown, as of Thursdays data.

The Minnesota Department of Health and local public health departments say theyre focusing on community outreach. Theyre also connecting with culturally specific radio stations and media outlets to get out the word about COVID-19 precautions.

Weve heard a lot of questions around: What do you do if youre sick? What about masks? Whats acceptable for a mask? What is social distancing? What does that mean? How does that translate into our day to day? said Kelsey Dawson Walton, who is leading Hennepin Countys COVID-19 community engagement response. She said community liaisons work to answer those questions, and the county has a helpline to connect people with needed services.

St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health has about 20 community liaisons who speak various languages and who already have connections in the community to help people with getting the information they need about COVID-19, Hedin said.

In a grassroots effort in St. Paul, Chauntyll Allen and other volunteers have been making their way along the Green Line and bus stops to give people hand sanitizer and masks. People who want to volunteer can contact Sanitizethecities@gmail.com, and theyre collecting donations at paypal.me/Sanitizethecities to get more supplies onto the streets.

Allen, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, said the work has to go beyond the immediate needs of masks and hand sanitizer toward a holistic approach of ensuring people have medical insurance and access to health care, healthy foods and economic stability.

But its not any different than the disparities we live with every day, said Allen, who is also a St. Paul school board member. As long as we continue to move in our positive ways and do what we know we need to do for ourselves, I believe we can overcome it. We are strong people.

Josh Verges contributed to this report.

Originally posted here:
Coronavirus, mirroring other health inequalities, impacting Minnesota's black and Hispanic residents disproportionately - msnNOW

Author: Courtney Mulroy is a Clinical Quality Consultant and patient advocate who resides in Santa Rosa, CA

I've been attending and helping to organize rallies and protests since I was in my teens. I believe its one tool, in the many ways, we as citizens can influence policy makers at a local or national level. I recognize its efficacy can be debated and protest certainly wouldnt change the world alone. If that were true, wed be in a post-racial world after all the amazing work of the Civil Rights movement (hint: if you think we are, wellId love to chat). Protest does one thing for sure, it helps to shift the conversation, at least in my experience. If not on a broad scale, within your friends and family circles and many times the most effective change can be made at a local level. If your protest is lucky enough to get media attention, well they can paint you in a variety of ways, but it does spark conversation on the topi c at hand and thats the point. Ideally you may even get movement behind the agenda as well, but sparking conversation at least helps people form an opinion on the topic as they work through the information they have, their experience and the brand of moral compass they use. And thats what we want, we want informed citizens who care about their community and policy.

Soprotesting! Its a good old part of America isnt it? And sometimes we agree with why our fellow citizens are causing a traffic jam on the sidewalks or streets, and other times we disagree with the reason behind the rally. If youre truly lucky, you can see protesters and counter-protesters in the same space what a rush. I think most of us can agree, its our right to protest when we believe something is awry. Whether its for a cause we believe in or not, we should all have the right to demonstrate. It says so somewhere in our official documents, right? This is the common ground I want us all to reflect on during this unique time.

Whats going on right now is VERY interesting to me. We are seeing a movement of fellow citizens rise up to voice their concern about quarantine laws. My background is public health, I didnt go the epidemiology route, I chose health policy, but I still have some classes in my memory bank about infectious disease control and disaster preparedness. Additionally, I love protesting. And here I am watching these two worlds collide, this is like my Orange Bowl you guys! I am seeing a lot of criticism towards these protesters, they are being labeled as selfish, simply organizing because they want a haircut, or being dangerous to their communities. Whether there is truth to those accusations is up to you. But we all have brains, and we know that a lot of this movement is driven by deeper reasons such as uncertainty, anger, fear, belief the government has wronged its people, etc.

And those are the SAME reasons I protest when we boil it down. Im angry that our government doesnt protect Black people by addressing institutional racism on a larger scale, Im scared for people who dont have health insurance and need birth control or surgery, I believe the government has royally messed up (understatement of the year) by putting families in cages while the private prison systems profit off of dead children and I fear that the government has overstepped its boundaries when they tell me what I can and cannot do with my body. These arent the same reasons the quarantine protesters are out there, (well, my body = my choice is the same reason at baseline) but the same feelings are behind their rallies.

I may not trust the government at this time, or most times, but I have enough trust in the medical field and disease experts from around the world to agree we need some restrictions to flatten the curve. I do agree there is a limit to the restrictions, my limits are just different than theirs. As a citizen who is also afraid the government has too much control at times, yes, I get why theyre protesting. And more importantly I agree that they should have the right to do so, even if the repercussions are also there.

Now, this feels like a time where a lot of us can agree on some of these baseline notions, protesting is good, universal feelings are real, American rights ya know. However, to find common ground, we all need to stretch our imaginations like I just did above. My gut reaction is, What the heck are yall doing?? This is a threat to public health and my grandpa. And youre coming out for the first time to rally for this, but where were you for the caging of children and for Black murder at the hands of police and Wall Street running our politicians?! The caucacity of these people, oh my! But when I take a breath and think about it, yes, I get it. You voice those passions you uncut, doomsday preppers (I say this with love I have a formed an apocalypse team, too, you know who you are). I get it, its scary out there for many people. Do I think this movement is not without hypocrisy? Absolutely not. BUT, my request today is to stretch your imagination to bridge the gap of common ground for those on the other side of the fence.

For those of you who have criticized the Black Lives Matter movement for example, can you see that there is some truth to the statistics of our Black neighbors (Black children), being shot unarmed? Imagine how scared you would be if police treated everyone like they treat our Black brothers and sisters? Or we were all incarcerated at the same rate as Black and Brown folks? Or how would you feel if in the 60s, when the majority of fellow veterans got financial assistance for housing, but you didnt because of the color of your skin? OR that you werent allowed to live in a certain area because the color of your skin, wouldnt you be upset enough with the system to protest? To kneel for a flag that has harmed you and your family for generations in an attempt spark a conversation about police brutality? And if your parent died because they couldnt afford a cancer treatment that their insurance didnt cover it, wouldnt you rally for healthcare for all? Maybe you dont agree with some of these statements, but soften that face you have on, and think about the feelings that come with these situations. Very legitimate fear, anger, frustration, betrayal, loss. And maybe you dont see it these situations the same as I do, but sometimes our place in life doesnt allow for us to see things. Maybe because youre white you dont get it, but perhaps just TRY and believe that what an entire population is telling us is their very real experience (I know its possible because I am white and see it clear as day).So next time you see a rally around racism or health care, I ask that you take a breath and to humanize the people you so fervently disagree with. They are you, they are your feelings, they are your community.

Maybe you have a job still, you have a savings account, you can work remotely, you dont feel the same threats as a result of the current environment. I ask you to do the same thing, just because you dont personally get it, can you try and put yourself in their shoes? Imagine the fear that comes with job loss, making ends meet and the feeling that your rights are being stripped? Lets humanize them, lets make sure we approach these thoughts with more love instead of pure outrage. They are us, they are our feelings, our community.

Maybe, just maybe, if we continue to stretch our compassion and practice this mindfulness exercise, we can start working together. Because battling each other is what they want isnt it. We cant improve our nation by fighting one another. We need unity right now, humanity and mostly love. So lets see those very human feelings and vulnerabilities in ourselves and lets see them in our neighbors and fellow citizens. At least its a step in the right direction and an ounce of control we have, when things feel very out of control. And dont forget to wear a mask and wash those hands if you're protesting!

Information on Easing Restrictions:

Public health officials said the ability to test enough people and trace contacts of the infected is crucial before easing restrictions, and that infections could surge anew unless people continue to take precautions.

"Opening up now is a huge risk. Just because the curve of infections is flattened does not mean it cannot rise again since the disease has no proven therapies and there is so far no vaccine.

The Trump administration's failure to institute a national testing infrastructure makes the openings even more of a risk, since an accurate fix on the pandemic's penetration in the states is impossible. The testing deficit complicates the task of diagnosing, tracing and isolating infected patients and those exposed."

https://www.kitv.com/story/42033842/divisions-on-battling-coronavirus-deepen-as-trump-and-southern-states-push-opening

Follow this link:
Op-Ed COVID-19, Protesting and Unity - Sonoma County Gazette

captionWhite supremacists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 12, 2017.sourceREUTERS/Joshua Roberts

In 2015, Michael Augustine Bournes, 59, murdered his wife and three young children, then set his house on fire, before finally fatally shooting himself. An acquaintance told police that Bournes had called him after the murders and said his wife had been mocking him and riding him all day. The family was living off the grid in a house in Montana not hooked up to public utilities. Police said Bournes was a constitutionalist who didnt believe in government and had anti-government literature in his pickup.

In 2008, Cynthia Lynch, 43, filed an online application to join an Oklahoma branch of the Ku Klux Klan. During her initiation ceremony, police say Lynch either tried to back out or got into an argument with the Klansmen; she was shot to death and mutilated, her remains dumped nearby.

In 2006, four members of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood took 46-year-old Jack Christen to a remote location and demanded to know what he told police about their methamphetamine operation. One of them shot and killed Christen.

Each of these crimes is counted as an extremist incident by the Anti-Defamation League, whose statistics have been presented by media outlets as the gold standard for reporting on extremists of the white nationalist, anti-government, left-wing anarchist, and radical Islamist varieties in the US.

These are each deeply upsetting stories of horrific acts of violence, but when you read them, do you think terrorism?

Youve probably seen the statistic based on a study by the Anti-Defamation League that about 70% of extremist killings over the past 10 years have been committed by right-wing extremists, a category that includes white nationalists, Aryan prison-gang members, and anti-government extremists.

That number, with similar phrasing, has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, the Atlantic, and Insider, to name just a few outlets.

The specific wording of the stat drives home the idea that ultrarightists represent the greatest threat of domestic political- or identity-based violence in the US, dwarfing the violence committed by left-wing, anarchist, and Islamic extremists combined.

The ADL was founded in 1913 with a mission to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all and states its ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate, according to its website.

The group acknowledges that it tracks both ideological and non-ideological killings by extremists, because it argues to ignore non-ideological killings would be to discount an inherent and integral part of the dangers they pose to society.

But its the topline catchall numbers of extremist incidents and extremist murders that the group promotes, and which most often end up being repeated in the press without the important distinction regarding possible motives.

If you are literally measuring the number of violent incidents committed by people with ties to extremist groups or ideas, the ADLs topline numbers hold up.

But if you limit the definition of extremist incidents to incidents motivated by extremist views where violence actually occurs, is attempted, or is substantially plotted, then the numbers drop significantly.

And if you consider only incidents that either are classified as hate crimes or terrorism by law, or were described as having been motivated by extremist views by the press as most people likely do when they think of extremist violence just 58% of the incidents cited by the ADL fit that definition, my investigation found.

To be sure, the ADLs most promoted and reported statistic ultrarightist groups accounting for a disproportionate number of hate crimes and acts of terror still holds up.

Whats of concern is the seeming inflation of the overall numbers under the vaguely defined umbrella of extremist incidents by including crimes that are not targeted at minorities which make extremists appear to be more pervasive than they would otherwise be, with greater context.

Its ultimately an issue of reporting. Complicated issues arent easy to distill in perfectly formed nuggets, whether they come from a well-respected advocacy organizations press releases or a news organizations headlines.

As I found, its not an easy job to perfectly analyze hundreds of incidents. This is not to imply the ADL has engaged in bad-faith efforts. But in dealing with such sensitive issues, adding as much context as possible is vital to a greater public understanding of the issue.

With the assistance of Insider reporters and a data analyst, I investigated the data the ADL used to make its H.E.A.T. map, an interactive tool tracking the locations of all incidents of extremism or anti-Semitism in the United States, covering everything from anti-Semitic graffiti to racist violence to domestic terrorism.

According to the ADLs site, the map was created using data points extracted from information sources including news and media reports, government documents (including police reports), victim reports, extremist-related sources, Center on Extremism investigations.

On several occasions, I reached out to the ADL for clarification on its criteria. In an email, the ADL directed me to the H.E.A.T. maps frequently-asked-questions page, which does not fully address my questions. But in its 2018 report on extremist violence, the ADL explained: Extreme causes often attract adherents with violent tendencies-tendencies that are reflected not only in the violence that adherents commit for their cause, but also the violence they commit against others-including rivals, spouses, children and acquaintances.

Reviewing the citations of each incident defined as Extremist Murders, Terrorist Plot & Attacks, and Extremist/Police Shootouts from 2009-2018 on the ADLs H.E.A.T. map as a starting point, my colleagues and I explored over 500 cases through news reports, law-enforcement announcements, and court documents. The investigation is solely focused on extremist violence, which we defined as incidents where police reports, court documents, or news articles presented evidence that the incidents were motivated by extremist viewpoints.

What I found is that the actual number of violent extremist incidents if defining such crimes as being motivated by bigotry or politics is much smaller than the ADLs oft-reported overall number.

In several cases I examined, it was clear that while the person or people involved might have ties to extremist groups or hold extremist views, the crimes committed by these people that were classified by the ADL as extremist incidents were not targeting protected identity groups. These would likely be the non-ideological crimes the ADL says it includes in its tracking of extremist incidents.

For example, if a methamphetamine dealer who happens to be a member of a racist extremist group kills a rival dealer, the ADL may consider that an extremist killing. The same seems to be true where white supremacists kill rival white supremacists, or even their own allies they fear are police informants.

There are also cases that defy classification. For example, how does one appropriately classify the case of the former neo-Nazi who killed his roommates for making fun of his newfound Muslim faith? Can this act be properly classified as a hate crime or terrorism?

What appears true regardless of the definition used to cover extremist incidents is the theme that emerges from the ADL data: Extremists of all political and prejudiced varieties are typically young men with a history of violence and criminality, often with pronounced mental and emotional issues.

But by painting its findings with such a broad stroke, the ADL data might lead some to conclude that there are significantly more hate crimes and terrorism in the US than actually transpire.

Based on the incidents cited by the ADL, in most years, extremists are just as likely to kill each other, their criminal associates, or their family members as they are to kill people in protected identity groups.

Along with my colleagues, I looked into each of the 414 incidents listed in the ADLs data that resulted in 426 killings over the course of 2009-2018 which is the time frame of the ADLs oft-cited statistic. We vetted the available data to make the most accurate accounting possible, and with ambiguous cases where we couldnt make a decisive judgment call, we erred on the side of accepting the ADLs definition of the crime.

Our methodology consisted of analyzing each case using three criteria:

1. Was the incident linked to the race or protected status of the target or victim, or some other political motivation, in the news reports or legal materials we reviewed?

2. Was the perpetrator actually linked to extremist groups or ideology?

3. Did the incident include attempted violence, perpetrated violence, or substantial steps toward violence?

After weighing these criteria, we saw a considerable difference between the ADL count and our count.

Measuring data available on the ADLs H.E.A.T. map from 2009 to 2018:

A breakdown of extremist violence by ideology, 2009-2018:

Islamist extremism

Left-wing extremism

Right-wing extremism (including white supremacist extremism)

White supremacist extremism

There are issues inherent with trying to come up with a single catchall statistic on extremist violence.

For one, the federal governments definition of extremism fluctuates wildly.

This is partly evidenced by Black Lives Matter, an unofficial group of activists who demonstrate against police brutality, being designated in an FBI memo as part of a black identity extremist movement. Another recent example is the Department of Homeland Security labeling a group of nonviolent climate activists as extremists and grouping them among white supremacists and mass murderers.

The internets capacity to make information about extremist murders easier to collect and collate but also its ability to flatten discussions can turn debatable discourse into supposedly unimpeachable facts.

It matters because failing to ensure accurate, transparent data undermines a genuinely compelling assembly of data about extremism and its victims in the US.

The ADLs database of incidents contains any number of altercations and murders that illustrate the sadistic cruelty and the political ambitions embodied by many extremists. But its the part where those incidents are collected, tagged, aggregated, and boiled into a single statistic that could stand for more thorough discussion.

Colin Clarke, a senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center, a nonprofit strategy firm focused on global security issues, told me in December, This is a really challenging space, because were asked to determine motive, which may not always be clear.

It is incredibly difficult to devise a rigorous and replicable methodology that will be accepted by everyone, Clarke said. As a result, he believes researchers need to do our best to be judicious and parsimonious in data collection, lest we risk threat-inflation of over-hyping the threat, which can dilute the overall message.

Clarke doesnt want to single out the ADL or any organization, because he says any data- or statistical-based study on terrorism could be subject to methodological criticism. What this goes to show you is that data collection is critical and that more organizations should be involved in this debate, Clarke added.

Arthur Jipson, an associate professor at the University of Dayton who specializes in extremism, told me in February that figuring out the correct conclusions is a tricky question because there wasnt a concerted government effort to collect data on hate crimes until the early 1990s, during the George H.W. Bush administration. Jipson also said victims of bias crimes may not report them as such to law enforcement, and state definitions of hate crimes vary from state to state. Both, he argues, potentially undercut the overall number of extremist incidents.

Jipson added that he believes advocacy organizations like the ADL are working hard and acting in good faith, but he concedes advocates could be more thoughtful about the process of data collection from the very beginning and try to be more careful when we make grand or powerful statements.

I presented Jipson with a hypothetical scenario: He has been endowed with a huge cash grant and a team of researchers and statisticians at his disposal. With those resources, would he include crimes committed by extremists that dont have any apparent political or bigoted motive among a catchall statistic for extremist incidents?

Probably not, Jipson said, adding: What I would do is say, heres the raw data, heres the raw total. Now lets break it up into categories where weve had really clear evidence. I dont think [the ADL] is wrong for [using] the raw data, but I would also then say, lets compare that against data where we have this absolutely clear empirical manifestation of that criminal intent.

You may wonder why its worth reporting lower numbers of extremist violence than have been widely reported elsewhere. You may be worried that it risks downplaying the threat, or somehow encouraging the public to not be concerned.

On the contrary. Violent extremists are inspired by each other, and the scope of their violence is often used as a recruiting tool. Inflating the overall statistics could embolden extremists who want the public to be terrorized by the seeming scope and force of their violence.

Facts matter and context matters, and how those facts are disseminated matters.

Most people probably dont know that this big scary number is inflated by the fact that white supremacists are typically violent criminals and most of their violence is based on criminality, not ideology.

By using an overbroad definition of extremist violence and counting incidents that were not directly motivated by politics or bigotry, the ADL does a disservice to anyone trying to accurately report on these issues. Its not dissimilar to ultranationalists cherry-picking statistics regarding violence perpetrated by undocumented immigrants. The bigger the number, the more likely the public is to be cowed by a sense of dread.

The ADLs statistic that ultrarightists commit nearly three-quarters of all extremist violence has been so widely cited its now ubiquitous. And as I found, they do commit the most violence motivated by their extremism. The ADL argues that to not include non-ideological violence in its overall numbers would downplay the threat posed by extremists. But by not promoting statistics that make a clear distinction between ideological and non-ideological violence, it undermines trust in the data itself.

When potentially overbroad or misleading data cements itself into the public consciousness, bad things can happen.

Overblown statistics about inner-city crime, drugs, and the threat of Islamist terrorism have all led to policies that have ultimately hurt the most vulnerable populations through over-incarceration, zero tolerance, and the blanket suspicion of mass surveillance.

Those who relied on such exaggerated numbers surely had their hearts in the right place and felt compelled to take action. Theres also the psychic effect to consider on a public bombarded with terrifyingly outsized statistics and broadly drawn narratives lacking the appropriate context and nuance.

That again is why its crucial not to over-amplify the threats by using overbroad figures for the overall number of extremist violence. The scrutiny here is not to downplay the threat of extremists or their inherent violence. They do pose a legitimate threat. But given the vast disparity between the numbers the ADL has disseminated and the numbers which weve provided with greater context, it is a conversation worth having.

The ADL doesnt need to make hate-related violence seem more prevalent than it actually is, when the truth is already disturbing enough.

John Haltiwanger, Grace Panetta, and J.K. Trotter contributed reporting. Walter Hickey contributed data analysis.

View original post here:
The ADLs extremism statistics make it seem like ultraright-wing violence in the US is more common than it actually is - Business Insider

In this episode, I interview Thomas Rid about his illuminating study of Russian disinformation, Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare. It lays out a century of Soviet, East European, and Russian disinformation, beginning with an elaborate and successful operation against the White Russian expatriate resistance to Bolshevik rule in the 1920s. Rid has dug into recently declassified material using digital tools that enable him to tell previously untold tales the Soviets' remarkable success in turning opposition to US nuclear missiles in Europe into a mass movement (and the potential shadow it casts on the legendary Adm. Hyman Rickover, father of the US nuclear navy), the unimpressive record of US disinformation campaigns compared to the ruthless Soviet versions, and the fake American lobbyist (and real East German agent) who persuaded a West German conservative legislator to save Willy Brandt's leftist government. We close with two very different predictions about the kind of disinformation we'll see in the 2020 campaign.

In the news, David Kris, Nick Weaver, and I trade perspectives on the Supreme Court's grant of certiorari on the question when it's a crime to access a computer r "in excess of authority." I predict that the Justice Department's reading of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act will lose, but it's far from clear what will replace the Justice Department's interpretation.

Remember when the House left town without acting on FISA renewal? That's looking like a worse and worse decision, as Congress goes weeks without returning and Justice is left unable to use utterly uncontroversial capabilities in more and more cases. Matthew Heiman explains.

In Justice Department briefs, all the most damaging admissions are down in the footnotes, and it looks like that's true for the inspector general's report on the Carter Page FISA. Recently declassified footnotes from the report make the FBI's pursuit of the FISA order look even worse, in my view. But at the end of the day, the footnotes don't add much to suspicions of a partisan motivation in the imbroglio.

Speaking of IG reports, the DOD inspector general manages first to raise the possibility that Amazon was the victim of political skullduggery in the big DOD cloud computing award and then to find a way to stick it to Amazon anyway. Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the bid protest gives the Pentagon a chance for a do-over.

Matthew covers intel warnings about China-linked 'Electric Panda' hackers and the Syrian government spreading malware via a coronavirus apps. And David notes that a Zoom zero-day is being offered for $500,000.

Nick and I mix it up, first over the Gapple infection tracing plan and their fight with the UK National Health Service and then over Facebook's decision to suppress posts about anti-lockdown demonstrations that violate the lockdown. I think that's highly questionable and not something Facebook would be doing if the first demonstrations had been Black Lives Matter activists in Detroit or regime protestors during the Arab Spring for that matter. Nick thinks it's the best way to treat a "zombie death cult serving haterade." So, all in all, exactly the restrained and civil exchange of views you've come to expect from the Cyberlaw Podcast.

Download the 312th Episode (mp3).

You can subscribe to The Cyberlaw Podcast using iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or our RSS feed. As always, The Cyberlaw Podcast is open to feedback. Be sure to engage with @stewartbaker on Twitter. Send your questions, comments, and suggestions for topics or interviewees to CyberlawPodcast@steptoe.com. Remember: If your suggested guest appears on the show, we will send you a highly coveted Cyberlaw Podcast mug!

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of their institutions, clients, friends, families, or pets.

Originally posted here:
Russia's online disinformation has a 100-year history - Reason

This article includes photographs that some readers may find disturbing.

On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr. was arrested in the Gilmor Homes housing development in West Baltimore by three officers on bike patrol. Less than an hour later, a medic was called to the Western District police station, where Gray, 25, was unconscious and not breathing. On April 19, Gray died from complications due to a cervical spine injury.

Baltimore resident Kevin Moore captured some of Grays arrest on video that was widely shared. The video showed Gray screaming as he was restrained on his belly by a heavyset bike officer, Garrett Miller, and then loaded into a police transport van, his legs dragging. I hear the screams every night, Moore later said. I cant breathe, I cant breathe, I need help, I need medical attention. This is the shit that play in my mind over and over again.

Grays in-custody death came nearly a year after Staten Island resident Ramsey Orta filmed NYPD officers dragging 43-year-old Eric Garner to the ground and placing him in a chokehold as Garner said repeatedly I cant breathe. And like Garner, the death of Gray spurred large protests that became known as the Baltimore Uprising.

At a press conference the day after Gray died, the Baltimore Police Department revealed that the transport van that picked him up made several stops, including to pick up another prisoner. Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez also insisted, We have no evidencephysical or video or statementsof any use of force.

On May 1, street protests turned into celebrations when States Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed charges against six officers in Grays death. The chargesranging from misconduct in office to manslaughter and second-degree depraved-heart murderpertained to the officers failure to put Gray in a seatbelt or call for timely medical assistance. In September 2015, Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement with Grays family. But Mosbys cases ended up failing in criminal court. After one mistrial and three acquittals on all charges, Mosby dropped charges against the remaining three officers in July 2016.

Gray joined a long line of high-profile Black victims of police misconduct, like Walter Scott, who was shot to death by Michael Slager in April 2015 after he fled from Slager during a traffic stop in South Carolina. Like Gray and Garner, a bystander captured the Scott incident on video. Gray quickly became a touchstone for the then-emergent Black Lives Matter movement, but for the public his death has largely remained a mystery.

The Appeal obtained evidence from the discovery file in the criminal case against the officers that, along with the police departments Internal Affairs investigation, sheds light on what occurred during Grays arrest. The evidence includes video and audio interviews conducted by investigators with eyewitnesses, officers, and medics, as well as the police departments full Internal Affairs investigation.

The new files reveal numerous unreported eyewitness accounts of force by officers, particularly at the vans second stop. Witnesses told investigators that they saw Gray thrown headfirst into the van at that stop. Several witnesses also described him becoming quiet and motionless at this stop, after screaming loudly for several minutes.

According to the autopsy report, Grays fatal injury, usually seen in shallow water diving incidents, was caused by a high-energy impact of his head against a hard surface.

But the medical examiner testified in court that she relied on the accounts of police officers, who were the primary suspects in the case, to make her conclusions about when and how Gray died. She made no mention of any civilian witnesses to force in her autopsy report or trial testimony. She also said the states attorneys office determined which statements she received.The newly obtained evidence supports and broadens the investigation that journalist Amelia McDonell-Parry and I conducted into Grays death for the 2017 podcast Undisclosed: The Killing of Freddie Gray.

Kevin Moores video brought international attention to Grays arrest on Presbury Street in West Baltimore, which became known as stop one of the police vans six-stop journey. But the new files reveal that throughout April 2015, police and prosecutors took numerous statements from eyewitnesses who reported accounts of excessive force before Moore started filming. With some variations in their accounts, these witnesses described officers forcefully restraining Gray, putting a knee into his upper back, and dragging him aggressively across the concrete.

And Grays body showed signs of trauma, including a fresh-looking wound on his shoulder that was never accounted for or investigated by police:

Some witnesses also described Gray being beaten and/or shot with a Taser during his initial arrest. Moore can be heard on his own video screaming, That was after they tased the fuck out of him.

Despite Grays apparent physical distress during stop one, police, prosecutors, and the medical examiner ruled out the possibility that he had been fatally injured during his arrest. They pointed to his ability to lift his neck, speak, and bear weight on his legs when entering the van in Moores video. Although the Gray family spoke out in April 2015 about other injuriesincluding three broken vertebrae and a crushed voice boxthey were never documented in any of the hospital or autopsy reports. One member of the familys legal team later walked back certainty about those claims.

Grays specific type of fatal injury, a jumped facet of his C4 and C5 cervical spine, was caused by an abrupt deceleration of his rotated head against a hard surface, according to the autopsy. Even Officer Miller, who weighed 240 pounds, could not cause that specific injury by putting pressure on Grays spine from above, according to Dr. Leigh Hlavaty, professor of pathology at the University of Michigan. Even if Freddie had his head down and turned to the side, the knee to the back of the neck was not going to be the force to create this jump lock facet type of fracture, she explained on the Undisclosed podcast.

Because the physical evidence did not support the theory that Gray was fatally injured at stop one, police and prosecutors dismissed the significance of any injury at the stop. Ultimately, Moores video produced opposing results: It drew attention to Grays story and the possibility of excessive force, and it helped the police divert attention from what happened at the next stop.

According to the police, Lieutenant Brian Rice and the other bike officers decided to send Gray directly to Central Booking rather than question him at the station. After stop one, they met up with the van driver around the corner, at Mount and Baker streets, to complete the arrest process away from the crowd of observers. There, officers shackled Grays ankles.

Gray can be heard screaming on the van drivers dispatch call between stops one and two, and the accounts that witnesses provided to investigators about stop two are consistent. These stories mostly went unreported by the media, leaving a piece of the history of what happened to Gray out of the public narrative.

Moore, who took the cell phone video of stop one, was the first witness to report to police about stop two. He did so mere hours after Grays arrest.

When they stopped down on Baker Street, and when I tell you dude, I wish I couldve recorded it, he told detectives. They pulled him out the paddy wagon, tased him again, and then threw him back in. He clarified this later: They lift him up, wet noodle, throw him in the back of the paddy wagon.

Feet first or headfirst? one detective asked.

Headfirst, Moore responded.

Moore told detectives that one officer threatened him and other witnesses: Youd better get the F away from here, he reported the officer saying. Jail, jail, jail.

The detectives pressed Moore for details about the alleged Taser shooting.

They got the prongs that shoot out, Moore said, gesturing toward his right knee. Theyre on him. You know?

You can physically see the prongs? the detective asked.

I can physically see the prongs in his leg, Moore answered.

Baltimore police officials denied that Gray was ever shot with a Taser. During the April 20 press conference, Deputy Commissioner Rodriguez said that there was no evidence of any use of a Taser, neither physical nor any of the statements. But Moore provided his statement about Grays alleged tasing on April 12.

As McDonell-Parry reported on the Undisclosed podcast, pictures of Grays body from the hospital show what could be Taser marks under his right knee.

The medical examiner, however, offered no explanation of these marks origin.

Similarly, in an April 21 interview, Duane Day, a childhood friend of Gray, told investigators that he watched them tase him two times, in handcuffs during stops one and two. Day said that he left stop two on his bike after seeing that.

On April 13the day after Grays arresthis friend Brandon Ross went to police headquarters and said he ran to help Gray after hearing him screaming and being shot with a Taser during stop two. Freddie is laying in the gutter with three officers around him. Hes screaming, Ross told the police. And they pick him up again and threw him headfirst, threw him in the wagon. Indeed, after stop two Ross called 911 to report an assault by police.

Ross recorded some of what he witnessed during this stop on a cell phone he borrowed from his neighbor, Michelle Gross, and shared it with investigators. The police did not disclose Rosss video to the public. On May 20, 2015, the Baltimore Sun shared a part of it after receiving a copy from Gross. The full video was played later in court during all four of the officers trials.

Rosss video is jumpy. It shows about 15 seconds of Gray, silent and motionless, hanging off the edge of the van, his knees on the ground, surrounded by officers. Rice enters the van. Officer Edward Nero picks up Grays legs and helps load him into the van. Officer William Porter approaches from his nearby car.

About halfway through Rosss video, it cuts to black, but the audio continues to record. One of the officers is heard yelling, Jail, jail, jail, as Moore had reported.

Several additional witnesses observed stop two from their Gilmor Homes apartments. Sierria Warren, interviewed by detectives outside of her home on the afternoon of Grays arrest, described her and her daughter being awakened by Grays screams. She heard eyewitnesses accuse the officers of tasing him.

Warren said Gray was lying on his stomach, face down when officers shackled his ankles. Then, she said, they just threw him in back [of] the paddy wagon, like really threw him in the back. Warren repeated this statement a few times, calling it aggressive. She also heard one officer threaten to tase a civilian.

Detectives never asked Warren to come to headquarters to provide a videotaped statement, but notes from the states attorneys office obtained by The Appeal indicate that prosecutors knew about her story. A spokesperson for the states attorneys office did not respond to requests for comment from The Appeal.

On April 14, Kiona Craddock met with an investigator from the states attorneys office, after her own video of Grays arrest had appeared in a local news report. Craddock told the investigator that she returned to her house after stop one, heard more yelling, and looked outside.

Gray was on the ground, they threw him in the paddy wagon face down, she said. When they threw him in that paddy wagon, he looked limp. He wasnt screaming no more either.

Jacqueline Jackson also witnessed stop two from her apartment window. Jackson shared her story with the Undisclosed podcast in 2017.

When I looked out the window, I seen they had Mr. Gray. They threw him up in the paddy wagon headfirst. She said she heard a noise, like a thump, followed by Gray making moaning sounds. After it happened, they looked scared, she said of the police. All of them looked scared.

Jackson was the only stop two witness to convey the belief that she had witnessed Grays fatal injury: And so when they put him up there, they didnt put him up there. They threw him headfirst. Thats how he got all the injuries.

Jackson also shared this stop two account with a few reporters, but it never got picked up broadly. On April 24, she told the Baltimore Sun that she saw Grays head hanging down when he was thrown. According to the medical examiner, Dr. Carol Allan, Grays jumped facet injury happened when his neck was hyperflexed, or bent forward.

Earl Williams also appeared in the April 24 Baltimore Sun report: They picked him up and literally threw him back in the wagon, he said. You know, thats crazy.

Jamel Baker observed stop two from his apartment on the other side of Mount Street. He was right above the van when he heard a scream.

I heard something that sounded like someone was being killed, he told police investigators on April 12. That man sounded like he was dying. Baker was not as clear as the other witnesses as to how Gray was put back into the van: Theyre like picking him up off the ground and throwing himlike, putting him in the wagon, he said.

Today, Baker doesnt have a clear memory of that part of the story, but he still remembers Grays screams. I heard screams, probably like two screams, he told The Appeal. When I went to the window, after that, I heard no more. When they put him in the van, I aint hear no more screams.

Finally, two more witnesses, Jernita Stackhouse and Tobias Sellers, observed stop two from the corner of Presbury and Mount. Both told the Undisclosed podcast in 2017 that they saw Gray thrown into the wagonlike he was a dang rag doll Sellers said. Sellers also spoke with police investigators on April 22, 2015, when he described Gray being beaten with batons at stop two and tased.

If the witnesses statements were accurate, then it would seem that Rosss video captured the aftermath of Gray being thrown into the van. This would mean that Gray was put into the van twicethrown in and then pulled in. The vans passenger space was narrow, measuring 19 inches across on the floor, according to case documents. It is not known how far Gray was thrown.

In total, there were 11 known witnesses to stop two. Nine reported that Gray was thrown into the van, many saying headfirst. Most reported Gray screaming loudly and then becoming quiet and/or motionless at this stop. Police asked three witnesses to give longer videotaped interviews on the record. Prosecutors asked just Ross and Baker to testify in court. Their testimony was mostly limited to identifying Gray in videos. Neither was asked about Gray being thrown headfirst into the van.

The prosecutions case was that Gray was still alive and well leaving stop two, based on the autopsy report. To support this claim, prosecutors actively disputed claims that Gray was injured during the first two stops during the four trials. While ostensibly holding the officers accountable in Grays death, the state relied mostly on what law enforcement said that morning.

Over four trials, the officers present at stop two offered consistent accounts about what happened there: Rice and Miller pulled Gray out of the van, Miller shackled his ankles, and Gray acted like a dead fish in order to resist arrest. Rice pulled Gray into the van, and Nero helped by lifting his legs. Then, the officers laid Gray flat on the vans floor and closed its doors. Each officer testified that Gray then suddenly got up and started banging, yelling, and shaking the van back and forth, despite being shackled at the hands and feet.

But the accounts presented by officers in court changed significantly from what they told investigators during the afternoon of Grays arrest. Their original stories were not consistent and did not include what Rosss video showed: Grays motionless body hanging out of the van.

The officers first-day statements were especially contradictory and confusing about how they put Gray back into the vannotable, given the clarity of witness claims that he was thrown. We lifted him up and actually put him back up into the wagon, Lt. Rice said. Nero said that all of the officers worked together to push Gray in the van. Miller believed that Rice pulled him in alone. Meanwhile, Officer Zachary Novak couldnt even remember if he got out of his police vehicle at stop two.

Officer Porter, interviewed a few days later, struggled with whether Gray was pushed or pulled into the wagon and by whom. He could only remember that it was a skinny white guy. His story changed mid-interview.

Lt. Rices account of Grays arrest differed most starkly from the other officers. He said that Gray was shaking the van violently throughout stops one and two. Miller mentioned the shaking, but only at the end of stop two.

Rices account was important, because the van-shaking story became a pillar of the Freddie Gray case narrative. The shaking, which only Rice had reported, is mentioned in the autopsy report as occurring throughout stops one and two. It became the defenses story in court for how stop two concluded, repeated by all of the officers present at the scene. It also became central to the media narrative about the case.

But Rices van-shaking story was not corroborated by any civilian witnesses. An Internal Affairs investigation, launched after the criminal charges were dismissed and outsourced to two Maryland county police departments, reviewed all of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and noted wagon not rocking/shaking at each moment.

During his first-day interview, Rice also repeatedly said that Gray was hitting his head against the van walls after the doors were closed at stop two. When he got back into the wagon, the wagon began shaking violently, and he was hitting his head, and kicking the door, he said.

But Rices account of Grays head striking the vans walls never made it to trial. It wasnt supported by the physical evidence: Grays head only had one point of major impact, not surface injuries. His cause of death did involve a high-impact injury to his head, though.

Officer Novak also offered this story as a possibility to investigators: Weve had people in the past, like, when theyre upset hit their head up against a wall. He suggested that the Crime Scene Unit examine the wall of the van: It wasnt like a lot of blood or anything like that, but it was like two smears.

Novak was at the Western District station when the medics arrived on April 12. Angelique Herbert, the lead medic, told investigators that she asked the officers what happened and that the white officer on the sceneNovakresponded, I dont know, but I think he was banging his head up in the paddy wagon.

Investigators heard this account one more time on April 12 from Donta Allen, who was a passenger in the van with Gray. The bike officers had placed Allen on the other side of a metal partition from Gray at stop five, the last stop before the Western District. Allen told investigators, It sounded like he was banging his head against the metal, like he was trying to knock himself out or something.

In media interviews, Allen later changed his statement, saying that he only heard light banging. During the July 2016 trial of Officer Goodson, he also testified that he had spoken to Novak before his interrogation and that the officer had given him the fake name Danny to put in his phone. Novak received immunity from prosecution by the state.

During Goodsons trial, Judge Barry G. Williams scolded prosecutors for failing to turn over to the defense evidence of two private meetings they held with Allen. Im not saying you did anything nefariously, Williams said. Im saying you dont know what exculpatory means.

The story that Allen heard Gray banging his head in the police van was repeated throughout the media. But the public never learned that Lt. Rice was a primary source. The prosecutors never played Rices taped statement during his own trial, as they had during the other officers trials.

Prosecutors largely did not hold the officers accountable for their confused and changed stories about stop two. The states case was based on the autopsy, which determined that Gray was fatally injured sometime between stops two and four while the van was in motion. Dr. Allans report, however, was not conclusive: Therefore, the time the injury most likely occurred was after the 2nd but before the 4th stop of the van, and possibly before the 3rd stop, she wrote.

At least 15 civilians reported that Gray was the victim of excessive force by the Baltimore police. Many of the witnesses were elderly residents of row houses across the street from Gilmor Homes. Their accounts were consistent; they can also be seen on CCTV cameras that recorded Grays arrest, which definitively places them at the scene. But, at most, they were interviewed for a few minutes outside their homes and forgotten.

Some of the witnesses say they remain frustrated by the investigative process. They asked a few questions, but they act like they didnt believe what I was saying. Alethea Booze, who witnessed stop one, told The Appeal. Everyone that saw what happened wanted to appear in court, but they didnt call any of us.

Five years later, Baker, who did appear in court, still feels let down by the prosecutors. They made it seem like we was going to get justice, but nothing really happened, he told The Appeal. He described the trials as a waste of time.

When the police department officially closed the Gray case in 2017, it released several binders of documents and photographs to the Baltimore Sun in response to a Public Information Act request. (The Sun has since removed the documents from its website.)

The newly obtained evidence reveals that significant pieces of the case were not included in the polices 2017 release. The binders included official transcripts from officers statements but none from any civilian witnesses. Witnesses were reduced to mugshots, criminal histories, and scant notes by investigators. The 2017 release represented the polices final word on the Gray case, but it mirrored the departments investigation, which suppressed witness statements and minimized the lived experiences of people in the Gilmor Homes community.

Amelia McDonell-Parry contributed to this story.

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Freddie Gray, Five Years Later - The Appeal