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Sen. Rand Paul said his family has received at least five death threats over his public disagreements with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

This week, Ive had five death threats just for being outspoken on it, Paul said during an episode on Fox Newss Hannity.

Paul, who has repeatedly called for Faucis firing, told host Sean Hannity that having a civil disagreement was no longer possible as his family suffered as a repercussion to the public feuds.

I dont know what the worlds coming to. You cant ask honest, difficult questions that, in the end, have proved out that Dr. Fauci was not being honest with us, but as a repercussion, my family had white powder sent to our house and five death threats phoned in, the Kentucky Republican said.

In May, Paul shared that his family received an envelope containing white powder. It included a threatening letter with a photo of a gun to Pauls head and the words Ill finish what your neighbor started, you motherf*****," referring to a 2017 incident in which Paul was hospitalized with broken ribs after his neighbor assaulted him.

TRUMP SLAMS FAUCI AFTER EMAIL DUMP AND SAYS COUNTRY IS FORTUNATE HE DIDNT DO WHAT DR. FAUCI WANTED

The senator told Hannity that Faucis professional emails, which were recently acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request and published online, justify his past criticisms.

Theres been no more prominent scientist in favor of gain-of-function research than Dr. Fauci, Paul said. He still hasnt backed off of that position. He still believes that its OK to take animal viruses and make them into superviruses to infect humans. Even if a pandemic should occur, he says the research is worth it.

But you know what? Theres a host of other scientists in this field, and they say its not worth it at all, that we havent learned anything, he added. All weve done is put ourselves at risk.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Paul said the gain-of-function research used at the virology lab in Wuhan, China, needs to stop.

This is a bad one, Paul said of the coronavirus pandemic. This has about 1% mortality 3.5 million people have died. But theyve been experimenting with some viruses that have 15% mortality. That would be 50 million deaths right now.

So, this kind of research needs to not be funded by the U.S. taxpayer, he added. Its very, very dangerous.

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Rand Paul says his family has received death threats over ...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told Fox News on Friday that he's been receiving death threats for his public criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert.

In recent days, Paul has accused Fauci of misleading the public about the origins of the coronavirus.

The accusation is based on recently released emails Fauci exchanged at the beginning of the pandemic, discussing the possibility of COVID-19 being created in a lab, at a time when he was publicly downplaying the theory.

He also said Fauci lied about funding research into the weaponizing of coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab now being considered as a possible site COVID-19 originated.

"I've had five death threats just for being outspoken on it this week," Paul told Sean Hannity on Friday. "I've had five death threats. I don't know what the world is coming to, you can't ask honest, difficult questions that in the end have proved out that Dr. Fauci was not being honest with us, but as a repercussion, my family had white powder sent to our house, and five death threats phone in."

A representative of the Warren County Sheriff's Office, in Paul's home state, referred Insider to the US Capitol Police for confirmation of the death threats on Sunday. As of Sunday morning, the US Capitol Police had not returned Insider's email requesting confirmation of the death threats.

Meanwhile, Fauci has defended himself against the attacks he's been receiving from the right.

In an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC Friday night, Fauci called the accusations that he lied to the public "fabricated," "nonsense" and a "distraction.

"My job was to make a vaccine and use my institute and these talented scientists that we have there and that we fund in the various universities to get a vaccine that was highly safe and highly effective," he said.

"We succeeded. All the other stuff is just a terrible, not happy type of distraction. But it's all nonsense."

He also maintained in a CNN interview on Thursday that he believes the coronavirus originated naturally.

"I still believe the most likely origin is from an animal species to a human, but I keep an absolutely open mind that if there may be other origins of that, there may be another reason, it could have been a lab leak," Fauci said.

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COVID-19: Rand Paul says Fauci criticism has triggered death threats - Business Insider

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY On June 2, 2020, eight days after the murder of George Floyd, protesters occupied two full blocks of East End Avenue outside Gracie Mansion and held a silent vigil in memory of people killed by police. The following night, they returned.

Improbably, the vigils never stopped. On Wednesday, a few dozen people met in Carl Schurz Park, as they have done almost every night over the past 12 months, marking the one-year anniversary of the gatherings that became known as Upper East Side For Black Lives Matter (UES4BLM).

"It was just good to see that it's still going," said Saundrea Coleman, who attended the first vigil last year and later became one of the group's main organizers.

Along the way, organizers say they have driven meaningful change in a neighborhood hardly known for its protest scene even as they received harsh, sometimes violent resistance from others on the Upper East Side.

The vigils began when Patrick Bobilin, a neighborhood activist and onetime candidate for State Assembly, attended a similar event in Brooklyn's McCarren Park in the wake of Floyd's death last spring.

"I realized something like that could be valuable in my neighborhood," he recalled. "So I sent a couple messages out to a few neighbors."

The hundreds of people who attended that first night's vigil sat silently for a full 30 minutes before leading a "Black Lives Matter" chant and then dispersing ahead of the 8 p.m. curfew that the city had ordered.

In the ensuing weeks, attendance remained in the low hundreds, shrinking to a few dozen by the fall. Guest speakers ranged from the writer Maeve Higgins to the great granddaughter of Eleanor Bumpurs, an elderly Black woman who was fatally shot by police in her Bronx home in 1984.

In the depths of winter, five or six people braved the elements and shivered together in the park each night, Coleman recalled.

Since the protests' early days, however, participants have felt pushback. Hecklers occasionally walk up or drive past and shout profanities, threats of violence against protesters have appeared on social media, and the "altar" to victims of police violence that demonstrators constructed in the park is vandalized constantly including a recent night when it was smeared with feces, Coleman said.

Other antagonizing moments have included a baffling "No Protesting Allowed" sign that appeared in the park in October, and an incident in August when Coleman's cousin, visiting from California, was tackled to the ground by a stranger as she marched on the East River Esplanade.

Still, Coleman said the group's achievements carry more weight than the occasional hostility. She pointed to the formation in December of Community Board 8's social justice committee, which she co-chairs and which has pushed the board to call for major police reforms and accountability for the Capitol rioters.

"I think things are changing," Coleman said. "As long as people continue to speak out, speak truth to power, we're starting to look at all of these systemic issues that have plagued Black people."

Bobilin said he hopes the current organizers find new ways to engage their neighbors, to ensure that the vigil does not become "something that people either just pass by on their morning run, or try to avoid from 7 to 8 p.m. if they don't agree with it."

"My worry is that it becomes routine, whether for the neighborhood or for the attendees," he said.

Coleman said the group is already planning one major change: once UES4BLM reaches 400 consecutive days in July, it will cease to be a nightly event and will pivot instead to a Friday-Sunday schedule.

That reduction will give organizers more time to step back and consider the best ways to approach their work, Coleman said. But the underlying issues show no sign of going away.

"At the end of the day, Black people are still dying," she said.

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UES Black Lives Matter Group Marks 1 Year Of Nightly Vigils - Upper East Side, NY Patch

The statue of Bristol slave-trader Edward Colston - toppled during a Black Lives Matter protest a year ago - is to go on display to the public from tomorrow.

The temporary exhibition in the city sees the statue scratched and still covered in spray paint - just as it was recovered from the bottom of Bristol Harbour, where it was dumped by protestors back in June 2020.

Shawn Sobers from the Bristol History Commission has helped the M-Shed Museum organise the display: "What we don't want people to feel is that this display is in any way celebrating, commemorating, or commiserating Colston as an individual.

"But it is an important part of the history of the city to really get an understanding of his role in trans-Atlantic slave trade, and how we can move beyond this point," he added.

The statue of the 17th century slave trader was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest less than two weeks after the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.

It led to a national debate on the future of statues and the changing of other buildings and institutions in Bristol named after Colston.

The exhibition coincides with a new survey which will seek opinions from the public as to what should happen long-term to the statue and the now empty plinth.

"This display is all about gathering people's opinions on what should happen to the statue next," said Mr Sobers. "We feel this is an important moment and opportunity to find out how Bristol people want to go forward from this point onwards."

The statue lies on its side, still covered in graffiti, and surrounded by placards used by protesters on 7 June last year.

Ray Barnett, head of collections and archives for Bristol City Council, told Sky News work has been carried out to keep the protestor's paint work in place: "Our view was that our role was to keep all options open. From a museum point of view that was about conservation rather than restoration."

"We're expecting a great variety of reactions from people to be honest. We want people to use it as a vehicle for people to express their views on how these problematic issues are faced up to as a city," he added.

The toppling of the statue on 7 June last year divided opinion in Bristol - and reaction to the new exhibition remains mixed.

"Now that they've put it on display it's not a bad thing as it's an opportunity for people to educate the other people who come to visit to tell them what kind of guy he was - he built a school, okay, but he also did lots and lots of bad things," said Bristol local Farhap Oshref.

But another lady - who did not want to be named - said she wants the statue to be put back.

"It's been there for years, just leave it, put it back - why not? It's just been there, do you know what I mean, and if that was ours, and it is history gone by, I believe things have moved on," she said.

There is no set time frame for how long the exhibition will last, or when the public survey will close.

Mr Sobers told Sky News this initial display is simply about starting a conversation about the issues raised by the protest, the city's slave-trade history and the statue's toppling.

He said: "This display is by no means suggested that those issues have gone away, actually what we want is this display to do is think about and address it what are those issues going on.

"These very strong feelings in the city are still present and how can we start to have a conversation and what actions can we put in place."

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Edward Colston: Bristol statue vandalised and toppled during Black Lives Matter protest goes on display - Sky News

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names of people who have passed away, and descriptions of these deaths.

One year has passed since George Floyds death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Floyds name is imprinted upon our consciousness, as it should be.

However, in Australia we know less about the more than 474 Indigenous people who have died in police or prison custody in the 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

While Floyds death and the Black Lives Matter movement sparked extensive media attention, Australian Indigenous deaths in custody have had a harder time attracting sustained coverage, particularly from mainstream news outlets. Media attention on the issue has been episodic and too often absent.

As Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire says, there is a national apathy in response to First Nations deaths in custody. McQuire, who consistently reports on deaths in custody as an independent journalist, says: When Aboriginal people die in custody there is a national silence. Some deaths in custody break through, but many more pass unnoticed.

The royal commission stated that to reduce Aboriginal deaths in custody it is critical to reduce imprisonment rates (which have doubled since 1991), and to improve the exercise of the duty of care owed to people in custody.

Two Indigenous deaths in custody, 20 years apart, demonstrate the failure to achieve both.

In 1994, 30-year-old Aboriginal woman Ms Beetson died of treatable heart disease in Sydneys Mulawa womens prison.

She was admitted to prison unwell; previous open-heart surgery and other concerns were highlighted on her admittance form. She was given a cursory medical examination and her symptoms were put down to drug withdrawal. Over a week, she became weaker and sicker, received no effective medical attention and died alone in a cell.

In 2014, Yamatji woman Ms Dhu, 22, was arrested for unpaid fines, against royal commission recommendations. She was held in a South Hedland, WA, police watch house for three days in intense pain and growing sicker.

The usual assumptions were made about drug withdrawal and that she was faking it. She died of staphylococcal septicaemia and pneumonia.

Twenty years apart, the circumstances around Ms Beetsons and Ms Dhus deaths reflect the same inadequate medical treatment, inhumanity, lack of professionalism and failures. Both medical conditions were treatable and both deaths preventable.

But the story of Ms Dhus case broke through, due to local and effective activism, and because the media landscape had started to change.

Read more: Not criminals or passive victims: media need to reframe their representation of Aboriginal deaths in custody

The year before Ms Dhus death, The Guardian began publishing an online Australian edition. Guardian journalist Calla Wahlquist reported at least one story every day from the inquest into Ms Dhus death.

The Guardians sustained deaths in custody reporting and its Deaths Inside database have made a difference to deaths in custody coverage.

Media attention was important in helping to create the conditions for the royal commissions establishment. Among the more influential and agenda-setting stories were those by Western Australian freelance journalist Jan Mayman reporting on Roebourne teenager John Pats 1983 death for The Age, and a 1985 Four Corners program presented by David Marr.

In its report and recommendations, the royal commission recognised the important role of the media as a form of collective conscience, contributing to the possibility of increased justice for Aboriginal people.

The release of the royal commissions final report was a Black-lives-just-could-matter moment in Australia.

Here was the blueprint for transforming the life chances of Aboriginal people, and the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Implementing the reports 339 recommendations could reduce imprisonment rates, deaths in custody, inequality and disadvantage.

When the report was released, the media was again interested and engaged. Aboriginal peoples points of view were heard, and Aboriginal deaths in custody became an important story that put individual deaths into context. However, this kind of reporting soon fell away.

Four years after the report, governments were claiming successful implementation of the royal commissions recommendations. However, the Australian Institute of Criminology was reporting deaths in prison at record levels.

Research by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found the media uncritically reported government implementation claims as if they were true.

While First Nations journalists, such as Amy McQuire, Gamilaraay and Yawalaraay woman Loreena Allam and Muruwari man Allan Clarke, are telling stories of injustice meted out to Aboriginal people, non-Indigenous journalists must also keep telling stories about the injustices caused by colonisation.

It took an event in the US to spark the Indigenous lives matter response across Australia. Journalists must continue to report on the chain of events that lead to Black deaths at the hands of the state.

How we can do this:

We can report the facts, for instance, Indigenous adult and youth apprehension and imprisonment rates, Aboriginal youth and adult suicide rates, coronial inquest findings and recommendations.

We can interview witnesses, family members and representatives, police and prison officers, and other experts and report what they and other informed commentators say about the facts, consequences and causes of those deaths.

We can investigate and discern the patterns emerging from these deaths; the similar facts and common factors, the same systemic failures, the ongoing evidence of institutional racism.

Through our journalism we need to honour each person who has died, and try to bring some comfort to their affected families and communities.

As investigative journalist Allan Clarke says:

Australia, we can do better and we must do better.

See here for resources and guides for what we as journalists can do.

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Australia's news media play an important role reminding the country that Black lives still matter - The Conversation Australia & New Zealand