America has become a nationwide body cam

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Tripped and fell" — how the Buffalo Police Department originally described an incident where cops shoved a 75-year-old man to the ground, causing him to bleed out of his ears.

BLODGET & PLOTZ

America has become a nationwide body cam — and it's helping

In 1965, on Bloody Sunday, TV cameras captured Alabama state troopers beating and gassing civil rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, causing outrage that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

The lesson of the George Floyd protests is: Everything is on video. Today it is not just TV cameras, but also Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, and more broadcasting images of thuggish police attacks on nonviolent protesters. Everyone is carrying a high-definition video camera in their hand.

America is a body cam.

And the resulting videos are capturing truth and changing the world.

Yesterday brought us one of the most shocking of these scenes yet. For no apparent reason, Buffalo Police officers shoved a peaceful protester to the ground. As this protester — a 75-year-old man — lay motionless, blood pouring out of his ears, none of the dozens of police officers nearby moved to help or offer medical care. Rather they charged at witnesses and journalists and rousted them away. Later the department had the gall to issue a statement that was a lie, saying the man "tripped and fell." Twitter exploded at the shove, the callous neglect of the wounded man, and the lie, and now the Buffalo department has suspended two officers without pay.

And this is just one of hundreds of episodes of violent police misbehavior captured on camera in the past few days. Here are cops beating a woman who pushed away an officer who detained her. Why did she push him away? Probably because he was groping her, as the camera clearly shows. That clip comes from a Twitter thread showing 300 different instances of police violence toward nonviolent protesters — almost every example apparently unprovoked or disproportionate or both.

As New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo tweeted: "The violent police response to the protests is totally proving the point of the protests: hard to make the case that police brutality is a matter of a few 'bad apples' when scores of video shows the whole culture is violent and rotten to the core."

America needs police, who are essential to public safety and order. The vast majority of police officers — probably even the ones committing these brutal acts — want to help and protect the communities they serve. And this moment of protests is a glorious opportunity for the nation to reckon with the shortcomings of law enforcement, and bring genuine reform.

But cops must stop this violence. They must understand what it means to be seen and filmed. They must recognize that they're delegitimizing their work when we see them assaulting the citizens they are assigned to protect.

America is a body cam. — DP

Where is Mike Pence?

Has there ever been a politician cannier at protecting his self-image than Vice President Mike Pence?

It's no surprise he's practically vanished during the George Floyd crisis. Insider's Tom LoBianco reports that the Veep has been doing interviews for local TV stations in swing states, and meeting quietly with black conservatives. He avoided the St. John's Church photo-op debacle. He hasn't said anything inflammatory about protesters or the military.

In short, he has Penced it.

At almost every sensitive moment of the Trump campaign and presidency, any time in which Pence could tarnish himself, the vice president has vanished. He's present when he can burnish his conservative reputation, but mysteriously absent at the hottest moments. AWOL during Access Hollywood. Behind the scenes during Charlottesville. MIA during the worst of impeachment.

Disappearing is a brilliant career move for Pence. He never has to disavow President Trump's worst actions or overtly endorse them. He's never disloyal, but also never reckless. That's why even if Trump loses badly in 2020, Pence will still be clean enough to run for president in 2024. — DP

Could President Trump take military control of DC?

The showdown between Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Trump administration is escalating.

President Trump's actions suggest that, if he's going to deploy troops against protesters, he would do it in Washington first. The administration has positioned hundreds of federal officers from various agencies — many who refuse to identify themselves — around federal property in the city. Hundreds of National Guard troops from Utah and other states have been deployed, and there are active-duty forces waiting just outside Washington.

Bowser is opposing the federal presence as forcefully as she dares. On Friday morning, she asked that Trump withdraw "all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence from our city." The Utah Guard troops and others were kicked out of their hotels, apparently because Bowser's administration decided to stop paying the bill for troops it doesn't want in the city. Bowser also successfully compelled the feds to shrink the perimeter around the White House on the grounds that the DC government controls the streets outside a narrow federal zone.

Bowser is also writing her answer to the feds on the streets. City workers painted an enormous Black Lives Matter mural on 16th street, as close to the White House as they can get.

This showdown is constitutionally fascinating but also worrisome. For the vast majority of its history, DC was a federal colony, ruled by congressionally-appointed officials and with no self-government. There's been limited home rule since 1974, but it's always provisional. Article 1 of the Constitution grants Congress exclusive control over the federal capital in "all cases whatsoever."

Does that apply to city streets outside the federal zone? Does it grant the President, as opposed to Congress, any of that control? Does it apply to District citizens or just federal land? These questions are untested in court, and it's not at all clear how this Supreme Court might answer them. — DP

OTHER NEWS

Former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly agrees with Mattis's criticisms of the President. The former general also says deploying active duty troops against protests would be a mistake.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Another shocking jobs report… except this one was good! The US economy added 2.5 million jobs in May. The experts were expecting a loss of 7.5 million. So the experts were 10 million off. But, happily, the surprise was positive, not negative, and the unemployment rate fell to a still-staggering 13.3%. The report suggests that the economy is recovering more quickly than expected from the coronavirus shock. Investors liked the news, and stocks continued their upward surge. —HB

America's billionaires have cheaped out during the pandemic

The Washington Post surveyed the 50 richest Americans about what they've done to help others during the pandemic, and it's a disgrace. Here are the details. They've publicly given $1 billion to fight COVID-19, which sounds like a lot till you compare it to their collective net worth of $1.6 trillion. Put another way, what they've given away is the equivalent of the average American household giving away about $60. The $1 billion is also shocking when you consider that their collective wealth increased $430 billion between March and May.

There are a few outliers: Jack Dorsey, Ray Dalio, and Bill Gates are putting huge sums to work. Our billionaires are so smart about making money and so fortunate to live in a country that enables them such rewards: It's shameful that they're so stingy and unimaginative when it comes to the great economic and health crisis of their lifetimes. — DP

LIFE

TikTok producer re-created the Harry Potter theme using a washer and dryer. JK Rowling liked it.

A young black man's video of the "unwritten rules" his mom taught him to keep him safe. Such as: Don't put your hands in your pockets. Don't touch anything in a store unless you're buying it.

REVIEWS

How to clean your dog's ears and what you need to do it. It's gross but essential.

THE BIG 3*

Maryland authorities looking for cyclist who assaulted a girl posting George Floyd flyers. The video of the incident has gone viral.

Several Minneapolis city councilmembers seek to disband the police department. They propose to start over with "community-oriented, non-violent public safety."

Home Depot cofounder decided how to bequeath his $5.9 billion fortune. Bernie Marcus will leave up to 90% of his fortune to help disabled veterans and autistic children. He's also planning to spend a lot on Trump's reelection campaign.

*The most popular stories on Insider today.