skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Groups Demand Armed Officers in Protests Show Badges

play audio
Play

Monday, June 8, 2020   

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Despite a weekend of peaceful protests in Washington, D.C., over the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, civil liberties groups say the presence of unidentified law enforcement officials in the city is causing concern.

The Knight First Amendment Institute has called on Attorney General William Barr to require all officers to display their agency affiliations, after journalists identified Federal Bureau of Prisons officers with no insignia patrolling protests.

The so-called "No-Badge" practice is a way to avoid accountability and intimidate protesters, according to Garett Reppenhagen, executive director of the group Veterans for Peace. He said it's especially dangerous to use unidentified prison guards to patrol peaceful marchers.

"When the only folks you're used to dealing with are already convicted prisoners, I think you might tend on treating everybody as if they're a convicted prisoner, when they're just citizens of the United States trying to exercise their First Amendment rights," Reppenhagen said.

Yesterday, President Donald Trump began withdrawing National Guard troops from the nation's capital in a step back from his show of force against protesters in Lafayette Park last week. But some demonstrators say officers without visible identification remained on the scene over the weekend.

Trump's move comes after Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser requested he withdraw all extra federal officers from the city. She said unidentified federal personnel pose both safety and national security risks.

Reppenhagen said he agrees with Bowser. He pointed out that whenever armed soldiers are used to patrol crowds, it's an invitation for violent resistance.

"Not a lot of people like to be humiliated and intimidated by soldiers on their streets and in their communities," he said. "So, I'm a little worried that the more we militarize and escalate in our communities, the more we're going to see violence and bloodshed. And I hope that we can stand down our troops for black lives."

More demonstrations are planned for Monday in D.C., including an ongoing protest across from the fenced-in White House.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021