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Chris Hayes on how police treat black Americans like colonial subjects 

“American criminal justice isn’t one system with massive racial disparities but two distinct regimes,” writes MSNBC host Chris Hayes in his book, A Colony in a Nation. “One (the Nation) is the kind of policing regime you expect in a democracy; the other (the Colony) is the kind you expect in an occupied land.”

George Floyd’s death and the brutal attacks on protesters reveal the bifurcated system Hayes describes. The idea that the US contains two entirely different operating models for policing and criminal justice is on grim display every day on our Twitter feeds, our televisions, and outside …

5 primary races to watch in Iowa

Update: Theresa Greenfield has won the Democratic primary for Senate and state Sen. Randy Feenstra has beaten Rep. Steve King in the Republican primary for the Fourth Congressional District.

Almost all of Iowa’s congressional delegation is contested this fall — and June 2’s primary is set to play a major role in shaping what those races look like.

Statewide, the race to watch is the Democratic Senate primary, which will determine the candidate who’ll go up against Sen. Joni Ernst, the state’s Republican incumbent and one of Democrats’ top targets. The seat, which Cook Political Report currently rates as Lean …

Live results for the June 2 primaries

Amid a week of nationwide protests, several states and the District of Columbia are holding primaries Tuesday featuring several competitive races for governor, US Senate, and congressional seats.

There are four competitive House races in Pennsylvania, a state that’s inextricably linked to Democrats’ chances of retaking the White House in 2020. In Iowa, there’s a Democratic Senate primary to decide who will challenge Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. That race will be closely watched race this fall, as Democrats see it as one that could help them retake control of the Senate.

In Montana, there are primaries for governor, US Senate, …

Mark Zuckerberg on leaked audio: Trump’s looting and shooting reference “has no history of being read as a dog whistle”

In an internal video call with Facebook employees on Tuesday viewed by Recode, CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled down on his controversial decision to take no action on a post last week from President Donald Trump. In the post, Trump referred to the ongoing protests in the US against racism and police brutality and said, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Facebook’s handling of Trump’s post — which included language similar to what segregationists used when referring to black protesters in the civil rights era — has divided employees at Facebook and prompted them to openly criticize Zuckerberg in a …

Why people are posting black squares on Instagram

An effort to raise awareness about police brutality and systemic racism, which started in the music industry before being co-opted by countless Instagram users, appears to be backfiring somewhat.

The “Blackout Tuesday” campaign began as a push for a day of reflection from music artists and labels in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis last Monday. But almost immediately after the campaign started, countless Instagram users uploaded solid black squares in solidarity and added a #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. That meant the new Blackout Tuesday posts showed up as rows and rows of …

Trump’s push for “law and order” only led to more chaos in DC overnight

President Donald Trump made his first White House address on the protests around the US Monday. From the Rose Garden, about 15 minutes before Washington, DC’s 7 pm ET curfew took effect, he addressed peaceful protesters nationwide, telling them, “I will fight to protect you.”

However, it quickly became clear that law enforcement would instead fight protesters on his behalf. And his insistence in increasing the number of law enforcement personnel in Washington, DC, only led to greater chaos Monday night, with numerous examples of the sort of police action protesters have been demonstrating against.

In his speech, Trump did …

Trump used a damaged DC church for a photo op. The bishop is furious.

The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop for Washington, DC, condemned President Trump shortly after law enforcement officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a peaceful protest — all so that Trump could have a photo op in front of a church.

Sunday night, as large groups of peaceful protesters and much smaller groups of less peaceful demonstrators filled the streets of DC, a fire was set in the basement of St. John’s Church, an Episcopal church located near the White House. The fire was extinguished, and the church reportedly suffered only minor damage.

Nevertheless, …

The White House’s explanation for a tear gas attack on peaceful protesters doesn’t add up

Just minutes before President Donald Trump was scheduled to give a speech in the White House Rose Garden about the anti–police brutality protests, law enforcement officers outside the White House launched tear gas at hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered in neighboring Lafayette Square.

It produced a shocking scene of federal officials shooting a weapon banned from warfare at Americans. The crowd scattered, allowing Secret Service, National Guard, and Park Police personnel to make a path for Trump and his team to visit a nearby church after his address.

That led to widespread speculation that Trump or someone else at the …

Minnesota law enforcement isn’t “contact tracing” protesters, despite an official’s comment

“Contact tracing” has become the term du jour in the coronavirus era, as it’s largely seen as one of our best, time-tested tools to contain the spread of the virus and safely reopen the country. But it’s also controversial, especially with the rollout of digital contact tracing tools, some of which were created by data-greedy tech companies. Privacy advocates have feared that the public health crisis could give rise to surveillance methods that are applied to other areas long after the pandemic has passed. Some are stoking those fears.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety raised alarm bells last …