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znModeratorfrom https://www.opb.org/news/article/police-violence-portland-protest-federal-officers/
Only after that last tactic gathered national headlines would the country take notice and ask: Was Portland really a “city under siege,” as acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf described it? Protesters and journalists who regularly showed up at the nightly demonstrations agreed a siege was happening — but over 14 days, federal law enforcement increasingly became the occupying force.
Here is how we got here:
June 5
As in cities across the county, Portlanders turned out to protest racism and violence in the criminal justice system after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. After a week of widespread use of tear gas and impact munitions to disperse mostly nonviolent protesters, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau, limiting their use of tear gas to instances “in which the lives or safety of the public or the police are at risk.”In his order, U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez said that, given the evidence, there was a “strong likelihood” the bureau had violated protesters’ Fourth Amendment rights, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and covers excessive use of force.
June 26
The city and protesters agreed to expand the restraining order beyond tear gas, to include crowd control devices like pepper spray and rubber bullets. Portland police still continued to use tear gas and impact munitions, but the bar to justify their use was significantly higher. State lawmakers in the Oregon Legislature also passed a law requiring police to first warn protesters before using tear gas. Under the new law, officers must determine that a “riot” is occurring. Oregon law defines a riot as just five people acting in a violent manner.That same day, Trump signed an executive order to protect statues and monuments across the country and to combat what he described as “criminal violence” arising from protests against police violence and systemic racism.
The order came as statues of Confederate generals and other slave-owning historic figures were either removed or pulled down by protesters, including one of George Washington in Northeast Portland on the eve of the Juneteenth holiday and another of Thomas Jefferson days before that. In response, the Department of Homeland Security sent officers to Portland, Seattle, Gettysburg National Park in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection memo dated July 1 noted that the executive order created a DHS task force to “surge” federal law enforcement resources to protect against potential civil unrest. (The Nation first reported on the documents.)
July 1
Federal officers started playing a more obvious and active role during nightly protests in Portland, pulling protesters’ attention away from the Multnomah County Justice Center and refocusing it across the street on the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. That night, federal officers emerged from the boarded-up courthouse to fire pepper balls at demonstrators who came too close to the building. Their appearance changed the protests.“People felt like they knew what they were getting into with Portland police,” said Portland-based independent journalist Tuck Woodstock, who has been covering the protests since late May. The protesters had specific demands for Portland police — they wanted officers held accountable for specific acts of violence and the bureau defunded.
Woodstock said that in the wake of the temporary restraining order, demonstrators felt like some accountability for the Portland Police Bureau was possible. Weeks before, protesters had successfully pressured city government to disband the bureau’s controversial Gun Violence Reduction Team, end the school resource officer program and reallocate nearly $16 million from the police budget into community programs.
“With the federal officers, it feels like everyone in the city of Portland is almost powerless to hold them to any kind of account,” Woodstock said.
July 4
Hundreds of protesters gathered around the Multnomah County Justice Center and Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. Fireworks shows across the country, including Portland, had been canceled because of the pandemic, but protesters filled the gap.After more than a month of police using tear gas, impact munitions and flash bang devices to disperse enormous crowds and largely nonviolent demonstrations, the protesters on Independence Day had a fireworks display of their own. They aimed at times at the two government buildings — and the government officers — who had come to represent everything the demonstrators were protesting: racism, police brutality and an unjust criminal justice system.
Just before 11 p.m, protesters fired a variety of fireworks, including some commercial-grade fireworks, at the federal courthouse. Some also aimed green laser pointers at the exterior. Demonstrators yelled at the officers hiding behind small hatches cut in the plywood facade of the boarded-up building; the holes were used as blinds to fire pepperball munitions on the crowd.
After about 15 minutes, federal officers grew impatient. Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit or BORTAC, and the Federal Protective Service quickly filled the courthouse’s covered entryway with tear gas. Flash bangs detonated as protesters scattered, and officers poured out of the boarded-up front entrance.
From there, officers continued across the street into Lownsdale Square, a city park. They continued marching west, joined by the Portland Police Bureau, pushing the crowd farther and farther along city streets. By the time federal officers stopped marching, the line of law enforcement officers was blocks away from federal property at the courthouse.
July 8
After multiple failed strategies in response to the protests and a continued inability to end the nightly demonstrations, Portland Deputy Chief Chris Davis met with the media. He characterized the protesters as criminals who had co-opted a peaceful movement, a tried and true tactic used by government officials over the decades to delegitimize social movements. Protesters of nearly every stripe rejected the characterization.In response to the July 4 events, Davis said Portland’s police had no control over federal officers and that their presence made local officers’ jobs more difficult.
“I don’t have authority over federal officers,” Davis said. “They’re governed by their own policies and procedures. They’re acting under federal law, federal authority. … It does complicate things for us.”
Still, Davis said, an officer from the federal agencies was stationed in the Portland Police Bureau’s nightly command post to coordinate as needed.
July 10
During a military briefing in Doral, Florida, Trump brought up the federal presence in the city of Portland unprompted. He said he had sent the officers to Oregon because “the locals couldn’t handle it.”“It was out of control,” the president said.
July 11
Protesters once again gathered at night in the city park across the street from the federal courthouse. They taunted federal officers, telling them to get out of Portland.One demonstrator, 26-year-old Donavan La Bella, stood at the edge of the park closest to the courthouse. He held a boombox over his head with both hands. When a tear gas canister landed at his feet, he bent over and pushed it a few feet away. He stood back up and lifted the boombox again, and a U.S. marshal shot him in the head with an impact round, fracturing his skull and leaving him in critical condition.
The shooting prompted outcry from Oregon elected officials. Gov. Brown said it was the result of Trump continuing to push for force and violence in response to protests.
Unlike several of his fellow city commissioners, the governor and Oregon’s two U.S. senators, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler took almost 18 hours to respond. His written statement bemoaned the violence, but didn’t go as far as other elected officials in condemning federal behavior.
“I’m concerned that the actions of federal officers last night escalated, rather than de-escalated, already heightened tensions in our city,” said Wheeler, who is also Portland’s police commissioner.
July 13
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said Trump had a dangerous fixation with strong-arming peaceful protesters.“What America does not need is Donald Trump parachuting federal law enforcement into U.S. cities as if they’re enemy strongholds requiring an occupying army to suppress,” Wyden said.
The next day, Sens. Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici — all Democrats — sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice seeking answers about the federal officers’ deployment in Portland.
At the White House, Trump said nothing of the injuries to protester LaBella, and praised the federal law enforcement’s response.
“We’ve done a great job in Portland,” Trump said. “Portland was totally out of control. They went in and I guess they have many people right now in jail. We very much quelled it. If it starts again, we’ll quell it again, very easily. It’s not hard to do.”
July 15
In the early morning hours of July 15, video surfaced on Twitter showing two officers in camouflage getting out of an unmarked van. They walked toward a person in a black hoodie and a helmet.Officers put the person’s hands behind their back and walked them back to an unmarked van before driving away.
Related: Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets
In a separate incident, around 2:30 a.m., Mark Pettibone was also grabbed by federal agents in camouflage.
“A van pulls up right in front of us,” Pettibone later told OPB. “I am basically tossed into the van. I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see, and they held my hands over my head.”
Pettibone said he was taken to the federal courthouse where federal officers searched and photographed him but gave no reason for his arrest.
“They patted me down, took my picture and rummaged through my belongings,” Pettibone said. “One of them said, ‘This is a whole lot of nothing.’ He seemed disappointed that I didn’t have any weapons or anything on me.”
Pettibone was placed in a cell by himself and read his Miranda rights, he said. Officers asked if he wanted to waive his rights, he said, but Pettibone declined and asked for a lawyer. He was released about 90 minutes later.
“It was clear to me that this was just a totally indiscriminate detainment,” Pettibone said.
Speaking in the Oval Office later that day with Attorney General Bill Barr, Trump again spoke about the protests in Portland and alluded to a larger role federal law enforcement could play in cities across the country, similar to Portland.
“We’re doing a great job in Portland,” Trump said. “Portland was very rough and they called us in, and we did a good job, to put it mildly. Many people in jail right now. But we have other cities that are out of control. They’re like war zones.”
July 16
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan told Fox News that Trump was planning an announcement about enhanced federal law enforcement actions involving the Department of Justice and Homeland Security “next week.”“We’re going to do what needs to be done to protect the men and women of this country,” he said.
Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf also made an unannounced visit to Portland, where he toured graffiti on the federal courthouse and talked to federal officers and Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner.
Portland’s mayor refused to meet with Wolf, saying he disapproves of the federal presence and that there’s nothing he can do to stop federal action. Oregon’s governor told OPB she spoke with Wolf on the phone earlier in the week.
“I said, ‘Please take your officers home,’” Brown told OPB’s “Think Out Loud®.” “’They are only escalating things here in the city and you need to go home.'”
Before leaving, Wolf went live on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News, where he said the Department of Homeland Security would continue to have a presence in Portland despite opposition from local, state and federal officials from Oregon.
“We need to make sure that we’re supporting our law enforcement officers here and making sure that they’re continuing to protect the federal courthouse here; that’s what DHS does,” Wolf said. “We’re going to do our job, we’re going to do it professionally.”
Shortly after Wolf toured the federal courthouse, OPB published Pettibone’s story, confirming federal law enforcement agents have been grabbing protesters off the streets in unmarked vehicles and without giving any explanation to the people being detained.
The U.S. Marshals Service issued a statement denying their officers participated in Pettibone’s arrest. Homeland Security officials did not respond to written questions about the arrest.
July 17
National scrutiny of the Department of Homeland Security increased, with a fresh round of condemnation from Oregon lawmakers, as well as national figures such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy Williams stood on the steps of the federal courthouse in front of a large group of protesters and called for an investigation into the actions of DHS agents in Portland.
“Based on news accounts circulating that allege federal law enforcement detained two protesters without probable cause, I have requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to open a separate investigation directed specifically at the actions of DHS personnel,” Williams said in a statement.
Later in the day, the ACLU of Oregon filed a lawsuit seeking to restrain how federal law enforcement interacts with journalists and legal observers at protests. The Oregon Department of Justice also sued federal agencies, and the Oregon attorney general said state prosecutors may pursue criminal charges against the officer who shot LaBella.
In a written statement, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed officers from Customs and Border Protection had been arresting protesters in Portland using unmarked vehicles. The agency defended the arrests as lawful and justified.
“In Portland, they have. I wouldn’t say this is used anywhere else,” Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, told NPR. “Upon questioning, they determined they were — they did not have the right person — and that person was released.”
Cuccinelli said he didn’t know if the case he was asked about was Pettibone’s and wouldn’t say how many times similar arrests involving unmarked vans have happened.
But he said the practice would continue.
“I fully expect that as long as people continue to be violent and to destroy property that we will attempt to identify those folks,” he said. “We will pick them up in front of the courthouse. If we spot them elsewhere, we will pick them up elsewhere. And if we have a question about somebody’s identity — like the first example I noted to you — after questioning determine it isn’t someone of interest, then they get released. And that’s standard law enforcement procedure, and it’s going to continue as long as the violence continues.”
July 18
The backlash against border patrol actions on Portland streets did little to deter federal law enforcement.In the early hours of the morning, with no clear provocation, federal officers dressed in camouflage used tear gas, pepper balls and other impact munitions to push hundreds of protesters far from federal property. Portland police officers marched beside them at times. The scenes prompted Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty to demand that Mayor Ted Wheeler turn over day-to-day management of Portland police to her.
After more than two weeks in Portland, federal officers have come to be seen as a wild card.
“PPB is usually predictable in their response to something,” said freelance reporter Garrison Davis. “The federal officers are not. It’s harder to get a sense of what their goal is and what they’re going to do. It makes being there safely very difficult.”
The increasingly aggressive actions by federal officers have also energized the protest movement in Portland, a city known for its cultural defiance to authority. Crowds grew significantly July 17 and 18.
At one point Friday night, a naked woman sauntered to a police line and pointed her finger at federal officers, who were dressed in camo and carrying less-than-lethal weapons. She dared the officers to shoot, and they obliged — spraying the ground inches from her feet with pepper balls.
The woman didn’t move.
znModeratorHave you seen “Black Robe”?
I of course put the whole actual movie in this thread. But either way here’s a better trailer.
znModeratorYup. Put ten leftists in an organization, and within three weeks you will end up with 11 factions.
Leftists.
w
v12.
You reactionary.
znModeratorAdam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Eagles’ HC Doug Pederson has tested positive for the coronavirus, sources told ESPN’s @Tim_McManus. Pederson convened a previously unscheduled team meeting Sunday night to share the news with his players. He did this after receiving a second positive test.Jeff McLane@Jeff_McLane
Doug Pederson will continue to lead the #Eagles virtually, as much as he can, source said. Duce Staley will assume head coaching responsibilities at the NovaCare Complex in Pederson’s absence.znModerator‘It’s About the Core Values of Black Lives Matter.’ Portland Activists Are Trying to Remind People Why They Started Protesting to Begin With
Since federal agents entered Portland over the July 4 weekend, national headlines have highlighted how federal officers and Portland police have harmed protesters, medics, legal observers and journalists. The actions have sparked lawsuits and drawn scrutiny from DOH and DOJ internal watchdogs as well as Congress.
Many protesters say federal officers from the Department of Homeland Security, the Marshals Service and Customs and Border Protection have “added fuel to the fire” of what had been largely peaceful protests. However, federal agencies have maintained that they were needed to protect federal properties and the city from violence despite video evidence showing them acting aggressively at demonstrations.
But police brutality was a “problem way before the (federal) troops came,” says Demetria Hester, a Black mother and grandmother who has frequently been showing up to protests since May and is an administrator with Moms United for Black Lives. “That’s what we were protesting about in the first place—that the police have a record of killing Black people here and (…) having the OK from everybody to get away with it.” She has no faith in the city and state’s politicians, saying they have “allowed this to go on for so long” despite saying they will help.
“These politicians, they don’t care that Black Lives Matter,” Hester says. “They care about getting their pockets rich, about getting their photo op, about saying we’re going to help you but (they) never do. They have so much money here that they’re giving to police to be brutal to the Black community.”
While Portland protesters welcomed news on Wednesday that federal officers would begin phasing out their presence in the city, which are intended to be replaced with Oregon state police, it’s unclear exactly how and when that will happen. Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement that the department would maintain its current presence until it received assurance federal property wouldn’t be attacked. President Donald Trump said Thursday morning in a tweet that federal officers would not leave “until there is safety.” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Thursday that Portland police would be working with other city and county agencies to clear Lownsdale Park “at the request of (Oregon State Police) as part of the plan for federal officers to leave our community.)”
In the wake of the news about federal officers starting to leave, Wheeler, who is also the city’s police commissioner, reinforced the importance of police and criminal justice reform. While Wheeler repeatedly demanded federal officers leave the city and even got tear gassed while joining demonstrations one night, he remains extremely unpopular among protesters, many of whom are calling for Wheeler’s resignation. Several activists tell TIME that they view Wheeler’s recent rhetoric as disingenuous, with several pointing out that he is seeking reelection. They worry about systemic problems with Portland’s police that will continue to disproportionately harm Black communities, and say that current plans to direct money away from the police have not gone far enough. What’s more, protesters worry that all the attention on the presence of federal forces is derailing the reason they’re out there in the first place: to protest police brutality and support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Wheeler’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wheeler has said that the focus on federal officers has shifted attention away from activists’ core demands. “The daily coverage of (federal officer’s) actions has distracted our community from the Black voices at the center of this movement, and the urgent work of reform.” he said Wednesday on Twitter.
“Obviously we do not want the federal government here, we don’t want them anywhere. But the whole movement started because of Black Lives Matter and that’s what’s getting lost in this,” says “Beans”, who was a volunteer at a community hub and group that has provided free food called Riot Ribs. She asked to use her nickname out of fear of retribution for her high-profile work in the city. “It’s not about fighting Trump or whatever. It’s about the core values of Black Lives Matter,” she adds.
Black adults in Multnomah County, where Portland is located, are overrepresented at the stages of arrest and imprisonment, compared to their white counterparts, according to a November 2019 report on the county’s racial and ethnic disparities from the W. Haywood Burns Institute. A one-day snapshot of the jail population on June 30, 2019 shows stark disparities across races; only 1.3 of every 1,000 white adults were incarcerated in jail, while more than six times as many (8.2 of every, 1,000 Black adults) were incarcerated in jail, according to the analysis. The trend appears to be stark for arrests, too. Because arrest data was not available, the report relied on a proxy — the “number of referrals received by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.” This data revealed that 26 cases were received for every 1,000 white adults and almost five times as many cases were received for every 1,000 Black adults.
In addition, a November 2019 analysis of traffic and pedestrian stops from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission found that Portland police “searched African Americans at more than twice the rate of white motorists and pedestrians during a 12-month period ending in June” 2019, The Oregonian reported.
There were at least five police-involved shootings that resulted in deaths in 2019, according to Portland Copwatch, a grassroots group promoting police accountability. The police killings of Black people from years ago, include Aaron Campbell who was fatally shot in the back while in the parking lot of an apartment complex in 2010, and Kendra James, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop in 2003.
Portland has so far fallen short of activists’ demands to defund the police by at least $50 million and redistribute money towards investing in Black communities and anti-violence programs unrelated to law enforcement. (Care Not Cops and Don’t Shoot Portland, community groups that advocate for defunding the police, want an annual reduction of at least $50 million for “each year going forward,” according to an official list of their demands.) Wheeler has committed to diverting $7 million from the police bureau and $5 million from other parts of the city budget towards communities of color, as well as promising to remove police officers from schools and disbanding the city’s Gun Violence Reduction team, which activists said would “target Black and brown people, especially youth.” A budget passed by the Portland City Council last month would cut more than $15 million from the police bureau.
Wheeler is also facing criticism from Portland’s city council, which on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of a police oversight board to review misconduct investigations. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said in a July 18 statement that if Wheeler “can’t control the police,” that he should give her control over the agency. “We need you to stop denying the violence being perpetrated by our own police force and make it clear and unambiguous: Portland police are directed from the top to never collaborate with 45’s goon squad, to take off their riot gear, and to stop contributing to the violence that was occurring before the feds arrived and still continues night after night,” she said. Wheeler rejected Hardesty’s request, saying he would continue to oversee the department.
Effie Baum, spokesperson for Popular Mobilization (or PopMob), a Portland coalition of anti-fascist groups, points out the similarities between the violence perpetrated by federal officers and Portland police as well as why she’s skeptical about Wheeler’s motivations to join protesters. That’s one of the reasons “Wheeler coming out and pulling that PR stunt is so disingenuous because this has been happening here for so long and he didn’t care when it was his (police force) going after us but it’s like—Trump sends in his soldiers to attack us and suddenly Ted Wheeler cares.” It’s “absolutely a political ploy,” they say.
Tensions are emerging among protesters, too. The Wall of Moms, an organization that has gained national attention as it brought mothers dressed in yellow to the front lines of many protests, recently indicated that it would be shifting its leadership after acknowledging in a statement that “too many of our admins were White women”; it said it decided to hand leadership of the organization over to Don’t Shoot Portland — a local group that supports Black Lives Matter by providing mutual aid to communities and protesters and has sued the city and federal government for what they characterize as the indiscriminate use of force.
Further complicating the matter, on Wednesday, Don’t Shoot Portland accused Wall of Moms of “anti-blackness” for “leaving vulnerable Black women downtown after marching, failing to support those on the ground that put trust in them” and not informing Black leadership about officially registering as a nonprofit with the state. They said the organization “was not started for BLM, but to get the feds out of PDX” and that “combined with a lack of care for and disregard of Black women, we were used to further an agenda unrelated to BLM.” As a result, a separate group called Moms United for Black Lives has splintered off from the organization. Family members of Wall of Moms founder Bev Barnum said she would not comment on the allegation.
Teressa Raiford, executive director of Don’t Short Portland, says that despite Wheeler’s assurances that he won’t cooperate with federal officers, they did not “see the police rendering aid or supporting anyone that’s being assaulted by any federal officers.” Raiford also finds it ironic that the local and state government has spoken out against the federal response but not the police “use of violence and tear gas.”
Raiford says the demand to acknowledge that Black Lives Matter is not a new one, despite the recent increase in protests across the nation. “What we’re saying now in 2020 is no different than what people of the Black community have been saying forever, since we were brought here to America,” she says.
Jennie Vinson was one of the first Wall of Moms volunteers and joined after seeing a Facebook post calling to mobilize moms. “Portland is a very white city” and “there’s an obligation that I have as a white woman have to step up and say enough is enough,” Vinson says. More than three-quarters of Portland’s residents are white and Oregon has a long racist history; the state’s constitution banned Black residents until 1926.
“Black women have been out fighting for their kids and their families for years and now is the time that we need to really listen because this is life and death,” Vinson adds.
Amid the chaos, Riot Ribs because a popular resource for protesters—but has also been swept up in the city’s tension. “The goal is to feed people, whatever it takes to make that happen,” Beans said, days before the organization dissolved. This week, Riot Ribs disbanded as an organization, saying they have “been personally targeted and assaulted” and “have someone who is trying to profit off of our movement who continues to volunteer in the park.” They intend to distribute the remaining donations to other community groups and rebrand as Revolution Ribs—a more on-the-go version of the operation, which will continue to feed people in different states with the help of two recently purchased vans.
Beans said that their operation had been “tear gassed every night” with staff sometimes still trying to cook through the haze. She adds that Portland police as well as federal officers have targeted Riot Ribs, slashing open water bottles, intentionally spraying the grills with pepper spray and tear gas and raiding the spot and arresting people at 4 a.m.
She says the group was going through 10,000 plates a day as they served all sorts of meals—from hot dogs to hamburgers to ribs to steamed rice and curry and received more than $330,000 in donations.
Babatunde Azubuike, an activist who uses the pronouns, ze/hir or goddexx, and is Afro-indigenous, disabled and trans, says that while federal officers are “essentially limited to a very small area in downtown,” the police are everywhere and have “consistently been given a lot of access and power to brutalize people.” Babatunde, who is programs coordinator for Freedom to Thrive, is hopeful that police abolition will become a realistic option going forward, questioning how you can reform an institution “that is so brutal and violent” to begin with. Wheeler said on the night that he joined protesters that he would not commit to abolishing the police—remarks that were met by jeers by the activists surrounding him, The New York Times reported.
Aslan Newson, a 16-year-old who identifies as queer Afro-Indigenous woman from the Klamath Tribes, has been protesting every Friday through Fridays4Freedom, a collective of Black youth and their allies in Portland who are fighting for police abolition among a variety of causes. “This work is exhausting,” Newson says. But she adds that it’s something she will be fighting for, for the rest of her life. “This isn’t an adult problem. This isn’t a youth problem,” she says. “This involves everybody.”
znModeratorWhat we learned from coach Sean McVay as Rams players return to facility
Jourdan Rodrigue
The Rams will have their first in-person team meeting since the end of the 2019 season on Monday, inside a massive open-sided tent at their facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
That tent is just one of the many ways the team is hoping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the NFL pushes ahead with training camp. Mask-wearing, regular hand-washing and sanitizing, and social distancing will be enforced. Head athletic trainer Reggie Scott and director of football operations Sophie Harlan have led building and equipment sanitation efforts, as well as extensive educational procedures to make sure all players are on the same page.
Rams testing continued last week. Three consecutive negative tests were required for players to begin onboarding and picking up their equipment. So far, the Rams have placed two players on the COVID/reserve list (which means they either recorded a positive test or were showing symptoms or in contact with someone who was): rookie third-round pick Terrell Lewis and rookie UDFA defensive tackle Michael Hoecht. Hoecht was cleared from the designation on Sunday morning.
The Rams also had one player, offensive lineman Chandler Brewer, opt out of the season. Brewer is in a “high risk” category due to his history with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Head coach Sean McVay addressed media on Sunday morning via Zoom teleconference, and said that conversations about opting out remain supportive and open.
“I think it has been really important that we’ve had that clear, open and honest dialogue with those guys,” said McVay. “We’re asking the questions. It’s something that I’ve never experienced before as a coach, because we care about these guys. If there are legitimate safety and health concerns, we’re going to do nothing but support these guys.”
Here’s what else we learned from McVay, as he prepared to see his players as a group and in person for the first time in months.
Virus aside, a healthy start to camp
McVay’s prediction in May that his team would report healthy to camp came true: He confirmed Sunday that no players will start the year on the physically unable to perform list, which means players passed their physicals and can begin the onboarding process.
Notable offseason injury recoveries included safety John Johnson, right tackle Rob Havenstein, guard/tackle Joe Noteboom and center Brian Allen.
The acclimation period will be crucial for injury prevention
McVay noted in the spring that a big concern — and focus — for his staff would be soft-tissue injury prevention, without a true spring offseason workout program. Across the NFL, players will undergo a “ramp-up” period of approximately two weeks before any contact or live drilling is allowed. Teams can hold walkthroughs, etc., but will spend a lot of time with install meetings and in the weight room to get back into football shape.
“With the way we have to operate, that kind of takes care of itself,” McVay said. “We’ve got this eight-day acclimation period (that will run) from Aug. 3-7, those first five days. We’ll give them the 8th off, and then we’ll finish up the 9th, 10th and 11th. We’ll actually give our guys off on the 12th as well.
“You’re talking about the 13th as really the first opportunity — and really, that’s where that ramp-up phase starts — and we’ll be limited and in a ‘phase two’ type of setting where they still can’t go against one another. … We’ll do a great job with Reggie and his group, and Justin Lovett and the strength staff, of making sure we get the right physical assessment so we’re not pushing guys too early.”
Realistically, “football shape” will take some time — especially for offensive linemen — but McVay believes that the Rams actually have built an “edge” into their preparation and planning throughout the off period.
The Rams can begin holding walkthroughs on the Aug. 13 and will begin actual live drilling with some form of contact on Aug. 17, which McVay called the first “real” day of practice.
The Rams will hold a few scrimmages at SoFi Stadium before the season
While the current belief is that no fans will be allowed to attend games at the new SoFi Stadium this fall, the Rams’ front office remains hopeful that at least some people will be able to see the new digs by mid-September, when the NFL season begins. In any case, though, the Rams will be missing a lot of eyeballs on the new stadium that they had hoped to host throughout the year, which means they will have to get creative in showcasing it.
McVay mentioned that the Rams will host a couple of scrimmages at SoFi during training camp, and that’s important for a few reasons: First, HBO’s “Hard Knocks” will be there to film the whole thing (and hopefully media is allowed, too!) and therefore more of the facility can be presented to a larger audience.
Second, with little opportunity for any sort of a “test run” ahead of the regular season, players and staff will want to get as acclimated as possible to things like locker-room setup, getting on and off the field, sideline setup and even adjusting to playing under a roof and massive video-board, and on turf.
No big contract updates – yet
Three starters — receiver Cooper Kupp, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Johnson — are up for extensions and could hit free agency next spring. Especially in the case of Kupp and Ramsey, such contracts are expected to be large, with Ramsey’s even potentially re-setting the cornerback market.
“Obviously those guys are instrumental parts of what we want to do,” McVay said. “I’m just making sure I know what the heck I’m doing next, after this right now, negotiating through the days. August 3 can’t come soon enough, especially through these physicals where we can at least get some sense of normalcy through the schedule. But those guys are important — but there are no updates on those fronts.”
Each player did report to camp — but McVay mentioned there was no real worry of anyone holding out. Ramsey even said in the spring that he’d show up to training camp without a long-term extension.
Contextually speaking, the three players may have to wait a little longer than previously expected, with so much unknown about the season. The 2021 and 2022 salary-cap ceilings will also almost certainly be affected by whatever deficit the league absorbs this season, and the already-tight Rams will have some tough decisions to make.
znModeratorContinuing our Countdown to Camp series, the mix of veterans and upside of young players has Rams DL coach Eric Henderson (@Coach_Henny) excited to work with his group as training camp gets underway:https://t.co/2AAC3PYL0V
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) August 2, 2020
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from the above:
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Once the 6-foot-4 Robinson signed with the Rams, Henderson said he had a conversation with him about his playing weight – listed on his NFL.com profile as 330 pounds – and challenged him to show up to camp at 315 pounds. Robinson did one better, reporting at 314 this past Tuesday.
“So, to me, that first impression is something that I was proud of from him, because it shows he’s serious about his craft, coming into a new situation where he’s got to compete for a role here,” Henderson said. “That role is going to be where he can help us tremendously in the run game as well as being able to rush the passer, because he has some athleticism about him.”
What pleases Henderson more than the collection of talent itself, though, is the fact that his players take ownership of “a genuine love and appreciation for one another,” something he preaches regularly. They all want each other to get better – there’s no agendas.
znModeratorIan Rapoport@RapSheet
Another starting QB to the COVID-19 reserve list: #Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew. Yesterday, it was #Lions QB Matthew Stafford.znModeratorLindseyThiry@LindseyThiry
Sean McVay says he does not anticipate any other Rams players to opt out of the season. Reserve OL Chandler Brewer is the only player to have opted out because of a personal history with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.Stu Jackson@StuJRams
McVay stressed the importance of having “clear, open, and honest dialogue” with players. “We care about these guys. If there’s legitimate safety and health concerns, we’re going to do nothing but support these guys.”Andrew Siciliano@AndrewSiciliano
Sean McVay on his Hard Knocks life: “I got a couple of robo cameras follwing me right now. I have zero privacy.”McVay: “August 17th will represent the first real practice for us.”
Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Sean McVay says there is a “relief” feeling to know they can protect players at high risk if necessary – like in the case of Chandler Brewer.McVay said the Rams will hold their first team meeting Monday in an outdoor tent constructed on the facility parking lot. Tent is large enough to accommodate airflow and physical distancing.
Steve Wyche@wyche89
The @RamsNFL will have their first in-person team meeting Monday at a massive outdoor tent, where meetings will be held this season…. There will be football talk and don’t be the Marlins, education RE: Covid-19.McVay said he does not expect to place any players on PUP as of now
McVay … said he thinks rookies will get substantial walk-thru reps in the run-up period to practice and should be mentally prepared for when real practice starts Aug. 17. Thinks they will be less stressed because of all those half-speed reps
J.B. Long@JB_Long
Sean McVay says the @RamsNFL will have some scrimmages at @SoFiStadium prior to hosting the Cowboys.Rams Wire@TheRamsWire
Rams activate DL Michael Hoecht from reserve/COVID-19 listLindseyThiry@LindseyThiry
Sean McVay on contract negotiations of Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp & John Johnson: “Nothing on that front, obviously those guys are instrumental parts of what we want to do. I’m just making sure I know what the heck I’m doing next after this right now, negotiating through the days”znModeratorName a more underated group in the NFL?? pic.twitter.com/bSnqMVQWAu
— Clash Of The Horns (@RamfamPodcaster) August 2, 2020
znModeratorTrump’s Republican Party is defined by racism and those who tolerate it: GOP strategist
I’ve worked on winning Republican races across the South, and I’ve never seen a racist appeal like Trump’s succeed. Why won’t his party challenge him?Stuart Stevens
Opinion contributorStuart Stevens, a senior adviser to the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, was chief strategist for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. His latest book, “It Was All A Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump,” will be published Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter: @stuartpstevens
About a year ago, I finished writing a book in which I posited that race was the original sin of the Republican Party and that the rise of President Donald Trump is based more on white grievance than any other factor. It was a conviction I’d come to after over 30 years of working in Republican politics, including five presidential campaigns. To me it seemed an inescapable if depressing reality.
My first campaign was for a congressional seat in Mississippi between a white Republican (my client), a white Democrat and a Black Independent. I quickly realized anything we could do to increase the profile of the African American would help divert votes from the Democrat to the Independent. It was our best play, since there was little we could do to attract African Americans to our own campaign.
That was a long time ago, and Republicans are still failing to win Black voters in substantial numbers. For decades the party admitted that was in fact a failure and at least attempted to change. But now it has settled into a comfortable embrace of white grievance and Trump is running as the Yankee George Wallace.
Trump is proving my thesis
I’ve worked with a lot of candidates, and for all the hocus-pocus mystique about consultants pulling strings controlling campaigns, I’ve found that ultimately candidates do what they most want to do. This is never truer than when a candidate and campaign are under stress. It’s a natural instinct, the same phenomena of when someone who is multi-lingual reverts to their native tongue when most angry.
Still, I never expected Trump to base his re-election campaign around proving my thesis.
There are times when elections are, to borrow the Jerry Seinfeld description of his show, campaigns about nothing. For obvious reasons this tends to happen in times of peace and prosperity, with an electorate that is generally satisfied with the status quo.
That’s not this election. One recent poll shows only 18% of the country believes we are headed in the right direction, and others aren’t much higher. This 2020 campaign does not lack for big issues that impact every American: the worst public health crisis in 100 years, the highest unemployment since the Depression. This is a moment that uniquely calls out for strong presidential leadership. Most presidents would grasp that their fate lay with the public’s view of their response and act accordingly.
Not Donald Trump. It’s clear his instinct is to make the 2020 election a cultural war, which in his interpretation is just a socially acceptable term for a race war. Why? How does this make any political sense?
The answer is that it doesn’t but it is what Trump wants to do. Steve Bannon liked to say of Trump, “Dude, he’s Archie Bunker,” but that seems overly generous. Archie had Meathead, who strongly disagreed with him and would argue. Trump has his children and son-in-law, who serve the same purpose in a Trump administration as the devoted Waylon Smithers does for his boss in “The Simpsons.”
There is a need in Trump world to describe his erratic behavior and lack of discipline as some kind of brilliant hidden strategy because otherwise you are left with the conclusion that he is a blithering idiot. Which, of course, Trump is, but he’s an idiot with deep racial animosity that dates back decades. Now with his reelection campaign crumbling around him, Trump is lashing out trying to divide the country along racial lines.
Baffled by GOP reluctance to speak out
This isn’t surprising. We shouldn’t forget that Trump still says the falsely convicted Central Park Five, African Americans he had said deserved the death penalty, are guilty despite exoneration. But what is shocking, if not surprising, is that the Republican Party is going along with Trump’s strategy to model his campaign after Wallace’s 1968 run for president. It reveals a combination of moral failure and political stupidity rarely evidenced by a major party.
Whenever I tell my Republican friends that I think racial animosity is the root of Trump’s appeal, the inevitable and often angry rejoinder is, “Are you saying that 63 million Americans are racists?” What I try to point out to them is that you don’t have to consider yourself a racist (and, of course, most racists don’t consider themselves racists) but you do have to be willing to accept that having a racist president is less important than something else you are getting from that president.
That might be conservative judges, that might be tax cuts, that might be increased tariffs on Chinese goods (since anti-free trade is apparently the new Republican standard.) From defending Confederate monuments to attacking Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, Trump seems determined to make it impossible to deny he’s a racist.
I’m a seventh generation Mississippian who has worked on winning Republican races for governor and Senate across the South, and I’ve never seen Trump’s level of direct racist appeal work. While there is still an angry racist constituency, not just in the South but in every state, it is small and growing smaller. Your average white teenager in the South looks to black rap stars as cultural icons more than Robert E. Lee.
What baffles me is the reluctance of Republicans to speak out and challenge Trump on race. With the exception of Utah’s Mitt Romney, has any Republican senator or House member even uttered the words “Black lives matter?” What does it say about the future of the Republican Party when my home state of Mississippi finally lowered the Confederate battle flag just as a Republican president tries to raise it? It leaves me deeply pessimistic about the future of the Republican Party, while deeply hopeful about America.
Trump is trying to refight the Civil War. He’ll discover in November that it’s over. And America won.
znModeratorznModerator
znModeratorAugust 2, 2020 at 12:17 pm in reply to: Just a thread for different kindsa interesting things #118781znModeratorChargers head coach Anthony Lynn helped build a well in Tanzanian village Lanjani.
Lynn had to cancel a trip to Africa this year due to COVID-19, but the well is now being used after several months of planning 🙏 @brgridiron
(via @LynnFoundation_) pic.twitter.com/F6vuhkQZIV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 1, 2020
znModeratorLirim Hajrullahu explains why he picked Rams over 5 other teams https://t.co/UYQJqE7kwm
— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) August 2, 2020
znModeratorRams Wire@TheRamsWire
One key area where Jared Goff has worked to improve this offseason: Goff is trying to get better at throwing off-platform, under the assumption that offensive line play will struggle early on.—
me note: that comes from a great, detailed article that is essentially an interview with Goff’s off-season private qb coaches. That article is a must read and it’s here: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/goff-talk/#post-118690
==
.@JaredGoff16 in the building! ✌️ pic.twitter.com/IHhP774n5Y
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 1, 2020
znModeratorIn looking over this ‘greatest sci fi’ list at NPR, it dont look like there’s many notable NEW Sci-Fi stories. At least not with the NPR crowd.
NPR:https://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
I thought Carl Sagan’s Contact was a decent movie, btw. It’s no.50 on the list.
A very very under-rated book, imho, btw, fwiw, fyi, is — The Last Unicorn. There’s so many beautiful poetic sentences in that fantasy book. No.55 on the list.
I wouldnt mind seeing Le Guin’s Dispossessed made into a big film. No.78.
Also, Perdido Street Station might make a good film. No.98I didnt even know C.S. Lewis wrote a Sci Fi book. No.100.
w
vWhat are the best sci fi films? I include dystopian in this because IMO dystopian is a subset of Sci Fi.
I will do “favorites” not “best.” I leave a lot out that way. Not in ranked order, off the top of my head I would have to include 2001, Bladerunner, Rollerball, Alien, Children of Men, Snowpiercer, The Day the Earth Stood Still (original version), Repo Man, Close Encounters, The Thing, The Martian.
znModeratorThis is what has to concern leagues/teams/players the most. Cannot assume young/healthy athletes will have positive outcomes. https://t.co/xtKTqnC74m
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 1, 2020
znModeratorWe don’t know that do we? What if the “misrepresentation” does work against Biden and helps re-elect Trump? That is not out of the question as you seem to believe it is. In fact I think Trump and his campaign people do believe it. And that is my worry if it continues. What Trump wants is for these protests to continue as long as there is violence displayed. Regardless of whether the violence is a lot or its “a small militant faction with its (laughingly unthreatening) graffiti” his goal is to scare people. To get them to think that Willie Horton is coming to get them after he burns down a few cities.
I just received a lengthy survey from his campaign asking me to respond to issues that they think is crucial to the election. From these questions it is clear that their message will be about law and order and big government socialism. Add to that the 2d amendment, lower vs higher taxes and what you will have is a very formidable sitting President. I want this guy gone for the sake of my grandchildren and I want to close all the ways he can use to be elected. If that means no more protests-so be it.
No one here is in favor of Trump getting elected, W. We just differ on what is happening at the actual moment when it comes to his law and order rhetoric and the elections. And we’re also debating how we ourselves see the protests. You actually called for the protests to be shut down because they COULD BE (you think) distorted into Willie Horton. But W, at a certain level, there’s no difference between believing the protests are Willie Horton, and wanting to shut them down because others MIGHT believe they are Willie Horton. Either way a movement for racial justice is supposed to be compromised because of Willie Horton rhetoric.
And it’s not necessary to make that move, to come out against the protests because of Willie Horton fears. What is ACTUALLY happening is this–the population is NOT accepting Trump’s law and order rhetoric and his effort to act like graffiti warriors in Portland are (1) a really significant crisis, and (2) representative of the protests in general (if nothing else millions of people attended protests this summer so they know better.)
The info on that is just too abundant to ignore.
***
Most Americans do not believe the aggressive tactics which President Donald Trump has employed to quell uprisings in cities across the country are making the situation better, a new poll has found. According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Friday, just 36 percent of the country approves of the way Trump is responding to protests against racism and police violence. An overwhelming majority, 64 percent, say they disapprove of what he’s done.
***
Most Americans do not believe the aggressive tactics which President Donald Trump has employed to quell uprisings in cities across the country are making the situation better, a new poll has found…. Trump’s use of federal law enforcement officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as the U.S. Marshals Service to deal with protesters is having a negative effect, according to a majority of those polled.
znModeratorfrom https://www.tmz.com/2020/08/01/florida-man-hangs-on-hood-semi-truck-big-rick-highway/
FLORIDA MAN CLINGS TO HOOD OF BIG RIG TRUCK
The driver, Edward Hughes, tells TMZ … this dude hopped onto the interstate bloodied and frantic, waving for the truck to stop … which Hughes says he did. Once he did that, Hughes claims the guy latched onto his hood and started using a metal object on his windshield.
Hughes says he panicked and hit the gas, trying to shake the man off … as he was successfully breaking through the glass. Hughes got some shots of the damage, and it looks like this fella was hacking away during the mayhem, and broke through a bit too.
—
Meanwhile on I-95… #BecauseFlorida https://t.co/QSW7djsSPc video: Erik Morales pic.twitter.com/JFszMVFdi3
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) August 1, 2020
znModeratorAnd I believe that a “powerful” movement loses it’s power if it ceases to accomplish it’s goal.
W, you’re telling people protesting systemic racism to stop what they’re doing because you’re afraid of a situation that does not exist–that misrepresentations of them as violent will re-elect Trump.
And so you are saying something no different from the people who confuse the small militant faction and its (laughably unthreatening) graffiti violence with the ongoing peaceful protest all over the country. Doesn’t that just put you on their side? They go, hey no more riots in the name of racial justice. And you go, hey no more protests in the name of racial justice because I am afraid of the group that (wrongly) sees you as rioting. From the point of view of caring about racial justice, what’s the difference?
You open up this thread with a quotation from a BLM spokesperson in Portland. Do you know your source takes his words out of context?
znModeratorThe “RIGHT THING TO DO” for this country and future generations is to get rid of Trump !
Of course. We’re just disagreeing about the idea that we should sacrifice a powerful movement and its peaceful protests just cause Trump tried (and failed) to make an issue out of that small faction of graffiti warriors in Oregon.
znModeratorThe polls I want to see are those in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. And the question I want the polls to ask is : “right now do you support the protests that you are seeing on tv” (because 99% of those polled only know about the protests from what they see on tv). Those four states are the key. Biden has to win them all.
BTW Trump wouldn’t be making such a deal about the leftist thugs causing violence if he didn’t think it was working. The one thing he does very well is knowing how to get to people’s fears. “Run for the hills. Antifa is coming and their out to get you and your family. Run, I tell you, RUN”
W, he DID make a big deal out of the little graffiti warrior faction in Portland, AND that did not work.
znModeratorYeah, yeah, you said not to worry before the playoff game against the Vikes in 99.
And look how THAT turned out, Mr Numbers.
Well that’s not my fault though. Turns out the Vikes had taped the Rams practices. And, they played a 6-1 defensive front McVay never adjusted to. Plus, Cromwell dropped the interception. Of course there’s also Ferragamo opting to take the phantom sack instead of wearing a glove.
znModeratorRams are now 11th-most valuable sports franchise in the world https://t.co/UNMjH5mvcj
— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) August 1, 2020
znModeratorLook at how you phrased that: There’s a lot of evidence the old playbook MAY not be working.
I dunno.
And the poll you posted said something like 54 percent or 52 percent — whats the margin of error on that?
w
vWell it;s not just a poll, there’s an entire perception out there if you read around. And it’s not just 52%, it’s 52% v. 30%.
If I didn’t post a poll and asked you to guess the percentage who would NOT buy the law and order rhetoric v. those who did, would you ever have come up with 52% on the former v. 30% on the latter?
Those numbers mean something.
Trump is doing worse on that than he is on the pandemic, in terms of approval ratings.
For right now, though, I am content to say just this: keep an eye on it. Because what’s happening is unique.
Now in terms of this:
but thats not the same thing as supporting the violent-protestors.
But…that’s not important. NOBODY supports the violent protesters. Even BLM in Portland has been criticizing them. All you need to deal with that issue is to recognize it’s just few hundred graffiti warriors in a 2 block area of Portland (I don’t have the same amount of detail on Seattle). They have no significance. When Trump tried to make it seem like they were significant, it did not work.
Compare that to the fact that according to different estimates 15-26 M Americans participated in at least one protest. It’s boulders on one side of the scale, and a few pebbles on the other side.
….
znModeratorAndrew Brandt@AndrewBrandt
And have heard from players considering opt out but worried about ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for next year.Chris Mortensen@mortreport
One longtime “old school” @NFL team executive shared that he sincerely hopes no owners, GMs, coaches and fans “get angry or bitter” over a player’s choice to opt out because of the pandemic.
Disappointment? Understandable. Angry (at an opt-decision) is not, he emphasized.Dusty Moonshine@DustyMoonshine
This really just points out the rift between the haves and have-nots in the NFLPA. Dudes opting out are mostly those who’ve gotten paid. If I’m a lower paid player, I’m mad as hell those guys get to choose but I can’t. If you’re not on a long term deal you gotta play.znModeratorZac Attack Saturday! A lot of broken tackles and 32 yard gain! pic.twitter.com/WNQDT80oTK
— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) August 1, 2020
znModeratorAnd have heard from players considering opt out but worried about ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for next year. https://t.co/8mdoFxTC5F
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 1, 2020
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