1 Minneapolis Burning
As demonstrations spread across the country, it was another night of fiery protests on the streets of Minneapolis. Demonstrators angry that charges haven't been brought against the four police officers involved in the killing of 46-year-old George Floyd. Local officials say that there are multiple fires around the city and at last check, at least 170 businesses have been torched. But that’s not all. The Third Precinct building was breached by protestors and set ablaze as well. As the situation devolved, President Trump took to Twitter. Trump wrote that he’ll send the National Guard into Minneapolis if Mayor Jacob Frey can't get the city under control and added, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Now, more than 500 soldiers are being sent to Minneapolis and St. Paul to deal with protests. The Guard said on Twitter that a key objective will be to make sure fire departments can respond to calls. It bears mentioning that the vast majority of protestors are peaceful.
2 Trump Touts Exec Order Targeting Social Media Companies
President Trump is calling Twitter "stupid" for slapping warning labels on his tweets about mail-in ballots. He was pretty put out when the social media outlet fact-checked him earlier this week. He tweeted about mail-in ballots being highly fraudulent – and Twitter tagged his tweets with labels that said "get the facts about mail-in ballots." He promised “big action,” and now, Trump has signed an executive order regarding social media companies saying it “deals with one of the greatest threats to free speech." His argument? "What they choose to fact-check or ignore is nothing more than political activism." Trump said Twitter, Facebook and Google have "unchecked power." He called it "very very unfair" and labeled it "censorship and bias." He hopes to shut down fact-checking saying it's censorship. Perhaps ironically, fresh on the heels of the signing, one of President Trump’s remarks about the riots in Minneapolis found itself flagged for ‘glorifying violence’ – when he wrote “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” During the press op at the White House announcing the signing, President Trump was asked if his unhappiness with the platform might see him just drop his account. He said that while he could, he won't - because it's the only way he can fight back against "fake news."
3 SpaceX: Will History Come Tomorrow?
Will tomorrow be the day? We’ll know just before the planned 2:22 pm launchtime for the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The planned launch will be the first American crew to launch from U.S. soil since 2011. If successful, the launch will allow the U.S. to send astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil, something it hasn't done for a decade. The U.S. has been paying Russia since the Space Shuttle program ended. Once they liftoff, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are scheduled to stay at the space station for at least one month before concluding their mission by showing SpaceX can return them safely to Earth. As you’ll recall, the last launch attempt was scrubbed because of inclement weather. As with Wednesday’s failed launch, President Trump will be in attendance.