Here are 5 ways to use AI as a ‘bad apple detector’ for cops

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Here are 5 ways to use AI as a ‘bad apple detector’ for cops

When an apple begins to rot it creates a chemical called ethylene. If that apple happens to be in a barrel with a bunch of other apples, and the rotting causes its skin to break, the ethylene will immediately cause the other apples to start rotting. That’s why the proverb “one bad apple spoils the bunch” is meant as a warning. If you find one bad apple, all the apples around it are already rotting.

Obviously, the smartest thing to do is to locate, isolate, and remove bad apples before they can poison others. That’s pretty easy to do when the apples are literal, but what about when they’re a metaphor for systemic racism run rampant in the justice system?

The simple fact of the matter is that nothing less than top-down systemic upheaval at the grandest scale can solve the issues plaguing US law enforcement. While it might be a polarizing idea, abolishing the police may very well be the most logical resolution.

However, that kind of paradigm shift will take years. We’ll need interventions in the meantime. Whether you’re a die-hard police supporter or someone who thinks we don’t need paramilitary troops with badges patrolling US streets, we can all agree that the “bad apples” have to go.

Artificial intelligence provides several interventions we could deploy immediately. Here’s five quick, cheap, easy solutions we could implement:

Chat bots

No, not the chat bots you see on social media. We’re talking about AI chat bots that use cognitive behavioral therapy to help people develop positive habits and routines surrounding their mental health. Like, for example, Woebot.

This form of therapy isn’t a replacement for on-the-job mental evaluations and personal therapy sessions, but instead would be used as a way to monitor officer’s mental states. It could be developed as a smart phone app and would only require officers spend five minutes at the beginning and end of every shift.

Coupled with relevant advice and mental health education, this simple intervention could help officers cope with the unique struggles and stress of their profession while also alerting department heads if an officer seems unbalanced or in need of human intervention.

Natural language processing

If we really want to root out bad apples, we’re going to need evidence of their crimes. Unfortunately, all we currently have are eyewitness testimony and body cams (when they aren’t malfunctioning or being intentionally turned off). One solution would be ubiquitous audio surveillance of cops. We could use natural language processing to record and transcribe everything a cop says or hears the entire time they’re on duty and then encrypt it so that it couldn’t be deleted and would be admissible in court.

Officers are often accused of using racist epithets in the line of duty. This would help their superiors and the public to determine if such accusations are warranted in instances where police aren’t caught on camera.

AI background evaluations

Despite the police‘s incessant use of illegal surveillance equipment without legal warrant, we the people don’t actually keep tabs on the cops. In fact, once they’re hired, we tend to let the system handle its own. That’s why so many cops who’ve been fired from one department find immediate work in another. We need an AI system that can crawl through personnel files to make historical and predictive inferences. In other words, we need three algorithms crawling through every officer’s personnel file at all times:

  1. A historical algorithm that ensures officers aren’t continuing to work in law enforcement after being fired with any violations for violent behavior.
  2. A real-time algorithm that process police records for accuracy and relevance. This will ensure that all officer training is up to date and that files never go missing when allegations occur.
  3. A predictive algorithm that uses historical data from all police records to determine which active officers present a high-risk for violent behavior.

A social media monitor

More specifically, an FBI-backed system utilizing several AI models to monitor social media, the dark web, and officer counseling logs for white supremacist activity. The bulk of all reporting on law enforcement officers involved in racist organizations has come from journalists. And, despite an unwillingness from cops to police their own, the media has uncovered thousands in the past few years. A systemic evaluation conducted by a competent machine learning staff could potentially identify even more bad apples and, with the FBI and Justice Department’s help, attach names and files to them so they can be immediately dismissed and banned from law enforcement.

Facial recognition

Finally, we need computer vision services and facial recognition software to identify every single police officer caught on video perpetrating violence against protesters during the past two weeks. If we’re to move forward into an era where US police are not synonymous with white supremacy, violence against peaceful citizens, and lynching, they must be held accountable for their actions. Ensuring all the officers who used looting and riots as an excuse to unleash barbaric tactics against peaceful protesters are brought to justice should be the first step towards restoring the public faith in the future of law enforcement.

These suggestions are not panacea for the problem, but prescriptions that could aid in the transition from violent police rule to a state of peaceful democratic law enforcement.

Published June 8, 2020 — 22:46 UTC



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Will CrossFit Survive?

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Will CrossFit Survive?

On Sunday, about 50 black owners of CrossFit affiliate studios joined a Zoom conference call with Greg Glassman, the chief executive of CrossFit. They represent a small percentage of the owners of the more than 14,000 gyms around the world that pay $3,000 a year to use that name.

Maillard Howell, 41, is an owner of Dean CrossFit Gym in Brooklyn. He had one question. “How many black people work at HQ?” he said.

Mr. Glassman said he wasn’t even sure, Mr. Howell said. He then asked an associate on the call, who also didn’t know.

“CrossFit, the method, has done amazing things for me and for many people, but the company, systemically, it’s very much flawed,” said Mr. Howell, who holds an M.B.A. and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 11 years before opening his gym.

Mr. Glassman and his corporate team had hastily agreed to this call, as the corporate brand descended further into a crisis.

On Saturday, Mr. Glassman had responded to a tweet that said: “Racism and discrimination are critical public health issues that demand an urgent response.”

He tweeted in reply, “It’s Floyd-19.”

CrossFit, unlike many other brands, had not made great public shows of support to its black community on social media since the death of George Floyd in late May and the ensuing protests against police mistreatment of black people that have captivated the world. (The police officer charged with Mr. Floyd’s murder, Derek Chauvin, is expected to appear in court late this month.)

Mr. Glassman’s tweet was his first public statement on the topic. Just the day before, the brand’s Facebook page had published a conversation starter about serving its black community better, though it did not mention Mr. Floyd or Black Lives Matter.

On social media, Mr. Glassman’s tweet drew a swift response. “Thank you for letting your Black athletes know exactly how little you care about them,” one tweet said. “How to kill your brand in three words or less,” another read. Some supportive voices emerged, too: “Trump will support you!! Hes totally into CrossFit! I see his gatherings! So many CrossFitters there!”

More than 24 hours after his initial tweet — and several hours after the call with the black owners — CrossFit issued a statement with an apology it attributed to Mr. Glassman. “I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday,” he said. “My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.” (Neither Mr. Glassman nor a CrossFit representative responded to a request for comment.)

The apology did not prevent associates from breaking ties with CrossFit. “From a monetary standpoint, it will cost CrossFit millions, in royalties, in its Reebok deal, in licensing fees, in sponsorships,” said Justin LoFranco, the creator of Morning Chalk Up, a newsletter about CrossFit. “You’re going to be hard-pressed to find a company that says, ‘Yes, I want to put my name on the CrossFit Games right now.’”

But the real damage was more profound, Mr. LoFranco said, affecting the community spirit of individual CrossFit gyms. “It does trend white but it is still a big tent,” he said. “There are gay people, straight people, black, white, too fat, too skinny, people who say, ‘I’m looking for a better version of me’ and they find it there.” The fitness system is based on military training exercises and attracts a large number of veterans, including those who have been injured, have paraplegia, or who have lost limbs.

Mr. LoFranco posted a survey to the Morning Chalk Up Instagram account, asking affiliate studios how they felt about Mr. Glassman’s leadership. By Monday afternoon, more than 500 said they would discontinue their affiliation with the CrossFit brand.

Reebok, the official CrossFit outfitter and a major sponsor of the CrossFit Games, an annual competition that last year awarded its winner a $300,000 prize, announced on Sunday that it would not extend its association with the CrossFit brand.

“Our partnership with CrossFit HQ comes to an end later this year,” Reebok said in a statement. “Recently, we have been in discussions regarding a new agreement, however, in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ. We will fulfill our remaining contractual obligations in 2020. We owe this to the CrossFit Games competitors, fans and the community.”

And Rogue Fitness, an equipment manufacturing company closely associated with CrossFit, said it would remove CrossFit’s branding from its upcoming fitness competition, scheduled to take place this month in Columbus, Ohio. “We stand behind the community,” the company wrote in an Instagram post.

For Dasia Welsh, 28, a leadership consultant for a technology company in Nashville who does CrossFit six times a week, Mr. Glassman’s words represent a loss of opportunity.

“I see firsthand the benefits this would have for so many in the black community,” she said of the fitness regimen. “And yet there is this entire group of people who don’t feel supported by this company. This is very hard because CrossFit is not just something you do on the side, it is a part of the dynamic of our life.”

Carlos Navarro, the owner of Iron Reign CrossFit in Lodi, N.J., said he’ll have to decide if he’ll renew that affiliate membership when it expires in four months. “In order for me to keep this place open, I need to bring members in. And the word CrossFit is what you pay for,” he said.

Chandler Smith said he was projected to be ranked 20th out of thousands of athletes at the CrossFit Games.

“For the last eight years, making the CrossFit Games has been the No. 2 priority of my life, second only to accomplishing my duties as an Army West Point cadet and then as a United States Army officer,” Mr. Smith said. “Those who know me know that making the Games in 2020 has been my primary goal since my wrestling career ended, and that has made the recent happenings within the sport absolutely devastating.”

Mr. Smith said he was optimistic that CrossFit will survive. “Given the apology issued by CrossFit headquarters, I am optimistic that an actionable plan will be developed and lead to the games still occurring.”



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Rocket lands near Baghdad International Airport, no casualties

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Rocket lands near Baghdad International Airport, no casualties

Jun 8, 2020

A rocket landed near Baghdad International Airport, causing no casualties, the Iraqi military said Monday.

In a statement posted to Twitter, the government’s Security Media Cell said the rocket was launched from south of the airport and there were no damages from the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the cell said security forces are searching for those behind the rocket attack.

Iran-backed militias are suspected in a number of rocket attacks near the capital in recent months. In March, a barrage of rockets struck a military base north of Baghdad, killing two Americans and one British servicemember.

The Pentagon blamed the attack on Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and retaliated with strikes on the Shiite group’s weapons depots.

A rocket attack that killed an American contractor in Kirkuk last December set off a tit-for-tat that brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war. The hostilities peaked with the US drone strike on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in January. Also killed was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the founder of Kataib Hezbollah and leader of Iraq’s paramilitary forces known as the Population Mobilization Units.

Monday’s attack comes as the United States and Iraq prepare to hold a “strategic dialogue” this week to discuss a wide range of issues including the future presence of US troops in the country.



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What the papers say – June 9

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What the papers say – June 9

Developments in the Madeleine McCann case and conflicting accounts from US investigators and the Duke of York are among the stories dominating the papers.

he Daily Mirror cites German prosecutors as saying they have “some evidence” Madeleine is dead.

The Daily Mail and The Independent cover the Duke of York’s involvement with US prosecutors investigating Jeffrey Epstein.

The Times reports Home Secretary Priti Patel wants “thugs” who toppled slave trader Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol to “face justice”, while the i warns Cecil Rhodes’s Oxford monument may be the next to go.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is drawing up plans to “reduce tensions and address fury over disproportionate police action against black and minority ethnic people”, says The Guardian.

Returning to Ms Patel, Metro reports Britain’s new 14-day quarantine rule is “Priti pointless” and “will harm business”.

“Schools may remain shut beyond September”, cautions The Daily Telegraph, while the Daily Express quotes Health Secretary Matt Hancock as saying Covid-19 is “in retreat” but the UK cannot risk a second wave of infections.

BP will cut 10,000 jobs, reports the Financial Times, as its new chief executive aims for a “leaner” company.

And television personality Scarlett Moffatt claims in the Daily Star that pigeons are really drones and the Government spies on the public via mobile phones.

PA

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US stocks surge, erasing 2020 losses

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US stocks surge, erasing 2020 losses

The Dow (INDU) finished up 461 points, or 1.7% higher. The S&P 500 (SPX) ended up 1.2%, erasing its losses for the year. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) ended up 1.1%, its first record close since February.
The market rally came on the same day economists officially declared the United States is in a recession, ending the longest economic expansion in American history.
It’s a continuation of the remarkable turnaround for US stocks, which plunged into a bear market in mid-March when the US economy started to shut down because of coronavirus.

The broader stock market remains below the all-time high it reached February 19. But Wall Street has bet that huge, unprecedented sums of stimulus from the Federal Reserve and lawmakers will help to ease the economic pain caused by the stay-at-home orders.

Stocks continued to rise further as drug makers announced promising test results for coronavirus treatments and vaccines. And as the US economy began to reopen, that gave investors even more hope that the company’s they placed their bets on will turn around in the near future.

Still, the economy has a long difficult path to recovery ahead of it. The American unemployment rate is hovering above 13% and many businesses that rely on customers entering indoor spaces, such as restaurants, movie theaters, and sports arenas, will probably not recover for quite some time.

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The long goodbye to George Floyd reaches his hometown of Houston

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The long goodbye to George Floyd reaches his hometown of Houston

HOUSTON — Childhood friends of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man whose death touched off a national debate about systemic racism, paid their final respects to the Houston native on Monday.

Charlene Thompson cries as she passes the casket of George Floyd in Houston on June 8, 2020.David J. Phillip / Pool via AP

Floyd’s casket arrived at Fountain of Praise church, where mourners braved 90-degree-plus heat to wait outside before coming in for their personal tributes. Floyd was raised in Houston’s Third Ward and played football at Jack Yates High School.

Milton Powell was among those who waited in line for more than 30 minutes to catch a glimpse of Floyd’s body.

To him, the man was more than a hashtag or a slogan on a T-shirt. Powell graduated a year after Floyd and played football with him at Yates, where his classmates referred to him only as “Floyd.”

Powell said it was disappointing that he was only able to spend a few seconds at the casket and couldn’t get closer than 10 feet away.

“That’s not how I wanted to pay my respects to a close friend, ya know? We didn’t want any of this for him,” said Powell, who spent the rest of the afternoon volunteering outside the church as an usher. “So for me, just helping out like this, that may be my form of paying respects. Because even though that is my close friend, this situation is bigger than me. This is for the world.”

Well-wishers, wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, filed into two lines as ushers directed them to Floyd’s gold-colored casket where they said their goodbyes.

Most stood silently while bowing their head in front of the open casket, while some took a kneein front of Floyd, who was dressed in a seemingly copper suit jacket that gave off a slight sheen and a light blue shirt underneath.

The bended knee has become a protest symbol, calling attention to how Floyd died and the movement against racism and police brutality launched in 2016 by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Mourners wait on line for the viewing of George Floyd at he Fountain of Praise Church in Houston on June 8, 2020.Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Rodney Floyd said his brother was so generous, he would have willingly given his life for the cause unity, NBC affiliate KPRC reported.

“If he was told he would have to sacrifice his life to bring the world together, knowing him, I know he would have did it,” Rodney Floyd told reporters outside the church.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner were among those paying tribute at the church on Monday.

More than 200 people lined up before the doors opened, as Red Cross volunteers outside distributed water on one of Houston’s hottest days of 2020.

Some carried signs depicting Floyd’s face or wore T-shirts with his final words written on them: “I can’t breathe.”

Joey Lucio Sanjavier, a 26-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, used a black marker to write, “las vidas negras importan” — Black Lives Matter — on his mask.

“I feel like, as a Latino, I have to be here,” Lucio Sanjavier said, while waiting in line to view Floyd’s golden casket. “If we’re not here to support our black community, how are we going to stand up for our own rights?”

Joey Lucio Sanjavier, a 26-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, had taken a black marker and written “las vidas negras importan” across the front of his face mask – black lives matter. “I feel like, as a Latino, I have to be here,” Lucio Sanjavier said, while waiting in line to view Floyd’s golden casket. “If we’re not here to support our black community, how are we going to stand up for our own rights?”Michael Hixenbaugh / NBC News

Dolly Spencer, 72, brought flowers.

“Mr. Floyd gave his life, not intentionally, but I wanted to pay my respects,” said Spencer, who is black. “And maybe we’ll get something out of this, that something bad will lead to something good.”

The viewing Monday precedes a final memorial service on Tuesday at the same church that’s being limited to 500 people, also a result of the pandemic.

Floyd, 46, died two weeks ago after he was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill and a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, officials said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pays his respects at the casket of George Floyd in Houston on June 8, 2020.David J. Phillip / Pool via AP

That officer was fired the day after Floyd’s arrest and has been charged with murder. Three other officers involved in the arrest were also fired and have been charged with aiding and abetting.

The incident has sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Floyd was eulogized in Minneapolis last week and a viewing was held Saturday in Raeford, North Carolina, near where he was born.

Kevin Block, 38, graduated from Yates a decade after Floyd, but said he was a role model for young men in neighborhood.

“He was a good guy, always looking out for the younger generation,” Block said. “We had to come out and represent for the neighborhood.”

This is a developing story please refresh for updates.

Michael Hixenbaugh reported from Houston, and David K. Li, Doha Madani, Rima Abdelkader and Janhvi Bhojwani from New York.

Mike Hixenbaugh

Mike Hixenbaugh is a national investigative reporter for NBC News, based in Houston.

Image: David K. LiDavid K. Li

David K. Li is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

Image: Doha MadaniDoha Madani

Doha Madani is a breaking news reporter for NBC News. 

Janhvi Bhojwani and Rima Abdelkader contributed.



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Raheem Sterling says more black people need to hold positions of power in football

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Raheem Sterling says more black people need to hold positions of power in football

Sterling: “It’s not just taking the knee, it is about giving people the chance they deserve”

Last Updated: 08/06/20 11:39pm


Raheem Sterling has called for English football to address the lack of black representation in positions of power.

The Manchester City and England forward made the comments during an appearance on the BBC programme Newsnight, in the wake of anti-racism protests across the world.

Advance clips had shown the 25-year-old offering his support to those who have taken to the streets in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody in Minneapolis last month.

2:37
Geraint Hughes discusses Raheem Sterling’s latest comments supporting the racism protests and looks back at some of the incidents the Manchester City forward has dealt with

Geraint Hughes discusses Raheem Sterling’s latest comments supporting the racism protests and looks back at some of the incidents the Manchester City forward has dealt with

But in the full interview, Sterling discussed matters closer to home, lamenting the disparity between the number of high-profile BAME players and the shortage of those who then go on to land significant managerial, coaching or administrative jobs.

Sterling said: “This is a time to speak on these subjects, speak on injustice, especially in my field.

“There’s something like 500 players in the Premier League and a third of them are black, and we have no representation of us in the hierarchy, no representation of us in the coaching staffs.

1:39
Former Manchester United and France defender Patrice Evra says he feels lucky to be alive after watching the video of George Floyd

Former Manchester United and France defender Patrice Evra says he feels lucky to be alive after watching the video of George Floyd

“There’s not a lot of faces that we can relate to and have conversations with.

“With these protests that are going on it’s all well and good just talking, but it’s time that we need to have conversations, to be able to spark debates.

“But at the same time, it’s coming together and finding a solution to be able to spark change, because we can talk as much as we want about changing and putting people, black people, in these positions that I do feel they should be in.

“I’ll give a perfect one. There’s [Rangers manager] Steven Gerrard, your [Chelsea manager] Frank Lampards, you have your Sol Campbells and you have your Ashley Coles.

“All had great careers, all played for England.

0:49
Former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is an honorary president of Show Racism the Red Card and thinks the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests could have a major impact

Former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is an honorary president of Show Racism the Red Card and thinks the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests could have a major impact

“At the same time, they’ve all respectfully done their coaching badges to coach at the highest level, and the two that haven’t been given the right opportunities are the two black former players.

“I feel like that’s what’s lacking here.

“It’s not just taking the knee [the movement started by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick], it is about giving people the chance they deserve.”

Sterling also suggested a more diverse mix is needed in the corridors of power.

Asked what would represent success for the change movement, he said: “When I can have someone from a black background, for me to go to in the FA with a problem I have within the club.

“These will be the times that I know that change is happening.”

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Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Broken Promise Does Not Affect His Ability To Vote From There

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Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Broken Promise Does Not Affect His Ability To Vote From There

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump may be violating his agreement with Palm Beach, Florida, by claiming his resort there as his home, but that does not affect his ability to claim it as his legal residence for voting purposes, the county’s top elections official said Monday.

In 1993, Trump agreed that if Palm Beach let him convert Mar-a-Lago from a private estate to a social club, no member, including himself, would be permitted to stay at the property more than 21 days a year and no more than seven days at a time.

Last year, nevertheless, he registered to vote in Florida using Mar-a-Lago as the “address where you live,” and, in fact, cast a mail-in ballot from there in the March presidential primary.

His apparent reneging on his promise, though, does not affect his registration, according to Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link. “That is between him and the town of Palm Beach,” she said.

Officials from the town, which covers a 12-mile stretch of the barrier island at the eastern edge of the county between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, did not respond to multiple HuffPost queries.

Link said that Trump is permitted to vote in his home state as previous presidents have done. Trump publicly announced his move from New York City to Palm Beach last year, and she said she had no reason to question its validity. She said that registration forms are flagged for declaring a residence in a commercially zoned area, but even those are accepted if voters declare, under penalty of perjury, that it is actually their residence.

For example, a hotel manager who lives at a hotel is permitted to use that business address to register, just as a homeless person who declares that he lives under a particular bridge.

“Zoning doesn’t allow one to live under a bridge, either,” she said. “The question is: Where do you live? Where does the person intend to make their residence for voting purposes?”

Glenn Zeitz, a lawyer and part-time Palm Beach resident working to block Trump’s recent attempts to build a dock at Mar-a-Lago, called Link’s argument a “stretch” because Trump has not previously lived in Florida and cannot under the terms of his agreement with the town live at Mar-a-Lago now.

“He is being treated no differently than a homeless person? And a homeless person living under a bridge is being treated no differently than the president of the United States?” he laughed. “It’s a stretch alright.”

Trump has in recent months been attacking mail voting, falsely claiming it was rife with fraud and a Democratic scheme to cheat, even though he and his top aides have used it themselves.

In March, Trump’s ballot was picked up from the elections office by a Republican operative ― even though Trump and other Republicans regularly accuse Democrats of “harvesting” ballots using political activists. White House officials have refused to explain how the ballot got to the White House and then back to Florida, where it was hand-delivered the day before the March 17 primary.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany similarly has voted by mail, including in the 2018 Florida primary and general elections using her parents’ home address in Tampa even though she was living and working in Washington, D.C., at the time and carrying a New Jersey driver’s license. That document is available only to residents of New Jersey. McEnany did not respond to HuffPost queries.

And presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway ― who last month said that if people could wait in line an hour to buy designer cupcakes, then they should also be able to wait in line to vote ― nevertheless cast her own 2018 midterm ballot in New Jersey by mail.



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Florida’s Rising COVID-19 Numbers: What Do They Mean?

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Florida’s Rising COVID-19 Numbers: What Do They Mean?

Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard, here in a snapshot Monday, shows an uptick of cases.

Florida GIS/Screenshot by NPR


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Florida GIS/Screenshot by NPR

Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard, here in a snapshot Monday, shows an uptick of cases.

Florida GIS/Screenshot by NPR

Over the last week, Florida has seen rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases. Since Tuesday, the number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus totaled more than 1,000 each day. Saturday’s total of 1,426 positive tests was the most since early April.

A similar rise in new cases is happening in other states, including North Carolina, Texas and California. It’s leading to worries that as businesses reopen and stay-at-home orders are lifted, relaxed guidelines could lead to new outbreaks and even a second wave of infections.

Florida Takes A 'Baby Step' To Reopening Its Economy, Shut Down To Stem Coronavirus

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed concerns that the rising numbers are related to the state’s reopening. He believes more people are turning up positive for COVID-19 because more people are being tested. “We’ve now, in the last two weeks averaged 30,000 test results a day in the state of Florida. If you go back to the…beginning of April, we weren’t even doing 10,000 test results a day.”

DeSantis pointed to the state’s low rate of positive tests. In Miami-Dade County, the area in Florida hardest hit by the pandemic, the positive rate is around 5% now, much lower than it was in April, when it was over 10%. With widespread testing now available for anyone who wants one, DeSantis said many people without symptoms are being found positive for the coronavirus. “These are people, a lot of them don’t even think they’re necessarily sick, but (testing) is there so they go. And granted, 98% of them are negative, but you do find cases.”

Mary Jo Trepka, a professor of epidemiology at Florida International University, agrees that increased testing is a major factor in the rising numbers. “It’s easier to get testing now. Before, the people very, very sick in the hospital were being tested, but not necessarily people who were more mildly ill.” Also she said, more positive cases are being identified through contact tracing. “And so you’re more likely to pick up those people who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.”

Jacksonville Mayor Announces 1st Florida Beach Reopening Since Coronavirus Shutdown

One area of concern, DeSantis said, are agriculture communities in South Florida where workers live in close quarters. “They’ve been going and aggressively testing all those areas,” DeSantis said. Prisons are another area where outbreaks are being monitored and contained.

DeSantis said by the end of the week, every resident and worker in the state’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities will have been tested for the coronavirus. But those entities remain a pandemic hot spot. The infection rate among residents of long-term care facilities is significantly higher than it is for other people tested in Florida.

Trepka said, at least in Miami-Dade she is seeing an impact from the opening of businesses and a relaxing of social distancing guidelines. The rate of positive cases among those tested for the coronavirus, which was steadily declining, has now leveled off. Trepka says, “It looks like some of the gains that we were making when we were completely closed down, we’re no longer seeing those gains in terms of a decrease in positivity rates.”

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Interview: ‘By Forcing my Father to Call me, They’re Trying to Warn me to be Quiet’

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Interview: ‘By Forcing my Father to Call me, They’re Trying to Warn me to be Quiet’

Jewlan Shirmemet, a Uyghur who has lived in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul since 2008, had stayed silent about politics until around six months ago, when he began to speak out as part of a campaign to free his mother, Suriye Tursun, from arbitrary detention back home in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). At the end of 2019, he learned that his mother was sentenced to five years in prison, while his father, Shirmemet Hudayar, and younger brother, Irpan Shirmemet, served a stint in the region’s vast network of internment camps, where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since April 2017.

After beginning his campaign, Shirmemet was contacted in February by a staffer from the Chinese Embassy in Turkey who confirmed that Tursun had been jailed for allegedly “aiding terrorists,” without providing further details. The staffer also informed him that his father and brother were interned in 2017 but had since been released. Tursun, a 30-year veteran of the Korgas County Office of Business and Trade Administration who regularly received awards for being an outstanding employee, had traveled abroad once—in 2015 to see her son in Turkey, which has since been blacklisted for travel by Uyghurs because of a perceived threat of “extremism.” Shirmemet maintains his mother’s innocence and argues that Uyghur identity, not terrorism, is what authorities in the XUAR see as the gravest threat from the ethnic group.

On June 1, Shirmemet received an unexpected phone call from his father, who resides in Suydung (in Chinese, Shuiding) township, in Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture’s Korgas (Huocheng) county, after not having spoken with him for three years. During the call, his father scolded him for his activism and told him to halt his campaign for his mother’s release. He has also since received similar calls from his uncle and younger brother. Shirmemet recently spoke with RFA’s Uyghur Service about his suspicion that authorities forced his father to call him and how he will not be swayed from his mission to see his mother released from prison:

Shirmemet: I suspect they called me from either a national security office or a police station, because the call didn’t come from my father’s number. He also said, “I came [here] with your uncle and brother [suggesting that all three went to some location outside their homes].” If I’m talking with them on the phone, in real fact I’m actually talking with the police, because they’re talking through my father.

By forcing my father to call me, they’re trying to warn me to be quiet. They’re threatening me, more or less. To this I say: I will never be quiet. What would it mean for me to sit quietly by while they lock up my mother, who worked in government administration for 30 years, for nothing? How can I possibly be quiet when they have locked a woman up in prison for no reason at all?

‘I will fight to the end’

In [Turkey], people will come out to save a cat locked up in a cage. They have imprisoned my mother, and they must release her. I should be able to call and talk to her. I’m living in the 21st century, the technologies [for staying in touch] are very developed. We’re developing means of communication with other planets—it should be a source of national shame that we’re living here on this earth but still unable to talk with our family. I am the citizen of a country that has very developed technologies and yet I cannot have contact with my family. They are blocking it. Why else would my father tell me not to call?

I spent five years of my time in Turkey studying law … What good would it be to have studied in this field if I don’t do everything I can to protect the rights of my mother, my family? They can let me “talk” with my dad and try to tell me to be quiet, but they are actually trying to force me to be quiet. I will fight to the end for this. I will not be quiet until my mom, my dad, and my brother can live freely and openly, until we can speak freely and openly with one another, and until [my parents can] return to their normal lives.

Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Elise Anderson. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.



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