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Hawley proposes removal of mandated renaming of U.S. military bases honoring Confederate officers

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Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is proposing to remove a mandated renaming of U.S. military bases honoring Confederate military leaders. He tells Missourinet he wants to instead create a one-year commission to get public input first and then make recommendations.

Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“My amendment says we will hold public hearings. We would be a commission that would hold public hearings – talk to military families, talk to veterans, talk to local communities and then make recommendations on changes to the names. I think this is a similar approach we’ve followed in the past,” says Hawley. “I think that’s the way we should move forward together to find consensus. I don’t think it should be done behind closed doors with a unilateral mandate by the Democrats – the same people who are also cheering on the tearing down of statues of George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln, for Heaven’s sake. It’s ridiculous.”

Since the death of George Floyd, objects viewed as symbols of racism are getting attention again. A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with second-degree murder in Floyd’s death.

“I’m against this cancel culture that just wants to sweep through and cancel anything that the Democrats and the woke mob now don’t approve of,” says Hawley. “That is not how we have proceeded as Americans. That is not how we show one another respect and honor. Let’s do this together.”

Fellow Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt has said he supports reviewing the names of the bases and renaming the installations.

The U.S. has ten bases commemorating Confederate officers.

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Blunt repeats call for U.S. Justice Department to restore federal police reviews

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U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, is calling again for the U.S. Department of Justice to restore federal reviews of police departments to help root out misconduct and make changes. Since the death of George Floyd of Minnesota, adjusting police practices has received greater attention.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri

Blunt says he plans to co-sponsor South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott’s proposed changes to police departments. Scott’s plan would focus on police training and would withhold federal grant money if police departments do not ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants, among other things.

During a press conference in Washington, Blunt says the president can step in and make a difference.

“An even more speedy way to respond than the legislative process is the executive branch doing what they can, as soon as they can, to make a difference. Many of you know I think that the Justice Department has real tools to go in and give advice to departments,” says Blunt. “Sometimes asked for, sometimes the Justice Department needs to insist that they be in there giving that advice,” says Blunt. “That’s not the national government taking over police, it’s the Justice Department looking at one department with a systemic problem and deciding they’re going to help solve that problem.”

Blunt and Missouri Democratic Congressmen Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver all say in the past, the federal agency has successfully used the process, including in Ferguson after Michael Brown, Jr. was killed.

Blunt’s office says U.S. Attorney General William Barr has not responded to Blunt’s request to reinstate the reviews.

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Galloway tells Missouri Democrats she’ll put Jefferson City back on the side of working families (AUDIO)

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Missouri’s presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee is urging voters to approve a Medicaid expansion proposal on the August ballot. State Auditor Nicole Galloway addressed the Missouri Democratic Party state convention this weekend.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D)
(Missourinet file photo)

“We’re going to bring our (Missouri) tax dollars home, to invest in our people,” Galloway says. “Giving coverage to working people, saving health care jobs and creating new ones in parts of our state that desperately need them.”

Amendment Two will be on the August 4 statewide ballot. 36 states have approved Medicaid expansion.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced its support of the August ballot measure on Friday.

“Let’s not miss this chance to bolster our economy during this recovery, while expanding access to healthcare for our fellow Missourians,” Missouri Chamber President Dan Mehan says, in a written statement.

The Missouri Chamber describes the Medicaid expansion proposal as a “pro-jobs measure that will help fuel economic growth throughout our state.”

The Missouri Hospital Association says ten rural Missouri hospitals have closed since 2014.

Governor Mike Parson (R) and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, oppose Medicaid expansion. Speaker Haahr says it would take dollars out of the classroom, noting it requires a ten percent match, for the 90 percent draw down.

During her Friday evening address, Galloway also condemned George Floyd’s recent death in Minneapolis. The Columbia Democrat says America’s criminal justice system is fractured.

“Addressing it begins with accountability, accountability for the law enforcement officers involved. And accountability in the systems that perpetuate systemic inequality,” says Galloway.

Galloway says the disparities in our criminal justice system are real.

The former Minneapolis police officer who was charged with murdering Mr. Floyd is now charged with second degree murder, and the three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting.

Galloway also addressed the issue of voting, during her presentation. She is urging Governor Parson to issue an order that would allow any Missourian in 2020 to vote absentee, without notarization.

The governor signed absentee voting legislation this month.

It expands absentee voting to those 65 and older, or who are vulnerable to COVID-19. Elderly people are considered at greater risk. Notarization is not required for those 65 and older or who are vulnerable.

The bill also expands voting by mail for everyone, but requires notarization.

“Missouri’s notary requirement is voter suppression, especially during a pandemic,” Galloway told the convention on Friday.

Galloway faces four primary opponents in August: Jimmie Matthews of St. Louis, Antoin Johnson of St. Louis, Kansas City’s Eric Morrison and Robin John Daniel Van Quaethem of St. Louis.

Galloway is expected to face Governor Parson in the November general election.

Click here to listen to State Auditor Nicole Galloway’s full eight-minute address to the Missouri Democratic Party state convention on June 12, 2020:

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Missouri congressman says defunding police departments is not the way to go

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Since the death of George Floyd of Minnesota, some elected officials are being asked whether to defund police departments. Most Minneapolis City Council members say they support dismantling their police department and putting the funding toward affordable housing and battling opioid and mental health problems. East-central Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that America cannot have anarchy running loose in our cities.

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, spoke in Jefferson City on February 17, 2020 (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

“Minnesota is run by an extreme left-wing liberal who is just a crazy nutjob off the chart. I know some of these people that are involved in this. I’ve served with the attorney general from Minnesota. I’ve served with the governor of Minnesota. And now the attorney general’s son, who is a clone of his father, sits on the City Council. It’s a mess up there,” says Luetkemeyer.

President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have also come out against defunding police.

Luetkemeyer says Floyd’s death was a tragedy that should never have happened.

“We need to support our police,” says Luetkemeyer. “99.9 percent of them are good folks doing a great job and we need to recognize that. All we’re doing now is making the job more difficult if you go down that road.”

He says the president and U.S. attorney general are taking “very strong action” against rioters who have turned peaceful protests into violent and destructive events.

“Since then, obviously Attorney General Barr as well as the president have come out and been very forceful with explaining that basically the protests who were there to support George Floyd and against the actions of the cop, have been taken over by these left-wing radical extremist groups that are anti-American. They want to destroy property,” says Luetkemeyer. “There’s just no place for that sort of destructive type of protests. The protests and express your feelings is fine, but to do it in a way that destroys other people’s property, destroys other people’s ability to make a living and endangers their lives, that’s inappropriate. That can’t happen.”

Other news reports say experts who track extremist groups think individuals with far-left political views and individuals with far-right political views are participating in the criminal behavior. They cite a surge of social media accounts with fewer than 200 followers created in the last month, a common indication of a disinformation campaign. The reports say the accounts have graphic posts of protests and material on police brutality that appear to be designed to inflame tensions.

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Missouri congressman introduces legislation intended to prevent police brutality

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Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay and a chorus of other lawmakers have introduced sweeping legislation today designed to crack down on police brutality problems. Clay, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Black Caucus, want to reign in on police using deadly force and want to require an independent prosecutor for all police killings. Clay, Missouri’s senior Democratic Congressional member from St. Louis, spoke today during a press conference in Washington to roll out the “Justice in Policing Act”.

Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay

“Now I’ve seen millions in my state and around the country – in small towns in Missouri and throughout this nation – who know there is an injustice throughout this nation that we have been treated unequally,” says Clay.

In a press release, Clay goes on to say the legislation could take generations to achieve all components, but says the bill is a “powerful, bold step forward to move American society to a new normal for both race relations and policing.”

“This remarkable legislative proposal advances a long and arduous process that I have been pursuing since the Ferguson uprising to make a course correction in our democracy to finally address centuries of oppression and unequal treatment of African Americans by law enforcement,” says Clay. “I’m very proud that three of my top police reform priorities are included in this landmark bill, including: Making the use of deadly force the last resort for law enforcement; mandating an independent prosecutor in all instances of police killings; and requiring all new and existing police officers to undergo transformative training to address racial bias, cultural awareness, de-escalation tactics, and the pervasive use of excessive force with non-white subjects.”

The plan would also require the use of police body cameras nationwide, change what qualifies in court cases as police immunity, ban police from using choke holds and create a national database disclosing the names of officers with patterns of abuse.

Last week, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, told CNN he does not think a nationalized, legislative response to policing is possible.

“I don’t think you can come up with a national, enforceable response on conduct or practice, nor do I think you can come up with a national manual that really makes sense for departments,” he said.

The Memorial Day death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was mishandled by a white Minneapolis police officer, has sparked protests around the world and has reignited calls to address police brutality problems.

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Missouri National Guard soldiers responding to protests at nation’s capital

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Gov. Mike Parson says Missouri is sending National Guard soldiers to Washington, D.C. to help with protests there. At a press conference today, Parson says the troops will be sent out within a day or so.

Missouri National Guard soldiers responding to protests at nation’s capital

“All of our jobs, no matter what state you’re in, no matter who the president is, protecting Washington, D.C., protecting the monuments, protecting our history of who we are, is important and should be important to every citizen,” says Parson. “Politics out the window for aside, we’ve got to maintain that law and order. So, we’re more than willing to help to preserve that.”

Protests have emerged around the country since last week’s death of George Floyd in Minnesota. He died after a white police officer pressed a knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes while the African American man was on the ground in handcuffs.

Other states are also sending troops in response to protests in Washington. About 5,000 troops are reportedly expected to help with security there.

Democratic governors in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware have turned down requests from Defense Secretary Mark Esper to provide National Guard help in Washington.

More than 1,000 National Guard troops are scattered across Missouri to help keep peaceful protests from turning violent.

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Parson to boost Missouri National Guard response to unrest

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Gov. Mike Parson says more than 1,000 National Guard soldiers will be called up to help crack down on the violent and destructive turmoil going on around Missouri. On Saturday, the governor signed an executive order activating the National Guard to help with ongoing turbulence.

Gov. Mike Parson

Protests have sprung up in several Missouri cities since last week’s police brutality death of George Floyd, an African-American man from Minnesota. A white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes while the man was on the ground face down in handcuffs.

When night falls, the surroundings have become unruly in Kansas City and St. Louis. Four St. Louis police officers were injured during shootings Monday night and a retired officer there was killed by looters. News and police vehicles have been set on fire in both cities. Looters have broken into businesses and damaged property. Officers have been injured by flying objects. People in the crowd have been pepper spray and tear gas has been ignited.

During a press conference today, Parson says he’s not going to tolerate total chaos.

“We’re not going to have police officers, we’re not going to have citizens of Missouri being shot in our streets in this state and we’re going to put an end to it with whatever forces I have as governor of the state of Missouri. Whether that’s every member of the Highway Patrol, whether that’s every member of the National Guard, I will call them all out to stop the violence,” says Parson.

Brig. Gen. Levon Cumpton, the Adjutant General, says the state has more than 10,000 National Guard soldiers.

The governor, a former Polk County sheriff, says there must be law and order in America for people to survive.

“We all need to take a little more accountability,” he says. “I don’t care whether you’re an elected official, whether you’re an everyday citizen, whether you’re a mom, whether you’re a grandma or whoever you might be. You need to start standing up and protecting one another and not engage and not trying to create chaos and commit criminal activities. They’re really trying to change a cause that definitely needs to be changed. Things need to be done different in society. We need to address issues that the African-American community have, but not through violence – not through what we’re seeing out there on the streets.”

Parson thinks the behavior is organized crime that is different from the 2014 Ferguson riots.

“When all the sudden you’ve seen pallets of bricks show up or pallets of blocks that show up, you’re having a strategy where dumpsters are where you pull them out and you set them on fire, they know to try to burn police cars because it gets more of the media coverage, and their main focus is to try to get to the police stations or the law so they can disrupt the services there. So, they have a plan of how they do sweeps, they have a plan of how they attack police officers,” says Parson.

The FBI and its SWAT team, ATF and Missouri Highway Patrol are also helping on the ground in St. Louis.

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Missouri National Guard, Missouri Highway Patrol and FBI helping to patrol St. Louis; curfew in effect (AUDIO)

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St. Louis’ Public Safety Director has announced that the FBI, ATF, the Missouri National Guard, the Missouri Highway Patrol and other agencies arrived overnight to help patrol St. Louis, and will continue to do so until further notice.

Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards tells reporters that more than 200 people engaged in “persistent criminal activity” overnight. He says four St. Louis police officers were shot, and that a retired officer was killed by a looter.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol logo (courtesy of Patrol Lieutenant Collin Stosberg)

The four officers who were shot have been released from the hospital.

“To the criminals that inflicted crime on our city last night, we have your surveillance pictures,” Edwards says. “And I will use every tool available to me to count every freckle on your face until you have been identified and arrested.”

Edwards says the city also requested the FBI surveillance plane and the FBI swat team, and they also arrived overnight. The St. Louis County swat team is also assisting.

Edwards says his officers are frustrated when fellow officers tarnish their badge, referring to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. He says his officers joined in solidarity with protesters on Monday afternoon.

“Yesterday evening and throughout the early morning, many of the same protesters that our officers protected turned violent against them,” Edwards tells St. Louis reporters. He says they threw objects at officers and used fireworks against them.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson says has signed an executive order establishing a citywide curfew, after the overnight burning and looting. She says retired officer David Dorn was shot to death last night, outside a looted pawn shop.

Mayor Krewson describes what happened overnight as a riot, adding that it was “a terrible night for St. Louis.”

“What started as a very non-violent and peaceful demonstration and protest ended in looting, shooting, burning and attacks on law enforcement,” Krewson says.

She tells reporters that hundreds of vehicles were going to various locations.

As for the curfew, it takes effect tonight at 9 and goes until 6 a.m. It will continue daily until further notice.

“9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the morning, everybody needs to be off the streets, you need to be at home,” says Krewson.

There are exceptions to the order. They include those traveling to and from work, government employees performing work assignments, the news media and those traveling for medical treatment. The homeless are also exempt.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner also spoke today, saying that while she wants peaceful protesters to continue to make their voices heard, she will use the full power of law to prosecute those who shoot and murder police officers.

Prosecutor Gardner also urged peaceful protesters to help her office “root out those whose actions work directly against justice for all.”

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Protesters hit Jefferson City streets to rally against George Floyd’s death

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About 2,000 people marched along the streets of Jefferson City Monday evening to protest last week’s police brutality death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Participants of all ages and backgrounds chanted phrases like “No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police.”

Mary Chen of Jefferson City says she was happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with people of all colors in the community.

“I think that the most recent racial injustices have just really tipped the scale,” she says. “I think as a white person, I’m finally starting to get it – that it’s going to take all of us being aggressively involved in this movement for racial justice to happen.”

A young black woman named Ari says this is her first protest, “but this is my community.”

“We will come out here every single day if we have to until I don’t have to fear for my life because of the color of my skin.”

After persuasion by the crowd, some officers and soldiers at the protest took a knee in support of ending racial injustice. Nimrod Chapel, President of the Missouri NAACP, says the move was important.

“I think far too often that our peace officers and people in the military get painted with a broad brush – that they’re just opposed to the humanitarian measures – life-preserving measures like don’t put your knee in people’s necks that we’re talking about here, don’t kill people, be good people. And I think anybody with a heart and a professional consciousness is willing to listen to that and I think that they demonstrated that today.”

Protestors then walked a mile and a half to  Lincoln University – one of Missouri’s historically black colleges. For nine minutes, protesters lay on the ground near the college entrance with their hands behind their backs chanting “I can’t breathe” – just like George Floyd said.

The event was mainly peaceful. As marchers returned to the Capitol, a few tossed water bottles at police cars, two storefront windows along the route were damaged, and there was continual verbal taunting of police.

Most of the gathering dispersed from the Capitol grounds after a being led in a prayer by one of the participants. A few dozen remained to chant and challenge the National Guard and Missouri State Trooper presence that surrounded the statehouse.

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Blunt statement on protests: We must confront the fact that millions of Americans don’t feel safe because of the color of their skin.

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Missouri’s senior U.S. Senator Roy Blunt issued a statement today on protests and “indiscriminate violence” after three more black Americans were recently killed, two by police

“Our nation has once again been brought to a moment of reckoning. The recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have shocked and outraged Americans. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones who are mourning their loss.

“Americans have every right to demand justice. They have every right to protest and be heard. But we cannot allow their message to be drowned out by those who are exploiting this moment to destroy communities and put more innocent lives at risk. Indiscriminate violence will not bring about change, it will bring more suffering at a time when so many families and small businesses are already hurting. I appreciate all of our law enforcement officers and National Guardsmen and women who have put their safety on the line to respond to this crisis.

“Just as we did in the days following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, we must confront the fact that millions of Americans don’t feel safe because of the color of their skin. We must acknowledge the very deep pain, and the very deep fear, that communities of color are feeling. I hope we are able to emerge from these recent events with a renewed commitment to continuing the work that needs to be done. There are significant challenges we have to address for everyone to trust that they will be treated equally under the law. I said after the Ferguson protests that tragedy is a tough teacher, but that makes it ever more important to learn from tragedy. Let’s learn from this. Let’s listen to one another and work together to become the nation we ought to be.”