America's Brutal Society
From Medicare-for-All to “Masks-for-All”: Bernie Sanders and the incredible shrinking “political revolution”
By Genevieve Leigh, 5 August 2020
Under conditions of the greatest political, economic, social, and health catastrophe in US history, Sanders’ proposal amounts to less than a Band-Aid for a bullet wound.
Trump installs ex-general and anti-Islam bigot in top Pentagon post
By Patrick Martin, 4 August 2020
The appointment of retired Gen. Anthony Tata was carried out by means of a maneuver designed to bypass opposition from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
Lawsuit exposes massive COVID-19 outbreak at privately-run immigrant detention center in Virginia
By Joe Williams, 1 August 2020
The Farmville Detention Center has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of all immigrant detainment facilities in the United States.
At least 735 COVID-19 deaths confirmed in US prison system
By Sam Dalton, 31 July 2020
Now exceeding April and May peaks, increases in prison deaths and infections are most acute in states that pursued reckless reopenings.
Plainclothes NYC police grab protester and throw her into unmarked car
By Niles Niemuth, 30 July 2020
The illegal seizure of the protester in broad daylight signaled the readiness of the New York Police Department to use the authoritarian methods made infamous by Trump’s paramilitary forces in Portland.
Ghislaine Maxwell attorneys submit motion to block release of documents from 2015 defamation case
By Kevin Reed, 28 July 2020
Lawyers for the former girlfriend and event organizer for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein filed a motion on Monday to keep “highly confidential” documents from the earlier case from being made public.
As demonstrations erupt against Trump’s use of federal paramilitary police in Portland
Protester shot and killed in Austin, Texas
By Jacob Crosse, 27 July 2020
Nationwide protests against police violence, which had receded in recent days, reignited in dozens of US cities over the weekend.
As paramilitary police tear gas Portland mayor and protesters
Trump orders federal police to more cities
By Barry Grey, 24 July 2020
The Trump administration is stepping up its unconstitutional moves toward dictatorial rule, tear gassing the mayor of Portland, Oregon and announcing the deployment of federal police to additional cities.
New coronavirus cases globally rocket past a quarter million
By Bryan Dyne, 23 July 2020
Multiple countries yesterday set new records in their daily death tolls, case counts or both.
Bodies of two workers still entombed at collapsed Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans nearly one year later
By Aaron Murch, 23 July 2020
Ten months after the partial collapse of the Hard Rock hotel construction site collapse recovery, efforts are finally under way to retrieve the bodies of two workers still buried beneath the rubble.
COVID-19 cases reach 15 million worldwide with 4 million in the US alone
By Benjamin Mateus, 22 July 2020
The United States is in the unique position of being the only developed nation to face such a disastrous and expanding outbreak.
Trump’s plan to send paramilitary police throughout the US: The ruling class prepares for civil war
By Patrick Martin, 22 July 2020
The Trump administration’s plans to deploy federal paramilitary forces in major American cities is a sharp escalation of the assault on democratic rights and the establishment of police state forms of rule.
President Trump sending federal police agents into major American cities
By Kevin Reed, 21 July 2020
Trump said on Monday that he was extending the use of federal law enforcement officers to New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland to arrest protesters.
Trump’s police-state attack in Portland, Oregon
By Patrick Martin, 20 July 2020
The crackdown on demonstrators by Trump’s fascistic border agents is the latest move in his administration’s years-long assault on democratic rights in the United States.
A grim week on federal death row: Three men sent to their deaths in Terre Haute, Indiana
By Kate Randall, 18 July 2020
Dustin Lee Honken was the third prisoner executed in five days after a 17-year de facto moratorium on the gruesome practice at the federal level.
Michigan teen sent to juvenile detention for failing to do her homework
By Will McCalliss and Nancy Hanover, 18 July 2020
Amid the chaotic transition to online learning during the pandemic, a teenage girl has been taken into criminal custody for “failure to submit any schoolwork.”
Second federal execution in a week goes forward with Supreme Court sanction
By Kate Randall, 17 July 2020
For the second time in as many days, the highest US court vacated a lower court’s order, allowing a federal execution to proceed.
Markets soar as the corpses pile up
By Andre Damon, 16 July 2020
The massive run-up in stock prices has only one explanation: The capitalist state has put at the disposal of its masters in the financial oligarchy unlimited amounts of money.
US government carries out first execution of federal prisoner in 17 years
By Kate Randall, 15 July 2020
In the modern history of the death penalty in the US, Daniel Lewis Lee’s execution stands out as a particularly egregious affront to due process and basic human rights.
Federal prosecutors argue against bail and home confinement for Epstein assistant Ghislaine Maxwell
By Kevin Reed, 14 July 2020
Government prosecutors have filed a motion in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell urging the court to deny her request for $5 million bail while she awaits trial on charges of assisting Jeffrey Epstein in sexually abusing underage girls in the 1990s.
Epstein assistant Ghislaine Maxwell requests $5 million bail
By Kevin Reed, 11 July 2020
Whatever the outcome of Maxwell’s arraignment on Tuesday, more revelations about the activities and relationships of Jeffrey Epstein and his confidante should be anticipated.
Protests erupt after Detroit, Michigan police shoot and kill 21-year-old man
By Stephen Fuller, 11 July 2020
Tensions are high in the city after weeks of protests against police brutality in which hundreds have been arrested and police have rammed into protesters with their vehicles.
Coronavirus pandemic threatens lives of at least one million people at risk from AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria
By Bryan Dyne, 7 July 2020
The global distribution of preventative treatments for other deadly diseases has been severely disrupted by the pandemic.
Seattle protester killed after being struck by car driving wrong way on closed interstate
By Jacob Crosse, 6 July 2020
Police blamed protesters after a man drove into a peaceful demonstration early Saturday morning, killing one person and critically injuring another.
Teen shot in back by Louisiana police, charged with resisting arrest
By Aaron Murch, 2 July 2020
Tre’mall McGee’s mother has been demanding answers from the sheriff’s office for three months to no avail, while the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office until recently has been concealing that there was a shooting at all.
US Supreme Court upholds abortion access, eliminates executive watchdog and opens federal death chambers
By John Burton, 30 June 2020
On Monday, the US Supreme Court issued a significant ruling protecting the right to abortion, but also strengthened the unitary executive and cleared the way for the first federal executions in 17 years.
Aurora, Colorado, police attack protesters after investigation reopened into 2019 death of Elijah McClain
By Matthew MacEgan, 30 June 2020
Aurora police fired pepper spray and smoke grenades on a vigil for McClain, which was attended by families and children a day after the governor announced a reopening of the state.
Newly released body camera footage shows Baltimore police shooting man in the back
By Dominic Gustavo, 30 June 2020
Police body camera footage showed 29-year-old Robert Johnson, Jr. seeking to run from the scene as an officer opened fire while pursuing him. Innocent bystanders were hit by gunfire in the incident.
Detroit Police SUV plows through protesters, several injured
By Stephen Fuller, 30 June 2020
This incident is the latest in a series of vehicular attacks on protesters by police and right-wing individuals.
Ahmaud Arbery’s killers indicted on murder charges in Georgia
By Matthew MacEgan, 26 June 2020
A Georgia grand jury indicted all three men with nine counts each, including malice murder and four counts of felony murder.
New York Times column: Pandemic shows need to curtail “unnecessary” and “wasteful” doctor’s visits
By Kate Randall, 25 June 2020
Dr. Sandeep Jauhar makes the remarkable argument that patients who have stopped going to the doctor during the COVID-19 outbreak “seem to have done OK,” and concludes that Americans have too much access to health care.
COVID-19 infections skyrocket in American prisons
By Sam Dalton, 19 June 2020
With coronavirus cases doubling in one month, US prisoners are at growing risk of infection and death.
New Mexico protester wounded by far-right shooter
By Jacob Crosse, 17 June 2020
Encouraged by President Trump and working in concert with local police departments, far-right elements have been allowed to attack and intimidate peaceful protesters across the country.
Washington Post op-ed calls for news media to censor videos of police brutality
By Nick Barrickman, 17 June 2020
ESPN journalist and University of Maryland Professor Kevin Blackistone has called for the removal of videos of police killings on the grounds that they “dehumanize” black men.
Atlanta police killing of Rayshard Brooks ruled a homicide as Democrats posture as reformers
By Matthew MacEgan, 16 June 2020
Brooks’ killing has fueled the mass protests against police violence and racism that have taken place in all 50 states and dozens of cities internationally.
National Guard fired the shot that killed David McAtee in Louisville during protest against police violence
By Kevin Reed, 12 June 2020
Laboratory tests have determined that McAtee was shot and killed by a member of the Kentucky National Guard during an assault on protesters last week.
George Floyd laid to rest as nationwide protests over police violence continue
By Niles Niemuth, 10 June 2020
The murder of Floyd, caught on bystander cellphone video in excruciating detail, has served as a catalyst for the largest nationwide and international outpouring of political opposition in decades.
Bakersfield, California protester dies after being run over by neo-Nazi
By Adam Mclean, 10 June 2020
The driver, Timothy Moore, was defended by police and subsequently released without charge after he rammed Robert Forbes.
Thousands pay respects to George Floyd as Minneapolis cop is arraigned on murder charges
By Kevin Reed, 9 June 2020
Protests demanding justice for Floyd and against police violence continued on Monday for the fourteenth day in a row.
“I didn’t receive one warning”
Protester explains how he was brutally assaulted by Secret Service officials in Washington, D.C.
By Nick Barrickman, 6 June 2020
The demonstrator explained how federal officials provoked and then assaulted peaceful demonstrators outside the White House last weekend as protests against police brutality swept the country.
Police kill unarmed 22-year-old man in Vallejo, California
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 6 June 2020
Sean Monterrosa was on his knees with his hands held up when police officers shot five bullets into him through the windshield of their unmarked cruiser.
Ten thousand people have been arrested across the US as protests against police violence continue to expand
By Kevin Reed, 5 June 2020
Protests have taken place in more than 500 cities and towns across the US over the past ten days in the face of the deployment of riot police, the National Guard and Trump's threat of military intervention.
Trump administration deploys unmarked paramilitary units in Washington, D.C.
By Zac Thorton, 5 June 2020
The appearance of largely unmarked paramilitary units in Washington, D.C., has underscored the growing threat of a military takeover in the United States.
Inmate dies after being pepper sprayed by guards at Brooklyn federal detention center
By Sam Dalton, 5 June 2020
Jamel Floyd was declared dead shortly after guards responded to an incident in his cell and subdued him with a noxious chemical agent.
After more than a week of nationwide protests, new charges announced against George Floyd’s murderers
By Jacob Crosse, 4 June 2020
Attorney General Keith Ellison tempered any expectations of justice as thousands continued to defy police and military repression in marches across the country
Use of tear gas by US police may exacerbate COVID-19 pandemic
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 4 June 2020
Tear gas directly attacks the lungs, and its corrosive effects could make people far more susceptible to respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.
Anger grows over refusal to bring charges in killing at Omaha protest
By Kristina Betinis, 4 June 2020
The Douglas County attorney reversed himself Wednesday to call for a grand jury investigation into the murder of James Scurlock by a bar owner during a demonstration this weekend.
Georgia police officers charged after brutal assault on college students returning from protest
By Dan Conway, 4 June 2020
The students were viciously assaulted returning from protests against the murder of George Floyd on Saturday night despite doing nothing to provoke the officers or arouse suspicion.
US Federal Bureau of Prisons implements full lockdown amid mass protests across the country
By Sam Dalton, 4 June 2020
Amidst a worsening COVID-19 outbreak and protests over police violence, fears of brewing rebellions lead to the rapid lockdown of federal prisons this week.
As protests grow, corporate CEOs hypocritically declare opposition to “racism and injustice”
By Jerry White, 4 June 2020
Tech billionaires, Wall Street bankers and auto executives all issued statements this week in hopes of shoring up the battered image of American capitalism.
Protesters defy Trump’s threats, expand nationwide movement against police killings
By Jacob Crosse, 3 June 2020
Curfews, mass arrests and police terror have not quelled the powerful movement of youth and workers of all races and ethnicities in response to the police murder of George Floyd.
Trump administration deploys military to the capital as nationwide protests continue
By Jacob Crosse, 2 June 2020
Trump’s dictatorial moves to quash protests against the police murder of George Floyd signal an escalation of state violence.
Mass protests voice outrage over police murder of George Floyd
By Patrick Martin, 30 May 2020
Thousands defied a curfew in the Twin Cities while large protests took place in New York City, Atlanta, Washington, Los Angeles and dozens of other US cities.
Protests against police killing of frontline worker Breonna Taylor escalate in Louisville, Kentucky
By Dominic Gustavo, 30 May 2020
Hundreds protested in Louisville on Thursday demanding the arrest and prosecution of police who killed Breonna Taylor during a “no knock” raid on her residence in March.
Hundreds of thousands stage multiracial demonstrations against police violence in a powerful show of working-class unity
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (US), 30 May 2020
Mass demonstrations of workers and youth of all races, triggered by the brutal murder of George Floyd, are an expression of tremendous social solidarity. It is not a question of black against white, but the working class against the rich.
Mass anger erupts throughout the US in protests against police murder of George Floyd
By Anthony Bertolt, 29 May 2020
The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has set off a wave of social anger, sparking demonstrations in Kentucky, Colorado, California, Ohio and other states throughout the country.
Cop who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis had record of brutality
By Kristina Betinis, 29 May 2020
Local station KARE 11 reports 13 complaints since 2003 were closed without discipline. Chauvin was awarded a departmental medal of valor in 2009.
Police attack on unarmed woman in Ypsilanti, Michigan sparks three days of protests
By James Brookfield, 29 May 2020
Workers and youth gathered in Washtenaw County, Michigan for a third consecutive day on Thursday to protest the brutal police attack on Sha’Teina Grady El that occurred in the early morning hours Tuesday.
Attorney Lee Merritt speaks on conspiracy to cover-up Ahmaud Arbery’s murder
By Matthew MacEgan, 29 May 2020
Merritt spoke to the WSWS Wednesday about developments in the Arbery case and what has been exposed about the efforts of the police and prosecutors to whitewash the killing.
Thousands continue to protest in Minneapolis over the brutal police murder of George Floyd
By Anthony Bertolt, 28 May 2020
Surveillance video footage shows that Floyd was being compliant moments before he was pinned to the ground and choked to death by a Minneapolis police officer.
The murder of George Floyd and the fight against police violence in the US
By Joseph Kishore—Socialist Equality Party candidate for US president, 28 May 2020
The murder of Floyd by Minneapolis police officers is the latest in a long string of killings and abuse which have their roots in the capitalist system.
Police in the US fire tear gas at protest against brutal Memorial Day murder
By Kevin Reed, 27 May 2020
Video shared on social media shows that George Floyd was killed by a police officer who kneeled on his neck while he was subdued on the ground.
FBI investigating Georgia officials who failed to arrest Ahmaud Arbery’s killers
By Matthew MacEgan, 27 May 2020
Federal investigators are reportedly looking into potential criminal and civil violations on the part of the district attorneys who initially handled the Arbery case.
Thomson Reuters actively helping Trump administration target immigrants
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 27 May 2020
The parent company of the Reuters news agency has been aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the targeting of immigrants for arrest, detention and deportation.
Washington’s criminal deportations to Haiti threaten to ignite pandemic
By Alberto Escalera, 26 May 2020
In addition to slating coronavirus-positive detainees for deportation, Washington is seeking to ship back infamous death squad leader and CIA “asset” Emmanuel “Toto” Constant.
Third man charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery
By Matthew MacEgan, 22 May 2020
William Bryan, who recorded video of Arbery being shot and killed by Travis McMichael in February, was arrested Thursday and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Missouri executes 64-year-old man convicted on flimsy evidence
By Warren Duzak, 21 May 2020
Walter Barton was executed Tuesday by lethal injection despite new evidence that had made jurors question his murder conviction.
New details emerge in Ahmaud Arbery killing
By Matthew MacEgan, 20 May 2020
Recently released surveillance video shows that Travis McMichael had an encounter with Arbery two weeks prior to fatally shooting him on February 23.
With private prison outbreak, Tennessee county leads US in per capita COVID-19 cases
By Warren Duzak, 16 May 2020
More than half of the 2,400 inmates at the CoreCivic Trousdale Turner Correctional Center have tested positive for coronavirus.
Family files lawsuit against Louisville, Kentucky police over March killing of Breonna Taylor
By Kevin Reed, 14 May 2020
Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed in a hail of gunfire during a court authorized “no-knock” siege of her apartment on March 13.
Georgia autopsy report shows Ahmaud Arbery shot three times
By Matthew MacEgan, 13 May 2020
Reports also emerged Tuesday that the one of the men involved in the killing, a retired investigator for the local district attorney’s office, helped prosecute Arbery in the past.
New York police brutality continues unabated in midst of pandemic
By Sam Dalton, 13 May 2020
Sections of the Democratic Party and the media in New York City are attempting to portray brutal attacks by the NYPD on workers and youth exclusively in racial terms.
The killing of Ahmaud Arbery
By Joseph Kishore—SEP candidate for US president, 12 May 2020
The killing of Arbery by a former police officer and public investigator must be seen in the context of the unending wave of police killings in the US, which claim more than 1,000 lives every year.
Indianapolis cops fire pepper balls on group protesting police shooting of Dreasjon Reed
By Kevin Reed, 11 May 2020
Police arrested one protester and fired pepper balls at demonstrators who assembled at the scene where Dreasjon Reed was shot and killed by an officer on May 6.
First ICE detainee dies of COVID-19 in San Diego
By Adam Mclean, 11 May 2020
Lacking basic sanitation and living in squalor, infections among immigrants in ICE custody have skyrocketed.
Over 40 percent of mothers with children ages 12 and under are now food insecure in the US
By Kevin Reed, 7 May 2020
The Hamilton Project, a Washington, DC policy think-tank, has published survey results that show dramatic increases in hunger in households across the US.
Video shows February murder of Georgia jogger by former police officer and his son
By Aaron Murch, 7 May 2020
Prosecutor Tom Durden issued a statement this week calling for a grand jury to be commissioned to consider bringing criminal charges against the killers.
US nursing home catastrophe: Increasing numbers of the elderly fall victim to COVID-19
By Kate Randall, 6 May 2020
The wiping out of large numbers of the elderly population is seen by the ruling elite as a convenient and positive byproduct of the coronavirus pandemic.
At “reopen the economy” event, Trump confirms plans to shut down coronavirus task force
By Barry Grey, 6 May 2020
Trump made a point of calling the American people “warriors,” implying that they had to be prepared to die. And to die, moreover, for Wall Street.
The American oligarchy decides for death
By Niles Niemuth, 5 May 2020
The Trump administration has embraced an approach to the pandemic that will—and that it knows will—result in the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the coming weeks and months.
Inmates at Michigan prisons exposed to COVID-19 in unsanitary conditions
By Stephen Fuller, 4 May 2020
As of May 2, almost 2,000 inmates have tested positive with 41 prisoners succumbing to the coronavirus.
Dozens of decaying corpses found piled in unrefrigerated trucks at New York City funeral home
By Philip Guelpa, 1 May 2020
More than 18,000 New York City residents have so far died from COVID-19, and the city’s ability to deal with the bodies is at the breaking point.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls for letting COVID-19 run rampant
By Andre Damon, 1 May 2020
Friedman has published an op-ed endorsing a policy of allowing large portions of the US population to be infected with COVID-19.
Tiger King on Netflix: Approach with caution!
By Ed Hightower and Kathleen Martin, 28 April 2020
Tiger King centers on the feud between Joe Exotic—a flamboyant zoo owner in rural Oklahoma—and the animal rights activist who aims to shut down the cub petting industry in the US, Carole Baskin.
“Veritable volcanoes for the spread of the virus”
ACLU study predicts an additional 100,000 COVID-19 deaths in US prisons
By Alex Findijs, 27 April 2020
America’s 2.3 million inmates and 420,000 guards and staff are at high risk of infection, threatening tens of thousands of lives.
The pandemic, profits and the capitalist justification of suffering and death
By David North, 18 April 2020
For the financial-corporate oligarchy, the pandemic has been viewed, above all else, as an economic crisis. Its principal concern from the start was not the potential loss of life but the destabilization of the financial markets, the disruption of the process of profit extraction, and, of course, a substantial decline in the personal wealth of the members of the oligarchy.
“[COVID-19] will turn our detentions into a death sentence”
Immigrants at US detention centers lead hunger strikes, face persecution demanding protections from pandemic
By Renae Cassimeda, 14 April 2020
Nearly 200 immigrants, in male and female cell blocks, are currently staging a hunger strike and sit-in at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California.
Testimony from US and Canadian inmates exposes deadly conditions inside prisons
By Sam Dalton, 11 April 2020
Many harrowing accounts have emerged in the form of videos and written testimony from prisoners outlining the conditions they face in the last two weeks.
Statistical lies used to justify continued inaction, paint the US epidemic as nearly over
By Don Barrett, 2 April 2020
The US ruling class turns to bad statistics to justify its continued inaction and paint a picture that the worst is just ahead.
As 150,000 hotel rooms remain empty, Las Vegas government forces 500 homeless residents to sleep outside on asphalt parking lot
By Jacob Crosse, 31 March 2020
The action follows the closure of one of the few homeless shelters in the city after someone staying there tested positive for coronavirus.
US prisons begin release of inmates after COVID-19 pandemic engulfs system
By Sam Dalton, 31 March 2020
An acute outbreak of COVID-19 in many US prisons is underway, with hundreds of prisoners and staff members testing positive for COVID-19.
Growing protests in US immigrant detention centers over coronavirus pandemic
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 31 March 2020
Detainees have stepped up their protests against unsanitary conditions over the very real fear of coronavirus spreading rapidly through the vast immigration detention network in the US.
US military veterans who fought as mercenaries for Ukrainian fascists indicted on double murder charges
By Jacob Crosse, 31 March 2020
Alex Zwiefelhofer and Craig Lang are accused of orchestrating the double murder and robbery of Serafin and Deana Lorenzo to finance a trip to Venezuela for the purpose of killing “communists.”
US Senate passes massive economic “rescue” bill
By Patrick Martin, 26 March 2020
The $2 trillion bill allocates the bulk of its funds to loans and grants to corporations and businesses, with some emergency aid to workers.
Governor Cuomo pleads for assistance as New York state plunges into an unprecedented health crisis
By Benjamin Mateus, 26 March 2020
The governor is asking for more ventilators and beds, as New York faces a near collapse of its healthcare infrastructure.
COVID-19 outbreak in New York prisons threatens lives of thousands
By Sam Dalton, 23 March 2020
Thirty-eight people in the New York prison system test positive for COVID-19 as reports emerge that Harvey Weinstein has also been infected by the virus.
“No one wants to die in jail”
Immigrants at New Jersey ICE detention center launch hunger strike over COVID-19 threat
By Erik Schreiber, 23 March 2020
Detainees at the Newark, New Jersey jail used by ICE are protesting filthy conditions that increase their risk of infection by the coronavirus and are demanding to be released.
Catastrophic worldwide medical ventilator shortfall despite years of warning
By Steve James, 23 March 2020
World productive capacity of medical ventilators is far below peak requirements during the coronavirus outbreak.
First ICE officer tests positive for COVID-19
Immigrants in US detention facilities plead for help as coronavirus pandemic spreads
By Genevieve Leigh, 20 March 2020
The lack of medical care and the extremely close quarters in America’s detention camps create excellent conditions for the coronavirus to spread rapidly if even a single person catches the disease.
Pregnant migrant teenager dies after falling from US border wall in southern Texas
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 18 March 2020
Estefany Girón Luna from Guatemala fell nearly 20 feet as she attempted to scale the steel mesh border wall near Clint, Texas. Despite multiple surgeries, neither Girón Luna nor her child could be saved.
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