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George Floyd unrest: Brooklyn Bridge blocked in new standoff between police, demonstrators

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A massive crowd of protesters packed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City Thursday afternoon, prompting police to shut down Manhattan-bound traffic.

Aerial video showed the size and scope of the demonstration as marchers, some carrying signs and banners, made their way over both the pedestrian space and the three-lane-wide span for vehicle traffic.

The march came after a memorial service at Cadman Plaza for George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

HUNDREDS, INCLUDING AL SHARPTON, ERIC GARNER’S MOM, MOURN AT GEORGE FLOYD MEMORIAL IN MINNEAPOLIS

Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, lives in Brooklyn and planned to attend the service, authorities and faith leaders announced at a press conference with NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea Wednesday.

Protesters stream across the on-ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge as some drivers honk their horns in support Thursday. (James Rogers)

At the memorial, Terrence Floyd thanked the crowd for their support and urged protesters to remain peaceful, the New York Post reported.

“I’m proud of the protest, but I’m not proud of the destruction,” the paper quoted him as saying. “My brother wasn’t about that. The Floyds is a God-fearing family.”

After the service, marchers left Cadman Plaza, which is near the Brooklyn side of the iconic bridge, and began moving toward Manhattan. They were reportedly heading toward Foley Square.

One video shows the throng of people marching and chanting, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” Another shows even more people waiting to get onto the crossing, holding signs.

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Some photos showed a masked man holding an American flag raised upside-down on a handheld pole.

Elsewhere in the city, thousands of people gathered outside the mayor’s official resident at Gracie Mansion for another demonstration, as seen in videos posted to social media.

Images of that scene show protesters sitting, peacefully but in the middle of the street.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio wasn’t there. He attended the Floyd memorial in Brooklyn, where some in attendance met him with boos and called for him to resign.

Minnesota prosecutors on Wednesday upgraded the charges against Derek Chauvin, one of four Minneapolis police officers fired after Floyd’s death, to second-degree murder. The other three officers involved — Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng, and Tou Thao — were taken into custody Wednesday night and charged with two counts of aiding and abetting and second-degree murder.

George Floyd memorials in photos

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Mourners honored George Floyd, the man whose death in police custody sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

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    Candles at a memorial at the spot where George Floyd was killed, in Minneapolis. 

    Getty Images/Scott Olson

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    Jessica Knutson and her daughter Abigail, 3, placing flowers at a memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis.

    AP Photo/John Minchillo

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    Alganesh Hadgu, center, in tears during a visit to the public memorial in Minneapolis for George Floyd, at the spot where he died after an encounter with police.

    AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

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    Family attorney Ben Crump, left, escorting Quincy Mason, second from left, a son of George Floyd, as they and some Floyd family members visited a memorial where Floyd died.

    AP Photo/Jim Mone

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    People standing outside during George Floyd’s memorial service.

    REUTERS/Leah Millis

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    Police officers including Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, foreground, taking a knee as the body of George Floyd arrived before his memorial services in Minneapolis. 

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    The remains of George Floyd arriving at North Central University for a memorial service.

    Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

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    The body of George Floyd arriving before his memorial services.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    The Rev. Jesse Jackson mingling with others in the Frank J. Lindquist Sanctuary at North Central University.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    People at the beginning of the memorial service for George Floyd.

    REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

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    Martin Luther King III taking a moment by George Floyd’s casket.

    AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

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    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, second from right, and First Lady Sarah Clarke, right, pausing before George Floyd’s casket.

    AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

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    The Rev. Al Sharpton speaking at the memorial service.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Philonise Floyd speaking at a memorial service for his brother, George Floyd.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Sen. Tina Smith paying her respects.

    REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

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    Attorney Benjamin Crump speaking at the memorial service.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Former NBA player Stephen Jackson.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, center, and his wife, Gwen Walz.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., center, sitting among guests.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Shareeduh Tate, second from left, reacting during an 8:46 pause in the memorial service.

    AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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    Rep. Ilhan Omar.

    REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

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    Actor Kevin Hart, center, and musician Ludacris, right.

    REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

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    New Yorkers gathering for a memorial service for George Floyd at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn, N.Y.

    AP Photo/John Minchillo

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Kim Zolciak-Biermann responds to critic who said her ‘photoshopping is out of control’ on swimsuit photo

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Kim Zolciak-Biermann isn’t here for the critics.

On Wednesday, the 42-year-old reality star took to Instagram to share a photo of herself rocking a white one-piece from her new swimwear brand.

“Everything but the kitchen sink @saltykswim,” she captioned the picture, which showed off her backside.

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While many complimented the “Don’t Be Tardy” star, some commented with messages like, “Kim sweetie the photoshopping is out of control,” to which Zolciak-Biermann responded: “Hey sweetie watch my story to calm your nerves.”

Another person appeared to agree with the first user’s comment, saying: “Yessss one leg is bigger than the other.”

“Sure is because the pic was taken close and one leg is back,” Zolciak-Biermann replied.

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On her Instagram Story, the mom of six is seen wearing the same swimsuit — paired with sunglasses — jumping up and down on a trampoline.

Kim Zolciak-Biermann 
(Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

“Told you guys it holds everything in. Wasn’t kidding!” the KAB Cosmetics co-founder said in the video, which had the text: “Double-lined thick Italian luxury fabric. Not transparent when wet,” written over it.

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This isn’t the first time Zolciak-Biermann has been accused by fans of using Photoshop. Last April, social media users questioned if she had used the editing tool for another picture, which featured the former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star completely nude.

Retired Milwaukee police chief’s 2014 viral video spreads online again amid George Floyd unrest

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In wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who pleaded for air as a white Minneapolis officer held a knee on his neck, a viral video from 2014 of Milwaukee’s former police chief Ed Flynn began to spread again around the web.

The video, filmed by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Ashley Luthern, got thousands of likes and retweets including from Donald Trump Jr., son of President Trump, who retweeted it while stating “This is a must watch and RT. This is the difference between the truth and the narrative the media runs with. Why won’t the media cover this side of things?”

The video was filmed on Nov. 6, 2014, at a civilian oversight board after Flynn fired officer Christopher Manney in the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton.

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During the meeting, he said he was told 5-year-old Laylah Petersen was killed in a shooting.

In the video Flynn speaks of his rage about media coverage of violent crime and police misconduct.

Flynn’s full statement in the video: “Well, I was on my phone and yes, that’s true. I was following developments with a 5-year-old little girl sitting on her dad’s lap who just got shot in the head by a drive-by shooting. And if some of the people here gave a good goddamn about the victimization of people in this community by crime, I’d take some of their invective more seriously. The greatest racial disparity in the City of Milwaukee is getting shot and killed. Hello. Eighty percent of my homicide victims every year are African-American. Eighty percent of our aggravated assault victims are African-American. Eighty percent of our shooting victims who survive their shooting are African-American.

“Now they know all about the last three people that have been killed by the Milwaukee Police Department over the course of the last several years. There’s not one of them who can name one of the last three homicide victims we’ve had in this city. Now there’s room for everybody to participate in fixing this police department, and I’m not pretending we’re without sin. But this community’s at risk alright, and it’s not because men and women in blue risk their lives protecting it. It’s at risk because we’ve got large numbers of high-capacity, quality firearms in the hands of remorseless criminals who don’t care who they shoot. Now I’m leaving here to go to that scene. And I take it personally, OK?

“We’re going up there and there’s a bunch of cops processing a scene of a dead kid, and they’re the ones who are going to be out there patrolling and stopping suspects that may have guns under the front seats. They’re the ones that are going to take the risks to their lives to try to clean this thing up. We’re responsible for the things we get wrong and we take action. We’ve arrested cops, we’ve fired cops and so on. But the fact is that the people out here — some of them — who had the most to say are absolutely MIA when it comes to the true threats facing this community and it gets a little tiresome when we start getting yelled at for reading the updates of the kid that gets shot. Yeah, you take it personal, OK? Now no offense, but I’m going up there now.”

Flynn retired in February 2018 after a decade in charge of the Milwaukee Police Department.

Floyd, a 46-year-old out-of-work bouncer, died May 25 after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement, gasping that he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin has been charged with murder, and he and the others could get up to 40 years in prison.

Nationwide, more than 10,000 people have been arrested, an Associated Press tally found. More than a dozen deaths have been reported, though the circumstances in many cases are still being sorted out.

Sea level rise could wipe out mangrove forests by 2050, study says

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Mangrove forests could drown under rising seas by 2050 if more is not done to curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.

Scientists examined sediment data from 78 mangrove ecosystems from the past 10,000 years, discovering that mangroves are more likely to die out if sea level rise rates exceed 0.23 inches, or nearly 6 millimeters, according to their paper published in the journal Science on Thursday. Experts believe that amount could likely be exceeded by 2050.

These ecosystems, which are key for the protection of coastal areas from different tropical storms, also provide a habitat for many organisms, including algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges and bryozoans.

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The view of mangrove forests in the Way Kambas National Park area, Sumatra. In addition to preventing coastal abrasion, the mangrove forests are used by residents to store and dock boats.
(Getty Images)

“If they disappear, there’s going to be imbalances in the number of fish and other species that rely on them,” co-author Erica Ashe, a postdoctoral scientist at Rutgers University, told Earther.

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“And that could have effects on other species, even ones that actually aren’t sheltered by these mangroves, because when the levels of different species change, that can affect the entire system,” Ashe added.

In addition to the protection they provide coastal communities and the carbon they scrub from the atmosphere, mangroves are also intertwined with the livelihood of fisherman who catch different species within their ecosystems.

California intern seen posing with power drill in front of boarded-up store loses her gig

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The Washington Examiner severed ties with intern Fiona Moriarty-McLaughlin, the woman who went viral for stopping a man from boarding up a store in Santa Monica to pose with his power drill, making it look like she was helping place the barricades.

Moriarty-McLaughlin was supposed to work for the Washington Examiner as a summer intern, but the arrangement has been canceled after her photo op was slammed as “disgusting” in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, which have continued across the country.

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“Morarity-McLaughlin is no longer an intern with the Washington Examiner,” a spokesperson for Washington Examiner told Fox News. “The College Fix informed us that it has canceled her summer internship at the Washington Examiner with immediate effect.”

The College Fix is a student free press association that helps young journalists seek careers in the industry.

Moriarty-McLaughlin was seen in the short clip as holding a power drill and posing in front of a boarded-up store, appearing as if she was helping. The woman then hands the man back his drill and thanks him profusely before she gets into a Mercedes and drives off.

She reportedly deleted her Twitter and changed her Instagram to private and has not addressed the situation publicly.

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Singer Pink was among the celebrities who slammed the video, writing, “What is wrong with these entitled a–h—s?! Who the f— are you and who are your parents you horrible person. How can anyone defend this???!!!”

Former US Attorney Guy Lewis predicts ‘people are going to get prosecuted’ over Russia probe

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Former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis told “Outnumbered Overtime” Thursday that “people are going to get indicted and people are going to get prosecuted” for alleged misconduct related to the Russia investigation.

“There are some questions here that need to be answered,” Lewis said. “Our FISA process, very critical to our ability to investigate foreign espionage, it was completely corrupted. The entire upper echelon of the FBI, their integrity was brought into question.”

On Wednesday, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would not have signed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant renewal application to monitor former Trump campaign aide Carter Page had he known about since-revealed “significant errors” in the application.

“Once we find out the Mueller investigation was run by people who hated Trump’s guts, dripping with partisanship, nobody seems to care,” said committee chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

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Rosenstein appointed Mueller in May 2017 as special counsel to investigate whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election, though the question of whether Trump obstructed justice was left open.

Attorney General Bill Barr has since appointed Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the conduct of the Russia probe from its origin in July 2016 through Mueller’s appointment

“The Russia probe that Bob Mueller spent years on, that ended up telling us that there was no evidence of Russia collusion, which at the same time, let’s be honest, hamstrung the president, and kept us on edge for two years,” Lewis said on Thursday.

“There’s got to be some answers as to how this occurred and why it occurred.”

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Lewis explained that the goal of Durham’s investigation is “not just to issue a report and to wave it around and suggest that changes need to be made.”

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Police fire pepper spray at demonstrators during Tiananmen Square memorial

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Police officers fired pepper spray at a crowd of Hong Kong demonstrators at a Tiananmen Square memorial, after protesters defied police orders Thursday, according to Reuters.

Chinese authorities citied coronavirus threats and banned the annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre — where over a million people gathered to demand democratic values in China before being fired upon by the Chinese military. It is unknown how many people died but estimates range from hundreds to thousands.

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“The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law,” Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China said in a statement.

After years-long pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city, Hong Kong passed legislation Thursday criminalizing disrespect of China’s national anthem, which critics say infringes on their freedom of expression.

Thousands of people reportedly broke through police barriers to hold a candlelight vigil as security officials played recorded warnings, telling people not to gather in unauthorized group settings.

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Demonstrators recognized a minute of silence at 8:09 p.m. and chanted “Democracy now” and “Stand for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”

Clashes broke out between demonstrators and police officers as some protesters tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, resulting in police firing pepper spray at them, as reported by Reuters.

Thursday marks the first non-peaceful Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong, in 30 years.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Chinese and Hong Kong authorities for banning the vigil.

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“It starts; so soon,” Pompeo tweeted earlier this week. “For the first time in 30 years, Hong Kong authorities denied permission to hold the #TiananmenVigil. If there is any doubt about Beijing’s intent, it is to deny Hong Kongers a voice and a choice, making them the same as mainlanders. So much for two systems.”

Zhao Lijian, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, responded to the criticism and said, “We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Biden calls Mattis’ criticism of Trump a ‘powerful indictment’

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Joe Biden is calling the scathing criticism of President Trump by his first defense secretary — retired Marine Gen. James Mattis — a “powerful indictment” of the president’s response to the unrest in cities across the country sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

The day after Mattis described the United States’ past three years “without mature leadership” under Trump, who “tries to divide us” and who threatens constitutional order, the former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee tweeted that “Jim Mattis and I haven’t always agreed on everything, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful indictment of Trump’s actions and character than the one he’s written.”

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Then quoting from Mattis’ statement, Biden added: “We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose.”

Biden’s been extremely critical of the president’s response to peaceful protests, as well as violent clashes in the week and a half since Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee on Floyd’s throat for at least eight minutes in moments captured on cellphone footage.

The statement by Mattis — which he gave to The Atlantic on Wednesday — came after the president threatened to deploy the military in cities across the country. And it came after federal forces on Monday forcibly dispersed a crowd of demonstrators from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square in the nation’s capital, which allowed the president to make the short walk from the White House to hold a Bible in front of the church for a photo op that included Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

“When I joined the military, some 50 years ago,” Mattis said, “I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”

Excoriating the president, he urged Americans to “reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

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Trump on Wednesday quickly returned fire on Twitter, calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated general.”

The president tweeted that Mattis’ “primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom ‘brought home the bacon’. I didn’t like his ‘leadership’ style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!”

Mattis resigned in late 2018 after disagreeing with the president’s move to reduce the deployment of U.S. troops in Syria.

Mattis served in the Marine Corps for 44 years, rising to the rank of general during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was already serving for two years as commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command when then Sens. Barack Obama and Biden were sworn in as president and vice president, respectively, in January 2009. Mattis held that position until 2011 when he became commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Mattis retired from that position in 2013 after reportedly not seeing eye-to-eye with the Obama White House over his desire to increase the U.S. troop presence in Syria, which was engulfed in a civil war.

NYC Mayor de Blasio drowned out by boos, faces calls to resign, at George Floyd memorial

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was drowned out by booing at a memorial for George Floyd in Brooklyn on Thursday, as the preacher who introduced him pleaded with attendees to show “respect.”

“Let us welcome with respect the mayor of New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and first lady Chirlane McCray,” Rev. Kevin McCall said.

Loud booing then broke out as the mayor took the stage, forcing McCall to add: “Again, again, again, we said respect! We said respect! Say it with me, respect!”

When McCray took the microphone first, the booing subsided.

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De Blasio had also received boos as he arrived at the memorial, with crowds shouting “De Blasio, go home” as he walked across the stage.

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Later, as he tried to address the crowd, his words were barely audible over crowds chanting “Resign.” At another point, the crowd chanted “Turn your back,” and many turned around so as not to face the mayor.

Shortly after, de Blasio gave up and ceded the microphone to George Floyd’s brother, Terence Floyd.

Wearing a face mask bearing a picture of his brother and a Yankees cap, he said, “I want to thank God.” He added: “It wasn’t his fault. It was his will. I thank God for you all showing love to my brother.”

Floyd also criticized the destruction.

“I’m proud of the protest, but I’m not proud of the destruction,” Floyd said.  “My brother wasn’t about that.”

The New York City mayor has taken heat from not only his community but lawmakers both left and right over his handling of the riots against police brutality that have ravaged the city for nearly a week.

On Tuesday, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the mayor’s handling of riots a “disgrace” and said he has the power to “displace” de Blasio, though he won’t at this time.

“The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night, I believe that,” Cuomo said at the time.

Cuomo said at a press conference that the mayor “underestimates” the scope and duration of the problem, suggesting he needs to deploy more police.

De Blasio imposed an 11 p.m. curfew to quell riots on Monday, but after another night of fires and looting moved up the curfew to 8 p.m. and extended it through Sunday night.

President Trump too slammed de Blasio for his refusal to bring in the National Guard.

“You have a liberal mayor [in Minneapolis] that frankly was having a lot of trouble and you have a very liberal mayor in New York [City] too and you notice that all of these places that have problems are not run by Republicans, they are run by liberal Democrats, so there is something into that philosophy,” Trump told  “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”

Oppositely, Black Lives Matter protesters accuse de Blasio of being too sympathetic to the NYPD. De Blasio praised the police force for showing “tremendous restraint” toward protesters.

He said he saw a “lot of restraint from the N.Y.P.D. overall,” adding that if there was “anything that needs to be reviewed, it will be.”

“In the context of crisis, in the context of curfew, there is a point where enough is enough,” the mayor added. “If officers say now is the point we need you to go home, it’s time to go home.”

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Earlier Thursday de Blasio gave a press conference outside a city hospital after an officer was stabbed in the neck the night before in what police say was an unprovoked attack, sparking a gunfight that left two additional officers and the knife-wielding man wounded.