The Rundown: Minneapolis Council To 'Dismantle' Police

Protests over the death of George Floyd and police brutality continued for a 13th day Sunday, one day after some of the largest protests there have been were held on Saturday. The demonstrations have been almost entirely peaceful in recent days, and AP reported several police departments appeared to have pulled back from aggressive tactics they were using earlier. Additionally, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Buffalo, New York, all lifted their curfews yesterday. President Trump tweeted that he'd ordered National Guard troops to withdraw from Washington, D.C., after he'd called them up earlier in the week in response to some vandalism, looting and clashes with police at protests in the capital city.

Romney Marches in Protest: Senator Mitt Romney marched in one of the protests in Washington yesterday, the first known Republican senator to do so. Romney, who was walking with a Christian group, told NBC News why he was there: "We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality." He also tweeted a photo of him walking in the protest, and wrote above it: "Black Lives Matter." Romney had tweeted a photo a day earlier of his late father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, marching with civil rights protesters in the 1960s.

Minneapolis City Council Plans to Defund, Dismantle Police Dept.: Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council announced Sunday that they plan to defund and dismantle the city's police department after the killing of George Floyd by a city police officer. Council President Lisa Bender told CNN, "We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe." Asked about details, Bender said she wanted to move police funding toward community-based strategies and the city council would discuss how to replace the current police department. The nine city council members of the 13 total would have a veto-proof supermajority.



Final Services for George Floyd: After memorial services in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died, and North Carolina, where he was born, a third and final service will be held in Houston, where Floyd was raised and lived most of his life. There will be a six-hour viewing today, followed by funeral services and the burial on Tuesday. Joe Biden will go to Houston today to meet privately with and offer his condolences to Floyd's family. The former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will also tape a video message for Floyd's funeral. An attorney for Floyd's family had said last week that Biden was expected to attend the funeral, but he's reportedly not doing so because he didn't want to cause any disruption from his Secret Service protection.

He has been arrested and will be prosecuted without question, as he should be, as all murderers should https://t.co/aEymgfP8Sg

— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) June 8, 2020

➤PROTESTERS URGED TO GET TESTED FOR CORONAVIRUS: Officials in several places across the country are urging that people who've been taking part in the George Floyd protests get tested for the coronavirus, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Atlanta. That message comes as New York City, which had been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., will begin phase one of its reopening today after a more than two-month shutdown. It's the last place in New York state to reopen, and comes after the city met thresholds that had been set for daily hospital admissions, number of intensive care unit patients, and percent of residents testing positive.
There have been more than 110,500 deaths in the U.S. as of last night, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 1,940,000 confirmed cases.

➤TROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL MAKES LANDFALL IN LOUISIANA: Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in southeastern Louisiana Sunday afternoon, between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Grand Isle, with winds of 50 miles per hour and drenching rain and storm surge.

Tropical Storm #Cristobal has put much of Grand Isle, LA under water which "backed" in from Barataria Bay. The pumps that aren't submerged are up and running but it may take several days to get all of it off the streets. We're live on @weatherchannel #Flood @NWSNewOrleans pic.twitter.com/ZRqDBQlc8K

— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) June 7, 2020

The storm was also causing dangerous weather and flooding much further east along the Gulf Coast, including causing a tornado south of Lake City, Florida, with no reported injuries. It's forecast that up to 12 inches of rain could fall in some areas, with potential rainfall from Cristobal for days as it moves as an expected downgraded tropical depression through Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and then north through Illinois and Wisconsin.

➤AIR FORCE SERGEANT ARRESTED IN KILLING OF SHERIFF'S DEPUTY, POSSIBLE LINK TO FEDERAL OFFICER'S KILLING: A 32-year-old Air Force sergeant was arrested in the fatal shooting of a sheriff's deputy in California on Saturday and the FBI and local investigators are trying to determine if there's a link to another ambush-style killing of a Federal Protection Service officer outside the U.S. courthouse in Oakland more than a week ago.

Both attacks involved shooters in vans. Deputies responded to a 911 call early Saturday afternoon about a suspicious van with guns and bomb-making devices inside in an area near Santa Cruz. When the deputies got there, the van drove away and they followed. The van went down a driveway at a home, and the deputies were ambushed by gunfire and explosives after getting out of their vehicles. Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, who was 38, was killed and other officers wounded. Suspect Steven Carrillo was shot during his arrest, but has non-life-threatening injuries. 

Meanwhile, the FBI has been trying to identify a suspect and motive in the drive-by shooting that killed 53-year-old Dave Patrick Underwood and critically wounded another contracted security officer, and are looking at a possible link with Gutzwiller's shooting."