Monthly Archives: June 2020

Washington (AFP) - A Republican senator broke with her party Thursday to describe a former Pentagon chief's searing rebuke of Donald Trump as "necessary and overdue," and revealed she was struggling with whether to support the US president's re-election.

Lisa Murkowski's comments marked a major break with Trump within the Republican camp, which has largely held together through various crises including his impeachment process and the president's current threat to use military force against protesters.

For days, demonstrators have flooded streets in cities across the US demanding racial justice -- in protests both peaceful and violent -- since videos of the killing of a black man by Minnesota police went viral.

Murkowski was referring to the extraordinary statement Wednesday by Trump's former defense secretary Jim Mattis who accused the president of trying to "divide" Americans and failing to provide "mature leadership" as the country reels from days of protests.

Mattis, who resigned in 2018 over Trump's ordering of a troop withdrawal from Syria, slammed the use of force to clear peaceful protesters from near the White House on Monday so that Trump could pose for photographs at a nearby church, calling it an "abuse of executive authority."

"I thought General Mattis's words were true and honest and necessary and overdue," Murkowski told reporters at the US Capitol.

"I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally -- and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up."

Asked if she would support Trump in November's election, the Alaska Republican responded: "I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time."

Murkowski, in her third full term in the Senate, said that many Americans are having "important conversations" about recent events starting with the death of the unarmed black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis, and "where we are right now" as a nation.

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Senator Mitt Romney, one of the more consistent vocal Trump critics within the GOP, and the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in his February impeachment trial, reportedly described Mattis's statement as "very powerful."

But he and Murkowski appear to be Republican outliers, as the party has largely declined to embrace the Mattis view that Trump is a threat to the US Constitution.

"That's not the way I would describe what is a very difficult time in our country," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said, according to Politico. "But I have great respect for General Mattis."

Several Republicans over the years have praised Mattis for his leadership, even describing him as a steadying force in a turbulent Trump administration.

Senator Rob Portman was among them, but the Ohio Republican has also implicitly criticized Trump's handling of the protests.

"The question is tone and words, and I think some of the tones and some of the words used should be focused more on healing and less on dividing," Politico quoted Portman as saying.

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Breaking with party, GOP senator says rebuke of Trump 'necessary' - Yahoo News

WASHINGTON Fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick told Congress in a private interview Wednesday that before he was ousted, he had informed at least three top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he was reviewing Pompeo's and his wife's use of government resources, two lawmakers told NBC News.

The revelation potentially undercuts Pompeo's claim to have been unaware that Linick was looking into that issue when he asked President Donald Trump to fire Linick.

Pompeo has said Linick's firing couldn't have been retaliation because he had "no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general's office."

But Linick told congressional committees investigating his ouster that months earlier, he had told Undersecretary of State Brian Bulatao, Executive Secretary Lisa Kenna and Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun about what Linick described as a "review of use of resources by Pompeo and his wife," according to one of the lawmakers who participated in the interview.

Linick also told Congress that before he was fired, he had also submitted a formal document request for records related to Pompeo's and his wife's use of resources. Document requests are a standard element of an investigation by an inspector general, a federal agency's independent watchdog.

Linick, who was questioned in a daylong virtual interview by three House and Senate committees, told Congress that he didn't have specific knowledge of whether those aides had relayed the information to Pompeo, the lawmakers said.

But the three officials whom Linick said he did inform about the review represent Pompeo's innermost circle at the State Department, where they work with him in the famed executive suite known as the 7th Floor. Bulatao has been a close friend of Pompeo's since they attended the U.S. Military Academy together more than 30 years ago, and he was made the CIA's chief operating officer when Pompeo ran the spy agency.

The document request, which undoubtedly would have involved records from the secretary's office, is another reason it's implausible Pompeo never heard about the review, said the lawmakers who took part in the interview.

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"No reasonable person would believe Pompeo's statement," one of them said.

The State Department and the Office of the Inspector General didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Before he was fired, NBC News first reported, Linick had been looking at whether Pompeo made a State Department staffer walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning and make dinner reservations for Pompeo and his wife, among other personal errands.

Linick was also looking into allegations about leadership problems at the State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol. The office was responsible for overseeing a series of lavish dinners hosted by Pompeo and revealed by NBC News that are also now the subject of a congressional inquiry.

Both lawmakers said Linick's comments are likely to prompt one or more congressional committees to subpoena Bulatao and other top State Department officials as they investigate whether Pompeo had Linick fired in retaliation for investigations Linick was pursuing involving the secretary.

"There's more information we need," one of the lawmakers said. "If we are unable to obtain it voluntarily, it should be subpoenaed."

The three committees the House and Senate foreign policy committees and the House Oversight Committee have already requested that Bulatao, Kenna and several other top Pompeo aides voluntarily answer questions from Congress. So far, none has agreed.

"We're grateful for Mr. Linick's decades of service to our country and for having the courage to come forward and discuss his sudden and unjustified firing," the chairs of the House committees and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said.

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In a joint written statement after the interview, they said Linick had testified that Bulatao, the longtime Pompeo friend and adviser, had tried to "bully" the inspector general repeatedly including telling Linick that it was inappropriate to pursue a separate investigation into a Saudi arms deal.

Linick rejected the administration's explanations for why he was terminated, according to the committees' joint statement, stating: "I have not heard any valid reason that would justify my removal."

Linick also told Congress that public explanations by Pompeo and others were "either misplaced or unfounded," the committees said, quoting Linick's comments during the interview.

Pompeo has repeatedly declined to provide any specific reason he asked Trump to fire Linick in mid-May, other than to say Linick wasn't performing well and was undermining the State Department's objectives.

"There are claims that this was for a retaliation for some investigation that the inspector general's office here was engaged in," Pompeo said last month. "It's patently false. I have no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general's office. It's all crazy stuff."

Pompeo said the only exception was a Linick investigation that he became aware of earlier in the year when he answered written questions from the inspector general. Pompeo didn't elaborate and said he didn't know what had happened with that inquiry.

NBC News and other news organizations have reported that Pompeo answered written questions from Linick about a Saudi arms deal that Linick was investigating after Pompeo declined the inspector general's request to interview him. The House Foreign Affairs Committee requested that investigation after Pompeo and the Trump administration circumvented Congress by declaring an emergency to enable an arms sale to the Saudis that lawmakers of both parties opposed.

The lawmakers who participated in the session Wednesday said Linick was cautious in the interview, refusing to disclose specifics about allegations his office had been investigating and declining to speculate on or answer questions he felt went beyond the facts he was in a position to know.

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Fired watchdog tells Congress he informed top officials about probe into Pompeo and wife - Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) A U.S. Navy veteran whose family said his only crime was falling in love left Iran on Thursday after nearly two years of detention, winning his freedom as part of a deal that spared an American-Iranian physician from any additional time behind bars.

Michael White flew from Tehran to Zurich, where he was met by diplomat Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran who has led the negotiations for the release of White and other American detainees in Iran. White and Hook then departed Zurich on a U.S. government plane.

In Atlanta, meanwhile, a federal judge approved a sentencing agreement for Florida dermatologist Matteo Taerri, who had been charged by the Justice Department with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran as well as banking laws.

The developments capped months of quiet talks, assisted by Switzerland, between two countries, that are at bitter odds over U.S. penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year.

White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He was convicted of insulting Irans supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison.

I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely in American custody and on his way home, Whites mother, Joanne White, said in a statement.

As White flew to Switzerland, U.S. prosecutors completed the American part of the arrangement that Hook negotiated by asking a judge to sentence Taerri to time served on his conviction stemming from the 2018 charges. U.S. officials said Taerri did not pose a national security threat. "We were simultaneously able to secure the release of an American Navy veteran from an Iranian prison and accomplish our law enforcement objectives, Hook said.

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There are numerous foreign policy interests that are furthered by this particular sentence, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said in granting the government's request.

Taerri was charged with attempting to export a filter to Iran that he said was for vaccine research but that U.S. authorities said required a license because it could be used for chemical and biological warfare purposes. He was also accused of structuring a series of bank deposits below $10,000 to evade reporting requirements under federal law.

He pleaded guilty late last year and has already served months behind bars. But in April, he was permitted to be free on bond after the Justice Department withdrew its request to have him detained, citing what it said were significant foreign policy interests.

The United States government and the government of Iran have been negotiating the release of a U.S. citizen held in Iranian custody, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracia King said at Thursday's hearing. This case, and more specifically the sentence recommendation, is directly related to these negotiations."

A citizen of Iran and the United States, Taerri is permitted as part of his sentence to remain in America and to travel abroad.

White's release was cheered by Trump, whose administration has said it considers the release of detainees and hostages a priority. I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! he tweeted. He tweeted later in the day that he had spoken by phone with White.

In an interview with Fox News after his release, White praised Trump for his efforts both diplomatically and otherwise" and said he is making America great again."

A spokesman for the White family, Jon Franks, said in a statement that the charges against White were pretexts for a state-sponsored kidnap-for-ransom scheme. He added: The tragedy of this case is Michael's only crime was falling in love with Iran and its people for whom he cares deeply."

Despite widespread speculation, Whites release was not related to the recent deportation to Iran of Iranian scientist Sirous Asgari, the officials said.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted that such deals can happen for all prisoners. No need for cherry picking. Iranian hostages held in and on behalf of the US should come home. Trump also said the arrangement shows a deal is possible."

White was released from prison on a medical furlough in March as Iran struggled to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, and turned over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran. Whites mother had earlier told The Associated Press that she was especially concerned about her sons health because of his battles with cancer.

Trump administration officials in recent months stepped up public pressure to release White. Last month, for instance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned White by name and thanked Switzerland for its work on arranging the furlough.

The U.S. has also urged Iran to release other Americans jailed in Iran.

Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American, remains in Iran's Evin prison after being convicted of collaborating with the United States charges a U.N. panel has said are bogus. Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship, was part of a group of environmental activists sentenced on espionage charges and remains in custody.

Namazi's brother, Babak, said he was happy for the White family but distressed that his brother was not released. He also noted that his 84-year-old father, Baquer, who was also convicted, is out of prison but has not been permitted to leave Iran despite his poor health.

In December, Iran released Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American Princeton University scholar held for three years on widely disputed espionage charges, in exchange for the release of a detained Iranian scientist after Hook led negotiations for the U.S.

In March, the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years ago, said they had been informed that U.S. officials had determined that Levinson was probably dead.

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Detained US Navy veteran freed by Iran as part of deal - Yahoo News

The Tiger King drama never stops.

Two-and-a-half months after it debuted to phenomenal ratings on Netflix, the saga continues to play out. The latest is that Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister declared in a June 2 interview with Tampa, Fla., CBS affiliate WTSP that the will of Carole Baskins missing husband is 100 percent a forgery.

In the series, formally titled Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, multiple people speculate on the 1997 disappearance of Don Lewis. They allege that Baskin, the animal activist who runs Big Cat Rescue in the Florida city and married Lewis in 1991, was responsible.

Baskin has repeatedly said she has nothing to do with his disappearance, and Lewis was legally declared dead in 2002.

Asked about Chronisters latest comments, Baskin directed Yahoo Entertainment to the detailed statement shes previously given on the topic, where she refutes many points made in the documentary. I dont have any comments other than what is posted at BigCatRescue.org/netflix where you will find that all of the documents were authenticated by at least two expert firms and everyone involved in the conservatorship agreed by stipulation ratified by the court to their authenticity.

There was similar speculation in May, when another news organization, the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., reported that the notary listed on the multimillionaires will didnt recall signing off on the document.

I dont remember a will at all, Sandra Wittkopp told the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. I was the housekeeper.

The newspaper said then that two handwriting experts concluded Lewiss signature was traced from his 1991 marriage record.

Chronister explained to WTSP on Wednesday that, despite his suspicions, the statute of limitations in the case has expired.

The will had already been executed at that point," said Chronister, who is running for reelection. But, it certainly cast another shadow of suspicion, by all means.

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The TV station reported that Chronister has previously told them he thinks Lewis was murdered by someone.

Investigators have some great leads, theyre working through them, Chronister said. I hope something pans out.

Chronister asked the public for new information on the case in March, just after Tiger King was released.

There was another Tiger King development earlier this week when a federal judge in Oklahoma sided with Baskin in a case against Joe Maldonado-Passage, whos better known as Joe Exotic. She was given control of Exotics former Oklahoma zoo as part of a $1 million trademark lawsuit she won against Exotic that he never fully paid.

Exotic is serving a 22-year sentence for trying to hire someone to murder Baskin, among other crimes.

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'Tiger King' update: Sheriff says will of Carole Baskin's late husband Don Lewis was forged - Yahoo Entertainment

SAINT-LAURENT-SUR-MER, France (AP) At least the dead will always be there.

All too many have been, for 76 years since that fateful June 6 on France's Normandy beaches, when allied troops in 1944 turned the course of World War II and went on to defeat fascism in Europe in one of the most remarkable feats in military history.

Forgotten they will never be. Revered, yes. But Saturday's anniversary will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping almost everyone away from government leaders to frail veterans who might not get another chance for a final farewell to their unlucky comrades.

Rain and wind are also forecast, after weeks of warm, sunny weather.

I miss the others," said Charles Shay, who as a U.S. Army medic was in the first wave of soldiers to wade ashore at Omaha Beach under relentless fire on D-Day.

Shay, 95, lives in France close to the beach where he and so many others landed in 1944. He knows of no U.S. veterans making the trip overseas to observe D-Day this year.

I guess I will be alone here this year," Shay said before he performed a Native American ritual to honor his comrades by spreading the smoke of burning white sage into the winds lashing the Normandy coast Friday.

The eerie atmosphere touches the French as well as Americans.

The sadness is almost too much, because there is no one," said local guide Adeline James. Plus you have their stories. The history is sad and its even more overwhelming now between the weather, the (virus) situation and, and, and.

The locals in this northwestern part of France have come out year after year to show their gratitude for the soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada and other countries who liberated them from Adolf Hitler's Nazi forces.

Despite the lack of international crowds, David Pottier still went out to raise American flags in the Calvados village of Mosles, population 356, which was liberated by allied troops the day after the landing on five Normandy beachheads.

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In a forlorn scene, a gardener tended to the parched grass around the small monument for the war dead, while Pottier, the local mayor, was getting the French tricolor to flutter next to the Stars and Stripes.

We have to recognize that they came to die in a foreign land," Pottier said. We miss the GIs," he said of the U.S. soldiers.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, infecting 6.6 million people, killing over 391,000 and devastating economies. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older.

It has also affected the younger generations who turn out every year to mark the occasion. Most have been barred from traveling to the windswept coasts of Normandy.

Some 160,000 soldiers made the perilous crossing from England that day in atrocious conditions, storming dunes which they knew were heavily defended by German troops determined to hold their positions.

Somehow, they succeeded. Yet they left a trail of thousands of casualties who have been mourned for generations since.

Last year stood out, with U.S. President Donald Trump joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. A smattering of veterans were honored with the highest accolades. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers.

The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. The tiny roads between the dunes, hedges and apple orchards were clogged for hours, if not days.

Heading into the D-Day remembrance weekend this year, only the salty brine coming off the ocean on Omaha Beach hits the nostrils, the shrieks of seagulls pierce the ears and a sense of desolation hangs across the region's country roads.

Last yea,r this place was full with jeeps, trucks, people dressed up as soldiers," said Eric Angely, who sat on a seawall wearing a World War II uniform after taking his restored U.S. Army jeep out for a ride.

This year, there is nothing. Its just me now, my dog and my jeep, the local Frenchman said.

Three-quarters of a century and the horrific wartime slaughter of D-Day help put things in perspective. Someday, the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.

We don't have a short memory around here," Pottier said with a wistful smile.

___

Virginia Mayo contributed.

___

Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy - Yahoo News

The best practices for controlling an infectious disease like COVID-19 arent easy to followkeeping six feet apart from others, wearing face masks in public, and, if youre a health care worker, wearing shields to protect your eyes as well.

But in a study published Monday in The Lancet, researchers provide the strongest evidence yet that these practices do indeed lower the risk of spreading the virus.

An international group of scientists, led by senior author Dr. Holger Schunemann, professor of clinical epidemiology and medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, analyzed 172 studies conducted in 16 countries that looked at the connection between social distancing, wearing masks, and wearing eye protection, and the risk of transmitting the virus. The studies included people with COVID-19 infections in addition to those with two other diseases caused by coronaviruses, SARS and MERS. The studies were observational, meaning that they tracked infection rates among people who practiced any of the aforementioned behaviors. Of the 172 studies, 44 (involving more than 25,000 participants) also included comparisons between those who followed the behaviors and those who did not.

When it comes to social distancing, the analysis showed that, on average, the risk of getting infected when remaining 1 meter (a little more than 3 ft) from an infected person was about 3%, while staying less than 1 meter apart upped the risk to 13%. The further people stand away from one another, the lower their risk. In fact, the risk drops by half for every additional meter of distancing up to 3 meters (about 10 ft).

What we tried to do was bring everything together and sort out what distance might be the most effective, rather than an arbitrary threshold, says Schunemann. Based on how far respiratory droplets from coughs or sneezes generally travel, most public health policies currently recommend standing at least 2 meters (about 6.7 ft) apart in public areas, which the study findings support. The virus doesnt know what a meter is, or what six feet is, says Schunemann. What this evidence suggests is that two meters, or 6.7 feet, appears that it might be more protective than one meter or three feet.

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The data also supported the benefits of eye shields for health care workers. The risk of infection among people who wore glasses, goggles or other face shields was 6% compared to 16% among those not wearing such protection.

The studies included health care workers in hospitals, as well as people living in households with an infected person. The researchers tracked whether those in close contact to people who had a coronavirus infection kept their distance, wore a mask or eye protection, and whether they too got infected.

I was surprised by the magnitude of the effect, says Schunemann. In epidemiology we often see small effects, and all the effects we saw here are considered large or very large.

He says the findings support current public health advice to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, but adds that more detailed studies are needed. For instance, its not yet clear whether 1 meter of distance might be sufficient in some settings (compared to the 2 meters that are currently recommended). In addition, larger distances might be needed when people are gathered in denser settings or closer quartersand its still uncertain what the ideal distance in these scenarios would be.

In health care settings like hospitals, similar studies are needed to tease apart which types of face masks are best for different situations. The study found that medical-grade N95 masks and surgical paper masks used in medical settings offered the best protection, but that self-made cloth masks are still effective for the general public. These data, Shunemann says, support wearing a mask both to reduce the risk of spreading of the virus if youre infected, and to lower the possibility of becoming infected if youve not yet caught the virus. The type of masks that should be worn, and who wears the masks, should be investigated further in randomized controlled trials, says Schunemann. But having said that, my interpretation is that wearing even a self-made mask is better than not wearing anything.

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Wearing Face Masks and Social Distancing Actually Work to Contain COVID-19, According to a New Study - Yahoo News

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - A U.S. District Court Judge ordered Denver police on Friday to stop using tear gas, plastic bullets and other "less-than-lethal" force such as flash grenades against protesters.

The temporary injunction was in response to a local lawsuit filed on Thursday in the Denver District Court by protesters complaining about excessive force used by officers during public demonstrations following the death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis last month.

The ruling cited examples of protesters and journalists being injured by police.

"Peaceful demonstrators' legitimate and credible fear of police retaliation is silencing their political speech," it said.

The death of Houston native Floyd during his arrest for a non-violent offense has touched off national protests against the use of force by police.

Video of Floyd's arrest show an officer holding his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes.

In Denver, throngs of marchers have gathered around the state Capitol every day for more than a week, chanting and carrying signs protesting Floyd's killing.

Some people among the mostly peaceful crowd broke windows in the state Supreme Court building and a nearby museum overnight on May 29. Some store front windows were smashed and looters made off with merchandise.

While the lawsuit, brought by four activists, acknowledged that some demonstrators "engaged in destructive behavior," and it also said the vast majority were peaceful.

"Nonetheless, the Denver Police Department ... and other police departments at their invitation, have engaged in injurious riot control tactics without issuing clear warnings and orders to disperse," the complaint said.

At least one woman sustained a serious eye injury when she was struck by a projectile, the lawsuit said.

'EXTREME TACTICS'

The court ruling cited numerous instances, captured on video, of police using tear gas, projectiles and other measures against peaceful protesters engaged in their U.S. Constitutional rights to gather and protest.

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Journalists were also specifically targeted and shot with projectiles, "while in the process of documenting the scene," the ruling said.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson said that Denver police had "failed in its duty to police its own."

"If a store's windows must be broken to prevent a protester's facial bones from being broken or eye being permanently damaged, that is more than a fair trade," Jackson wrote in his 10-page ruling.

"These are peaceful demonstrators, journalists, and medics who have been targeted with extreme tactics meant to suppress riots, not to suppress demonstrations."

Tyrone Campbell, a Denver Police spokesman, said that the force would comply with the judge's order.

Milo Schwab, an attorney for four of the plaintiffs, told Reuters that the ruling was "a humbling victory."

"This will ensure that people protesting police brutality are not subject to police brutality," he said. "Demonstrators in Denver are now safer from police brutality than anywhere else in the country."

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Writing and additional reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Pravin Char and Mark Potter)

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