Despite its best efforts, America is slowly realizing that no amount of will.i.am singles and viral Ad Council PSAs are going to solve its violence problems. A Hill staffer was thought to be carrying a weapon, but was let go once everyone remembered Jim Webb doesn’t work in the Senate anymore. And after Dallas, Cleveland is upping security for the Republican National Convention. That won’t be necessary, however, as Donald Trump’s legions of hulking biker dudes in leather vests named “Hands” are already on it. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, July 8th, 2016:
HOW THE WHITE HOUSE COULD HELP DALLAS - Aside from, you know, gun control. John T. Bennett: “President Barack Obama ’s pledge Friday to send ‘whatever’ federal help Dallas officials might need after an attack that left five police officers dead could send a wave of agents and experts to Texas, but it doesn’t guarantee that local officials will get everything they ask for...The Obama administration could proclaim the situation in Dallas is hindering the safety and security of Dallas residents, which would allow them to send funds along with investigators, extra officers, and experts to the Texas city...But a crisis does not always equate to federal authorities automatically granting local officials’ request. To that end, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied GOP Florida Gov. Rick Scott ’s request last month for $5 million in aid from Washington following the June 12 Pulse nightclub massacre which killed 49 people. He requested the funds to help meet costs from the law enforcement response to the attack, as well as the subsequent emergency medical response, social services, and counseling.” [Roll Call]
CLEVELAND TO RAMP UP RNC SECURITY - Ed O’Keefe: “Cleveland police officials are changing the city’s security plans for the upcoming Republican National Convention in the wake of the massacre in Dallas on Thursday night. Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba announced the changes Friday, telling Reuters: ‘We have got to make some changes without a doubt’ in the wake of the shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers — the deadliest attack on law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks...Cleveland has about 1,700 police officers and about a third of the force will be assigned to convention-related duties, while federal agencies and out-of-town forces — mostly from across Ohio — will help secure the convention perimeter...In Cleveland, the unspecified security changes are likely to add another layer of frustration to already-complex security planning overseen by the U.S. Secret Service. Multiple local and national organizations have complained that Cleveland city and police officials provided unclear guidance on how organizations could apply for demonstration and parade permits” [WaPo]
At least things are better than they were in 1968, or so Jonathan Chait argues.
PUERTO RICANS ARE STREAMING INTO FLORIDA AND THEY AREN’T EXACTLY TRUMP FANS - Elise Foley reports from Kissimmee: “Puerto Ricans represent one of the fastest-growing constituencies in one of the most influential swing states. There are over 1 million of them in Florida, more than double the number 14 years ago, and thousands more arrive each month, fleeing the fallout of a debt crisis back home. The Orlando region, including Kissimmee, has the largest Puerto Rican population in the state. On the island, people are politically active ― Puerto Rico has far higher voter turnout than the 50 states ― and as U.S. citizens, they are eligible to vote on the mainland as soon as they resettle here. While their lack of familiarity with party names may give Republicans an opening, the Democrats seem more likely to benefit from their presence. And that’s for one reason above all else: Donald Trump.” [HuffPost]
DELANEY DOWNER - We got a strong jobs report today, with the economy adding 287,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate chilling at 4.9 percent. Economist Dean Baker explains the sad part, which comes from the survey used for measuring the headline unemployment rate rather than the number of jobs gained. “The employment-to-population ratio fell to 59.6 percent as employment measured by the household survey increased by just 67,000. Employment in the household survey is still more than 200,000 below its March level. By demographic group, the most disturbing item is the reported rise in the unemployment rate among black teens to 31.2 percent. It had been 23.3 percent in February. These data are highly erratic, but the trend is large enough that it could reflect a substantial deterioration in the labor market.” [CEPR.net]
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Dallas has actually become a model for policing: “The attacks have shined a tragic light on a police department that has seen decreases in excessive force complaints, arrests, and officer-involved shootings...As the Dallas Morning News reported last year, instructors taught officers to “slow down” when engaging with a suspect and to speak calmly rather than immediately shouting. The department has also doubled the amount of training for officers on patrol...Unlike many departments across the country, the Dallas Police Department has tracked and publicized its number of officer-involved shootings. Following one of the 2013 police shootings, the department published a spreadsheet listing a decade’s worth of statistics showing the yearly numbers of suspects killed and injured by officers. This year, the department released its most comprehensive report on its use of force, detailing how often officers used takedowns, pepper spray, batons, Tasers, and firearms.” [BuzzFeed’s Albert Samaha]
But Texas’ gun laws are, well, very Texan: “Only six states ― California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey ― and the District of Columbia generally prohibit people from displaying long guns, like shotguns and rifles, in public. Lawmakers in Texas also passed a controversial open carry law last year, making it the 45th state to allow the public display of handguns. As of January 1, concealed carry license holders can openly carry pistols in places where concealed carry is permitted, with exceptions. About 925,000 Texans, or 3 percent of the population, were estimated to have concealed handgun licenses at the beginning of the year. Open carry licenses are now also available for those over the age of 21.” [HuffPost’s Nick Wing]
DALLAS SNIPER WAS ARMY RESERVIST - Kristina Wong: “Dallas sniper suspect Micah Xavier Johnson is a former Army reservist, the Army confirmed Friday. Johnson, 25, had served as an Army reservist from March 2009 until April 2015. He served as a carpentry and masonry specialist, his record showed, and achieved the rank of Private First Class, effective May 2010. He deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 through July 2014, serving with the 420th Engineer Brigade, and served with the 420th Engineer Brigade in Seagonville, Texas, throughout his time in the Army Reserves.” [The Hill]
AMERICA SPARED DONALD TRUMP FOR A FEW BLISSFUL MOMENTS - Paige Lavender: “Presumptive presidential nominees Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R) canceled campaign events Friday after five police officers were killed and others injured in an ‘ambush-style’ attack in Dallas. Trump was scheduled to speak in Miami, Florida, alongside New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Trump addressed the shooting in a statement, mourning the lives of the police killed as well as the two black men who were shot by police officers earlier this week. Clinton was scheduled to appear with Vice President Joe Biden in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.” [HuffPost]
POLITICIANS GONNA POLITIC - Azi Paybarah: “Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have reached out to NYPD officials in the wake of the ambush killings of five Dallas police officers, NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton said Friday. During a press conference at police headquarters, Bratton told reporters ‘there may have been a request made to attend a roll call’ by Trump and that there was ‘an inquiry from Senator Clinton about setting up a call to be briefed on what’s going on here in New York.’ … The commissioner said he would be ‘more than happy’ to speak with either presumptive presidential nominee but stressed his interest is in ‘staying out of the politics of the moment.’” [Politico]
AFTER DALLAS, CIVILITY PREVAILS . . . BUT NOT REALLY - And not even in a “ha ha, Louie Gohmert just blamed the attack on Common Core-educated anchor babies” kind of way. Sam Levine: “Some conservatives were quick to blame President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for a shooting in Dallas that killed five police officers and injured several others...In the aftermath of the incident, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) wrote in a tweet, which has since been deleted, that Obama and Black Lives Matter protesters should ‘watch out’ because ‘real America’ was coming for them. In a later tweet Walsh said that he wasn’t calling for violence against Obama, but did say he was responsible for police officers dying.” [HuffPost]
DAN PATRICK IS PRETTY AWFUL - This time, for blaming people for having fight or flight mechanisms. Brandi Grissom: “Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called protesters who ran away from the hail of bullets that rained down on Downtown Dallas on Thursday night ‘hypocrites’ during an interview Friday on Fox News. ‘All those protesters last night, they turned around and ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to protect them. What hypocrites!’ an audibly emotional Patrick said. As Gov. Greg Abbott issued on open letter calling on Texans to calmly unite and come together, Patrick took a more combative tone. He blamed Black Lives Matter protesters for the violence against police and said people ‘with big mouths are creating situations like we saw last night.’ ‘We have to have their back,’ Patrick said of police. ‘And I’m sick and tired of those who are protesting our police and putting their lives in danger.’” [Dallas Morning News]
Check out this moving series from the Post on the lives of those pardoned by President Obama after their release.
LAWYERS CHALLENGING CITIZENS UNITED INTERPRETATION - Paul Blumenthal: “[A] team of high-powered lawyers is seeking to overturn that lower court decision and upend the legal basis for super PACs. They filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday on behalf of a bipartisan group of congressmen, congressional candidates and advocacy groups. It’s the first step in what will likely be a multiyear legal effort challenging SpeechNow.org v. FEC, ending up before the justices….[Attorney Ron] Fein works for the anti-Citizens United advocacy group Free Speech for People, which is also a party to the case...The legal team argues that the SpeechNow.org ruling incorrectly extended the Citizens United decision, which concerned independent spending on electoral efforts, to the realm of contributions to political committees. They contend that federal contribution limits should still apply to super PACs.” [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a dog who hates Mountain Dew.
CAPITOL PLACED ON TEMPORARY LOCKDOWN - “With the nation on edge after the shooting of police officers in Dallas, the U.S. Capitol was locked down for half an hour Friday morning amid reports that a woman had a gun. An announcement over the public address system shortly after 9 a.m. told people to take shelter in the Capitol building and the visitor center. Congress immediately recessed. A Democratic aide told The Huffington Post that a woman attempted to enter the Rayburn House Office Building with what appeared to be a gun. At least one lawmaker told a reporter that the person who was stopped was a staffer...Fortunately, there turned out to be no weapon. ‘Upon further investigation, [Capitol Police] officers determined that the item was not a threat to the Congressional community, and the lockdown was lifted and normal operations were restored,’ the [Capitol Police] statement said.” [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- Denmark and Sweden has a very peculiar Twitter fight.
- Let HuffPost’s Netflix recommendation bot on Facebook messenger help you while away the hours this weekend.
- Making art with a hydraulic press ― the internet’s favorite piece of heavy machinery.
TWITTERAMA
@BecketAdams: I’m deeply upset & saddened by how Drudge, the man who reported falsely that DiCaprio was raped by a bear, has handled the Dallas shooting.
@cristianfarias: There’s a guy in the office playing foosball all by himself — yet another awful thing in this godforsaken week.
@KagroX: I, for one, welcome our new robot bomb, self-driving car, civilian drone, 3-D printed gun overlords.
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