California wildfires fuel a Northwest nightmare
11 September 2020
Portland and Seattle currently have the worst air quality in the world, thanks to wildfires raging along the length of the West Coast. Residents have been advised to stay indoors, particularly those with medical conditions.
The big picture: Wildfires are raging near population centers at the same time as they threaten cherished state landmarks.
- Huge chunks of Oregon are under evacuation orders, and some towns are already razed.
- A police car rolled through the streets of Molalla (pop. 9,000) with a loudspeaker blaring “evacuate now," AP reports.
Between the lines: Firefighters are also dealing with a second threat — misinformation.
- “I am physically and emotionally exhausted,” firefighter Matt Lowery wrote Thursday night on Facebook, AP reports.
- “I also want to address an issuethat keeps coming up, even from some of the public that we are talking to while working. It is hot, dry, and fire spreads quickly in those conditions. There is nothing to show it's Antifa or Proud Boys setting fires. Wait for information.”
The bottom line: Climate change makes devastating wildfires more likely, and those wildfires worsen climate change.
Go deeper 🎧: Tech's role in fighting California wildfires
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.