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First look: GSA warned transition delays hurt communities of color

20 November 2020
Dan Ackermann

A coalition of more than 40 racial justice groups is asking GSA Administrator Emily Murphy to begin the transfer of power to Joe Biden, saying the delays disproportionately hurt people of color and "playing politics with the ascertainment process is playing politics with our lives."

Driving the news: In a draft of a letter to Murphy dated Friday and reviewed by Axios, the group, Just Democracy, urges the General Services Administration official to formally ascertain that Biden likely won the Nov. 3 election so his transition team can gain access to virus mitigation and vaccine distribution plans.

What they're saying: "We urge you to weigh the implications of inaction and recognize the results," the letter says. Delaying now is tantamount to "an effort to support and condone the vanity project of this president and his enablers as he tries to salvage a reputation that is beyond repair at the expense of our lives."

  • The National Urban League said Black and Latino residents have a COVID infection rate per 10,000 that's three times that of their white counterparts.
  • The Navajo Nation recently has seen an uncontrolled spread of the virus in 34 communities across the sprawling 25,0000-square-mile reservation.

Why it matters: Without Murphy's action, Biden's team can't begin to hire or conduct background checks on candidates to oversee the COVID-19 fight in federal agencies.

The other side: The GSA did not respond to a request for comment on the letter. Murphy, a Trump appointee, has so far resisted signing documents to start the transition, and as this CNN report describes, has struggled with the weight of her responsibility and competing pressures.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.