New Jersey offers remote-only learning to all students this fall
25 July 2020
All students in New Jersey the state will be eligible for full-time remote learning in the fall, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has announced.
Why it matters: New Jersey now joins several other states and school districts who have announced plans to limit in-person schooling amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite pressure from Trump administration officials to fully reopen schools this fall.
What they're saying: “This option should be allowed by school districts as part of their reopening plans. We have heard from numerous parents and families who’ve asked for this and we’ve heard them loud and clear,” Murphy said on Friday, according to Politico. “We are not mandating any one specific way to move forward.”
The big picture: As of Friday New Jersey had 488 new cases of coronavirus, bringing its total cases since March 4 to 178,345, Murphy tweeted..
- He also announced 36 new deaths from the virus, bringing the state's total number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths to 13,845.
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.