Show an ad over header. AMP  

Oregon GOP lawmaker expelled from office for helping rioters breach state Capitol

11 June 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Oregon lawmakers voted 59-1 late Thursday to expel GOP state Rep. Mike Nearman from office after a video emerged that appeared to show him coaching protesters on how to breach a closed state Capitol last year, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: It is the first time in state history that a sitting lawmaker has been ejected from office. Nearman was the only one to vote against the resolution.

  • Other video footage appears to show Nearman opening two doors, enabling entrance to the Capitol for the rioters — many not wearing masks and waving flags supporting former President Trump,.

What they're saying: "Colleagues, it couldn't be any clearer. Rep. Mike Nearman intentionally allowed armed protestors, occupiers, to illegally enter the building during the peak of the pandemic," state Rep. Paul Holvey (D) said on the floor, USA Today notes.

  • "He coordinated with his supporters and extremist groups and then opened a door to let them in," Holvey added.
  • "His actions were blatant and deliberate, and he has shown no remorse for jeopardizing the safety of every person in the Capitol that day," State Speaker Tina Kotek (D) said, according to the Times.

The big picture: Nearman is facing charges of official misconduct and criminal trespass for his role in the Dec. 21 state Capitol breach.

  • He said on Thursday that the public should have never been kept out of the Capitol. Legislative leaders closed the building to the public due to the pandemic, per the Times.

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

Section2

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.