STORYLINE

Rap superstar Kanye West has qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline.

But confusion remains over whether he's actually running.

A representative for West filed the necessary paperwork and paid the $35,000 filing on July 15th which was the deadline for a spot on the state's Nov. 3rd presidential ballot, said Oklahoma Board of Elections spokeswoman Misha Mohr. He was one of three independent presidential candidates to pay the filing fee prior to the deadline, she added. The others were concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce.

The filing came a day after New York Magazine's “Intelligencer” quoted West adviser Steve Kramer saying “he's out" and noting that the staff he had hired were disappointed.

However, TMZ reported that the West campaign had filed a “Statement of Organization” Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, stating that a Kanye 2020 committee would serve as principal campaign committee for a West candidacy.

West has already missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it’s unclear if he is willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others.

West, who is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, initially announced his candidacy on July 4th. Days later, he told Forbes magazine that he, who once praised President Donald Trump and said the two share “dragon energy,” was “taking the red hat off” - a reference to Trump’s trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap.

West, who said that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told the magazine that he planned to model his White House on the fictional land in “Black Panther” if he won the presidency, adding “Let’s get back to Wakanda.”

***

Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on August 11th, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.

In choosing Harris, Biden is embracing a former rival from the Democratic primary who is familiar with the unique rigor of a national campaign. Harris, a 55-year-old first-term senator, is also one of the party’s most prominent figures and quickly became a top contender for the No. 2 spot after her own White House campaign ended.

Harris joins Biden in the 2020 race at a moment of unprecedented national crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people in the U.S., far more than the toll experienced in other countries. Business closures and disruptions resulting from the pandemic have caused an economic collapse. Unrest, meanwhile, has emerged across the country as Americans protest racism and police brutality.

Trump’s uneven handling of the crises has given Biden an opening, and he enters the fall campaign in strong position against the president. In adding Harris to the ticket, he can point to her relatively centrist record on issues such as health care and her background in law enforcement in the nation’s largest state.

Harris’ record as California attorney general and district attorney in San Francisco was heavily scrutinized during the Democratic primary and turned off some liberals and younger Black voters who saw her as out of step on issues of systemic racism in the legal system and police brutality. She tried to strike a balance on these issues, declaring herself a “progressive prosecutor” who backs law enforcement reforms.

Biden, who spent eight years as President Barack Obama’s vice president, has spent months weighing who would fill that same role in his White House. He pledged in March to select a woman as his vice president, easing frustration among Democrats that the presidential race would center on two white men in their 70s.

Biden’s search was expansive, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive, Florida Rep. Val Demings, whose impeachment prosecution of Trump won plaudits, California Rep. Karen Bass, who leads the Congressional Black Caucus, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose passionate response to unrest in her city garnered national attention.

A woman has never served as president or vice president in the United States. Two women have been nominated as running mates on major party tickets: Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008. Their party lost in the general election.

***

The Republican Party formally nominated President Donald Trump for a second term in the White House on August 24th, one of the first acts of a GOP convention that has been dramatically scaled down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Trump has sought to minimize the toll of the pandemic, but its impact was evident as proceedings began in Charlotte. Instead of the thousands of people who were expected to converge on this city for a week-long extravaganza, just 336 delegates participated in a roll-call vote from a Charlotte Convention Center ballroom.

The GOP convention is a crucial moment for Trump, who is trailing in national and battleground state polls and under intense pressure to turn the race around. Just 23% think the country is heading in the right direction, while 75% think it's on the wrong path, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Many of the usual trappings of a convention were present on Monday, including signs designating each state and gift bags with Republican swag. But chairs on the ballroom floor were arranged with lots of space between them and convention organizers told participants to wear masks, though adherence to the rule was uneven.

***

Anti-Trump messages were projected on the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC as the Republican National Convention was underway on August 25th.

The messages included "Trump has no plan," "nothing will change because Trump won't change," and "it is what it is."

President Trump made that comment during a recent interview when asked about the number of people in the United States in the United States killed by the coronavirus.

***

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the country has not seen enough economic recovery since the coronavirus outbreak began months ago.

He blasted President Donald Trump for downplaying COVID-19, saying that it will continue to kill Americans and ravage the economy.

U.S. unemployment dropped sharply in August to a still-high 8.4% from 10.2%, with about half the 22 million jobs lost to the coronavirus outbreak recovered so far, the government said on September 4th in one of the last major economic reports before Election Day.

Employers added 1.4 million jobs last month, the Labor Department said, down from 1.7 million in July and the fewest since hiring resumed in May.

But the economy has recovered barely half the 22 million jobs that vanished when the pandemic paralyzed the nation in early spring.

Biden also accused of being out of touch with ordinary Americans, caring instead about his wealthy friends and donors.

"Families teeter on the brink of hunger and homelessness, and our president calls that success, what does that say about what he values?" Biden said Friday.

***

Try as he might to change the subject, US President Donald Trump can't escape the coronavirus.

In newly released interviews from journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book "Rage," Trump privately acknowledged the severity of the pandemic even as he played it down in public.

Excerpts of the book were published September 9th by The Washington Post and CNN, which also aired audio of some of the interviews.

Woodward, who is most famously known for helping break open the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration, has chronicled the happening of most American presidents since then.

Two years ago Woodward released a different book, "Fear", that depicted a chaotic White House environment under the Trump administration.

After its release the president complained that he was not actively involved in the book and agreed to at least nine private interviews with Woodward which were used for his latest novel "Rage."

"This is a case where Trump himself wanted to shape the narrative, and while the book isn't out yet at least, the early headlines aren't very kind to him," said Jonathan Lemire, a White House reporter for the Associated Press.

Lemire added that other former presidents, like George W. Bush and Barak Obama, who agreed to have Woodward write a book about their administrations were also displeased with the final products.

"But this is different," Lemire said. "Trump himself is far more conscious or frankly, obsessed with the media coverage he receives than any of his predecessors. We see that every day on Twitter. He often delves into media critique."

In taped conversations released along with the excerpts, Trump insisted he didn't want to create "panic." But his comments also raised fresh questions about how he has managed the defining crisis of his presidency, one that has killed about 190,000 Americans so far, with no end in sight.

Trump's team would much rather center the November vote around the economy, cracking down on protests spawned by racial injustice, and the president's promise that he could appoint more conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

"They're comfortable fighting on anything else except for the pandemic because public opinion polls show the Americans don't think the president has done a very good job," Lemire said. "And by his comments, his own words, these are not anonymous sources. These are not administration officials on background. His own words caught on tape are again highlighting the pandemic, put it at the national... center of the national discourse, and raising all sorts of further concerns about how, frankly, he has handled the largest health crisis this nation has faced in a century."

After details of the book were released, Democrats have condemned Trump's actions of downplaying the coronavirus early on, with the Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer calling the president "the biggest threat to the American people."

And now, Trump's own words are redirecting attention to his handling of the pandemic when he can least afford it - less than two months before Election Day.

"Because this... revelation is about COVID-19, it is possible this will be damaging to him. This will hurt his electoral challenge... chances. It certainly can't help," Lemire said. "But it remains to be seen whether or not this is a mortal blow to his reelection bid or whether we're simply talking about something else in 72 hours."

***

Joe Biden expressed his strongest support yet for Puerto Rican statehood on September 15th, though he says the decision must be made by residents of the island.

Biden said at a Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff event in Kissimmee, Florida, that he believes statehood “would be the most effective means of ensuring that residents of Puerto Rico are treated equally.”

But Biden emphasized that “the people of Puerto Rico must decide, and the United States federal government must respect and act on that.”

Biden had previously declined to take a position on the issue.

During the last referendum on statehood, an overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of becoming a state.

Biden’s remarks came as part of a broader effort to appeal to Latinos in Florida and particularly Puerto Ricans, which make up one of the fastest-growing demographic groups in central Florida.

Democrats have expressed concerns that Biden may be slipping in the state, particularly with influential Latino voters.

***

With less than 50 days to go until the U.S. elections, President Donald Trump has been steadfast in dismissing concerns of foreign interference in the November ballot.

Trump insists that the expected huge number of postal ballots Americans will use are a much bigger concern, telling reporters September 16th that "much of the stuff coming out about foreign countries turned out to be untrue."

But testifying on Capitol Hill on September 17th, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Russia has been "very active" in its efforts to influence US elections, with the primary goal being to "denigrate" Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Wray told lawmakers that Russia is primarily interfering through malign foreign influence in an effort to hurt Biden's campaign -- echoing the intelligence community's public assessment on Moscow's meddling efforts issued last month.

Wray's comments come as President Donald Trump and several other top administration officials have recently attempted to play up the theory that China is meddling to get Biden elected, while downplaying well-founded reports that Russia is trying to help Trump win again, like it did in 2016.

Intelligence officials have said they have uncovered evidence that Russia is currently interfering in the election to hurt Biden's campaign. Separately, some evidence has already emerged about Moscow's efforts, including Facebook's announcement earlier this month that a troll group that was part of Russia's attempt to interfere in the 2016 election is trying to target Americans again.

Independent Senator Angus King, a co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a congressional Commission that studied cyber security, worries about the continued attempts by Russia to affect American presidential races.

"What bothers me is that I don't think they were doing it for fun (attack the 2016 race)," he said. "It worries me that they were practicing, that they were learning and that this election could be the test case."

While there is consensus on Russian attempts to attack the US elections, what is not clear is their end goal.

"We would put Russian intelligence and squarely at the top of the of the risk score here," Sandra Joyce, the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Intelligence for the private security fire FireEye. "There's really no end to what they are capable of doing if they decide to go ahead and do it. "

Graham Brookie, the Director and Managing Editor of the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council says there is evidence Russians have continued to experiment in both the 2016 and 2018 elections.

The Senior Vice President and Director of Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jim Lewis, says it is clear that at least two state opponents have decided to disrupt the American election.

"The Chinese studied what the Russians did," Lewis told the Associated Press, but they don't agree with the Russians on what the best outcome in 2020 will be. "You've got two competing hostile powers, one of whom is quite good and one of whom is learning quickly. "

While the intelligence community has assessed that China and Iran prefer Trump to lose in November, officials have offered no indication, to date, that either country is acting on that preference in the same way as Russia, according to public statements issued by the intelligence community and sources familiar with the underlying evidence.

The same GRU military intelligence unit, known as Fancy Bear, that Microsoft identifies as being behind the current election-related activity also broke into voter registration databases in at least three states in 2016, though there is no evidence it tried to interfere with voting.

During the Cyberspace Solarium Commission investigation, King said he spoke to many local election officials. "In my view they are over confident," he said, adding "I'm worried there is still a vulnerability there."

FireEye's Joyce warns her company has found active measures "on the part of multiple nation states," to collect information about local election officials.

***

Cindy McCain, the widow of the late U.S. Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, is endorsing Democrat Joe Biden for president in a rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has had a fraught relationship with members of John McCain's family since he disparaged the Republican Arizona senator during his 2016 campaign.

Cindy McCain is citing the decades long friendship between her family and Biden's and their bond as the parents of children serving in the military.

Her backing could help Biden appeal to Republicans disaffected with Trump.

It also could give Biden a boost in Arizona, a crucial swing state that McCain represented in Congress for 35 years.

01:57:19

00:00:00

Rapper Kanye West files for Oklahoma presidential ballot

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New York, 13 December 2016

1. President-elect Donald Trump exiting elevator with rapper Kanye West,

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Washington, 11 October 2018

2. Kanye West and President Donald Trump at the White House

00:08:00

Biden selects Sen. Kamala Harris as running mate

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Iowa City, Iowa - 10 April 2019

3. Kamala Harris speaking to a crowd in Iowa City

Des Moines, Iowa - 3 July 2019

4. Kamala Harris talking to reporters at a July 4th picnic in Iowa

00:22:12

Trump accepts nomination at RNC convention

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5. Wide of introduction of President Trump UPSOUND:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the President of the United States, and our nominee, Donald J. Trump"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President

"(Crowd: Four more years, four more years, four more years, etc!)

You want to really drive them crazy? You say 12 more years.

00:56:07

Anti-Trump messages projected on Trump hotel

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Washington, DC - 25 August 2020

7. Front of Trump Hotel, with messages projected on it reading "Trump has no plan," "Chaos," "Nothing will change because Trump won't change," and other anti-Trump messages

01:12:10

Biden: Trump virus response keeps hurting economy

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Wilmington, Delaware - 4 September 2020

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, (D) Presidential Nominee:

"I talk to a lot of real working people. Ask them, they feel like they're being left behind, ask them how they feel about the economy coming back. You'll find they don't feel it."

01:23:21

Woodward book spotlights Trump's response to virus

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ARCHIVE: Washington - 11 September 2018

9. Copies of the Bob Woodward book "Fear" on display inside a bookstore

ARCHIVE: Washington - 29 April 2017

10. Journalist Bob Woodward sits at the head table during the White House Correspondents' Dinner

01:31:19

Biden signals support for Puerto Rican statehood

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Kissimmee, Florida - 15 September 2020

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Joe Biden, (D) Presidential Nominee:

" I happen to believe statehood would be the most effective means of ensuring that residents of Puerto Rico are treated equally, with equal representation at the federal level.

01:40:11

Trump undeterred by Russian threats to US election

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Raleigh, North Carolina - 3 September 2020

12. Various, mail-in ballots being prepared

POOL

Washington - 17 September 2020

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"The intelligence community's consensus is that Russia continues to try to influence our elections."

01:52:22

Republican Sen. John McCain's widow endorses Biden

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ARCHIVE: Kyiv, Ukraine - 31 March 2019

14. Mid, Cindy McCain (dark winter jacket) speaking to a woman of the International Republican Institute, visiting a polling station in the Ukraine

STORYLINE

BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL PAINTED OUTSIDE NY COURTS

Teams of painters and artists gathered for a second day on July 2nd 2020 to paint a "Black Lives Matter" mural in the middle of a street that passes federal buildings in lower Manhattan.

The mural sits adjacent to the Thurgood Marshall federal courthouse, named after the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Endorsed by city leaders, three up-and-coming Black artists from New York were chosen to stylize the letters of each of the three words.

"I think the mural is a very strong and powerful contrast and combats the oppression of some of these buildings and some of the things that have happened in these buildings, historically," said Sophia Dawson, a Black visual artist who was commissioned to paint the "lives" portion of the mural

***

Large yellow letters spelling the words 'Black Lives Matter' have found a brand-new home, and this time on 5th Avenue.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Rev. Al Sharpton were joined by members of the community on July 10th to paint the mural across the street from Trump Tower.

Similar to the one painted outside the White House, the mural sends a clear message.

The mayor has said its his administration's way of honoring the black men and women who helped build New York.

***

For a second day a Black Lives Matter mural on 5th Avenue was on display in front of the namesake Manhattan tower of President Donald Trump.

The section of street remained closed to vehicle traffic as people took photos of the mural.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the plan to paint Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower in June after earlier announcing that the slogan would be painted on streets at several locations. Trump responded via Twitter that the mural would denigrate "this luxury Avenue."

***

An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol once occupied by the toppled statue of a slave trader.

Marc Quinn created the likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the plinth after demonstrators pulled down the statue of Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristol's harbour on June 7th.

The statue, titled "A Surge of Power (Jen Reid)" was erected before dawn on July 15th without approval from city officials.

Colston was a 17th-century trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

The toppling of his statue is part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis, in May.

Quinn, one of Britain's best-known sculptors, said Reid had "created the sculpture when she stood on the plinth and raised her arm in the air. Now we're crystallizing it."

Reid told The Guardian newspaper that the new statue was "incredible" and would help "continue the conversation."

City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

***

At least some of the Confederate monuments that have been recently removed from places of prominence in Richmond, Virginia, are being stored on the grounds of a waste water treatment plant, photographs show.

Photos taken by The Associated Press and Richmond Times-Dispatch show a collection of statues and other large objects under tarps at the facility just outside the city's downtown.

On July 1st, Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city property in Richmond, a onetime capital of the Confederacy.

Stoney invoked his emergency powers, citing ongoing civil unrest and concerns that protesters would get hurt if they tried to pull down the statues themselves.

The only Confederate statue that remains on Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue is a memorial to Gen. Robert E. Lee located on state property.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered its removal, but it has been at least temporarily blocked by a lawsuit.

The monument removal decisions were made after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Floyd's death sparked global protests against racism and police brutality and led to a re-examination of statues and monuments of historical figures around the world.

The statues' fate is not currently clear.

A new state law that took effect July 1st allows local governments to remove statues on public property.

It contains a provision that says the local governing body must offer the monument "for relocation and placement to any museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield" but also says the local government "shall have sole authority to determine the final disposition."

The city council has scheduled a public hearing on the future of the monuments August 3rd, according to the Times-Dispatch.

***

Federal officers' actions at protests in Oregon's largest city, hailed by President Donald Trump but done without local consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis - one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland's U.S. courthouse.

Demonstrators crowded in front of the U.S. federal courthouse and the city's Justice Center late Monday night, before authorities cleared them out as the loud sound and light of flash bang grenades filled the sky.

Trump says he plans to send federal agents to other cities, too.

Constitutional law experts said federal officers' actions in the progressive city are a "red flag" in what could become a test case of states' rights as the Trump administration expands federal policing.

The protests have roiled Portland for 52 nights. Many rallies have attracted thousands and been largely peaceful. But smaller groups of up to several hundred people have focused on federal property and local law enforcement buildings, at times setting fires to police precincts, smashing windows and clashing violently with local police.

Portland police used tear gas on multiple occasions until a federal court order banned its officers from doing so without declaring a riot. Now, concern is growing that the tear gas is being used against demonstrators by federal officers instead.

Anger at the federal presence escalated on July 11, when a protester was hospitalized with critical injuries after a U.S. Marshals Service officer struck him in the head with a less-lethal round. Video shows the man, identified as Donavan LaBella, standing across the street from the officers holding a speaker over his head when he was hit.

***

With controversy growing over the Trump administration's decision to send federal law enforcement agents to Portland to deal with the city's unrest, a spokesman at the Pentagon said that no U.S. military troops have been deployed to the city.

However, Jonathan Hoffman says the Defense Secretary Mark Esper has concerns about federal agents wearing uniforms resembling military combat uniforms while they are carrying out law enforcement duties.

"The secretary has,has expressed a concern of this within the administration that we want a system where people can tell the difference," he said.

Hoffman says the Pentagon's concern dates back to protests that took place in the nation's capital at the start of June.

Federal forces were deployed to Portland in early July, and tensions have grown since then: first, on July 11th, when a protester was hospitalized with critical injuries after a U.S. Marshals Service officer struck him in the head with a round of what’s known as less-lethal ammunition.

Then, anger flared again over the weekend after video surfaced of a federal agent hitting a U.S. Navy veteran repeatedly with a baton while another agent sprays him in the face with pepper spray.

Crowds had recently numbered fewer than 100 people but swelled to more than 1,000 over the weekend - and they are once again attracting a broader base in a city that's increasingly unified and outraged.

In a separate matter, Hoffman expressed confidence that the National Defense Authorization bill will soon be signed into law, despite the president being at odds with lawmakers on Capitol Hill over renaming military bases named after Confederate military leaders.

"We're confident that there will be an agreement and that the NDA will be signed and implemented on time so that we can have a budget for our forces," he said.

***

A Minnesota judge on July 21st lifted a gag order in the criminal case against four former officers charged in death of George Floyd, but said he would take a news media coalition's request to make body camera footage more widely available under advisement.

Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill also ruled on July 21st that he would not hold Attorney General Keith Ellison in contempt of court.

Cahill said in a statement Ellison made when he announced that additional attorneys would be assisting in the prosecution was innocuous and did not violate the gag order.

Even though the gag order was vacated, Cahill said he still expects all attorneys in the case to follow the rules on disclosure of information.

Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25th after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn't breathe.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Three other officers who were at the scene, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng, are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.

All four officers were fired.

Police body camera videos were filed with the court this month by Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, as part of a request to have Lane's case dismissed.

Gray said he wanted the videos to be made public - prompting Cahill to issue an order barring attorneys and parties from discussing the case.

Defense attorneys for all four of the former officers asked that the gag order be lifted. The Associated Press is among news organizations that objected to the gag order.

Cahill made the videos available for in-person, by-appointment viewing only.

Media attorney Leita Walker objected to that format, saying it violated the common law, rules of public access to records and the First Amendment, and was essentially equivalent to keeping the videos under seal.

Records of all courts are presumed to be open for public inspection with limited exceptions.

Prosecutors said a court may impose restrictions if that access will interfere with the fair and impartial administration of justice, and that reasonable alternatives aren't adequate.

***

A huge crowd gathered in Portland, Oregon on July 22nd, as demonstrations continue against police brutality and the deployment of federal officers there.

People screamed and sharply questioned Mayor Ted Wheeler, as he tried to address the crowd.

The Democratic mayor has opposed federal agents’ presence in Oregon's largest city, but he has faced harsh criticism from many sides and his presence wasn't welcomed by most, who yelled and swore at him.

Holding just a microphone attached to a speaker with a cord, Wheeler called it a “listening session” and opened up for questions after a few minutes - but it was unclear if anyone could hear over the angry crowd. About 20 feet (6.1 meters) away, Black Lives Matter speakers rallied a crowd of up to 1,000 people.

Some Portland residents, including City Council members, have accused Wheeler of not reining in local police, who have used tear gas multiple times before federal agents arrived early this month in response to nearly two months of nightly protests since George Floyd was killed. Others, including business leaders, have condemned Wheeler for not bringing the situation under control before the agents showed up.

***

Federal agents appeared to deploy tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters in Portland, Oregon, on July 24th amid ongoing nightly demonstrations in the city.

Thousands of demonstrators had crowded around the U.S. courthouse building and began to move away as clouds of gas rose from the area and flash grenades could be heard.

Protests in Portland over police brutality and racism have seen a resurgence since President Donald Trump deployed militarized federal agents to the city earlier in July.

Federal agents have used tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and other force against protesters who have been targeting the U.S. courthouse with fires and other vandalism during two months of nightly demonstrations.

U.S. authorities say they must act to protect federal property and officers, while local leaders say their presence has made the situation more volatile and urge the agents to leave.

***

Virginia has removed from its iconic state capitol the busts and a statue honoring Confederate generals and officials.

That includes a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee positioned in the same spot where he stood to assume command of the state's armed forces in the Civil War nearly 160 years ago.

They are the latest Confederate symbols to be removed or retired in the weeks since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a nationwide protest movement.

Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat, quietly ordered the Lee statue and busts of generals J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and others removed from the historic Old House Chamber.

A moving crew worked through the night on July 23rd - carefully removing the monuments and their plaques and loading them into a truck and taking them to an undisclosed location.

The stealth approach avoids the possibility of protests or a lawsuit to keep the monuments in place, but may prompt criticism that the monuments were moved without public discussion.

Designed by Thomas Jefferson, the Virginia State Capitol is the first state capitol to open after the American Revolution and was used as the Confederacy's Capitol during much of the Civil War.

Filler-Corn's move to remove the Confederate generals comes a few weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a different Lee monument - a 21-foot (6-meter) bronze equestrian sculpture on Richmond's historic Monument Avenue.

A lawsuit has delayed that statue's removal, but other Confederate monuments on the street - once one of the most prominent collection of tributes to the Confederacy in the nation - have already come down.

And earlier in the week, the U.S. House approved a bill to remove statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders from the U.S. Capitol.

The bill's prospects in the Senate are uncertain.

In Virginia, the Old House Chamber was where lawmakers first met when the Capitol opened in 1788 and was used as the House's meeting place for more than 100 years before the Capitol building was expanded.

It is not currently used for official purposes when the legislature meets.

The chamber's history is long and varied - then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall presided over a trial there that saw former Vice President Aaron Burr acquitted of treason - but much of the iconography in the room is devoted to Confederates.

Virginia delegates voted in the chamber to secede from the Union in April 1861.

A few days later, Lee entered the room to take formal command of the state's military.

Like many Confederate monuments, most of those recently removed from Virginia's Capitol were erected decades after the Civil War.

They were commissioned and built during the Jim Crow era, when states imposed new segregation laws, and during the "Lost Cause" movement, when historians and others tried to depict the South's rebellion as a fight to defend states' rights, not slavery.

The Lee statue was approved in 1928 with the help of then-Gov. Harry Byrd, who would later go on to lead the state's Massive Resistance to racially integrated schools.

It's $25,000 price tag (about $370,000 currently) was paid for by the state, donations and an in-kind donation from the sculptor.

Busts of Davis and Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, were donated to Virginia in the 1950s by Mississippi and Georgia.

***

Tear gas was fired in Portland, Oregon early on July 27th, minutes after protesters shot fireworks at the US federal courthouse.

The protest on July 26th started peacefully, but intensified early Monday.

Some demonstrators crowded around the fence surrounding the federal courthouse in downtown Portland and shot off fireworks.

US agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs, forcing some of the protesters to retreat.

The agents warned protesters to stay off federal property.

***

A US flag was set on fire and police were deployed in the early hours of August 1st, as protests in Portland Oregon continued.

Another fire was set outside the courthouse in central Portland, which has become a focal point for anti-racism protests over the last few months.

More than a thousand people remained in downtown Portland early Saturday peacefully protesting, about three days after the announcement that the presence of US agents there would be reduced - a deal that Oregon officials hope will continue to ease tensions as the city tries to move on from months of chaotic nightly protests.

There were no reports of violence or clashes between protesters and federal agents or police.

***

Tourists are flocking to Nashville to see a new mural of Dolly Parton that celebrates her position on Black Lives Matter.

Mural artist Kim Radford offered up the mural of the country superstar to local businesses and connected with a local music club called The 5 Spot, which was made famous for being one of the spots where the TV show "Nashville" was filmed.

But as she was painting the mural last week, Billboard ran an article with Parton in which she said she supported the Black Lives Matter movement, saying "Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter?"

So Radford quickly added the quote to the top of the mural and soon enough, pictures started spreading.

"I looked at her quote in particular and it was so sassy and a sensitive comment about something's that got a lot of, you know, friction in the air right now," said Radford. "And she just treated it just like Dolly does: lovingly. And it was just perfect."

Now less than a week old, the mural has become a hotspot for tourists visiting Music City to get a selfie. Radford herself got stopped by fans in front of the mural to pose for pictures.

"I've had her fans reach out from as far as Dubai, I believe that was the farthest," said Radford. "A lot of, a lot of women. And I have to say, 95 percent super positive."

***

Wisconsin's governor has summoned the National Guard to head off another round of violent protests after the police shooting of a Black man under murky circumstances turned Kenosha into the nation's latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says 125 members of the National Guard will be in Kenosha on August 24th with responsibility for "guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected."

The move came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear on August 23rd, hours after the wounding of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition.

He was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.

***

Anger over the shooting of a Black man by police in a southeastern Wisconsin city spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night on August 24th, with police once again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement officials guarding the courthouse.

Kenosha became the nation's latest flash point in a summer of racial unrest after cell phone footage of police shooting Jacob Blake on August 23rd around 5 p.m. CDT (2200GMT) in broad daylight circulated on social media. In a widely seen cell phone video made by an onlooker, Blake was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.

Protesters on August 24th chanted, “No justice, no peace” as they confronted a line of law enforcement officers who wore protective gear and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse entrance.

Police first fired the tear gas about 30 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect and protesters refused to disperse. But hundreds of people stuck around, lighting fires and screaming at police.

Tensions flared anew earlier on August 24th after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd, which included a photographer from The Associated Press.

***

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters during a third night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25th following the police shooting of a Black man whose attorney said he had been left paralyzed.

A group of protesters walked toward a fence which was put in place on August 25th around the Kenosha County Courthouse and started shaking it.

Police behind the fence advanced as some demonstrators threw water bottles and fireworks over the barrier.

Armored vehicles then rolled in and tear gas was fired into the crowd.

When police ordered protesters to disperse, the crowd responded by chanting “Black lives matter.”

Police then fired rubber bullets.

Jacob Blake, the man shot by police responding to a domestic disturbance on Sunday, is paralyzed, and it will “take a miracle” for him to walk again, his family's attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs.

The shooting of Blake on August 23rd - apparently in the back while three of his children looked on - was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, some of which have devolved into unrest.

***

Roughly a thousand people gathered on August 29th in Kenosha for a march and rally against police violence, about a week after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back and left the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed.

Demonstrators marched through the streets chanting, and listened to speeches given by members of Blake's family.

Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey and two other officers were responding to a domestic abuse call on August 23rd when Sheskey shot Blake seven times in the back.

Blake is paralyzed from the shooting, his family said, and is recovering in a Milwaukee hospital.

The shooting, which was captured on cellphone video, sparked new protests against racial injustice and police brutality, just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.

Protesters have marched on Kenosha’s streets every night since Blake's shooting, with some protests devolving into unrest with damage to buildings and vehicles.

On August 25th, two people were killed by an armed civilian.

The commander of the National Guard said Friday that more than 1,000 Guard members had been deployed to help keep the peace, and more were on the way.

***

A man who was fatally shot after supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with left-wing protesters on the streets of Portland, Oregon, was a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, its founder said August 30th.

Joey Gibson, head of the group based in Washington state, told The Associated Press the man who was shot to death on August 29th was a "good friend," although he did not identify him.

On August 30th, President Donald Trump and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blamed each other for the violence.

Trump called Wheeler a "fool" on Twitter while Wheeler blamed Trump for creating such a toxic environment.

"It's you who have created the hate and the division," the Democratic mayor said of Trump. "Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country," he added.

Trump had earlier issued a flurry of tweets and retweets, including several blaming Wheeler for the death and one in which the president appeared to be encouraging his supporters to move into Portland.

"GREAT PATRIOTS!" Trump wrote as he shared video of his supporters driving into Portland to confront the protesters.

Police issued a plea for any information related to the killing, including videos, photos or eyewitness accounts. The shooting happened about 15 minutes after a caravan of about 600 vehicles that were part of a pro-Trump rally left downtown.

It wasn't clear if the shooting was related to the clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters in Portland, which has become a flashpoint in the national Black Lives Matter protests since George Floyd was killed in May and an increasing centerpiece in Trump's law-and-order re-election campaign theme.

Police have not released any information about the case but said they were aware of videos on social media that showed the shooting.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell asked for anyone with information to come forward.

"A human being lost their life last night, and it's critical that everyone refrain from conjecture and allow us to gather the evidence and statements needed to hold the person who did this responsible for this heinous act," he said.

***

Protesters greeted President Trump as he arrived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on September 1st, more than a week after the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, which has touched off days of unrest.

Protesters lined a street as Trump's motorcade passed by, along with supporters of the President shouting "USA, USA"

Some demonstrators carried anti-Trump signs and shouted "justice for Jacob Blake."

On the eve of his visit, Trump defended a teenage supporter accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha the previous week and accused Democrat Joe Biden of siding with "anarchists" and "rioters" in the unrest.

***

Police have used tear gas to disperse a demonstration against police brutality in Rochester on September 4th.

More than a hundred people gathered to demand justice for Daniel Prude.

Prude, a Black man who was 41, died in March seven days after officers encountered him running naked through the street, handcuffed him, then tried to stop him from spitting by putting a mesh bag called a spit hood, or a spit sock, over his head.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the suspension of seven officers at a news conference Thursday amid outrage that city officials had kept quiet about Prude's death for months.

Prude's death and the actions of the police officers have intensified the debate over whether police should be responding to calls about people suffering mental health crises.

A union leader on September 4th defended the officers involved in the encounter, saying they were strictly following department training and protocols, including using the mesh hood to stop Prude from spitting.

03:47:05

Black Lives Matter mural painted outside NY courts

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York, 2 July 2020

1. Painters working on street mural

2. Thurgood Marshall federal courthouse

3. Walk shot of Sophia Dawson

00:14:10

'Black Lives Matter' mural painted at Trump Tower

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 9 July 2020

4. Various of Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Rev. Al Sharpton painting Black Lives Matter mural on the street outside Trump Tower alongside other community members

00:20.22

Overhead view of BLM mural at Trump Tower

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 10 July 2020

5. Wide of Black Lives Matter mural on 5th Avenue in front of Trump Tower

00:26:00

Sculpture of BLM protester replaces Colston statue

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bristol - 15 July 2020

6. Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid standing in front of the statue in her likeness

7. Statue of Jen Reid

00:34:00

Confederate statues stored at waste water plant

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Richmond, Virginia - 14 July 2020

++MUTE FROM SOURCE++

8. Confederate statues covered and on the ground

00:38:03

Protesters in Portland chant against police

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++WARNING: AUDIO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE++

Portland - 20 July 2020

++VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING++

++NIGHT SHOTS++

9. Protesters chanting

10. Wide of protesters sitting by fire

00:46:03

Pentagon says no U.S. troops deployed in Portland

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POOL

Arlington, Virginia - 21 July 2020

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Hoffman, Pentagon Spokesman:

" But I can say that unequivocally there are no Department of Defense assets that have been deployed to or are pending deployment to or are looking to deploy to to Portland at this time."

00:57:12

Officers charged in Floyd's death appear in court

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POOL

Minneapolis - 21 July 2020

12. Various of former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao arriving at courthouse

13. Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, arriving at courthouse

14. Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng. arriving at courthouse

01:12:09

Huge crowd protests in Portland, Oregon

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 22 July 2020

15. Big crowd of demonstrators

16. Wolfgang Taylor holds up shield that he uses to defend fellow demonstrators

17. Demonstrators with signs

01:20:08

Tear gas fired at Portland demonstrators

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 24 July 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

18. Wide of demonstrators, zoom in to rising smoke, UPSOUND explosions

01:26:03

VA removes Confederate statues from state Capitol

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Richmond, Virginia - 23 July 2020

19. Various of workers inside state capitol removing confederate statue and busts

01:37:17

Agents deploy tear gas, flash bangs in Portland

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++CLIENTS: EDIT MAY CONTAIN EXPLETIVES++

Portland, Oregon - 27 July 2020

20. AUDIO of bangs, tear gas appears, protesters begin to retreat from federal courthouse

21. View of tear gas from distance

01:46:16

Portland protesters burn US flags, police arrive

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 1 August 2020

22. American flag burning ++NOTE: AUDIBLE PROFANITY++

23. Protesters walking by armed police ++NOTE: OFFENSIVE GESTURES++

02:00:16

Tourists flock to see mural honoring Dolly Parton’s Black Lives Matter quote

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nashville, Tenn.- 20 August 2020

24. Wide of Kim Radford posing for pictures in front of her Dolly Parton mural

25. Wide of Kim Radford taking a fan's picture in front of her Dolly Parton mural

02:07:13

Protesters gather at Wis. courthouse

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: USE OF EXPLETIVES++

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 24 August 2020

26. Burned out vehicles near courhouse

27. People with signs on courthouse steps

28. Officers in riot gear emerge from door and stand in front of crowd

02:19:02

Police and protesters clash in Wisconsin

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 24 August 2020

++NIGHTSHOTS++SCREEN FOR EXPLETIVES++

29. Crowd of protesters outside building

30. National Guard truck

31. Zoom, big cloud of gas

32. Officers with Sheriff's Dept. shields

33. Burning vehicles

02:39:15

WI police fire tear gas, rubber bullets to disperse demo

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 25 August 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

34. Protesters chanting outside courthouse building

35. Officer appears from hatch of armored vehicle, points weapon

36. Tear gas in street

37. Officers walking in line behind fence

02:54:11

Blake relatives join protest march in Kenosha

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha - 29 August 2020

38. Protesters marching and chanting 'Say his name:Jacob Blake'

39. Jacob Blake's sister Letetra Widman reciting a poem

40. Jacob Blake's uncle Justin Blake addressing crowd

03:06:15

Portland mayor blames Trump for protester killed

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POOL

Portland - 30 August 2020

41. SOUNDBITE (English) Mayor Ted Wheeler, (D) Portland:

"Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence - it's you who have created the hate and the division."

03:21:01

Trump jeered and cheered upon Kenosha arrival

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 1 September 2020

42. Crowd of demonstrators awaiting President Trump's motorcade UPSOUND (English) "Say his name. Jacob Blake."

43. People shouting as motorcade passes by UPSOUND (English) "USA, USA, USA USA"

44. Man speaking into bullhorn UPSOUND (English) The system is outrageous. They're puttin' our kids in cages. Trump Pence out now."

03:34:22

Police use tear gas against Rochester protesters

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rochester - 4 September 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

45. Various of protesters demanding justice for Daniel Prude UPSOUND (English) policeman off screen:

"The Rochester police department has declared this an unlawful assembly. You are hereby ordered to disperse. Please leave the area immediately by travelling eastbound on Cork Street."

46. Tear gas being dispersed

47. Woman affected by tear gas having water put on her face