A $46 million parade, the first in Washington DC in more than 30 years, unfolded against a backdrop of protests and political violence

Washington DC was locked down and the capital’s airspace closed to flights as 6,500 troops marched down Constitution Avenue and helicopters flew overhead, fulfilling a long-standing ambition of Trump to stage a military parade — the first held in the American capital in more than 30 years.

Organisers for Saturday’s parade said they were expecting “hundreds of thousands” to attend but images of empty seats in stands along the parade route suggested turnout may not have been as high as hoped. It is possible the poor weather kept many at home.

The celebrations came just hours after a Democratic politician and her husband were shot dead in their Minnesota home by a man believed to be impersonating a police officer. Threats against other politicians in Texas were made on a day of widespread unrest and protests against the Trump administration, timed to coincide with Saturday’s $46 million event.

A South Carolina Republican lawmaker — who once preached about the importance of safeguarding children from unnecessary harm — is accused of distributing more than 200 files of child pornography online while using the screen name “joebidennnn69,” federal prosecutors alleged.

Robert “RJ” May, 38, a member of the House of Representatives in the Palmetto State, was arrested at his Lexington County home Wednesday on a 10-count indictment charging him with distributing child sex abuse material, court documents showed.

The married father of two used “joebidennnn69” and several other user names to exchange 220 obscene files containing extremely graphic footage of children and toddlers engaged in sex acts on the messaging app Kik over five days last spring, federal prosecutors alleged.

The Minnesota governor said that the path to tyranny "is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting"

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was testifying before Congress about his state's handling of immigration when he learned Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security news conference Thursday.

The irony, he told the attendees of the Center for American Progress’ “Listening to Lead” event Friday, was in lawmakers grilling him and his colleagues, Govs. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y. and JB Pritzker, D-Ill., over the “incredible crime of treating people like human beings” as FBI agents tackled a sitting senator to the ground and handcuffed him in Los Angeles.

“I am not prone to hyperbole. I am prone to, like, popping off a little bit. I know that,” Walz said, prefacing his argument that Americans are living in a “dangerous” time. “I believed all along we were marching towards authoritarianism, and people were telling me in December, ‘You know, you're overreacting.’ And I said, “The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you're overreacting.”

systemd cat and GNU cat hugging a Linux cat.

original post: https://mk.moth.zone/notes/a8zer7ypj6uv02ka

A man named Vance Boelter allegedly shot and killed Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband Mark Hortman at their home at some point early Saturday morning while, according to law enforcement, impersonating a police officer. He also allegedly shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman at their home. They are alive, but remain in critical condition.

Law enforcement has said they found a manifesto and hit list in the alleged suspect’s car, which included politicians, abortion providers, and pro-abortion rights advocates. There were also allegedly fliers in his car for the “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump, which took place in cities across the US on Saturday.

The 57-year-old, who has been identified as the suspected shooter according to numerous reports, runs an armed security service with his wife, and has been affiliated with at least one evangelical organization, a ministry he has also run with his wife, according to a tax filing reviewed by WIRED. (His wife could not be immediately reached for comment.) According to public records and archived websites reviewed by WIRED, the suspect served for a time as the president of Revoformation Ministries. A version of the ministry’s website captured in 2011 carries a biography in which he is said to have been ordained in 1993.

Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/shooting-minnesota-melissa-hortman-vance-boelter/