Homeland Security Warns of 'Violence & Terror' Over Holiday Weekend
'Perfect storm': Bulletin warns of extremist violence as pandemic restrictions lift
Federal authorities are deeply concerned about the possibility of domestic terror and violence, including mass shootings, as the July Fourth holiday approaches and the summer season gets fully underway.

A new Homeland Security bulletin obtained exclusively by ABC News warns that "violent extremists might seek to exploit easing COVID-19 restrictions, increased access to mass gatherings, and possible changes in levels of violence during the summer months to conduct attacks against a range of potential targets with little or no warning.”

The intelligence document locks in on the nation returning to normalcy after the pandemic and notes that by the end of Wednesday, "34 states will have State of Emergency orders expire," which means bans on mass gatherings and social distancing restrictions will be largely lifted.

"In recent weeks, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by various violent ideologies have continued to advocate violence and plan attacks," the bulletin said. "As of 16 June, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist-white supremacists (RMVE-WSs) were sharing downloadable links to a publication discussing targeting mass gatherings, critical infrastructure, and law enforcement officers.”

“In a sense, we have the perfect storm," a senior law enforcement official told ABC News. "It’s a very volatile moment and it’s about to be a more target-rich environment.”

The official encouraged the public not to be in a panic mode but to be alert and to reach out to law enforcement if they see anything suspicious in the coming weeks. abcnews.go.com

The Progressive Viewpoint on the Violent Crime Surge Across America
AOC brushes off concerns over surging NYC crime as ‘hysteria’

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sparked outrage Tuesday for dismissing concerns about surging crime as “hysteria.”

The Bronx-Queens congresswoman, a far-left progressive routinely referred to by her initials, AOC, made the remark during a Zoom chat with freshman US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a fellow proponent of the “Defund the police” movement who represents the Bronx and Westchester.

“We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases,” Ocasio-Cortez said, reducing recent incidents such as a tourist shot in broad daylight in Times Square and kids ducking for cover amid a gang shooting in the Bronx to mere statistics.

“Now I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much. But I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context.”

Bronx City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. on Tuesday blasted Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks and said she “is wrong.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks also contradicted the results of a recent poll commissioned by The Post that found opposition to defunding the police was strongest in the crime-ridden Bronx, where more than 60 percent of respondents disapproved of last year’s slashing of $1 billion from the NYPD budget.

Figures posted by the FOP show massive increases in homicide rates in various cities this year compared to the same period two years ago, including 50 percent in New York City, 66 percent in Philadelphia, 44 percent in Atlanta and 33 percent in Chicago.

Other critics included Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who noted that Ocasio-Cortez — a proponent of the “Defund the police” movement — “just acted to ensure $2 billion more in spending” on the Capitol Police by voting “present” instead of “no” on a bill that passed the House 213-212 vote last month. nypost.com

2,000 Shootings, 340+ Killed in Chicago This Year
Chicago aldermen demand emergency hearing as violent crime surges
With nearly 2,000 people shot in Chicago so far this year – and more than 340 killed – a growing group of aldermen are demanding accountability. They want to question Police Supt. David Brown at a public hearing this week.

"Murders are up. Shootings are up. But yet the administration says all these things are down," said South Side 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale.

He is among 20 members of the City Council who signed a letter seeking a hearing by the Committee on Public Safety. 2021 is Chicago’s deadliest year in more than a decade.

"What's going wrong is nobody's held accountable for this. Everyone's trying to – you know – the scapegoat for the last three, four years is ‘put all the problems on the police.’ Because that's somebody you could punish," said Northwest Side 41st Ward Ald. Anthony Napolitano.

"We have significantly less police officers than we did 15 months ago. They can't continue at this pace. They are worn out. They are beaten down. Morale is at an all-time low," he said.

A City Council ally of Mayor Lori Lightfoot compared the criticism to what Mayor Harold Washington faced in the racially-charged council wars of the 1980s.

Blacks, whites and Hispanics were all among the 20 aldermen who signed Tuesday’s letter. A spokesman for Mayor Lightfoot did not respond directly to the letter, but issued a statement saying Chicago Police Supt. Brown gave aldermen a series of briefings on police issues earlier this year. fox32chicago.com

The Sparks that Could Ignite?
Online activism is spilling into the streets of Southern California, sparking a post-Trump movement
Leaders with ties to the Capitol riot have shut down a local vaccine site and paused plans for vaccine passports.

A week before California reopened its economy, a group of 100 or so demonstrators gathered in front of the Orange County Board of Supervisors here to decry lingering mask mandates and other health restrictions.

Whipped up by a misleading campaign of social media promotion, doorstep fliers and TV ads, they carried signs that read, “RIP COVID VAX VICTIMS” and “My Body, My Choice, No Vax.” The previous month, more than 600 people had gathered in the same spot to protest a voluntary digital vaccine passport — by falsely claiming it would be mandatory, comparing it to Nazis forcing Jews to wear yellow stars.

Six months later after the Capital riots, a right-wing movement is reconstituting itself across the United States, and once again, it is fueled by social media.

Researchers say that’s because the combination of the pandemic and the election radicalized people and enabled right-leaning groups that were not previously aligned to find one another — creating a mega-network that was fueled by outrage and misinformation. Armed groups, Trump supporters, anti-vaccine moms, government skeptics and conspiracy theorists were suddenly protesting the same things.

One of the epicenters of this movement is in Southern California, where activists have successfully protested the national vaccine rollout, even at one point prompting the temporary shutdown of a mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium. But more than a dozen Southern California activists interviewed by The Washington Post say their movement is bigger than opposition to public health measures or any other single issue.

From January 2020 through April of this year, the most “Stop the Steal” rallies and U.S. demonstrations opposing coronavirus restrictions combined took place in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County. Orange and Los Angeles have had the most people (20) arrested of any two neighboring counties in the U.S. for the Capital riots. washingtonpost.com

"A New Crime Wave Beginning to Envelop in all Five Boroughs of NYC"
Times ‘Scare’: How NYC’s soaring crime is bleeding into Crossroads of the World
At the height of Times Square’s “bad old days,” prostitution, child exploitation and drugs were on every corner and there was so much blood-soaked violence, only Broadway was barely hanging on as a tourist destination.

The Crossroads of the World has long since cleaned up its act but experts say recent broad-daylight shootings in the tourist hub reflect a new crime wave that’s beginning to envelop every pocket of the five boroughs — even the ones that have long been considered safe.

“The Times Square shootings are a wake-up call on how far things have deteriorated in the city,” Randy Mastro, a former federal prosecutor and the deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani, told The Post.

“The latest shooting in Times Square is only going to feed the perception, if not the reality, that the city is far less safe.”

At least two police officers said bail reform has led to the surge in gun violence.

“People are not afraid to carry a gun, and the slightest dispute leads to shots fired, sometimes wounding innocent people or worse,” one officer said.

A high-ranking law enforcement source with more than three decades on the job said crime is “absolutely” returning to how it was in the past. As the summer wears on, shootings are only expected to get worse citywide, said Herrmann. nypost.com

Police Chief Fires Back as Oakland Redirects $18M in PD Funding
Oakland Police Chief Laments Reallocation of Police Funding, Argues OPD
Stretched Too Thin

"This will make it tougher, having less officers in the field, particularly for marginalized communities like deep East Oakland."

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on Monday lamented city officials' recent decision to redirect roughly $18 million in proposed police spending over two years, which Armstrong argued will hamstring a police force that is already stretched too thin.

In a briefing Monday morning, Armstrong made the case that the change in funding, and reduced ability to hire new officers as a result, would prevent Oakland police from adequately completing even day-to-day tasks like traffic enforcement and responding to emergency calls.

"We already have a tough time responding to the high number of calls that we get," Armstrong said. "This will make it tougher, having less officers in the field, particularly for marginalized communities like deep East Oakland, where we see two-thirds of our calls coming from."

The Oakland City Council voted Thursday to redirect $18 million from Mayor Libby Schaaf's proposed budget to alternative forms of violence prevention and harm reduction.

That reallocation includes $4 million for a pilot program of the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland, shortened as MACRO, which will dispatch trained personnel to respond to non-violent and non-criminal issues of mental and behavioral health. nbcbayarea.com

Kroger Hate Crime Shooter Gets Life in Prison
Kentucky Kroger Shooter Sentenced to Life in Prison for Hate Crime Murders
A Kentucky man was sentenced in federal court to life in prison without parole in connection with his racially motivated murder of two Black patrons at a Kroger grocery store and his attempted murder of a third in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

On Oct. 24, 2018, he drove to a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown armed with a Smith & Wesson, model 411, .40-caliber pistol. In the store, Bush followed a Black man, who was shopping with his grandson, for the length of an aisle before pulling the gun from his waistband and shooting the victim in the back of the head. Bush then shot the victim several more times in the torso, killing him. Bush had no prior relationship with the victim and chose to shoot him because of the victim’s race. Bush then re-holstered his gun and calmly walked out of the store.

In the parking lot, Bush walked up to a Black woman and shot her several times in the head and body, killing her. Bush had no prior relationship with this victim and chose to shoot her because of her race.

Seconds later, Bush encountered a Black man who was in lawful possession of a handgun. The third victim asked Bush what was going on, and Bush, without responding, began walking toward him with the gun drawn. The third victim fired at Bush, and Bush returned fire. After about a minute, Bush stopped shooting and walked away. Bush had no prior relationship with the third victim and chose to shoot at him because of his race. Bush next encountered a white man, who was legally armed with a firearm. Bush told him, “Don’t shoot me [and] I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.” justice.gov

2020 Rioters & Looters Continue to be Prosecuted
Hendersonville, Tenn., Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Arson Charges In Connection To Metro Courthouse Fire During Violent Protests
Wesley Somers, 26, was charged in a criminal complaint on June 3, 2020, following protests which escalated to acts of violence and intimidation on the evening of May 30, 2020. Somers was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 14, 2020.

On the afternoon of May 30, 2020, protesters gathered in downtown Nashville following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Later in the evening, several persons gathered in front of the Nashville City Hall, also known as the Metro Courthouse, and began smashing the windows of the premises and spraying graffiti on the Courthouse facade. One or more fires were also set inside of the Courthouse at this time.

Somers will be sentenced on December 1, 2021, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison. justice.gov
 

COVID Update

325.1M Vaccinations Given

If you look at a graph of new daily cases of COVID-19 since March 1, 2021, averaged over seven days, you’ll see that the slope of the curve was in steep decline until the beginning of June. Since then, progress has nearly flatlined at a figure that stubbornly refuses to dip below 10,000 people per day.

You’ll notice that this graph covers only the past 12 weeks, while virtually every chart you’ll find (including the one on TIME’s dashboard) graphs COVID-19 cases from the beginning of the outbreak. This is intentional. The toll of the pandemic in the U.S. has persisted for so long, and reached such catastrophic heights in the first weeks of 2021, that patterns such as this one are nearly impossible to see on the typical chart. Here’s what the same graph looks like against that backdrop:

My fear is that the pandemic remains much more deadly than how it looks on the page. Yes, deaths remain on a steady decline, having recently sunk below 300 people a day on average for the first time since March 24, 2020, right around the time that many offices were shuttering. But a surge in cases, particularly among the large number of unvaccinated Americans, could quickly reverse that decline. time.com

Virus Impact - The Big Picture - Fueling the U.S. Southern Border Crisis?
"The Virus is still raging across the planet, and we don't have the vaccines"

Poor countries’ struggles amid vaccines shortfall threaten greater instability, migration and disease

Even as millions of Americans enjoy a post-pandemic boom, fresh covid-19 outbreaks in the developing world are undermining economic recovery and fueling political unrest.

Sluggish vaccination campaigns stand between the world’s poorest nations and the resumption of normal life, casting a shadow over a global rebound that is otherwise shaping up as the most impressive in 80 years, according to the World Bank.

A failure to accelerate vaccinations could allow the virus to mutate into more deadly forms, leaving lasting wounds on dozens of economies, preventing for years a complete restoration of global travel and ultimately threatening Americans’ health. By aggravating societal cleavages, disparities in the pandemic response between rich and poor nations also could spur political instability and unauthorized migration, including along the southern U.S. border, experts warn. washingtonpost.com

More than half of Americans feel July 4 gatherings are risky, poll shows
More than three-quarters of Americans still feel there’s at least some risk from the COVID-19 pandemic in attending July Fourth celebrations — with four in 10 believing the threat is moderate to high, according to a new poll.

Some 77 percent of respondents in an Axios-Ipsos poll ranked the celebrations as posing at least a small risk, with less than a quarter — 23 percent — maintaining there was no risk at all.

Despite mask mandates being dropped in many states across the US, more than half — 55 percent of those polled — said they are still wearing masks all or some of the time when they leave home. That is the lowest share since April last year, Axios said.

A high 84% of the more than 1,000 adults polled said they had heard of the new delta variant of the virus, with 72% concerned about it. nypost.com

Over 10 Million Counterfeits Seized & Over 6,000 Victims of Fraud Notified
Millions of counterfeit masks seized during operation in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine – More than two million counterfeit N95 masks purchased by the State of Maine were seized June 16, by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents. The seizure was the result of an ongoing investigation being conducted by multiple HSI Offices and United States Attorney’s Offices across the United States.

“The seizure of counterfeit masks as well as the recovery of $3.6 million in funds used by the State of Maine to pay for this PPE material are steps that restore accountability in the supply chain.

Since 2020, HSI has seized almost 10 million counterfeit 3M N95 respirators. At the same time, HSI and 3M notified about 6,000 suspected victims of the fraud, in at least 12 states, including hospitals, medical facilities and others who may have purchased medical masks from the illicit dealers, urging them to immediately stop using the masks and to contact HSI immediately. ice.gov
 

ASIS announces GSX education schedule
Global Security Exchange Hybrid Event, Orlando, Fla., Sept. 27-29
More than 80 education sessions are planned across six theatres at the in-person event:

● Offensive Strategies: Preparing for an Attack
● Defensive Strategies: Surviving the Unexpected
● Game Plans: What’s Next for Security
● Highlight Reel: Best Practices
● Coaching: Building & Motivating Teams
● Future Plays: Navigate the Changing Landscape

The first two categories will be streamed live then available online within 24 hours; a selection of other sessions will be available on-demand after the event. Ten digital sessions will be available when the platform goes live on Sept. 15 and all online recordings will be accessible through the end of the year. Details on keynote sessions will be available in the next few weeks, according to the organization. Sessions and speakers announced to date have been posted on the GSX event website. gsx.org

New Communication Tool - Just think of the AP applications here!
AP desperately needs a seat at the table on this communication tool - it's a game changer for associates & consumers

Grocery TV Rapidly Expands to 6,000 Locations
Digital advertising network Grocery TV has expanded to more than 1,500 stores nationwide. With a 50% growth rate in the past seven months and an increasing number of retail and advertising partners, the company said that it expects to be in 3,600 stores by the end of 2021.

Since completing its first installation in 2017, the company has teamed with nearly every major grocery wholesaler in the country, among them UNFI and SpartanNash. Grocery TV’s retail partners use the marketing platform to inform customers of important updates as well as promotional content. Partners also employ Grocery TV's built-in AI-powered merchandising capabilities to monitor shelves for missing or out-of-stock products. To be more accessible to brands amid its expansion, Grocery TV integrated its video advertising network with such programmatic partners as Vistar, Ubimo and Place Exchange. Over the past year, Grocery TV grew to more than 7,600 displays and reached 17.6 million-plus people. progressivegrocer.com

Just Walk Out Tech Growing Worldwide
UK: Tesco's Express Convenience stores in Trial With Trigo
Trigo Partners With Google Cloud to Increase Checkoutless Grocery

Tech company works with retailers to convert existing stores to seamless checkout process

Under the agreement, Trigo’s AI-powered solutions for autonomous shopping will be available on Google Cloud. Trigo’s privacy-by-design solution uses AI-powered computer vision technologies together with off-the-shelf hardware to retrofit existing grocery stores with autonomous capabilities. The company applies its proprietary algorithms to ceiling-mounted cameras that automatically learn and upload data on shoppers' movements and product choices, enabling customers to simply walk into a store, pick up their groceries and walk out without stopping at the checkout. Payments and receipts are settled digitally.

According to Trigo’s analysis of Kantar supermarket data, Tel Aviv-based Trigo estimates that there are around 500,000 convenience and small grocery stores worldwide that have the potential to be retrofitted with AI-based frictionless technology.

The company is currently working with leading European retailers, including British multinational grocer Tesco PLC. Tesco has been working on a trial with Trigo at a Tesco Express convenience store at its U.K. headquarters and will extend that to another store in a more urban environment. Trigo uses Google Cloud for part of the solution that it provides Tesco. progressivegrocer.com

Target Store Closings Show Limits of Pledge to Black Communities
Many nationwide retailers have confronted criticism previously for failing to open in Black and poor communities, creating meals deserts or a scarcity of entry to high quality items. In Mondawmin, Target invested in a struggling space, however the end result was virtually extra disheartening: The company finally determined that, regardless of its social targets, the shop wasn’t financially profitable sufficient to maintain open.

The closing is a sobering reminder of the realities of capitalism in a second when companies are making guarantees to assist Black Americans, saying their dedication to racial fairness is stronger than ever.

This year, Target made a extremely public pledge to assist Black communities nationally within the wake of George Floyd’s killing within the retailer’s house metropolis of Minneapolis, vowing to spend $2 billion with Black-owned distributors and different companies. us.newschant.com


Quarterly Results
Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Q4 merchandise & services sales up 15.2%, fuel sales up 32%, total revenue rose 26.3%