10 things you need to know today: June 6, 2020

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1. D.C. plans for massive protest
2. Unemployment rate surprisingly declines to 13.3 percent
3. Minneapolis agrees to outlaw police chokeholds
4. Biden locks up Democratic nomination
5. Report: Trump to withdraw 9,500 troops stationed in Germany
6. Buffalo police team resigns to support officers who pushed over older man
7. John Kelly agrees with Mattis' rebuke of Trump
8. Dow climbs more than 800 points after May's better-than-expected jobs report
9. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigns from board and calls for a black candidate to replace him
10. Goodell says NFL was 'wrong,' encourages players to 'peacefully protest'

published 6 June 2020

1. D.C. plans for massive protest

Washington, D.C., is preparing for a massive demonstration on Saturday, as protests continue across the United States and around the world in response to the death of George Floyd, who was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May. The city's police will prohibit vehicle traffic in much of Washington's downtown area, as thousands of protesters are expected to attend. Tensions remain high between police and protesters, though many of Friday night's demonstrations remained peaceful. Meanwhile, the Pentagon this week reportedly told the small group of National Guardsmen deployed to the capital who had been carrying guns to disarm, and the department also announced that all active-duty military forces on standby would be sent to their home bases. Defense Secretary Mark Esper made the decision to disarm the Guard without consulting the White House, The Washington Post reports.

The Labor Department on Friday unexpectedly said the U.S. unemployment rate declined to 13.3 percent in May after rising to 14.7 percent in April. The report surprised economists who had been forecasting that the rate would increase to around 20 percent. The report showed 2.5 million jobs were added in May after 20.7 million were lost in April. All 50 states have started reopening their economies after shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, and the Labor Department said "these improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April." The report pointed to "leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services, and retail trade" as areas where employment "rose sharply." However, the report also included a note that a "misclassification error" occurred in April and May, indicating real unemployment would have been higher for both months.

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Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban police chokeholds after negotiations with Minnesota's Department of Human Rights. The decision comes after a police officer kneeled on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes last week; two autopsies found Floyd died from asphyxia "due to neck and back compression" by the officer. In the new agreement, chokeholds will be illegal and any police officer who witnesses an illegal use of force must intervene verbally or physically and immediately report the incident, or face disciplinary action. Three ex-police officers witnessed Floyd's death and have since been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The agreement to update chokehold policies in Minneapolis will require court approval.

After several states, Washington, D.C., and Guam finished tallying Democratic primary votes this week, former Vice President Joe Biden has accrued enough delegates to clinch the party's presidential nomination, The Associated Press and CNN report. Biden has been the presumptive nominee since April, when his last remaining competitor, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dropped out of the race, but he's now officially set to face President Trump in November's general election. Biden struggled in the primary's early stages, but a dominant performance in South Carolina — buoyed by the state's black voters — helped him rebound. “It was an honor to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded, and I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party,” Biden said in a statement Friday.

President Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to permanently remove 9,500 of the 34,500 American troops stationed in Germany, The Wall Street Journal reports. A senior U.S. official said the move had been in the works since last September and was not related to recent disagreements between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the official did say the decision is consistent with Trump's frustration over the fact that Germany, a key member of NATO, doesn't meet the alliance's goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense. A senior German defense official said Berlin hasn't been formally notified of the decision.

Buffalo, New York's entire police emergency response team resigned on Friday in a show of support for two officers who were suspended after pushing over a 75-year-old man on Thursday. Video of the Buffalo Police Emergency Response team members pushing over the man showed blood running from his head; police walked past him but the man, a local peace activist, was later hospitalized. Two officers involved were suspended without pay, so "57 resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members," said Buffalo PBA president John Evans. The officers who stepped down are still on the Buffalo police force, but have left the special emergency response team. Evans said the officers were "simply following orders ... to clear the square" and the man "slipped."

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Friday said he agrees with former Defense Secretary James Mattis' recent denunciation of President Trump. Speaking with former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci in an interview, Kelly said "the partisanship has gotten out of hand." Mattis said earlier this week Trump "tries to divide us" and criticized Trump's call to involve the military in shutting down nationwide protests against police brutality. "I agree with [Mattis]," said Kelly, saying it's time to "look harder at who we elect" to examine their "character" and "ethics." Kelly also expressed disapproval of protesters this week being cleared out of Lafayette Square with pepper spray so Trump could walk to St. John's Church for a photo-op, saying he would have "recommended against it."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 829 points on Friday following a jobs report that showed the unemployment rate surprisingly decline. The S&P 500 also jumped 2.6 percent. The Labor Department said the unemployment rate declined to 13.3 percent in May as the economy added 2.5 million jobs. While the unemployment rate remains high, it wasn't expected to decline at all in May, and economists were predicting around 20 percent unemployment. Friday marked the first time the Dow closed above 27,000 in three months, and Wall Street is close to January numbers recorded before the coronavirus pandemic affected the economy. The S&P 500 is reportedly close to recouping all of its 2020 losses.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from the company's board Friday. Ohanian, the husband of Serena Williams who co-founded Reddit in 2005, announced his decision amid the nationwide protests and outrage over the killing of George Floyd. "It is long overdue to do the right thing," he said. "I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country." Ohanian said he has "urged" the company's board to pick a black candidate to fill his seat, and he's additionally pledged to use future gains on his Reddit stock "to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate," explaining that he's a father who "needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'" To start, he said he's donating $1 million to Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp.

In response to demands from players this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday the league now encourages players to "speak out and peacefully protest." The statement comes several years after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick launched a movement to kneel during the national anthem before games. The protest against police brutality deeply divided the league at the time, and Kaepernick has remained unsigned since the 2016 season. But Goodell said the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier." The reversal comes amid a wave of protests across the country, sparked by George Floyd's death while in police custody. Goodell said he is also personally protesting and wants "to be part of the change much needed change in this country." It's unclear if Goodell was specifically encouraging players to kneel.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.