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Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley, Gaetz Spar On Critical Race Theory : NPR

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, responded sharply to questions from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Wednesday about the examination of critical race theory in the U.S. military.

"I've read Mao Zedong. I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist. So what is wrong with understanding — having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?" Milley said.

He continued brusquely: "And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, noncommissioned officers of being, quote, 'woke' or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."

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Manhattan DA Says His Office To Stop Prosecuting Prostitution : NPR

Manhattan's district attorney announced Wednesday that his office will no longer prosecute prostitution and unlicensed massage under a new policy that's believed to be the first of its kind in New York.

Cyrus Vance Jr. also appeared virtually in Manhattan Criminal Court to request the dismissal of more than 900 such cases dating back to the 1970s, according to a press release. He moved to dismiss another 5,000 cases related to the state's controversial anti-loitering statute. 

Live Updates: Trial Over George Floyd’s Killing : NPR

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DOJ To Investigate Minneapolis Police For Possible Patterns Of Force : Live Updates: Trial Over George Floyd’s Killing : NPR

One day after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force among the police department there.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new civil inquiry on Wednesday, the first such "pattern or practice" investigation in the Biden administration, which has pledged to build trust between police and communities.

"Today, I am announcing that the Justice Department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing," he said in remarks at the Justice Department.

He said the investigation is separate from the previously announced federal criminal inquiry into George Floyd's death.

I think this is a good thing. We should make sure we are keeping government workers accountable, just like in the private the sector, and when there is gross negligence or patterns of harm to the public regulate them and ensure they are protecting the public's interest.

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Police Hold ‘Extraordinary’ Power In Traffic Stops, Law Professor Says : NPR

Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Wright family, said in a separate interview earlier this week that Daunte Wright "was doing, like most marginalized minorities, trying to run away and get away from the police because Black men in particular are afraid when the police interacts with them because it normally ends up in bad results."

Butler, who is Black, says he too is constantly afraid of being confronted by police.

"Any Black person who is aware of the news, who knows history, has to be anxious around the police," Butler says. "I'm older. I'm a professional. I'm law-abiding. Whenever I see a cop car behind me, my heart starts beating faster. I don't go to places late at night where I'd have to drive and be on a lonely road where I might be pulled over. I don't want to take the risk."

He argues, "if you don't immediately stop ... in addition to whatever traffic infraction, you're committing contempt of cop. And bad officers will make you pay for that. ... It's so arbitrary and so that police officers who are racist or biased, they have so much power."