How tear gas became the white supremacist’s favorite poison

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( June 08, 2020 Today is, among many things, the second anniversary of the passing of Anthony Bourdain. I was working at a daily newspaper when he died, and I was sent to write a scene piece at Brasserie Les Halles, the New York restaurant where Bourdain once worked as executive chef. A makeshift memorial had cropped up there, and several people knelt around the bunches of flowers and taped-up handwritten notes, weeping. Bourdain had a way of making people who watched his shows or read his books feel that they knew him personally—and his delight at even the most unassuming street food stands, from Hanoi to Queens, made the whole world seem delicious and abundant. Here are the late chef's thoughts on our current president, per [Eater](: I’m open to sitting down with anyone who’s nice to me. I’ve sat down with everyone from Ted Nugent [to] the former chief of counter-intelligence for the KGB [to] Hezbollah — you know, people who I disagree with on many, if not every fundamental issue. I just find him personally objectionable. I don’t think he likes food, and from people I know who have had to endure dinner with him, if you enjoy sitting there listening to him talk about himself, you know, great—god bless you. And, you know, the man only eats steak well-done. And if he knows how to use chopsticks, much less [be] able to grasp them with those tiny little nubbins, I’d be shocked. Oh boy. Bourdain didn't know the half of it. Now, Trump deploys tear gas—[the white supremacist's favorite poison](—against his own people. Now, [demonstrations continue]( across the nation to protest the police violence and racism he has stoked. Now, his attorney general insists that [the cops aren't racist](, no siree. All that and more in today's newsletter. I'm going to go heat up the risotto I made last night from the recipe in Bourdain's Appetites. —Abigail Weinberg [UC Press]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [How Tear Gas Became the White Supremacist’s Favorite Poison]( A racist US general popularized tear gas for domestic use. A century later, it's being used exactly as he'd envisioned. BY ANNA FEIGENBAUM [Trending] [Massive crowds protest police violence.]( BY MOTHER JONES [Attorney General Barr says America's law enforcement system is not racist.]( BY EDWIN RIOS [A majority of Minneapolis councilmembers vowed to dismantle the city's police department.]( BY EDWIN RIOS [The "flatten the curve" chart was ugly and not exactly rigorous. Here's why it worked so well.]( BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [UC Press]( [Health & Environment] [Special Feature]( [Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On—Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic]( In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. BY LISA SONG [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [Shining a Light on Shady, Menacing, Unbadged Armed Forces]( If driving the news cycle and the broader media conversation about national security weren’t high-impact enough, you’ll be inspired to know that Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman did both and much more last week, when his [exclusive]( front-line dispatches and chilling photographs from the protests broke a defining story across America. Shady armed forces, without any badges or name tags, stood menacing watch over protesters in the nation’s capital. [Asked who they’re with](, they told Friedman opaquely “the Department of Justice” and “the federal government.” Citing Friedman’s [images]( and alert eye, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut announced, “We cannot tolerate an American secret police.” ([COINTELPRO, anyone?]() Murphy [pledged]( to introduce legislation that requires “uniformed federal officers…to clearly identify what military branch or agency they represent.” Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon [boosted]( Friedman’s work strongly: “This picture really troubles me. Armed forces in the nation’s capital, appearing to have been stripped of all badges and name tags—making them totally unaccountable to the people—is something I’d expect to see from a dictatorship, not a democracy.” [Newsrooms]( [everywhere]( shined a collective light on Friedman’s essential work, giving all of us at Mother Jones added indication of the strength across not only our newsroom, but national media, in the search for transparency and truth. I’ll take my Recharge where I can. For those of you who can join me, [consider supporting consequential reporting like Friedman’s](, and enter the week on a high note. And an even higher note, once you [feast your eyes]( on Tilda Swinton’s doppelganger in kitten form. H/T to my colleague [Nina Liss-Schultz]( for making Tilda happen. Note that I linked COINTELPRO above to Nat Hentoff’s [searing, definitive Village Voice essay “J. Edgar Bloomberg: COINTELPRO in NY,”]( from 2007, eerily echoing today. Read and share. And Friday was National Doughnut Day, which, to this copy editor, raises a timeless one: “doughnut” or “donut”? I’m pro-dough. Weigh in at recharge@motherjones.com. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755