New Outrage In Atlanta And L.A.; Taking High School Plays Online

Plus, a new report says trust in American institutions has been dropping for decades. by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson First Up [A man holds a candle during a vigil around a makeshift memorial at the tree where Robert Fuller was found dead hanging from a rope in Palmdale, Calif. Officials deemed Fuller's death a suicide, but his family wants an independent investigation.]( Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images Here's what we're following today. Los Angeles County residents are calling for a more thorough investigation of the death of a black man whose body was found hanging from a tree. Robert Fuller was found last Wednesday in Palmdale, Calif., a city roughly an hour north of Los Angeles. [Officials believe Fuller took his own life]( but his family and friends dispute this. Fuller’s death came 10 days after another black man was found hanging from a tree about 50 miles away in Victorville. Medical examiners in Atlanta say the death of Rayshard Brooks is a homicide. Bodycam video released by the Atlanta police department shows Brooks calmly and politely responding to police. Brooks, who is black, grabbed a taser from police and pointed it at an officer while running away. The officer who shot Brooks twice in the back has been fired. A second officer nearby has been placed on administrative duty. [Atlanta’s police chief has resigned](. House Democrats have introduced police reform legislation that bans chokeholds and no-knock warrants, among other measures. Republicans are poised to release their own legislation this week, led by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the Senate’s only black Republican. [It’s unclear what legislation President Trump will support](. Paul Whelan, the U.S. citizen who was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on charges of espionage, has been found guilty in a closed trial and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman quoted U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan as saying, "This secret trial in which no evidence was produced is an egregious violation of human rights and international legal norms." Sullivan has also criticized [the lack of access to Whelan by embassy staff](. A cluster of COVID-19 cases, linked to a seafood and produce market in Beijing, have sparked fears of a second wave of the virus. Chinese officials have hurriedly imposed [new lockdown procedures]( and are testing thousands of nearby residents after more than 120 people were newly diagnosed with the disease. Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman, who received blowback from some members of his party after officiating the same-sex wedding last year of former campaign volunteers, has lost the GOP nomination for his central Virginia seat. Riggleman lost to challenger Bob Good, a born-again evangelical Christian and former Liberty University official. Good had called Riggleman "[out of step with the base of the party]( on marriage, immigration and other issues. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listens Todd Davidson PTY LTD./Getty Images Talking to your parents and elders about racism can often lead nowhere, or even backfire. Ijeoma Oluo, the bestselling author of So You Want To Talk About Race, spoke to Life Kit about how to make that conversation less confrontational and more constructive. The tips are mostly geared toward people who are not black, but there are ideas for everyone to use. ([Listen here]( or [read the story]( Among the many losses this school year was the chance for students to shine on stage in the classic end-of-the-year theater production. Yet, teachers and students across the country turned misfortune into opportunity, creating memorable plays and performances that will live on — online. ([Listen here]( or [read the story]( Trust in American institutions has been dropping over the past few decades — long before the coronavirus pandemic, the economic fallout from trying to contain it and the recent protests over racial injustice. But it seems clear just from the scale of the most recent protests that many Americans feel powerless and don't have faith in politics and the increasingly polarized mass media. A new report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences addresses these failures and gives detailed suggestions on how to fix them. ([Listen here]( or [read the transcript]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go NPR - Alicia Keys [premiered her new song]( "Gramercy Park," and revisited a classic during her Tiny Desk performance. - A new, scrupulously reported biography of First Lady Melania Trump by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan, called The Art of Her Deal, argues that [the first lady is not a pawn]( but a player and a woman able to get what she wants. - Swarms of locusts are munching their way through the Horn of Africa, [laying waste to vast areas of cropland](. The U.N. warns the insects pose a threat to the livelihoods of some 10 percent of the world’s population. — Suzette Lohmeyer contributed to this report. --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow [The New Normal]( on Instagram! What do you think of today's email? 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