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For Immediate Release
August, 26 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
AIUSA media office,Email:,media@aiusa.org,Phone: 202-544-0200 x302
Amnesty International USA Statement on Shooting in Kenosha, WI During Protests Resulting in 2 Dead and One Injured
Following reports indicating that two protestors were killed and one was injured during protests in Kenosha, WI, Amnesty International USA released the following statement from End Gun Violence campaign manager, Ernest Coverson. The protests come after local police shot and severely injured Jacob Blake as he tried to get into his car.
NEW YORK
Following reports indicating that two protestors were killed and one was injured during protests in Kenosha, WI, Amnesty International USA released the following statement from End Gun Violence campaign manager, Ernest Coverson. The protests come after local police shot and severely injured Jacob Blake as he tried to get into his car.
"Once more, we are witnessing why it is crucial for the United States to protect the rights of protestors who are exercising their right to hold peaceful public assemblies and to end gun violence. Simply put, it is the duty of law enforcement officers to protect those who've gathered to protest. While Wisconsin is an open carry state, law enforcement officers should ensure that armed private individuals are not endangering public safety or targeting peaceful protestors.
"Law enforcement officers in Wisconsin and all over the U.S. have expressed concern over open carry laws in the past, as these policies escalate violence and endanger police and the public. The only requirement to openly carry a loaded firearm in Wisconsin is that the individual be 18 years old--no permit is needed. Two people are dead and one injured because an armed private individual--who did not even need a permit to carry his loaded gun--decided to target them. Open carry laws, especially where no permit is required to carry, endanger the public and should be repealed. The U.S. is failing to protect people's right to live and to protest safely.
"With the Black Lives Matter movement growing into the largest social justice movement in the country's history, it is more important than ever for law enforcement officers to dedicate themselves to ensuring that everyone can have their voices heard without losing their lives or being harmed."
Last month, AIUSA released a report in an effort to ensure that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies comply with recommended best practices for policing protests.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
Wanted War Criminal and 'Genocide Architect' Netanyahu Joins Trump Board of Peace
"For Palestinians, the appointment of Benjamin Netanyahu to the 'Board of Peace' is not just shocking but deeply offensive—he is seen by many as the mastermind of the genocide."
Jan 21, 2026
With Palestinians in Gaza still under assault, searching the rubble for loved ones, and burying those newly killed by Israel's military, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Wednesday to join US President Donald Trump's so-called "Board of Peace," a move critics said further discredits a project that has widely been seen as farcical and potentially dangerous from the start.
The office of the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, said in a statement that Netanyahu "accepts the invitation of US President Donald Trump and will become a member of the Board of Peace, which is to be comprised of world leaders."
Trump first announced plans for the Board of Peace last year, and the United Nations Security Council officially welcomed the body's creation in a resolution passed in November—even as critics warned the board could undermine the UN.
The Security Council resolution endorsed the board as a "transitional administration with international legal personality that will set the framework, and coordinate funding for, the redevelopment of Gaza," but its actual scope and ambition—as laid out by the Trump administration—appears much broader.
"Trump would serve as the board’s chair and US representative, overseeing a group of countries that he nominates for three-year terms," the International Crisis Group explained. "At least 60 countries, including the Security Council’s other permanent members, have received an invitation to join. Any member could buy a permanent seat in exchange for a $1 billion investment."
Egypt, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, the United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Morocco, and Hungary are among the other nations that have accepted Trump's invitation to join the board.
But several US allies—including France, Norway, and Sweden—have rejected the US president's invite. French officials reportedly expressed concern that the board's charter extends beyond pursuing a resolution in the Gaza Strip and "raises major questions, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which under no circumstances can be called into question."
"How can someone accused of these crimes be branded a peacemaker? The population is still burying its dead—this is impunity dressed up as diplomacy."
Observers were quick to denounce the addition of Netanyahu to a body whose purported aim is peace.
"The genocide architect and International Criminal Court fugitive who has been planning and promising the depopulation of Gaza is now officially part of the 'Board of Peace,'" wrote political scientist Nicola Perugini.
Adil Haque, a law professor at Rutgers University, called Netanyahu's membership "the worst-case scenario when the UN Security Council authorized this travesty."
"Sickening," Haque added.
News of Netanyahu's decision to join Trump's Board of Peace came as Israel launched deadly new attacks on Gaza. Reuters reported that "Israeli fire killed 11 Palestinians, including two boys and three journalists, in Gaza on Wednesday, local medics said."
Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Gaza City, wrote Wednesday that "for Palestinians, the appointment of Benjamin Netanyahu to the 'Board of Peace' is not just shocking but deeply offensive—he is seen by many as the mastermind of the genocide."
"He is viewed as responsible for mass killings, displacement, and the destruction of civilian life," Abu Azzoum added. "From that perspective, how can someone accused of these crimes be branded a peacemaker? The population is still burying its dead—this is impunity dressed up as diplomacy."
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'No One Else Has It,' Claims Trump When Asked About 'Secret Sonic Weapon' Used in Venezuela
"We have weapons that no one knows about," claimed the US president. "It's probably better not to talk about it, but we have amazing weapons."
Jan 21, 2026
President Donald Trump, a documented liar, appeared to confirm in a televised interview that aired Tuesday night that the US military deployed a "secret sonic weapon" against Venezuelan and Cuban soldiers during the Jan. 3 raid in Caracas that killed scores of people, including civilians.
Asked about the existence or use of such a "sonic weapon" by NewsNation's Katie Pavlich—and whether Americans should be concerned about it—Trump responded, "No one else has it. We have weapons that no one knows about. It's probably better not to talk about it, but we have amazing weapons. It was an amazing attack."
Question: There was sonic weapon that took out many of the Cuban bodyguards that were used…Is that something Americans should be afraid of?
Trump: It’s something I don’t wanna—nobody else has it. pic.twitter.com/hb0VP6yoXD
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2026
This is not the first time the White House has hinted at the idea that such a weapon was used in the assault on Venezuela—an operation which resulted in the unlawful kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
On Jan. 10, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared an English-language translation of a purported interview with a Venezuelan "security guard loyal to Maduro," who described the night of the assault by US forces.
In the interview, the veracity of which cannot be independently verified and reeked to some as a clear example of US-generated propaganda or counterintelligence, the guard described "a massacre" by US personnel who, he said, "launched something—I don't know how to describe it... it was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move."
It's no secret that the US military has been developing sonic weapons, which can use sound waves or focused microwaves to cause pain or discomfort to those targeted. Such "directed energy weapons" have been referred to simply as "pain rays," but go by various names, depending on the technology being used.
According to a detailed look at the US military's development and use of such weapons and the speculation surrounding the Venezuela assault, TWZ's Joseph Trevithick reports that it "should be reiterated that there is currently no evidence to substantiate the claim that the US military used a 'sonic weapon' during Operation Absolute Resolve. At the same time, this is hardly the first time American forces are alleged to have employed mysterious, less-than-lethal, and/or non-kinetic capabilities."
However, the outlet noted, "if any unit would have an exotic directed energy weapon used to disable adversaries during an assault, it would be Delta Force," the special forces branch that led the attack on Maduro's compound.
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US Union Leader Tells Davos Elites 'You're Gonna Have a Revolution' If AI Wipes Out Jobs
The president of the AFL-CIO warned of a large-scale revolt if corporate leaders use artificial intelligence to "put people out on the street with no path forward."
Jan 21, 2026
The leader of the AFL-CIO, the largest union federation in the United States, told elites and others gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday that rapid advances in artificial intelligence risk turbocharging the worst inequities of the existing economic order, displacing workers en masse while enriching those at the very top.
Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIO's president, said during a panel discussion that if the billionaires and corporate titans currently directing AI developments are "looking to just deskill, dehumanize, replace workers" and "put people out on the street with no path forward—then absolutely you’re gonna have a revolution."
The economy in the US and around the world "isn't working for working people now," Shuler noted, citing unprecedented levels of inequality, workers being forced to take on multiple jobs to make ends meet, and widespread economic instability.
“Now, put AI on top of that," she continued. "The insecurity that we’re all experiencing—the fact that people are waking up and some new technology is landing on them in their jobs, without training, without them having a say. Of course they’re going to be anxious, of course they're going to be feeling insecure about what the future holds."
“I think we really need to stop, and say: ‘Who are we doing this for, what are the results we want, and how we get there?’" said Shuler. "We get there by including workers in the process."
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that roughly 40% of global employment is "exposed to AI." In advanced economies, according to the analysis, around 60% of jobs could be impacted by AI, either positively or negatively—with some jobs expected to disappear entirely.
Multinational corporate behemoths such as Amazon are actively planning to replace many of their workers with robots, efforts that have sparked the kinds of dire warnings that Shuler expressed at Davos, where AI is a centerpiece of this year's gathering.
In a letter to Amazon's billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos, late last year, US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked, "Are you going to simply dump these workers out on the street, or will you treat them with the dignity they deserve?"
"If Amazon succeeds on its massive automation plan," Sanders warned, "it will have a profound impact on blue-collar workers throughout America and will likely be used as a model by large corporations throughout America, including Walmart and UPS, to displace tens of millions of jobs.”
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