The Land of the Free: American Political Roleplay (IC III)

[Deblar]

Hugo Fitzgerald
May 30th

Having completed a meeting with African-American community leaders, Hugo sat in his mayoral office in Pasadena City Hall. As he had predicted, there had been protests that had remained peaceful concentrated near the center of town, with police supervising. He had remained alert if anything unplanned happened.

[Louisianan]

Linda Lazare
@LLazareTX

---

I trust Mayor Harold Baines to keep the peace in Houston and the Greater Houston Area. I encourage peaceful protesting, and since I'm back in Texas, I will be attending any peaceful protests that spring up near me. #BlackLivesMatter #BLM

[Deblar]

(Image)
Linda Lazare
@LLazareTX

---

I trust Mayor Harold Baines to keep the peace in Houston and the Greater Houston Area. I encourage peaceful protesting, and since I'm back in Texas, I will be attending any peaceful protests that spring up near me. #BlackLivesMatter #BLM

Liked and retweeted by @HugoFitzgeraldTX

[Emazia]

Actions for the 30th of May 2020

Baxton: reach out to the suburbs, take a moderate line and openly disavow Burgun and Gaspard's comments, calling himself a "reasonable conservative" and emphasising his bipartisan record, along with expressing condolences for Ward's death.

Porter: Talk in many cities with a large minority of black people in the South, but are still largely white, and take a hard stance against looting, rioting and the 'degradation of social order.', charging out against rioters and calling for "peaceful counter-protest" against those who want to defund the police and enforce communism in America. He will also speak loudly on his radio show, hoping to attract more and new viewers to listen in across the country, expanding operations to take advantage of the times, plus accompanying populist candidates for Senate, Governor and House across the nation.

Goldman: In her capacity as Acting Senate Minority Whip, she will ensure votes for the policing bill from conservative Democrats primarily, hoping to use her credibility among them to sway them on the issue, working to negotiate and try and manouever around their demands for the greater good of the party.

Vohoffsky: Express solidarity, call for an investigation and due process, but avoid any form of race angle. Support the right of protesting and freedom of speech from a libertarian perspective, and condemn Burgun and Gaspard as lunatics.

Berkowitz: Control media strategy for the American Patriotic Front and its organs. He will echo Porter's rhetoric, along with mobilising activist groups on the right to lead counter-protests backing the blue, decrying any and all attempts to defund the police, and generally continue to inflame and build anger, particularly in states where Porterite primary challengers are fighting Republican incumbents. He will also reach out to groups supporting the police and manage the narrative on the Republican Sentinel and the American Standard, printing out actions and instructions to grassroots activists and forming networks to cooperate and coordinate on the former, and salacious clickbaiting designed to build further aggression, increase revenues at a time of national anger and quietly further the agenda of the APF.

Hayes: Join Simone in her attempt to reduce tensions in New York City, along with hearing out community leaders and generally just listening around. He will also use his lobbying connections to help racial justice groups, and ensure that they have good fundraising and lobbying efforts.

[Dentali]

(Image)
The Associated Press
@AP

---

BREAKING: Former President Rashid Baharia has released a statement on ongoing events, calling the murder of Marlon Ward a "terrible tragedy" and urging restraint, saying that Black Americans who are suffering should "hold to the words of Dr. King" and "exercise their right to protest peacefully". Says Marlon Ward could have been "any one of us" and that his death must "stir change".

Liked and retweeted by all dem characters

[The Orion Islands]

On May 30th, Everitt Colbert flew back to Salt Lake City to keep an eye on the situation. Salt Lake was a major American city, things could get ugly. He wanted to see if he could help keep Salt Lake calm.

Governor Chambers was leading the relocation of the state government to Grand Island. Before he left Lincoln, he ordered the Nebraska National Guard to use any reasonable non lethal force to secure key buildings in Lincoln, such as the State Capitol, Governor's Mansion, Lincoln Airport, Federal buildings, the University, the Hospitals, and Memorial Stadium. Cordons were set up all around those buildings. The Governor felt kind of bad for leaving Lincoln. However, the riots were expected to be bad, with the capitol's location in downtown not helping. Grand Island offered virtually zero chance of riots happening. He needed not to have to defend the actual government from an armed attack.

[Vaquas]

---

May 30, 2020
Various Locations
Various Characters

---

Senator Greg Kost (R-FL): In St. Petersburg, Florida, the head of the Kost household was engaged in a heated argument with his son, the latter's bedroom glowing with shifting LED's and serving as the location for the conflict. "Your tweeting is reflecting poorly on me son is the point, I'm a United States Senator for God's sake, you can't just say whatever you want!" the politician exclaimed, frustration heavy in his voice. The younger Kost was throwing together a small bag of things, on his way out in a black T-Shirt and jeans to a local protest. "Fuck you dad. You don't give a shit about anything but your job, you could care less if people are being shot down in the street, you and Nate Richardson both are bootlickers!" he exclaimed, pushing past his father and heading for the front door. "Don't fucking speak to me like that!" Kost yelled after him. "If you walk out that door you're in a heap of shit do you understand that?" The younger Kost lifted up a middle finger as he charged out the front anyways. Kost sighed and threw his hands up, silently recognizing the futility of his threats. He walked into his kitchen, and went for the chocolate cake in the fridge.

---

Mayor Nereida Halloway (D-DC): Meeting protestors on the street with several of the civil rights leaders, Nereida found herself in the midst of a friendly crowd, which cheered when they realized she was in their midst. She took the opportunity to speak. "For too long we've been pushed down into the dirt and denied change, and tonight we're going to keep moving to make that change finally happen. I am proud to join you as your mayor in peacefully making it clear that BLACK LIVES MATTER, and we're not gonna be quiet about it!" cheers erupted from those surrounding her and the crowd moved forwards, the White House their inevitable destination.

---

Fmr. Secretary Lawrence Bellman (D-LA): In New Orleans, the former Secretary of Energy talked to a group of black church leaders. "-which is why I say that now we are more important then ever, as people of faith. We must appeal to the hearts and souls of those who are unsteady right now, who are hurting. I will be glad to help you hold your vigil." Bellman agreed. While he would not participate in any marches today, he would say a few words at a local gathering and join them in prayer in the face of another soul unnecessarily lost.

---

Rep. Dan Ziegler (D-CO-01): Sitting in his Colorado estate, a thin white line disappeared up Dan Ziegler's nose as he perused various betting markets and listened to K-pop. He was completely detached from today's events, but kept a comically large red phone on his desk in the event the Speaker called.

---

Rep. John Garfield III (D-MI-09) Meeting with black community leaders in Detroit to hear their concerns, Congressman Garfield felt out of his depth. His wife beside him, he marched alongside the city's Mayor, participating in a peaceful protest in the city and looking to meet up with James Moore. His personal feelings on the subject at hand were mixed, his heart hanging on that video and his brain hanging on his wife's advice to stay home.

---

Suzette Seidel (R-MO-06): Former Trooper Seidel made sure for the second time that her AR-15 was loaded and ready to go, feeling it over in her hands and sitting on her couch. She had seen what happened in the aftermath of Ferugson and she wasn't taking any chances with hoodlums roaming the streets. She looked over at the birdcage. "Robert, you'll be the last line of the defense if they break in." she joked, her Blue McCaw screeching back an almost intelligible sentence with at least 1 very heavy expletive. While she figured the seemingly very small protest downtown was unlikely to affect her much due to a lack of proper planning by the rioters, they could always receive outside reinforcements and come for her as a result of her political views. She moved her gaze to the tv and watched as protests fired up in New York and other places, and felt bad for the poor sons of bitches who willingly lived there.

---

Cynthia Rogers-Gonzalez (D-TX): The Texas Democrat, visiting a group of small businesses in her district and making sure the cameras got her talking about making sure no property was damaged, then returned home and kept her eye on her phone, her date for tonight having been canceled. She sighed as she considered the effect a renewed focus on racial issues might have in her race, moving to watch Netflix and selecting Greys Anatomy to distract her.

---

Senator Arthur Bragg (R-WI): Having been recently tapped by the President to head the Department of Justice, Senator Bragg sat at his apartment in Washington and ordered Chinese food, debating if he should do anything else before he saw a large crowd coming down the street, clearly visible from his window. Looking down and examining the multiracial, multigenerational crowd, Bragg had a private thought, and then returned to examining some documents.

[Dentali]

Saturday, May 30th, 2020

Nate Richardson
Returns to North Carolina to aid Governor Rowan, making calls to his various connections to community and faith leaders to urge calm.


James Moore
Dispatching his family to meet with activists, faith leaders and known potential troublemakers, encouraging them to curb any potential violence. James is personally in the streets, highly visible meeting families and various assembling groups, making impromptu addresses about the death and making sure organizers were dispatched to various protests to teach people how to protest appropriate and how to isolate troublemakers.


Andrew Gardner
Using his connections in the African American community and working with local leadership in and around Atlanta to try and calm things down.


Benjamin Montgomery
In Sacramento coordinating activists and law enforcement, potentially national guard units, and speaking with community leaders in person or on the phone asking them to be active in their communities to keep things calm in the coming days.

[New Cobastheia]

May 30, 2020, You Know the Drill

Representative Kathleen Nez (D-AZ): Kathleen marched alongside her fellow protestors and activists in Downtown Phoenix to the chants of "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe," and "Say Their Names." It was nothing new to her, as far as she was concerned she's been protesting for racial justice since her childhood, even then, if you wanted to get technical, she attended a few rallies while she was just a fetus. But of course, she didn't spend the whole day on the streets given that she was more than just an activist at this point, making sure to meet with leaders from the various communities of color that made up Phoenix given her duties as a Congresswoman.

Former First Lady Eliza LeBlanc Wolf (R-ME): Eliza spent the day at the Wolf Homestead in Standish, spending most of the day either drunk, high, or somewhere in between. A final campaign event had been scheduled for her to announce her dropping out, but it was ultimately canceled given the protests going on in Lewiston, instead, she had the campaign manager post a tweet on Eliza's account early on in the day to announce the news. Eliza herself had thought about calling up the family of Marlon Ward to offer her condolences but decided against it after airing the idea out with a few, now former, campaign staffers given the optics of her marriage.

Representative Chip Renfus (R-MS): Chip spent the day in his Gulfport office, meeting with constituents and making a few last-minute calls to some of his fellow Mississippi Republicans in anticipation of the announcement he'd be making on June 1st. Throughout the day, thoughts of his mistress and the daughter he had with her kept on popping up with a mix of worry and anxiety for the both of them. It was the same kind of worry that he felt the first time she told him that one day she'd need to give their daughter the talk and the same kind of anxiety he felt for the both of them every time something like this happens.

[Sanabel]

Miami Herald
@MiamiHerald

---

“Governor Velez issued a press release today saying his ‘prayers are with the Ward family.’ He has also stated that he supports ‘peaceful demonstrations,’ and that he intends to ‘take executive action to protect Black life,” namely a review of arrest, detainment, and use-of-force policies for state law enforcement agencies with the intention of changing what is permissible for officers to use.

Miami Herald
@MiamiHerald

---

“Governor Velez also has stated he intends to use discretionary funding to create a mandatory body-camera program for state law enforcement, and re-affirmed his previous order for the state not to prosecute nonviolent marijuana related offenses. He finished the press release by saying he intends to attend a Black Lives Matter March in his home county of Pinelas.”

[Sanabel]

Governor Rowan
@NCGov

---

“The State of North Carolina is aware of numerous demonstrations planned in the wake of the death of Marlon Ward. The NC National Guard stands ready to maintain law and order if necessary. Protests must remain PEACEFUL!”

[Vaquas]

CNN
@CNN

---

Story: As darkness begins to fall across the nation, protests over the Death of Marlon Ward only continue to grow, with most major cities and several smaller ones seeing large scale demonstrations.

[Vaquas]

Fox News
@FoxNews

---

JUST IN: PROTESTORS CLASH WITH POLICE NEAR WICHITA POLICE STATION

[Vaquas]

The Associated Press
@AP

---

BREAKING: CLASHES BETWEEN POLICE, PROTESTORS UNDERWAY IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

[Vaquas]

The Seattle Times
@SeattleTimes

---

A fire has been reported in Cal Anderson park in Seattle close to SPD's East Precinct. Numerous protests are underway following the death of Marlon Ward.

[Vaquas]

Reuters
@Reuters

---

VIDEO: Reuters reporter Daniel Jones is seen being assaulted by a Fargo, North Dakota police officer in the course of covering a protest there, being hit multiple times with a baton despite repeated attempts to identify himself as a journalist. Jones is heard groaning in pain and is only left alone after he falls to the ground.

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

---

May 30, 2020
Various Locations
Various Characters

---

Congressman Cassius Parker (D-GA-4): The elder man had left the meeting on Capitol Hill full of vigor and anger. His staffers had been given a day off to rest, protest, or whatever else they needed to get through this turbulent time. Now was not the moment he expected them to do work when so much was at stake outside of the halls of Congress. As for himself, Casey booked a flight to Atlanta and after giving a few brief remarks to the press in the airport, he was picked up by Cynthia and his eldest daughter. They ate a quick meal at a small place in Union City before returning the protests in the city proper. There, they would march alongside community activists while Parker urged calm and peace. His swath of friends, allies, and admirers stood true to his words and Casey sought to highly publicize these protests, calling them "a sign that Dr. King's nonviolent protests can endure but hatred should not". His strength and might kept those around him restrained, at least for now.

---

Candidate Martin Spellman (D-OR): Marty was right in the middle of the marchers and protests, a backpack gripping his shoulders as he shouted with the others. "BLACK LIVES MATTER" echoed from his lungs, his wife alongside him. Their campaign was in the far back of the protest, offering food and water to those who wanted while their own backpacks came with bottles of water to offer to those in the front. There was energy in Portland to campaign and there was a sense that right now, change could happen. Signs were everywhere and while a few journalists would try to interview Spellman, he shook his head now. "This isn't about me, its about being black in America. So if you want a story, talk to the many, many black Americans protesting here right now. That's the story that should be published right." he would repeat, as both the Spellman's would keep up their march through the night.

---

Vice President Vandel Diehl (D-ND): The man had spoken with President Baharia a few hours before, issuing a similar statement in the same vein as his former partner. But with no home in North Dakota, the elder Diehl's had been staying with family friends near Chicago. But for now, the pair decided to remain quiet even as they saw horrific scenes of police and protesters violence on their TV. It was clear that the death of Ward had awakened a new fervor and anger among the country. Vinnie himself was at a loss in what to do, only feeling able to just watch as the entire scenario unfolded.

---

Congressman Mac Faulhaber (D-TN-9): Memphis was erupting in protests and while the mayor of Memphis and black religious leaders were urging calm, the scene seemed close to erupting. Mac had bandages over his head, arriving to join in with a few marchers while also urging calm. It was a complex situation and completely out of his depth. Instead, he simply offered his staff, offices, and resources to the black leadership in the city. They could do the work right now, the city would listen to them. Posturing would do no one good though he slowly began to craft a few possible legislative options, hoping to send them to the Speaker. Most of them were ideas and comments made by the black community in Memphis as well as protestors, in a way truly fulfilling the Congressman's role of listening to his people as he always had, even if he could not relate to their ongoing plight.

[Vaquas]

The Huffington Post
@HuffPo

---

VIDEO: Protesters are seen talking to the Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida as well as the Chief of Tallahassee police, both individuals expressing a desire to meet the protestors where they are and come to greater understanding. The conversation is amicable and uplifting.

[Vaquas]

Fox News
@FoxNews

---

UPDATE: CLASHES ESCALATE NEAR WICHITA POLICE STATION, INJURIES REPORTED

[Vaquas]

The Associated Press
@AP

---

BREAKING: TEAR GAS DEPLOYED AGAINST PROTESTORS IN DOWNTOWN LITTLE ROCK

[Vaquas]

Fox News
@FoxNews

---

JUST IN: WIDESPREAD LOOTING REPORTED IN DALLAS, TEXAS

[Alozia]

Reverend Gabriel Abel Bennett Jr.
Arkansas State Capitol, Little Rock, Arkansas
May 30, 2020

As his discussions with other protesters continued, Gabriel could tell that the situation was becoming more tense with every passing minute. A line of police officers and members of the Arkansas National Guard held the line against a growing crowd of citizens demanding justice for Marlon Ward, increasingly more willing to take issue with the behavior of any of the men and women standing in front of the capitol. Bennett's anxieties would soon be proven right, with tempers escalating to the point of violence. Gabriel didn't see who fired the "first shot" or threw the first punch, but he witnessed what followed next. The law enforcement quickly began to deploy tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse what they perceived to be a violent crowd, with Reverend being within the range of chaos that followed. He began to organize his group to safely retreat to safety, all the while having to dodge other people. He wasn't at the very front of the protest, partially because of his group's late arrival and partially due to his concerns, but Bennett could tell that the law enforcement would catch up with his group at this rate.

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

Torrie Volker
@TheOtherVolker

---

Dallas is ascending into chaos as violent protestors are destroying their very own city. I cannot fathom the recklessness of community leaders to allow their own businesses and homes to be rocked with violence, for children and families to be put in danger, all because some protestors value fighting ahead of allowing the law to proceed. Disgusting.

[Kargintinia]

Christina Mudale @mudCOV These violent protestors are dishonoring the memory of Marlon Ward. Governor Lee must deploy the National Guard now! LAW AND ORDER!

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

Karen Brookshire
@BrookshireGal

---

LOOTERS ARE ROBBING SMALL BUSINESSES IN DALLAS! Even destroying BLACK-OWNED businesses! This is not just terrible, its moronic and revolting! These aren't protesters anymore, these are opportunities looking to STEAL and make a quick buck. The National Guard and police MUST RESTORE ORDER! Texas businesses and lives are on the line!