Morning Reads: Two Police Officers Shot in Ferguson

Good morning!

On this date in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began the Dandi March, also known as the Salt March — a key event in the Indian independence movement. Gandhi walked for 24 days to reach the sea, where he made salt without paying the required tax to British colonial authorities. People joined him as he proceeded, and when he finally defied the British salt monopoly on April 6, millions of Indians would participate in acts of civil disobedience across the country.

Ferguson –> Continuing tensions in Ferguson, Missouri turned violent last night when two police officers were shot and wounded as they stood guard during the tail-end of a series of protests. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, their wounds are serious but not life-threatening. AND: Earlier in the day, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced his resignation — the latest in a series of departures that have followed the release of a DOJ report that found systemic racial discrimination in the city’s government.

Bipartisan agreement? Not. –> What began as a bipartisan bill to help victims of human trafficking — one that should have passed smoothly through the Senate — has become mired in controversy over several amendments. One would expand the scope of the “Hyde Amendment,” which bars the use of tax-dollars for abortion. According to Tara Culp-Ressler at ThinkProgress, critics note that trafficking victims “often need access to abortion services because they have been subject to sexual violence,” and charge Republicans with “playing politics with the vulnerable.” AND: Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) offered an amendment that would end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to those born in the US. (The bill would be unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny if passed.) Jordain Carney has more on that at The Hill.

Speaking of lawsuits –> The AP filed one against the State Department demanding that it make Hillary Clinton’s emails, and other documents, public. Julia Hattem reports for The Hill that the news agency filed the suit after multiple Freedom of Information Act requests had gone unfulfilled. AND: Joan Walsh writes for Salon that “emailgate” represents larger problems in Clinton’s all-but-announced campaign. “From the beginning,” writes Walsh, “the Clinton operation has been behind on this story, from its inadequate defense in the initial New York Times piece, which alleged she ‘may have’ broken an unnamed law, to the planning of the press conference Tuesday.”

Speaking of emails –> Justin Elliott reports for ProPublica that “previously undisclosed emails by a mortgage industry lobbyist” who also consulted with then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo “show the lobbyist played a self-described ‘critical role'” in Cuomo’s investigations into the causes of the financial crisis. The lobbyist, Howard Glaser, helped investigate lenders that included his own clients.

Unprecedented contempt –> McClatchy’s David Goldstein reports that the US Senate Historian’s Office has been “unable to find another example in the chamber’s history where one political party openly tried to deal with a foreign power against a presidential policy, as Republicans have attempted in their open letter to Iran this week.”

A marriage that wasn’t made in Heaven –> Boko Haram, Africa’s deadliest terror group, is forming an alliance with the Islamic State. But Armin Rosen reports for Business Insider that experts are “doubtful that these operational ties could really amount to much” beyond the symbolism.

Julian Assange –> Sweden’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the Wikileaks founder as he seeks to have charges of sexual assault dismissed. More details at The Local.

Climate scam –> The AP’s Dina Cappiello reports that “the industrial conglomerate run by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is refusing to provide Democratic lawmakers with information on whether it has paid for climate change research.” The probe follows revelations that Willie Soon, one of the more prominent “contrarian” climate scientists, had authored papers and testified before Congress in exchange for cash from the oil industry and groups linked to the Kochs.

No free-loaders –> A group of unions filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Wisconsin’s new “right-to-work” law, arguing that it represents an “unconstitutional taking of private property” without adequate compensation. Jessie Opoien has more at the Madison Capital-Times.

Quiz time! –> Over at MoJo, you can decide if a series of slogans originated in North Korean propaganda or TED Talks!

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