In Colorado, where demonstrators have also gathered to protest police violence, state representatives said there were shots fired outside the capitol. The state patrol ushered protestors inside for safety, according to a reporter for the Denver Post: The Republican National Committee has sent a letter to the governor of North Carolina, outlining the safety measures that need to be in place if the RNC were to go ahead with hosting its convention in Charlotte. The New York Times first reported on the letter, which asks governor Roy Cooper to set safety conditions and guidelines prior to the convention. “We do not have solid guidelines from the state and cannot in good faith ask thousands of visitors to begin paying deposits and making travel plans without knowing the full commitment of the governor,” the letter reads. RNC officials have asked Cooper to approve health checks and screenings for convention attendees, among other safety measures. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has declared a local emergency. A declaration from his office indicates that the city has requested assistance from the state, including the intervention of the National Guard, to help local authorities restore “safety and calm due to the civil disturbance”. The state’s governor Tim Walz has also declared a state of emergency in Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding areas. In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Demonstrators across the country are taking to the streets after George Floyd’s killing. Floyd’s family has called for murder charges against the officers involved in his arrest. But Michael Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney, said he didn’t want to discuss the investigation into Floyd’s death. During the news conference, a reporter asked Freeman: “I think people will be hard-pressed to understand how you can’t bring charges at least against the officer who had his knee on the neck.” Freeman replied: “It is a violation of my ethics to talk and evaluate evidence before we announce our charging decision. And I will not do that. I will say this, that video is graphic and horrific and terrible and no person should do that. But my job in the end is to prove he violated a criminal statute. And there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge. We need to wade through all of that evidence and come to a meaningful decision and we are doing that to the best of our ability.” The four Minneapolis officers involved in the killing of George Floyd were swiftly fired after footage of his death went viral.But that doesn’t mean they’re permanently losing their badges. Officers in the US are frequently rehired after their termination for misconduct, a problem that experts say increases the likelihood of abuse and killings by police. Despite the decision on Tuesday to fire the policeman who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, along with three other officers at the scene, it’s uncertain if the officers will face long-term repercussions. On the contrary, some civil rights advocates warn the men could ultimately avoid legal and financial consequences, continue working in other police departments or even win back their positions. That’s how policing works across America, researchers and activists said, and it’s a process that can drag victims’ families through years of court proceedings and media attention, with minimal relief at the end. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democratic senator of Nevada, announced that she is not interested in serving as Joe Biden’s running mate. Cortez Masto, who in 2016 became the first Latina elected to the Senate, was one of the women regarded as a contender in the 2020 veepstakes. Today, she announced she’s not interested in the job. “I support Joe Biden 100% and will work tirelessly to help get him elected this November. It is an honor to be considered as a potential running mate but I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration,” she said in a statement. She noted that Nevada’s economy was one of the hardest hit, and she wants to focus on helping her state recover. In 2016, Cortex Masto, 56, became the first Latina elected to the Senate. Here are some dispatches from the George Floyd protests in the Twin cities, from The Guardian’s Chris McGreal: Here’s the full text of Trump’s executive order. This bit is especially on-brand for Trump, and a bit unusual for a legal document: Twitter now selectively decides to place a warning label on certain tweets in a manner that clearly reflects political bias. As has been reported, Twitter seems never to have placed such a label on another politician’s tweet. As recently as last week, Representative Adam Schiff was continuing to mislead his followers by peddling the long-disproved Russian Collusion Hoax, and Twitter did not flag those tweets. Unsurprisingly, its officer in charge of so-called ‘Site Integrity’ has flaunted his political bias in his own tweets. In response to the president’s executive order, the US Chamber of Commerce issued a rather pointed statement: We believe that free speech and the right to engage in commerce are foundational to the American free enterprise system. Regardless of the circumstances that led up to this, this is not how public policy is made in the United States. An executive order cannot be properly used to change federal law.” The Trump administration is finalizing rules that will allow hunters in Alaska’s national preserves to shoot bears and wolves, and their cubs and pups, while they are in their dens. The National Park Service is reversing regulations written by the Barack Obama administration, which banned some of the much-criticized practices for hunting the predators, including luring bears with food like doughnuts. Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, called the rule change “amazingly cruel” and said it was “just the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America’s wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters”. The park service’s deputy director, David Vela, said the change would “more closely align hunting and trapping regulations with those established by the state of Alaska”. Here’s our tech reporter Julia Carrie Wong’s take on the Trump executive order aimed at regulating social media: The president’s executive order on social media will kick off a heated debate over free speech on the internet that will, in all likelihood, lead to nothing. This manufactured dispute is a distraction for the media, and it will almost certainly be an effective one. It would be in everyone’s interest – including its own – if Twitter pulled the plug on this specious debate, banned Trump for repeated and egregious violations of its rules, and helped us all focus on what’s more important. More than 100,000 people in the United States have died of Covid-19, more than any other nation in the world. The figure is probably an undercount. More than 1.7 million people in the US have had confirmed cases of Covid-19, more than any other nation in the world. The figure is almost certainly an undercount. The US federal government completely botched the rollout of testing for the coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic and continues to lag in providing adequate testing for its populace. Read her opinion column in its entirety: