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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Georgia’s primary election devolved into an absolute mess on Tuesday, as voters and poll workers reported major problems with new voting machines and extremely long lines in a state that has struggled with overt voter suppression by the ruling Republican party for years.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump falsely accused the 75-year-old protester who was brutally injured by Buffalo, New York police of being a quote “Antifa provocateur,” further pushing the baseless conspiracy that blames widespread protests on far-left radicals.

And lastly, protesters in Seattle establish a quote “autonomous zone” on the city’s Capitol Hill, created when police abandoned their embattled East Precinct after days of demonstrations outlasted the cop’s brutal response.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Georgia Primary Mess

It was election day in Georgia on Tuesday, and across the state, people struggled to vote.

Georgia has a particularly troublesome history with voter suppression, and this election cycle was no different. Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, told the New York Times that she got 84 text messages complaining of voting problems just 10 minutes after the polls opened at 7 a.m.

The main problem this time around appears to be the voting machines, which appear to have failed on a widespread scale, as well as new delays caused by sanitizing the machines and social distancing, which led some in-person voters to wait six to seven hours. If you remember, this is the same state where Bryan Kemp won the race for Governor after leading widespread voter roll purges during his time as Georgia Secretary of State.

Kemp’s own Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, ostensibly mailed everyone in the state a vote-by-mail ballot, but some people said they didn’t get them, and were forced to vote in person. Raffensperge blamed the long lines and voting delays on poll workers not knowing how to operate the new machines. Shouldn’t it be his job to, you know, teach them?

The chaos is bad for Georgia’s primaries, which will set the ballot for a lot of consequential state house and national offices in November, but it’s even worse as an omen for how that election will go. Georgia is expected to be a battleground state between Trump and Biden in November, and it’s clear that the Republicans are already testing out the various suppression measures they’ll use to keep it from being a fair fight.

Case in point: many of the delays and issues were worst in the two counties that comprise metro Atlanta, which lean Democratic.

And it wasn’t just Georgia: voters in South Carolina’s primary yesterday also reported long lines at polling stations. This is definitely going to be a nationwide trend in November, and it’s important that we recognize what it looks like before it happens.

Trump Claims Elderly Pacifist is Antifa

Donald Trump sank to, well, not his lowest point of the current news cycle, but certainly a new depth on Monday, when he said that the 75-year-old man critically injured by Buffalo police during a protest was a quote “Antifa Provocteur.” endquote.

In reality, Martin Gugino is a long-time peace activist, who marched in the Buffalo Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrated for many other causes over the years. On Thursday night last week, Buffalo police shoved him to the ground so violently that he cracked his head on the concrete. He’s still in the hospital.

That didn’t stop Trump from tweeting on Tuesday that Gugino was connected to a conspiracy theory promoted by the president’s new favorite source, One America News Network, that alleged Antifa were trying to knock out police radios with scanner devices.

This obviously makes no sense whatsoever: Neighbors, friends, and fellow activists described Gugino as an inquisitive, gentle and friendly person who loved to attend speaking events at the local radical bookstore and was once asked to critique student presentations for an environmental studies class at the University at Buffalo.

Gugino is still in a delicate state in the hospital, as friends say he’s still in immense pain whenever he sees bright light or moves his head. He may not consider himself antifa, but it’s pretty clear that he’s not on the same side as the fascists that nearly killed him.

Seattle Protesters Set Up Autonomous Zone

Protesters in Seattle have won a victory of sorts, setting up a semi-autonomous zone outside of police control in the vicinity of the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct.

The cops abandoned the precinct on Monday, evacuating most of their supplies and reportedly moving in a mobile shredder unit to destroy documents.

The Seattle Police has been particularly brutal with protesters, waging battle with rubber bullets, flash bang grenades, pepper balls and massive amounts of tear gas night after night, despite elected officials’ promises to push them to de-escalate. But protesters have weathered it all, creating their own riot shields and steadfastly returning to the area around the precinct night after night to protest, according to Capitol Hill Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says that the police’s retreat from the East Precinct was a deliberate attempt to de-escalate the strategy, and protesters have filled the void of violence by creating a strange, peaceful autonomous zone in the blocks surrounding it.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Capitol Hill Seattle blog reported that the protesters have used abandoned police barricades to block off sections of the area to traffic, creating a twisting maze and setting up tents to keep themselves dry when it rains. Activists also reportedly planned to stay the night on Tuesday night.

The conservative rumor mill, however, is convinced that antifa means to burn down the precinct, whereas leftist protesters worry that right wing agitators or the cops themselves are going to try something to incite more blame.

Either way, it’s a fascinating development to how the protests are remaking urban spaces and challenging the police’s role and presence in our cities. Keep an eye on this story today to see how the autonomous zone shakes out.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The boutique fitness world is in turmoil as CrossFit’s CEO Greg Glassman stepped down on Tuesday after telling gym owners that quote “we’re not mourning for George Floyd.” His comments provoked many gyms, which pay money to the global CrossFit brand to use its trademarks, to separate themselves from the system.

Vincent D’Andraia, the NYPD officer who was captured on video violently shoving a young woman to the ground, has been arrested and charged with assault. New York prosecutors are considering bringing misconduct or criminal charges against as many as 40 other NYPD officers in connection to their behavior at the protests.

The U.S. may be slowly reopening, but around the world the coronavirus is on the rise, particularly in Latin America, where many countries are being pushed to the brink by rising cases. On Sunday, new cases reached a global high at 136,000, mostly in that region and parts of South Asia.

And finally, remember Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, the so-called Democrat running against AOC in the primary for her seat in Congress? You know, the one who criticized AOC for living in a quote “luxury apartment” in DC? Turns out, she has a $40 million investment portfolio. AOC was a bartender until 2018, so it seems like Caruso-Cabrera probably shouldn’t try to pull the working-class card on here there.

That’s it for the Majority Report’s AM Quickie today. Stay tuned for the full show from Sam this afternoon!

June 10, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn