US president says 'silent majority is stronger than ever before' – as it happened

A source has told that ABC’s Briana K Stewart that Tiffany Crutcher, the sister of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man shot by police, was invited to speak with Mike Pence before this evening’s rally in Tulsa. Crutcher, who has become a prominent activist since her brother’s death, apparently turned down the invitation as she “did not want to be used as a photo-op when so little progress has been made on police reform and civil rights”.

Crutcher is also a descendant of survivors of the massacre of black people in Tulsa by a white mob in the early 20th-century.

Eric Trump has deleted an Instagram post which contained a graphic from QAnon, a conspiracy theory that states a powerful group of paedophiles control the world (although, at least, they are not secretly lizards). The theory is popular among some Trump supporters and the ADL calls it “a dangerous theory that has inspired violent acts”.

Public health officials in Oklahoma have expressed concern about tonight’s rally as cases of Covid-19 in the state rise. There has not been an order for those attending the rally to wear facemasks, and Oliver Laughland on the ground (don’t worry, he’s wearing one), says most people he has seen are not wearing face coverings.

Donald Trump has spoken to reporters as he leaves for tonight’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable,” he said. “The crowds are unbelievable. They haven’t seen anything like it. We will go there now. We’ll give a hopefully good speech, see a lot of great people, a lot of great friends.”

He was also asked about the firing of Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney behind inquiries into the president’s allies. “That’s all up to the attorney general. Attorney General Barr is working on that,” said Trump, even though Barr said it was the president who ultimately fired Berman. “That’s his department, not my department. But we have a very capable attorney general, so that’s really up to him. I’m not involved.”

Trump also said his former national security adviser, John Bolton, has a “big problem” after a judge declined to block his tell-all book on the president’s administration.

Trump said the judge was “very powerful in his statements on classified information and very powerful also on the fact that the country will get the money – any money he makes. So I hope a lot of books – uh, well, I probably shouldn’t hope that but whatever he makes, he’s going to be giving back.

“I think the judge was very smart and very indignant at what Bolton did. It was a great ruling. Obviously, the book was already out. It leaked and everything else. But he leaked classified information so he’s got a big problem.”

20 Jun 202016.47 EDT

Lois Beckett

As Trump supporters gather for the campaign rally in Tulsa tonight, Oklahoma has reported 331 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the state’s total to more than 10,000.

While Oklahoma is far from having the most coronavirus cases or deaths nationwide, the recent increase puts it among more than a dozen states moving in a troubling direction, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Tulsa itself saw 136 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, as the daily growth in confirmed cases in Tulsa has continued to hit new records each day.

The number of new cases confirmed daily across Oklahoma has also risen sharply in the past week. The state has seen nearly 2,000 new confirmed cases since 13 June.

As coronavirus cases grew in Tulsa, which announced a then-record high of 96 new daily cases on Wednesday, the city’s public health director said publicly that he hoped the Trump rally would be postponed.

“I think it’s an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic,” Dr Bruce Dart said, according to the Tulsa World. “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”

Only one additional coronavirus death was reported in Oklahoma on Saturday, pushing the state’s total to 368.

Across the United States, there were 29,909 new confirmed coronavirus cases, and 678 new deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data cited by Oklahoma’s public health department.

Washington, a team not exactly known for their racial progress (they were the last NFL team to integrate and then there is their ... problematic nickname), have announced they will retire the number of their first black player, Bobby Mitchell. The Hall of Famer died in April aged 84.

“Bobby was our Jackie Robinson,” said Brig Owens, a teammate of Mitchell. “He had to handle the pressure of being the first African American football player to integrate [the team]. He, like Jackie, was a military officer headquartered in the DC area when he received notice of his trade.

“In the face of great adversity, he served as a role model for the Washington DC community, the team, its fan base and the NFL. ... He was more than an exceptional football player and athlete, he was an exceptional human being. He was like a brother to me.”

The announcement came a day after a statue of the team’s former owner, George Preston Marshall, was removed from outside their former home, RFK Stadium. Marshall only integrated the team after outside pressure.

20 Jun 202016.20 EDT

Donald Trump fires attorney behind inquiries into his allies

Martin Pengelly

The US attorney general, William Barr, said on Saturday Donald Trump had fired Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the southern district of New York who has overseen investigations and prosecutions of key Trump allies including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen.

Berman earlier refused to confirm his resignation from the prestigious role, despite Barr announcing it on Friday night.

In a statement on Saturday, Barr said: “Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the president to remove you as of today, and he has done so.”

Barr said Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss, would become the acting US attorney.

Leaving the White House for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump told reporters Barr was in charge of the issue and said: “I’m not involved.”

Barr had been widely accused of undermining Department of Justice independence even before he moved against Berman.

In a surprise statement released on Friday night, the attorney general said Trump intended to nominate Jay Clayton – chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission but with little experience as a federal prosecutor – as US attorney. The US attorney in New Jersey, Craig Carpenito, would be acting US attorney until Clayton could be confirmed by the Senate.

But Berman said he had not known of the move until Barr’s statement.

“I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate,” he said. “Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.

“I cherish every day that I work with the men and women of this office to pursue justice without fear or favor – and intend to ensure that this office’s important cases continue unimpeded.”

You can read the full story below:

The Jacksonville sheriff, Mike Williams, has described as “extremely disturbing” an incident in which a mannequin dressed in a police uniform and wearing a pig mask was hung from an overpass. He called called it an attempt to create “anti-police sentiment and drive a divide in our community”.

The mannequin was removed early on Saturday morning and an investigation is underway. “This type of act will not be tolerated by our agency or our community, and we will work together to hold those responsible accountable,” Williams said. Authorities had initially been called to what observers thought was a suicide.

Here’s a bit more on the Bikers for Trump. Oliver Laughland spoke to two members of the group, who are currently in Tulsa.

Josh Cupps, 34, from Wagoner, Oklahoma, said it was the first time he had been to a Trump rally and said he was here “to keep the protesters at bay”. Asked why he felt the need to patrol the area when there is a strong police and national guard presence, Cupps, who is armed, said that “they had heavy police presence in every other state [the protesters] are tearing up, and they’re not burning Oklahoma down”. To people who suggest that turning up armed to a rally is inflaming tensions, Cupps said those people “needed to grow balls, our forefathers would be ashamed”.

Cupps added that he believed there were enough police in Tulsa to control the crowds but “they could be outnumbered real quick, you just don’t know”.

Our southern bureau chief, Oliver Laughland, is on the ground in Oklahoma. A spokesman for Bikers For Trump, tells him 50 members of the group are in the city to “protect the rally” from “antifa”. Many of the bikers are armed. Police and national guard are already guarding the area. There have also been reports of arrests at counter-protests nearby. It looks like it’s going to be a long, hot afternoon.