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WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, setting him up for a bruising challenge to President Donald Trump that will play out against the unprecedented backdrop of a pandemic, economic collapse and civil unrest. The former vice president has effectively been his party’s leader since his last challenger in the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign in April. But Biden pulled together the 1,991 delegates needed to become the nominee after seven states and the District of Columbia held presidential primaries Tuesday. Biden reached the threshold three days after the primaries because several states, overwhelmed by huge increases in mail ballots, took days to tabulate results.
UNDATED (AP) — Rev. Al Sharpton said the Washington rally he announced this week was being planned for Aug. 28, the anniversary of the day MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Sharpton said the August event would be a way of maintaining momentum as the legal process against the men charged in Floyd’s death is underway. “You can’t let this peter out,” he said. "Otherwise you’ll end up in a year and people will go on to another story, and you will not have the public notice and pressure that you need.”
UNDATED (AP) — Facebook says it has removed nearly 200 social media accounts linked to white supremacy groups planning to rally members to show up at protests over police killings of black people _ in some cases with weapons. The Facebook and Instagram users were associated with the Proud Boys and American Guard, two racist groups already banned on Facebook. Facebook officials said Friday the platform was already planning to remove the accounts for violating its ban on hate groups but decided to act when the groups attempted to exploit the protests prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scores of retired military and defense leaders are denouncing President Donald Trump and accusing him of using the U.S. Armed Forces to undermine the rights of Americans protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The condemnation Friday came in an op-ed in The Washington Post, signed by 89 former defense officials, and in a letter in support of Democrat Joe Biden, signed by 55 retired military leaders. It comes days after law enforcement officers used tear gas and deployed flash bangs to disperse a peaceful protest near White House shortly before Trump walked to the area to pose with a Bible in front of a damaged church.
EATONTON, Ga. (AP) — A small plane has crashed in rural Georgia, killing all five on board, including four members of a Florida family who were traveling to a funeral in Indiana. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills says no one survived the afternoon crash about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta. Sills identified the victims as 67-year-old Larry Ray Pruitt, of Morriston, Florida; Shawn Charles Lamont of Gainesville, Florida; his wife Jody Rae Lamont and their two children, 6-year-old Jayce and 4-year-old Alice. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA31-T was flying from Williston, Florida, to Newcastle, Indiana.
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