Police brutality prompted this week’s protests. In some cities and towns, the police response has only proved the protesters' point.

Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter is working: the number of black people killed by the police has gone down since 2014.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is scrutinizing a Defense initiative—curtailed by President Obama but revived by Trump—that furnishes police departments with grenade launchers. 

Stories of conformity from recent history attempt to explain why Republicans don’t turn on Trump. Read more stories like this in our editors' longreads picks.

Following Tuesday’s elections, Joe Biden closes in on the delegate win, and Iowa’s Steve King gets ousted.

"We know how to fix this stuff." A member of Obama’s task force on 21st-century policing offers reform ideas.

Some resources to learn about police violence and antiracism, as well as actions you can take to encourage reform.

“Light ’em up!” After curfew, Minneapolis police officers in riot gear fired rounds at people standing on their front porch. And a white bar owner in Omaha shot and killed a black protester. 

A writer-producer is fired from an upcoming Law & Order: SVU spinoff for threatening to “light up” people breaking curfew near his home.

Related: “On TV, Cops Are Always the Main Characters.”

An ad for Netflix says the sixth season of Black Mirror has been released—it's reality. (The show is actually on hold.)

Dozens of cities and counties are employing curfews. Experts say when they result in clashes with cops, long-term damage results.

Also, protests against police brutality are happening all around the country, not just in big cities.

Black Americans fear being blamed for the mayhem and crimes of white agitators at protests. 

The American media, en masse, co-signs a letter directed to Minnesota authorities demanding an end to police attacks against journalists.

See also: NPR provides tactical gear to its reporters.

So many well-meaning white people are out of touch with their whiteness. Three experts on what it does and doesn’t mean to be an ally.

A related pet peeve: When writers racially ID black people for no good reason—e.g., why is an African-American man in the third paragraph of this recent New Yorker article singled out for ethnicity?

Advice for parents on how to acknowledge and discuss topics underlying this week's protests.

Dr. Fauci says he's confident a vaccine for the coronavirus will be quickly developed, but how long it lasts remains to be seen.

The number of new virus patients entering New York hospitals is at its lowest since the state began keeping count in March. Meanwhile, Brazil registered another record number of deaths, and Mexico faces an onslaught of cases.

Hong Kong’s police reject permission for an annual vigil to honor the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

U.S. manufacturing activity eases off an 11-year low in May.

A poem for your Wednesday: “Ode to the Unbroken World, Which Is Coming,” by Thomas Lux.