"The goal of Borisov, Geshev, and those who sent the security forces is to instill fear, but they will not succeed. Not this time," Borislav Sandov, one of the leaders of the extra-parliamentary Green Movement, told protesters after he had been detained the night before.

Earlier in the day, one of the organizers of the protest, Arman Babikyan, called the events of the previous night "an ugly theatrical production of power."

On September 2, several thousand people joined the so-called "Grand National Uprising" in response against what protesters say is oligarchic control over Bulgaria's government and judicial system.

Violence led to scores of injuries and the arrest of 126 people, including what police described as more than 60 soccer hooligans.

Health officials said almost 200 people were injured, including 120 police officers.

Several journalists were also injured by police, drawing condemnation from media watchdogs and rights groups.

On the evening of September 3, Socialist-backed President Rumen Radev slammed the government's "disproportionate police violence against protesters and journalists" and repeated protesters' demands that Borisov's government resign.

"I call on both the protesters and the police to remain calm and not allow themselves to be drawn into a scenario for the survival of the government compromised by corruption and violence," Radev said in a televised address. "The protest is the only possible and justified civil action against the abduction of Bulgarian democracy."

"We will not resign after these excesses," parliament deputy Toma Bikov from Borisov's GERB party told parliament earlier.

"This would mean that every future government could be brought down by representatives of the criminal contingent," Bikov said.

Borisov has pledged to resign before his third term expires in March if lawmakers approve his call for the election of a grand national assembly tasked with voting on a new constitution.

In an attempt to appease protesters, he has also fired several key ministers.

The proposal for a new constitution has little chance of advancing as Borisov lacks the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to pass it. Critics view the constitutional changes as window dressing and an attempt to buy time to maintain power.

"The attempt to push through a ridiculous but status-friendly constitution with the power of money and under the cover of police shields is a criminal encroachment on the future of Bulgaria. These actions risk throwing the country into a long-term impasse," Radev said in his address.

Opinion polls show that more than 60 percent of Bulgarians support demands for Borisov and Geshev to resign and for immediate parliamentary elections to be called.

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Rochester suspends 7 police officers over asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude
Peter Weber
September 4, 3:57 a.m

Mayor Lovely Warren suspended seven police officers Thursday for their involvement in the March death of Daniel Prude, a Black man with mental health problems. The case received little attention until Wednesday, when Prude's family showed footage from police body cameras obtained through public records requests. The video shows police putting a spit bag over Prude's head after he's handcuffed, then holding his face to the ground for two minutes, until he became responsive. Police, resending to a call from Prude's brother, found him running naked in the street.

Prude died after his family took him off life support, seven days after police held him to the ground with the bag over his head. The Monroe County Office of the Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint," with excited delirium and acute PCP intoxication as contributing factors. Prude's brother compared it to a "lynching."

Warren said she was unaware that police had been involved in Prude's death until Aug. 4, saying Police Chief La'Ron Singletary had portrayed it as a drug overdose. Prude "was failed by the police department, our mental health care system, our society, and he was failed by me," Warren said, also blaming "institutional and structural racism." She said she had suspended the officers with pay because of contract rules and suggested the police union might file suit anyway. "I understand that the union may sue the city for this. They shall feel free to do so."

Protesters gathered for a second night outside the police headquarters in Rochester, and the Rochester police again responded with tear gas and less-lethal pellets. New York Attorney General Leticia James said her office has been investigating Prude's death, and Singletary said his department is undertaking a related criminal and internal investigation of Prude's death.

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