Progressive Briefing for Monday, July 2, 2018

Protesters gathered in major cities and small towns across the United States to denounce President Trump’s immigration policies in the “Families Belong Together” marches. Mostly peaceful, and full of families and children together, the marches were in response to the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border.

Investigation launched into police officer using Taser on unarmed man

A Pennsylvania police officer is under investigation after a recent cellphone video recorded him deploying a Taser on an unarmed man sitting on a sidewalk. Although police reports claim the man was not complying with the officer’s orders, the video revealed that the officers were issuing contradicting commands shortly before the Taser was fired.

2018 update: More evidence that half of Americans are in or near poverty

The U.S. poverty rate in 2016 was between 12.7 and 14.0 percent. But the poverty threshold is based on an outmoded formula from the 1960s. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the threshold should be THREE TIMES HIGHER today. And it could be even higher if the true nature of poverty is considered.

BREAKING: San Francisco is 1st major US city with $15 wage

Officials say San Francisco will become the first major U.S. city to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour Sunday under a ballot measure approved by voters in 2014.

City Administrator Naomi Kelly says it will be the first to hit the milestone for all workers. But it won’t be the last. California lawmakers approved a plan two years ago to increase the state’s $10 minimum to $15 by 2022.

Mexico’s ‘Bernie Sanders’ wins in a huge historic landslide with mandate to reshape the nation