The Murder of George Floyd & Subsequent Protests/Riots

[anticlimatic]

I find it amazing that the people in this thread screaming about the recent violence/length of protests haven't considered why crime is up. Like there isn't something, I dunno, causing mass homelessness, hunger, job loss or illness and death like all at once. What could it be? I dunnooooo?? 🤪

I knew what it was two weeks before it broke out-

What do coping strategies have to do with a cost benefit analysis between a virus with a 98 percent survivabilty rate on its face and cratering the economy to Great Depression levels?



what are we even waiting for? Riots?

Did COVID-19 Lockdown Orders Help Fuel Riots Nationwide? – Reason.com

Like I always say, I really do hate being right all the time.

 

[ceecee]

Yeah. Especially people who smugly mocked the "fear mongers" regarding the damage Trump could potentially cause ("like he's going to start WW3"), but who are now freaking out about the rioting - seemingly oblivious of the extent to which it's directly because of all the things those 'afflicted' with TDS have been pointing at this whole time. There are issues that existed before him, but they would not have come to a head and resulted in rioting without him. Practically anyone else's leadership might have avoided it. We could potentially have elected a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and be in a better position than we are right now.

lol Exactly. I mean, 3.5 years of chaos, completely inept government policy, corruption on a scale never brought to light in this country, super wage stagnation, foreign policy that's a incoherent farce, an out of control behemoth govt. agency entirely out of control, a pandemic and closing in on 200K dead and a senate with 500+ bills passed by the house that they refuse to take up, sitting there like - I don't want to hear it and a house that's like eh, vacation time!. What could possibly be the problem?

Cool Ranch Doritos 2020!

 

[ceecee]

I knew what it was two weeks before it broke out-



Did COVID-19 Lockdown Orders Help Fuel Riots Nationwide? – Reason.com

Like I always say, I really do hate being right all the time.

Unless your name is Christian Britschgi, you're not right. You are also late.

 

[The Cat]

lol Exactly. I mean, 3.5 years of chaos, completely inept government policy, corruption on a scale never brought to light in this country, super wage stagnation, foreign policy that's a incoherent farce, an out of control behemoth govt. agency entirely out of control, a pandemic and closing in on 200K dead and a senate with 500+ bills passed by the house that they refuse to take up, sitting there like - I don't want to hear it and a house that's like eh, vacation time!. What could possibly be the problem?

Cool Ranch Doritos 2020!

With all the different flavors of doritos that exist, the ad campaigns gonna get ugly. I heard Spicy Nacho cheese has some really incriminating photos of cool ranch and all the hands it's let in its bags... Oh dear God even this would be a nightmare of politics. But one i kinda want to see.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

A couple of interesting Twitter threads from people on the ground in Portland:

https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1297339019655749633?s=19

It's worth noting that the BLM side were mostly defending themselves with ...umbrellas.

https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297240487066103808?s=19

 

[FemMecha]

The poor and hopeless commit crimes, in the US that population happens to be african american, for a bunch of reasons.

I see it as being about class struggles rather than race but I've been told that's racist by liberal friends before.

To be honest, there's crime and there's crime, criminals doing criminal things is one thing, the authorities and law enforcement doing criminal things? Much worse, much more serious, completely different matter and its understandable that people are MORE concerned about that.

The rule of law is an absolute minimum, you can have NOTHING without it, and its got to apply to everyone but especially those who claim to be acting on behalf of the idea.

To the bolded: I haven't understood why this sort of discussion is often reduced to either/or. Societal issues have more than one dimension to them. Racial attitudes and the history of racism is an issue and so is the economic divide. It always strikes me as absurd to have to pick one "ism" and ignore the rest. It's like there are many lines of disadvantages<------->advantages and they all intersect in a unique way in each environment and in each individual. Each parameter does not manifest with equal strength either, so some environments may be driven more strongly by racism and another by economic divides, etc.

People tend to give weight and preference to whatever intersected with their experience, without being able to objectively view the entirety of it. This is one reason I think it is always important to listen to the experience of those on the receiving end of an 'ism', and also to refer to statistics for the big picture.

Racism in the U.S. is deeply embedded into the history and assumptions, so I do think it is important to take care to not dismiss the historically established forms of it. For one example to people who are white/caucasian, imagine if the first president was Black, was revered by school children still today with anecdotes about how he would never tell a lie. He was a founding father with Great Man of History status, and yet he wore dentures made from pulling the teeth of his white slaves. Yes, people can be targeted socially by racial attitudes and violence happening between any two races and yes, those attitudes should be addressed, but there are certain racist attitudes carved into the bedrock on American culture that cannot be dismissed from a responsible moral standpoint.

 

[anticlimatic]

Gathering at North Precinct declared riot by police | kgw.com

Still trucking...

Violence and controversies during the George Floyd protests - Wikipedia

As of July 5, 2020, at least 30 people have died during the protests, with 26 due to gunshot wounds

Not sure how many more by now.

Remember when white nationalists killed a lady after having a tiki torch parade and the media condemned it with fire and brimstone?

Tiki Torches, Terror And Tears: One Year After Charlottesville | 1A

The mood of the marchers wasn’t merely angry, it felt homicidal.

And yet, as the march snaked across the grounds of the University of Virginia, I’d only seen two police officers. One of them had confronted Karim, who was carrying a camera-equipped drone in his hand. The officer wanted Karim [a producer for PBS’s Frontline who was working with Thompson] to know that he wasn’t allowed to fly it over the campus.

By now you know, at least in rough terms, what happened that night. A horde of white supremacists clad in polo shirts attacked a small group of anti-racist protesters, many of them students. The white supremacists used their flaming torches as weapons, smashing them into the students, again and again.

Where is that fire and brimstone now? Where are the grownups calling for this to end? Anywhere? Why is a small group of white nationalists a "horde," while months of rioters are called "mostly peaceful protestors?"

The media is ignoring the violence that's tearing our cities apart | TheHill

Meanwhile, the Washington Post wrote a glowing profile of Portland's protesters, complete with a photo shoot in protest garb and the headline that “protest is what Portland does best.”

These are just two examples of the absurd lengths to which the media has gone to glamorize the violent riots that have emerged from what began as peaceful protests around the country.

Remember when we were supposed to believe it was the alt-right behind this the whole time?

You people can stop beclowning yourselves now. You're out of scapegoats, and the people that support you are more proven and notorious liars than Trump himself.

The Media Are Lying To You About Everything, Including The Riots

They lied about the Trump campaign colluding with Russia in 2016. They lied about the Mueller probe and Brett Kavanaugh and former national security adviser Mike Flynn. They lied about Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president and the impeachment farce that ensued. They lied about the coronavirus and the lockdowns and the White House response. And now they’re lying about the riots.

In recent days we’ve heard a steady drumbeat of lies, distortions, and disingenuousness from the mainstream media about almost every aspect of the unrest now gripping American cities.

Put. Down. The. Koolaid.

 

[swordpath]

Here we go again...

Kenosha police shooting: Black man shot; Wisconsin DOJ to investigate

the video of the shooting doesn’t look good for police, and that’s all that counts these days; how a 15 second segment of an incident looks on a cell phone video recorded from across the street. Apparently the city of Kenosha is getting pretty heavily hit with looting/vandalism/violence at the moment. There’s video of a cop getting knocked unconscious by a thrown brick. I’m not religious but Im nearly inclined to believe “the end times” are legit at this point. Oh yeah, also two hurricanes are hitting Louisiana in two consecutive days starting today. Straight up fuckkkk you, 2020.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Jaguar]

By all means shoot him in the back. Is that all you people know how to do?


Wisconsin shooting: Kenosha police shoot Black man as children watch from a vehicle, attorney says - CNN

 

[anticlimatic]

Here we go again...

Kenosha police shooting: Black man shot; Wisconsin DOJ to investigate

the video of the shooting doesn’t look good for police, and that’s all that counts these days; how a 15 second segment of an incident looks on a cell phone video recorded from across the street. Apparently the city of Kenosha is getting pretty heavily hit with looting/vandalism/violence at the moment. There’s video of a cop getting knocked unconscious by a thrown brick. I’m not religious but Im nearly inclined to believe “the end times” are legit at this point. Oh yeah, also two hurricanes are hitting Louisiana in two consecutive days starting today. Straight up fuckkkk you, 2020.

The guy was convicted of third degree sexual assault and domestic violence, with a history of assaulting police and using firearms. I feel bad for the cops that had to do this. Looks like they were waiting for the last possible second- when he would have had just enough time to get a gun out of that car and turn it on them, but then again I am very partial to viewing 5 seconds of out-of-context video footage without a clue as to what is going on and just using it to run with my political priors and preconceived notions. In fact, I don't even need to stick with this story to find out any of the details that actually mattered. Thank you NEXT RIOT. Bring in the next riot please!

 

[Jaguar]

On Monday, right-wing commentator Andy Ngo wrote a tweet pointing out Mr Blake's criminal history. Mr Ngo has built a following by travelling to cities where civil unrest is occurring and reporting on events in a way that feeds into the right-wing culture war narrative championed by Mr Trump and his allies.

And who didn't see that coming?

For those who don't know who Ngo is:
How a Right-Wing Troll Demonized Antifa to the Mainstream - Rolling Stone

 

[Jaguar]

The guy was convicted of third degree sexual assault and domestic violence

He hasn't been convicted of anything whatsoever. I checked.

 

[Jonny]

He hasn't been convicted of anything whatsoever. I checked.

Don't say that, it distorts the narrative. Liars gonna lie.

 

[Stigmata]

He hasn't been convicted of anything whatsoever. I checked.

Apparently we're living in the Judge Dredd era of US law enforcement ideology, and if you've ever been convicted a crime (doesn't matter that you've paid your debt to society) then civil liberties are voided and it's perfectly OK to be gunned down by police at their discretion.

 

[ceecee]

Apparently we're living in the Judge Dredd era of US law enforcement ideology, and if you've ever been convicted a crime (doesn't matter that you've paid your debt to society) then civil liberties are voided and it's perfectly OK to be gunned down by police at their discretion.

It makes no difference at all what's going on outside of the scope of this shooting. He was not armed, he had no weapon? If not then that's the end of this conversation. He was walking away but I guarantee these cops will mumble something about "my life was in danger" and the right wing law and order crowd will lap it up like dogs.

The reason these civil liberties exist is to protect every person in this country, doesn't matter if they are guests, immigrants, citizens, felons or none of the above. But that whole "defend the police" argument gains more traction every single time there is a shooting.

 

[Jonny]

Apparently we're living in the Judge Dredd era of US law enforcement ideology, and if you've ever been convicted a crime (doesn't matter that you've paid your debt to society) then civil liberties are voided and it's perfectly OK to be gunned down by police at their discretion.

It is really odd.

I think we can all recognize that the job of a law enforcement officer is stressful and dangerous, and sympathize with officers who are injured or killed in the line of duty. They are public servants who have chosen to risk life and limb, ostensibly for the public good.

But the system is broken, and people should not be killed with such frequency by the police. It is a discussion worth having, and for some reason some people don't want to have it. If you kneel, you're an entitled brat who doesn't know his place. If you protest, you're a rioter. If you call for police reform and conditional funding, you're calling for anarchy. If you have a criminal history, you deserved to die. It's dumb.

A person who puts on that uniform assumes the risk of death or other bodily injury. It is a mistake to say "I would have done the same thing as that officer were I in his position." A trained public servant has a greater responsibility, and yet they are actually treated with greater leniency under the same facts and circumstances. If a civilian shot that man multiple times in the back, no reasonable person would argue that it was justified.

A citizen should not have to bear a greater risk of death at the hands of police in order to reduce the risk to police officers. One is a choice, the other is not. All efforts should be made to reduce risk to law enforcement while minimizing the risk to the general public, regardless of criminal history.

 

[The Cat]

Scaredy cops dont belong on the force.

 

[ceecee]

It is really odd.

I think we can all recognize that the job of a law enforcement officer is stressful and dangerous, and sympathize with officers who are injured or killed in the line of duty. They are public servants who have chosen to risk life and limb, ostensibly for the public good.

But the system is broken, and people should not be killed with such frequency by the police. It is a discussion worth having, and for some reason some people don't want to have it. If you kneel, you're an entitled brat who doesn't know his place. If you protest, you're a rioter. If you call for police reform and conditional funding, you're calling for anarchy. If you have a criminal history, you deserved to die. It's dumb.

A person who puts on that uniform assumes the risk of death or other bodily injury. It is a mistake to say "I would have done the same thing as that officer were I in his position." A trained public servant has a greater responsibility, and yet they are actually treated with greater leniency under the same facts and circumstances. If a civilian shot that man multiple times in the back, no reasonable person would argue that it was justified.

A citizen should not have to bear a greater risk of death at the hands of police in order to reduce the risk to police officers. One is a choice, the other is not. All efforts should be made to reduce risk to law enforcement while minimizing the risk to the general public, regardless of criminal history.

I don't think people look very closely at police unions but I urge everyone to do so. This is how dangerous and unstable police get hired AND retain their jobs. Or find other jobs in the next state after some horrific incident that proves they have little to no humanity left in them. It's often the same pool of ex-military/security/enforcement over and over. It's bad.

The job doesn't pay much and often the police unions provide training from scumbags like Dave Grossman that think police should think and act like military. This dick has no business anywhere near police or civilians, which he also "trains". And the police unions spearhead this shit, regardless of city or municipality laws against it. I'm a huge proponent of unions of course. But this union is a large part of the reason for issues we see now. It's also this "thin blue line" bullshit mentality. Cops are taught to have a victim complex - they gain support from it. I know it, I saw it my entire life with a father who was a big city cop. But it isn't just happening in big cities. Small towns can be tyrannical and their police can be as well.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

As far as I can tell, he's been charged but not convicted. Which I mention because it's germane to this fun fact: Jacob Blake has been accused of 24 fewer sexual assaults than Trump. (It's something to keep in mind if anyone tries arguing it makes him dangerous enough to shoot several times in the back).