News Stay safe.

[think]

we need to accept people for where they are ... and love them for who they are...

we need to deal with people everyday all people are like this.. it is sad they can't be like me.. hehe but I know that they are not like me.. what they do is based on their life experiences so we make do and deal .. accept what we deal with is easier than fighting what we have to deal with .. and it goes easier.. it always does...

 

[Avro Arrow]

Nope, not sure who that woman was.

Are you kidding? Did you even click on Locutus's link? It was a pretty major story. Just because you did not hear of her, does not mean there were not protests after she was killed.

I was going to post images of the protests here around the recent death under mysterious circumstances of Regis Korchinski-Paquet. The largest one was in Toronto, but there were others in Montreal, Halifax, etc. However, I figured I should probably not drag the thread even further off topic. But there were thousands of people marching and protesting for her as well.

As Locutus mentioned, the current protests are not necessarily about one single event, but rather they are about the ongoing, unrelenting, discriminatory treatment of POC by police forces all over the nation. This has been coming to a boil for a long, long time.

 

[publiusr]

Folks have been cooped up for months—so that’s part of it. A sci-fi bookstore went up in Chicago went up as did a library—cops...jocks though they may be... didn’t start those fires. We would not need police if folks would just behave.

This really all comes down to our relationship with boundaries. Borders picket lines, protests, rearing children... all these can be unpleasant. There is no proper way to take photos of a funeral.

That is what we are watching now.

 

[XCV330]

Folks have been cooped up for months—so that’s part of it. A sci-fi bookstore went up in Chicago went up as did a library—cops...jocks though they may be... didn’t start those fires. We would not need police if folks would just behave.

This really all comes down to our relationship with boundaries. Borders picket lines, protests, rearing children... all these can be unpleasant. There is no proper way to take photos of a funeral.

That is what we are watching now.

Police do not need to be committing summary executions in the streets. When the justice system itself fails, everything falls with it. That's always been the theory. The reality looks grim.

 

[JD]

I live near Phoenix, so it is a little unnerving knowing that stuff is going on so close to me. Honestly, this stuff is scaring me more than COVID-19.
From everything I've seen, I blame both sides, the protestors really don't need to be burning and looting, and killing people, but at the same time some cops are definitely going overboard. I saw a vide of the incident where the cops drove through the protestors, and they were just standing there peaceful until the cops started driving into them.
Now another incident was a little of both sides, there were bunch of people outside there house filming the cops marching down the street. The cops kept yelling go inside, go inside, go inside the whole time, and the people just ignored them, so they fired pain canisters at them. The people were not following instructions, but I do think shooting stuff at them like that might have been going a bit overboard, there probably could have been a better way to get them to go inside.
The problem right now is that we seem to have escalation on both sides, the protests start, and then the cops show up in full riot gear, which pisses people off, so they start getting aggressive, so the cops start going after them, so that just pisses people off more, and then they get more aggressive, so then the cops get rougher and it just goes spirals into total chaos. The cops really need to focus on calming things down, but with some of them they are doing the exact opposite.
Now this isn't everywhere, I have seen a few stories where the cops actually set down their gear and went over and joined the protestors.
It doesn't help that we have a president who's making no effort to actually address the issue, and instead is insulting the protestors and encouraging the cops to be as violent as possible.

 

[Soong-type Android]

It doesn't help that we have a president who's making no effort to actually address the issue, and instead is insulting the protestors and encouraging the cops to be as violent as possible.

Not just insulting protesters, but threatening to have them shot, quoting segregationist politicians and Jim Crow era sheriffs and evoking imagery of dogs attacking civil rights protesters. Now he's holed up in his bunker blaming anger on the streets caused by the death of black man at the hands of a police officer and historic racial injustice and systemic discrimination on "Antifa".

It's quite surreal, but if this how the Trump presidency ends then it will be quite apt.

 

[JD]

I admit this is probably an overreaction, but another thing that kind of scares me with all of this, is that this is exactly the kind of situations dictators like to take advantage of to get more power...…...

 

[think]

so yeah we can stay safe by not NOT going to Asbury NJ next county over. to me.. it seems tonight is a protest with the antifa organization and lots of police going on seems they plan this stuff. and such.. OMG.. what next. right?

 

[JD]

Is there any actual proof Antifa is actually involved in any of this? I mean real actual proof, beyond someone saying they are.

 

[Markonian]

Whatever happens, the United States cannot return to status quo when this blows over. A fundamental change in the social contract is needed, otherwise we'll remain in the cycle of police violence - outrage - escalation.

The tragedy is that Blacks in the US cannot stay safe because they've never been safe in the first place.

I am grateful my countries are not affected, and that I have the privilege of being able to isolate myself and keep working my job.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Seriously, America, your police is fucked up. We have some problems in our own police, but yours is something else. This is not normal. What your police does is not normal. Even during our worst instances of mass police misbehaviour in recent years, the handling of protests during the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017, which was very bad by our standarts, was not even in the ballpark of what we're currently seeing.

Here's the thing about the protesters: The overwhelming majority of them just want a peaceful protest. Yes, you have a small minority who actually want to get violent, but it is a small minority indeed, and it's only because their actions are so visible that they overshadow the peaceful protests.

On the other side, I have seen dozens of videos by now of police forces, acting in groups, not only escalating violence, but often instigating it. These are the people who are supposed to be trained professionals, who are supposed to be de-escalating potentially violent situations, and instead they do the opposite. And it's not like they can't do what they are supposed to do, we've seen how calm and de-escalating they could be with those anti-lockdown protesters just a few weeks ago. They can do it, and they actively choose to do the opposite.

I've even heard claims that it's undercover cops who're setting fires as a false flag. Now, to be clear, I have seen no evidence of that actually happening (admittedly hard to come by, considering those supposed undercover cops don't exactly wear uniforms), and these are rumors as far as I can say with certainty. Normally, I wouldn't even mention it. But after what we've seen, I can't just call such claims wild conspiracy theories anymore.

Especially considering police even going as far as this:

NYPD Union Doxes Mayor de Blasyo's Daughter on Twitter| Gizmodo

Wtf?! That's some Mafia-level shit.

So I can't really agree with the sentiment of the thread and simply tell you Americans to just stay safe. Because this whole protest is about fighting police violence. If you feel the need to go out and join the protests, you have my solidarity, as much as that is worth from so far away. If you want to stay home and safe, do that, you obviously have good reason to be afraid. I'm honestly afraid for you guys.
So, if you stay home, stay safe, if you go out and protest, be careful and watch your back.

 

[fireproof78]

Not saying there isn't a problem but not all police are bad, just like any other stereotyping.

Be safe everyone.

 

[thribs]

I hope they are practicing social distancing at these protests

 

[StarCruiser]

Okay folks - this is a two way street. There are definitely bad cops out there but, most cops aren't bad. Most are honestly trying to help (to protect and serve).

The ridiculous and repetitive violence against anyone of color by those cops who are bad has gone unchecked far to often. There has to be a moment when we all realize that something MUST change for America to actually move on.

It needs to come from the top but, the fool in the Whitehouse can't even begin to fathom what is going on and why. Either that or, he's really a tool of external forces (Putin anyone?) trying to wreck this country (doin' a fine job of it).

The DOJ MUST get busy setting real rules that all police departments MUST follow strictly.

Any officer accused of an act of brutality should be investigated (where is "Internal Affairs"?). If the action wasn't bloody - and is proven - they get a nice black mark on their record and are assigned to desk duty for at least 6 month. If they go back on the street and do it again - desk duty permanently or their fired outright.

If there is blood on their hands (kill or seriously hurt ANYONE, irrelevant of color) that's a red mark and they are brought up on the appropriate charges like any other person in this country would be.

They can NOT use that badge as a shield from responsibility...

On the other hand - the protesters MUST also reign in the violence on their side - along with the looting. That is NOT helping anymore than Trump is. Allowing that only feeds the fire.

They need to start asking themselves "What would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. do?". I guarantee he would NOT approve of what is happening in so many places around this country.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Sure, there are "good cops". There's apparently a sheriff in Michigan who even joined in the protest. Guess what, that protest stayed peaceful.

The problem is that bad cops aren't penalized for their behaviour. The problem is that too many "good cops" don't want to interfere with the bad behaviour of their colleagues, whether out of a misplaced sense of loyalty or out of fear of personal repercussions. Think about what even the heroic cops in media does. James Gordon in Batman Begins is a prime example for this. He's presented as the hero cop of Gotham, the one good cop on the force. But even he appears to be offended at the mere idea of being "a rat" and report his corrupt partner.

And again, the cops are the ones supposed to de-escalate. That's not the job of the protesters (who aren't trained for that, anyway), that's the job of the police.

And it's also not helpful to make this a Trump issue. Sure, he's not helping, but as Cornel West correctly pointed out on CNN, Black Lives Matter started under a black president with a black attorney general. And when you have the NYPD Union not so subtly threatening the family of their mayor to push him to do what they want, how can anybody deny that this is a systemic problem?

 

[JD]

Shit, it looks like my fears about Trump were not entire unfounded. Earlier today he threatened to send in the military to go after the protestors, and even said if the Governors wouldn't do it, then he would do it himself.
I'm honestly starting to fear for the future of my country.

 

[fireproof78]

And it's also not helpful to make this a Trump issue. Sure, he's not helping, but as Cornel West correctly pointed out on CNN, Black Lives Matter started under a black president with a black attorney general. And when you have the NYPD Union not so subtly threatening the family of their mayor to push him to do what they want, how can anybody deny that this is a systemic problem?

Not saying its not systematic but target the system where it is a problem, not with broad sweeping generalizations that "all police" and "all Americans" need to be watchful. Again, as @StarCruiser said, it's a two way street, and the generalizations isn't helping.

One commentator I listened to noted that this case has a quicker response, since Floyd's death was a week ago and already charges have been brought, the officers fired, and investigations started. Not saying it's perfect-it's not. But, it's movement.

Justice, yes. But, target the problems, not with sweeping generalizations, please.

 

[JD]

I do have to feel sorry for the good cops who are out there, because now the actions of the bad ones have pretty much turned the entire country against them.

 

[StarCruiser]

^ That's been the problem for many years. Most cops are decent folks - I've dealt with them (admittedly, I'm white so..?).

This has kinda been the opposite of the Lawyer thing. It's 1% of the cops that make a bad name for the rest of them.

There have been MANY cops (even police chiefs) joining with the protesters instead of fighting them. They are trying to turn this mess around into a united front against the violence. The fact that Trump (and his cronies) can't see past their noses just isn't helping.

I hate to say this (I know this thread is almost certainly doomed!) but, Trump will have to leave the Whitehouse before this is over. If he makes the hopelessly stupid mistake of actually trying to use the military against the people, he's done...

Somehow, this old Don Henley song seems so much more appropriate now:

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[fireproof78]

If he makes the hopelessly stupid mistake of actually trying to use the military against the people, he's done...

Minnesota has already used the Army National Guard so I'm not sure how it's different. Not saying he should, mind, just noting what has occurred.

Regardless, my stance is simple-this violence will do nothing to hasten justice and will impede the actual message trying to be spread. We need to find the good guys and celebrate them while finding the bad actors and rooting them out.

Protesters protecting businesses from being looted.

Protesters protect and isolated police officer.