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Top-level
 @mekkaokereke My house is within earshot of the 3rd precinct, the epicenter of the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. I’m telling you: it was a police riot. It was 100% the cops who instigated the violence, the cops who relentlessly escalated it, the cops who pushed it utterly out of control. And it was purposeful. They were sending Minneapolis a message about firing Chauvin so quickly: “Oh, you want to mess with us? Watch what we do to your city.“ 15 comments
@wndlb Yeah, after everything went to hell, there were people showing up ranging from organized crime to frat boys who think getting drunk and stealing street signs is a good time. It wasn’t like that at first, of course. Something people don’t understand: larger protests are generally •safer•. When you have a march full of grandparents and little kids, people keep each other safe, keep each other mentally in one piece. 1/2 @wndlb That’s why the cops unleashed all that tear gas: not just hurt protesters, but to send most people home. Cops make the situation too dangerous for most people to say, create a much smaller, much more dangerous crowd, and then they have a situation they can push to the point of exploding. 2/2 @inthehands @wndlb exactly how it went down at Occupy Oakland, too - deliberate tactic to discredit citizens @joeblubaugh @wndlb Yup. Discredit, and even more importantly, terrorize. People who are afraid of violence (well, white people who are afraid, anyway) vote for bigger police budgets, even when it’s the police causing the violence. A protest turning violent is just pure win-win for police: bash heads today, get a bigger budget tomorrow. @inthehands @mekkaokereke @Okanogen Oh, I am not saying the police are the only people who were violent. I’m saying the police are the ones who made it a riot in the first place. I addressed a similar comment here: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/109765174553463365 @inthehands @Okanogen I’m sorry. I think something I wrote there must have been really ill-phrased. Let me be clear: A •lot• of people, not just police, were violent. I have no kind feelings, none, for the people who burned down business, many of which I love, several of whose owners I know personally. (Ruhel catered my wedding!) I am miserable about the places I’ll never be able to go again, and the people whose lives the destruction turned upside-down. I do •not• mean to absolve anyone who caused that. It's all good. I also had friends who lost everything. The small family drugstore across from my old house (and low income apartments above) was burned down by what I'm sure were White Supremacists coming down Snelling from Cambridge or wherever. @Okanogen Yeah. We still do not have a clear picture of how specific buildings burned, and probably never will. Nobody will ever face the music for it. I am bitter about that in ways I cannot put in words. I know there were straight-up Nazis in my neighborhood taking advantage of the chaos — and specifically targeting minority businesses far from the protests. I know there were people who just thought it would be fun make something burn, without any thought for the lives they were wrecking. @Okanogen My comments about it being a “police riot” do not mean “•nobody• but police is responsible.” Rather, I mean that police are responsible •too•: they knew they were creating the conditions to summon all these forces of chaotic evil. It was intentional. And if anyone doubts the intent…police forced back firefighters (both official and volunteer) who tried to save burning buildings. Those are the thoughts behind my OP. Hope that clarifies; sorry again I was unclear! @inthehands @mekkaokereke 'Cops' were, for most of history, private. They were mercenaries. Hired thugs. And in America, they were exactly that until very recently (as were firemen). How recently varies by city and interpretation, but it hasn't been fifty years in most major cities. They're gangs, still. |
Gregory's Server
@inthehands Well that, and a well-liquored crowd just looking for trouble of any kind they could make. #UmbrellaMan, and the guy who put up posts of himself handing out firebombs, and aspiring looters. First time I’ve ever seen a melted stoplight.