[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

I have seen reports of that online. I guess if you are not hiding in your house you are a terrorist now.

ruhk wrote:

A friend just posted on Facebook that she was hanging out with some of her neighbors on the lawn of their apartment complex and an unmarked van with cops hanging off the sides drove past heading down the street and chucked a stun grenade at them.

Link? Or is it not public?

I’m not super comfortable sharing personal information right now considering the circumstances.

One last thought before I try to go to bed.

Citizens require video evidence to prove they were being peaceful when the cops attacked. Even with proof this information seems to be ignored.

Cops need video evidence to prove they assaulted people. Even with proof this evidence seems to be ignored.

How can anyone not understand why people are upset about this?

I should clarify if the snark is that by merely pointing out the legality of a belated curfew I'm ignoring the injustices that are being perpetrated on the civilian population. I'm not supporting the curfews - I'm saying you can hardly go about enforcing something that is not communicated on a timely, transparent, and reasonable manner. If anything the curfews are designed to limit the right of expression of political freedom and freedom of movement (and selectively done given you had those white armed anti-lockdown protestors storming government buildings yet nobody thought to apply a curfew to them).

The fact reporters are losing eyes and getting shot at nationally is an attack on free press. It disgusts, but doesn't surprise me though, when 45 has been urging attacks on media and anyone in opposition for a while now. The fact you guys have the national guard shooting people in their doorways calling "light 'em up" - that's an attack on the public on private property. If anyone is creating terror it's the uniformed officers perpetrating violence. I do wonder how many of these trigger happy fellows are going to be arrested for attacking civilians.

ruhk wrote:

I’m not super comfortable sharing personal information right now considering the circumstances.

Of course. That’s what I meant when I asked if it was already public. I meant if they didn’t mind it being reshared publicly to show what the cops are doing.

To Protect and Serve

To Oppress and Terrorize

EDIT

I feel uneasy with that. It's not every police officer. There's footage showing officers walking with protesters, kneeling with protesters. Paying respect. Aiming for peace through humility.

Bfgp wrote:

I do wonder how many of these trigger happy fellows are going to be arrested for attacking civilians.

Pretty close to zero.

I've debated back and forth about sharing this. The images are infuriating and disturbing and downright scary. I've been trying hard to check my privilege and open my eyes through all this, but this article really made me realize that this is likely part of what it feels like to be black in this country, unsure if and when the police will target you. And it is terrifying.

Caught on camera, police explode in rage and violence across the US

Meanwhile, in Utah:

A man showed up with a bow and arrow aimed at the protestors and a police officer knocked down an elderly man who was waiting for the bus at a bus stop. Both caught on camera.

RnRClown wrote:

To Protect and Serve

To Oppress and Terrorize

EDIT

I feel uneasy with that. It's not every police officer. There's footage showing officers walking with protesters, kneeling with protesters. Paying respect. Aiming for peace through humility.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but from the outside looking in the overall tenor of the police response seemed to be quite restrained. I don't mean to downplay what happened to that reporter who lost her eye, that is appalling and I'm sure she isn't/won't be the only one. However, we're all old enough here to have seen these kinds of uprisings before, and what I'm not seeing is tear gas, water cannons, mass arrests and so on - things that would stoke the flames even more. You do have police chiefs marching coming down and talking to people, officers joining the marches etc.

I guess it depends upon what sources you’re watching. I can’t really speak for other cities as I’ve been focusing on my own, but here there definitely have been mass arrests and the cops have been extremely aggressive with their use of tear gas, stun grenades, and general physical violence against even peaceful protesters.

ruhk wrote:

I guess it depends upon what sources you’re watching. I can’t really speak for other cities as I’ve been focusing on my own, but here there definitely have been mass arrests and the cops have been extremely aggressive with their use of tear gas, stun grenades, and general physical violence against even peaceful protesters.

Okay fair enough. Maybe I'm seeking out the positive new stories...

Stealthpizza wrote:

Arizona now has a curfew for 1 week. Best part no one I spoke to knew about it and it starts in a few hours.

Gee it's like they want to arrest people.

Shouldn't there be a phone alert if it is a state of emergency?

It is interesting how information is sent out. I knew about our curfew because it came up as a emergency alert. I found out different roads being closed to traffic by seeing signs when walking. Seems like something that should have went out on phones also but what about people that don't have smart phones.

This is being quite extensively covered here and my 5 yo (almost 6) has a lot of questions which I'm trying to answer. She idolises police and heroic occupations in general so it's tricky.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

This is being quite extensively covered here and my 5 yo (almost 6) has a lot of questions which I'm trying to answer. She idolises police and heroic occupations in general so it's tricky.

There are three kinds of people that work any job that has cache in the public consciousness: those that work it for good reasons, those that fall into it out of luck or ease, and those that work it for bad reasons.
Cop:
I want to protect and serve my community, or I get a gun and get to harass people.
Teacher:
I want to educate our next generation and change lives, or I get to be mean to children.
President:
I want to serve the public and lead the public conversation in a better direction, or I get to loot coffers and launch bombs.
Etc.

The point is nearly every position we glorify has some power and privilege associated with it and there are always people drawn to those jobs for those reasons, and not the "right" reasons.

That's a lot for a 6 year old, but they can probably understand that some people become police because they think it's cool, not because they want to help.

Antichulius wrote:

I've debated back and forth about sharing this. The images are infuriating and disturbing and downright scary. I've been trying hard to check my privilege and open my eyes through all this, but this article really made me realize that this is likely part of what it feels like to be black in this country, unsure if and when the police will target you. And it is terrifying.

Caught on camera, police explode in rage and violence across the US

Meanwhile, in Utah:

A man showed up with a bow and arrow aimed at the protestors and a police officer knocked down an elderly man who was waiting for the bus at a bus stop. Both caught on camera.

From what I understand of the bow & arrow guy situation, the cops let him get tuned up a bit before extracting him from the crowd (presumably it would've been more paperwork if he died). In that case, I agree with them.

Tear gas is definitely being deployed all over:
Detroit Metro Times: Detroit police turned violent, firing tear gas and flash grenades into a peaceful crowd on Sunday
Daily Tar Heel: Protest over death of George Floyd escalates in Raleigh as police deploy tear gas
Raleigh protester video
Spokane protester video
Reuters: Police fire tear gas at protesters gathered outside the White House
AP: The Latest

PORTLAND, Ore. — Police in Portland deployed tear gas to disperse a large crowd downtown late Sunday night after authorities said projectiles were thrown at officers.
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Shortly after local officials praised what had been a peaceful protest in Kansas City, Missouri, police fired tear gas into the crowd after some demonstrators began lobbing water bottles, law enforcement officials said.

There's a lot of reports of towns where the police took a knee or joined the protesters briefly, and then a short time later were firing tear gas.

The trend of attacking protests with vehicles continues. LAPD rammed the crowd with an SUV. Non-police attacks with vehicles in Bakersfield, CA, San Jose, CA, Denver, CO.

Boston police are apparently smashing their own cars up. In Louisville, Kentucky, someone got shot, apparently by law enforcement though official information is scarce at this point. And there's lots of reports of random racist dudes showing up and trying to instigate something.

The police are still attacking reporters: a CNN journalist in DC, for example.

AP wrote:

NEW YORK — The mayor of New York City’s own daughter is one of the nearly 790 people who have been arrested in the city since protests over the death of George Floyd began last week.

In Austin, right-wing media InfoWars set fire to a homeless man's mattress, filmed it, and attempted to blame protesters for it.

Some of the destruction by Black protesters is very targeted: A number of confederate monuments have been destroyed, such as the one in Birmingham. In Fayetteville, NC, the building the formerly housed the slave market was set on fire on Saturday.

There were a lot of peaceful protests too; a number of the tear gas incidents were how the peaceful protests ended.

There's also something weird going on with DC--the internet was apparently cut off at about 1pm last night. It's a bit hard to tell what happened during the blackout--there's a fake photo from the TV show Designated Survivor of an explosion at the White House that's muddying the waters--and there's not much actual information at this point.

With regards to the curfews - where are all those white folks who hated government overreach with the masks? Why are they not out with their guns, driving up and down the roads showing how they won't stand for tyranny and that they can be outside?

On another depressing note

Police Prove Point of Protests by Instigating Violence Across the Country

Bellingcat: US Law Enforcement Are Deliberately Targeting Journalists During George Floyd Protests

Bellingcat has identified and collected multiple instances of US law enforcement deliberately targeting journalists during the protests against the killing of George Floyd.

The arrest of a CNN crew in Minneapolis while broadcasting live on air on May 29th was a shocking event, especially in a country with such strong protections on freedom of speech. However as of the time of writing we have identified at least 50 separate incidents where journalists have been attacked by law enforcement.

RnRClown wrote:

To Protect and Serve

To Oppress and Terrorize

EDIT

I feel uneasy with that. It's not every police officer. There's footage showing officers walking with protesters, kneeling with protesters. Paying respect. Aiming for peace through humility.

There are also numerous reports of, once the media leaves those scenes of peace and tranquility, of the police masking up and gassing the (still-peaceful) crowd.

kyrieee wrote:

You do have police chiefs marching coming down and talking to people, officers joining the marches etc.

You also have to factor that they did so purely for PR purposes because there's loads of posts from social media saying those same police chiefs ordered their officers to deploy tear gas against protesters just minutes after those pictures were taken.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/id6RXZY.png)

Real leadership would be those same police chiefs ordering their men to stand down to deescalate things. Unfortunately, we've only seen the opposite: the police escalating every encounter they have with protesters.

RnRClown wrote:

To Protect and Serve

To Oppress and Terrorize

EDIT

I feel uneasy with that. It's not every police officer. There's footage showing officers walking with protesters, kneeling with protesters. Paying respect. Aiming for peace through humility.

EDIT: mudbunny/OGhausered.

Copaganda. After the photo ops, there were reports later of them still assaulting, spraying, and arresting protesters. It's for show.

It happened here yesterday as well. The cops we’re back to gassing and beating on people before too long.
EDIT: should the protests have a dedicated thread? I don’t think this is resolving soon.

Mixolyde wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

This is being quite extensively covered here and my 5 yo (almost 6) has a lot of questions which I'm trying to answer. She idolises police and heroic occupations in general so it's tricky.

There are three kinds of people that work any job that has cache in the public consciousness: those that work it for good reasons, those that fall into it out of luck or ease, and those that work it for bad reasons.
Cop:
I want to protect and serve my community, or I get a gun and get to harass people.
Teacher:
I want to educate our next generation and change lives, or I get to be mean to children.
President:
I want to serve the public and lead the public conversation in a better direction, or I get to loot coffers and launch bombs.
Etc.

The point is nearly every position we glorify has some power and privilege associated with it and there are always people drawn to those jobs for those reasons, and not the "right" reasons.

That's a lot for a 6 year old, but they can probably understand that some people become police because they think it's cool, not because they want to help.

You could try the Spider-man explanation. It's what happens when people with power do not live up to the responsibility that comes with it.

Yes please! Probably a good idea to have one with a scope that is just protest specific as we already have Privlege/Rascism thread.

Gremlin wrote:

There's also something weird going on with DC

This may be a non-event: there's a lot of misinformation and not much actual confirmation. I'm going to put this one down as "baseless internet rumors".

Gremlin wrote:

Boston police are apparently smashing their own cars up.

There's a video suggesting this is disinformation - Boston police did not destroy their own car.

I'm at a loss.

RnRClown wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

Boston police are apparently smashing their own cars up.

There's a video suggesting this is disinformation - Boston police did not destroy their own car.

I'm at a loss.

Good catch. There's a lot of disinformation being thrown around; I've been trying to qualify anything I don't feel is sufficiently verified with "apparently" or "allegedly" and trying to clearly label most sources. It's difficult because there's no blanket rule you can apply--protesters on the ground have limited perspective and initial news reports tend to uncritically print the police story.

Yeah in Louisville they launched tear gas 40 minutes before curfew. The given explanation was some bullsh*t about protestors with leaf blowers and bleach they were going to attack police with. No way they could see anything but the leaf blowers, which the protestors only had to try to protect themselves from tear gas.

That's after Saturday night cops were dumping out water and milk left for protestors. The bullsh*t explanation for that was they found some flammable liquid there and were destroying it.

Also one of Louisville's basketball staff was arrested Sat night for breaking curfew. Except the arrest citation was at 801 PM. Booking was at 858 PM. Curfew didn't start until 9 PM.

Louisville police chief and mayor losing all credibility lying like this.

And Louisville is still pissed about Breanna Taylor being shot in her home. The arrest in the George Floyd case isn't going to calm things down there at all.

Sorry for not sourcing links above while on my phone. But all 3 stories reported by the local TV stations in Louisville. I've been trying to keep an eye on my hometown this week.