[News] Protests Against Police Violence After Death of George Floyd

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Discuss police violence, the victims of police violence (including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor), the Black-led protests against said violence, and related topics.

These are clearly not ending any time soon, so a thread.

February 23: Ahmaud Arbery murdered while jogging
BBC: Ahmaud Arbery: What do we know about the case?

March 13: Breonna Taylor killed in bed during a no-knock raid on the wrong apartment, in Louisville, KY
CNN: A Kentucky EMT was shot and killed during a police raid of her home. The family is suing for wrongful death

May 25: Death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police
Minnesota Post: Seven days in Minneapolis: a timeline of what we know about the death of George Floyd and its aftermath

May 26: Protests in Minneapolis start, officers fired when video revealed the official police account was false
PBS: 4 Minneapolis officers fired after death of black man who pleaded ‘I can’t breathe’

May 29: Officer who killed George Floyd arrested and charged with third-degree murder
Vox: The charges against former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, explained

May 31: Justin Howell critically injured by Austin police, compounded when police fired on as he was being carried to medical help
CNN: Austin police fired at a crowd transporting a protester injured by an officer

June 1: David 'Yaya' McAtee by the National Guard and Louisville, KY police
WP: David McAtee fed Louisville police for years. To some who knew him, his fatal shooting doesn’t add up.

June 1: Peaceful protesters violently cleared from Lafayette Square to make way for Trump photo op
Washington Post: The crackdown before Trump’s photo op

June 3: Other officers charged, Chauvin's charge escalated to second-degree murder
Vox: The 3 former officers who aided Derek Chauvin are charged in George Floyd’s killing

Maybe expand the topic to include worldwide protests? This has spread well past the borders of the US.

Louisville, Ky.:

Courier Journal: Investigation launched into LMPD, National Guard fatal shooting of West End restaurant owner

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear has ordered Kentucky State Police to investigate the early Monday incident that featured Louisville Metro Police and National Guard personnel fatally shooting the owner of a popular West End barbecue business at 26th Street and Broadway.

The victim was David McAtee, the popular owner of a barbecue business next to the Dino's Food Mart parking lot where the shooting occurred around 12:15 a.m. Monday, McAtee's nephew told The Courier Journal.

LEO Weekly: West of Ninth: David McAtee, in his words

Louisville police and National Guard fired on a group of people at 26th Street and Broadway killing David McAtee on shortly after midnight Monday.

McAtee was killed where he ran his business, Yaya’s BBQ. He was featured in February by West of Ninth, a photo blog from Walt and Marshae Smith. This photo and the following interview were conducted at 26th Street and Broadway:

Twitter post from a reporter currently on the scene.

Nevin73 wrote:

Maybe expand the topic to include worldwide protests? This has spread well past the borders of the US.

Good point, though I'm not as familiar with how other places are reacting.

The National Guard was deployed to my suburb last night at the fancy outlet mall; I'm guessing it was more about its easy access to major roads than anything related to protecting property. You know what worries me more than potential looting? Heavily-armed troops who have zero training in policing, and who are, in fact, trained to kill people.

Giving military troops live ammunition for protests is a goddamn insane move. Expected, but insane.

I moved this question from the other thread: Is donating to bail providing charities worth doing if we feel like that's our only good way to support others right now? We made a small donation to https://www.nwcombailfund.org/

I dont know anything about bail fund charities but I know that the bail / pre-trial jail system is engineered to punish the poor and donating may help those arrested for protesting right now.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

The National Guard was deployed to my suburb last night at the fancy outlet mall; I'm guessing it was more about its easy access to major roads than anything related to protecting property. You know what worries me more than potential looting? Heavily-armed troops who have zero training in policing, and who are, in fact, trained to kill people.

Giving military troops live ammunition for protests is a goddamn insane move. Expected, but insane.

Gov. Walz, a MN National Guard veteran, acknowledged that today at a news conference. He said it is, and should be, terrifying to see the military on our streets in a democracy when they are not providing disaster relief.

Me: There should be no blurred line between peace keepers and the military. Mobilization of the NG for security against their own citizens should be an absolute last resort. The militarization of our police forces needs to stop.

I fully expect things to be worse by Wednesday here even though I don't think the military has been called up yet. All it is going to take is one of the States where the military has been called to open fire or overstep and suddenly even States that have only had minor protests are going to explode.

My gut says that the majority of people in my area are "shielded" (ie white in mostly white neighborhoods) from this. But enough people are angry that any military action may cause this to pop.

It's been fifty years and one month since the National Guard shot unarmed protesters at Kent State and I worry that nothing has changed since then.

Courier Journal: 'My son didn't hurt nobody:' David McAtee, Louisville business owner, killed by authorities

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — David McAtee, the owner of a barbecue business in western Louisville, was shot and killed by law enforcement officers early Monday morning, an incident that's now under state and local police investigation.

McAtee was known as a "community pillar," said his mother, Odessa Riley.

"He left a great legend behind. He was a good person. Everybody around him would say that," she said. "My son didn't hurt nobody. He didn't do nothing to nobody."

Thanks for starting a new thread

Leaked call from a White House / governors call. He comes off as a complete lunatic during most of it. Ranting constantly about “dominating” the public.

Gremlin wrote:

It's been fifty years and one month since the National Guard shot unarmed protesters at Kent State and I worry that nothing has changed since then.

You're right, in that even that probably wouldn't have been such a big deal if the victims were black. That part is still the case.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Heavily-armed troops who have zero training in policing, and who are, in fact, trained to kill people.

So... the police?

I've been thinking about the scant descriptions of this that have come out so far: even if you're being fired on as a police officer, you should never fire indiscriminately into a crowd. Take cover and find out where the f*cking shots are coming from.

The reference to Kent St. above is apt, since one of the justifications was that the troops were under fire from a "sniper." That's 99% ridiculous. But even if it's true, it makes no sense to fire into an unarmed group of students who, at worst, are being used as human shields by said sniper.

Our police training and culture in this country are so f*cking broken.

Downtown Louisville is like 10th to 1st Street, and a couple blocks east. They had no business all the way west on 26th. Makes no sense.

Trump talked to Putin today before the governors, if you're wondering where he gets his ideas.

DSGamer wrote:

Leaked call from a White House / governors call. He comes off as a complete lunatic during most of it. Ranting constantly about “dominating” the public.

He sounded exactly like a drunk, Fox News-watching uncle at Thanksgiving dinner.

DSGamer wrote:

Leaked call from a White House / governors call. He comes off as a complete lunatic during most of it. Ranting constantly about “dominating” the public.

@14:45, the reference to "the battlespace" by the Secretary of Defense is extremely disturbing. An earlier comment said it would be an intelligence-driven response. I'm well aware of the political composition of most three letter agencies, but I'd hope the rank and file would refuse to violate prohibitions about using intelligence assets on US soil against US citizens.

peanut3141 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Leaked call from a White House / governors call. He comes off as a complete lunatic during most of it. Ranting constantly about “dominating” the public.

@14:45, the reference to "the battlespace" by the Secretary of Defense is extremely disturbing. An earlier comment said it would be an intelligence-driven response. I'm well aware of the political composition of most three letter agencies, but I'd hope the rank and file would refuse to violate prohibitions about using intelligence assets on US soil against US citizens.

@24:30, Minnesota governor advises Trump to remind people the National Guard aren't an occupying force, but their neighbors deployed to help. Trump responds by saying he wishes there was an occupying force. Those 30 seconds could make an unedited campaign ad.

The Guardian: Private autopsy of Floyd finds he died of asphyxiation

The family of George Floyd has had a private autopsy performed on his body, with pathologists concluding that the cause of death was asphyxiation from sustained pressure.
peanut3141 wrote:

Those 30 seconds could make an unedited campaign ad.

I think that about a lot of actions and statements.

peanut3141 wrote:

Trump responds by saying he wishes there was an occupying force. Those 30 seconds could make an unedited campaign ad.

When Trump wanted US to be less involved in foreign wars, it seems like he had another war in mind.

This whole thing is completely insane. It is a terrible that looting and destruction is happening, but also somewhat to be expected when all other more sensible options have been taken away.

Stele wrote:

Downtown Louisville is like 10th to 1st Street, and a couple blocks east. They had no business all the way west on 26th. Makes no sense.

WLKY: Black restaurant owner dies in shooting as police dispersed crowd in Louisville

WLKY wrote:

Louisville Chief Steve Conrad went to the scene shortly after it happened to give details. He said the incident happened around 12:15 a.m. in the parking lot of Dino's Food Mart, located at 26th and Broadway. We're told McAtee owns a nearby restaurant: Yaya's BBQ.

Cnorad said LMPD and the National Guard were breaking up a large group there when someone fired a shot at them. Law enforcement then returned fire, police said.

The governor said he has heard the crowd at that food mart was not demonstrating at the time, but police responded because they were violating curfew.

NiemanLab: U.S. police have attacked journalists at least 100 times in the past four days
“Although in some incidents it is possible the journalists were hit or affected accidentally, in the majority of the cases we have recorded the journalists are clearly identifiable as press, and it is clear that they are being deliberately targeted.”

FiveThirtyEight: De-escalation Keeps Protesters And Police Safer. Departments Respond With Force Anyway.

This are getting real even off the beaten track. Raleigh has instituted a hard curfew without an end date.

(also poke to follow)

NBC journalist on Twitter:

@CalNBC wrote:

Mayor of #Louisville: The body cameras of those involved in the shooting last night that killed David McAtee were NOT active.

The Chief of Police has been relieved.

@CalNBC wrote:

2 LMPD officers & 2 National guardsmen returned fire in the incident.

peanut3141 wrote:
peanut3141 wrote:

@14:45, the reference to "the battlespace" by the Secretary of Defense is extremely disturbing. An earlier comment said it would be an intelligence-driven response. I'm well aware of the political composition of most three letter agencies, but I'd hope the rank and file would refuse to violate prohibitions about using intelligence assets on US soil against US citizens.

@24:30, Minnesota governor advises Trump to remind people the National Guard aren't an occupying force, but their neighbors deployed to help. Trump responds by saying he wishes there was an occupying force. Those 30 seconds could make an unedited campaign ad.

@50:30, Trump calls for retribution, which will of course lead to further escalation. I don't recommend listening to this entire call, but that's an encapsulation of his desire to dominate and remove the protestors. He never once mentions the presence of peaceful protestors or acknowledges their constitutional right to protest, despite many governors asserting they are in the majority and the return of calm to the protests after deploying the national guard to deter violence.

@51:40, JB Pritzker (Gov Illinois) attempts to call Trump out on his inflammatory rhetoric and asks him to call for calm, peaceful protests. Trump pretends to have compassion for "Officer Floyd" while mostly talking about Coronavirus and our "wonderful rocket launch".

Off-topic, he tweets too much. He repeatedly refers to hitting #2 on the phone to get in the queue to talk as "hashtag 2".

That is all. I have no idea why I listened to this entire thing. I'm probably just a sucker for behind-the-scenes content.

So I guess add "out after curfew to the list...

IMAGE(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/83011573_10158072151317347_6430050982574424064_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_sid=110474&_nc_ohc=nhhs-6k35jcAX98Fb3O&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=77419cba194164fb4e970d2fca523fe2&oe=5EFBB42F)

Gremlin wrote:

NBC journalist on Twitter:

@CalNBC wrote:

Mayor of #Louisville: The body cameras of those involved in the shooting last night that killed David McAtee were NOT active.

The Chief of Police has been relieved.

About damn time. I believe I mentioned that in the other thread he was out of credibility after lying all weekend.

1. We lost Iraq and Afghanistan.

2. See above.

3. Let's see how tough Tom Cotton is when EFPs start showing up on his morning commute. (This is an oblique reference to Iran's highly effective assymetric warfare programs, not a direct threat against a US senator.)

peanut3141 wrote:

Trump responds by saying he wishes there was an occupying force. Those 30 seconds could make an unedited campaign ad.

Yeah, by both sides.

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