All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[worstblogever]

This anecdote out of Minneapolis last night:

Tonight the Minneapolis Police Department
Opened fire on our first aid station with no regard for the wounded people we had inside.

We were treating the 100% PEACEFUL protestors adults and teens who had come in with rubber bullet wounds, falls, scrapes and gashes, and mace/tear gas exposure when they marched in and began firing at us.

We put our hands up.
We shouted that we were first aid and were trying to help injured
We shouted we had hurt people inside that could not walk.
Nurses, Medics, EMTs walked out in front and Identfied themselves.

They fired gas, paint, and rubber bullets into us like it was Call of Duty.
I was hit multiple times with my hands up before it became to much to take and I had to run with everyone else.

A young man who had hurt his leg and couldn’t run was almost trampled by people
fleeing the shots.
Some medics and myself grabbed him, put him in a wheeled office chair and started running him out of the #firstaid station while they fired rubber bullets into my back.

We got him into a random car as gas and more bullets rained down on us. I was pulled away by the crowd as a van full of cops came through and began shooting at us as we fled.

More gas
More rubber bullets

I ran as fast as I could until the finally stopped chasing us.
Finding my way to a friends basement nearby where the rest of my team had fled to.

While we hid
A young couple was also trying to leave to protests.
They turned a corner and the police officers hit them with their high powered flash light and then shot this girl directly in the face.

Random protestors formed a shield around them as the young man picked her up and ran.
By the sheer grace of God they managed to stumble to the door of the place we were hiding in and were rushed down to the basement.

We frantically cleared a dirty laundry table as our AMAZING, FANTASTIC, BRAVE, SELFLESS, SUPERWOMAN Nurse (Ashley Huber who is a straight up medical GODESS) scavenged all the supplies we had managed to keep on us to treat this girl the best she could and probably saved her eye.

We are now huddled in the dark
Waiting for curfew to lift to get her the further help she needs
Because not a living soul in this probably traumatized group of civilians is going to call 911
After ambulances have repeatedly ignored our calls and the police are the ones who shot the small unarmed girl in the first place.
(EDIT: even if we wanted to try and get her to the hospital ourselves the Police SLASHED THE TIRES OF THE TRUCK WE USED TO GET HERE)

So while I wait for sunrise
I would like to let everybody know
That if you open your mouth about how “those people” need to peacefully protest
Covid-19 or not
I’m going to get into your personal space.

MY team
Were warriors for justice tonight
The Minneapolis, police department
Shot a small brown skinned girl in the face because she was outside and upset that they murdered a black in broad day light in front of people begging them to stop.

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[XPac]

Yesterday, watching the news in TV, one person who was interviewed suggested defunding the Police. Saying that instead of paying Police, the monsy shoudl go into community programs.

Okay, I understand the hostile feelings towards the police, but what do you do when there is a real need for them? Without police, wouldn't that just leave the door open to all sorts of unchecked crime?

I think there has to be a middle ground, starting with changing the recruiting, training, and cultural mindset of the Police nation wide.

We need police. That goes without question. Plenty of good they do on a daily basis which can't be ignored, even taking all the bad into consideration.

If police aren't operating in an acceptable manner, then if anything we need more money funneled into police programs for better training and more oversight.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It sounds extreme but honestly I think something like this IS necessary to end the entrenched systemic racism. And root out the racists in civil service. Outside parties not tied to the unions or beholden to the departments themselves. We wouldn't have known there were 18 complaints against Chauvin prior to him Killing George Floyd.

Derek Chauvin in custody; other 3 Minneapolis officers lie low

They don't police themselves, the known racism isn't an automatic disqualifier for the job like it should be. Changes to recruiting and training, racial bias etc are one step. But, anyone can fake going through that and still get these jobs.




Trump loves this. Look at all the news coverage and headlines now compared to before George Floyds murder. Coronoavirus death toll, government inaction isn't the main headline. The completely inept response was hitting his poll numbers than anything else. But now race wars and mass destruction riles up his base they have the old narrative that "liberal cities" are crime ridden and will bring that to the rest of the country if you elect more dems.

Yeah, you’re right. However, I tend to think this might end up being a dead cat bounce. COVID-19 is still out there and isn’t going away, the country is still in the middle of a pandemic, and god only knows how many scores of new cases will sprout up like weeds after yesterday, adding to Trump’s already obscene butcher‘s bill. Coronavirus won’t be something he can escape from, no matter how hard he tries to change the narrative.

[Mister Mets]

No reason it can't be both.

You can be against corrupt police officers AND be against violent rioters commiting crimes during a pandemic. There's more than enough stupid to go around.

This is true.

I value black llives over property

its not acceptable for Kaepernick to kneel

its not acceptable for Beyonce to performer her protest at the Super Bowl

its not acceptable for Obama to address systemic racism in Selma

then WHAT THE F IS ACCEPTABLE?

What would you consider acceptable for people taking a stance on a different topic?

White people need to learn that actions have consequences.

Racial essentialism is not going to help minorities.

I wish I was so open minded that I could just sit back and be okay with people destroying my lively hood and taking away my ability to feed my family and pay my bills.

Yeah, that standard is not a good look.

[PaulBullion]

Biden's national lead over Trump in the ABC News/WaPo poll jumped from 2 points to 10 points. Polling done May 25 to May 28, so the country burning did not play much of a role yet.

[Mister Mets]

Plenty are probably in their homes doing the intelligent thing of shelting in place during a freaking pandemic.

There is that.

How can you support it if you don’t agree with it?

He can think the guy has the right to do it, even if he doesn't think it's a great idea to use the national anthem as a platform for political issues.

In addition to all of this a Native American youth center/tech school for radio, was burned down during the riots when a post office was set on fire.
https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/05...-community.asp

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/...wkizbyGCkwZ-lg

No one in the news has covered this.

That's messed up.

In some places the police need a little defunding. In Minneapolis, the police department takes up 36% of the city budget, making it the 9th most bloated police budget in the country (as a % of the total city budget). Chicago is #2 at 40%, and Oakland comes in at 41%. Imagine over those cities only spent 20% or under, and used the savings to improve the infrastructure where it was needed most.

New York City, which is I am pretty sure has the biggest city police force in the country, only spends 8% of the city budget on the police department.

One problem is that widespread assault and looting is going to leave the impression that the police are doing dangerous work in a difficult environment.

[kidfresh512]

Protesters in some cities target Confederate monuments

Now I can get behind tearing that **** down. Not a Target or someone's small business. These racist monuments that they protect so hard and people have sued and tried all legal means to get taken down but they are still up.

break all that ****

[XPac]

Protesters in some cities target Confederate monuments

Now I can get behind tearing that **** down. Not a Target or someone's small business. These racist monuments that they protect so hard and people have sued and tried all legal means to get taken down but they are still up.

break all that ****

Though I don't personally condone destroying public property this at least makes sense. It doesn't hurt anyone and does directly address the message you are trying to convey. This is WAAAY better than destroying some innocent persons small business. And you know the intent is right... these aren't people just committing crimes so they can get free stuff like the idiots looting the stores.

[Tami]

Newark’s peaceful protests of George Floyd’s death draw on lessons from city’s history

He was only 9 at the time, but Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose can still remember the rioting sparked by police brutality against a black man in 1967 that left 26 people dead and the city scarred for decades.

When plans were announced for a protest Saturday in Newark over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, Ambrose said he couldn’t dismiss the memory of what happened in Newark a half century ago.

“It did cross my mind,” he acknowledged late Saturday night, after hours of primarily peaceful protesting in Newark and in several other cities around New Jersey.

Thousands of protestors took to Newark’s streets, many venting anger and frustration with choruses of “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace!” The few incidents, including a flag burning, the spray painting of a statue of George Washington, and the slating of tires on a Newark police vehicle, stood in contrast to looting, fires and violence in other major cities.

At least 13 police officers were injured in Philadelphia when peaceful protests turned violent and at least four police vehicles were set on fire. In New York City, dangerous confrontations flared repeatedly as officers made arrests and cleared streets.

[MiddleMan]

both the Market House in Fayetteville and the Daughters of Confederacy building in Richmond caught fire

Good

slaves were bought and sold at the Market House and the Daughters of the Confederacy is a representation of the Lost Cause Narrative and that can go too

[Mister Mets]

There are for radical elements that use these protests for their own goals. Look at Minnesota where most of the people arrested were from out of state. I am sure that some of the white people in the crowd that are helping rile up the crowd are white supremacists trying to make things worse. It upsets em that an important message is getting lost.

Most of those arrested have Minnesota addresses.

The overwhelming majority of people arrested in connection with the Minneapolis unrest have Minnesota addresses, a search of the online Hennepin County Jail log shows.

Of the 45 people arrested for rioting, unlawful assembly, stolen property, burglary or robbery on May 29 and May 30 so far, 38 had Minnesota addresses, according to publicly available jail records reviewed by FOX 9.

Six had out-of-state addresses, and one person didn't have address information listed.

City and state officials have repeatedly said over the past day that most rioters are from out of state. Gov. Tim Walz said Saturday morning that as many as 80 percent of the people were outsiders.

The 45 people reviewed by FOX 9 were arrested by Minneapolis Police, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, University of Minnesota Police, or Minnesota State Patrol.

A searchable jail roster is available online.

Speaking Saturday, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder, however, said that sometimes people arrested will provide false information. He says background checks are showing some people arrested have records from other areas.

Meanwhile, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is backtracking after saying that 100 percent of the people arrested for causing disorder in his city Friday were from out of state.

Three-quarters of the people arrested in St. Paul had Minnesota addresses, according to data provided to FOX 9 by police.

Of the 18 total arrests, 12 had Minnesota addresses, four were from out of state, and two were unknown.

Saturday evening, Carter acknowledged his earlier statement was inaccurate.

[babyblob]

Most of those arrested have Minnesota addresses.

I stand corrected. I just was going off of what Cnn was reporting and the statements from St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. If I am wrong I am sorry for spreading misinformation.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Newark’s peaceful protests of George Floyd’s death draw on lessons from city’s history

Well, I'm glad somebody got it right and a city came out of last night's madness unscathed.

[Jack Dracula]

If you’d actually listen to why we’re doing what we’re doing, you’d know that Target was rooted against because it denied protestors who were unfairly maxed water for their eyes. The goods were later distributed to the entire community. They are burning down slave monuments, police precincts, all institutions of violent racism.

And the looters are leaving the expensive electronic equipment and jewelry alone because taking that would be theft right?

There were several protests under the Obama administration but they weren't widespread nor so chaotic as what we've seen these two days. I remember Obama was unifying the nation during those protests. I don't see trump doing that. I see trump doing the opposite. I can't help but wonder if these riots wouldn't be like this if we had a different president.

Trump is a psychopath surrounded by political opportunists. Of course he's going to take this in the wrong direction and use it to gin up his redneck base. Frankly, I'm surprised we aren't seeing armed volunteers out there protecting the white house.

Yesterday, watching the news in TV, one person who was interviewed suggested defunding the Police. Saying that instead of paying Police, the monsy shoudl go into community programs.

Okay, I understand the hostile feelings towards the police, but what do you do when there is a real need for them? Without police, wouldn't that just leave the door open to all sorts of unchecked crime?

I think there has to be a middle ground, starting with changing the recruiting, training, and cultural mindset of the Police nation wide.

This. The solution comes down to oversight and training. Police training is paid for with taxpayer money. Training programs should be approved by a joint committee of community volunteers and Police administration.
We obviously can't trust the Police to mind their own store. If that were so, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Protesters in some cities target Confederate monuments

Now I can get behind tearing that **** down. Not a Target or someone's small business. These racist monuments that they protect so hard and people have sued and tried all legal means to get taken down but they are still up.

break all that ****

Copy that.

[babyblob]

If you’d actually listen to why we’re doing what we’re doing, you’d know that Target was rooted against because it denied protestors who were unfairly maxed water for their eyes. The goods were later distributed to the entire community. They are burning down slave monuments, police precincts, all institutions of violent racism.

So if they were denied water then looting the Target for water. is understandable but People were walking out with shopping carts worth of goods. Is that white guy on video who is stealing a Star Wars shirt going to use said shirt to clean the eyes of protesters? Or the man with two boxes of shoes under each arm. And unless I miss something Target is not an institution of violent racism.