Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

(I had an Ativan 0.5mg prn Rx for a while, which barely did anything but it did enough.)

probably not the best hijack of this thread though

White Cops On Ativan

George Floyd's family is leading a peaceful rally & march tomorrow afternoon in Houston.

What
The
Fuck

Even more proof that the cops are not helping the situation. I got this video from someone on Twitter pic.twitter.com/5SNgnnzNfx

— Cassie (@Cass_is_boring) June 2, 2020

i don't understand what's happening in that video

the people taking it think they are seeing cops unloading bricks and they don't know why

The people shooting the video can be heard saying that they think the bricks are for undercover cops, who can go among the protesters and throw them, to justify arrests. But based on that video alone it's impossible to say what the bricks are for, or even if the two guys are cops. They have some kind of symbols in their shirt shoulders that might indicate police, but the video is shot from too far to see any details.

Sounds like philly was kinda bad last night

Reports of a basement fire and lighter fluid found at an apartment building across the street from me last night. Seemingly the entire national guard arrived with the fire truck.

oops meant to put that in the Minnesota thread

One of my coworkers that lives not too far from Wrigley Field shared an email from someone who lives in her building who watched a car full of guys idle in their alley before stashing two full cans of gasoline in the dumpster behind their building. Luckily they found the gas and were able to dispose of them, but doesn't sound like anyone caught the guys.

gotta say there is a pretty stark difference between Twitter, which is full of videos of the police clearly and blatantly instigating shit against peaceful protestors, and Facebook, which is mostly people whining about ANTIFA and posting long screeds about how "looting won't fix anything"

Riots are by nature confusing and everyone is seizing upon them in order to push their own narrative. No one knows who is "behind" the destruction because multiple groups are.

Here is what is known: there is an unacceptable degree of violence perpetrated by the police in the United States, disproportionately against black people. Any push for reform is rejected forecfully by the cops, who become more antisocial and reactionary. Also, this past week, the cops have been brutalizing peaceful protesters on numerous occasions. And employees of the state, acting in a professional capacity, can be held accountable; anonymous "looters" can't.

I'll bet there are "antifa" assholes setting fires. But, whatever, it's not the root of the problem.

^ this

(xpost to treeship)

(xpost to treeship)

Yup, keyed-up crackers burning and looting small neighborhood businesses, already under unprecedented strain due to a pandemic, where many low-income people and POC work and buy groceries definitely not a problem

^^^

It is *a* problem but is it “antifa” primarily looting? It’s not clear you can pin the looting on any one group but you can pin state violence on the state

IDGAF about looting I’m more concerned about organized arson attempts night after night in residential neighborhoods (the ‘burning’ in Paul’s post)

Of course it’s not fuckin Antifa

anybody can label themselves Antifa, even King Dipshit knows that

It is *a* problem but is it “antifa” primarily looting? It’s not clear you can pin the looting on any one group but you can pin state violence on the state

― treeship., Tuesday, June 2, 2020 10:40 AM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

That's true, and I definitely don't mean to imply that antifa are the ones causing all (or even most?) of the destruction. I was just pointing out that it's definitely not helping, and when all of these assholes, whether they're magas or anarchists or just opportunists from out of town, eventually leave, there is going to need to be some serious rebuilding of communities that were already hovering over the precipice of economic collapse long before anyone outside of obsessive DJ Screw fans (hi) had ever heard of Big Floyd. I guess what I mean is I liked it better when it looked for a minute like they might actually try to occupy the White House instead of doing smash and grabs on local businesses

I feel the same, PP, but the thing that has been established is there is no monolithic "they." Most of the looters in my city are just local kids taking advantage of the situation and have no political agenda. A lot of the violence instigators are out-of-towners or the cops themselves. It's a weird fucked up complicated situation.

London went through something a bit like this in 2011 (cops execute black man -> riots, burning etc) and iirc the smart analysis was that much of the looting and burning was heinous and terrible because it was indiscriminate, but that we as a nation definitely had it coming. wonder if that'll be the long-term view here

I think it's too much to credit us with the capability of forming long-term views about anything.

We've had ample opportunities to learn this lesson already.

My friend who was arrested was shoved to the ground, which ripped her mask. She and her fellow protesters were told they could get new ones as they were being arrested. Then as they did, upon being loaded into the van, were told gruffly by the officer "eh, you weren't distancing anyway", before he slammed the door on them.

Later on, a less dick-ish officer gave them some.

I do gaf about the looting, writ large, because at least locally the looting has been a locus of violence before the cops even arrive. That is, of the two shootings in the last day or so near me, cops responded *to* the shots fired. They were not shots fired in response to cops. I've also seen reports/threats of the same looters going to houses, assaulting people on the street, etc. There is some small element of the protests turning to looting, but there is also by every indication organized caravan looting that is causing another, parallel layer of chaos. But I would not be shocked if the police/government/whomever are not making any distinction between the groups. .

complicating the comparison to London '11 is the fact that while kettling and other crudely suppressive police tactics were used around that time, you didn't have a militarised police really actively escalating things into a near-battleground situation

or at least, not to remotely this extent

Wait, why are we taking about Antifa looting? Does anyone have even a shred of evidence for this? It sounds like right wing disinfo creep.

Vandalizing/damaging property, antagonizing/confronting cops, yes. Not sure what “looting” has to do w Antifa and really disappointed to see this notion getting parroted here.

It's this. Treeship putting Antifa in quotes for a discussion.

I'll bet there are "antifa" assholes setting fires. But, whatever, it's not the root of the problem.

― treeship., Tuesday, 2 June 2020 bookmarkflaglink

btw before you all have me down as a square and an enemy btw i would like to pledge my allegiance to smartly-targeted acts of vandalism both symbolic and functional

btw

Btw, imago pushing the same line as Maitlis re. UK police aren't as bad as the US just last night (1 min in), and this was a good response.

Part 2: #BlackLivesMatter #Newsnight pic.twitter.com/IVSFR23JhG

— William Kedjanyi (@KeejayOV2) June 1, 2020

obviously the treatment of people esp minorities in custody in the uk is a fucking abomination, i meant the tactics during protests etc

Lol sure

while kettling and other crudely suppressive police tactics were used around that time, you didn't have a militarised police really actively escalating things into a near-battleground situation

Lol sure

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 2 June 2020 bookmarkflaglink

literally nothing i said remotely excused (or even referred to) the treatment of suspects in custody which has always been dreadful. except the bit where i talked of the cops executing mark duggan

anyway, don't become the story etc, just trying to help us all work out which sorts of violent action are fair game rn

I can tell you from ground zero here in Minneapolis is NOT FUCKING ANTIFA, we have neighborhood WhatsApp coordinated watch with over 50 people. The things we are seeing is right wing, white power actors.

For example, last night a man in a large red pickup truck got out and walked around Moto Mart, beard, tats, body armor, large weapon, Call of Duty cosplay.

Hour later fire set behind Moto Mart

Two white people, M/F, Indiana plates parked in alley. Asked where they were from, gave fake address (i.e. could not exist for due to local streets, numbering)

This is happening all over the city.

So Treeship don't "bet" on things you think you know please and further disseminate bad information.

Ask people who are here.

Trump & the right say it's Antifa therefore "Antifa is doing the looting" is all over the news right now

well, more than which actions are fair game - which actions are good ideas that will advance the cause

and yeah of course bad-actor opportunism is making everything murkier

Now that Minnesota Freedom Fund is pausing donations, where is $$$ most urgently needed

I know many people in many neighborhood watch groups all over this city, literally no one is worried about Antifa, everyone is looking white redneck dude, trucks, SUVs with no plates or out of state plates

Simon thanks!

Yes so Reclaim the Block is a great org but believe they have said that they don't need anymore.

We Love Lake Street is a great org, in the community and is helping rebuild and local charities

HOWEVER

I will say that there has been overwhelming generosity towards South Minneapolis and perhaps consider donating to the Northside (Minneapolis largest African American neighborhood) they have had less rioting but are traditionally the most neglected part of this city and have been the victim of very targeted firebombing of black owned business

Unsurprisingly, their fundraising is lagging

Here's a great North Minneapolis and black owned business community org:

https://giving.onecause.com/public/02ad4737-2285-4ad2-91c6-95cd66b423bf/fundraisers/c60e5030-69ce-4853-8b11-4727da5054ad/donate

I apologize for not making a distinction between "looting" and "vandalism and property damage," which are obviously different things, but either way, I hope these small businesses have insurance, because while I assume broken windows don't cost as much as lost inventory, it still costs something and I'm not sure a lot of these mom and pop shops will have the disposable income to deal with this right now (or ever). Probably a little sensitive to it as someone who has in my youth worked retail in such places and who knows how something as minor as a small leak in the ceiling can wreak financial havoc when margins are already razor thin. To be clear, I'm not talking about Target or Wal Mart, who are insured up the wazoo (and may even actually profit from damages), and fuck them anyway

ums, other Minnesota residents, how are you doing?

Sending my best