I see people often asking why the protests have often devolved into angry, chaotic displays but it doesn't seem they want to consider the actions of the police in it. The mainstream media is doing all they can to spin a "law and order" narrative that glorifies the police as showing "great restraint" and portrays them as the victim due to being "outnumbered", despite being heavily armored with gas masks and heavily armed, while the vast majority of protesters wear regular street clothes with no protection from the gas, mace and projectiles shot at us. (Naomi Klein has made a salient point that using tear gas and mace on thousands of people during a pandemic spread through mucus membrane fluids qualifies as biological warfare.)
But the truth is out there, mostly on social media as everyday people around the nation share their reports, footage and pictures. I myself can attest that the mainstream narrative is not the reality as I saw a peaceful protest on Saturday devolve into a running battle through the street as the cops chased us down and terrorized us with "non-lethal" means which were still quite torturous, cause serious injuries and are panic-inducing (tear gas, mace, shooting projectiles at us, the use of a sound cannon and just straight up assault on non-violent protesters). I saw teens gassed and maced point blank in the face. A black Congresswoman was maced for trying to intervene in a confrontation. Idealistic young people whose only crime was practicing the great American tradition of non-violent protest for justice and civil disobedience (by being in the street).
Now let's read some takes from around the country:
"In New York City, police pepper-sprayed a black man with his hands in the air in the face at point-blank range. In San Antonio, police shot rubber bullets directly at a bystander filming with his phone. In Las Vegas, the police rushed a crowd of peaceful protestors yelling “Grab anybody!” In Dallas, police shot a teenage woman who was coming home from the grocery store in the face with a rubber bullet. In Minneapolis, the National Guard fired paint canisters at residents on their front porches after yelling “Light them up!” In Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, and Lakeland, Ohio, police plowed into protestors with their cars.
In Chicago, a police officer brandished his baton at a protestor and called him a “*****” and a “****ing ******.” In Philadelphia, police tackled and knelt on a black man while calling him a “*****.” In Dallas, the police shot a black man in the eye with a wooden round, injuring him seriously and leaving him bleeding profusely on the pavement. Seconds later the officers were heard laughing and singing “America, **** yeah.” In New York City, a police officer flashed a racist right-wing hand symbol. In Cincinnati, police officers lowered an American flag and replaced it with a “thin blue line” flag.
In Atlanta, two black non-protestors were driving home when police pepper sprayed and tased them, dragged them from their cars, and arrested them. In Denver, police shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at passing cars; when one man stepped out of his car and told them that his pregnant girlfriend was inside, they opened fire on the car. In Austin, the police shot a pregnant black woman in the abdomen with a bean bag round. She doubled over on the ground and screamed, “My baby! My baby!”
In Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities across America, the police aimed their fire at journalists who were clearly marked as and had verbally identified themselves as press. In Brooklyn, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia, the police attacked medics who announced themselves as medics, some of whom were in the process of tending to protesters’ wounds. In Columbus, police pepper sprayed Joyce Beatty, a black member of Congress, who was attempting to deescalate a confrontation. Police across the country demonstrated blatant racial bias in choosing who to arrest.
In New York City, Orlando, and Portland, Oregon police posed for sentimental photographs, kneeling before protestors in a press-friendly gesture of benevolence — before unleashing violence on protestors hours later. In Omaha, the police trampled over sitting protestors. In Erie, a police officer violently kicked a sitting protestor. In Salt Lake City, the police shoved an elderly man who walked with a cane and couldn’t hear commands to the ground. In New York City, a police officer walking by a woman shoved her so hard that when she fell it caused her to have a seizure.
In Washington, DC, the police fired tear gas canisters directly at the heads and faces of protestors on multiple occasions. Denver police fired rubber bullets directly into protestors’ faces, causing gruesome injuries. In La Mesa, California, a middle-aged black woman was shot in the face with a rubber bullet; the projectile lodged deep between her eyes, sending her to the ICU.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the police shot a white protestor in the eye with a tear gas canister. He is now blind in that eye. In Minneapolis, a photojournalist was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet. She is now blind in that eye.
In Louisville on Sunday, law enforcement shot and killed David “Yaya” McAtee, known around his neighborhood as “the BBQ man” because he made and sold barbecue there from a stand.
“Where he was killed is the neighborhood I grew up in. He was a fixture of the community,” says Robert LeVertis Bell, a candidate for Louisville Metro Council and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. The police or National Guard, it’s still unclear which, shot into the crowd after they received incoming fire, authorities say. But “if anybody shot at the police, it wasn’t him,” explains Bell. “He was just coming home from work.”
Louisville is the same city where Breonna Taylor was killed in March. Louisville police shot Taylor, a black woman, eight times in her own home while looking for drugs. People in Louisville have been protesting Taylor’s death since before the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked uprisings across the country. McAtee’s death is yet another catalyst, adding fuel to the fire.
“There have been tons of protests across the city. I’ve been at several that were peaceful, and police out of nowhere just started attacking people,” says Bell. “Everything they’ve done at every turn seems to have escalated the conflict and the violence.”
Make no mistake, the police are the ones rioting. And they’re doing so with impunity."
This Weekend, Police Responded to Protests Against Police Violence With Even More Wantonly Brutal Violence
Make your choice as to which side of history you personally want to be on.
But the truth is out there, mostly on social media as everyday people around the nation share their reports, footage and pictures. I myself can attest that the mainstream narrative is not the reality as I saw a peaceful protest on Saturday devolve into a running battle through the street as the cops chased us down and terrorized us with "non-lethal" means which were still quite torturous, cause serious injuries and are panic-inducing (tear gas, mace, shooting projectiles at us, the use of a sound cannon and just straight up assault on non-violent protesters). I saw teens gassed and maced point blank in the face. A black Congresswoman was maced for trying to intervene in a confrontation. Idealistic young people whose only crime was practicing the great American tradition of non-violent protest for justice and civil disobedience (by being in the street).
Now let's read some takes from around the country:
"In New York City, police pepper-sprayed a black man with his hands in the air in the face at point-blank range. In San Antonio, police shot rubber bullets directly at a bystander filming with his phone. In Las Vegas, the police rushed a crowd of peaceful protestors yelling “Grab anybody!” In Dallas, police shot a teenage woman who was coming home from the grocery store in the face with a rubber bullet. In Minneapolis, the National Guard fired paint canisters at residents on their front porches after yelling “Light them up!” In Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, and Lakeland, Ohio, police plowed into protestors with their cars.
In Chicago, a police officer brandished his baton at a protestor and called him a “*****” and a “****ing ******.” In Philadelphia, police tackled and knelt on a black man while calling him a “*****.” In Dallas, the police shot a black man in the eye with a wooden round, injuring him seriously and leaving him bleeding profusely on the pavement. Seconds later the officers were heard laughing and singing “America, **** yeah.” In New York City, a police officer flashed a racist right-wing hand symbol. In Cincinnati, police officers lowered an American flag and replaced it with a “thin blue line” flag.
In Atlanta, two black non-protestors were driving home when police pepper sprayed and tased them, dragged them from their cars, and arrested them. In Denver, police shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at passing cars; when one man stepped out of his car and told them that his pregnant girlfriend was inside, they opened fire on the car. In Austin, the police shot a pregnant black woman in the abdomen with a bean bag round. She doubled over on the ground and screamed, “My baby! My baby!”
In Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities across America, the police aimed their fire at journalists who were clearly marked as and had verbally identified themselves as press. In Brooklyn, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia, the police attacked medics who announced themselves as medics, some of whom were in the process of tending to protesters’ wounds. In Columbus, police pepper sprayed Joyce Beatty, a black member of Congress, who was attempting to deescalate a confrontation. Police across the country demonstrated blatant racial bias in choosing who to arrest.
In New York City, Orlando, and Portland, Oregon police posed for sentimental photographs, kneeling before protestors in a press-friendly gesture of benevolence — before unleashing violence on protestors hours later. In Omaha, the police trampled over sitting protestors. In Erie, a police officer violently kicked a sitting protestor. In Salt Lake City, the police shoved an elderly man who walked with a cane and couldn’t hear commands to the ground. In New York City, a police officer walking by a woman shoved her so hard that when she fell it caused her to have a seizure.
In Washington, DC, the police fired tear gas canisters directly at the heads and faces of protestors on multiple occasions. Denver police fired rubber bullets directly into protestors’ faces, causing gruesome injuries. In La Mesa, California, a middle-aged black woman was shot in the face with a rubber bullet; the projectile lodged deep between her eyes, sending her to the ICU.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the police shot a white protestor in the eye with a tear gas canister. He is now blind in that eye. In Minneapolis, a photojournalist was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet. She is now blind in that eye.
In Louisville on Sunday, law enforcement shot and killed David “Yaya” McAtee, known around his neighborhood as “the BBQ man” because he made and sold barbecue there from a stand.
“Where he was killed is the neighborhood I grew up in. He was a fixture of the community,” says Robert LeVertis Bell, a candidate for Louisville Metro Council and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. The police or National Guard, it’s still unclear which, shot into the crowd after they received incoming fire, authorities say. But “if anybody shot at the police, it wasn’t him,” explains Bell. “He was just coming home from work.”
Louisville is the same city where Breonna Taylor was killed in March. Louisville police shot Taylor, a black woman, eight times in her own home while looking for drugs. People in Louisville have been protesting Taylor’s death since before the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked uprisings across the country. McAtee’s death is yet another catalyst, adding fuel to the fire.
“There have been tons of protests across the city. I’ve been at several that were peaceful, and police out of nowhere just started attacking people,” says Bell. “Everything they’ve done at every turn seems to have escalated the conflict and the violence.”
Make no mistake, the police are the ones rioting. And they’re doing so with impunity."
This Weekend, Police Responded to Protests Against Police Violence With Even More Wantonly Brutal Violence
Make your choice as to which side of history you personally want to be on.
Last edited:
. But I won't protest because it scares me to death that someone in the group or multiple people will for real misbehave, then the cops will use it as an excuse to punish the group.
