2020 Protests megathread

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/alex_zee/status/1266612805005762561

Although naturally we have yet to see the unrest growing into smaller Metro Areas in "Downstate Oregon", there a few observations IMHO.

https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/05/29/portland-protesters-set-justice-center-on-fire-police-deploy-flash-bangs-tear-gas/

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/05/protest-escalates-at-downtown-portland-justice-center.html

https://twitter.com/KATUNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

1.) It appears based upon the original starting points of the Demos that they originated in the most historically African-American parts of the City (North Portland & Inner NE Portland).

2.) Naturally, just as in Managua and San Salvador in the Revolutionary Movements, streams of demonstrators merged the closer that they got to downtown areas.

3.) Although Mass Transit and Light Rail services have been heavily curtailed as a result of COVID-19 protections, this does not prevent protesters from migrating towards Downtown Portland.

4.) Portland, Oregon much like Minneapolis has a supposed "hipster vibe" that white-washes the history of racism and police violence against minority populations...

5.) Even "Leftist" Demonstrations until recent years have been faced with rubber bullets and tear gas, even a peaceful gathering at the North Park Blocks in West Portland in the early '00s that caused massive changes within the PDX Police Mgmt Chain, not to mention City Council and Mayoral Elections.

6.) Since the early '00s, the Portland Police Department and City Gvt has gone a long way forward from where the City was way back in the days...

7.) Massive increase of unemployment, homelessness, and an increasingly unaffordable living structure accentuates these grievances, despite the massive improvements of the performance of the Portland Police Department over the past two decades.

8.) Many large major Metro Areas such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, etc... are being faced with a massive invasion of what back in the mid '80s we used to call "Yuppie Scum" when I was a Teenager.

Gentrification is real, and believe it or not, when you Atlas folks make choices about where you move and why you move there, sometimes it feeds the bottom swamps of the Real Estate Industry that just want to jack everything up *based upon market value*, because sometimes your choices are part of the problem and not the solution, just like I have observed in Portland over the past 15-20 yrs.

[NOVA Green]

MSNBC's Ali Velshi just reported being fired at by cops with tear gas & bullets unprovoked in MN.

He was coughing from tear gas inhalation from MN SP.

[NOVA Green]

CNN's Ali Velshi just reported being fired at by cops with tear gas & bullets unprovoked in MN.

He was coughing from tear gas inhalation from MN SP.

He's MSNBC.

Got you, was typing it while watching.... sounds like he might have gotten hit by a rubber bullet in the knee or leg as well

[NOVA Green]

Tear gas is being deployed in Fargo right now.

Damn.... there have been likely hundreds of demonstrations throughout the US over the past few days, the overwhelming majority peaceful, and now we are witnessing scenes like this from Fargo, North Dakota???

https://www.kfyrtv.com/content/news/Fargo-police-say-protestors-throwing-rocks-at-officers-tear-gas-deployed-570899471.html?ref=471

[NOVA Green]

I saw reports that Las Vegas and Salt Lake City were also hit with protests, so Nevada and Utah should be colored red as well. Pennsylvania as well, since both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have been hit. By next week, I think every state in the Union will have been hit with protests.

Yeah, it's a bit outdated, but the situation is changing so rapidly.

I was actually starting to work on a project like this a few hours ago....

A few additional updates...

Alaska--- protests in Anchorage & Fairbanks Today (hundreds in Fairbanks, no info yet on Anchorage). Fairbanks peaceful on both sides, no info yet on Anchorage.

Alabama---- Birmingham--- hundreds gathered in a park peacefully on 5/28. Another demo scheduled today, no info yet.

Montgomery--- smaller protest on the State Capitol with DEM lawmakers present.

[NOVA Green]

Arkansas--- Little Rock--- 5/30/20

https://katv.com/news/local/protesters-block-traffic-on-i-630-in-downtown-little-rock

[NOVA Green]

New Mexico---- Albuquerque---  Night of 5/28--- looks like a pretty small protest....


https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/protesters-shout-i-cant-breathe-in-tense-standoff-with-albuquerque-police/5744391/

[NOVA Green]

Meanwhile...

https://twitter.com/JoshuaPotash/status/1266895422397779968

More police departments should do this.
Level-headed leadership at its best.

If true, this is awesome and amazing.

We go from a situation in many communities where police officers were seen as heroes and first responder's at the time of COVID-19, and in many parts of the Country, disproportionately from Minority backgrounds who also experienced high rates of infections.

In my mind there is no question that the militarization of the police force over the past Decade or so, buying surplus hardware from the US Military from the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq, combined with in certain cities a police culture that has covered up the "bad coppers", has helped contribute to the nationalization of the brutal police murder which we also witnessed live (although honestly I can't watch all of the footage, as it is simply too distressing to watch a man die while essentially pleading for his life and his mother).

Obviously the economic collapse as a direct result of Federal Leadership, the failure to properly support communities already suffering, and then through in a President who not only has been AWOL on COVID-19, but even further has been stoking the fires and flames both rhetorically and policy wise when it comes to communities of color, as well as younger populations within America, created a perfect spark at a time where the gasoline was already flowing within many parts of America.

In many ways I believe that the vast majority of protesters throughout the United States do not inherently view Law Enforcement Officers as "the enemy", but rather the symbols of structural oppression....

We need more local Law Enforcement Agencies joining in with peaceful protesters asking for justice, which is something that maybe could rehabilitate the perception in many ways that the "Police Unions" are simply protecting the "perps" and not part of the problem.

It's a tough job, I get it, but that's also part of the reason why we have Unions:

"An Injury to One is an Injury to All".... Militarization of Law Enforcement for whatever reason, including "force protection" generally creates a much deeper gap than Community Based Policing programs (Bit more expensive for sure but it reduces the division between the Officers and those whom they swore to "protect and serve"....

[NOVA Green]

MSNBC's Ali Velshi just reported being fired at by cops with tear gas & bullets unprovoked in MN.

He was coughing from tear gas inhalation from MN SP.

Video was just posted of this.

https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1266920629623681025

It was shocking to watch live... he had been covering the peaceful protest for hours (as he has been for quite a few days).

He's on the news live now... apparently they shouted "we are media" and the Law Enforcement officers responded "we don't care"....

[NOVA Green]

Yet another police assault on a news crew. Why are they targeting the media?

The media is the enemy of the people. They are as guilty as anyone rioting since they are lying in support of it.

If you’re not allowed to be standing in the street, you better gtf outta there. Journalists don’t have any extra rights that the average person isn’t afforded. What makes a CNN reporter immune while the rioters would get thrown into a paddy wagon?

Do we live in a Democracy or in a Totalitarian Banana Republic Dictatorship?

Generally in most cities with active curfews in place, Media still is allowed to move around along with various folks that have "essential work" permits....

[NOVA Green]

When could we expect the other officers to be arrested?

They say that "the wheels of justice move slowly"....

In situations involving law enforcement officers, they move at a relative snail's pace....

In this situation, there was an initial rapid response from the Mayor (firing all four officers potentially exposing the city to unlawful term lawsuits, etc), took a book longer for the DA to actually charge one officer...

Honestly, the cat is already out of the bag, and what in "normal circumstances" might have been considered more of a "local issue" is now nationalized, so quite frankly even if all Four Officers are arrested and charged with murder, I don't think this is going to stop what has been building up for some time throughout the US, especially since the election of DJT.

[NOVA Green]

I hope anyone committing crimes is prosecuted fully. Many will be facing some serious charges....

Those are your basket of deplorables, no better than the abusive cop.

Totally agree, we have three police officer in Minneapolis yet to be charged with whatever the equivalent of accessory to murder charges are within the State of MN.

I don't believe MN has the death penalty, and even the murderer caught live on multiple videos at max will do 25 in the State Pen, assuming he is convicted.

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1266931911445880833

He is in criitical condition.

Governors and Prosecutors need to announce no penalty for shooting looters even in duty to retreat states now !

Thank fcuk this was caught on camera and is now viral.

https://twitter.com/__itweet__/status/1266932987486183426

I hope this is true.

Assuming this story is true, props to the protesters who did the right thing and helped the guy out.

Haven't seen anything like this yet on Dallas TX news, so....

[NOVA Green]

Night #2 in Portland Oregon is just starting....

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/demonstrations-in-downtown-portland-are-underway/283-d48cc706-ad27-4ac3-8540-51cafddcdcdc

[NOVA Green]

Washington State--- Seattle 5/30/20 Update

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-orders-5-pm-curfew-amid-violent-downtown-protests-after-george-floyd-rally/281-61becb1d-f808-4d32-9971-36fe27d57785

[NOVA Green]

Tacoma Washington 5/30/20:

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article243128071.html


Vancouver, Canada 5/30/20:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/george-floyd-protest-vancouver-1.5592178

[NOVA Green]

Per my older brother's Insta story, lots of fires in downtown Indianapolis

Got my nose broken at an anti KKK demo in Indy back in the early '90s (and not by a White Supremacist)....

Rough Midwest Town in a place where the Klan used to march around opening with their hoods and masks as recently as the early '70s.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2020/05/30/indianapolis-police-protests-live-updates-saturday-george-floyd-dreasjon-reed/5295442002/

[NOVA Green]

Portland, Oregon Update:

Looking like possibly a relatively quite night?

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/05/as-curfew-nears-protesters-back-in-downtown-portland-by-thous.html

[NOVA Green]

Bay Area, California Update--- 5/30/20

Still early Tonight on the West Coast....

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/destroyed-property-multiple-arrests-after-george-floyd-protests-in-the-bay-area/2299778/

[NOVA Green]

San Diego Update--- 5/30/20:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLwMPiYnDSM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFX5zbG-dpQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xny4iWsldwM

[NOVA Green]

We haven't seen a post on this thread in some (40) Minutes...

Naturally my assumption is that this is because the vast majority of Atlas is out joining Mass Peaceful Protests within their local communities ??   

Hopefully avoiding injuries if in places where police issue unlawful assembly orders and curfews are in effect.... 

Trying to track the scope of unrest throughout the United States from peaceful protests, peaceful protests where Police Riots started to occur through the use of excessively aggressive police tactics against a relatively small number of protesters in many Cities within the United States, places where intense confrontations occurred with large number of protesters and police, etc....

This is becoming difficult to track, but still working on a spreadsheet trying to cover how extensive the unrest is, and as someone with a background in Political Science & Sociology and Social Movement theory, even trying to "code" protests is becoming extremely problematic, using the traditional data sets we used to use when it comes to a national level of unrest not observed perhaps since '92 most recently after Rodney King....

Naturally the 1970 Student Uprisings after the murders of (4) White Working-Class Students in Kent State, Ohio deserves a special mention, but was generally confined to College Communities....

This isn't yet anywhere near as crazy as the 1968 Uprising after they murdered MLK....

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/P0kes/status/1267230163521191936
Arrest and jail these cops for making an assault on us federal territory

Is that even real??

I know Cinci... and honestly wouldn't be surprised, but also looks like it might be clickbait.

This is a City where the KKK was allowed to put a cross on public property, even when I was living out there in the '90s, which kept getting kicked over or destroyed every few weeks...

[NOVA Green]

Give it two days.

People will be sick of the media coverage, and the Police/National Guard will have better control.

These situations don't achieve the outcome people desire if they loot and burn.

As you are likely aware protests are now going Global...

Sydney, Australia:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8374261/George-Floyd-protests-set-hit-Hyde-Park-Sydney-Australia-week.html

https://7news.com.au/politics/us-violence-not-bringing-change-morrison-c-1071150

CANADA:

Montreal:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/protest-against-anti-black-racism-police-impunity-in-montreal-turns-violent-1.4962769

Toronto:

https://globalnews.ca/video/7008029/regis-korchinski-paquet-death-toronto-protesters-march-in-memoriam-against-anti-black-violence

Vancouver:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-police-protest-1.5592620

England:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-52868465

Germany:

https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-01/Anti-racism-protests-spread-across-Europe-over-George-Floyd-killing-QWLYJwpXpK/index.html

https://www.dw.com/en/anti-racism-protests-spread-to-berlin-and-london/a-53643710

Naturally the lack of leadership at the highest levels of the US Gvt threw giant matches into a situation which otherwise might well have been more effectively contained locally, then Nationally, and now globally....

The complete failure of the Trump Administration and his peons within the US Senate and US House, has now exposed the moral bankruptcy of the current US Gvt to be able to effectively manage the situation.

The US Gvt is now a global laughing stock, but I would not trust that this style of unrest will not also spread within Australia, England, and even within Continental Europe....

[NOVA Green]

https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/1267277561865949190

Is Ann Coulter a member of Atlas or following my posts?

TRUMP is AWOL and has been for some time....

We got no jobs coming back to America, we have no increase in the American standard of living...

Instead we have over 100,000 Americans Dead from COVID-19, likely to become 200,000 Americans dead by Labor Day....

We have an unemployment rate through the roof, bcs DJT was AWOL....

This includes a massive level of youth unemployment....

All of the $$$ are going to Big Business, while people are facing evictions from their homes, not able to access unemployment checks despite paying into the system....

Additionally we have a Commander in Chief who uses White Supremacist language from a racist copper in Miami in a desperate attempt to divide and conquer while the little man retreats to his white house bunker.

Trump is probably upset that he won't be able to go golfing in South Florida this weekend....

[NOVA Green]

yep, this is our Yellow Vest movement. May the pangs of fervor spearhead a future where we won’t even need to state whether any life matters to those in charge.

Looking like it might become more of a global Yellow Vest Movement, rather than simply an American "Yellow Vest Movement"....

Although most of the mass media is attempting to do responsible reporting, there is sometimes this false dichotomy where the whole concept of "peaceful protest" vs "violent protests" neglect the fact that the overwhelming majority of protesters on the streets simply want a massive change of what is fundamentally an oppressive system, where police brutality in response to peaceful protests, causes individuals to fight back and defend themselves, even if that was not the intention of the vast majority of protesters...

The Militarization of local Police Departments throughout the United States in recent Years adds massive fuel to the fire, even in small "rural Cities" in Downstate Oregon where I live....

Nixon created the SWAT teams to deal with unrest in the late '60s and early '70s against the New Left and the Black Civil Rights Movements in Northern Cities and States....

Reagan.... added extras when it came to militarization of local police departments.

Bush Sr....added extras when it came to militarization of local police departments.

Bill Clinton....added extras when it came to militarization of local police departments.

Bush Jr.... added extras when it came to militarization of local police departments.

Obama???

Trump???

Point is that we now got tons of Military hardware that has been deployed against American Citizens through Local Law Enforcement Agencies from 1968 > 2000....

Sorry....the militarization of police departments, just as Steve Schmidt stated earlier is and is perhaps a major issue which has added fuel to the fire, while Atlas "Liberals" and "Conservatives" try to debate an issue using false narratives and dichotomies all around....