2020 Protests megathread

[Gass3268]

No arrests last night in DC and no curfew tonight:

https://twitter.com/DavidNakamura/status/1268580016771776514?s=20

https://twitter.com/DavidNakamura/status/1268581712184979458?s=20

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

[Estrella]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1268026849231286275?s=19

So bad, poor people worked all their lives, it's a sad site.

Honey, black lives matter didn't trash your store. A bunch of ignorant ass thugs and assholes sikandar use the protests as an excuse to score some quick bucks did. There's a big big difference yeah.

That's not the point though? We don't know whether it was some bigoted white nationalists trying to sabotage the peaceful protests that did this, or some professional looters, or extreme parts of the Black lives matter movement. And yes there are some extreme elements of BLM, "pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon". This lady might be wrong in blaming black lives matter for the damage done to her business, but that's not the point.
You can clearly hear from the tone of the lady's voice some real sadness and frustration rather than anger. I can't imagine how she or her co-workers are feeling after seeing their shop trashed. It took them massive sacrifices to build this business and create a somewhat comfortable life and to see it go within minutes must be soul-crushing, I hope the insurance company does cover her business. I know for a fact those insurance companies are gonna try to play dirty tricks in the book to avoid paying for the damage being done, that's how the insurance industry operates. Our insurance industry is rotten to the core and requires an urgent overhaul and reforms but that's another subject.

Rover, I'm not sure I disagree with a word you said, particularly about the anguish this woman is going through. I'm a small business owner myself, and me and my partner own the office building that are firm plus about 20 other tenants work in. I would be heartbroken if it burned down, notwithstanding having insurance and are files being almost all on the cloud. The one point I have to disagree with is when you say that's not the point. When this poor woman lambaste black lives matters for the destruction of her business oh, no matter how understandable it may be out of her grief, placing blame on a movement opposing police brutality is an accurate or Fair, no matter how heartbroken she is.

This underlies how weird the whole situation is. There is no black lives matter unified organization. Not saying I should be, but my point is the shades between a peaceful protester, a rioter who lets their anger over long simmering police brutality cross the line to axle vandalism and arson, some antifa s***stirrer, or opportunistic criminal trash using the opportunity to steal stuff with any concerns they have about George Floyd and police brutality being decidedly secondary, I'll probably all chanting the phrase black lives matter at some point in their actions. But that doesn't mean we can't or, more importantly, shouldn't distinguish between them. Lord knows Trump isn't, but we need to.

I guess I'm also being infuriated that this woman is being quickly passed around right-wing media I see as the excuse to send in the troops and have the police crack down even harder on protest based on the mistake and fallacies that most protesters are violent thugs rather than peaceful, and it's necessary to "protect" blacks from themselves. It's b******* all around, so I will call out even a disenfranchised business owner wild with grief when she's wrong. I hope they catch the SOB's who did this to her business and put them under a prison cell, FTR.

I don't disagree with anything you've just said. I think it's human nature to blame anyone you perceive the culprit, in this case, the lady perceives the BLM as the culprit. I don't agree with her because I simply don't know who are the culprits and what were their motives.

I mostly view the past week in two prisms. The first, which is the majority, basically peacefully protests seeking justice after the appalling murder of George Floyd. The second, which is the minority lawless criminals trying to hijack and sabotage the protest by looting and rioting.

I strongly agree with the principles of BLM, all of them actually. I don't see anything wrong with their aims. I didn't like the kneeling to the flag as someone who served in the military, but hey this is a free country, you can do whatever you like.

What I find most disturbing and irritating is the constant generalization of cops as "they're all bad and evil", which firstly not true and makes the person making this argument fall under the category of generalization, that's not a good look.
Law enforcement needs a massive overhaul. Anyone that loves the police and law enforcement and wants them to succeed can see that.
The conduct of a large minority of cops is disgraceful and unforgivable and in many cases, they've been given an easy pass for things average Americans can't get away with.
We can just look at what happened in Ferguson a few years ago, the entire situation was sad. I felt at the time it was a huge missed opportunity to reform law enforcement. President Obama was too conservative in his reaction, he didn't want to upset law enforcement leaders. The roots of the problem were very clear, yet sidelined. From that moment it was pretty apparent to any fair-minded observer, that if this happened again, there will be a bigger backlash.
Anti-police rhetoric has become mainstream among a significant chunk of the population. And this is bad, because how can you reform with good faith an institution you hate. One of the first symptoms of the anti-cop rhetoric is the decline of young African Americans joining law enforcement. In many parts of the US, police academies are finding it challenging to recruit young African Americans and it's becoming ever more difficult. How can you solve law enforcement racism, if you don't have enough African Americans among your ranks leading the reforms?

Regarding the last point, you will always find rightwing hacks and left-wing hacks using stories, videos, and events to make a point. In this case, it's far-right hacks. Their talking points are mostly wrong and incoherent, they shouldn't be taken seriously.

I again agree with almost all of what you said, but there's something I need to add regarding anti-police sentiment and why I think it's justified.

In criminal justice, restorative approaches are infinitely more effective than punitive ones. Sometimes, this extends to instituional reform as well, especially when said institution has the kind of collective mentality that US law enforcement has. But cute fluffy 100% restorative justice doesn't work - there need to be a few strong but well-aimed (not literal) blows of punishment for it to be effective.

I've just read this FiveThirtyEight article about how cops perceive issues of race and policing and what I think it clearly shows is that police is an institution utterly incapable of being reformed from inside and by "restorative" means. They (and not just their representatives in dealing with politicians) are clearly dishonest actors who instead of finding a compromise seek to scuttle any attempt at reform. It's only appropriate that they receive the same treatment in return.

However, we can't (and shouldn't!) just smash the whole institution of police to pieces. What we need to do is, to put it plainly, vote for politicians who have the balls to grab a gavel and use it to beat some sense into cops' heads. Yes, they need to be afraid - afraid of losing their positions, their jobs and pensions, even going to jail. Fear is good. It keeps things civil.

Only when the law enforcement is shown that their don't have the upper hand and are at the mercy of politicians will they be willing to compromise. And then they can sit at a table with them and civil society and talk about reasonable reforms. That's how we can make the police a trusted institution again.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

I'm waiting for someone to say "its. A set up so people get covid while protesting to hurt trump."

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1268567645131022338

Good.
The statues themselves were erected far after the Civil War in most places (The Lee Statue in Richmond was introduced 35 years after the war). All confederate soldier statues should be removed from public squares and kept in museums. There are plenty of amazing Southerners who deserve statues who didn’t fight for the Confederacy (and literal slavery)
I get the historical importance, but that is what museums are for.

Northam made the right call here.

[Gass3268]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

Thank you for agreeing that the police are terrorists. They fit all three elements of your definition.

[Estrella]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

Thank you for agreeing that the police are terrorists. They fit all three elements of your definition.

IIRC the definition of terrorism technically involves non-state actors, but then the police are so out of control and often straight out ignoring what mayors tell them that it's probably still correct.

[Del Tachi]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

Thank you for agreeing that the police are terrorists. They fit all three elements of your definition.

Eh, police violence isn't "political".

[Person Man]

Martin Luther King famously said, "I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”

Whose riots? I don't know what you are talking about.

I don't whether you're trolling or not?
Maybe you should watch a couple of clips/pics from West philly, manhattan midtown, St Louis, etc
In St Louis a retired African American police captain was killed while trying to protect a property being looted.

https://twitter.com/rachelolding/status/1267663717082238976?s=19

At this point, for all we know is that its an inside job. Am I doing this right?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Martin Luther King famously said, "I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”

Whose riots? I don't know what you are talking about.

I don't whether you're trolling or not?
Maybe you should watch a couple of clips/pics from West philly, manhattan midtown, St Louis, etc
In St Louis a retired African American police captain was killed while trying to protect a property being looted.

https://twitter.com/rachelolding/status/1267663717082238976?s=19

At this point, for all we know is that its an inside job. Am I doing this right?

Or maybe you just have some bad apples on your side?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Who cares what a single county GOP chair has to say? Lyndons reaching pretty far and deep into the well. Hope he doesn’t fall in!

[Person Man]

Martin Luther King famously said, "I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”

Whose riots? I don't know what you are talking about.

I don't whether you're trolling or not?
Maybe you should watch a couple of clips/pics from West philly, manhattan midtown, St Louis, etc
In St Louis a retired African American police captain was killed while trying to protect a property being looted.

https://twitter.com/rachelolding/status/1267663717082238976?s=19

At this point, for all we know is that its an inside job. Am I doing this right?

Or maybe you just have some bad apples on your side?

Which side? The anti-racists?
That's never mattered before. We honestly don't know who did this.
On the other hand...
https://www.scarymommy.com/cops-destroy-medic-tent-asheville/

[Estrella]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

Thank you for agreeing that the police are terrorists. They fit all three elements of your definition.

Eh, police violence isn't "political".

Wasn't that long ago that I'd have said that too, but the scandals about police's infiltration by neo-Nazis, their behavior around white supremacist marches and their loud support for Trump say otherwise.

[Gass3268]

Yet another casualty, as a young woman is in deep despair as a protester shot and killed her sister

https://nypost.com/2020/06/03/sister-of-iowa-woman-shot-dead-sobs-in-heartbreaking-video

Terrorism is defined by three elements:

1. Violence (or the threat of violence), and
2. against civilians, for
3. political reasons.

Call it what it is: This is domestic terrorism.

Anyone causing death and destruction right now is simply a terrorist.

I’m very disappointed with this nation.

Thank you for agreeing that the police are terrorists. They fit all three elements of your definition.

Eh, police violence isn't "political".

There is no way you can say that with a straight face.

https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1268577889131417600?s=20

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Martin Luther King famously said, "I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”

Whose riots? I don't know what you are talking about.

I don't whether you're trolling or not?
Maybe you should watch a couple of clips/pics from West philly, manhattan midtown, St Louis, etc
In St Louis a retired African American police captain was killed while trying to protect a property being looted.

https://twitter.com/rachelolding/status/1267663717082238976?s=19

At this point, for all we know is that its an inside job. Am I doing this right?

Or maybe you just have some bad apples on your side

That's never mattered before. We honestly don't know who did this.

Then why not assume the obvious? You’re grasping pretty far to make some vague excuse about Nazis when it’s pretty clear who is doing what.

[Person Man]

Martin Luther King famously said, "I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive.”

Whose riots? I don't know what you are talking about.

I don't whether you're trolling or not?
Maybe you should watch a couple of clips/pics from West philly, manhattan midtown, St Louis, etc
In St Louis a retired African American police captain was killed while trying to protect a property being looted.

https://twitter.com/rachelolding/status/1267663717082238976?s=19

At this point, for all we know is that its an inside job. Am I doing this right?

Or maybe you just have some bad apples on your side

That's never mattered before. We honestly don't know who did this.

Then why not assume the obvious? You’re grasping pretty far to make some vague excuse about Nazis when it’s pretty clear who is doing what.

Not really.

And some, of course, are smarter than others.
https://dc101.iheart.com/content/2020-06-03-agitator-plants-flash-bomb-but-protesters-throw-it-back-in-his-car/?Keyid=socialflow&Sc=editorial&Pname=local_social&fbclid=IwAR3Ca6_uaq-q2Q1NM0ns5C756w1V7pAOKgt3-aDfnnm5_GnTnTirqwhlfGM

[Tender Branson]

Huge Black Lives Matter protest in Vienna right now.

More than 10.000 people (who are 99% white).







Even police cars say „Black Lives Matter“:



https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/wien/Mehr-als-10-000-bei-BlackLivesMatter-Kundgebung-in-Wien/432474290

More pictures and videos from the huge Vienna Black Lives Matter protest:

https://twitter.com/gerhardpaleczny/status/1268589794252271617
https://twitter.com/serbinnen/status/1268592583086833669
https://twitter.com/elinemuijres/status/1268588410530340864
https://twitter.com/j_x_carter/status/1268585038888738817
https://twitter.com/julia_seidl/status/1268578207214850048
https://twitter.com/j_x_carter/status/1268585049735168001

[Person Man]

Huge Black Lives Matter protest in Vienna right now.

More than 10.000 people (who are 99% white).







Even police cars say „Black Lives Matter“:



https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/wien/Mehr-als-10-000-bei-BlackLivesMatter-Kundgebung-in-Wien/432474290

More pictures and videos from the huge Vienna Black Lives Matter protest:

https://twitter.com/gerhardpaleczny/status/1268589794252271617
https://twitter.com/serbinnen/status/1268592583086833669
https://twitter.com/elinemuijres/status/1268588410530340864
https://twitter.com/j_x_carter/status/1268585038888738817
https://twitter.com/julia_seidl/status/1268578207214850048
https://twitter.com/j_x_carter/status/1268585049735168001

It appears that this time is different.

[lfromnj]

Id love to see Europe acting like this about the Gypsies.

[Tender Branson]

Incredible how few Black people there are even in Vienna, a city of 2 million.

But still good to see that so many light-skinned Austrians are protesting for the cause of Blacks.

[Tender Branson]

Id love to see Europe acting like this about the Gypsies.

In fact, there were mass protests and change of laws here in Austria after a radical-right terrorist killed several Roma with pipe bombs in the 1990s.

Franz Fuchs, a highly intelligent loner, eventually blew his own hands off when he was about to be arrested after a dragnet investigation and later still managed to hang himself in his prison cell without his hands ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Fuchs

[Türkisblau]

Learn to snip out images and extra tweets when you quote. Thread is beginning to look as messy as a Philadelphia Footlocker.

[Helsinkian]

Huge Black Lives Matter protest in Vienna right now.

There were a couple of big protests in Finland too, despite the limits on public gatherings due to coronavirus. No one cares about social distancing anymore

This all goes to show how Americanized the European cultures are nowadays. If George Floyd's death had happened in Brazil, no one in Europe would have turned out to protest.

[lfromnj]

https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/4/21280476/jake-paul-arizona-protests-riots-youtube-filming-scottsdale

Wonderful news !

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/4/21280476/jake-paul-arizona-protests-riots-youtube-filming-scottsdale

Wonderful news !

It's everyday bro, with the prison inmate flow