2020 Protests megathread

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Columbus police pepper sprayed Rep. Joyce Beatty during a protest.

Disgusting.
This wanton disrespect of our elected officials should not be tolerated.

I agree. So what is anyone supposed to do about it?

Imitating the racist nationalists and taking up the Second Amendment and doing something very  direct seems like a destructive and counterproductive step too far to me, and I would say to virtually everyone else as well. (Or the news would be saying insurrection instead of riot.) But what, exactly, is the public expected to do when the organization tasked with restoring order is the same as the organization whose blatant and public abuse of force they are protesting? How do you "restore order" by using an institution that provokes disorder with its own flagrant abuses of power?

You mentioned above that "progress is impossible when our cities are burning, businesses are being looted", but there have been decades where there were no fires and no violence, and there didn't seem to be any progress getting made, even as the abuses - not just by the police, but the entire justice system (and the societal system behind it that also increases inequality, in wealth and other ways) - continue or get worse.

Our entire system is a mockery of law and order from the racist crook who squats in the White House and enjoys the profits from a lifetime of white-collar crime because he is wealthy and privileged, down to telling the people of Minnesota that when the organization that just publicly tortured a man to death on a whim tells you to shut up and go home, you need to shut up and go home but we'll take your concerns seriously, really.

The police may not be the only bad actors, but they are bad actors who perpetuate a system that is not making life better for the downtrodden - instead it's stomping harder. And given the long history of infiltration and provocation by police (and those groups who share similar interests), I do not think they are entitled to any benefit of the doubt here.

Actions speak louder than words. And the establishment have been very fond of words, but there's been damned little positive action in the decades since Rodney King. We've advanced technologically, which means the ongoing reality of police abuse is increasingly in the public view. And the only real institution-wide response I've personally noticed from police as a whole is to try and keep their actions from going on the record.

This currently wave of unrest will, pardon the phrase, burn out, or be put out by the heavy boots of police dressed like stormtroopers, possibly along with the military. America needs to get its crap together, and go beyond terms like "fundamental change". We need a new model of policing that ends the adversarial, quasi-military mindset that walks hand-in-hand with abuse of power, and we need new police to implement it. Either such a sea-change in policing is well underway within the next few years, or the failure of law enforcement and the justice system will be part of the social collapse that leads to the end of America as we know it. I'm increasingly thinking I'm foolish to hope for any positive outcome, and that I should start imitating the Germans who left in the early 1930s. 1930s.

The police have to be part of the solution due to that being their job description. Sad as it is, we are stuck with the police as an institution and by extension many of the terrible people whose attitudes someway or another have been revealed. And yes, the anger many feel is genuine and real.

But look, progress cannot, for the most part, be accomplished through these sorts of violent means. It is accomplished by working alongside those in power who are willing to help, their political capital propped up by activists from the outside. BLM has long understood this and has kept up vigorous protests ever since 2014. Community policing has been pushed on multiple levels. Deescalation training has gained currency, though not enough. America is in a much better position than it was in the 1960s or, even, the Germans in 1930s.

I myself have felt a certain small but still very real extent of raw annoyance, fear, and anger that I have had to repress. I don't want my city to be a playground of looters and thugs who care little for private property. As long as those sorts remain out in the streets, we cannot move forward. As bad as the cops have been - we'd still be better off with them than without them. We cannot have anarchy. At least we aren't 1990s Russia!

Here is the thing though - the lion's share of peaceful protestors understand all this, and so do you and I. They, you, and I, don't hate cops. These protestors are the true heroes of this saga. Not the overzealous cops, the fanatical rioters, the extreme anarchists, and the vile looters. The peaceful protesters. The people have been standing for the right thing all this time, and now they help those victimized by others, atop still protesting. They are brave and my heart goes out to them.

We can easily rule out the present violence as a viable path for a variety of reasons. Process of elimination means that the only way forward - as much as it may disappoint some - is slow but real reform. Involving yourself in the political system. Registering to vote and be sure to appear in local elections. Endorse those who support cop accountability and better training. Make sure to keep up direct action - protests to get one heard. Don't limit yourself to one toolbox. Don't try to pull people down (by harming things that matter to them) - it doesn't deliver justice, it only feeds resentment among various societal sectors to only marginal benefit to any individual group at best. Focus on convincing others what you offer is right and making sure that elected officials know that when they don't listen to you they are going against a potentially decisive voting block. If necessary, gain some more organizational muscle. I know this doesn't deliver immediate change right now but it's much, much smarter if you actually want to get your goals done. We had the best chance to getting real strides against police brutality in recent years - if it drains away, we all lose. Including youth who might not know it. To those youth who do take from this a call to be more involved and more effectively change their communities, then all the power to them - they'll need all the luck they can get. You are doing the lord's work.

We can't fix American policing overnight or even just of the span of even a decade or two and we can't ensure that no George Floyds will arise in the future. But we can do the best we can to effect change that is indeed within reach and in a way that is most primed to stick long-term. Our nation relies on it. Our nation will not fall apart from even the worst imaginable police brutality scandal but it sure won't profit from it and we will not reach our true full potential as long as this festers.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Look, there needs to be a serious discussion on race in this country, it keeps getting pushed to the back burner and never touched. There is a systematic problem in the police department that needs to be addressed. Most of these protesters have legitimate grievances, but what I dislike is these people who either are Antifa, Anarchists, White Nationalists, who ever I don't really care at this point who they are, using this movement to fulfull their disaster fetish and making these protests look illegitimate, it gives these good protesters a bad image to many people and I frankly find that disgusting because it is taking away from what these people are protesting for. I applaud Mayor Lance-Bottoms for her speech.

Like this white dude started smashing windows and this group of black women asked him to stop, he's making the movement look bad and he literally responded "They were gonna kill you anyways"

Meanwhile we have a President that is doing nothing, hasn't addressed the nation, flat out ignored what the brother of Floyd had to say.

[Reaganfan]

What do you want done? Wanna burn any book with George Washington? Erase Columbus Day?

I drink "Plantation Mint" tea. Should we remove the word "plantation"?

Ban "Gone with the Wind"? Ban every Tarantino film like "Pulp Fiction" that uses racial language?

Ban the color brown? Ban the song "White Christmas"?

You can not change the past. Ever. No matter what. We can only change the future.

[Beet]

https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1266924387795709954

[HagridOfTheDeep]

What do you want done? Wanna burn any book with George Washington? Erase Columbus Day?

I drink "Plantation Mint" tea. Should we remove the word "plantation"?

Ban "Gone with the Wind"? Ban every Tarantino film like "Pulp Fiction" that uses racial language?

Ban the color brown? Ban the song "White Christmas"?

You can not change the past. Ever. No matter what. We can only change the future.

The past affects the future, you dingle-weed. Why do you think black Americans lag behind on practically every social indicator there is? They don't work hard enough? JFC. Right the wrongs and even the playing field.

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1266913490301792257?s=20

[It’s so Joever]

You can add Iowa

I had the feed from Des Moine up just as I posted that and could tell that it was about to boil over.

A few other updates:

It's amazing how quickly this spiraled out of control. As I've said before, we are witnessing the decline of the United States in real time.

That started years ago.
This is just an acceleration of our downfall/change.

[Gass3268]

This cop ain't to smart:

https://twitter.com/SteelBrooks/status/1266966177718427648?s=20

[Estrella]

I'm so sick of watching all the evil cops tonight making everything worse. Doesn't matter where you look they are there. There are a few good ones, but few and far between.

I think that's so unfair to claim only a few cops are good ones. Yes, there are a lot of bad cops out there, yes police brutality exists, and there are a lot of racist cops out there.
The whole criminal justice system needs dramatic review and reform top to down from police officers in the streets, to prison, and the courts.
I know a lot of good cops out there, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. It's never smart or wise to generalize.

This might or might not be true, but regardless of how many good cops there are, they need to stand up to the bad ones and change the system. If good cops are the majority, they have the responsibility to push for reform - and they clearly aren't doing that because if they were, murders like this wouldn't be such a common occurence. If they are a minority, that would make Gass right.

(As an aside, on one single issue I'm turning into a Reaganite: the ideal outcome of all of this would be the police unions being blown into smithereens, like what Ronald did to air trafic controllers in 1981. That obviously isn't gonna happen, but one can dream.)

That's the job of politicians. The problem has always been there, the difference now it's being filmed on cameras.
My uncle used to work as a police officer at a prison, he always used to talk about how ill-equipped and underfunded the prisons were, and not enough help provided to rehabilitate prisoners, this problem was known since the 70s. But wasn't taken seriously.
Today in America released prisoners are more likely to rearrested than any other country in the western world. You can blame law enforcement all you want and they do deserve a lot of blame but why didn't our elected politicians do something about it?
Reform, review, and properly fund the system. You cant fund the system on the cheap. And yes Republican administrations are more guilty of gutting law enforcement funding. I personally trust Democrats more when it comes to law enforcement reform.
It's easy to sit back and talk sh!t about cops and many deserve it, but this anti-cop rhetoric will have dangerous ramifications that are already being felt. The drop in police officers applicant particular among minorities is a perfect example.

I agree with a lot of that - a lot of changes, even small change that could have big results, are hamstrung by a system of government not fit for the 21st century, political polarization, ingrained mentalities*, post-9/11 security fanaticism and incompetent politicians. But it's not like politicians tell sixty or however many percent of cops to engage in domestic abuse. Politicians don't tell them to shoot people begging for their life, or, as with those WV cops, to do the Hitler Salute. The police has a deep, ingrained mentality whose human equivalent would be something like a skinhead with fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm genuinely sorry to the good cops out there, but you are a part of the problem.

* And the paleoconservativism and resistance to any change that took over the GOP caused a big part of that, I agree

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1266924387795709954

I don't swear, but if I did, I would be replying "F you NYPD" or some variant in reply to this post.
Ugh.

[Reaganfan]

Our society is built around the "rule of law". Certain things, such as punching a person, perhaps even to the point of death, are completely illegal, and can be punishable by death themselves. Indeed, a person who is the victim of that has the right to then use lethal force to protect themselves. "Stand your ground".

Other things, like hurtful words or epithets are awful. They are unnecessary, uncalled for, and should be frowned upon. However, they are not illegal. You can't ban words.

However, we live in a society where the wrong thing can go unpunished, but for the right reasons.

Let me give you an example:

Bob is a racist jerk. Tom is a black man sitting at a bar, minding his business.

Bob walks up to Tom, and calls him a slur.

Tom begins physically assaulting Bob.

The fight goes all the way into the parking lot. Bob, badly beaten for starting trouble goes to his vehicle.

Tom, still enraged from the slur spoken against him, doesn't stop. He grabs a pipe, breaks Bob's car window. He starts mercilessly beating Bob.

Bob grabs a gun, and in self-defense of his life and under the "stand your ground" car laws (that many states have) shoots and kills Tom.

Tom was the victim. But then once his anger turned into potentially deadly violence, Bob became the victim.

The final victim was Bob. The law was on Bob's side. Bob lives to go to the bar, Tom is dead.

That's American society. The law is a very tricky, complicated thing. That man horribly injured in Dallas is an example of that.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

https://twitter.com/makloubae/status/1266898124477534210?s=21

[Pyro]

https://twitter.com/makloubae/status/1266898124477534210?s=21

Just so y'all know that's his horse, apparently. Not stolen.

[Grassroots]

I think this is the peak night of the unrest. It'll probably be downhill from here for the next 3-4 days.

[Rover]

I'm so sick of watching all the evil cops tonight making everything worse. Doesn't matter where you look they are there. There are a few good ones, but few and far between.

I think that's so unfair to claim only a few cops are good ones. Yes, there are a lot of bad cops out there, yes police brutality exists, and there are a lot of racist cops out there.
The whole criminal justice system needs dramatic review and reform top to down from police officers in the streets, to prison, and the courts.
I know a lot of good cops out there, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. It's never smart or wise to generalize.

This might or might not be true, but regardless of how many good cops there are, they need to stand up to the bad ones and change the system. If good cops are the majority, they have the responsibility to push for reform - and they clearly aren't doing that because if they were, murders like this wouldn't be such a common occurence. If they are a minority, that would make Gass right.

(As an aside, on one single issue I'm turning into a Reaganite: the ideal outcome of all of this would be the police unions being blown into smithereens, like what Ronald did to air trafic controllers in 1981. That obviously isn't gonna happen, but one can dream.)

That's the job of politicians. The problem has always been there, the difference now it's being filmed on cameras.
My uncle used to work as a police officer at a prison, he always used to talk about how ill-equipped and underfunded the prisons were, and not enough help provided to rehabilitate prisoners, this problem was known since the 70s. But wasn't taken seriously.
Today in America released prisoners are more likely to rearrested than any other country in the western world. You can blame law enforcement all you want and they do deserve a lot of blame but why didn't our elected politicians do something about it?
Reform, review, and properly fund the system. You cant fund the system on the cheap. And yes Republican administrations are more guilty of gutting law enforcement funding. I personally trust Democrats more when it comes to law enforcement reform.
It's easy to sit back and talk sh!t about cops and many deserve it, but this anti-cop rhetoric will have dangerous ramifications that are already being felt. The drop in police officers applicant particular among minorities is a perfect example.

I agree with a lot of that - a lot of changes, even small change that could have big results, are hamstrung by a system of government not fit for the 21st century, political polarization, ingrained mentalities*, post-9/11 security fanaticism and incompetent politicians. But it's not like politicians tell sixty or however many percent of cops to engage in domestic abuse. Politicians don't tell them to shoot people begging for their life, or, as with those WV cops, to do the Hitler Salute. The police has a deep, ingrained mentality whose human equivalent would be something like a skinhead with fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm genuinely sorry to the good cops out there, but you are a part of the problem.

* And the paleoconservativism and resistance to any change that took over the GOP caused a big part of that, I agree

I think you're generalizing here. Obviously what WV cops did was reprehensible and they all ought to lose their jobs.
In such occasions, decisive tough actions should've been taken against police officers for misusing their power. That hasn't always been the case and as a result, great injustice and distrust being felt towards the law enforcement from African American communities. I think every law enforcement leader should deeply be concerned by the lack of confidence and support the institute holds among the African American community.
I've been reading through threads and comments in this forum since the tragic murder of George Floyd and I've noticed its quite fashionable to bash and generalize cops in such a negative way.
Btw I don't work for law enforcement. I used to serve in the Navy and currently I work as an accountant.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

https://twitter.com/makloubae/status/1266898124477534210?s=21

Just so y'all know that's his horse, apparently. Not stolen.

Ugh, that ruins the funny

[Tender Branson]

I love how you guys post about police being "out of control". If anyone ever knew real cops, you'd know they're using enormous restraint.

I agree with Mike.

Even though there are some black sheep in the police force, 99.99% are doing an awesome job and risk a lot, if not their lives on a daily basis:

Police work should be valued more and not just being attacked when there are some dark moments.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

I love how you guys post about police being "out of control". If anyone ever knew real cops, you'd know they're using enormous restraint.

I agree with Mike.

Even though there are some black sheep in the police force, 99.99% are doing an awesome job and risk a lot, if not their lives on a daily basis:

Police work should be valued more and not just being attacked when there are some dark moments.

Lol the number is MUCH lower than 99.99%.

[It’s so Joever]

I think this is the peak night of the unrest. It'll probably be downhill from here for the next 3-4 days.

God I hope you are right. This is getting insane.

[Estrella]

I'm so sick of watching all the evil cops tonight making everything worse. Doesn't matter where you look they are there. There are a few good ones, but few and far between.

I think that's so unfair to claim only a few cops are good ones. Yes, there are a lot of bad cops out there, yes police brutality exists, and there are a lot of racist cops out there.
The whole criminal justice system needs dramatic review and reform top to down from police officers in the streets, to prison, and the courts.
I know a lot of good cops out there, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. It's never smart or wise to generalize.

This might or might not be true, but regardless of how many good cops there are, they need to stand up to the bad ones and change the system. If good cops are the majority, they have the responsibility to push for reform - and they clearly aren't doing that because if they were, murders like this wouldn't be such a common occurence. If they are a minority, that would make Gass right.

(As an aside, on one single issue I'm turning into a Reaganite: the ideal outcome of all of this would be the police unions being blown into smithereens, like what Ronald did to air trafic controllers in 1981. That obviously isn't gonna happen, but one can dream.)

That's the job of politicians. The problem has always been there, the difference now it's being filmed on cameras.
My uncle used to work as a police officer at a prison, he always used to talk about how ill-equipped and underfunded the prisons were, and not enough help provided to rehabilitate prisoners, this problem was known since the 70s. But wasn't taken seriously.
Today in America released prisoners are more likely to rearrested than any other country in the western world. You can blame law enforcement all you want and they do deserve a lot of blame but why didn't our elected politicians do something about it?
Reform, review, and properly fund the system. You cant fund the system on the cheap. And yes Republican administrations are more guilty of gutting law enforcement funding. I personally trust Democrats more when it comes to law enforcement reform.
It's easy to sit back and talk sh!t about cops and many deserve it, but this anti-cop rhetoric will have dangerous ramifications that are already being felt. The drop in police officers applicant particular among minorities is a perfect example.

I agree with a lot of that - a lot of changes, even small change that could have big results, are hamstrung by a system of government not fit for the 21st century, political polarization, ingrained mentalities*, post-9/11 security fanaticism and incompetent politicians. But it's not like politicians tell sixty or however many percent of cops to engage in domestic abuse. Politicians don't tell them to shoot people begging for their life, or, as with those WV cops, to do the Hitler Salute. The police has a deep, ingrained mentality whose human equivalent would be something like a skinhead with fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm genuinely sorry to the good cops out there, but you are a part of the problem.

* And the paleoconservativism and resistance to any change that took over the GOP caused a big part of that, I agree

I think you're generalizing here. Obviously what WV cops did was reprehensible and they all ought to lose their jobs.
In such occasions, decisive tough actions should've been taken against police officers for misusing their power. That hasn't always been the case and as a result, great injustice and distrust being felt towards the law enforcement from African American communities. I think every law enforcement leader should deeply be concerned by the lack of confidence and support the institute holds among the African American community.
I've been reading through threads and comments in this forum since the tragic murder of George Floyd and I've noticed its quite fashionable to bash and generalize cops in such a negative way.
Btw I don't work for law enforcement. I used to serve in the Navy and currently I work as an accountant.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I meant you as in the "good cops."

Again, I agree with a lot of what you say and sympathize with that. We can't just demolish everything, we have to fix what we already have. The police is not going away and improving trust in policing in the community would be removing the biggest block on the way forward. But still, I feel like the whole system is rotten to the core - not necessarily beyond repait, but it's very bad. For example, look at the police unions, which supposedly represent the officers' interests: these unions had a big role in making sure almost all of similar cases that happened in the past resulted in a slap on the wrist and a cushy pension to top it off. Yes, if we had willing politicians, we could try to fix this, but why do we have people getting away with it in the first place?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I think this is the peak night of the unrest. It'll probably be downhill from here for the next 3-4 days.

God I hope you are right. This is getting insane.

[Tender Branson]

I love how you guys post about police being "out of control". If anyone ever knew real cops, you'd know they're using enormous restraint.

I agree with Mike.

Even though there are some black sheep in the police force, 99.99% are doing an awesome job and risk a lot, if not their lives on a daily basis:

Police work should be valued more and not just being attacked when there are some dark moments.

Lol the number is MUCH lower than 99.99%.

OK, I give you the 0.1%

But 99.9% of police officers are decent folks who happen to be under enormous pressure during some tasks every day (I'm not too shocked at how some react, considering how many crazy people are around on the streets and at home in the US ...)

[Tender Branson]

I only know one thing for sure, be it rural Austria or rural USA:

Voters there don't like the looting (or in our case 2015-16: foreign "refugees" groping women on the street or turning whole streets into trash by walking through the country into Germany).

If they see pictures like this, they react allergically to it and wanna go out themselves and show these punks where their place is ...

I wouldn't be totally surprised if Trump can capitalize on these lootings by running up the margin again in rural/suburb areas.

But we'll have to wait and see.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm so sick of watching all the evil cops tonight making everything worse. Doesn't matter where you look they are there. There are a few good ones, but few and far between.

I think that's so unfair to claim only a few cops are good ones. Yes, there are a lot of bad cops out there, yes police brutality exists, and there are a lot of racist cops out there.
The whole criminal justice system needs dramatic review and reform top to down from police officers in the streets, to prison, and the courts.
I know a lot of good cops out there, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. It's never smart or wise to generalize.

This might or might not be true, but regardless of how many good cops there are, they need to stand up to the bad ones and change the system. If good cops are the majority, they have the responsibility to push for reform - and they clearly aren't doing that because if they were, murders like this wouldn't be such a common occurence. If they are a minority, that would make Gass right.

(As an aside, on one single issue I'm turning into a Reaganite: the ideal outcome of all of this would be the police unions being blown into smithereens, like what Ronald did to air trafic controllers in 1981. That obviously isn't gonna happen, but one can dream.)

That's the job of politicians. The problem has always been there, the difference now it's being filmed on cameras.
My uncle used to work as a police officer at a prison, he always used to talk about how ill-equipped and underfunded the prisons were, and not enough help provided to rehabilitate prisoners, this problem was known since the 70s. But wasn't taken seriously.
Today in America released prisoners are more likely to rearrested than any other country in the western world. You can blame law enforcement all you want and they do deserve a lot of blame but why didn't our elected politicians do something about it?
Reform, review, and properly fund the system. You cant fund the system on the cheap. And yes Republican administrations are more guilty of gutting law enforcement funding. I personally trust Democrats more when it comes to law enforcement reform.
It's easy to sit back and talk sh!t about cops and many deserve it, but this anti-cop rhetoric will have dangerous ramifications that are already being felt. The drop in police officers applicant particular among minorities is a perfect example.

I agree with a lot of that - a lot of changes, even small change that could have big results, are hamstrung by a system of government not fit for the 21st century, political polarization, ingrained mentalities*, post-9/11 security fanaticism and incompetent politicians. But it's not like politicians tell sixty or however many percent of cops to engage in domestic abuse. Politicians don't tell them to shoot people begging for their life, or, as with those WV cops, to do the Hitler Salute. The police has a deep, ingrained mentality whose human equivalent would be something like a skinhead with fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm genuinely sorry to the good cops out there, but you are a part of the problem.

* And the paleoconservativism and resistance to any change that took over the GOP caused a big part of that, I agree

I think you're generalizing here. Obviously what WV cops did was reprehensible and they all ought to lose their jobs.
In such occasions, decisive tough actions should've been taken against police officers for misusing their power. That hasn't always been the case and as a result, great injustice and distrust being felt towards the law enforcement from African American communities. I think every law enforcement leader should deeply be concerned by the lack of confidence and support the institute holds among the African American community.
I've been reading through threads and comments in this forum since the tragic murder of George Floyd and I've noticed its quite fashionable to bash and generalize cops in such a negative way.
Btw I don't work for law enforcement. I used to serve in the Navy and currently I work as an accountant.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I meant you as in the "good cops."

Again, I agree with a lot of what you say and sympathize with that. We can't just demolish everything, we have to fix what we already have. The police is not going away and improving trust in policing in the community would be removing the biggest block on the way forward. But still, I feel like the whole system is rotten to the core - not necessarily beyond repait, but it's very bad. For example, look at the police unions, which supposedly represent the officers' interests: these unions had a big role in making sure almost all of similar cases that happened in the past resulted in a slap on the wrist and a cushy pension to top it off. Yes, if we had willing politicians, we could try to fix this, but why do we have people getting away with it in the first place?

The internal culture of the police as they exist in this country is just messed up. It's broken. The following is how I imagine it:
You have tons and tons of earnest cops who want to help their communities and such, and many others who fundamentally aren't villains by most rational definitions but just go with the flow habitually. Then there is a core of power-hungry sorts who are very likely to have at least some of the toxic cocktail of racism, ego-centrism, power trip-seeking, arrogance, and just general unpleasantness.

We have way too many of the third group in our law enforcement, and they set the tone. The FBI warned us about white supremacists infiltrating our police forces, and more than a decade has passed. It is necessary to avoid making an enemy of all cops in this country. It is necessary to emphatize with the difficulties cops face on a daily basis. It is necessary to reach out to all those who have good intentions and good hearts and just want to serve their communities and who might be allies of reform. But all this should be towards the goal of making sure we try hard to use this goodwill to together build a better future for the country - fixing the issues here is way too important to not prioritize. We can't just dilly-dally all while another George Floyd comes along. We need to make it clear - being a cop doesn't make you not part of the solution, just as being a protestor doesn't make you not part of the solution. We need sensible people to get together and on basis of shared understanding seek to make this nation better. If the battle lines are drawn firmly as cop vs protestor with no middle ground we all lose.

Being inclined to shoot a protestor is not a marker of professionalism. The opposite is true. We all should be sick of unprofessional behavior from law enforcement, they fundamentally rely on our tax dollars after all.

[Reaganfan]

I agree with Mike

It reminds me of a scene from the action/comedy 1997 film "Metro" where Eddie Murphy plays a San Francisco hostage negotiator. He's trying to talk down a crazy bank robber.

He says to the guy, "There are SWAT snipers outside looking through these windows. If you kill ANYBODY, they'll take you out."

He then adds truthful humor to the scene:



That movie was almost 25 years ago. It's true. These cops are using enormous restraint.