2020 Protests megathread

[Gracile]

If you're voting Green, or voting Lib, or abstaining, or some other masturbatory action, that says everything about you.  You pretend to care about black lives.  You pretend to listen to what they have to say.  But when given the option to actually help them, at the cost of nothing but your precious ego, you proudly say "nope, can't help you with that one chief."

Do you actually care about black lives or do you just want to act sanctimonious toward a bunch of people who have empathy (something all people should have regardless of political affiliation) for an innocent person whose life was taken by police just because they aren't voting for your preferred candidate? You can miss me with that bullsh-t, "chief".

Also, judging by the responses in this thread the left-wing non-Biden supporters are some of the most upset by George Floyd's death and the ongoing police brutality (certainly more than the right-wing cop apologists).

[gerritcole]

What this means is that there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot

Considering how a lot of Democratic mayors have been handling this, I don't think this argument holds any water at the local level. Especially considering that in most large cities both of the major factions (reformist and anti-reform) are Democrats.

Other than de Blasio, the universally despised idiot, which mayors have handled this particularly poorly?

Well Garcetti has for sure.

Don’t forget London breed, SF might not open up barber shops till August lol

[SevenEleven]

If you're voting Green, or voting Lib, or abstaining, or some other masturbatory action, that says everything about you.  You pretend to care about black lives.  You pretend to listen to what they have to say.  But when given the option to actually help them, at the cost of nothing but your precious ego, you proudly say "nope, can't help you with that one chief."

Do you actually care about black lives or do you just want to act sanctimonious toward a bunch of people who have empathy (something all people should have regardless of political affiliation) for an innocent person whose life was taken by police just because they aren't voting for your preferred candidate? You can miss me with that bullsh-t, "chief".

Also, judging by the responses in this thread the left-wing non-Biden supporters are some of the most upset by George Floyd's death and the ongoing police brutality (certainly more than the right-wing cop apologists).

The current president wants to use military force against peaceful american demonstrators and this is while he still has to face the public in an election. What do you think will happen to us if Biden doesn't win?

[GeneralMacArthur]

there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

BOOOOOO!

Want to share the Republican Party's plan for tackling racism and police brutality in this country?

Was it all the racist officials Trump has pardoned and emboldened?  Was it the KKK and Neo-Nazis teaming up for "Unite The Right"?  Was it Trump calling the protesters "thugs", telling black women to "go back to their countries", accusing Obama of not being an American, and saying a judge's opinion was irrelevant because of his race?  Was it re-electing Jesse Helms five times?  Was it electing Cindy "invite me to a public lynching please" Hyde-Smith?  Is it all the blatant, obvious voter suppression in black neighborhoods?  Is it the party's bold stance defending confederate monuments and the confederate flag?  Was it all the efforts to oppose the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s followed by Richard Nixon literally re-defining the party around opposition to civil rights in the 1970s?  Or do we need to re-elect Trump and only then will we find out your plan to solve racism?

[WD]

there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

BOOOOOO!

Want to share the Republican Party's plan for tackling racism and police brutality in this country?

Was it all the racist officials Trump has pardoned and emboldened?  Was it the KKK and Neo-Nazis teaming up for "Unite The Right"?  Was it Trump calling the protesters "thugs", telling black women to "go back to their countries", accusing Obama of not being an American, and saying a judge's opinion was irrelevant because of his race?  Was it re-electing Jesse Helms five times?  Was it electing Cindy "invite me to a public lynching please" Hyde-Smith?  Is it all the blatant, obvious voter suppression in black neighborhoods?  Is it the party's bold stance defending confederate monuments and the confederate flag?  Was it all the efforts to oppose the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s followed by Richard Nixon literally re-defining the party around opposition to civil rights in the 1970s?  Or do we need to re-elect Trump and only then will we find out your plan to solve racism?

bUt dEmOcRAtS aRe The rEaL RAcisTs!!!

[GeneralMacArthur]

If you're voting Green, or voting Lib, or abstaining, or some other masturbatory action, that says everything about you.  You pretend to care about black lives.  You pretend to listen to what they have to say.  But when given the option to actually help them, at the cost of nothing but your precious ego, you proudly say "nope, can't help you with that one chief."

Do you actually care about black lives or do you just want to act sanctimonious toward a bunch of people who have empathy (something all people should have regardless of political affiliation) for an innocent person whose life was taken by police just because they aren't voting for your preferred candidate? You can miss me with that bullsh-t, "chief".

Also, judging by the responses in this thread the left-wing non-Biden supporters are some of the most upset by George Floyd's death and the ongoing police brutality (certainly more than the right-wing cop apologists).

You have a choice between Trump and Biden.  If you refuse to vote Trump out of office, if you refuse to vote McConnell out of office, then you are refusing to participate in solving this problem.  Because this problem will never get solved as long as Trump/McConnell hold power in this country.  Instead it will continue to get worse.

Words are words.  Actions are actions.  It's easy to type words on an internet forum.  It also happens to be really easy to vote Trump/McConnell out of power.  If you only want to do one of those things, that says everything.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Wasn’t the military used in 1992 by HW

[NOVA Green]

Dallas, Texas...

Mass arrests just now as peaceful protesters attempt to march onto a Hwy bridge...

https://www.fox4news.com/news/mass-arrests-underway-as-protesters-marched-onto-west-dallas-bridge

[WD]

After a innocent Black man was killed, lets kill even more black people! That definitely won’t escalate the situation!

[SevenEleven]

Wasn’t the military used in 1992 by HW

Did the Bush response do anything to actually fix the problem?

Obviously not, so why the fug would we try do what was done then?

[Mr. Reactionary]

there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

BOOOOOO!

Want to share the Republican Party's plan for tackling racism and police brutality in this country?

Was it all the racist officials Trump has pardoned and emboldened?  Was it the KKK and Neo-Nazis teaming up for "Unite The Right"?  Was it Trump calling the protesters "thugs", telling black women to "go back to their countries", accusing Obama of not being an American, and saying a judge's opinion was irrelevant because of his race?  Was it re-electing Jesse Helms five times?  Was it electing Cindy "invite me to a public lynching please" Hyde-Smith?  Is it all the blatant, obvious voter suppression in black neighborhoods?  Is it the party's bold stance defending confederate monuments and the confederate flag?  Was it all the efforts to oppose the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s followed by Richard Nixon literally re-defining the party around opposition to civil rights in the 1970s?  Or do we need to re-elect Trump and only then will we find out your plan to solve racism?

I'm not a Trump voter.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Wasn’t the military used in 1992 by HW

Did the Bush response do anything to actually fix the problem?

Obviously not, so why the fug would we try do what was done then?

According to the wiki article it stopped the riots

[GeneralMacArthur]

I'm not a Trump voter.

Then what are you booing for?

[fhtagn]

With zero due respect, if you aren't voting for Biden, shut the hell up about the protests.

You don't care.  You are just a poser.  You are pretending to care for credibility.  But you don't give enough of a damn to sacrifice your precious sanctity, your precious moral purity.  That shows where your priorities truly are.  Selfish sanctimony comes first.  Actually helping the oppressed, somewhere further down.

We live in a democratic republic where individual power is wielded through the election of officials who enact changes on our behalf.  There is exactly ONE way to get real, permanent, meaningful change in this country, and that is to put officials in office who are committed to bringing about that change.  What this means is that there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

"But the root of the problem is capitalism!"  I guess the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864 accomplished nothing for black people then.  I guess the election of Lyndon Johnson in 1964 accomplished nothing.  I guess the election of Barack Obama in 2008 accomplished nothing.  Because none of those presidents dismantled capitalism so electing them was just a waste of time.  Thank you for lecturing black people on what real progress means!  I guess all

If you're voting Green, or voting Lib, or abstaining, or some other masturbatory action, that says everything about you.  You pretend to care about black lives.  You pretend to listen to what they have to say.  But when given the option to actually help them, at the cost of nothing but your precious ego, you proudly say "nope, can't help you with that one chief."

quite literally one of the dumbest takes I've read on here today.

[SevenEleven]

Wasn’t the military used in 1992 by HW

Did the Bush response do anything to actually fix the problem?

Obviously not, so why the fug would we try do what was done then?

According to the wiki article it stopped the riots

That's funny, because I'm pretty sure riots are occurring all over the country due to even more extravagant police brutality.

Rodney King lived to see Bush Jr start wars.

You seem to want lung cancer removed but still smoke at the same time. Not going to happen buddy.

[NOVA Green]

Louisville, Kentucky:

https://www.wlky.com/article/protesters-march-demonstrate-around-louisville-for-5th-straight-night-breonna-taylor/32735097

https://www.wave3.com/2020/06/01/black-protesters-protect-stranded-lmpd-officer-violence/

[Mr. Reactionary]

I'm not a Trump voter.

Then what are you booing for?

You literally said the only option to cure racism is vote for only Democrats because Republican bad. That's a false choice. BRTD land hasn't had a pub politician since the 90s and that's where the murder happened after years of festering abuse. Co-opting this into red vs blue is not at all fair. If all the states were colored blue (or Atlas red) on Wikipedia, that wouldn't magically fix anything. 2 party only or else mentality is a cancer.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

We live in a democratic republic where individual power is wielded through the election of officials who enact changes on our behalf.  There is exactly ONE way to get real, permanent, meaningful change in this country, and that is to put officials in office who are committed to bringing about that change.  What this means is that there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

Democrats are just as complicit. Three high-ranking Sacramento "Democrats" broke with to support Republican/pig apologist Anne Marie Schubert. She would later let Stephon Clarke's murderers off the hook.

Eric Garcetti chose to shut down COVID-19 testing as a punitive measure. Ironic that he'd fight protests over state-sanctioned terrorism with more state-sanctioned terrorism!

Or, we can talk about de Blasio apologizing for more state-sanctioned terrorism against peaceful protesters.

Mike Freeman, the guy whose delay to action led to these riots anyway? You guessed it. Democrat.

Or Rahm Emanuel apologizing for cops, protecting corrupt murderers until public pressure boiled over.

Hell, one of the party's rising stars allowed a culture of corrupt cops to develop and fester in his own city. And this isn't some "does the end justify the means" philosophical argument like the Boykins conundrum. This is him allowing the investigated officers to rise up and letting South Bend's most corrupt cop off the hook to the point where he ascended to police union leadership. It's a joke that a significant amount of the party trusted him, of all people, to drain Trump's swamp. He couldn't even drain the swamp in his own police department!

I largely agree with your point on Biden (especially if you live in a swing state like me), but to pretend there isn't rot in the Democratic Party would be wrong. In fact, the anti-reform stance from downballot candidates is part of why I feel detached from the party. How can I take the party seriously when a significant chunk of its voters voted for anti-reformist candidates?

[Santander]

there is ONE thing you can do this year to actually help black lives, and that is to vote straight Democrat all the way down your ballot, from Biden on down to dogcatcher.

BOOOOOO!

Want to share the Republican Party's plan for tackling racism and police brutality in this country?

Was it all the racist officials Trump has pardoned and emboldened?  Was it the KKK and Neo-Nazis teaming up for "Unite The Right"?  Was it Trump calling the protesters "thugs", telling black women to "go back to their countries", accusing Obama of not being an American, and saying a judge's opinion was irrelevant because of his race?  Was it re-electing Jesse Helms five times?  Was it electing Cindy "invite me to a public lynching please" Hyde-Smith?  Is it all the blatant, obvious voter suppression in black neighborhoods?  Is it the party's bold stance defending confederate monuments and the confederate flag?  Was it all the efforts to oppose the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s followed by Richard Nixon literally re-defining the party around opposition to civil rights in the 1970s?  Or do we need to re-elect Trump and only then will we find out your plan to solve racism?

bUt dEmOcRAtS aRe The rEaL RAcisTs!!!

That is why I am a Democrat, yes.

[Buzz]

https://twitter.com/breaking911/status/1267659960705581056?s=21

[Gass3268]

Wasn’t the military used in 1992 by HW

At the request of the state. So far no states have asked for the military.

[NOVA Green]

A few updates from NorCal....


Oakland Police Department:

Using Tear Gas against peaceful protesters ahead of curfew...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-C8ynIcABo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Q59WQwBWY

San Jose:

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/san-jose-residents-gather-react-to-curfew/2301458/

Walnut Creek:

Peaceful protesters met with dogs, tear gas, & rubber bullets.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/01/bay-area-protesters-gather-for-fifth-day-of-george-floyd-demonstrations/

Santa Rosa:

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/11002853-181/santa-rosa-poised-to-impose

https://patch.com/california/petaluma/protesters-nearly-hit-truck-old-santa-rosa-courthouse-srpd

Eureka:

https://thelumberjack.org/2020/05/31/eureka-protests-erupt-after-george-floyd-murder/

These are just snippets from local media coverage....

[NOVA Green]

Seattle, Washington:

Just a few minutes ago...

I-5 has been shut down by Law Enforcement....

8:01pm – Rally organizers tell KOMO reporter Jonathan Choe that they want Mayor Jenny Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee to meet them at the barricades outside the East Precinct “to discuss police reform.”

https://mynorthwest.com/1906245/live-updates-seattle-bellevue-protests/

[NOVA Green]

Last Night, even Spokane, Washington goes from Protest to Resistance....

Thousands demonstrating on the streets met with tear gas and rubber bullets....

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/may/31/spokane-police-use-tear-gas-to-stop-looting-at-nik/

Tacoma Washington has thus far been relatively quiet (surprisingly perhaps for a Port City, even in neighborhoods such as Hilltop, where i had some friends grew up in back in HS)

https://q13fox.com/2020/06/01/tacoma-youth-host-peaceful-protest-in-response-to-george-floyds-death/

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The scene in Seattle seems pretty tame to invite the response they’re getting. The police are dropping stun grenades and using pepper spray quite liberally.