2020 Protests megathread

[Storr]

Snap to stop promoting Trump's account because of threats against protesters

The multimedia messaging app Snapchat said it will stop promoting President Donald Trump's account to other users because of the threats he has made on other social media platforms about unleashing violence against protesters.

The decision, which the company made over the weekend and announced Wednesday, may be one of the strongest stances yet from a social media company as the industry grapples with how to handle incendiary remarks from the country's most powerful leader.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/03/snapchat-to-stop-promoting-trump-account-298724

*waits for "social media is censoring Conservatives" Trump tweet*

[pbrower2a]

Small businesses going bankrupt is an unfortunate result of the riots but one point I would make is most of these businesses that are being looted happen in be in areas that vote heavily democratic, many of these businesses are owned by people from ethnic groups that vote democratic, and many of these business owners no doubt vote for the democratic party which is the party whose mayors preside over the failure to control the riots and whose elected officials by and large are pro protest and anti police.

So to some extent these business owners brought this upon themselves by voting the way they vote, but nonetheless they should be assisted somewhat financially speaking to recover. 

There always has been a high turnover in small businesses. Many small businesses are undercapitalized. Small businesses often appear where the behemoths such as Wal*Mart, Kroger, Safeway, and Meijer  don't locate themselves. Most of the fast-food places are really franchises.

It would be terribly wrong to make deciding on which small business gets restored and which one does not based on how the owner or franchise holder voted. I recognize that Little Caesar's paid to restore one of its franchisees whose operation was burned in the Ferguson riot a few years back.  Good for the Illitch family!

Note that opposition to police brutality (legitimate self-defense is ordinarily excused... pull a gun on a cop and expect to die) is widespread enough across the political spectrum that there are some comparatice conservatives in these demonstrations. Note well the large number of cameras and especially camcorders are in use. The same camcorder that someone used in the event of police misconduct might be turned against rioters and looters.  Police forces typically did their jobs right. Beside, the cops infiltrate demonstrations. Tough luck to anyone who gets busted for smash-and-grab burglary-larceny because the cops have infiltrated a well-behaved group of demonstrators.

Now as for small businesses... if you really like the convenience of a small business, then do the right thing: patronize it. Recognize that convenience and flexibility are worth paying higher prices than at  Wal*Mart with your consumer dollars. .

[Tender Branson]

Military Dictatorship:

[Mr. Reactionary]

Military Dictatorship:

Fitting imagery for the Lincoln Memorial.

[GeorgiaModerate]

A very different image than another famous incident involving protesters, the Lincoln Memorial, and the President: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-meets-anti-war-protestors-lincoln-memorial.

[Orwell]

Military Dictatorship:

Fitting imagery for the Lincoln Memorial.

I am angry that the camouflage is mixmatched

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/1268077862533435394

[Meclazine for Israel]

I wouldn't kill people over a business, but.......

You're not from Idaho then.

Coeur d'Alene

https://youtu.be/0kUDGfSOrQQ

Such a sweet feminine soft French name.

[Crumpets]

Military Dictatorship:

Fitting imagery for the Lincoln Memorial.

I am angry that the camouflage is mixmatched

If they actually wanted to camouflage themselves at the Lincoln Memorial, they should all just be wearing matching polos and khakis with schoolbags and selfie sticks.

[Estrella]

I wouldn't kill people over a business, but.......

You're not from Idaho then.

Coeur d'Alene

https://youtu.be/0kUDGfSOrQQ

Such a sweet feminine soft French name.

Incidentaly, there's a place near Coeur d'Alene which is (was?) full of literal Nazis. Hm.

[Estrella]

I wouldn't kill people over a business, but.......

You're not from Idaho then.

Coeur d'Alene

https://youtu.be/0kUDGfSOrQQ

Such a sweet feminine soft French name.

Oh by the way, a comment from below the video:

Begining of paramilitaries in USA: UNITED SELF DEFENCE FORCES OF AMERICA. Just like in Colombia with the AUC.

For reference.

The United Self-Defences of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, in Spanish) was a Colombian far right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period from 1997 to 2006.

It's not like I'd expect these cretins to be able to organize anything more than a white power march or whatever it is they do in their free time, never mind a drug cartel.

[NOVA Green]

Yesterday was another day of significant protests throughout Oregon:

These include many places that rarely ever see protests, other than occasionally labor picketing.

This also includes significantly some Republican Cities & Towns within the State.

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/protests-continue-around-oregon-for-sixth-night.html

Albany--- 1,000 (!)- 2.5 Hrs- promoted by the City Police Dpt's Facebook Site (2016- +9% Trump). Population 50k .The indoor Mall was mostly shutdown for some odd reason for a peaceful protest.

https://democratherald.com/news/local/albany-racial-injustice-protest-draws-1-000/article_d2abff40-8875-5dbe-8ed2-0d8bbce6f44d.html

Brookings- 100 Protesters, Pop 9k. Peaceful protest.

https://www.currypilot.com/news/peaceful-demonstration-in-support-of-george-floyd-in-brookings-tuesday/article_a0a651e2-a525-11ea-a993-dff5953fe2b6.html

Grants Pass- 500 Protesters. Pop 37k. Peaceful protest. overwhelmingly Trump '16 City. (50) vigilantes show up carrying weapons because of a rumor they read about ANTIFA showing up ().

Eugene---1,000 protesters. Continued daily protests, less than the 10,000 that showed up over the weekend. Peaceful protest.

Bend:  1,000 protesters.... Peaceful protest, (although a few Trump flags were liberated from pickup trucks harassing protesters)  There was also a significant protest over the weekend, but don't know the numbers off-hand.

Tualatin--- Hundreds.... peaceful protests

Portland--- Continued ongoing protests throughout the City.... blockading the Burnside Bridge, etc... overwhelmingly peaceful with a few minor incidents later at Night.

McMinville: Several hundred peaceful protesters.

Forest Grove--- 300 Protesters (!!!)

This is in addition to some record breaking protest numbers we saw over the weekend in places such as Corvallis (2,000 protesters), Ashland (1,000 protesters), as well as hundreds in the Republican leaning city of Medford... etc

Note these are not typical numbers of citizen involvement for most places, where even in the run-up to Iraq War 2.0 activities tended to be extremely small in most parts of the State, with the exception of a massive rally in Portland of some 70,000, Eugene (Don't remember the numbers off-hand), Corvallis was about 1,000, etc...

[Mr. Reactionary]

Neither a riot nor violent (yet) but I've been stuck outside my apartment building for almost an hour trying to deescalate a shouting match between 2 of my neighbors over this crap.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Neither a riot nor violent (yet) but I've been stuck outside my apartment building for almost an hour trying to deescalate a shouting match between 2 of my neighbors over this crap.

Good for you (sincerely).

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

People are tearing down the United States, just so Donald Trump can #MAGA 😂

[Middle-aged Europe]

I haven't been to any of the George Floyd protests that have been taking place in Berlin since last week, although I know someone who was there.

I guess I haven't been that engaged about it, because I think ultimately Americans need to solve this. Maybe I would have attended had Floyd's death happened in Germany.

But even those who attended are probably far less emotional about it (than people in America), since none of the protests here happened to turn into violent riots. I do suspect however that, while maybe not majority, a sizable number of attendees are probably American expats. I mean I also see Bernie Sanders stickers all over the city often and they surely must come from somewhere.

[Badger]

Neither a riot nor violent (yet) but I've been stuck outside my apartment building for almost an hour trying to deescalate a shouting match between 2 of my neighbors over this crap.

Good for you (sincerely).

This, but be careful man.

[Suburbia]

Yesterday in Merrick, New York, on Long Island, there was a tense protest.

It was trending on Twitter all day.


https://liherald.com/stories/tense-protest-ends-peacefully-in-merrick,125554

https://patch.com/new-york/merrick/merrick-residents-clash-black-lives-matter-protesters-watch

[NOVA Green]

CNN article on the "Boogaloo Movement" and involvement in protest activities...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/boogaloo-extremist-protests-invs/index.html

In some ways this reminds me a bit of the "Militia Movement" of the early '90s, which although there were significant White Supremacist involvement, most obviously drawn to light by the Oklahoma City Terrorist actions, because of the decentralized nature of "the movement", also included key minority leaders....

to quote the Anti Defamation League:

"The militia movement appealed to many radical libertarians just as it appealed to traditional proponents of extreme right-wing causes. There was room even for African American militia leaders like J. J. Johnson of Ohio and Leroy Crenshaw of Massachusetts, whose shared anti-government views allowed them to break bread with racist and anti-Semitic adherents of Christian Identity."

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/militia-movement

Although naturally I am definitely 100% concerned about this new movement and even their potential role in recent protests, it is an interesting phenomenon, and in some ways feels quite a bit different than the early / mid 1990s, where we would typically never see these types of folks showing up at our Anti White Supremacist Protests in the Midwest during that time period....

[NOVA Green]

Neither a riot nor violent (yet) but I've been stuck outside my apartment building for almost an hour trying to deescalate a shouting match between 2 of my neighbors over this crap.

Good for you (sincerely).

This, but be careful man.

Nothing that sharing a "J" or two, sipping a few brews, talking about mutual points of agreement, points of disagreement and you as the arbitrator might end up facilitating a long-term positive outcome!

[Mr. Reactionary]

Neither a riot nor violent (yet) but I've been stuck outside my apartment building for almost an hour trying to deescalate a shouting match between 2 of my neighbors over this crap.

Good for you (sincerely).

This, but be careful man.

It's good. Recently lockdown-caused unemployed white ethinc industrial worker in an old glory clad "made in America" shirt apparently got cursed at today at Walmart because his shirt was "racist" and "supports murder". So he decided to come home and yell about the rioters and how we're a laughingstock country and slighty drunk Asian methodist restauranteur didn't agree. So I basically had to chainsmoke for an hr trying to get them to agree to something and then leave. After like the eighth time I reminded them that no one present supports violent rioting or the death of Floyd they finally stopped and left.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump’s Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump’s performance as president. But he has now broken his silence, writing an extraordinary broadside in which he denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accuses him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis writes. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.” He goes on, “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis writes. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

[NOVA Green]

Meanwhile the "chickens are coming home to roost" about recent excessive police actions in Portland, Oregon.

We are also seeing a significant backlash in Seattle, Washington as well, where there have over 14,000 complaints filed against the SPD related to "inappropriate conduct" at recent demonstrations...

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/videos-raise-questions-about-portland-police-use-of-force-during-protests.html

[Crumpets]

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump’s Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump’s performance as president. But he has now broken his silence, writing an extraordinary broadside in which he denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accuses him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis writes. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.” He goes on, “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis writes. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

Remember when he was "Mad Dog Mattis" and he was going to unshackle America's armed forces from their sissy liberal restrictions?

[Gass3268]

But Antifa!

https://twitter.com/zekejmiller/status/1268306318814851072?s=21