The George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests and police conduct

[Moiraine]

17 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

Guys, I also want to keep things real.  Obama wasn't much better than Trump when it came to protests...I saw Obama made a video in the past few days and tons of people were going gaga over him.

 

"This is what a real president is like"

 

"Why can't we have him for another term?!?"

 

Comments like that.  Let us not forget that he also did stuff like this:

 

1. https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/12/414023967/obama-immigrant-detention-policies-under-fire
2. https://ansionnachfionn.com/2016/12/01/woman-may-lose-eye-following-police-brutality-at-anti-dapl-protests-in-north-dakota/
3. https://heavy.com/news/2016/11/sophia-wilanski-north-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-protest-concussion-grenade-police-woman-lose-arm-bomb-photos/

The pipeline protests and occupy wall street were both met with tear gas, rubber bullets and a massive show of force against peaceful protestors.

 

 

I point all of this out to show it's not a republican problem...it's an AMERICAN problem.  We need to drain the swamp from both sides to fix this.

 

 

There are two topics at hand here.

 

Actions a president can take to reform the police

Actions a president can take when people are actively protesting

 

I don't think Obama did enough on the first but he certainly attempted to do more than Trump. Trump got rid of/tried to get rid of positive things Obama started when it came to police reform. The Democrats certainly haven't done enough considering the things they talk about.

On the 2nd, I'm sorry, but a president isn't going to be able stop every single incident where a police officer does something bad at a protest. For one thing, the president isn't in charge of the police departments.

 

What they can do is a) nothing, b) stand up for the protesters' rights to try to reduce the chances of it happening elsewhere, c) stand against the protesters and embolden the police. Trump is encouraging the police to be more harsh to protesters. He's doing C. He's actively making the situation worse. Obama never did C. Maybe he did A sometimes, but no, this isn't even close to a "both presidents" issue.

[Cdog923]

 

[Born N Bled Red]

2 hours ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

 

I'm linking it. They've suspended 2 officers.

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 
 

 

They whole damn squad that walked past him and did NOTHING to come to his aid should be terminated. Freaking terrible. 

 

From Boondock Saints. 

 

And I am reminded on this holy day of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, long time ago almost 30 years ago. This poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But, there is another kind of evil which we must fear most … and that is the indifference of good men!

[Landlord]

Those two officers are suspended without pay, and the man is thankfully in stable condition.

 

Here's another angle. Again, content warning it's rough to watch:

 

 

 

 

It's still pretty ugly in some places and it's still pretty "what the f#&% are you DOING????" re: the police in others:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Landlord]

 

[BigRedBuster]

WTF is going on??  It's like many police across the country are just fed up about people protesting against them and so they are just going to take their anger out on anyone who is vulnerable.  I honestly don't think I have ever seen anything like this in my lifetime.

 

THANK GOD we have cell phones with cameras.

 

Personally, I believe the police are acting out this way because they know the President and the justice department support them, promote the violence and won't do anything about it.

[GSG]

14 hours ago, JJ Husker said:

I guess our little old Greeley CO has a few protests scheduled tomorrow and Saturday. I may have to go check it out. But what I really want to comment on is all the rumors being posted on social media about it. People are posting that antifa is in town and will be attending and there are also rumors that pallets of bricks are being placed on the streets. Police are dispelling the rumors and say they are all in favor of peaceful protests. But my question is, what depraved human beings get a kick out of posting such rumors on social media? All it does is inflame the situation. I don't get it. Aren't things potentially bad enough without purposely trying to make them worse?

 

There has been a small group outside the PD here in Fort Collins since last week. I also saw some protesters in Old Town over the weekend but it wasn't a huge group. 

 

The false Antifa rumors don't really surprise me much in Weld County since it tends to lean, uh, red (over half the county voted for Drumpf). 

[Enhance]

3 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

WTF is going on??  It's like many police across the country are just fed up about people protesting against them and so they are just going to take their anger out on anyone who is vulnerable.  I honestly don't think I have ever seen anything like this in my lifetime.

 

THANK GOD we have cell phones with cameras.

I think you're right to some degree. I also think there's a measure of frustration and exhaustion (mental/physical) on behalf of law enforcement.

 

To be clear, I don't consider that an excuse for some of what we're seeing. If anything, we're seeing the exact kind of stuff that people are protesting about.

 

But I can't imagine it's easy being an officer during these times when people are targeting you with projectiles, screaming at you, and demanding things from you. And then on top of all that you might be on day four of 12's.

 

They signed up for this life. They have to be better. Most cops are walking around doing the right things during these troubling times so now is as good an opportunity as any to weed out the people that have no business being in law enforcement.

[BigRedBuster]

14 minutes ago, Enhance said:

I think you're right to some degree. I also think there's a measure of frustration and exhaustion (mental/physical) on behalf of law enforcement.

 

To be clear, I don't consider that an excuse for some of what we're seeing. If anything, we're seeing the exact kind of stuff that people are protesting about.

 

But I can't imagine it's easy being an officer during these times when people are targeting you with projectiles, screaming at you, and demanding things from you. And then on top of all that you might be on day four of 12's.

 

They signed up for this life. They have to be better. Most cops are walking around doing the right things during these troubling times so now is as good an opportunity as any to weed out the people that have no business being in law enforcement.

The problem is, the protesters are protesting the exact people who are put in place to keep the protesters from doing something illegal.  That's a very bad situation.

 

In a perfect world, you would have the protesters and take the police out of the equation.  But, that doesn't work because there does have to be some form of order in case something legitimately has to be dealt with.

The next option would be the National Guard or Military and send the police home and I don't like those options either.

[teachercd]

25 minutes ago, Enhance said:

I think you're right to some degree. I also think there's a measure of frustration and exhaustion (mental/physical) on behalf of law enforcement.

 

To be clear, I don't consider that an excuse for some of what we're seeing. If anything, we're seeing the exact kind of stuff that people are protesting about.

 

But I can't imagine it's easy being an officer during these times when people are targeting you with projectiles, screaming at you, and demanding things from you. And then on top of all that you might be on day four of 12's.

 

They signed up for this life. They have to be better. Most cops are walking around doing the right things during these troubling times so now is as good an opportunity as any to weed out the people that have no business being in law enforcement.

Yes...

 

 

[GSG]

 

[RedDenver]

 

[GSG]

2 minutes ago, RedDenver said:

 

 

 

Whitefish man charged after protest confrontation

 

MISSOULA, Mont. — A cell phone video of a confrontation at a Whitefish protest is going viral, and now we’ve learned the Whitefish man at the center of it faces disorderly conduct charges.

 

Whitefish city prosecutors charged Jay Snowden, 51, with disorderly conduct Thursday morning after they met with police.
 

 

[Danny Bateman]

Clearly description is wrong, but still.... WTF?

 

 

[RedDenver]