I can't get past the differences between the Minneapolis BLM protest and anti-lockdown protests

[PSPS]

I can't get past the differences between the Minneapolis BLM protest and anti-lockdown protests

In Minneapolis, police tear-gas unarmed protesters opposing racist violence — but armed Trumpers get the red carpet

Amanda Marcotte
May 27, 2020 5:00PM (UTC)

On Memorial Day, four Minneapolis police officers killed a black man named George Floyd. In a video taken by a bystander, one can hear Floyd, who is on the ground and not resisting as an officer named Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck, pleading for his life, saying, "I can't breathe" and moaning in pain. (Chauvin was involved in at least two previous police shootings of civilians.) Onlookers can also be heard begging the police not to kill Floyd, while another cop named Tou Thao just glares at them, indifferent to the gathered crowd's increasing panic. As the cops take Floyd's unconscious body away, one man can be heard yelling, "You just really killed that man, bro."

The video is incredibly disturbing, so it's no surprise that thousands of people hit the streets in protest on Tuesday, breaking lockdown in a city with a rising rate of coronavirus infection to register their outrage.

The vast majority of protesters weren't violent and none were armed. But Minneapolis police showed up ready to rumble. News photos show the cops pouring out of vehicles fully clad in riot gear and as soon as a handful of protesters committed minor acts of property damage and threw some water bottles (the Star Tribune reports that peaceful protesters pleaded with others to stop the vandalism), cops used that as a pretext to shoot tear-gas canisters into the crowd.

Those images are much like the ones we've grown accustomed to in the era of Black Lives Matter protests (though this time with the addition of face masks): Cops in riot gear striding like conquering soldiers through clouds of tear gas, unarmed protesters running in terror and weeping, surreal images of people's faces covered in milk as they try to wash the tear gas from their eyes.

But what I can't get past — and judging from the reactions on social media, I'm not alone — is how wildly different that scene played out compared to the astroturf anti-lockdown protests staged in various state capitals across the country over the past month or so.

The rest: https://www.salon.com/2020/05/27/i-cant-get-past-the-differences-between-the-minneapolis-blm-protest-and-anti-lockdown-protests/

[onecaliberal]

1. They don't even pretend anymore. If this is okay with you, you're racist/end.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

2. Same as it ever was.

Most Republicans are downright evil.

That is, the kind of people who are now calling themselves Republicans.

But they've gone by other names before. The American Fascist Party was an actual thing, I believe. The German American Bund. The KuKluxKlan. Today's Rs are honorary (if not actual) members of all those groups.

[MichMan]

3. Not sure about other states but no reported vandalism at the Michigan lockdown protests

Last edited Tue Jun 2, 2020, 04:52 PM - Edit history (2)

There were a small number of people with firearms which was legal. The problem with the recent violence at the BLM protests can be attributed more to the actions of those committing vandalism, theft and arson overshadowing the message

[Amy-Strange]

4. I'm wondering if some cops are behind the property damage...

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so they can have an excuse to get rough.

It's just speculation, but I remember back in 1999 in Seattle (I think it was 1999) when we hosted the WTO. It was mostly a peaceful protest, but some anarchist jerks came up from Oregon, ran down some downtown streets wearing mask, threw rocks through windows, and then disappeared.

To this day, none of them have ever been arrested or even just identified.

This prompted LE (Law Enforcement) to tear gas everybody, and then force everyone away from the downtown area and up into the Capital Hill neighborhood.

It was a freakin' nightmare.

That was the narrative, but I often wonder if maybe some people from LE are really the one's behind some of these acts of violence and destruction, instead of the protestors themselves.

I'm not against everyone in LE, because I've met some that were more into protecting citizens and keeping them safe, rather than looking for their next arrest or an opportunity to bust heads.

That said, if some cops are willing to kill black men and women, I don't see how anything could stop them from throwing a rock through a window, especially if they have mask on.
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