Minneapolis Social Injustice and Related

[vertical_doug]

Matt Tabbi has a public article. I think he hits it on the head.


Where did policing go wrong? - Reporting by Matt Taibbi


Police are trained to behave like occupiers, which is why they increasingly dress like they’ve been sent to clear houses in Mosul and treat random motorists like potential car-bombers – think of poor Philando Castile, shot seven times by a police officer

In Mpls, police and national guard patrolling the neighborhood.
Act like it is Mosul, 'lit'em up'
‘Light ‘Em Up!’: Video Appears To Show Law Enforcement Shooting Paint Rounds At Mpls. Residents On Their Porch – WCCO | CBS Minnesota

The curfew was public spaces , so if you are out on your porch, you are not violating curfew.

I don't know if you saw the latest in DC, but they are using wind shear from helicopters to disperse crowds. They fly the helicopters in low like they are going to land on the crowd to cause panic and disperse ..

For those of you who have worked with helicopters, you knw how scary that feels the first time you feel and hear it..

[Mark Kelly]

Matt Tabbi has a public article. I think he hits it on the head.


Where did policing go wrong? - Reporting by Matt Taibbi

Thanks for that.

[guido]

White instigators to blame for mayhem in some protests, local officials say | Washington Post

"“What did I tell you?” a voice cried out as the camera recording mayhem in downtown Pittsburgh settled on a white man, clad in all black, smashing the windows of a police vehicle.

“It is not black people,” the onlooker called to the crowd before addressing the vandal directly: “What are you doing?”

What he was doing, authorities later alleged, was inciting riots on Saturday as the city — like dozens of others across America — was swept up in sustained unrest over the death of a black man in police custody. Demonstrations have spread from Minneapolis, where a white police officer pinned his knee on the neck of George Floyd, to scores of cities, some of which have been looted and set ablaze.

Police identified Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, of Allison Park, Pa., as having “kicked off” the escalation in Pittsburgh, one of several examples of peaceful assemblies against police violence creating opportunities for pandemonium. While at heart the gatherings have been an appeal for racial justice, they also have attracted a diverse array of people with other grievances and agendas who have co-opted the moment, accelerating what has been a national unraveling as the country reels from a pandemic that has put more than 40 million people out of work.

In most American cities, people of all races appear to be participating in the violence, vandalism and looting, particularly in Minneapolis, where a crowd burned the police department’s 3rd Precinct building last week and vandals were seen smashing windows and stealing items from stores. Multiracial coalitions also have marched peacefully. But in some cities, local officials have noted that black protesters have struggled to maintain peaceful protests in the face of young white men joining the fray, seemingly determined to commit mayhem.

In footage that spread widely online, a man identified as Bartels, who faces charges of vandalism and rioting, wore a bandanna emblazoned with the symbol of the Animal Liberation Front, a leaderless international resistance movement that pushes for animal rights. In the footage, he raised his middle fingers to black protesters who begged him to stop. At Bartels’s home in a Pittsburgh suburb, officers found spray paint and firearms, according to an arrest warrant reviewed by The Washington Post."

[Sbti]

Dotard Raccoon Eyes....
Walked down to the church...
Only to hold Gideon's bible.

[guido]

Protests: police are counterprotesters now - Vox

"These videos show the police aren’t neutral. They’re counterprotesters.

Some law enforcement officers are treating America like a battlefield."

[vertical_doug]

Protests: police are counterprotesters now - Vox

"These videos show the police aren’t neutral. They’re counterprotesters.

Some law enforcement officers are treating America like a battlefield."

Well, we had Tony Baloney in 2011.



And who can forget the UC students

[sk_tle]

"These videos show the police aren’t neutral. They’re counterprotesters.

Some law enforcement officers are treating America like a battlefield."

Honestly at this point you cannot call them "law enforcement" but a militia or organized crime organization.

[guido]

Our Home Can Be Remade, Our Neighbors Cannot | GearJunkie

"Things are not OK. Things may not be OK for a long time.

Minneapolis, our home, our community, is burning and broken. More importantly, though, our neighbors — some family, some friends, some simply strangers we pass by each day — are crying for help. And the sad fact is they have been for a long time. And though we’ve heard them, we haven’t done enough. None of us have.

His name is George Floyd, and his life was taken on our streets. And horribly, he is not alone. Our city is in crisis, but sadly, it too is not alone.

Things are not OK. There is no consolation now — only conviction to do better, to be better than we are. It starts with one simple truth: Black. Lives. Matter. We are not leading a charge; we are joining the brave men and women who have been fighting for basic justice for far too long. We see you. We hear you. We are with you."

[Chik]

is this America?

The first and most important step Americans need to take is to acknowledge that it is. Addressing police brutality against minorities is, as essential as it is, simply addressing the symptoms. The cause is systemic racism, but no meaningful progress will be made until the cause is recognised and then addressed. I appreciate that it's not an easy thing to recognise, but there's no alternative if a solution is desired.

It's a question that is frequently posed in several contexts including corruption, social injustice of other sorts et al, and my take is that in most cases, the answer is, yes.

If it is intended as a rhetorical question posed in shock and dismay, I think it's actually unhelpful since it promotes denial even if it might be unintended.

[thollandpe]

One side must think it's pretty clever.

Login • Instagram

Clever indeed.

[guido]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...ashington Post



"The president could have opened the Bible. He could have read Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. Federal law enforcement had just fired tear gas at peaceful demonstrators, pelted them with rubber bullets and chased them away on horseback. Trump now had the secured space to stand in front of cameras in front of a historic church. And he couldn’t even be bothered to crack the spine on the holy book.

Instead, he corralled members of his staff for a photograph that, in its nightmarish awkwardness, revealed all the ineptitude, cowardliness and pettiness for which the whole charade was a grotesque cover.

After a law-and-order speech in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump strode across Lafayette Square to the unassuming facade of St. John’s Episcopal Church. He didn’t go inside. Instead, the structure loomed behind him — a lemon-yellow, three-dimensional set for his tortured stage play.

The president was accompanied by a throng of staff, but the person who stood out in the blur of dark suits crossing the square was his daughter and adviser Ivanka. Always Ivanka. She stood tall on her stilettos. She rose, golden-haired, above the group. She was dressed in black cropped pants and blazer. She was toting a very large white handbag and later was wearing a matching face mask with tiny metallic stars."

[ABiCi]

Protests: police are counterprotesters now - Vox

"These videos show the police aren’t neutral. They’re counterprotesters.

Some law enforcement officers are treating America like a battlefield."

It is, according to your Secretary of Defense.

Pentagon defends defense secretary'''s call to '''dominate the battle space''' in response to civil unrest - ABC News

[Tom]

I'm sort of surprised at how deeply angry the photo op at the church makes me, and I am not a religious man. I think of my parents. I have half jokingly said that Donald Trump is the one thing that makes me glad they're dead. These days I think of my parents and I want to cry.

[guido]

Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites - The New York Times

"Video of George Floyd’s last conscious moments on earth horrified the nation, spurring protests that have led to curfews and National Guard interventions in many large cities.

But for the black community in Minneapolis — where Mr. Floyd died after an officer pressed a knee into his neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds — seeing the police use some measure of force is all too common.

About 20 percent of Minneapolis’s population of 430,000 is black. But when the police get physical — with kicks, neck holds, punches, shoves, takedowns, Mace, Tasers or other forms of muscle — nearly 60 percent of the time the person subject to that force is black. And that is according to the city’s own figures. "

[thollandpe]

I’m joining the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) week of action.

Wednesday is relief for communities day.
WEDNESDAY – M4BL

[vertical_doug]

Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites - The New York Times

"Video of George Floyd’s last conscious moments on earth horrified the nation, spurring protests that have led to curfews and National Guard interventions in many large cities.

But for the black community in Minneapolis — where Mr. Floyd died after an officer pressed a knee into his neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds — seeing the police use some measure of force is all too common.

About 20 percent of Minneapolis’s population of 430,000 is black. But when the police get physical — with kicks, neck holds, punches, shoves, takedowns, Mace, Tasers or other forms of muscle — nearly 60 percent of the time the person subject to that force is black. And that is according to the city’s own figures. "

I think this data is also saying the police target the other minorities in Minneapolis too. I'd like to see the data for Hmong, and I wonder if the data includes Somali immigrant community in the black community or that is broken out separate. If I look at the data map in the article of incidents, it appears to be the case.

Use is force is really just the final result of the larger problem of more policing (profiling) of minorities. Arrests for drug offenses point to this.

[caleb]

Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites - The New York Times

About 20 percent of Minneapolis’s population of 430,000 is black. But when the police get physical — with kicks, neck holds, punches, shoves, takedowns, Mace, Tasers or other forms of muscle — nearly 60 percent of the time the person subject to that force is black. And that is according to the city’s own figures. "

I don't think there's a single person of any race in this city who doubts a bit of this. It is not invisible at all.

For all the talk about how Minneapolis is segregated (which is true) the area where George Floyd was murdered is a mashup of middle and lower income residences: African American, Latino, Somali, and white. The Cup Foods is across the street from a gas station that used to be the closest ATM to A Baker's Wife, which is both a super white space and until recently was cash-only. It's a place where people are crossing all sorts of boundaries. It's not a simple one-off that police are heavy handed on the community's borderlands. It's the norm, and everybody knows it's real.

The good news is that the city council is now openly talking about what it would take to lock out the police union and start fresh. They're under an expired contract, so it's possible. It would likely require state and federal resources as a stopgap while we rehired a new force with a new contract. What until now has seemed unspeakable now feels difficult but possible.

[sine]

edit

The good news is that the city council is now openly talking about what it would take to lock out the police union and start fresh.

Police officers need representation. So do communities. Clearly systems in place in many (all?) area's in the USA are not working. An officer with how many complaints and settled lawsuits and still on the force....unacceptable and changes are much needed.

Is there local civilian representation on review boards???? for each precinct??? Local leaders should have a substantial voting block-50%. Devil is in the details like who breaks a tie to dismiss an officer from the force.....local council person?

[Clean39T]

President Obama set to give a Masterclass in leadership at 5PM EST:



A conversation with President Obama: Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence

President Obama joins local and national leaders in the police reform movement, to discuss the tragic events of recent weeks, the history of police violence in America, and specific action steps needed to transform a system that has led to the loss of too many lives. Get engaged at: Anguish and Action - Obama Foundation....

President Obama joins Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, President of Color of Change Rashad Robinson, Minneapolis City Council Representative Phillipe Cunningham, and MBK Columbus Youth Leader Playon Patrick, in a conversation moderated by Campaign Zero co-founder Brittany Packnett Cunningham.

[72gmc]

Police officers need representation.

Agreed. The purpose of the police union, and whether that purpose is shared with the community, is a primary issue. It's been a long time since I was in broadcasting, but all of my recollections of police union spokespeople are related to defending cops with bad records.