CaptainInvictus

I may have worded that poorly, but a protest is absolutely a show of strength of numbers to force change, whether that be of physical force or not is up to the focus of the protest. and boy howdy, do the cops seem to want to invite that physical force.

keep in mind I am not advocating for violence, but I do not see things changing without it. the LAPD passed their 1.8 billion dollar budget(which...that's ridiculous. that's a ridiculous number.) with all present members voting aye(14 out of 15), WHILE HAVING PEOPLE CALL IN TO SHIT ON THEM ABOUT THE PROTESTS AND THE PROTESTS BEING IN FULL SWING.

they. do. not. care. they will not change unless forced to, which is why I think that violence is inevitable in this case.

if you don't think the violence against cops by protesters would be trumpeted loud and proud by every major media corporation from the rooftops, especially fox, you're extremely naive. and if you think the cops would claim responsibility for the violence they inflicted during the protests, well, let's let friend of the site Ice T state it plainly:

https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1267918264350334976

as of right now 40% of this country still supports trump despite all of this, despite the threat to dismantle this very "democracy" they supposedly love. like he wants to deploy soldiers on american soil. do you understand the ramifications of that? do you understand that would be a full blown overthrow of the government into authoritarianism(moreso than it is now)? it's only the governors stopping him.

I don't want a war, far from it. But I expect a war.

the entire point of a protest is to say "you need to change this or the violence starts". we have been shown fairly regularly that being corralled into small spaces to protest in "free speech zones" accomplishes little to nothing. the threat of violence and destruction of order is the only thing that can usually motivate things to change. it is an unfortunate aspect of human society, but that's how it's been for thousands of years. "violence solves nothing" is an inherently false statement. a shitload of things have been solved through violence. shit, the government's "problem" of MLK, malcolm x, the black panthers, etc were all "solved" through violence. bombings, snipings, or just sneaking into the room of the leader's house while he's been drugged and double tapping him in his bed, the US has "solved" a LOT of things it shouldn't have through violence.

it has to change.

and for reference, here is a fantastic unrolling of a twitter thread about how the police system should be dismantled and spread out so that no one organization holds such all-encompassing power.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1268045873432281088.html

my dude, you are misunderstanding something crucial here. these peaceful protests are the compromise. this is stating "this shit has to change". if that does not happen, then there's a good chance the violence really starts. frankly I'm shocked it hasn't yet with how flagrant the cops are being with their dismissal of the protesters and their message. consider the amount of people who have died over the last few days to the amount of people involved in protests across the country, it's a miniscule amount. that is not to say it is not tragic that lives were lost. but trying to defang a movement because there has been violence is EXACTLY what the powers that be want, to make it fade into the background and dissolve. It's why Fox News was following the police vehicles driving around portland and not focusing on the jackbooted, marching rows of cops launching volleys of tear gas into panicked groups of people from the streets and from rooftops. it's about the narrative, and if you're going "but what about the security guard", you are either unknowingly or worse, willfully playing into that narrative.

it is precisely "both sides" bullshit.

here is a convenient, very organized collection of recordings of cops doing horrific things to protesters over the last few days. There are over 250 entries. that should say everything.

https://tinyurl.com/GFProtestPoliceBrutality

from aiming point blank tear gas grenade launchers at a toddler, to kneeling with protesters for photo ops in DOZENS of places only to open fire on them within ten to twenty minutes of doing so, to destroying places for people to get water and rest just to spite protesters, if this does not result in massive change to the police force, and I mean MASSIVE, then this country deserves to fall because it has already failed its people.

when that group is explicitly designed to weed out the "good ones", what then? sure, you might have "good" cops in the bottom levels of the force, but the system is set up to ensure no change can be made from the inside.

and putting "hurling hate at a group whether it be a job or a minority" is showing your entire ass mate, minorities are people and can't choose to be a minority. a cop chose to be a cop. if they don't follow orders, they get fired. and I'm sure I don't need to explain to you how hollow and worthless the statement "just following orders" is as a defense.

if you're going to separate the "good cops" from the "bad cops" you're gonna have to separate the "good protesters" from the "looters and rioters" because there's people showing up to the protests either to instigate shit(such as the multiple cops caught acting like protesters and breaking shit, undercover cops goading protesters into fights, etc), people there to profit off it, or those there to find vulnerable targets to loot. this is a fraction of a fraction of the people showing up, but focusing on those people is exactly what is wanted in order to sow division. and even then, I wager a fair number of the looters are people who have nothing left to lose. who have been fully abandoned by the system especially during the covid outbreak and watched as the government shot down every bill aimed to support them through the pandemic, and just don't give a shit because the country does not give a shit about them.

not to mention quite a lot of the riots and violence are initiated by police. I've rarely been so angry as I was last night watching the portland and seattle protests live, "someone" threw a water bottle at fully armored, shielded riot cops in an arc from a few rows back in the crowd(I.E. something that would bounce harmlessly off body armor) around curfew and that was probably a signal to go all in since the cops absolutely unloaded with everything they had immediately, dozens of flashbangs, tear gas, and pepper bullets within seconds as well as spraying the entire front line with entire cans of mace. and minutes later out of nowhere hundreds of bike cops rolled in to chase down the fleeing protesters. they plan all of it. and it's not just those cops, it's all over the country. then you start to think about how there's 38,000 NYPD cops and it's basically an occupying force. this isn't even how it's been for very long, this is since like, the mid-90s and especially right after 9/11 as they rapidly militarized. also, contrast these cops at a peaceful protest to the cops at the protest of tubby white dudes in tactilol gear in the...michigan I wanna say, state house, palling around with a bunch of white supremacists, but showing absolute vitriol and scorn for people who want justice. it's extremely telling.

the police are not there to protect you. they are there to protect the stratified society in the US. they are there to ensure that the castes we have don't get too equal.

you, uh, you replying to me? if so, quote the person you're replying to so they are notified there's a discussion and can respond, otherwise it's just a shitpost-and-run.

the system that bred the rampant white supremacist inroads into the police force needs to be dismantled as well as the majority of the police force.

I will always love that quote about Rage Against the Machine being Paul Ryan's favorite band until he actually read the lyrics and realized they were basically antithetical to his existence. imagine having a favorite band for decades and never actually processing the lyrics of their songs, what kind of an empty void of a person you'd have to be.