# 5/30/20 America Burns check-in thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769 "2020-05-31T02:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/41 "2020-06-01T02:02:02Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This destruction is at the hands of Republicans? You cannot be serious. > > Well, when white people were protesting against the lockdown, this was said to be terribly irresponsible, but when blacks are now protesting it is as American as apple pie, as we are now told, regardless of the pandemic. Get your big screen TV as long as you wear a mask! Have you seen [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-evjkVfJ7HY)? That’s not a black guy breaking windows. It’s a white guy who’s concealing his identity as he methodically works his way down the street smashing windows. He’s clearly not part of the protest and when the people in the area start asking him why he’s breaking windows, he flees the scene. If he had some political message, he seems real uninterested in telling anyone what it is. Whoever he was, he changed the narrative. It’s no longer people protesting another crime against black people; now it’s black people riot and loot big screen tv’s. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/42 "2020-06-01T02:14:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Have you seen [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-evjkVfJ7HY)? That’s not a black guy breaking windows. It’s a white guy who’s concealing his identity as he methodically works his way down the street smashing windows. He’s clearly not part of the protest and when the people in the area start asking him why he’s breaking windows, he flees the scene. If he had some political message, he seems real uninterested in telling anyone what it is. > > Whoever he was, he changed the narrative. It’s no longer people protesting another crime against black people; now it’s black people riot and loot big screen tv’s. The people looting Santa Monica and Long Beach are for the most part not white. The rioters might be a bit whiter because of antifa and anarchist tendencies. The actual people protesting seem to be fairly well mixed. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/43 "2020-06-01T02:14:47Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Have a friend in Chicago who listened to it come her way on the police scanner. The CVS around the corner got looted. She’s safe in her apartment but is watching out the window. She debated leaving, but she probably can’t get her car out anyways and there’s no guarantee she has a clear route out. I told her to stay put. Says it’s been quiet most of today; she’s right next to the train and apparently that’s not running. The CTA officially shut down at 6:30 pm, but apparently that meant all operators were to finish their routes and return to their home bases by 6:30 pm, which meant most service actually ended well before that. Evening PACE service is ended at 6:30 pm until further notice. No Metra service at all tomorrow. Gee, I hope none of the essential workers actually need public transportation to get to their jobs. Not like there are, say, any major hospitals in Chicago that are a tad busy right now… ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/44 "2020-06-01T02:52:07Z")
Santa Monica law enforcement are arresting everyone on the street after the 6pm curfew. Its alot of people. And in Long Beach an El Super market is being looted. Crazy times. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/45 "2020-06-01T03:11:07Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Well, when white people were protesting against the lockdown, this was said to be terribly irresponsible, but when blacks are now protesting it is as American as apple pie, as we are now told, regardless of the pandemic. Get your big screen TV as long as you wear a mask! Show me even one responsible leader who is endorsing looting. None. Then compare that to the President refusing to condemn at all people carrying assault rifles to a state capitol. You know, you’re allowed to think something different than Trump. Try it. Back to Seattle. The downtown is seeing large groups of protestors; it’s very tense now, but the lack of confrontations mean there has been little violence. In contrast, nearby Bellevue saw extensive downtown looting. Curfews are technically in effect for both cities, but the only arrests are token ones of looters. Interestingly enough, and in a sign the rioters are not real protestors, the very liberal and well organized college town/state capitol of Olympia has seen no violence. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/46 "2020-06-01T03:22:52Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This destruction is at the hands of Republicans? You cannot be serious. > > Well, when white people were protesting against the lockdown, this was said to be terribly irresponsible, but when blacks are now protesting it is as American as apple pie, as we are now told, regardless of the pandemic. Get your big screen TV as long as you wear a mask! We can too be serious. We (I live in the greater MSP area) have witnesses recording men in milita gear, driving vehicles with militia stickers or vehicles without license plates. The police have asked us to report any car that is driving without licence plates and to track them if possible. We’ve also been asked to keep yard lights on and report any movement in alleys, not just on the street and there’s rumors of arsonists setting up in alleys. Lotta young white men dressed in black and a few hawaiian shirts around. Many stores in suburbia never opened today but we were able to get lots of goods purchased yesterday to citizens who need them. Please, if you are not from the Twin Cities, be safe and just go home. Especially if you are rightfully protesting police racism and brutality. We have enough on our hands with the real troublemakers and I don’t want you hurt in the fray. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/47 "2020-06-01T03:27:23Z")
All of Arizona is under a week-long 8pm - 5am curfew. Which was news to me - here is a _perfect_ use for those irritating smartphone alerts, and did they use them? No. There has been rioting downtown and vandalism at one of the upscale malls in Scottsdale (Fashion Square). Some of the smaller towns are saying that they will not enforce the curfew, which must tick our governor right off… ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/48 "2020-06-01T04:07:51Z")
Richmond Va quiet- just some paint on Confederate statues as far as I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/49 "2020-06-01T04:17:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Whoever he was, he changed the narrative. It’s no longer people protesting another crime against black people; now it’s black people riot and loot big screen tv’s. The people rioting and looting stores down in Union Square right now **are** mostly Black. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/50 "2020-06-01T04:23:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Wow. I thought she was off base in her reaction, but it seems she’s got it right. You actually are trying to argue that we should just accept that cops are allowed to murder people due to racism. > > But COVID-19 is not the only concern in the world. Yes, there is a likelihood of increased infection due to this. But this isn’t something frivolous like “needing” a haircut or wanting to party. This is actual tyranny, in action. Police officers–government agents–murdered a man due to his race. Millions of black people now feel more threatened by the police than they do by COVID-19. > > Furthermore, you misstate the goals of social distancing. Stopping COVID-19 is not the goal with those tactics–just slowing it down. So the dilemma isn’t even “Stop COVID-19 or protest.” It’s “is it worth temporarily increasing infection rates to protest this injustice?” It’s not like the protesters are doing nothing to mitigate spread, either. The iconic images are all of protesters wearing masks. They’re also congregating primarily outside. > > Now, is there debate on whether it is worth it? Of course. Is their debate on who should decide? Definitely. Hell, there’s even argument over what continued protests are trying to achieve. > > But we don’t get any of that from someone just ignoring one side completely. Snark continues to not in any way substitute for actual argument. > > And I say this as someone who is very, very sympathetic to arguments that people should take COVID-19 more seriously than they have been, and that it should weigh against other concerns. But I won’t dismiss protesting racist murdering cops out of hand because of it. Hell, I’m sure that the class divide and forcing the working class to be the “soldiers on the frontlines” for COVID-19 plays into what we are seeing. I’m sure that the US’s failure to deal with the virus is part of why they are upset. Oh come off it. There was systemic racism in the US before Covid and there will be after Covid. Is protesting against racism a good thing? Yes. And it’s happened far too late for many. Is it less important on balance than the current immediate danger? Yes. Is nuance currently alien to you guys? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/51 "2020-06-01T04:35:27Z")
Well, the looters finally reached my neighborhood on the southwest side. I went around documenting some of the scenes. Our Target got smashed in and the looters were there for like two hours before police came (I was there when the police finally arrived). A strip mall a half mile up the street got hit, with looters hitting Ulta, Carter’s, Pet Smart, Shoe Carnival. Shoe Carnival was the most popular. I went back a little later, and the strip mall was finally under police control, but I still saw car after car after SUV pull up the street, ready to do their looting, only to be disappointed by the police presence. The Target looting was like a fucking party. Vehicles continually were driving in and out, people were walking out with fridges, Playstations, flat screen TVs, toiletries, clothes, whatever. One looter dropped something and another, unrelated looter yelled back at him: “hey, you dropped your lotion!” Then I drove around a little later and saw the Walgreen’s by my house got hit. Police were on top of the scene there. I arrived 15 minutes afterward and talked to the cops. Looks like they actually made arrests there, and some of the arrested were armed. She also told me to watch out, as they have also been dealing with armed robberies along Archer Ave. I drove around until curfew (got home one minute before) and also saw some Dollar General with a lot of cops in the lot and a fire response, but all I saw there was a pried-open front door. [Here’s one of my videos](https://youtu.be/HWoauKkMiio). Warning: Strong language. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/52 "2020-06-01T05:54:23Z")
Seattle area got pummeled tonight. Seems like a mix of peaceful protesters with a separate significant contingent of those deliberately out to loot. My view of the footage is no agent provocateurs or alt-left/alt-right folks trying to start a riot, but criminal agents out to loot. My suburb of Bellevue had 3 malls trashed and looted. The Nordstrom Rack appears to have been looted over a period of about 6 hours but now has State (National gurads?) in the mall. Not to mention a strip mall that was also trashed and looted. Everyone seemed to go home around 10pm. Also some other malls in the Seattle area got trashed and looted this evening. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/53 "2020-06-01T10:13:00Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This destruction is at the hands of Republicans? You cannot be serious. Decades of squeezing the poor. Toleration, if not outright promotion, of racist and discriminatory policies. More interest in punishment than solving the root causes of crime, poverty, and dissatisfaction. Loosing their shit because a blackman dared to kneel during the national anthem yet looking the other way when a white man killed a black man by kneeling down. Threatening to release “vicious dogs and ominous weapons” on people lawfully assembling to protest. Yes, I do believe the Republicans have some blame and responsibility here. Not that I expect them to accept that - the Republicans are notorious for refusing to admit their mistakes or accept blame for anything. As you current leader so often demonstrates, it’s always the other guy’s fault. > [@UltraVires](#): > > Well, when white people were protesting against the lockdown, this was said to be terribly irresponsible, but when blacks are now protesting it is as American as apple pie, as we are now told, regardless of the pandemic. Get your big screen TV as long as you wear a mask! I’m saddened but not surprised you are incapable of distinguishing between a lawful protest and the crime of theft. I’ll just throw in that the white folks were assembly closely together during a pandemic without taking even the minimal safety precaution of wearing a covering over the mouth and nose, whereas the vast majority of the current protesters are doing that and many are also attempting social distancing while marching. Because the current protesters actually give a damn about other people whereas the folks marching on, say, the Michigan capitol only cared about themselves, to the point of blocking ambulances from getting to a hospital ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/54 "2020-06-01T10:32:41Z")
Minor violence in Murfreesboro. A broken window, & a police vehicle lightly damaged. Police overreaction? Yes. Tear gas was used early & often. So were mounted police. (not Canadian.) Neither side was truly in the mood to mix it up. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/55 "2020-06-01T10:59:01Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Omaha has been put under a curfew from 8.00pm to 6.00am Friends in Lincoln report there was a peaceful protest at the state capitol building and that protesters and police were keeping things calm, until counterprotesters (of unknown vintage) started throwing things at police, after which the original protest group went home and things got uglier. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/56 "2020-06-01T12:08:58Z")
In Raleigh the office of the local liberal weekly paper got torn up and computers were stolen. Along with many other places. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/57 "2020-06-01T13:09:23Z")
The fact that people are looting at a friggin’ PetsMart should tell you some things. Not everyone is out to score fancy toys and overpriced shoes. When people are stealing cat food, you know your country has utterly failed itself. Good on ya, looters, for watchin’ out for your pets, too. Makes me think of this song - with the date conveniently in the title, to really whack you over the head that the more things change, the more they stay the same - especially the line about seeing a looter stealing Pampers. Nobody steals diapers for shits and giggles. Well … [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e1dPKfxRhk0/hqdefault.jpg "Sublime - April 29, 1992") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1dPKfxRhk0) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/58 "2020-06-01T13:11:46Z")
I’m pretty sure “shits” are exactly what you’d steal diapers for. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/59 "2020-06-01T13:20:31Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > These protesters aren’t upset about the lockdown. They’re upset about an unarmed citizen being killed in broad daylight by armed police officers for no reason. > > Do you see a difference? Republicans are all about protecting their property and ‘freedom’ from the dark skinned poor. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769/60 "2020-06-01T13:21:37Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > These protesters aren’t upset about the lockdown. They’re upset about an unarmed citizen being killed in broad daylight by armed police officers for no reason. > > Do you see a difference? Republicans are all about protecting their property and ‘freedom’ from the dark skinned poor. They can’t think or feel about anything much else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-30-20-america-burns-check-in-thread/854769.md?page=4)