# Minneapolis is Burning...? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589 "2020-05-28T07:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/241 "2020-05-30T07:14:48Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Nope 2020. Some things don’t go out of style during riots of opportunity. Minneapolis and other places are currently being torched, looted, and terrorized. Why have the apologists here gone silent? Why didn’t you reply to my post upthread? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/242 "2020-05-30T07:48:59Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Why didn’t you reply to my post upthread? Because I don’t know the answer. I don’t know the ratio of knuckleheads to legitimate protesters. And I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. The police don’t do shit and that’s not by accident. You think the army, if deployed, is going to play nice? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/243 "2020-05-30T07:51:32Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Because I don’t know the answer. I don’t know the ratio of knuckleheads to legitimate protesters. And I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. The police don’t do shit and that’s not by accident. > > You think the army, if deployed, is going to play nice? Seriously? ---
**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:** [May 30, 2020, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/244 "2020-05-30T08:04:20Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I’m not sure if patriots ever attacked the property of people just for the heck of it, but if they did, that wasn’t right, either. Good lord - did you think they _purchased_ the tea dumped into Boston Harbor? Absolutely the colonists attacked other peoples’ property, that was merely the most prominent example. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/245 "2020-05-30T08:12:26Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Facebookers are saying the protest are funded by Soros. Presumably, the virus isn’t keeping people kept inside anymore and they’re going for martial law. I was thinking last week, we’re never going to be Carefree again. I think Im right The “facebookers” are fucking idiots, if not outright trolls or schills, and I can’t help but think your only motive for positing this shit is to stir the pot. If the police can murder at will without consequence then we _shouldn’t_ be “carefree”. Oh, poor you - inconvenienced by someone else’s oppression and the protest against it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/246 "2020-05-30T08:42:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > They were grabbing Starbucks crap like crazy. One guy had a gallon of milk coming through the broken glass door. I wouldn’t waste my time. > Go for the liquor:) and TP. Milk’s good for treating teargas in your eyes and face. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2020, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/247 "2020-05-30T08:58:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > They were grabbing Starbucks crap like crazy. One guy had a gallon of milk coming through the broken glass door. I wouldn’t waste my time. > Go for the liquor:) and TP. Maybe the guy needed milk more than whatever else was available. That’s also in short/limited supply at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/248 "2020-05-30T09:15:43Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. You don’t know because there were no government officials who gave their blessing, implicit or explicit, to their city being set alight. You have confused empathy for the suffering caused by racism with blessing the burnings. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/249 "2020-05-30T09:23:12Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Because I don’t know the answer. I don’t know the ratio of knuckleheads to legitimate protesters. And I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. The police don’t do shit and that’s not by accident. > > You think the army, if deployed, is going to play nice? The police are out of control outsiders and racist fanatics who brutalize and kill the people who vote for them, that’s why the local government is sympathetic to the protestors. The police are the troublemakers. And the army isn’t legally allowed to be deployed, while the National Guard both has a better reputation than the police and is acting much more restrained. The National Guard and the military in general has a history in the US of often being horrified by the brutality and lack of self discipline of the American police whenever they cooperate on anything. And that’s not because\* they\* are super nice people, it’s because the police are just that awful and out-of-control. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/250 "2020-05-30T10:06:49Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > And I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. I saw the mayor of Atlanta begging the protestors to stop. I saw the governor of Minnesota begging the protestors to stop. I saw the mayor of Minneapolis begging the protestors to stop. If this is “blessing” the riots in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and elsewhere, then you and I have different definitions of what the word “blessing” means. > [@](#): > > The police don’t do shit and that’s not by accident. What channel were you watching? I saw police deploy teargas and flashbangs in Minneapolis; I saw police arrest many in Atlanta, some even in the lobby of the CNN building; I saw police and Secret Service tussel with protestors in Washington; I saw police in Los Angeles slowly advance, nightsticks at the ready, trying to push the crowds back. If the police “don’t do shit” (your words), then given the above, which was broadcast on national and international TV, then just what are they doing? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/251 "2020-05-30T10:51:56Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > …And I sure as hell don’t know why the troublemakers have the implicit blessing of these leftwing local government officials. … Please provide a cite for this claim. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/252 "2020-05-30T10:57:07Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > That was of course sarcastic. > > META! > (Also, _The Aristocrats!_) 🆒 Thanks- I thought it was pretty good, and I was a bit disappointed when it got no response. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/253 "2020-05-30T11:00:15Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Nope 2020. Some things don’t go out of style during riots of opportunity. Minneapolis and other places are currently being torched, looted, and terrorized. Why have the apologists here gone silent? Blow it out your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/254 "2020-05-30T12:45:25Z")
nm. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/255 "2020-05-30T13:18:48Z")
Agitator is a St Paul Cop: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qv-O4rnUToU/maxresdefault.jpg "Suspicious Man Breaks Window & Starts Minneapolis Riots") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-O4rnUToU) > **[Imgflip](https://imgflip.com/i/43dlns)** ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/256 "2020-05-30T13:21:35Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > […] > > If the police “don’t do shit” (your words), then given the above, which was broadcast on national and international TV, then just what are they doing? They weren’t using [fire hoses and attack dogs](http://todayinclh.com/?event=fire-hoses-and-police-dogs-in-birmingham) (or better yet, deadly force). Yet. Where is Bull Connor when we really need him? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/257 "2020-05-30T14:55:26Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Agitator is a St Paul Cop: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-O4rnUToU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-O4rnUToU) > > [Imgflip](https://imgflip.com/i/43dlns) Huh, remember about checking things up? Snopes reports the status as unproven. > **[Does Video Show Police Officer Smashing Windows During Minn. Protests?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/officer-jacob-pederson-protests/)** > > St. Paul Police Department issued a statement about the man depicted in the controversial video. BTW when fake protesters show up doing things like that, the usual is that they are not the police itself, but mercenaries in the payroll of well to do people that want to keep the injustice going on. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/258 "2020-05-30T15:00:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Good lord - did you think they _purchased_ the tea dumped into Boston Harbor? Absolutely the colonists attacked other peoples’ property, that was merely the most prominent example. And the tea wasn’t owned by Britain either. It was owned by the largest company in the world, and arguably the largest company ever. It was destruction of private property, plain and simple, and should receive the same condemnation as those who burn down a Target. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/259 "2020-05-30T15:05:59Z")
It was an astroturf protest by private companies hoping to compete with the monopoly. Whether one set of capitalists attacking a corrupt crony capitalist is justified is orthogonal to the question of whether the colonies had the right to defend themselves against subsequent British reprisals. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/260 "2020-05-30T15:15:36Z")
However, I feel ambivalent about the average protester since some of them feel sympathy for the riots and others don’t. I was with the Atlanta Mayor when she said > [@](#): > > "If you want change America, go and register to vote. Show up at the polls on June 9. Do it in Novermber. That is the change we need in this country. You are disgracing our city. You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country. We are better than this. We are better than this as a city. We are better than this as a country. But then she said, point blank, > [@](#): > > Go home. What about the majority of protesters who are peaceably demonstrating against this undeniably undefendable killing? Should they go home too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589.md?page=14)