# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/61 "2020-05-28T20:13:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And do you think that ex-cop’s life would be worth warm spit if there _weren’t_ people around his house, guarding it? Do you think the angry mob already burning and looting wouldn’t look to exert a little “street justice” if they could get away with it? This took _ **75 cops??** _ Ten or fifteen wouldn’t have sufficed, so that the other sixty or so could have kept order and prevented property damage down where the protests were happening? You know what I think is happening? Racist cops are saying, “If they don’t like the way we’re enforcing the law, we won’t do it at all, we’ll show them by letting things burn.” That’s what I think is happening. When they have 75 cops protecting one man (they couldn’t have moved him and his family to a hotel somewhere? there were lots of alternatives here) and apparently zero interference with rioters breaking and burning shit up, it’s hard for me to come to any other conclusion. And as **Czarcasm** said, “If you have 10 bad cops and 1000 good cops but the 1000 good cops don’t turn in the 10 bad cops, you have 1010 bad cops.” For years I’ve heard, oh, it’s only a few bad apples, most cops are good. Well, the good cops aren’t bothered much by racist cops making them all look like racists, at least not enough to do anything about it. I don’t know how America can go about cleaning the racist pigs out of its police departments, but it’s one of those things that really really really needs to happen. Our being a nation where a black man doesn’t have any more to fear from the cops than I do is about a hundred fifty years overdue. I’d like to live long enough to see it happen. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/62 "2020-05-28T20:14:59Z")
If the police don’t want to see violence, they should lead by example. Killing someone is never a solution. ---
**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 28, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/63 "2020-05-28T20:18:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This took _ **75 cops??** _ No, of course not - as I said, I recognize what’s happening, that shouldn’t imply I condone or approve of any of it. It’s like saying I understand why the protests have become violent. That doesn’t mean I approve of looting and burning property. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > I don’t know how America can go about cleaning the racist pigs out of its police departments, but it’s one of those things that really really really needs to happen. Our being a nation where a black man doesn’t have any more to fear from the cops than I do is about a hundred fifty years overdue. I’d like to live long enough to see it happen. Me, too. And totally agree on that point. ---
**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 28, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/64 "2020-05-28T20:29:06Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Lol what would be hitting The Man (via property damage), but still acceptable to you? I’m not going to advocate any specific form of lawlessness on a message board. But, damaging symbols or tools of The Man such as a police car or police station is much different than enriching oneself by looting or participating in counterproductive, random destruction of businesses that serve and employ your community. Don’t complain about not getting a job or living in a food desert if the cost of doing business includes terrible employees, arson, and looting. Prison reform, civil assert forfeiture reform, police reform are all critically important issues in my view. Why our nation is so big on retribution instead of rehabilitation and why we as a nation turn a blind eye to official conflicts of interest and corruption, especially among the enforcement arms of the state, is a helluva puzzle to me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/65 "2020-05-28T20:30:38Z")
> [@](#): > > But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity. MLK jr. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/66 "2020-05-28T20:46:55Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > No. The swift arrest of all four cops and holding them in jail pending further investigation of an obvious crime. Only one cop actually murdered the guy. Arrest him. Maybe you get the other ones later on a lesser charge, but Derek Chauvin should already be in custody. ---
**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 28, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/67 "2020-05-28T20:51:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Only one cop actually murdered the guy. Arrest him. Maybe you get the other ones later on a lesser charge, but Derek Chauvin should already be in custody. Is it not the same thing as when a person sits in the car and doesn’t know that his buddy murdered someone while robbing a bank? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/68 "2020-05-28T21:17:43Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Tea was chosen for what reason? Burning McDonald’s and looting is just random. > > If you want to hit The Man then hit The Man. Ronald McDonald is not The Man. He is among Grimace and crew. But not in larger society. Are you voicing your support for the burning and looting of Precinct Four? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/69 "2020-05-28T21:20:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is it not the same thing as when a person sits in the car and doesn’t know that his buddy murdered someone while robbing a bank? I’ve heard there were 4 cops there but I’ve only seen the one video where I can see that Asian cop standing closest. To me that guy is nearly as culpable as the cop that killed the man. He just stood there while a man was being murdered. In my opinion he would have been justified in using force to stop him. I hope they both get the maximum punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/70 "2020-05-28T21:29:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This took _ **75 cops??** _ > > Ten or fifteen wouldn’t have sufficed, so that the other sixty or so could have kept order and prevented property damage down where the protests were happening? > > You know what I think is happening? Racist cops are saying, “If they don’t like the way we’re enforcing the law, we won’t do it at all, we’ll show them by letting things burn.” That’s what I think is happening. When they have 75 cops protecting one man (they couldn’t have moved him and his family to a hotel somewhere? there were lots of alternatives here) and apparently zero interference with rioters breaking and burning shit up, it’s hard for me to come to any other conclusion. > > And as **Czarcasm** said, “If you have 10 bad cops and 1000 good cops but the 1000 good cops don’t turn in the 10 bad cops, you have 1010 bad cops.” For years I’ve heard, oh, it’s only a few bad apples, most cops are good. Well, the good cops aren’t bothered much by racist cops making them all look like racists, at least not enough to do anything about it. > > I don’t know how America can go about cleaning the racist pigs out of its police departments, but it’s one of those things that really really really needs to happen. Our being a nation where a black man doesn’t have any more to fear from the cops than I do is about a hundred fifty years overdue. I’d like to live long enough to see it happen. Fire all of them and start over. Or to start with, fire the 75 who said, “Okay, I will follow orders and go and defend the home of this racist murderer.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/71 "2020-05-28T21:30:39Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Fire all of them and start over. Or to start with, fire the 75 who said, “Okay, I will follow orders and go and defend the home of this racist murderer.” Hold on, you don’t know if he was racist. I mean, Floyd started it by being black. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/72 "2020-05-28T21:34:09Z")
N/M. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/73 "2020-05-28T21:38:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Only one cop actually murdered the guy. Arrest him. Maybe you get the other ones later on a lesser charge, but Derek Chauvin should already be in custody. There is a photo taken from another angle that clearly shows the other two cops kneeling on Floyd’s back and legs. And the standing cop was actively preventing bystanders from doing anything to rescue Floyd. No. All four cops are guilty of murder. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/74 "2020-05-28T22:13:10Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hold on, you don’t know if he was racist. I mean, Floyd started it by being black. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/75 "2020-05-28T22:14:12Z")
N/M ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/76 "2020-05-28T22:16:52Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > There is a photo taken from another angle that clearly shows the other two cops kneeling on Floyd’s back and legs. And the standing cop was actively preventing bystanders from doing anything to rescue Floyd. No. All four cops are guilty of murder. The photo is in this Article from the Daily Mail: [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ents-died.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ents-died.html) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/77 "2020-05-28T22:23:02Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > WTF? I mean, you don’t know if a woman screaming at a black guy and calling the cops and telling them an African American is threatening her is racist. Perhaps this cop just hated people who use fake money, and race had nothing to do with it? ---
**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 28, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/78 "2020-05-28T22:23:28Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hold on, you don’t know if he was racist. I mean, Floyd started it by being black. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > WTF? I believe that \*\*manson \*\*is attempting sarcasm again (at least I hope so), without realizing that his delivery is so deadpan that many are not reading it as such, making him look like a racist jackass. Actually, I’m not entirely sure, which is sad. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/79 "2020-05-28T22:24:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I believe that \*\*manson \*\*is attempting sarcasm again (at least I hope so), without realizing that his delivery is so deadpan that many are not reading it as such, making him look like a racist jackass. Actually, I’m not entirely sure, which is sad. Hey, I’m not racist. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589/80 "2020-05-28T22:25:55Z")
Gee, people seemed a lot more supporting of the “noble” Hong Kong protestors last year in their violent conflicts with the Hong Kong police. But when it happens in their own backyard, all the concern trolling comes out. Peaceful protests only get you so far, once that point is reached, you have to make a choice on what tactics are worth it to achieve your aims. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-is-burning/854589.md?page=5)