Minneapolis is Burning...?

The BBQ Pit
161

I just saw this video. The Autozone appears to universally be where it all started. The video shows a white male, dressed on in black, wearing the exact same type of face obscuring mask used by “State Patrol” police when they arrested the CNN Crew. Everyone else was peacefully protesting until this man walked up, broke all of the Autozone windows with a bat, and then tried to walk away from the scene. He was filmed and followed, but when the person following got too close, he was grabbed by the arm and body slammed to the ground. The person filming repeatedly asks, “Are you a Cop? Are you a Cop?” before being flipped.

162

You can murder someone absent the intent to kill him from the outset.

163

I saw that as well…kind of amazing, I didn’t know if it was too good/bad to be true. A FB post I saw about it seems to indicate that he is in fact a police officer.

164

(snipped)

I despise Trump as much as anyone, but this isn’t the president’s job. You can blame Trump for a lot of things, but the cops responsible for this killing still walking free isn’t one of them.

165

I agree with you about almost everything you said. However, murder isn’t a federal crime and a president doesn’t have the authority to just have people locked up. I’m not so sure the current resident of the White House understands this (or anything else, for that matter). Civil rights violations are a federal crime but those investigations usually take a while.

I anxiously await the autopsy results. I will be surprised if the kneeling on the neck is the cause of death. That said, once a suspect is complaining of an inability to breathe, you have to do something - even if you think he is faking it.

166

“Tragic” would have been killing someone by accident as a result of unavoidable circumstances. Swerving out of the way to avoid a deer, only to hit a pedestrian or other driver - that’s tragic.

Kneeling on someone’s neck for ten fucking minutes as someone yelps their last breath is not tragic; that’s murder. The fact that he didn’t put “Murder George Floyd” @ 7:30 p.m. in Google Calendar doesn’t matter a bit. Still murder. He knowingly subjected someone in fucking handcuffs to extreme physical abuse. Anyone with a shred of intelligence could have foreseen serious injury or death.

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The murderer / ex-cop is now in custody.

168

What the hell? That is freaking weird!

169

The police in the US have a long and storied history of acting as agents provocateur so they can have an excuse to use violence and to demonize and delegitimize the standing of opponents.

170

I know I have read this, but to see what seems to be such a blatant incendiary act in broad daylight blows my mind.

171

Well it took only four days after the killing to get an arrest, so rioting works. But the big question is why is it necessary for the public to lose confidence in their legal system and violently rebel for the system to act?

It would save your society a lot of damage if it just worked. No free 5 day grace period for police members.

172

Well, on an even more general level, if the apparatus of state doesn’t function, it doesn’t function. It’ll break down in every way eventually, not just the ones suburban white people are okay with.

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I’ve seen a Twitter thread putting a name on the dude, which actually got MPD to respond denying it. Not that that means the ID is correct, of course.

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I don’t think that anyone is advocating for it, but simply pointing out that it is a rather natural reaction to oppression.

Annoyed that I have a whole bunch of insurance paperwork to fill out.

I mean… that is the sort of thinking that oppressed people tend to have. Why did the Twin towers get attacked in 9/11? People were pissed at us, and wanted to break something that we had.

Ah at least someone is sticking up for the poor murderous bastards.

Well, the answer to end police brutality is actually pretty easy. You tell the police, the part of the equation that you have control over, to stop being brutal.

The only reason that it is difficult is that there are hateful racists like yourself that stick up for racist murdering cops.

Yeah, I bet.

No, that was because you asked about small businesses while referring to Target. And if I cannot be upset because it was not my brother that was murdered, then how can you justify being upset when it was not your business that was looted or burned?

No, his intention was to harm him, humiliate him, and dehumanize him in public. His desire was to show off his power and terrorize anyone who even thinks of questioning his authority.

The fact that he “accidentally” killed a man while simply trying to destroy him doesn’t give quite the level of defense you may thing it does.

That argument could be used to justify any crime or violent act.

If there is any truth to this, then the police are not only to blame for the conditions that precipitated the riots, but they are responsible for starting them as well.

175

Friday lunch time press conference.

Gov Walz said all the right words with conviction, including a promise of swift justice re. the murder. Yes, he came out and called it for what it was.

Atty Gen asked people to not react to the Minnesota National Guard the way they might react to the police.

All good words by both of them.

Other functionaries then spoke about protecting people and property, with no mention of the great need to protect people from the police.

Walz started the question period by noting that he does not want things to go back to the old normal but he did not specify the need to protect black and other visible minorities from the police. He acknowledged tension between the people and the police is a well known thing and that he expected swift justice. He said that what Trump said was not helpful.

Reporter asked about deep reform. Public Safety Commissioner Harrington had nothing of substance.

When asked about why the police officer who killed George Floyd had not been arrested, Harrington replied: protocol. (A few minutes after the press conference, Harrington disclosed that Derrick Chauvin has been arrested.)

The Governor said something along the lines of Now let’s see what we can do to clean up police culture. That will be one hell of a job.

All in all, the press were far more focused on safety on the streets than they were about about the substantive issue of what must be done to ensure that blacks and other visible minorities are not treated as inferiors and are not routinely killed by police.

IMHO, Walz seems like he gets it, but get rid of Harrington.

Usually one thinks of a failed state as being some shithole impoverished country ruled by force. Where the USA stands out is that it fails to recognize that for a great many of its people it is a failed state, with severe race based economic disparity, the highest incarceration rate in the world (with with blacks being grossly disproportionately represented), and tacit tolerance for harrassing, terrorizing and killing blacks, with it’s president wanting to start shooting.

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Interesting that I was learning about this sort of thing just a few weeks ago, thanks to it being the 50th anniversary of the Kent State incident, which probably (though not definitely) was in part sparked by an agent provocateur action (a gunshot).

177

Aye: the United States of America in 2020 is a fucked up, shitty place.

178

A couple of couple of months ago I posted the following about the Covid pandemic. (underlining added)

Lucky us.

179

I saw that. Dude definitely has the same eyes, but that doesn’t mean anything. But hey, his fellow officers can vouch for his whereabouts, soooooo.

180

You mean as opposed to the careful secrecy displayed by criminals in our own executive branch? The USA is over. It doesn’t matter who gets seen doing what, those in power are secure as long as they can keep the rabble in chaos. Truth doesn’t matter anymore.