yes some lived there. But many were from other areas. They have been protesting there for a long while mainly because of the confederate statue. As I mentioned above the only statues still standing are in small towns in NC. A lot of them are at courthouses in the county seat like Graham. If the Dems take control of NC after Tues it’s pretty certain they will allow towns to take them down or move them to a cemetery, museum, etc
Fair enough.
However, since I am not the only poster who has misunderstood your posts, I think it would be good for you to also look at your posts and see if you can be more clear.
People are angry, and they strike out at any post that isnt 100% in agreement. They dont take time to read and understand.
if we have a GD about how evil the Nazis were, and someone posted “Yes, atrocities, evil, bad things, and the SS strutting around in their bright red uniforms…” and I posted “Nope, SS uniforms were black, not red.” most of the posters would jump on me for being a nazi sympathizer.
The police “do nothing about the violation of the law” all the time. It’s only troubling because such instances clearly favor the white male ascendancy.
The police are not required either by law or by society to stamp down all violations of the law, and when they do it in the case of a peaceful exercise of free speech that involves no brandishing of weapons, messages of hate, or threats of violence, that’s what’s troubling.
Red-faced White guys with guns get to do whatever the fuck they want by the cops, including murder. That’s what is troubling.
And even illegal blocking of a road does not justify an “any means necessary” response. We know what’s happening here cops let white fun-toting fascists do whatever the fuck they want because they perceive them as being in the same side. They clamp down on progressives because it’s what they have done for centuries.
Ever since 1877, cops have proven over and over again that they don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to suppressing people demonstrating for their rights, whether it’s equal rights or civil rights or labor rights. Cops have reverted to rioting themselves to suppress progressives. They’re proving that they will give fascists all kinds of leeway but will brutally suppress people demonstrating for legitimate causes in a a daily basis today. You’re equivocating. It’s supremely dishonest and requires a deliberate blindness to reality.
First, for the sake of accuracy, it was pepper spray, not tear gas that was used. Also, while the Graham city spokesperson officers aimed the pepper spray at the ground, a photograph taken by a reporter shows police spraying pepper spray into the air, according to the linked article.
Even aside from the effects of pepper spray in the air vs. on the ground, this matters. I’ve had too many friends who were/are cops to distrust all officers, but there’s reason to suspect the Graham police department’s veracity and motives. Back in July, the police chief “inadvertently” shared a politically-loaded, disturbing anti-BLM rant on the department’s Facebook page. If you’ve ever shared anything on Facebook, you know it’s almost impossible to inadvertently share something; it IS possible to share it with the wrong group. What’s troubling here is not just that he shared this disturbing rant on the department’s FB page but that he believed in it enough to share it at all. And departmental attitudes tend to reflect leadership.
The City of Graham has a problem. It’s refused to remove a Confederate statue. Its chief of police publicly shared a histrionic anti-BLM post. It pepper-sprayed peaceful protestors and lied about how.
Since they were marching to vote, and the law says you have to vote at the polls designated for your place of residence, it’s highly unlikely “many” were from other areas.
Meanwhile I was out at a polling site yesterday morning. A gaggle of half a dozen chuckleheads in camo, with pistols at their belts, decided to show up and mill around in the street right across from the entrance.
A cop went over and chatted with them and shook their hands.
Benefit of the doubt? Yeah, no.
I mean, what is the fucking point? What’s House of Pain gonna do? Flex on voters?
they are going to march in Graham on Tuesday. I assume cops will be there so we will see what happens. Should be less people because it’s a weekday but more students might show up.
The police only gets to use violence when the protesters do. “A clear and present danger to the public safety”- there was none. The protesters blocked traffic- that is a traffic violation. Fine the organizers, give jaywalking tickets out to any protestors you can. So, not “nothing” a measured approach, how dangerous is the sitrep? No danger there. Then- no violence. No teargas, no nightsticks, not even pepper spray.
Civil suit perhaps, fines, citations. That is the measured response to a non-violent protest that violates a few traffic laws.
Indeed-and even that falls under “necessary but not sufficient”. The sufficiency for using violence against a crowd involving children is much higher than individual protestors using violence.
As I said before, there’s no benefit of the doubt left for these gangsters. The Alamance cops have a history:
best outcome would be for Dems to take over NC legislature and get rid of all these monuments. That is possible but we will know Tues night.