Did you riot? I mean protest...

[WirelessMind]

I really just wanna here some stories if anyone actually experienced first hand of what's happening right now.

[Vincent]

I live in IL and yeah, it's happening in my area daily, pretty epic boogaloo-type beat. I could go get some gibs but I'm too busy working on my character story (ayo check it out lowkey fire)

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Vincent

[ronkinator]

Nah, the opposite. Riot control. Too bad though, I wanted some free shit too.

[Trupiano]

I was at the 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis when it was burned down. I have never felt so safe in that area of Minneapolis then I did at those protests, until the police showed up. People were taking care of each other, handing out food and water. When the donations of supplies became overwhelming they started handing boxes of supplies to local families, making sure no one in the area had to worry about if they'd have food in this time of unrest.

 

I have a lot of mixed emotions about what I saw, my entire world view has drastically shifted. What I saw was so drastically different then how it was being portrayed on the news it made me angry. What I saw was a community venting it's anger at a horrible situation, all the while attempting to remain peaceful. But then the police, the people I've always said aren't all bad started inciting the violence, provoking the crowd. I watched peaceful protesters get tear gassed instead of the looters breaking into a building down the block, I saw police practicing drive by shootings on protesters with rubber bullets and mace. I saw cops purposefully driving over memorials and destroy them as they drove peaceful protesters away from the site of George Floyd's death. 

 

The police didn't just abandon they're precinct. They abandoned the entire area, they let it burn and be looted. When asked to help and intervene they responded with "Isn't this what you wanted?" clearly okay with the idea of letting the community suffer as an act of revenge.

 

If your focused on the looters and the arsonists? Your apart of the problem. Buildings and businesses can be rebuilt, a man can't be brought back to life. The media's focus on that one aspect of the events unfolding is entirely a strategy meant to vilify the protesters and drum up sympathy for the police. Sympathy they do not deserve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ronkinator]

52 minutes ago, Henning said:

I was at the 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis when it was burned down. I have never felt so safe in that area of Minneapolis then I did at those protests, until the police showed up. People were taking care of each other, handing out food and water. When the donations of supplies became overwhelming they started handing boxes of supplies to local families, making sure no one in the area had to worry about if they'd have food in this time of unrest.

 

I have a lot of mixed emotions about what I saw, my entire world view has drastically shifted. What I saw was so drastically different then how it was being portrayed on the news it made me angry. What I saw was a community venting it's anger at a horrible situation, all the while attempting to remain peaceful. But then the police, the people I've always said aren't all bad started inciting the violence, provoking the crowd. I watched peaceful protesters get tear gassed instead of the looters breaking into a building down the block, I saw police practicing drive by shootings on protesters with rubber bullets and mace. I saw cops purposefully driving over memorials and destroy them as they drove peaceful protesters away from the site of George Floyd's death. 

 

The police didn't just abandon they're precinct. They abandoned the entire area, they let it burn and be looted. When asked to help and intervene they responded with "Isn't this what you wanted?" clearly okay with the idea of letting the community suffer as an act of revenge.

 

If your focused on the looters and the arsonists? Your apart of the problem. Buildings and businesses can be rebuilt, a man can't be brought back to life. The media's focus on that one aspect of the events unfolding is entirely a strategy meant to vilify the protesters and drum up sympathy for the police. Sympathy they do not deserve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me start by saying I absolutely supported the protestors burning down the 3rd Precinct. However, the police didn’t intervene in the looting after the abandonment of the 3rd precinct because the governor and mayor told the police to give protestors space that night to vent their anger, as they said that night and repeatedly since then. Except, for a small number of protestors, their anger went beyond just the police and they chose to target fire department and EMS personnel as well. Some looters over the course of the following several days also assaulted shopkeepers and employees, often without any aggravation.

 

Police brutality has to be reigned in and there have been more and more examples of brutality every day, but you’re ignoring the darker side of the rioting, which is that many innocent people have been randomly assaulted and a significant number of locally owned businesses (many owned by people of color) were destroyed despite being completely uninvolved. Funnily enough, the store that reported Floyd to the police and served as the catalyst for his death wasn’t touched. 
 

In short, George Floyd is dead and police brutality is abundant, but hurting random people and destroying people’s means of feeding their families isn’t going to bring him back and is only going to sway popular support towards the police, as it’s been doing the past few days.

Edited June 3, 2020 by ronkinator

[Trupiano]

3 minutes ago, ronkinator said:

However, the police didn’t intervene in the looting after the abandonment of the 3rd precinct

You are correct, they didn't intervene before they abandoned the 3rd precinct. The instance I was talking about where the police didn't stop looters was BEFORE they abandoned they're position. The looters were also far enough away from the protesters that police could have handled the situation without attacking the protesters. They watched and let it happen.

 

The looting at target and the surrounding businesses? it was far enough away from the protesters that a police presence wouldn't have drawn much attention, ADDITIONALLY a good chunk of businesses were near a side entrance which could have easily facilitated a foot patrol into that corner of the strip mall to deter looters.

 

 

Here is a map of the area I created to help visualize the situation on the ground. As you can see there is a service entrance in the upper left hand corner of that strip mall. 

9 minutes ago, ronkinator said:

they chose to target fire department and EMS personnel as well.

This is false. Protesters were not targeting FD or EMS although that's what was being reported. Protesters were upset that PD was using any EMS or FD situation as a chance to take ground and move forward on the protesters.

 

14 minutes ago, ronkinator said:

Some looters over the course of the following several days also assaulted shopkeepers and employees, often without any aggravation.

IDK about looters but that's definitely what the Minneapolis Police Department has been doing. I've time stamped the following video to the situation I am referencing. I understand it's vice but frankly it's the closet to the truth on the ground as I can find.

 

 

 

 

[Midsummer Night's Dream]

 

Reprehensible. What happened to decency?

[CheekLine]

was around it and effected by it, sure. work ems. one of our cities had to get the swat team to them to escort them out. this is just leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth. especially since everyone agreed that pos cop and his goonies needed charged. to turn around and do this to businesses and cities that are hundreds of miles away, makes no sense. the cops that have been killed over this, attacked. fire engines attacked all over the country, trying to extinguish fires. that thing in virgina, the kid in the house that was set on fire by rioters, and then they blocked the fire dept from coming... im just appalled and sad to say that these are "americans". this is disgusting. especially during a pandemic where local business is struggling to keep  afloat. 

[Shadow]

What I don't understand is why there are riots/protests happening in the UK over something that happened in the U.S.

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/london-black-lives-matter-protest-13-arrested-a4459316.html

[KinnyWynny]

Looters, anarchists, extremists are all using these protests to push create violence,  chaos,, and to profit from the lack of trust between the community and its police.

for the most part the protests are widely peaceful, there have been cop cars vandalized, destroyed, theres been people beaten, blinded, and shot by rubber bullets. Protests remain oeaceful till the batons come out.

 

On the plus side, every interaction with the National Guard has not only been peaceful, its been largely positive. People feel safer with the boys in tan then the boys in blue. The latter seem to enjoy beating on people protesting about them beating on people.

 

That kinda says a lot about it all.