I’m old so I don’t know if this link will work, but it was on Shaun King’s Instagram.
The things the US accuses other nations of doing, they do on their own soil in broad daylight. Fucking disgusting.
If footage like this came out of Iran both dems and republicans would be screaming for sanctions and bombings.
They really don't give a fuck about us.
This wouldn't happen a right wing protest where people are armed.
What's the legal situation if someone fired at unmarked, plainclothed people trying to abduct them? How would it go down in a court?
This has been carefully planned btw, abduct the leaders and neuter the movement.
I think pretending arms changes anything for left wing protests ignores the fact that state is virulently hates leftists. Leftists with guns would get taken down premptively.
I take your point and agree to an extent. Not a gun type or owner. I do think there is a role for a legal armed group to accompany protesters and deter all the fuckery that doesn't happen at conservative gatherings. Protection from drivers running protesters over too.
What’s the legal situation if someone fired at unmarked, plainclothed people trying to abduct them? How would it go down in a court?
They'd be acquitted for putting 100 bullets in you.
Yep. Basically all of the judges are bootlickers no matter who appointed them. You don't get to be a judge in an authoritarian system without bending the knee (and probably enjoying it).
all jokes and memes aside, the situation im seeing now really deeply terrifies me. Im getting out to protest but i know at any second i could be arrested, kidnapped, or even killed and the police would not be held accountable. how do yall lefties deal with the paranoia and hopelessness?
Learn from people who've been on the ground for awhile.
Here's a great thread on twitter about a bunch of different things related to protest: https://twitter.com/OccupiedSeattle/status/1279186579286720512
I know deep down that I have to keep going, keep fighting, keep trying to build something new and different. if I get hurt or die in the process, okay, that was going to happen anyway. if you're white, cis, and male (I am not any of these), then maybe it seems like there is actually an alternative. fascism annihilates itself, there's no real refuge in shutting down, internalizing the fear, and toeing their line. eventually they will come for all of us. if I watch them take the people I love first, I've only made it easier to come for me next. and they will. fascism always does.
there's no hope in hiding. there's no hope in sitting still and watching the darkness swallow you whole. there's no hope that you'll be overlooked, in passing for the majority identity. the clip in the OP, what's happening in Portland -- the kidnappings, the brutality -- they're done to make you feel fear. just enough fear and, they think, you'll seek refuge in these false hopes. you, I, we all know that they aren't real but with enough fear you can shut that sense of reality up and adopt the "realism", the "pragmatism" they offer you in it's place.
the fear is rational. we all feel it. it's real and it's valid. but the paranoia and helplessness are as much weapons being turned against you to cloud your judgement and once set aside, there's only one path any of us can take: planning ahead for what you can, accepting the consequences for what you cannot.
what's the alternative? giving up and dying? fat chance. they can come take me, my health, my life but I know what my best odds for survival are: to build the community that can shelter me through this storm, that can take power and shelter us all.
Not really a surprise since it's been happening in Portland for a while now. This is what happens when you push back hard enough that they start to lose control. Hopefully shit like this shows people that our government's not exactly as benevolent as they think.
Police have repeatedly shown that they are willing to fire at protesters attempting de-arresting in the US. This is why we don't see de-arresting happen at US protests. I honestly cannot be mad or disappointed at protesters for not trying after reminding myself of this fact.
It was apparently over her putting stickers on police cameras too. Completely insane.
Yes, was just about to post this. Completely fucked up, I want as many NJ and NY eyes on this as possible.
she's apparently trans femme and from the looks of it she was targeted just because she was the nearest target. take a buddy, y'all, and stick with them at all times, even if you're just stepping away to pee or to get a better look at an unmarked car.
She's also 18 and homeless and has been organizing and working with Abolition Park for the past month. Apparently they had an actual warrant out for her, and i shit you not it was for graffiti lmao. Thats ALL she was charged with, just alleged graffiti, absolutely fucking insane https://nypost.com/2020/07/28/manhattan-protester-busted-by-nypd-loaded-into-unmarked-minivan/
i'm kind of mad at the other protesters for not overpowering the cops and getting the kidnapped one back
by my count 3 cops in the beginning with the minivan, 3 cops appear soon after on bikes.
i'm not saying i'm strong/bad ass/brave enough to definitely have done something different and gotten away with it. i get it. nobody wants assaulting the police on their criminal record but they have the numbers. idk just disappointing
no, they stepped up but didn't have the numbers. you can't ask people to just immediately throw themselves into a possible meat-grinder; the people around you aren't life-long soldiers who have had psychopathy beaten into them.
we need more people to step forward like that, yes, but the way you get that is by making sure people don't get so isolated in the first place. then when people freeze for a second while others step forward, it looks like the whole crowd is surging forward. the movement of the people nearby will encourage more people to move with them.
then you've got the potential to do something and pull someone out of a situation like this (or just prevent it outright because the cops are too afraid to engage).
Anything the US says about other countries is basically projection - regardless if the accused country does it or not.
Obviously they don't, but what happens when you try to dearest, get charged with assault and then show that the cops were illegally arresting? Seems like it could be old propaganda.
It is illegal so the charges won't stick and the arrestee will have a civil lawsuit for false arrest/excessive force. But neither of those outcomes impedes the cops' goals of suppressing dissent and escalating the situation.
Yeah and no. Going to have to keep these protests going long term to get much done. If these lawsuits start to pile up it could be another pressure point on a crumbling system.
move in packs - she got grabbed because she could be isolated. a few more people around her and they'd have been able to de-arrest. talk to the people you're with and be decisive about what you're doing. talk through scenarios like this and know what you're going to do, at least intellectually. it will make it less likely you get caught flat-footed.
move like water - get in, do what you're going to do, and when there's too much resistance, just redirect, redirect, redirect always moving to where you want to be.
It looked like a few folks were going for a de-arrest, but they didn't have the numbers when/where they were needed, so they backed off. We'll get better at that if things continue. Not that it solves the problem, but it's something.
a certain cocktail might help 👀👀
or caltrops/ways to puncture the tire, maybe paint bombs to obscure the windscreen
paint I think is best for right now. least likely to freak out the people around you.
You’d need a tool that’s capable of disabling tires that also can’t be viewed as a weapon if you’re apprehended. Trying to think of what that might be
