The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Eddie Teach]

Every day is the anniversary of something.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/12/boris-johnson-says-removing-statues-is-to-lie-about-our-history-george-floyd

Boris Johnson has said removing statues of controversial figures is "to lie about our history", as he argued that national protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the US had been taken over by extremists.

In a lengthy Twitter thread in response to to the boarding up of the Cenotaph in Whitehall and Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square, the prime minister expressed anger at the targeting of monuments.

Scaffolding was erected around the Churchill statue, the Cenotaph on Whitehall and statues of George Washington and King James II on Trafalgar Square late on Thursday evening on the order of the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, amid concerns they could be targeted by protesters and become a focal point for unrest.

Black Lives Matters organisers have called off a planned protest in Hyde Park on Saturday, warning that "many hate groups" from the far right were threatening the safety of those planning to attend.

Johnson claimed that the Black Lives Matters protests "have been sadly hijacked by extremists intent on violence", and he said attacks on police last weekend were "intolerable" and "abhorrent".

He said: "We all understand the legitimate feelings of outrage at what happened in Minnesota and the legitimate desire to protest against discrimination. Whatever progress this country has made in fighting racism – and it has been huge – we all recognise that there is much more work to do."

But on the campaigns to remove statues and other monuments honouring slave-owners and imperialist figures following the toppling of a statue of Edward Colston in Bristol on Sunday, Johnson made it clear he opposed such moves.

"We cannot now try to edit or censor our past," he said. "We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations. They had different perspectives, different understandings of right and wrong. But those statues teach us about our past, with all its faults. To tear them down would be to lie about our history, and impoverish the education of generations to come."

Johnson said it was "absurd and shameful" that Churchill's statue had to be protected, calling it "a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny."

He added: "Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial."

[jimmy olsen]

Every day is the anniversary of something.

Yeah, if you're looking at the entire nation, but not if you're just looking at one city.

[Tamas]

As some of you said earlier, what would be welcome is a general move away from deifying humans, and instead erecting statues commemorating principles or events.

[Eddie Teach]

Every day is the anniversary of something.

Yeah, if you're looking at the entire nation, but not if you're just looking at one city.

What makes you think Stephen Miller decides when the GOP hold their convention?

[PDH]

What makes you think Stephen Miller decides when the GOP hold their convention?

Well, there could certainly be someone saying "You know, given the present times, maybe this isn't a good thing."  Of course, there is nobody in the Administration who cares.

[The Brain]

As some of you said earlier, what would be welcome is a general move away from deifying humans, and instead erecting statues commemorating principles or events.

Personified principles sure tend to have better tits than historical leaders.

[DGuller]

I think we're so hyping down Trump's upcoming speech that when the time actually comes, even calling for a genocide would beat expectations and thus not sound so bad.

[Tamas]

I think we're so hyping down Trump's upcoming speech that when the time actually comes, even calling for a genocide would beat expectations and thus not sound so bad.

I hope there will be a "some of my best friends are black" line.

[Sheilbh]

I think we're so hyping down Trump's upcoming speech that when the time actually comes, even calling for a genocide would beat expectations and thus not sound so bad.

I hope there will be a "some of my best friends are black" line.

He already did a roundtable with some of his black friends

[Syt]

He already said he's the president who did the most for blacks except, maybe, Lincoln.

[merithyn]

Every day is the anniversary of something.

Yeah, if you're looking at the entire nation, but not if you're just looking at one city.

What makes you think Stephen Miller decides when the GOP hold their convention?

I think it's silly to think that he doesn't have input on where it's held. Had that been held somewhere else, it wouldn't be an issue.

[11B4V]

So my department issued standardized face masks to all civilian and military LE. Can you guess what color?

[Admiral Yi]

So my department issued standardized face masks to all civilian and military LE. Can you guess what color?

Chartreuse?  Vermillion?  Aquamarine?

[Valmy]

So my department issued standardized face masks to all civilian and military LE. Can you guess what color?

Gold?