The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Syt]

Remember the German reporter? Yeah, he had another run in with the police.

https://peertube.live/videos/watch/cc9fc643-428d-44ed-be6d-68567e2fee6a

"How can you give me an order when I have permission from your superior?" (He's referring to the governor)

[Sheilbh]

He's absolutely right. I love the line and tone of "second night where we choose not to take an argument"

Edit: Incidentally just saw that the government of Australia has called for an investigation into violence by the police against Australian reporters in DC after the police attacked two Aussie reporters:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-02/channel-7-journalists-assaulted-police-george-floyd-protesters/12312056

[Syt]

Also, Australian PM is calling for investigation of Australian reports being attacked by police to clear way for his Trumpness to hold a book into the camera.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-02/channel-7-journalists-assaulted-police-george-floyd-protesters/12312056

Australian journalists assaulted as police clear George Floyd protesters outside White House

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has instructed Australia's embassy in the US to investigate after two Australian journalists were assaulted by police during a protest outside the White House.

The incident, which came amid a string of police attacks on media during the protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, earlier led Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese to call for Australia's ambassador to the US to make an official complaint.

Ambassador Arthur B Culvahouse Jr later said in a statement that the embassy takes the mistreatment of journalists seriously, "as do all who take democracy seriously".

Channel 7 News US correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were reporting live on Sunrise on Tuesday morning when police in riot gear moved in to clear the protesters from the area about 6:25pm Monday (local time) before the curfew at 7:00pm.

After the protesters were removed, President Donald Trump emerged from the White House to speak to media in front of a church across the road.

Amid a stampede, footage shows one officer shoving Myers with a shield before punching him while another officer swings at them with a baton as they try to escape. A third officer appears to try to hold his colleagues back and let the journalists go.

It is understood Mr Morrison was unaware of the incident when he spoke to Mr Trump this morning.

Mr Morrison has since spoken to Channel Seven and assured them of the Government's support should they wish to pursue a formal complaint.

The Prime Minister has also asked the Australian embassy in Washington DC to investigate the incident and provide further advice on registering Australia's strong concerns with the responsible local authorities.

Brace told Sunrise she and Myers were "not too bad" and the effects from the tear gas were worse.

"We're a bit sore," she said.

"I actually managed to get a rubber bullet to the backside and Tim got one in the back of the neck so we'll have a few bruises tomorrow but we're perfectly safe."

Brace said Myers was a veteran cameraman who had worked in war zones and she felt comfortable being with him.

"There was really no escape at that moment," she said.

"We had the National Guard behind us and those police coming through so quickly, there was nowhere for us to go, so there was really no choice but to hide in that corner hoping they would pass by.

"As you can see in those pictures, they did not."

'Police most constant source of danger'

"A police officer's face came around that corner and just really went for us and I was screaming 'Media! Media! Media!' because, obviously, the media is not meant to be getting caught up in this — we're not meant to be getting targeted," the Sunshine Coast local told the ABC.

"And despite that as I ran away, clearly stating that we were media, with my cameraman with a camera on his shoulders, I was hit across the back with the baton.

"We were then fired upon by the National Guard with those rubber bullets, who are the exact people I had shown my media pass to ... and then we ended up getting tear-gassed.

"It was just a remarkable situation and just absolutely terrifying when you really feel like you've got nowhere to go."

Ms Brace said police had been the most constant source of danger through the protests.

"My main concern is the police, not the protesters because there is such a heightened level of fear here that it just takes someone to reach for their pocket and they think you're going for a gun, or to do anything out of the ordinary, to speak in the wrong tone of voice and you don't know what the reaction will be and there seem to be no consequences for that, so that is terrifying," she said.

"In terms of the protesters themselves, there have been a few moments that I've been scared but more for rush perspective in terms of almost like a stampede, like wanting to make sure that I've got something to duck behind should everyone run in one direction."

The ABC has attempted to contact Channel 7 for comment.

Australia treating incident as 'very serious matter'

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Federal Government was treating the incident as a "very serious matter".

"I want to get further advice on how we would go about registering Australia's strong concerns with the responsible local authorities in Washington," Senator Payne told RN Drive.

"So our Embassy in the United States will approach the relevant authorities, and Channel Seven will also provide us with their views on how they wish to deal with it."

Senator Payne was careful not to comment on whether US law enforcement agencies were targeting media, but reiterated Australia's concerns about the rioting.

"This is obviously a very troubling period in the United States, and a very tough period," Senator Payne said.

"We are always supportive of peoples' right to peaceful protest, and we encourage all involved on both sides to exercise constraint and avoid violence."

Calls for Australian ambassador to make official complaint

Senator Payne's comments came after Mr Albanese earlier called for the Australian ambassador to intervene.

"The ambassador certainly should be making representations on behalf of these Australians, who effectively have been assaulted — that's what it is — for doing their job," The Opposition Leader said.

"In a democratic society, the role of the media is critical and it's important that the media are able to report on events, including crises such as we're seeing in the United States, free from harassment.

"And the violence that has occurred towards members of the media, Australian media and domestic media as well, with tear gas being fired, with media being assaulted, is completely unacceptable."

Ambassador Mr Culvahouse later said in a statement: "Freedom of the press is a right Australians and Americans hold dear.

"We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously."

He then quoted US Senator Mike Pompeo's May 2019 World Press Freedom Day statement: "At all levels, the Department of State works tirelessly to advance press freedom, and we honour those who have dedicated and even sacrificed their lives to sustaining democracy through journalism."

The ambassador concluded: "We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting journalists and guaranteeing equal justice under law for all."

Dozens of journalists arrested, assaulted and shot with projectiles

US Press Freedom Tracker claims to have verified and documented more than 100 incidents involving journalists including:
20 arrests
60 assaults with both physical and with ranged weapons
13 reports of damaged equipment
Nine reports of assaults with damage
25 others including tear gassing and building damage

Independent investigative organisation Bellingcat claims to have evidence of more than 50 incidents were journalists have been attacked by law enforcement during the protests.

They include journalists from an NBC affiliate broadcasting live on air in Louisville, Kentucky, being deliberately targeted by police firing rubber bullets from a range of a few metres, Swedish and Norwegian journalists hit by rubber bullets and photo-journalist Linda Tirado who was permanently blinded in the left eye after being hit by a "less lethal" round in Minneapolis.

"In these examples, journalists have been shot with rubber bullets, targeted with stun grenades, tear-gassed, physically attacked, pepper-sprayed and arrested," Bellingcat analyst Nick Waters said in a report.

"Although in some incidents it is possible the journalists were hit or affected accidentally, in the majority of the cases we have recorded the journalists are clearly identifiable as press, and it is clear that they are being deliberately targeted.

"This pattern of violence against journalists is replicated in several cities, but appears most intense in Minneapolis."

On Friday, CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his two-person crew were arrested on live television while covering overnight protests in Minneapolis. They were quickly released, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologised to CNN.

Media have also been the target of protesters including Fox News reporter Leland Vittert who was pummelled and chased by protesters who had gathered outside the White House early on Saturday.

Vittert said he was rattled following the attack, which he said was clearly targeted at his news organisation.

CNN's headquarters in Atlanta was also targeted on Friday by a group of protesters who broke windows and scrawled obscene graffiti on the network's logo.

Trump blamed for attacks on media

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) secretary-general Christophe Deloire condemned the attacks on journalists.

"President Trump's demonisation of the media for years has now come to fruition, with both the police and protesters targeting clearly identified journalists with violence and arrests," Mr Deloire said.

"It has long been obvious that this demonisation would lead to physical violence.

"RSF has warned about the consequences of this blatant hostility towards the media, and we are now witnessing an unprecedented outbreak of violence against journalists in the US.

"RSF calls on all US authorities to ensure the full protection of journalists and honour the country's founding principles in respecting press freedom."

[Tamas]

I must admit this can be a result/goal of the protests, the police are doing their utmost to prove just how bad they are.

In some cases they are like their own caricature. Like this incident in LA where a few black people helped a bunch of white shopowners defend their store from some young hoodlums:
https://www.foxla.com/news/good-samaritans-detained-on-live-tv-while-protecting-la-business-from-alleged-looters

After about two minutes the police shows up, the young fuckers disappear. Police enters the scene and without asking questions start arresting the two black persons at the scene.

Takes pleading from the TV crew to remove handcuffs from them.

[Syt]

[The Minsky Moment]

The US needs to call out the military to stop the White House from violating constitutional rights.

I must admit this can be a result/goal of the protests, the police are doing their utmost to prove just how bad they are.

In some cases they are like their own caricature. Like this incident in LA where a few black people helped a bunch of white shopowners defend their store from some young hoodlums:
https://www.foxla.com/news/good-samaritans-detained-on-live-tv-while-protecting-la-business-from-alleged-looters

After about two minutes the police shows up, the young fuckers disappear. Police enters the scene and without asking questions start arresting the two black persons at the scene.

Takes pleading from the TV crew to remove handcuffs from them.

Second degree misdemeanor of bearing the wrong skin pigmentation in a Van Nuys liquor store.

[Eddie Teach]

Senator Pompeo? 

[Oexmelin]

I just read the story, in NY Post of all places, about protesters forming human chains to protect the local Target store against looters.  This sounds like a win-win tactic to adopt widely for them in so many dimensions:  they clearly separate themselves from the looters, they actually give themselves something to do besides goading cops with no end game, and maybe they'll win the PR war against cops that way who have seemed to largely hunker down and let looters do their thing.

Thank god we saved the Target!

[DGuller]

I just read the story, in NY Post of all places, about protesters forming human chains to protect the local Target store against looters.  This sounds like a win-win tactic to adopt widely for them in so many dimensions:  they clearly separate themselves from the looters, they actually give themselves something to do besides goading cops with no end game, and maybe they'll win the PR war against cops that way who have seemed to largely hunker down and let looters do their thing.

Thank god we saved the Target!

Yeah, who cares?  I guess apart from the people who actually cared enough to put their bodies in the way.  Maybe they didn't read the Target's insurance policy carefully enough.

[Oexmelin]

Yeah, who cares?  I guess apart from the people who actually cared enough to put their bodies in the way.  Maybe they didn't read the Target's insurance policy carefully enough.

Sorry, but fuck Target. People try to protect others, actual living people, in demonstrations all the time, and they get maced, and pepper sprayed, and receive rubber bullets and batons to the face for their concerns. But, by all means, let's praise the protection of Target as the heights of responsible demonstration. I am going to send thoughts and prayers for Target.

[Solmyr]

If you think "it's unfortunate that black people are being killed, but the looting has to stop", try turning it the other way around. It's unfortunate that there is looting, but the killing of black people has to stop.

[DGuller]

Yeah, who cares?  I guess apart from the people who actually cared enough to put their bodies in the way.  Maybe they didn't read the Target's insurance policy carefully enough.

Sorry, but fuck Target. People try to protect others, actual living people, in demonstrations all the time, and they get maced, and pepper sprayed, and receive rubber bullets and batons to the face for their concerns. But, by all means, let's praise the protection of Target as the heights of responsible demonstration. I am going to send thoughts and prayers for Target.

I'm starting to think you have a real problem with people holding on to their property.

[Valmy]

If you think "it's unfortunate that black people are being killed, but the looting has to stop", try turning it the other way around. It's unfortunate that there is looting, but the killing of black people has to stop.

I mean yes. The looting is allowing a distraction from the main issue here.

[Valmy]

Sorry, but fuck Target.

Yeah let's just let all brick and mortar retail die! SCREW THE LOWER CLASSES THEY SHOULD ORDER AMAZON LIKE THE REST OF US. And they don't need local jobs, they can use their computers and smart phones to work remotely. I mean what is the problem?

This reminds me of your sneering contempt for shopping malls until I brought up the fact they were dying. At that point you pivoted and pointed out how bad that is for the local communities. Um...yes...yes it is. Same with Target and other brick and mortar stores being taken down by all that is going on this year.

[DGuller]

If you think "it's unfortunate that black people are being killed, but the looting has to stop", try turning it the other way around. It's unfortunate that there is looting, but the killing of black people has to stop.

I for one don't think the two should be connected at all.  Apparently neither did the protesters protecting Target, if you still count them as protesters after this whole protecting someone's property stunt they pulled.