The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[alfred russel]

There was a black lives matter protest in Atlanta yesterday, I was encouraged to go home early, but since I was going to be working past midnight, figured it would be done by then. The protest involved blocking roads. It was still going when I left work, and my normal way home was blocked by a bunch of cops and a bunch more protesters. The cops were in a line, and one really big protestor was reasonably close to one of the cops in the line and jawing at him about something.

Way to win over public opinion, guys. 

[Valmy]

I don't think BLM is about winning friends, it is about making people deal with an issue they would rather ignore.

[derspiess]

It's about inconveniencing white people and making them feel less secure/comfortable, yes.  But I don't see how that's constructive. If anything it makes things worse.

[Valmy]

It's about inconveniencing white people and making them feel less secure/comfortable, yes.

I am not particularly inconvenienced by people demanding cops stop shooting people. Nor does that make me feel less secure or comfortable. I am well aware they are obnoxious jerks but less so than the Trump assholes. Do they wave Confederate Flags and scream racist slogans? No? Then color me less inconvenienced and more comfortable.

So YMMV.

[11B4V]

So, when is the big discussion on US Army-inspired terrorism going to start?

Easy there Clayton Bigsby not so hasty. Thinking that just because he's black, was in the Army, does not make him a terrorist.

[dps]

It's about inconveniencing white people and making them feel less secure/comfortable, yes.

I am not particularly inconvenienced by people demanding cops stop shooting people. Nor does that make me feel less secure or comfortable. I am well aware they are obnoxious jerks but less so than the Trump assholes. Do they wave Confederate Flags and scream racist slogans? No? Then color me less inconvenienced and more comfortable.

So YMMV.

Easier for you to say than it is for Dorsey--it wasn't your route home they were blocking.

[11B4V]

There was a black lives matter protest in Atlanta yesterday, I was encouraged to go home early, but since I was going to be working past midnight, figured it would be done by then. The protest involved blocking roads. It was still going when I left work, and my normal way home was blocked by a bunch of cops and a bunch more protesters. The cops were in a line, and one really big protestor was reasonably close to one of the cops in the line and jawing at him about something.

Way to win over public opinion, guys. 

They are sure trying to win the PO.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/25/marissa-johnson-black-lives-matter-leader-explains/

[CountDeMoney]

Oh, those silly niggers, being all silly and complaining and whatnot.  Oh, sigh.  Just really wish they would go back to being quiet and knowing their place.

[Admiral Yi]

I am not particularly inconvenienced by people demanding cops stop shooting people. Nor does that make me feel less secure or comfortable. I am well aware they are obnoxious jerks but less so than the Trump assholes. Do they wave Confederate Flags and scream racist slogans? No? Then color me less inconvenienced and more comfortable.

So YMMV.

Nobody is inconvenienced by demands.  People are inconvenienced by blocked roads, interrupted parades, shouted down speeches, etc.

[11B4V]

Oh, those silly niggers, being all silly and complaining and whatnot.  Oh, sigh.  Just really wish they would go back to being quiet and knowing their place.

"You start to think it's me against the world. And with that type of mentality, we'll implode as a people," he said. "We'll implode not as ethnicity as a people, but as a people, period. We're all one race at the end of the day. If we get a 'me against the world' mentality ― last night I was thinking, maybe it's not black lives matter or all lives matter, maybe it's just my life matters. Maybe it's just my family's life matters. I had to recover from that spiritually."

[CountDeMoney]

It was just a lot easier to shoot them in the 1950s.  Now, they're all uppity and think they don't deserve it and shit. 

[garbon]

Oh, those silly niggers, being all silly and complaining and whatnot.  Oh, sigh.  Just really wish they would go back to being quiet and knowing their place.

Pandora's box was opened.

[11B4V]

All lives matter.

[alfred russel]

Dps, to be clear, it added about 5 to my drive--There was an open alternate route. A drunk driver flipping his car over on the highway (once I had gotten on the highway) could have been much more of an inconvenience, and such things frequently occur.

I do think Valmy is misinterpreting the impact the protesters are having, and I'm not sure the purpose of comparing them to Trump supporters, who are generally asshats. I was encouraged to leave work early to avoid them, and a friend (who knew I would ignore the request) tried to convince me otherwise on the grounds that going through the protests wouldn't just be inconvenient but unsafe. I think that a number of members of the general public would be frightened by encountering a very large crowd (of black people, fwiw-even if it shouldn't matter it does), blocking their road home after midnight, right after the incident in Dallas, with a zillion police cars with their lights flashing, and a line of cops out, and with some members of the crowd appearing to non violently confront them. I also suspect it was a very stressful evening for some of the police officers--which is unfortunate since those are the guys that are going to be policing their streets and hopefully not shooting them.

If the purpose of the protests are to draw attention to the problems between the black community and largely white police forces, I think protests last night do so. But I think it pushes a lot of white people to the side of the cops rather than to the protesters' perspective.

[garbon]

All lives matter.

Yeah unfortunately white people often seem to forget that.

Or perhaps more accurately, don't believe that to be true.