The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Syt]

What does a citizen's family tree have to do with the crimes they commit? Bloody hell.

Meanwhile, someone is sending death threats to various left wing politicians and people with immigrant background that contain personal data that have been identified as coming from the police database in Hessen. The letters are signed "NSU 2.0", in reference to the Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund terrorists who killed a number of immigrants in Germany, and a policewoman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Underground

[merithyn]

Meanwhile, in Portland, people are seized off the streets and thrown in unmmarked vans by men who refuse to identify themselves.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/17/portland-protests-federal-arrests/

This is not going to end well, and it's, of course, Trump's fucking fault.

[Habbaku]

Meanwhile, in Portland, people are seized off the streets and thrown in unmmarked vans by men who refuse to identify themselves.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/17/portland-protests-federal-arrests/

This is not going to end well, and it's, of course, Trump's fucking fault.

I continue to be amazed that more of these incidents don't lead to violence against the "officers" doing those arrests. The protesters continue to impress me with their restraint.

[merithyn]

At the end of the day, most people still believe in the rule of law, so attacking police goes against everything they believe in.

[Sheilbh]

That video is extraordinary. Unbadged, unidentified federal security forces picking people up and apparently arresting them (without reading their rights) - again imagine how the US media would report this in any other country

[DGuller]

At the end of the day, most people still believe in the rule of law, so attacking police goes against everything they believe in.

I think it's more a matter of knowing that your life will be over one way or another if you engage in non-fictional acts of violence against actual police officers.  Even if you don't get killed, your life will probably take a permanent turn for the worse.

[Tamas]

That video is extraordinary. Unbadged, unidentified federal security forces picking people up and apparently arresting them (without reading their rights) - again imagine how the US media would report this in any other country

But it is not a dysfunctional country because 'Murica can't be.

[Tonitrus]

That video is extraordinary. Unbadged, unidentified federal security forces picking people up and apparently arresting them (without reading their rights) - again imagine how the US media would report this in any other country

For some of us 'Mericans...that might be the most scary thing.  We've often thought of our freedom as part of an American "exceptionalism"...with actions like these being a frightening sign of becoming just "any other country".

[Valmy]

That video is extraordinary. Unbadged, unidentified federal security forces picking people up and apparently arresting them (without reading their rights) - again imagine how the US media would report this in any other country

For some of us 'Mericans...that might be the most scary thing.  We've often thought of our freedom as part of an American "exceptionalism"...with actions like these being a frightening sign of becoming just "any other country".

We became just another country, in my mind, years ago. We have too many people in this country committed to nihilism and hate, including many who are in the law and order profession.

[DGuller]

We always were another country.  Black people in the South sure didn't feel like they were living in a place where police respected their rights.  The belief that US had special protection against authoritarianism always struck me as a dangerous delusion.

[Valmy]

We always were another country.  Black people in the South sure didn't feel like they were living in a place where police respected their rights.  The belief that US had special protection against authoritarianism always struck me as a dangerous delusion.

Yes but it was a delusion I had until a few years ago. I miss that delusion.

The weirdest thing I have seen is how liberty has come to be almost completely hijacked by far right authoritarian types. If you see a group called "The Liberty League" or something you know they are weird, and possibily dangerous, maniacs. Where did self-awareness go?

[alfred russel]

I feel like we are less free than most places, and have been post the end of the cold war. The third world lacks the resources to impose actual rules, and Europe has a much more live and let live mentality. We come up with rules for everything.

[Tonitrus]

We always were another country.  Black people in the South sure didn't feel like they were living in a place where police respected their rights.  The belief that US had special protection against authoritarianism always struck me as a dangerous delusion.

Yes but it was a delusion I had until a few years ago. I miss that delusion.

The weirdest thing I have seen is how liberty has come to be almost completely hijacked by far right authoritarian types. If you see a group called "The Liberty League" or something you know they are weird, and possibily dangerous, maniacs. Where did self-awareness go?

It's not been entirely unpredicted...I ran across a clip on Youtube not long from a speech by Christopher Hitchens (in his more heady, far left-wings days) that I think brings across the sentiment fairly well:  https://youtu.be/g6aKFKIDbQw?t=1280

[Tonitrus]

A small, local, and topic-related cultural extract from middle-England that is exciting a kerfuffle involving an unfortunately-named dog:  https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/07/petition-uproar-over-dogs-gravestone-at-raf-scampton/

(Note: link contain an image depicting the n-word)

[Tonitrus]

We always were another country.  Black people in the South sure didn't feel like they were living in a place where police respected their rights.  The belief that US had special protection against authoritarianism always struck me as a dangerous delusion.

Yes but it was a delusion I had until a few years ago. I miss that delusion.

Oh, I don't disagree that it is a delusion, and one many of us have had for a long time...and often used by the cynical in power to exploit and use those who had it.  Nevertheless, I tend to think that it is healthy ideal to have, if one honestly believes it as an ideal, and is active in working towards the goal in a constructive way.