Posted this article in another thread: https://www.masslive.com/news/2020/05/chicopee-police-officer-mike-wilk-faces-backlash-for-facebook-post-comparing-colin-kaepernick-to-minneapolis-officers-involved-in-george-floyds-arrest.html Chicopee police officer Michael Wilk faces backlash for Facebook post comparing Colin Kaepernick to Minneapolis officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest
Turns out that's not even the worst take he's given: Chicopee Police Officer Michael Wilk has a long history of offensive social media posts
A statement from nearby Springfield's police commissioner: “What I’d like people to understand is that police officers are frustrated too when incidents like this half way across the country happen,” said Clapprood on Friday. " It takes away from the strides we have made in the community, but I want to assure our community that those type of tactics you saw in Minneapolis, it’s just not how we train our officers here, we emphasize on keeping body-weight off areas of the body such as the head, neck, throat and spine and we stress de-escalation minimizing the need to use force, focusing on communication skills.”
What also doesn't help is police officers half a mile away publicly making statements like these on police violence half the country away.
Edited by Ayasugi on May 30th 2020 at 12:33:52 PM
NYT on police brutality towards journalists.
From a television crew assaulted by protesters to a photographer struck in the eye, journalists have found themselves targeted on the streets of America.
By Frances Robles
Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer, activist and author, was shot in the left eye Friday while covering the street protests in Minneapolis.
Ms. Tirado is one of a number of journalists around the country who were attacked, arrested or otherwise harassed — sometimes by police and sometimes by protesters — during their coverage of the uprisings that have erupted nationwide after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
With trust in the news media lagging, journalists have found themselves targeted.
A television reporter in Louisville, Ky., was hit by a pepper ball on live television by an officer who appeared to be aiming at her, causing her to exclaim on the air: “I’m getting shot! I’m getting shot!”
Outside the White House, protesters attacked a Fox News correspondent and his crew, taking the journalist’s microphone and striking him with it.
In Atlanta, masses of protesters on Friday night convened on the CNN headquarters, where they broke through the front door, lobbed fireworks and vandalized the building. Earlier in the day, Omar Jimenez, a reporter for the network, was detained as he reported live, despite calmly offering to move to the location of the police officer’s liking. On Saturday, he reported that his crew’s cameraman and producer were hit by rubber bullets.
Ms. Tirado, 37, drove to Minneapolis from Nashville to photograph the protests, and donned goggles to protect her eyes. In the commotion of running from tear gas, they slipped off her face.
“I was aiming my next shot, put my camera down for a second, and then my face exploded,” she said in a telephone interview after being released from the hospital. “I immediately felt blood and was screaming, ‘I’m press! I’m press!’”
Ms. Tirado said the shot, which she thought was a rubber bullet, came from the direction of the police. Protesters carried her out, and she had surgery within the hour. Although doctors told her that she is not likely to recover her vision, she is grateful for one thing: she shoots with her right eye.
“I would say there is no way that anyone had looked at me and not known that I am a working journalist,” she said. “That said, police have been pretty clear that they don’t care if you are working journalist.”
John Elder, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police, said he was unaware of the incident. He said the department has not used rubber bullets for decades.
“If someone believes that we have injured them, we encourage people to contact our Internal Affairs Unit or the Office of Police Conduct Review,” he said in an email.
In Louisville, police are investigating the circumstances behind the WAVE-3 reporter who was struck.
“We will identify the officer involved and review the video to determine what was going on at the time and if further action is needed,” Sgt. Lamont Washington, a spokesman, said.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press logged about 10 different incidents that ranged from assaults to menacing in Phoenix, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Minneapolis.
“With the unraveling of civil peace around the country, reporters are perceived as a target by both the police and the protesters,” said Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee, “and that is an extremely frightening place to be.”
Leland Vittert, the Fox News journalist who was attacked near the White House, said a man in a hoodie and black bandanna kept hovering around his live shots asking: “Who are you with? Who do you work for?”
When the man found a photo online that identified Mr. Vittert as an employee of Fox News, the heckler gathered other demonstrators around him.
As the journalists and their security guards tried to flee, they were pummeled with objects. The security guard was punched in the jaw, and Mr. Vittert was struck with his own microphone.
“My role as a journalist is to report and show what’s going on,” Mr. Vittert said in an interview. “If there’s some kind of thought that the reason I was targeted is because I work for Fox News, I would like to show them tweets where President Trump has gone after me personally.”
So far, USA Today seems to have the most comprehensive article covering the protests. Dozens of cities are covered, all with protests of some kind being reported.
Protests over police killings of George Floyd, others rage on in dozens of US cities
May 30 George Floyd protests news: "Protests have erupted in at least 30 US cities over the death of unarmed black man George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota."
Protesters break curfew on another night of fury and frustrations over George Floyd's killing: "• City curfews: A curfew is underway in cities like Atlanta, Philadelphia and Milwaukee until Sunday morning. Mayors in cities like Denver, Cincinnati, Louisville and Salt Lake City imposed evening curfews that will expire Monday morning.
• National Guard: At least six states and the District of Columbia have either activated or requested assistance from the National Guard, including Minnesota, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Denver and Kentucky.
• 21-year-old shot: A young man was killed Friday night in downtown Detroit where protests were taking place. Police had previously said the victim was 19 and that they could not confirm whether the victim was part of the protests.
• Clashes and arrests: More than 500 people were arrested in Friday night's protests in Los Angeles, police said. New York City police have made more than 200 arrests connected to protests, and more than a dozen officers have been seriously hurt, according to a senior NYPD source. In Houston, nearly 200 people were arrested and most will be charged with obstructing a roadway, police said."
Edited by DeMarquis on May 30th 2020 at 12:52:01 PM
Whilte mostly political news, you can probably find occasional stories about the protests and unrest at https://currentstatus.io/
A major concern is that this will cause COVID-19 clusters.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
indighost | he/them
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Can we pin that USA Today article?
Edited by AngrokVa on May 30th 2020 at 12:59:45 PM
Xbox/PlayStation: IndiGhost77 | on semi-hiatus
They will certainly try to blame any second wave of the pandemic on left-wing protesters.
Old news already, but the Canadian Embassy has officially issued warnings against heading to Minneapolis for anyone already working/living in the US courtesy of Global Affairs Canada.
indighost | he/them
On the Covid thread, when forumgoers asked about the rationale for going out to protest during a pandemic, eagleoftheninth said this:
The problem is a lot deeper and more structural than that single incident - it's decades of police brutality against African-Americans coming to heel.
Basically, the thesis of the protests is that there's no greater crime in a democratic society than the disproportionate misuse of state violence against its own citizens. When a man breaks a window, he violates the law and hurts those around him. When an officer of the law uses disproportionate force, he violates the legitimacy of the law and hurts the entire social contract that keeps society together.
And as I've mentioned several times in this thread, the last part is kind of the key to beating this whole thing. You can't seriously trust your government to protect you from the pandemic when it lets its agents violate your humanity like this, even under the hardships of a lockdown. Yeah, there's going to be a lot of bodies hitting the floor in two weeks' time, but that only drives home the point - people don't go out marching in these numbers in the middle of a deadly pandemic unless they're really desperate for things to change.
Edited by AngrokVa on May 30th 2020 at 1:05:44 PM
Xbox/PlayStation: IndiGhost77 | on semi-hiatus
In Hong Kong, they protested 'cause they figured the police would kill 'em before the virus did.
That seems to be the same mindset here.
She/Her Pronouns
Is their any central location collecting information on which cities are affected, which states have called in National Guard, etc?
Edit: Found the USA Today post upthread
Edited by AzurePaladin on May 30th 2020 at 1:17:06 PM
The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
indighost | he/them
So... Anonymous is back, and they took down the Minneapolis Police Department's website with a DDOS attack.
2020 is pure insanity.
Xbox/PlayStation: IndiGhost77 | on semi-hiatus
Face me now, Bitch!
Speaking of which:
I'm not sure if its possible, but with how this year has gone so far, 2020 might define this century even more then 9/11 did, and that says a lot.
Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on May 30th 2020 at 1:37:52 PM
Watch Symphogear
, Who is writing the script for this year, M Night Shyamalan!?
She/Her Pronouns
An M. Night Shayamalon script would argueably make more sense.
Try Salvador Dali.
The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
indighost | he/them
I know right?! For all we know, the last few years could be All Just a Dream!
Well, maybe.
Edited by AngrokVa on May 30th 2020 at 1:41:48 PM
Xbox/PlayStation: IndiGhost77 | on semi-hiatus
This is similar to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots after Rodney King was brutalized by the police. And not much has changed since.
I saw it on the news, my mom brought me to attention 2 days ago. I saw the police department burning to the ground. Is this what happens when you kick the hornet's nest way too many times past the point of insanity?
Face me now, Bitch!
The only thing even more insane is that Anime somehow becomes real....
Its arguably even worse then that. The L.A. riots were literally only in L.A. and nearby counties.
This is Nation wide, and slowly seems to be turning global.
Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on May 30th 2020 at 1:43:55 PM
Watch Symphogear
Checking in with my relatives in Chicago. Uncle (and aunt) are fine as the protests aren't near their residence. Also waiting to see with regards to my female cousin.
The next stage of civil unrest is Japanese schoolgirls commandeering tanks.
indighost | he/them
I ask again, could we pin the USA Today article?
Xbox/PlayStation: IndiGhost77 | on semi-hiatus
Face me now, Bitch!
Ask a Mod.
Watch Symphogear
In the name of being honest
Talked to a friend who's doing her Master's at UMN. She mentioned emergency text alerts on a 8pm curfew and neighbours sharing messages on preventive measures (move flammable items inside, take down political signage, keep the lights on at night, prepare a bug-out bag, and so on).
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
As the (mostly, at this time of posting) American protests are being discussed in multiple threads at this time, creating this thread to hopefully host a single conversation.
That's not to say it's not relevant to race, politics, law enforcement, etc., but concentrated discussion of these matters should live here for the time being.