@Mithrandir24601 I don't know about this, but do you really think public opinion will support demonstrations which include violence and riots, in this case?
@Mithrandir24601 It has been in mainstream media for a long time, and not seldom.
I would have waited until the pandemic was over, or started twenty years ago, and organised peaceful mass demonstrations with a million people in the capital.
@Cerberus Sure. No-one's done anything about it, so standard sitting about having (smaller) demonstrations when something happens clearly doesn't have any effect i.e. is getting ignored
@Cerberus Yes, because it's not getting smaller, the protests are spreading
@Jolenealaska And this perfectly demonstrates the problem, especially when contrasted with how they dealt with the (largely white) protestors who wanted lockdown to end
> Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats said they supported peaceful protests but believed property damage undermined the demonstrators’ cause. Less than one quarter of Americans said violence was an appropriate response.
So I would say people (still?) support the demonstrations despite the violence.
The point was adequately made with the police department. I'm not going to be real happy with any further damage and I would never have supported private property damage, but shit happens.
My world went completely upside down when I watched a news crew under fire on live television the day after I saw the news crew from the other outfit arrested.
Like, it's not the protestors calling in the army, they're (largely properly) exercising their constitutional right (although I hate calling things a 'constitutional' right, it's like you only have that right because someone wrote it in a document a couple of hundred years ago?? You have that right because you're human)
@Cerberus My history teacher said something once. He was the rare sort of history teacher - he was there. He witnessed the aptly named bloody Sunday first hand. It's interesting, because he says that he would be unable to kill for his country, but he'd be willing to die for it
@Jolenealaska Could be many things. For example, I would support any measures taken to curb police violence, but I would also support arresting violent protesters, and preventing violent protests (if possible...).
@Mithrandir24601 Uhh which bloody Sunday?
There have been too many...
America is not Nazi Germany.
I would support violence against the German occupation.
@Cerberus I think it's there that we start to part company. If you're a young black man in America, you are in constant peril from police who might very well kill you. You and I might not face stormtroopers on a regular basis, but young black men do in this country.
@Cerebus, the problem is that the vast majority of people in the protests are peaceful, but there are individuals and groups of people who tag along with the peaceful protests for the purpose of looting or starting violence. Social media has helped groups form, but because there's a lack of leadership and organization social media also helps the violent and criminal elements to join protests.
Some of these people start violence with the intent to devalue the message. These are sometimes far-right groups and there have been cases in the past where police in disguise have started violence in protests to give the police the excuse to escalate. It's a nasty tactic.
Some of the violence is started by the protesters no doubt, which is unfortunate, but to me the message is clear. When a non-violent protest is broken up by violence so the president can have a photo op you know that there's a fundamental issue.