George Floyd murder and blowback

[wili]

My neighborhood was engulfed in flame, smoke and looting last night after police fired continuously on peaceful protesters demanding justice after a cop killed a man lying on his stomach with his hands handcuffed.

kassy asked me to post updates on this part of the forum, so I will do so as the situation allows

[blumenkraft]

Crosspost:

[blumenkraft]

[wili]

Thanks for those, blum.

There's lots of stuff online for anyone who wants to search. Just don't trust most of the MSM narrative...this was first and foremost a police riot--cowardly cops firing on brave, peaceful, unarmed protesters from roof tops...

I only got a couple hours sleep last night, and then I've been surveying the damage and helping with a bit of clean up (lots of the neighborhood showed up to help with that).

So I'm gonna try to catch a few winks, but invite people to post links, thoughts, etc.

[blumenkraft]

Democratic congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar have called for the police officer who knelt on George Floyd‘s neck to be charged with murder, as the former claims politicians are scared of “the political power of police.”

Link >> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/george-floyd-death-aoc-ilhan-omar-police-officer-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-twitter-a9536876.html

[blumenkraft]

Tucker Carlson Calls Protests Against Police Violence 'A Form Of Tyranny' : The Fox News host seemed fine with protests featuring armed right-wingers rallying against coronavirus lockdowns.

Link >> https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-police-violence-protests_n_5ecf30ecc5b60f293c94ec56

[wili]

AM2...bless your heart

Do you even know what you're looking at

The first video shows the Autozone store that an undercover cop broke the window of and may have started the fire, then ran off after being confronted by peaceful protesters. The video shows very brave protesters risking their lives trying to PUT OUT the fire, unfortunately unsuccessfully.

Don't believe everything you think

In any case, if you're more concerned with corporate property (insured, no one's losing money here) than with Black lives, then you ARE the problem, sir/ma'am.

:::::::::::::

A bit of context, too...cop snipers were firing on brave, unarmed protesters from roofs all day. They had to set up a makeshift MASH unit in a local store to try to treat the 100+ badly wounded. No ambulances would come.

The police department has lost all legitimacy with pretty much every individual and institution in the city and beyond, including the University of Minnesota, which has formally cut off any ties it had with the dept.

Legislators and other office holders are currently drawing up plans to totally defund the entire department

You can just keep killing and killing and killing citizens for absolutely no reason and expect there to never be any reprecussions.

We have protested vehemently and non-violently for decades, but we can now always control the real fury of the masses.

And please don't assume that there is much overlap between the looters and the actual protesters in the street, who were mostly amazingly disciplined and courageous in the line of continuous fire.

A lot of people are gonna take advantage of a chaotic situation. By late in the evening, it was pretty much the gangs who had taken over the streets. They also, of course, have very little love for the cops, but are a very different crowd from the protesters.

But yeah, its hard when it has come to this. I'm glad the residential part of my neighborhood was mostly spared. But I know a guy who is probably homeless now because of this.

It is completely possible to not condone the loss of property while having some understanding of the immediate and longer term circumstances that lead to it taking place...can we handle that kind of subtlety?

[blumenkraft]

An agent provocateur (French for "inciting agent") is a person who commits or who acts to entice another person to commit an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation or entice legal action against the target or a group they belong to. An agent provocateur may be a member of a law enforcement agency acting out of their own sense of duty or under orders, or other entity. They may target any group, such as a peaceful protest or demonstration, a union, a political party or a company.

Link >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur

[wili]

Thanks, blum

here's the relevant video...very suspicious guy w the umbrella, as everyone realizes at the time:

https://video-ams4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.24130-2/10000000_704696513684739_7571916135688204727_n.mp4?

<removed tracking code from link, BK Nevermind. Not a tracking code, sorry. This is really weird, without tracking code this link isn't working anymore.>

[wili]

Wow, cliche much?

Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while.” Old Man Warner responds to Mr. Adams who tells him that another village had given up the lottery...

https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-lottery/quotes/character/old-man-warner/

Who pays every day for the lives destroyed by the institutional racism that runs straight through our society?


“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. “ — Frederick Douglass

[KiwiGriff]

Wili
Your vid shows a very suspect individual that supports your claim of deliberate actions to escalate tensions .
I am extremely troubled by the problems you are having in your community.
Adding even more violence from the police or the public to what has happened will not make things better.

FWIW
You can delete every thing after the file format designation like mp4/jpg/png  in links it is internet data tracking from the question mark on.

[blumenkraft]

Can't compare peaceful demonstrations with mass arson and looting. 

Let's see what we have here. You have an outraged group that is literally targeted by the police since forever. Before that, they where slaves. Now they protest because someone was killed by the cops - again. Then you have the police come in, escalating it as hard as they can, even deploying agent-provocateurs. This, apparently, is the situation at hand.

Just as a heads up, AM, i will not allow victim-blaming. For how i see it, the attacked and smeared protesters are victims here too.

[Alexander555]

I got a police knee in my neck several times during protests, but was that the reason he died ?

<Hold your horses, Alexander. Racism snipped! BK>

[Neven]

I got a police knee in my neck several times during protests, but was that the reason he died ?

a) You don't live in the US, and b) you are not black.

These things only happen to black Americans, hardly ever to white ones (even though plenty of criminals are white). That's a problem, no two ways about it.

[gerontocrat]

How did the richest country in the world get itself into such a goddam-awful mess, of which the Minneapolis police fuck-up is merely the latest manifestation?

[wili]

Thanks, KG...done

The branch of Wells Fargo a half block away is boarding up all of their windows in anticipation of violent protests here tonight.

Should I be worried...

All buses and light rail closed at 4pm today...shit is getting real here, my friends...

[Alexander555]

The cop seems to sit with his full body weight on his neck. But why does he goes down when they want to put him in the car ? Probably there was something wrong with him.

[blumenkraft]

Amy Klobuchar declined to prosecute officer at center of George Floyd's death after previous conduct complaints

Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin saw at least 10 conduct complaints during his 19-year tenure before he was fired Tuesday, according to a database that documents complaints against police. In particular, he was involved in the shooting death of a man who had stabbed other people before attacking police, as well as some other undisclosed complaints. Klobuchar did not prosecute Chauvin for the first death, and he was later placed on leave when he and other officers shot and wounded an Native American man in 2011.

Link >> https://theweek.com/speedreads/916926/amy-klobuchar-declined-prosecute-officer-center-george-floyds-death-after-previous-conduct-complaints

[wili]

The sitting on the neck move was not one sanctioned by the police department, probably because it could so easily be lethal.

Because you don't know what condition people are in, it is a good idea never to use unnecessary force.

And...why were they using any force at all. None of the videos show him physically resisting.

Let's just call this what it is: A hyper-testosteroned white cop eager to show that he could dominate a big black dude. As blum points out, he had a long history of abusive behavior, many of them already recorded when our current senator and possible vp choice Amy Klobuchar could have had him dismissed, and chose not to.

[CraigsIsland]

I got a police knee in my neck several times during protests, but was that the reason he died ?

<Hold your horses, Alexander. Racism snipped! BK>

He died as a result of the knee to the neck. It cut off his windpipe and after 8 minutes, that's a lot oxygen deprivation.

The reason why it's a big deal is because this is a massive miscarriage of justice. Police officers are expected to not be judge, jury and executioner.

Over the last few years, the rise of cell phones have shown arrests and police officer-involved shootings have had a lot questionable judgment made by officers. This is especially highlighted when the citizen is black. It is horrific. The pattern of avoidable deaths and injuries committee by officers on black citizens is disgustingly higher in proportion to other races. Americans expect a fair trial for those who have seemingly murdered someone. The other aspect is the culture of protecting police officers from the same standards as citizens.

I am surprised that there hasn't been any motions on arresting the officers and charging them with murder.

I am disgusted with the poor policing and excuses for not having "functioning" body cameras.

Keep filming interactions with police. hold them to a high standard.

[Freegrass]

Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct on Lake Street overrun, set on fire

Reports from the building show a large number of people inside and outside the police station.

A fire has since been set since, and is looking increasingly established./

The 3rd Precinct is where the four officers connected to the death of 46-year-old George Floyd worked, before they were fired on Tuesday.

[wili]

Yup, just down the street from where I live, the people have reversed the usual flow of violence--top to bottom--to the opposite direction.

Still just 'pawns in their game,' but not something that happens every day in America or the world.

[wili]

I'm gonna try to repost the link for the police sabateur video. Apologies for those who couldn't see it and for those upset that I'm leaving in the tracking info 'cause I'm obviously such a klutz i don't know how to effectively delete it without f'ng the whole thing up! 



Meanwhile, from police scanner: "500 NATIONAL GAURD MEMBERS COMING TO 3rd PRECINCT"


link again: https://www.facebook.com/winwinhungcho/posts/10206805995865524

https://twitter.com/NPR?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[Freegrass]

Yup, just down the street from where I live, the people have reversed the usual flow of violence--top to bottom--to the opposite direction.

Still just 'pawns in their game,' but not something that happens every day in America or the world.

Stay safe mate! It's not looking good there... This could easily escalate into something bigger if Trump thinks it would benefit him. And who doubts he's not already thinking about using this to create even more division? It wouldn't be hard with all that unemployment and right wing nutcases with guns for this to exploded nationwide...

[Neven]

Is SARS-CoV-2 already used as a pretext to beat everybody back into their homes?

[blumenkraft]

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” is a threat coined by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who promised violent reprisals on black protesters in 1967. He also said: “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality. They haven’t seen anything yet.”

Link >> https://twitter.com/toddzwillich/status/1266237702208282624

[Alexander555]

I got a police knee in my neck several times during protests, but was that the reason he died ?

<Hold your horses, Alexander. Racism snipped! BK>

He died as a result of the knee to the neck. It cut off his windpipe and after 8 minutes, that's a lot oxygen deprivation.

The reason why it's a big deal is because this is a massive miscarriage of justice. Police officers are expected to not be judge, jury and executioner.

Over the last few years, the rise of cell phones have shown arrests and police officer-involved shootings have had a lot questionable judgment made by officers. This is especially highlighted when the citizen is black. It is horrific. The pattern of avoidable deaths and injuries committee by officers on black citizens is disgustingly higher in proportion to other races. Americans expect a fair trial for those who have seemingly murdered someone. The other aspect is the culture of protecting police officers from the same standards as citizens.

I am surprised that there hasn't been any motions on arresting the officers and charging them with murder.

I am disgusted with the poor policing and excuses for not having "functioning" body cameras.

Keep filming interactions with police. hold them to a high standard.

Still it's a fucked up situation. Because there are so many black people that die every day by violence. And the lose of their life is not worth to mention. But if it's a black/white situation the life of 1 person is enough for an entire city to explode. I don't know if there is a worth to discribe these people, but it would be something like racist. As soon it's black/white the blumenkrafts have to defend the black guy. But you don't hear them about that very large group that is getting slaughthered every day. So they don't care about the violence at all. They just want to be the fake good guys.
 

[kassy]

He was killed by a cop. To protect and serve, that is your clue.

[kassy]

From a friend of my daughter's who was there:

For my friends outside of Minneapolis:
I’m not sure what news outlets are saying about last nights events, but since I’m sure it’s not accurate, here is what I want observed as someone who was at the protest from 5pm till early in the morning
-when I showed up, the protest was a large group of people passing around a microphone, expressing their emotions to the crowd around them
-while this was happening, police on the rooftop of the precinct were shooting rubber bullets into the fringes of the crowd, unprovoked
-people began throwing water bottles at the precinct, and in retaliation the police shot a dozen cans of tear gas into the crowd
-I watched as people who were kneeling on the ground in front of the barricade created by police, had flash grenades go off literally a few feet away from their face
-I then watched as police walked up to these people, peacefully sitting on the ground, and mace them, point blank
-I saw a man get hit in the side of the face with a can of tear gas fired from less than ten feet away
-I watched as community leaders attempted to guard local businesses, to keep out people who had come from outside our community
-police continued to shoot into the crowd indiscriminately, often times unprovoked. Heavy use of tear gas and literally thousands of rubber bullets
-police escalated the situation to the point of where local businesses turned their store front into medical aid stations and triage centers for protestors who were badly injured from police force

Bolding mine.

These incidents are not new and when i discussed it ages ago (in the noughties) there were some interesting things. The amount of hours spent training de-escalation were pretty low. Like 24 hours (in a year or so). Much more shooting training. Quite the wrong mix.

Then all kind of other details. Racially biased shooting targets (the practice ones).

And all kinds of people that failed in Iraq went on to teach urban warfare to police units and they also got lots of supplies from there at some point.

Clearly a lot can be done with better training for a start. Then again the whole culture in LE needs to be cleaned up. This would not have happened if the officer feared murder charges but that is usually not an issue.

[blumenkraft]

CNN reporter arrested before the cop who murdered a man.

CNN crew released from police custody after they were arrested live on air in Minneapolis

Link >> https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/minneapolis-cnn-crew-arrested/index.html

[vox_mundi]

Ex-Officer Who Knelt On George Floyd's Neck In Custody: Reports
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/george-floyd-death-live-updates-protests-erupt-200529124843031.html

According to local media, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has taken into custody former officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd's neck for several minutes before the black man went motionless. 

No criminal charges have been filed as of yet.

[vox_mundi]

Minneapolis cop charged with murder in Floyd's death
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/29/minn-governor-acknowledges-abject-failure-in-protest-response-289304

The police officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in custody after pleading that he could not breathe, was arrested Friday and charged with murder in a case that sparked protests across the United States and violence in Minneapolis.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Freeman did not provide immediate details, but said a criminal complaint would be made available later Friday and that more charges were possible.

News of the arrest came moments after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged the “abject failure” of the response to the protests and called for swift justice for officers involved. Walz said the state would take over the response to the violence and that it’s time to show respect and dignity to those who are suffering.

The governor faced tough questions after National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen blamed a lack of clarity about the Guard’s mission for a slow response. Walz said the state was in a supporting role and that it was up to city leaders to run the situation. Walz said it became apparent as the 3rd Precinct was lost that the state had to step in, which happened at 12:05 a.m. Requests from the cities for resources “never came,” he said.

On Friday morning, nearly every building in the shopping district around the abandoned police station had been vandalized, burned or looted. National Guard members were in the area, with several of them lined up, keeping people away from the police station.

Dozens of volunteers swept up broken glass in the street, doing what they could to help.

[igs]

Now that people lost their jobs and have even less to lose the shit starts to hit the fan and this is just the beginning.


The really heavy impact of the lockdown exercise of how to control population in a mobile world will get to everyones awareness from this fall latest and will last a long long time or culminate in what happened before when similar things happened.


Those who see through are nowadays flagged and/or ridiculed as conspiracy theorists (terrorists) and that's how they're muted while the rest applaudes their saviours with their hidden agenda until it's too late.


The thing that disappoints me most is how history has and is repeating itself so obviously and the all so smart average people who define their status over goods and the likes fall for it again and a part of me thinks that this is why mankind does not diserve better.

[vox_mundi]

Border Patrol Flies Anti-Terrorism Drone Over Minneapolis Protestors
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/05/border-patrol-drone-used-in-anti-terror-ops-flies-over-minneapolis-protestors/



... The drone, using the tracking signal CBP104, took off from Grand Forks Airforce Base at 9:08 am Central Daylight Time and shortly afterward headed directly to Minneapolis, this feed from live flight tracking service FlightAware showed. The drone then circled the city six times from about 10:45 until noon. The aircraft maintained an altitude of about 20,000 feet.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/CBP104

Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Force's 319th Reconnaissance Wing. It is also a site Customs and Border Patrol personnel use for takeoff and landing of the Predator B unmanned aircraft system. CPB uses the drone in anti-terrorism operations by helping to identify and intercept potential terrorists and illegal cross-border activity.

The Border Patrol deployed the drone less than 12 hours after President Trump labeled the Minneapolis protestors "thugs" and pledged military support to counter them.

The exact authority that CBP is operating under in order to support state and local officials is unclear. The agency does have controversial authority to conduct various activities within the United States inside a 100-mile-deep buffer area along the country's borders, but Minneapolis is outside that defined area.

... Regardless, this would not be the first time aerial surveillance assets have been employed in response to protests and rioting in the United States, though. In 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation notably employed manned aircraft to conduct persistent surveillance missions over Baltimore, Maryland during the protests in the wake of the police killing of Freddie Gray.

The use of persistent aerial surveillance for law enforcement purposes has long been a controversial topic. Civil liberties advocates say these and other mass surveillance activities violate rights to personal privacy and undermine constitutional protections against unlawful searches.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/33756/customs-and-border-protection-predator-b-drone-appears-over-minneapolis-protests

[wili]

THANKS, ALL


i had heard about the predator drone...seems to be a real thing

as someone living in the belly of the mother fucking beast...i would love to hear anyone's perspectives, but esp vox's...

I just climbed up ladders, which i hate, to wet down my and my fled neighbors rooves...which i hate.

I'm pretty sure i will die suffocating on fumes in my sleep tonight.

best to all

sorry i was never a sliver of what Terry delivered here...best to all...bye

[vox_mundi]

Protests Spread Nationwide On Fourth Night After Minneapolis Death Of George Floyd
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/866022166/protests-spread-nationwide-on-fourth-night-after-minneapolis-death-of-george-flo



Dominic: What do you think will happen?

Finch: What usually happens when people without guns stand up to people *with* guns

V for Vendetta - 2005

-------------------------------

The future depends on what we do in the present.

M. Gandhi

-------------------------------

Gandhi for the Post-Truth Age
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/gandhi-for-the-post-truth-age/amp

[nanning]

Dear wili, here some unimportant ideas from me. Just to give support. Please dismiss if not to the point.
Stay strong and intelligent wili. Fear can be used for energy if you keep a clear head. I really feel for you. Are you alone?
Is leaving the city an option? Do you have African-American friends to/for support?
Can you break people's fear and anxiety with humour? It's a talent not many have. Try to control your anger-emotions.

I wish that the suffocating remark is an overstatement. Please keep us informed.
Terry is surely missed. I wish he's still alive. We don't want to miss you too wili.

[vox_mundi]

Military On Alert As Protests Spread Across US In Wake of George Floyd's Death
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/300024518/military-on-alert-as-protests-spread-across-us-in-wake-of-george-floyds-death

The Associated Press is reporting that the Pentagon is ordering the Army to put several active-duty military police units on the ready to deploy to Minneapolis.

Soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York have been ordered to be ready to deploy within four hours if called, according to three people with direct knowledge of the orders. Soldiers in Fort Carson, in Colorado, and Fort Riley in Kansas have been told to be ready within 24 hours. The people did not want their names used because they were not authorized to discuss the preparations.

The get-ready orders were sent verbally on Friday, after President Donald Trump asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper for military options to help quell the unrest in Minneapolis after protests descended into looting and arson in some parts of the city.

Trump made the request on a phone call from the Oval Office on Thursday night that included Esper, National Security Advisor Robert O’ Brien and several others. The president asked Esper for rapid deployment options if the Minneapolis protests continued to spiral out of control, according to one of the people, senior Pentagon official who was on the call.

”When the White House asks for options, someone opens the drawer and pulls them out so to speak.” the official said.

The person said the military units would be deployed under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which was last used in 1992 during the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King trial.

Members of the police units were on a 30-minute recall alert early Saturday, meaning they would have to return to their bases inside that time limit in preparation for deployment to Minneapolis inside of four hours. Units at Fort Drum are slated to head to Minneapolis first, according to the three people, including two Defense Department officials. Roughly 800 U.S. soldiers would deploy to the city if called.

This comes after Donald Trump tweeted that he told Minnesota governor Tim Walz that “the Military is with him all the way”. Twitter hid that tweet behind a warning that it “glorifies violence” - Trump had ended that tweet with “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a nod to former Miami police chief Walter Headley, who in December 1967 promised violent reprisals to protests over stop-and-frisk tactics.

It’s incredibly rare for the Pentagon to order something of this sort, the AP noted.

[Human Habitat Index]

Who burnt down the police station ?
Is there any vision ?
Was it protestors or agents provocateur ?

[blumenkraft]

Whatever the answers to those questions are, 99.9% of the protesters are not arsonists. Period. They have every right to be outraged.

[blumenkraft]

US Border Patrol Denounced as 'Rogue Agency' for Using Predator Drone to Spy on Minneapolis Protests

Link >> https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/29/us-border-patrol-denounced-rogue-agency-using-predator-drone-spy-minneapolis

[Human Habitat Index]

Whatever the answers to those questions are, 99.9% of the protesters are not arsonists. Period. They have every right to be outraged.

Protests are warranted but may be hijacked to usher in military intervention in civil society.

[blumenkraft]

We have those "umbrella guy" videos. It is just way too obvious, this was an agent provocateur.

Until someone shows proof that this was a legit protester, logic would dictate to assume any criminal act could have been staged to escalate the situation.

[Alexander555]

Brutal police violence in Baltimore yesterday. https://www.rt.com/usa/490221-baltimore-police-punch-woman-video/

[Alexander555]

Here you can still see the video on youtube.

[blumenkraft]

NYPD Officer Violently Shoves Woman To The Ground During Protest & She Later has Major Seizure

[Phoenix]

Amy Klobuchar declined to prosecute officer at center of George Floyd's death after previous conduct complaints

Her VP hopes just went down the tubes. When Jim Clyburn starts making public comments about your prospects, it's time to pay attention.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/politics/amy-klobuchar-vice-president-criminal-justice-record/index.html

"We are all victims sometimes of timing and some of us benefit tremendously from timing," Clyburn said Friday. "This is very tough timing for Amy Klobuchar. ... The timing is tough."

[blumenkraft]

Far-Right Infiltrators and Agitators in George Floyd Protests: Indicators of White Supremacists

Link >> https://www.justsecurity.org/70497/far-right-infiltrators-and-agitators-in-george-floyd-protests-indicators-of-white-supremacists/

[peterlvmeng]

I can't breathe

[blumenkraft]

Minnesota Officials Link Arrested Looters to White Supremacist Groups

Link >> https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-officials-link-arrested-looters-to-white-supremacist-groups/