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News Events around the George Floyd protests and riots, US and beyond

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Thanks @joeylittle . (Since I guess none of the rest of us had the presence of mind to start a separate thread.)

I don't know that I'm up for a fight with anyone here on any of this, although I'd be more than willing to take on the alleged president of the united states, should he decide to invade my state.

I'm hoping some good will come from this, even though it took a murder and a video to accomplish it. The state Department of Human Rights is starting an investigation of the Minneapolis PD, looking for human rights violations over the past 10 years. I think they're serious and we have some of the strongest human rights laws in the country. I'm hoping this will also bring attention to some of the fringe groups that might have been behind the looting and arson. IMO, they're a real danger and they're out there.
 
Thousands of people flooded the streets of downtown Orlando today. They closed like most of the streets of downtown moving from one location to another. I was suprised at the amount of people. And new protestors coming in every hour.


As far as I watched, it stayed peaceful. If not for Covid, I'd be happy to see this much support for one murdered (yes, I call this murder) man. And our local cops are on the record, on the news, stating he is not a police officer. He's a murderer. Very proud of Orlando and our police! Most, not all, but most, wearing masks. Not so much social distancing but can you really pack thousands of people on a downtown street and social distance?

I watched for a few hrs and was suprised that more and more joined every hour and 6pm, more was joining. It was amazing given this wasn't even where it happened. Not so happy with criminals and riots elsewhere but was amazed to see Orlando's peaceful protest.
 
I’m so tired of all the violence all the way around on every side possible. It’s wearing on me so heavy. I’m not going to go into every issue I have surrounding all this. But one thing I do want to understand, so if anyone can enlighten me please do! Why was there not any of this same outrage over Tony Timpa? Why didn’t he matter this much? I’m not saying George Floyd doesn’t matter at all because of course he does. But the thing I’m struggling with I guess is this doesn’t feel like really for George Floyd, more that he’s being used as a reason to get going. I’m not denying there is heavy racism still playing out everywhere, there’s no denying that. But it feels wrong to completely disregard one life and jump to burning buildings for another when the circumstances were almost identical- only two differences one was black and one was white, one had no mental health issues and one had schizophrenia. But Timpa’s officers were never fully charged, it was dismissed, and they were allowed back on the force. Floyd’s officer is getting charged and the others better be as well because just standing there watching. . . I can’t. I just feel like the riots and the looting and the protesting aren’t actually for George Floyd. I don’t know if I’m making sense but I’m open to any discussion to help me clear my mind and figure this out.
 
I don’t personally care about the event(S), or the resulting demonstrations/ riots one bit.

What I care about is the intersection of these demonstrations/riots, individual & govt response to them, and Cov19.

- Tens of thousands of protesters = hundreds of thousands of new infections in the coming weeks.
- The presidents inflammatory remarks and actions turning peaceful protests violent, driving tens of thousands more to the streets/creating all new protests/demonstrations/flooding the preexisting ones with even more and more people, infecting another exponential number of people, than were already being infected.
- The TREMENDOUS drain on already incredibly short resources (first response and medical, primarily, but also aid/focus/and a dozen other things)
- The vote of no confidence our leadership has earned, even from longtime supporters, up to and including organizations sworn to follow whether they agree or not.... and the absolute clusterf*ck that follows the power vacuum when the snake loses its head... right. in. the. middle. of. a. f*cking. pandemic.
- How that flows from top down > thousands of individuals -in my city alone- who both followed the stay at home orders, social distancing, AND curfews, are now violating all 3 to take to the streets... and how DANGEROUS laws/commands people won’t follow, and worse deliberately choose to break, are.
- How impossible it is to statistically model -and therefore PREPARE- for pandemic + military action on domestic soil + civil disobedience &/or the outright targeting of first response and military... the closest I understand we can come to that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but even the Middle East settles down when there’s a plague on... we MAY be the first nation in the modern world to START SHIT during even a local, much less global health crisis (instead of waiting until afterward, like civilized people >.< Not that we’d be the first to go to war in winter with no food or clothing reserves, but I’ve been watching math guys attempt to insert those parameters into their models ... with such horrifying results let’s just all hope they’re wrong. So far “everyone” just agrees throwing such a Molotov cocktail into the mix as deploying the military creates a series of events we cannot predict, nor prepare for, except that there’s no scenario they can plug in where the results are “good” or even zero sum).
- Prioritizing of already incrediably limited resources ...across the board.
- Pirorities, full stop (public health crisis vs civil strife, federal vs state, lives vs property, etc.)
And on, and on, and on.

If there wasn’t a plague on? My feelings would be entirely different. But then, so too, would be the situation.

There’s a motherf*cking PANDEMIC, and our president is threatening his citizens with their own military??? I said it before, I’ll say it again, WTFO.
 
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As a former first responder at the local, state, and federal level along with serving out of country the cop was wrong plain and simple.

As for the protest if peaceful great, have at it the more the merrier. Many have died to give you that freedom respect it and them.

However the other junk and rioting, lock them up. They will stop after spending time in a 6’ x9’ cell in jail. No one has a right to insight violence In the name of “peace.”

There is a reason why all the violence is mainly contained to “gun free” cities. The rioters know you are mainly sheep and will not/can not defend yourself. My town has had none of the stupidity I see elsewhere for the simple fact that they will be killed breaking into a business. This is the way that person feeds their family and will defend it.
 
The power of the people and peaceful protests will drive change.
I'm hoping some good will come from this, even though it took a murder and a video to accomplish it.

As an sorta kinda outside inside observer.... I doubt it.

This isn't the first time. Neither of a POC murdered by a white cop. Nor protests.

Remember what all the March for our Lives protests accomplished? Exactly.

Maybe I'm just cynic. I'd love to be proven wrong. But at this point, after all these years and all that already HAS happened? I lost faith in humanity, or, at a minimum, in the majority of the people in the US.
 
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I’m so tired of all the violence all the way around on every side possible. It’s wearing on me so heavy. I’m not going to go into every issue I have surrounding all this. But one thing I do want to understand, so if anyone can enlighten me please do! Why was there not any of this same outrage over Tony Timpa? Why didn’t he matter this much? I’m not saying George Floyd doesn’t matter at all because of course he does. But the thing I’m struggling with I guess is this doesn’t feel like really for George Floyd, more that he’s being used as a reason to get going. I’m not denying there is heavy racism still playing out everywhere, there’s no denying that. But it feels wrong to completely disregard one life and jump to burning buildings for another when the circumstances were almost identical- only two differences one was black and one was white, one had no mental health issues and one had schizophrenia. But Timpa’s officers were never fully charged, it was dismissed, and they were allowed back on the force. Floyd’s officer is getting charged and the others better be as well because just standing there watching. . . I can’t. I just feel like the riots and the looting and the protesting aren’t actually for George Floyd. I don’t know if I’m making sense but I’m open to any discussion to help me clear my mind and figure this out.

I'm in total agreement. When someone says, "Black lives matter," my thought is ALL LIVES MATTER. It doesn't matter if the harm was done to a mentally ill or physically ill person and the excuse is disability based; or it was an old person who was harmed-so it's age discrimination, or a woman and we want to make it gender based violence; or we can consider whether they were a Muslim, a Jew, a Catholic, or Mormon, a witch, or a Christian or other religion/spiritual believer and the excuse was religious based; or whether the individual was a Hispanic, Black, Brown, Native American, White, or Other race-and used race as the excuse for doing harm to a person; or whether the hate was towards someone straight, lesbian, transgender, queer, intersexed or other....these are excuses used when simply.......the excuse (the bias) doesn't matter.....what matters is the act.....and there is absolutely no excuse on this earth that gives any person validation for harming another. The protest focus is wrong.....the focus should be on everyone, no matter your race, color, creed, sex, gender, or age has the right to be treated fairly, respectfully under the law, by those who implement the law. Violence will only lead to more violence.
That's a much bigger, more inclusive cause, which would lend itself to a great deal more support by the masses.

My bigger concern, is that our country's focus is not on our safety, and this is the position other aggressive countries would like to see us in.......vulnerable with a tweeting president who can't show emotion (he can't even fake it)....and as a country, with this out of control behavior on the part of rioters...... could spread......just like the virus is now. People are angry about COVID-19, they are angry about being stuck home, domestic violence has drastically increased, especially with so many unemployed and hungry, and they now have a cause to direct their anger towards-the police....when we need them the most. Civil unrest puts our whole country at risk.

What happened to George Floyd was definately wrong and the police should get their consequences......but hate crimes-looting and destruction don't help their cause in the least and those that did....need to have their consequences, as well. Violence is not the answer.
 
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