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1061 points danso | 33 comments | | HN request time: 1.287s | source | bottom
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darepublic ◴[] No.23352614[source]
As someone of mixed ethnicity who, if I was there could easily be victimized by a senseless mob to whom I owe nothing and have committed no crime against.. yea I am not happy with how the mainstream media promotes and covers this story, downplaying the victims of the chaos and sympathizing with outpourings of anger even if illegal. To clarify, looters should not be shot, law should prevail, and the policeman involved in the original incident should be investigated.. but the mainstream media is to my mind basically behind the looters, and I know if by chance I or someone like me were to be caught in the crossfire and killed, the mainstream media, posturing as champions of justice, would just implicitly shrug. So yea I can't help but feel disaffected by this coverage, no matter how vile the originating incident.
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1. fzeroracer ◴[] No.23352868[source]
This entire event is effectively self-defense from a community that has felt terrorized by the police for decades.

It could've been easily prevented by actually arresting someone that committed abject murder, but the city and the police chose to instead defend a man who has killed multiple people in the past and got away with it scott-free. So when people feel like justice no longer exists, there should be no surprise that they get angry.

It doesn't help that the police also employ agent provocateurs whom help incite riots and looting so that they can use more violent tactics with glee.

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2. claudeganon ◴[] No.23352937[source]
Yes, one only need to compare the police treatment of predominantly white, armed brigades storming government buildings in Michigan to what happened to the first wave of predominantly black, non-violent protests in Minneapolis to understand there are other forces at play here.
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3. kenward ◴[] No.23352955[source]
> So when people feel like justice no longer exists, there should be no surprise that they get angry.

I think this is the key here. The whole BLM movement has been going on for years and, for the most part, it seems like a lot of people are more aware. It doesn't seem like anybody from the top cares to do anything about it though.

4. FireBeyond ◴[] No.23353011[source]
Or Oregon, where they took over a government facility, barricaded themselves in there, started armed patrols, fortifying and securing themselves in there...

... and were left alone for weeks, or more. Given some slaps on the wrist. And the tax payer footed the bill for the cleanup.

5. mschuster91 ◴[] No.23353053[source]
> This entire event is effectively self-defense from a community that has felt terrorized by the police for decades.

To put it with MLK: A riot is the voice of the unheard.

The systemic issues of the Black (and other foreigner) community across the Western societies, especially with police and laws specifically designed to target them (e.g. almost all drug legislation), have been ignored for way too long. I'm no friend of rioting myself but I will not judge upon those who have deemed it necessary to be finally heard.

6. philwelch ◴[] No.23353119[source]
Looting private businesses and setting fires isn’t “self-defense”.
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7. baby ◴[] No.23353164[source]
You are totally right.
8. drchopchop ◴[] No.23353168[source]
>the media owned by God's Chosen People trying to use blacks as violent foot soldiers for marxism

Wow, what an incredibly enlightened viewpoint, thanks for sharing. Curious to hear your thoughts on the Boston Tea Party.

9. baby ◴[] No.23353171[source]
An organism that is attacked can self defend in impredictible ways, there will be collaterals.
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10. throwaway4715 ◴[] No.23353196[source]
I really hope you don't work with any non-white or Jewish people.
11. pmorici ◴[] No.23353248[source]
Could it have? I don't know. What is encouraging is that in the past they would have put the officers on paid leave and treated them with deference while the investigation took place. In this case they were promptly fired within 48 hours of the incident by the police chief.

There were also a lot of statements from police leadership that this incident wasn't acceptable or normal police procedure which is a drastic change from in the past where you had people staying silent or even defending and rationalizing the perpetrators actions.

The looting and rioting weaken a cause that after many years of being in the spotlight seemed to have reached a tipping point of overwhelming agreement.

12. skedaddle ◴[] No.23353269[source]
Your first claim is that the entire event is community self-defense, and your last claim is that police agents are responsible for the unrest.
13. ixtli ◴[] No.23353333[source]
I'd like to say, as well, that this is a statement of fact that can be observed by looking at media coverage, testimonial, historical and fictional books on the topic of the black experience in america. To deny this is a direct attempt to re-write history to justify an accumulation of power amongst the hands of a specific, ever-shrinking elite.

Things are, ultimately, knowable. Its not "political" or up to "opinion".

14. efraim ◴[] No.23353416{3}[source]
That still doesn't make looting self-defense.
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15. anigbrowl ◴[] No.23353867[source]
Military theorists disagree.
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16. philwelch ◴[] No.23353900{3}[source]
Sure. If you mistreat a dog for long enough and then let it loose in a playground it may very well react by mauling random children. Usually the end result is the dog getting euthanized because it’s not capable of living peaceably within society anymore, so I’m not sure that’s really the analogy you want to go with here. I would expect grown adult humans to have better judgment.
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17. ixtli ◴[] No.23353944{3}[source]
Not to be flippant but, to your point, Civilization has always allowed a profitable "pillage" option if your units are on an enemy title. This is a feature of struggle.
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18. philwelch ◴[] No.23354291{4}[source]
And if that’s the answer we’re going with—that looting businesses is part of a general violent insurrection—then Trump’s threat to suppress that insurrection with military force becomes more justifiable, not less.
19. GordonS ◴[] No.23355165[source]
> It could've been easily prevented by actually arresting someone that committed abject murder, but the city and the police chose to instead defend a man who has killed multiple people in the past and got away with it scott-free

I don't know if it could have been prevented by arresting just this murderer, as it's far from an isolated incident.

I do however think it could have been prevented by an edict from the top years ago, issuing a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, abuse and murder by police officers, with focus on clearly racially motivated incidents. I'm fom the UK, so don't claim to understand american politics, but I just don't understand why something like that hasn't happened, especially when Obama was president.

20. GordonS ◴[] No.23355194[source]
It's drawing worldwide attention to the issue of systemic racism across the police force in the USA though, isn't it?

What else do you think might get this kind of attention? Fact is, incidents like this have been happening for a long, long time, yet nothing changes.

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21. baby ◴[] No.23357353{4}[source]
If you see the community, or the people, as a single organism. Then yes it is reacting in harmful way to an attack. And it is hard to control where the harm is directed.
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22. baby ◴[] No.23357358{4}[source]
why not? In a lot of authoritarian state this is what happens. Look at Hong Kong.
23. philwelch ◴[] No.23359604{3}[source]
That’s the rationalization of a terrorist.
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24. philwelch ◴[] No.23359657{5}[source]
You’re talking about human beings who are responsible for their own actions.
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25. GordonS ◴[] No.23359678{4}[source]
I think we need to be very careful before throwing around that word - it's something the authorities band around a lot, usually when it fits their political narrative. I don't think we should any further dilute the term.

I think it's ludicrous to call a spontaneous out-pouring of despair and anger, after being wronged so badly for so long, an act of "terrorism".

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26. philwelch ◴[] No.23359749{5}[source]
Thankfully that’s not what I said. I said that was the rationalization of a terrorist, and it is. Committing violent acts against third parties to gain attention for some grievance is inexcusable, and if your rationalization is that “it works”, then perhaps the best response is to ensure that such tactics never work so as to eliminate the incentive to engage in them.
27. baby ◴[] No.23362247{6}[source]
And yet people generalize the action of a few to the whole protest.
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28. philwelch ◴[] No.23365370{7}[source]
Yes, especially when they say things like, "If you see the community, or the people, as a single organism..."
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29. baby ◴[] No.23367679{8}[source]
it's like you're actively trying not to understand my comment?
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30. philwelch ◴[] No.23367913{9}[source]
Not at all. If looting and vandalism is “the action of a few”, then it doesn’t make sense to characterize it as “self-defense” on behalf of some collective “organism”. It’s like you switched sides and started arguing my point in the middle of the argument.
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31. efraim ◴[] No.23368432{9}[source]
What is the point of your comments? You mention the community as an organism that can't control where the harm is directed, that is acting in self-defense. But the people looting, breaking windows and throwing stones are individuals that chose to participate in violent riots. They are not acting in self-defense.
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32. baby ◴[] No.23371397{10}[source]
> If looting and vandalism is “the action of a few”, then it doesn’t make sense to characterize it as “self-defense” on behalf of some collective “organism”.

Then we'll have to agree to disagree, opportunists don't exist without a crowd.

33. baby ◴[] No.23371403{10}[source]
The point of my comment is that you will always have bad apples, doesn't make the whole field rotten.