| So are you saying that the crowd that looted Friendship Heights and upper Wisconsin Ave were really dressed in blackface ? |
They seem to be leaving the gangs alone and taking on protesters. |
It's called civil disobedience and it would be pretty lame without police and being gently arrested no? If the protestors simply want to protest, they can apply for a permit. The police have no way of knowing which protests will turn into rampaging gangs (some have morphed). I agree that they should be predicting as much as possible, have presence in commercial areas, one scape thoroughfares likes Western Ave, Military road etc. and closing metro early a very good idea. |
| gently arrested lol |
The arrests I saw last night looked pristine, sitting on the ground and waiting for your number to be called. Hope the protestors and police can keep up this good work. The protestors are getting what they desire, massive media attention for the cause and civil disobedience, and the police are playing their part very professionally. This is how you have protest that makes a point without instigation and mayhem. . |
No, they try to pin responsibility on random Chads who make up a microscopic fraction of the total crazed mobs. Keep up. |
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No doubt there are white instigators and white looters. Also no doubt that the majority of the looters appear to be black youths and young adults.
FWIW, SE, NE and heavily AA suburbs appear to account for most of the reported MPD arrests: https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/arrests-made-felony-riot-acts-additional-suspects-sought-0 So, for sure, let's acknowledge the mix of people trying to wreak havoc on the streets, but not be totally oblivious as to who is breaking windows and stealing in our nation's cities. It is mostly black people. |
| But all the tough white dudes that ran to a gentrified neighborhood for help. Did that happen? They actually sent out for pizza. Wimps. |
I'm guessing that guy is a glass replcement contractor. /s |
| How about the white kids in Santa Monica who broke into the surf shop and rode off with new surf boards on their motorcycles. |
Well Miss Educated Black woman, I imagine race is brought up is because the looting is being placed on Blacks and BLM. You knew that I’m sure, but you just wanted to let everyone know that you were okay with that in a handkerchief kind of way. |
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Please share: City-wide: Candlelight vigil for victims of police violence, every night at 8:30 while this crisis lasts. Just step outside your home with a candle. Tell your neighbors too."
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Here's my overall guess having been part of many protests over the years:
First of all, the makeup of the crowd, actions of the crowd and political affiliations of the young and middle aged white dudes breaking windows is different depending on what city you're in. The people formerly known as Black Box Anarchists are and have been the main ones breaking windows in DC. They are usually vegan, skinny and 20-35, but some are older. They believe in the destruction of property, of the government and the creation of a new totally non-hierarchical future. They do not believe in injuring people. Mostly they are (in my humble, DC moderate opinion) misguided, have too much energy, glorify stupid radical thinking, and unstrategic. The people who come in and loot once the plate glass windows are broken is going to be a whole different demographic. They are mad as hell about George Floyd and also want free sh#t. In Minneapolis and Raleigh, NC it seems most of the people breaking windows and setting fires are white nationalist and white supremacist a##holes who are boogaloo boys or Proud Boys (google them if you haven't heard the terms) and what they want is white supremacy. Some of them also hate the police and want a second civil war against the police. I'm sure many other cities have totally peaceful protests. Some other cities have police forces shooting teargas into crowds totally unprovoked (we have that too, btw if you look at Lafayette Square last night). Some others have mostly white supremacists smashing things and setting things on fire. We've got to keep in our toes here in DC. We will likely have a continually evolving situation. In my opinion, it would help if the BLM leaders would say, externally or internally, that young white dudes need to follow their lead and not break windows. In my opinion that would work better if they also said that to young AA dudes. But when your ethic is all about not being hierarchical, it's hard to have a unified message. It's also hard to actually achieve things. So we'll see what happens. I feel pretty hopeless right now. With a lawless President a highly unemployed president, justified rage without an effective ask, I don't see how things get better in the near future. |
I think it would be if the decent police who still mean well and aren't the ones in Those Videos would go focus on being very aggressive about arresting every single looters involved with looting a couple of particular stores in, say, five cities. Really interrogate those people really well, and go through their computers and phones as if they were mass shooters. Try to figure out if they're really independent, if they're groups of ordinary bad friends, if they're gang members, if they're organizing themselves through 8chan, or if some foreign or domestic entity hired them to cause trouble. |
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Looking at the list of those arrested yesterday, I googled one who was older than average and from suburban VA. Low and behold, it led to a hero shot of him (proudly armed with bat) in a 2017 Washington Post story about anarchists.
Which is to say: yes - in DC, those dressed as "ninjas" and blackshirts identify as anarchists. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/what-draws-americans-to-anarchy-its-more-than-just-smashing-windows/2017/08/10/030f92e0-2eae-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html |