BLM Demonstrations, Riots, Police Brutality, Justice for George Floyd

[joan1984]

  The Governor finally agreed to have the Oregon State Police actively restore order, protecting the Courthouse and all other Federal Properties, and until such order is demonstrated and restored, Federal Police will remain on duty there, with a focus on removal of graffiti, and other debris which was brought on by illegal civilian rioting and mayhem for several months in Portland, OR.

Federal officers to begin leaving downtown Portland, Oregon governor announces

[Papa Gulf]

Does anyone here know who Emmanuel Mensah is? He emigrated to the United States from Ghana. He enlisted in the New York National Guard. He loved this country and wanted to be a citizen. He finished basic training and was on leave before going on to advanced training. The apartment building he was staying in caught fire. He helped people get out. He went back in to find more people that needed help getting out. He went in a total of three times. The third time he did not get out. While searching for people to help, the fire caught up with him and he died. He died a hero. No great love has one than to lay down his life...George Floyd was a thief and a thug. He did NOT deserve to die the way he did but he was a criminal. He terrorized a pregnant woman and her toddler son while robbing her. He had a long list of crimes. Why is anyone making a martyr out of him. BLM is a marxist group. They re part of the marxist effort to over throw our country our traditions and our culture. For the younger crowd marxist means communist. In the last century communists murders, slaughtered, over one hundred ten million innocent people. That's million. Men, women, children. They don't care about the children being murdered by black gang members. Black lives DO matter and that is why BLM must go.
Papa Gulf

[watcher1]

Floyd was killed by a White policeman. That is news that can be shown 24/7 to incite, intentionally or not, large groups of people already mad at the police and government.

Emmanuel Mensah, for his heroic deed and ultimate sacrifice, is, sadly, not as newsworthy for the media to continually air 24/7. 

[Lois]

I think you are missing the point papagulf.  Floyd was killed by a white policeman that was obviously using exesive force.  It served as a flashpoint to a community where stories of police brutality are common and everyone knows a victim.

[MissBarbara]

Does anyone here know who Emmanuel Mensah is?

I'll admit that before reading this post, I had never heard of Emmanuel Mensah. So, thanks for bringing him to our attention.

But a quick google search shows that his life and tragic death were covered by the mainstream media (NY Times, CNN, NY Post and Daily News, all four local NYC network affiliates, etc.). So, the fact that I haven't heard of him is my fault.

I've no idea what this has to do with George Floyd or BLM -- or Marxism. Besides, Marxism didn't "murder over one hundred ten million innocent people," a very small group of individual Marxists did. I could go on at length about how Lenin and Stalin's Russia and Mao's China (or Pol Pot's Cambodia) were not examples of Marxist states. But that's the answer to another question.

No one -- including the members of BLM and their supporters -- denies Floyd's criminal record, or the fact that he was in the act of committing a crime when approached by Minneapolis police officers. Or that he may have been drunk or on drugs. Those are all facts. In the end, you answered your own question about George Floyd:

He did NOT deserve to die the way he did.

That's exactly what BLM and many others are protesting.

And there's no reason to believe that Emmanuel Mensah, were he still alive, wouldn't have joined in those protests.

[_priapism]

The “crime” was allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill.  Not an act of violence.

How are White people treated for the same offense?

Like George Floyd, This Man Was Arrested For Using A Counterfeit Bill—But Says White Privilege Saved His Life

[Jed_]

BLM is a marxist group. They re part of the marxist effort to over throw our country our traditions and our culture. For the younger crowd marxist means communist. In the last century communists murders, slaughtered, over one hundred ten million innocent people. That's million. Men, women, children. They don't care about the children being murdered by black gang members. Black lives DO matter and that is why BLM must go.
Papa Gulf

I’ve certainly seen a large number of delusional people lately talk about the threat of socialism, but rarely is the term Marxist used.  While I disagree that any slight move of the U.S. towards the left is any threat (or Marxist), it’s on the contrary not only normal for an economically well off country to start leaning in that direction, it’s desperately needed.

But to term a movement that is merely asking for social justice and racial equality as Marxist with all the negative connotations is beyond delusional.  But maybe I’m confused by what you mean by Marxist?

[_priapism]

[ChirpingGirl]

Cops terminate white man playing Crash Bandicoot.

This was on May 22nd.

Notice how there was no riots, no looting, no call to defund the police? This man was shot in the back and was killed before he could even comply with the cops. Yes, he had a gun, but it was late at night and people were banging on his door claiming to be police. But he didn't even have time to comply with their orders, he was dead before he could even put it down and he was clearly in the process of doing so. He committed no crime, he was swatted by a neighbor who didn't like the noise he was making... playing crash bandicoot. It's not fuckin' call of duty.

I never heard about it until today. Wonder why.

https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/cops-gone-rogue/watch-phoenix-cops-kill-man-after-responding-to-noise-complaint-over-video-game-AsvFt-AHpkeQlcgNj5qiTA/2020-08-07T20:13:39.5062510Z/PYDvSyJ7c0eVxCwSC26T2A/y3JPMuSW-kyFy7ki8CNx9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khYsFXWTV_s

"Come out here, I'm not gonna shoot you" Somehow didn't catch on as much "I can't breathe".

[_priapism]

Our police kill more people, at a much higher rate, than any other civilized country.  So you are angry there wasn’t an outcry over the gamer’s death by cops?  Take to the streets CG.  Can’t expect everyone to do your protesting for you.  White privilege.

[watcher1]

Mobs hit Michigan Avenue at midnight last night, breaking windows and stealing as much as they could from the stores along the very expensive Magnificent Mile. Even a U Haul van pulled up to a store to load up with stolen merchandise. It took police four hours to get the crowds to disperse. Anarchy at its finest. Take what you want. Screw the establishment. Probably all planned and executed on social media.

[ChirpingGirl]

Mobs hit Michigan Avenue at midnight last night, breaking windows and stealing as much as they could from the stores along the very expensive Magnificent Mile. Even a U Haul van pulled up to a store to load up with stolen merchandise. It took police four hours to get the crowds to disperse. Anarchy at its finest. Take what you want. Screw the establishment. Probably all planned and executed on social media.

Isn't it about time we admit Chicago and Illinois are run by two morons who shouldn't be trusted with a hot dog cart?

[joan1984]

 The Mayor and Police made sure to stop the gay party, in violation of her Social Distancing Orders... somehow "just missed 'em, oh well.." when it came to the peaceful demonstrators' and their 'spontaneous' rioting...

 george floyd, and all, ya' know... just can't get them all...

  George would be proud.

[Lois]

Mobs hit Michigan Avenue at midnight last night, breaking windows and stealing as much as they could from the stores along the very expensive Magnificent Mile. Even a U Haul van pulled up to a store to load up with stolen merchandise. It took police four hours to get the crowds to disperse. Anarchy at its finest. Take what you want. Screw the establishment. Probably all planned and executed on social media.

I think that this proves that no amount of police can stoop a populace that has lost faith in the rule of law.  Trump has done more to discredit the role of government than any Predident before him.  If Trump is above the law, what should it matter to anyone else?

Beleiving in our institutions is key.  What will happen when Trump and Putin Causes people to doubt even our elections?  It is all connected, and then anarchy rules.

[_priapism]

[Athos_131]

The Kenosha Shooting Suspect Was In The Front Row Of A Trump Rally In January

The law enforcement–obsessed 17-year-old who was charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake appeared in the front row at a Donald Trump rally in January.

Kyle Howard Rittenhouse’s social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting “Blue Lives Matter,” and supporting Trump for president. Footage from the Des Moines, Iowa, rally on Jan. 30 shows Rittenhouse feet away from the president, in the front row, to the left of the podium. He posted a TikTok video from the event.

Seven months later, Rittenhouse went with his rifle to the third night of Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha after police shot Blake, a Black man who is now paralyzed as a result, according to his family. Rittenhouse attended as an armed vigilante, supposedly assisting police and protecting property in an unofficial capacity. Instead, he allegedly prowled the protest with a gun. Videos captured him fraternizing with law enforcement and attempting to get their attention.

By the end of the evening, he was considered a fugitive on the run. He was arrested Wednesday morning in Antioch, Illinois, and is expected to be extradited to Wisconsin to face charges of first-degree intentional homicide. Rittenhouse’s mother did not respond to a request for comment. The Lake County Public Defender’s office, who represented him in court today, told BuzzFeed News it does not comment on active cases.

Wednesday’s arrest record from Antioch Police states that Rittenhouse “fled the state of Wisconsin with the intent to avoid prosecution for the offense.” According to public records, Rittenhouse lived in Antioch, which is about 20 miles away from Kenosha, with his mother and siblings and worked as a lifeguard at the local YMCA.

A close look at his social media accounts and background show a teenager obsessed with law enforcement who also identified as a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and “Blue Lives Matter,” a pro–law enforcement movement that evolved in response to Black Lives Matter.

His connections to law enforcement, however, go beyond his vocal support of police on social media. In a statement to BuzzFeed News on Wednesday, the Grayslake Police Department confirmed that Rittenhouse was a former member of the Lindenhurst, Grayslake, Hainesville Police Department's Public Safety Cadet Program.

According to a description of the program that has been recently removed from the department’s official website, the program “offers boys and girls the opportunity to explore a career in law enforcement” through “hands-on career activities,” such as riding along with officers on patrol and firearms training.

Along with the page describing the Public Safety Cadet Program, the organization’s official Facebook account was deleted after images from 2018 of a boy in a police uniform identified as “Kyle” began to circulate online. BuzzFeed News has not been able to confirm that the boy in the image is Rittenhouse.

BuzzFeed News has reached out to the Lindenhurst Police Department for comment on the removal of both these pages.

Rittenhouse was also a fire protection cadet with the Antioch Fire Department. Its chief, Jon Cokefair, confirmed Rittenhouse was part of the program, which he said has been discontinued since March due to COVID-19. The program, taught by firefighters, introduces high school students to a career in firefighting. “Our weapons are axes and fire hoses. We don’t have any kind of firearms training or anything,” said Cokefair, who declined to comment on Rittenhouse’s charges.

On his now-deleted Facebook page, Rittenhouse is seen posing with an AR-15 style rifle above the words “Blue Lives Matter.” Nearly all of his public Facebook posts are related to the movement, including two posts in memory of officers who were killed in the line of duty. On Dec. 22, 2018, he asked his friends to donate to “Humanizing the Badge” a “nonprofit organization seeking to forge stronger relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.”

His social media pages indicated he had access to at least two different types of guns before Tuesday. A video posted to one of his two TikTok accounts on July 21 shows him assembling what appears to be the rifle pictured in his Facebook profile image. In two videos posted Aug. 13, he and a friend are shown firing a weapon he identifies as a 12-gauge shotgun. In these videos, Rittenhouse is wearing a backward cap featuring an image of the American flag that appears to be the same hat worn by the shooter.

Rittenhouse wrote “BLUE LIVES MATTER ?” and “Trump 2020 ?? ??” in his TikTok bio. BuzzFeed News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

Videos taken on Tuesday night appear to show Rittenhouse running through the streets holding a large gun while weaving through protesters, who’d gathered to demand justice for Blake. Right before midnight, Kenosha police said three people were shot on the corner of 63rd Street and Sheridan Road, and noted that “investigators are aware of the social media video being circulated regarding the incident.”

In one video clip, a law enforcement official in an armored truck is seen handing over a bottle of water to what appears to be Rittenhouse. In a separate video, a man believed to be Rittenhouse says he was "pepper-sprayed by a person in the crowd" and that he was ready to defend property.

In video allegedly taken after the shootings, an armed man, who appears to be Rittenhouse, walks directly toward four police vehicles, holding his weapon and his arms raised. People can be seen shouting at police that he had just shot someone, but the police vehicles drive past the armed man and do not detain him. When asked about the video Wednesday, Sheriff Beth said that in those situations police have “incredible tunnel vision” because of the loud noises — “there’s screaming, hollering, and chanting” — and could not explain why they did not detain him.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said that he’d been asked by a group of armed vigilantes to deputize citizens to allow them to help law enforcement during protests. Referencing the shootings that killed two people, Beth said, “I think they were part of this group that wanted me to deputize them."

According to court records, Rittenhouse appeared at Lake County Circuit Court Wednesday and will appear in court again on Friday for an extradition hearing.

#BlackLivesMatter

#BanTheNaziFromKB

[Jed_]

Welcome back.

[_priapism]

I second that.  I think things are about to go very wrong for our country.

[msslave]

More rioting and looting in Minneapolis yesterday.  Cops are blameless this time...other than so many hate them.

There was a murder in a downtown parking ramp in the afternoon. Police cars were closing in on one of the two suspects. The guy stepped into a crowd of people and pulled a gun. A policeman headed towards him when the guy put the gun under his chin and killed himself.

Police released the footage soon after to show they didn't shoot this one. Still the mobs decided it was as good a time as any to loot and burn.

Curfew was put in place last night at 11:00. Alarm went off on my phone a few minutes before 11:00, waking me from a sound sleep. Scared hell out of me. First thought was a tornado... weather was unsettled when I went to bed. Then I saw alert and thought, fuck, here we go again.

All's quiet so far this morning.

[watcher1]

It's been a long, hot summer. Reminiscent of the summer of 1968. Protesters clashing with police in most major urban areas. Looting. Burning. Peaceful protests suddenly turning violent. Fifty-two years later. Nothing has changed, it seems.