U.S. Protests - There's Something Happening Here

[MacMadame]

Now the Dads have joined the Moms:

Portland dads With leaf blowers join wall of moms to blow back tear gas from police

A group of dads in Portland, Oregon, carried leaf blowers during a recent protest to help stop tear gas from police from affecting other protesters, specifically the Wall of Moms organization.

www.newsweek.com

 

[rfisher]

I am in awe of the Wall of Moms.

And the Wall of Dads who brought their leaf blowers to blow tear gas back on the storm troopers.

 

[Spikefan]

And the Wall of Dads who brought their leaf blowers to blow tear gas back on the storm troopers.

And the DHS wasn’t expecting it. How exactly are they prepared to protect us from actual terrorists if they are unprepared for leaf blowers.

 

[rfisher]

I hope every city they send agents to, have more and more citizens armed with leaf blowers standing in their way. Having white faces facing the agents is not what Trump and his campaign want to see. They want to show images of angry black and brown people being shown what's what so he can claim to suburbia that they're only safe from the Black horde if he's in office. I would give everything to see Michelle Obama standing in streets of Chicago with her leaf blower in hand.

 

[Spikefan]

They are supposedly planning to send them to KC even though we don’t really have a lot of protests going on right now and the Federal District is empty due to *********. We do have an increase in gun violence but that is a gun/poverty/systemic racism issue not a protest issue. Should things get like Portland here I plan to show up. I just need to get on buying a helmet, goggles, gas mask and a small American flag. I will also have a ton of slips of paper with my name on them to disperse should I get snatched in a f’ing van.

 

[demetriosj]

They want to show images of angry black and brown people being shown what's what so he can claim to suburbia that they're only safe from the Black horde if he's in office.

That doesn't make sense because most of the rioters, people destroying property, and throwing things at the police are angry young white people.

 

[Dobre]

And the Wall of Dads who brought their leaf blowers

That is so Portland.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Federal forces keeping medics from doing jobs at Portland protests, ACLU suit says

Medics have been injured by rubber bullets fired by unidentified federal forces, the ACLU says.

www.nbcnews.com

A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union in Oregon claims federal agents and local police have violated the civil rights of volunteer medics by using force against them as they've attempted to render aid to injured protesters in Portland.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland on Wednesday alleges multiple incidents in which medics faced rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray as well as pushing and shoving. The ACLU said one clash captured on video was an egregious example. The civil rights organization states that the July 11 video shows two of four plaintiffs being "attacked" by unidentified federal agents while attempting to provide aid to an "incapacitated bystander."

 

[genevieve]

Having white faces facing the agents is not what Trump and his campaign want to see. They want to show images of angry black and brown people being shown what's what so he can claim to suburbia that they're only safe from the Black horde if he's in office.

He clearly hasn't been watching the protests for the last 6 weeks...a wall of non-black allies protesting BIPOC protesters has been a hallmark of this movement across the country. I do think the Wall of Moms branding is very on point - reminds me of the "Mom in tennis sneakers" campaigning in the early '90s.

I really appreciate that several of the WOM participants have gone out of their way to say that many mothers, particularly black mothers, have been actively protesting injustice for years and years and years.

 

[MacMadame]

I will also have a ton of slips of paper with my name on them to disperse should I get snatched in a f’ing van.

I write phone numbers of groups that help with lawyers and bail and one that will tell me if someone was arrested (in case I get separated from my group).

 

[ninjapirate]

These riots have become a complete pointless farce filled with bored people just looking for some meaning in their locked down lives. What is happening in Portland is the epitome of white narcissism. People who join a mob just to have something to join up with and feel like they're "part of history". Many are addicted to doing this like any other dopamine high. It started out as an outlet for socialization but has not become imitative and performative.

 

[Cachoo]

So they sent these mystery troops to KC and Barr announced there were 200 arrests: Here is a tweet that came out int he KC paper:
Wow. Barr says today there have been 200 arrests in the past two weeks. KC says the real number is more like one. Then DOJ backtracks and says 200 is since December and includes local arrests. What the hell is going on at DOJ?

 

[BlueRidge]

So they sent these mystery troops to KC and Barr announced there were 200 arrests: Here is a tweet that came out int he KC paper:
Wow. Barr says today there have been 200 arrests in the past two weeks. KC says the real number is more like one. Then DOJ backtracks and says 200 is since December and includes local arrests. What the hell is going on at DOJ?

Electioneering.

 

[skatingfan5]

^^Seems like Barr had been infected with Trump's need to grossly exaggerate accomplishments.

 

[BlueRidge]

Barr has a purpose and he will try to get away with whatever he can for that purpose: re-electing Trump. They want to convince a segment of voters that Trump is taking control of the anarchic Democratic cities and he needed results to tout.

You can bet those 200 arrests are going to be making the rounds of rightwing social media as Trump's response to the out of control situation in "our cities."

 

[MacMadame]

Did you guys see this?

Trump 2020 adviser says Biden's America would be "scary"—Using Portland Unrest Video

Boris Epshteyn has been mocked for using video of unrest under President Donald Trump to show what Joe Biden's America might look like.

www.newsweek.com

 

[BlueRidge]

Did you guys see this?

Trump 2020 adviser says Biden's America would be "scary"—Using Portland Unrest Video

Boris Epshteyn has been mocked for using video of unrest under President Donald Trump to show what Joe Biden's America might look like.

www.newsweek.com

That's why this effort isn't going to work for Trump. He's "in charge" now and all the "unrest" is happening on his watch. Sure he's trying to make it about Democratic mayors but except for his willfully in denial worshippers no one else is going to see it that way.

He used this in 2016, what did he call it? American carnage? He thinks he can do it again, but its a bit different to claim there is carnage and say he's the only one who can stop it when he's in charge while it is supposedly happening.

 

[MacMadame]

its a bit different to claim there is carnage and say he's the only one who can stop it when he's in charge while it is supposedly happening.

People replied to the tweet with that message. Saying, no, this is Trump's America and the dude who posted it originally had a comeback that worried me. It's in the article:

"That's a video of what happens under liberal leadership, in this case in Portland-looting, rioting, and chaos,"

And people do believe that. And believe that the protesters are "antifa" and that they aren't protesting but rioting and so Trump needs to send troops there.

This is all very disturbing to me. Black is white and white is black.

 

[BlueRidge]

"People" believe it. Well so far Trump supporters believe it; Trump supporters who consume a lot of rightwing media.

I doubt most people get any kind of warm and fuzzy feeling seeing the pictures of the protests in Portland. And that's what Trump wants. He wants the focus on a limited number of images of people who aren't particularly sympathetic. But I really doubt most people outside of Oregon are going to be all that worried about what is happening in Portland.

Trump's only chance is to escalate and create more images in cities around the country. He might win over a few people that way, I don't know, but it will definitely further divide and harm the country. But that is the only way he can win.

 

[MacMadame]

"People" believe it.

More people were responding to that one Twitter thread with this nonsense than I've seen in a while.

I know Twitter isn't reality but it does somewhat reflect it. I keep on eye on the ratio of posts as a measure of Trump's support. It's been going down since the election and went down dramatically after C19 hit but now I see a resurgence.

That worries me.

 

[manhn]

Trump's only chance is to escalate and create more images in cities around the country. He might win over a few people that way, I don't know, but it will definitely further divide and harm the country. But that is the only way he can win.

I'm trying to think of a person who's "undecided" and this will tip them over to edge to him. Or heaven forbid, someone who was intending to vote for Biden but now is switching.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm trying to think of a person who's "undecided" and this will tip them over to edge to him. Or heaven forbid, someone who was intending to vote for Biden but now is switching.

I think it will keep some of his supporters who are soft in their support on-board. They may be upset with him over C19 but at least our cities aren't on fire, is how their thinking goes.

 

[BlueRidge]

I think it will keep some of his supporters who are soft in their support on-board. They may be upset with him over C19 but at least our cities aren't on fire, is how their thinking goes.

Except Trump and Barr et al are telling them our cities are on fire!

 

[MacMadame]

Except Trump and Barr et al are telling them our cities are on fire!

I know it's crazy. And I think for most people it won't work. But while there are people who look at the optics coming out of Portland and see police gone mad, there are also people who look at it as "the protesters are rioting, the mayor refused to do anything about it and Trump sent in the calvary." Then Trump get to say "see what happens when the Dems are in charge of a city vs. when we are?"

It's the same reason Chicago is such a dog whistle. It's one city and it's had problems for decades. But somehow everything bad that happens there is because of liberals out of control. Or something.

 

[Teamgracie]

Philip Hersh (@olyphil) Tweeted:
After they get to Chicago, when will the DHS troops start goose-stepping with their right arms held out and up at a 45-degree angle?

https://twitter.com/olyphil/status/1285299024124424201?s=20

 

[BlueRidge]

The Washington Post is reporting that Customs and Border Patrol agents are being sent to Seattle.

The Trump administration is sending a team of Customs and Border Protection tactical officers to Seattle in anticipation of potential clashes with protesters in the city, two Homeland Security officials with knowledge of the plans said Thursday.

The officers are members of CBP’s Office of Field Operations Special Response Teams who are trained in riot control response and typically deploy when protesters gather at international border crossings.

Are there ongoing protests in Seattle?

 

[caseyedwards]

Philip Hersh (@olyphil) Tweeted:
After they get to Chicago, when will the DHS troops start goose-stepping with their right arms held out and up at a 45-degree angle?

https://twitter.com/olyphil/status/1285299024124424201?s=20

Disgusting post. Doesn’t he care lightfoot is allowing huge massacres every week? That she is disgusting and seemingly pro gang and pro death

 

[Dobre]

So if what I have read over the last week is correct, Portland protests were down to about 100 people before the feds got involved & last night there were thousands of people protesting. Gee, what an accomplishment for the president.

But I really doubt most people outside of Oregon are going to be all that worried about what is happening in Portland.

This is why he started with Portland. He figured people would overlook it.

There's a nice, balanced article in the Washington Post about a high school reporter who has been covering the protests in Portland this week. The title is one-sided, but the article itself discusses her commitment to showing both sides of what has been happening there. As far as I can tell, nothing is "under siege" in Portland except the justice building. I'm sure if one is a member of the police force, having to monitor the crowd every day, it feels very much like being under siege oneself. But the federal response seems totally out of line.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/23/portland-protests-teenage-reporter/

There are people on my side of the state who are taking this "rioting" story seriously. He's not going to win any new electoral votes by winning rural Oregon. He's just scaring people. The poor lady who works at a school library here is really worried for her daughter, who lives there. This woman is a very sweet lady who probably watches conservative news. She had a bad concussion a couple years ago, and I can completely see how she would struggle to sort out what is going on right now. Hopefully, her daughter is able to alleviate her mother's worries.

It still seems like the protests in Portland are all localized in one specific area, but even so, the more people you have involved, the more potential there is for something to go wrong. I do feel for this woman.

I agree that Trump's goal was not to have the faces of suburbia show up on the protest line. Last I read, he was hoping to cater to that demographic.

The facebook feed being passed around from republican locals here doesn't include any people. It has pictures of a ruined fountain, boarded up windows, and graffiti, I think).

 

[Teamgracie]

Anticipatory arrests, of course, are prohibited under the U.S. Constitution.

No idea what you are foaming about caseyedwards but the man needs to be stopped from turning our country into a dictatorship or worse.

 

[demetriosj]

No idea what you are foaming about caseyedwards

Have you never heard about the horrific murder rate in poor neighborhoods in Chicago on the South and West sides due to gangs ruling the streets? It's been going on for decades.