Lock the masses up and kill a couple of them and this is what you get from the black vanguard.
UPDATEGlass getting broken outside the main entrance to CNN's Atlanta headquarters; protesters cheer pic.twitter.com/EToiEj5Pom— Fernando Alfonso III (@fernalfonso) May 29, 2020
Police holding off protesters inside the lobby of Atlanta's CNN headquarters.
-RW
Chickens come home to roost.
ReplyDeleteI just home from the Oakland protest. Left around 10:30pm Mostly good vibes. Some tear gas. Some random jackasses firing off cap guns and scaring people, but there were lots of families and those whole thing mostly felt like a rowdy county fair. I saw maybe a dozen people smashing windows and lighting fires at Chase and Walgreens. They showed up with hammers, removed the boards from the windows, used the wood to smash the windows, used the wood as kindling, then sprayed lighter fluid and lit off fireworks. They did not look they had ever taken a building apart before. They looked like scrawny college kids and they were all white. They looked like skaterpunks and their girlfriends to me.
ReplyDeleteI saw a few tight crews working together and they clearly had a plan: A guy was filming someone smashing glass and got too close, one lady smacked his phone out of his hand, pounced on it and ran off with it while they other lady immediately got up in his face and then they all scattered and he stood there looking baffled. There were plenty of lone-wolf jackasses just looking for trouble though, but anytime I saw someone approach a small business the crowd would start chanting "no small businesses!" and most people backed off. There were also chants of "no fires" when people started lighting fires.
Next time I go to one of these things I want a gas mask and a couple small fire extinguishers and a better bathroom plan. Most people were civilized and polite, but it won't take too many hotheads or troublemakers to get the cops really riled up and crakin skulls. Didn't see anyone open carrying military grade weaponry unfortunately. Buncha hippies out here.
Thanks for the "Frontline" account. I was wondering how much of it is media hype. I wish people would take more action though, like protesting at city and county meetings where police pensions are determined. Or more tax activism, aka withholding taxes from these cities with outsized pensions. If they want to reform the police force, bust the union up, get rid of their pensions, and make them accountable to the same laws they are supposed to be enforcing.
DeleteWow, thanks for the great report. Did you get any pics / video?
DeleteMy lady did. I'll see about getting them.
DeleteOne more point about the protest: I highly recommend anyone who's feeling frosty get out to one of these things and get a feel for reading and navigating the crowds. Someday you may find yourself forced to navigate something like that, and it would be better if it were not your first time. When you see a thousand people running towards you and you don't know what they're running from, the panic is real. When a pissed off stranger comes around the corner with a pistol and starts firing into the air, you're not gonna know whether its real or a cap gun, but the fear is real. Dip your toe in the water and see what it feels like because someday you might get pushed in, and you won't have a lot of time for acclimation.
Thanks. I've seen my share of a few riots the primary being one started by cops at the June 2000 Lakers championship at the staples center in Los Angeles. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself , & yes they were swinging their batons at me, a former altar boy who's never been charged with a crime in my life & who was only there working as a reporter for a radio station. I still have the audio of it.
DeleteYes please post any pics or videos your girlfriend took, I'd love to see them.