I don’t understand why these protests so often end up with people destroying cars and shop windows - and then, in many cases, looting as well. Whatever legitimate cause you may have had loses credibility pretty quickly after that, and it becomes hard to sympathize with the protesters, let alone criticize the riot police for stepping in. A cynic might say that some are just looking for an excuse to cause havoc.
Not all the protestors are involved in criminal activity. The news is constantly reporting that 95% of the crowd is peacefully exercising their right to protest, but a small minority of people use the situation to their advantage and cause chaos. The media then reports on these (accurate) instances of violence and then right wing talking heads run away with that and paint the picture that everyone is looting and rioting and attacking cops.
It’s also a known tactic to have provocateurs incite a riot so that the people in power can use it as an excuse to crack down on an otherwise legitimate protest.
Because people don’t suddenly develop a hivemind when engaging in a protest. You get a large group of people together and the likelihood that at least one of them is a shithead quickly hits 100%. Add in agent provocateurs and you get situations like this.
A large group of people trying to have a peaceful protest could easily stop a few individuals who start smashing things. But from the looks of it, the reaction often seems to be the opposite - people applaud it or even join in. Even here in the replies, there’s someone excusing it with “who cares about Google,” and another one justifying the looting of ampm so apparently, in their mind, it’s not a problem. The fact that this exact same tactic is used by the aforementioned agent provocateurs should only further encourage self-policing within these protests.
Have you seen what happens when people try to stop agent provocateurs? The police rush in and beat the shit out of them. The entire point of provocateurs is to manufacture an excuse to use violence.
No, I haven’t seen that, but I’m sure you can provide an example.
The point of agent provocateurs - at least as I understand it - is to make a peaceful protest no longer peaceful, giving the authorities an excuse to shut it down. But even if the people committing vandalism really are provocateurs, they still can’t accomplish their goal alone. They need real protesters to go along with it. Plenty of people are willing to riot, but they don’t want to be the first. However, once someone else takes that step, they’ll happily join in.
If the general sentiment among the protesters was that this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated, these tactics wouldn’t work. A regular police officer can’t tell a protester from an agent provocateur - so if someone starts throwing bricks and immediately gets shunned and handed over to the cops, they’ll be taken away, and the protest stays peaceful.
It’s a case of a few opportunists ruining it for the many. As with football celebrations, street parties, or anything. It’s a damn shame that their greed ruins the legitimacy of protesting though
I have seen people looting an AM/PM in one of the live feeds of what’s going on. But it didn’t look like they were actual protestors, either. Just people taking advantage of the situation. Plus it’s AM/PM; you know how much good stuff they have? Too much! They’re just helping them get down to a reasonable amount of good stuff.
Probably because those people don’t realize those cars are autonomous and owned by one of the biggest corporations on Earth. I’ve had people swear up and down to me online that autonomous cars don’t exist. Meanwhile I see them drive around on the daily.
I mean, many don’t. I’m not even sure there was any mention of property damage except to police/Ice vehicles/equipment prior to the police escalation.
However now they they’ve escalated and brought in the national guard, started shooting and tear gassing people, and more it seems things have escalated.
The real question is - “if these communities are protecting these people so fiercely, where is the mandate to deport them with such force?”
I don’t understand why these protests so often end up with people destroying cars and shop windows - and then, in many cases, looting as well. Whatever legitimate cause you may have had loses credibility pretty quickly after that, and it becomes hard to sympathize with the protesters, let alone criticize the riot police for stepping in. A cynic might say that some are just looking for an excuse to cause havoc.
Not all the protestors are involved in criminal activity. The news is constantly reporting that 95% of the crowd is peacefully exercising their right to protest, but a small minority of people use the situation to their advantage and cause chaos. The media then reports on these (accurate) instances of violence and then right wing talking heads run away with that and paint the picture that everyone is looting and rioting and attacking cops.
It’s also a known tactic to have provocateurs incite a riot so that the people in power can use it as an excuse to crack down on an otherwise legitimate protest.
Because people don’t suddenly develop a hivemind when engaging in a protest. You get a large group of people together and the likelihood that at least one of them is a shithead quickly hits 100%. Add in agent provocateurs and you get situations like this.
A large group of people trying to have a peaceful protest could easily stop a few individuals who start smashing things. But from the looks of it, the reaction often seems to be the opposite - people applaud it or even join in. Even here in the replies, there’s someone excusing it with “who cares about Google,” and another one justifying the looting of ampm so apparently, in their mind, it’s not a problem. The fact that this exact same tactic is used by the aforementioned agent provocateurs should only further encourage self-policing within these protests.
Have you seen what happens when people try to stop agent provocateurs? The police rush in and beat the shit out of them. The entire point of provocateurs is to manufacture an excuse to use violence.
No, I haven’t seen that, but I’m sure you can provide an example.
The point of agent provocateurs - at least as I understand it - is to make a peaceful protest no longer peaceful, giving the authorities an excuse to shut it down. But even if the people committing vandalism really are provocateurs, they still can’t accomplish their goal alone. They need real protesters to go along with it. Plenty of people are willing to riot, but they don’t want to be the first. However, once someone else takes that step, they’ll happily join in.
If the general sentiment among the protesters was that this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated, these tactics wouldn’t work. A regular police officer can’t tell a protester from an agent provocateur - so if someone starts throwing bricks and immediately gets shunned and handed over to the cops, they’ll be taken away, and the protest stays peaceful.
It’s a case of a few opportunists ruining it for the many. As with football celebrations, street parties, or anything. It’s a damn shame that their greed ruins the legitimacy of protesting though
Waymo is owned by Google. Who cares?
Looting small businesses will always be fucked. Haven’t seen that yet with these protests.
I have seen people looting an AM/PM in one of the live feeds of what’s going on. But it didn’t look like they were actual protestors, either. Just people taking advantage of the situation. Plus it’s AM/PM; you know how much good stuff they have? Too much! They’re just helping them get down to a reasonable amount of good stuff.
The people outside your bubble.
Probably because those people don’t realize those cars are autonomous and owned by one of the biggest corporations on Earth. I’ve had people swear up and down to me online that autonomous cars don’t exist. Meanwhile I see them drive around on the daily.
I mean, many don’t. I’m not even sure there was any mention of property damage except to police/Ice vehicles/equipment prior to the police escalation.
However now they they’ve escalated and brought in the national guard, started shooting and tear gassing people, and more it seems things have escalated.
The real question is - “if these communities are protecting these people so fiercely, where is the mandate to deport them with such force?”