Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
If the point of protesting by rioting, smashing police cars, and the like is to "effect broad change", then the protests are misguided. The public was already quite focused on the incident and unequivocal in its condemnation of the police officers involved, who were all quickly fired, and may yet face prosecution. You have mayors, Senators and Governors calling for investigations, giving press conferences... riots distract from that unerring and uncomfortable focus on the problem.
Now people can slip back into their normal comfort zone, decry the protests, and argue on the internet with the people who are saying things like "you love to see it" and "those cops deserve it" and calling anyone who opposes rioting in the streets a racist. Standard culture war BS.
Of course, this seemed inevitable, so no one is surprised, but similarly, no one should be suggesting that maybe rioting is the ticket to changing the way people feel about this issue. And really, the responses were starting to give me the impression that this incident - for whatever reason, because it's not like there haven't been terrible incidents caught on camera before - might actually result in some substantive policy measures, at least in Minnesota, which could then have a knock-on effect. Well, we'll see if that happens, because this stuff just creates a fresh news cycle.
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I know when I want to effect broad change the first thing I do is go looting at Target and snatch a vacuum cleaner and some 4K TVs.
The usual suspects defending this behaviour played the same card with the Ferguson riots in 2014. When it was pointed out that destroying property in your own community and taking attention from protesting a possible injustice was probably counter productive they didn't want to hear it. We've seen this movie before so I'd love to hear from them what broad societal change was achieved by the Ferguson riots since it was a method endorsed by them. Or maybe it wasn't violent and destructive enough and that was the true problem.
This seems from all accounts to be police brutality resulting in death and the guy should be tried for some degree of murder. People have a right to be angry and protest peacefully until they feel like justice has been served. What you do not have the right to do is riot, incur violence, and destroy property in your own community. I look forward to being called a racist for this imminently reasonable take.