Black Lives Matter

While we don’t typically weigh in on the state of America, what has transpired since the completely avoidable and inexcusable death of George Floyd, we cannot NOT bring light to the events that have unfolded since then. Black lives do matter.

98 percent of the protesters that have taken place in protests around the country over the last four days have been peaceful. It is the 2 percent that has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The majority of the 2 percent of protesters who have been inciting violence, looting, and destroying property have been white.

These are NOT supporters of the protesters. These are likely local proTrump armed militia agent provocateurs. The Aimpoint T1 optic on the AR15 is $750 alone. Only super gun geeks buy those. #RejectArmedPeople https://t.co/NFu9dOGNyA
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 31, 2020

Members of the various police forces and the National Guard around the country have played a large part in the escalation of violence. While the mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio actually and unbelievably said, he didn’t “blame” police for driving into protestors. I mean, seriously, what the fuck?

There is no reason why police officers and the national guard have to:

plow into a group of protestors with their vehicles
push an elderly man walking with a cane to the ground
pull down the face mask of a protestor and spray them with mace shooting paint gun pellets at people’s homes to make them go inside
to shove protestors from behind who are just walking down the street spraying someone identifying themselves as a medic with mace
pelting peaceful protestors and the press with rubber bullets and mace

The list goes on and on.

These cities had curfews in place last night due to the violence of the 2%:

CALIFORNIA
Beverly Hills
Los Angeles

COLORADO
Denver

FLORIDA
Miami

GEORGIA
Atlanta

ILLINOIS
Chicago

KENTUCKY
Louisville

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis
St. Paul

NEW YORK
Rochester

OHIO
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Dayton
Toledo

OREGON
Eugene
Portland

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh

SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston
Columbia

TENNESSEE
Nashville
UTAH

Salt Lake City
WASHINGTON
Seattle

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee

Listen to these voices. This is what the protests are about. Not looting a Nordstroms. Not burning down an AutoZone. No spraying graffiti at The Grove. These words our powerful.

Listen

White people at #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protests. You are our guests. Your job is not to spray paint, break shit, loot. That is not your right. Your job is to do everything you can do to put your bodies between Black bodies because you know they’ll actually do something if you die
— Ben O'Keefe (@benjaminokeefe) May 31, 2020

Incredible scene at Colorado’s Capitol right now. Thousands of protesters are lying face down with their hands behind their backs chanting “I can’t breathe.” They’re doing this for 9 mins. #copolitics #denverprotest #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/PaABvp8ZoM
— Colorado Times Recorder (@COTimesRecorder) May 30, 2020

What a moment on CNN. pic.twitter.com/T9XMzXmlVb
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 31, 2020

This is mandatory viewing. You won’t regret it. pic.twitter.com/OSf0HyOtHU
— Qasim Rashid for Congress (@QasimRashid) May 30, 2020

These are some of the incidents that were mentioned above (and others not mentioned) involving the police and national guard stoking the flames and inciting violence.

Who is this serving?

Who is this protecting? pic.twitter.com/IK8DkwLLUT
— jordan (@JordanUhl) May 31, 2020

It’s unthinkably cruel to shove an elderly man using a cane to walk.

Let’s be honest. Too many cops have a bad attitude. And they act out with force unreasonably and with a sense of impunity. Time for serious reform. pic.twitter.com/7Tgo7trORY
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) May 31, 2020

Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling “light em up” #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bW48imyt55
— Tanya Kerssen (@tkerssen) May 31, 2020

A police officer pulls down a black man’s mask to pepper spray him! His hands were up, not behaving in any threatening way. This is outrageous. https://t.co/q1QypWbFt3
— Jessica Ramos (@jessicaramos) May 31, 2020

Oh my god. What is the @NYPDnews doing? pic.twitter.com/rZayr421pJ
— Rob Bennett @ 🏡 (@rob_bennett) May 31, 2020

Tell me, @ColumbusPolice what part of this is protect or serve? We were treating people in an alley and you gleefully chased us and sprayed another medic from a distance of inches and LAUGHED about it. #columbusprotest #ColumbusOhio pic.twitter.com/UF0ccVIfjd
— Katy (@Katy38105157) May 30, 2020

How many more journalists will shed blood in coming days due to police force? #FreedomOfThePress pic.twitter.com/njaOZ4dqTB
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) May 31, 2020

Police were the aggressors today in LA. It was peaceful for hours until they came looking like they were ready for war. Rubber bullets and smoke cans, batons out in full riot gear. Then blocking the protestors from entering Beverly Hills. Let the people march, get out of the way
— Trace Lysette (@tracelysette) May 31, 2020

For those of you who think you know all about how things escalate during a protest. pic.twitter.com/1DgADqFwJi
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 30, 2020

We were yards away. No one was confrontational. It was not 9p. They started throwing gas at us anyway.

I wish I could say this is unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/WExdPRmHqx
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) May 31, 2020

watching a stream of the union square protests to see this police officer throw up what looks to be a white power sign. stay safe out there, these cops are monsters. pic.twitter.com/IZreewn0Q1
— kiki (@kikimurphy_) May 31, 2020

Protests started in Erie.. a girl here was peacefully protesting, after 15 minutes she was maced and kicked.. #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/nC6HhXMpCe
— Nick / nak5132 🍐 (@the7goonies) May 31, 2020

These videos clearly show that it is not the actual protestors who are doing the looting and destruction. Those who are using the protest to make the protestors look bad.

Some protestors in Brooklyn calling to loot the Target, but organizers are rushing in front of the store to stop them, keep things non-violent #nycprotest pic.twitter.com/6x70cpcjep
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) May 31, 2020

Violence begins to set in as the protest moves around Union Square and the Westfield Mall #GeorgeFloydProtests @sfexaminer pic.twitter.com/2IWNo5TSpW
— Kevin N. Hume (@KevinNHume) May 31, 2020

America is broken. We need healing. We need empathy. We need justice. We need leadership.