Police arresting/attacking reporters covering protests/riots (1 Viewer)

[SystemShock]

There are plenty of videos like the one below circulating... 1st Amendment be damned.

[Mod Edit due to inflammatory partisan comments]

A bit surprised this hadn't made it here.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

I was actually there this afternoon. The bishop had sent out a call to provide a ministry to the protestors to hand out snacks and water, so I went with two of my kids. We observed the protest, and it was peaceful. I did leave 20 minutes before it all went down b/c I didn't want to be near there as it got close to curfew in case something went down.

This was from my rector who stayed:

Friends, I am ok, but I am, frankly shaken. I was at St. John's, Lafayette Square most of the afternoon, with fellow clergy and laypeople - and clergy from some other denominations too. We were passing out water and snacks, and helping the patio area at St. John's, Lafayette square to be a place of respite and peace. All was well - with a few little tense moments - until about 6:15 or so. By then, I had connected with the Black Lives Matter medic team, which was headed by an EMT. Those people were AMAZING. They had been on the patio all day, and thankfully had not had to use much of the eyewash they had made. Around 6:15 or 6:30, the police started really pushing protestors off of H Street (the street between the church and Lafayette Park, and ultimately, the White House. They started using tear gas and folks were running at us for eyewashes or water or wet paper towels. At this point, Julia, one of our seminarians for next year (who is a trauma nurse) and I looked at each other in disbelief. I was coughing, her eyes were watering, and we were trying to help people as the police - in full riot gear - drove people toward us. Julia and her classmates left and I stayed with the BLM folks trying to help people. Suddenly, around 6:30, there was more tear gas, more concussion grenades, and I think I saw someone hit by a rubber bullet - he was grasping his stomach and there was a mark on his shirt. The police in their riot gear were literally walking onto the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with these metal shields, pushing people off the patio and driving them back. People were running at us as the police advanced toward us from the other side of the patio. We had to try to pick up what we could. The BLM medic folks were obviously well practiced. They picked up boxes and ran. I was so stunned I only got a few water bottles and my spray bottle of eyewash. We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually - with SO MANY concussion grenades - back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John's, Lafayette Square. I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN'S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!
I am deeply shaken. I did not see any protestors throw anything until the tear gas and concussion grenades started, and then it was mostly water bottles. I am shaken, not so much by the taste of tear gas and the bit of a cough I still have, but by the fact that that show of force was for a PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. The patio of St. John's, Lafayette square had been HOLY GROUND today. A place of respite and laughter and water and granola bars and fruit snacks. But that man turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second. I am DEEPLY OFFENDED on behalf of every protestor, every Christian, the people of St. John's, Lafayette square, every decent person there, and the BLM medics who stayed with just a single box of supplies and a backpack, even when I got too scared and had to leave. I am ok. But I am now a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Heathen]

Where are our second amendment advocates? Why are they not standing up against tyranny?

The government is literally oppressing the citizens as we speak.

Your fantasy is now a reality. Stand up for your freedom!

Yeah, but they don't care about government overreach when it's oppressing the people they hate.

 

[MT15]

Jim, thanks for that. I’m glad you got your kids out of there before that happened.

And there are already Republican lawmakers defending this action.

There is evidently no bottom for those guys.

 

[brandon]

I was actually there this afternoon. The bishop had sent out a call to provide a ministry to the protestors to hand out snacks and water, so I went with two of my kids. We observed the protest, and it was peaceful. I did leave 20 minutes before it all went down b/c I didn't want to be near there as it got close to curfew in case something went down.

This was from my rector who stayed:

Sad, and powerful.

 

[Richard]

I was actually there this afternoon. The bishop had sent out a call to provide a ministry to the protestors to hand out snacks and water, so I went with two of my kids. We observed the protest, and it was peaceful. I did leave 20 minutes before it all went down b/c I didn't want to be near there as it got close to curfew in case something went down.

This was from my rector who stayed:

I too am glad you got out of there safely. The rectors account was troubling to say the least.

I was watching those events as they unfolded on TV. While there may have been some chanting and loud voices (I couldn't tell over the channel's commentary), I saw no one acting inappropriately. I noticed some repositioning of the military police and capital police for a while, then all hell broke loose. Unprovoked, the police moved on the protesters. The vantage point of the cameras on the station I was watching didn't show everything that was reported, but the crowd was quickly dispersed.

Then they showed the reason the crowd was pushed out. Trump and his entourage made the walk from the Rose Garden, where he had just finished his remarks, to St. John's. He walked sternly for the distance, coming to a stop in front of the church's signage where stood alone stiffly for a few moments, apparently waiting for the press to get in position. He then held up a Bible in a manner suggesting than he had never had one in his hands before. No comments, no explanation, no reasoning given for his presence there or the significance of the Bible. Trump then dropped the Bible to his side, strode over to the church steps and called over members of his team for the photo op with them. And it was over. A bizarre scene from start to finish. Only in the mind of Donald Trump could such a display make sense. In the midst of a health pandemic, an economic crisis and societal unrest, Trump thought it would be a good idea to gas and shoot rubber bullets at Americans peacefully protesting so he could walk across the street for a vague, poorly communicated photo op.

Trump may not have revealed what his stroll to St. John's was all about, but he has told Americans as loudly and as clearly as he can that the issues we face are secondary to whatever he believes will help him in November.

 

[donato]

People trust and respect police and authority less and less as these things are exposed. They're just hurting themselves and have nobody else to blame.

 

[J-DONK]

Not a journalist being shot, but this video of people being shot in Minneapolis while on their porch. 2020 - the year reality turned into a dystopian novel.

‘Light ‘Em Up!’: Video Appears To Show Law Enforcement Shooting Paint Rounds At Mpls. Residents On Their Porch

A video posted to Twitter Saturday night is going viral after apparently showing law enforcement in Minneapolis shooting paint rounds at residents on their porch after curfew went into effect.

cbsloc.al

 

[Richard]

This is kind of a roundup of reports of police actions directed at journalists.

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Dragon]

A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of "Antifa" was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account.
"This account violated our platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. "We took action after the account sent a Tweet inciting violence and broke the Twitter Rules."

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the United States will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, even though the US government has no existing legal authority to label a wholly domestic group in the manner it currently designates foreign terrorist organizations.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/02/tech/antifa-fake-twitter-account/index.html

This truely looks like a play from a very old playbook.

 

[NoPartyMike]

I've watched quite a few periods of unrest occur over the years...I don't know whether it's because of the economic unrest due to the pandemic, the fact that we have no leadership in the WH or what..but this just feels more intense. The anger is more palpable. I've seen more of a ubiquitous condemnation and anger -- and from people all across the world.

It's due in large part to the advancement of media technology. It's much easier to document life these days and more readily available for anyone to consume. Times have been darker in history, but those not affected were more insulated from it.

 

[The moose]

[mod edit - call out of other poster]


The fake news that our administration has preached for years is directly related to the problems we are seeing today.

 

[Dragon]

This kind of sentiments among the senior GOP leadership is basically a blank check to law enforcement and the President to do whatever they want

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior Republican in the Senate, told CNN that peaceful protesters have the right to demonstrate but he didn't know the extent to which the "police might expect violence from some of the people -- maybe 5% of the people -- and that could be a potential problem, the answer would be, it's OK" to clear them out with force.

So because there MIGHT be a potential problem the only solution is to use violent methods against peaceful demonstrators

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/02/politics/congress-republican-reaction-trump-church/index.html

 

[MT15]

It’s a lie that tear gas wasn’t used. They also shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

At the end of the day, the federal government broke up a peaceful lawful protest before curfew with no prior warning, and then took over a church and kicked the priests out of their own church grounds and used it as a backdrop.

Does it really matter if they used rubber bullets and tear gas to do it? And for the record, I have a couple of first hand accounts and couple of second hand accounts that tear gas was used.

 

[gummbo]

Is it possible that the house can start a second impeachment hearing? Asking for 268 million friends

 

[Dragon]

At the end of the day, the federal government broke up a peaceful lawful protest before curfew with no prior warning, and then took over a church and kicked the priests out of their own church grounds and used it as a backdrop.

Does it really matter if they used rubber bullets and tear gas to do it? And for the record, I have a couple of first hand accounts and couple of second hand accounts that tear gas was used.

Very nicely summarized. I'm still astounded that so many GOP leaders can see nothing wrong with this.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

It’s a lie that tear gas wasn’t used. They also shot peaceful protesters with rubber bullets.

shirt. That is terrible to look at.

 

[SFIDC3]

Very nicely summarized. I'm still astounded that so many GOP leaders can see nothing wrong with this.

I think most GOP leaders see plenty wrong with it but they are cowards, willingly selling off their dignity and principles so as not to upset Dear Leader.....