Trump's America

[River]

Albuquerque?? They are aware Breaking Bad is fiction, yes?

[RoseMorninStar]

I find it disturbing beyond belief that he is openly attacking 'democratic' cities. It is a partisan thing to rally his 'base' and teach those who are not supporters 'a lesson'.

[Cerin]

According to the linked article, they are sending extra law enforcement to three cities as a response to spikes in violent crime in those cities (as opposed to 'openly attacking 'democratic' cities). The article points out that this is different from the Portland operation, which deployed DHS agents as a response to on-going protests/riots in which damage was being done to federal property.

Albuquerque?? They are aware Breaking Bad is fiction, yes?

According to the article, violent crime there is four times the national rate, with rape and murder twice the national rate.

[River]

ABQ's been kind of a known ****hole in the American West for a long time but okay, fine, suddenly the Feds need to intervene uninvited by any local authority with repurposed agents from various bits of DHS...do we have any reason to believe they'll be more successful in this endeavor than they have been with quelling unrest in Portland? Do they even have jurisdiction regarding violent crimes in these places? The justification for action in Portland is protecting federal property...are people in ABQ getting raped and murdered on federal property?

[Cerin]

This is not a DHS operation similar to Portland. It is not about protecting federal property from violent rioters. This is FBI, DEA and ATF agents being sent to help local law enforcement in cities that are seeing a surge in violent crime. It is not unprecedented, nor unique to this administration:

In recent years, cities like Chicago, Baltimore and New York have turned to Washington for help in combating gun violence and other crimes, arguing that only the federal government has the resources to tackle problems like guns being traded illegally across state borders.

<snip>

Instead, Ms. Lightfoot said, Chicago will be receiving resources from the F.B.I., the D.E.A. and the A.T.F., agencies that the city has worked with regularly in the past “to help manage and suppress violent crime in our city.”

It is this type of help that many mayors say they need.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/us/t ... icago.html

[elengil]

It is not about protecting federal property from violent rioters. l

Portland isn't about defending federal property from "violent rioters" because there are no violent rioters in Portland, and there is no damage being done to any buildings. A touch of graffiti is not damage. A lot of graffiti is not damage. There is no *damage* being done to buildings, and buildings are not more important than people.

The 'violent rioters' are the police and federal officers against the protesters exercising their rights.

[RoseMorninStar]

The 'violent rioters' are the police and federal officers against the protesters exercising their rights.

Agreed. Unidentified federal forces in unmarked vehicles grabbing and detaining random people off the street who have not been accused of any crime, gassing moms & dads, reporters, mayors, and veterans isn't about stopping crime. It's intended to incite fear and punishment for people who are exercising their constitutional right. I would hope something like this won't play out on election day.

[River]

The 'violent rioters' are the police and federal officers against the protesters exercising their rights.

Agreed. Unidentified federal forces in unmarked vehicles grabbing and detaining random people off the street who have not been accused of any crime, gassing moms & dads, reporters, mayors, and veterans isn't about stopping crime. It's intended to incite fear and punishment for people who are exercising their constitutional right. I would hope something like this won't play out on election day.

A TRO got issued by a Federal judge so they're not allowed to go after journalists or legal observers so long as the journalists keep their press badges visible and the legal observers are wearing their hats or vests. The hats and vests are green and blue respectively so colorblindness should not be an excuse.

Tear-gassing the mayor was a real WTF move, I must say.

[RoseMorninStar]

The 'violent rioters' are the police and federal officers against the protesters exercising their rights.

Agreed. Unidentified federal forces in unmarked vehicles grabbing and detaining random people off the street who have not been accused of any crime, gassing moms & dads, reporters, mayors, and veterans isn't about stopping crime. It's intended to incite fear and punishment for people who are exercising their constitutional right. I would hope something like this won't play out on election day.

A TRO got issued by a Federal judge so they're not allowed to go after journalists or legal observers so long as the journalists keep their press badges visible and the legal observers are wearing their hats or vests. The hats and vests are green and blue respectively so colorblindness should not be an excuse.

Tear-gassing the mayor was a real WTF move, I must say.

They must have issued that after the last journalist got attacked?
All I can say is if some person in camouflage without Identification grabbed me off the street claiming to be a federal agent and tried forcing me into an unmarked van I'd be making a scene - I'd be kicking & screaming.

[Frelga]

A U.S. District Judge issued a restraining order Thursday preventing federal agents from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" directed at anyone they know to be a journalist or legal observer, unless they have probable cause.

Order Temporarily Blocks Feds From Targeting Press And Legal Observers In Portland

Hand on, aren't they supposed not to arrest ANYONE unless they have probable cause? Also, temporarily?

[elengil]

Post

[RoseMorninStar]

Thanks for putting that up elengil. Yeah, Trumps forces were not in Portland to stop rapes and murders. I don't see how tear-gassing and arresting residents without charge is going to work to prevent crime either.

Trump will be sending un-asked-for federal agents to Milwaukee, of course to coincide with the Democratic convention. Because, you know.. the Democratic convention is sure to be a hot bed of rape and murder.

[elengil]

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5087 ... atic-party

but also

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) introduced a House resolution Thursday calling on lawmakers to ban organizations or political groups that have historically supported the Confederacy or slavery in the U.S., a list he said includes the Democratic Party.

I mean... sure, let's take him up on the offer. Ban every group that supported the Confederacy. Every Group. Go for it. Every. One.

[Sunsilver]

Medics have been attacked in Portland, and even had their medical supplies pepper sprayed to destroy them.



This is a violation of the Geneva Convention. The ACLU is now suing the Feds: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/acl ... s-protests

[elengil]

Medics have been attacked in Portland, and even had their medical supplies pepper sprayed to destroy them.

Thank god they're keeping those buildings safe from those violent rioting medics.

I mean, I'm not sure where those buildings are going that the protesters need to keep being moved, but maybe if the buildings stayed put for a while then the the US Secret Police wouldn't need to keep pushing into people. They might then be able to simply stand in front of these newly stationary buildings and simply prevent people from approaching. That might work. If only we could keep the buildings from moving...

[RoseMorninStar]

I've seen the video of the medics being beaten and gassed. Sickening.
Yeah.. and those pesky moving federal buildings...

Kim Jong-un would be proud.

**edited to add: There is a great deal to be said for reducing crime and for making this country safer for EVERYONE. For citizens, for police, everyone. But there is a right way and a wrong way. What we've seen so far is the wrong way and I don't see these tactics as reducing crime or making the country safer for anyone.

[River]

Attacking medics and other non-combatants is a war crime. Except we're not actually at war, so in Portland the assault on the medics is just plain despicable. Not that being despicable stops people who cage up asylum seekers.

Trump will be sending un-asked-for federal agents to Milwaukee, of course to coincide with the Democratic convention. Because, you know.. the Democratic convention is sure to be a hot bed of rape and murder.

Isn't it going mostly virtual this year anyway?

[Sunsilver]

River, the fact the U.S. is not at war doesn't apply, as the Geneva Convention protects civilians as well.

Feigl-Ding added: "Folks arguing "but but but Geneva Convention only for armed conflict between uniformed armies"... ha, if that is the only defense of their actions, then one is entirely missing the moral emptiness & heartless callousness of the actions. Also Geneva protects non combatants too."

https://www.newsweek.com/portland-feder ... zX2FxILULM

[River]

Fabulous. So ICE is committing war crimes in Portland.

[RoseMorninStar]

Attacking medics and other non-combatants is a war crime. Except we're not actually at war, so in Portland the assault on the medics is just plain despicable. Not that being despicable stops people who cage up asylum seekers.

Trump will be sending un-asked-for federal agents to Milwaukee, of course to coincide with the Democratic convention. Because, you know.. the Democratic convention is sure to be a hot bed of rape and murder.

Isn't it going mostly virtual this year anyway?

Yes, scaled back and mostly virtual.
I don't see how sending mobs of federal troops that are not coordinated with local police is going to help quell violence or crime. It will incite violence.

It is disturbing to hear the president discuss Democrats as if they are not fellow taxpaying citizens of the US. As if anyone who is not a Trump loyalist is an enemy to be put down.