The Murder of George Floyd and the Response To It

[River]

-Alternatives to police intervention, such as diverting 911 calls regarding people exhibiting symptoms of mental illness to mental health professionals

Sadly, in the US, there are few if any mental health professionals that respond to 911 calls. EMTs come in after police have secured the scene, which puts de-escalation on the cops. The results can be quite mixed, depending on the personality of the cop and the jurisdiction. Also, EMTs themselves aren't necessarily trained in mental health. The extent of my training for a conscious mental health patient was, "treat injuries if you can, get vitals if you can, get them talking if you can, you're not allowed to use restraints beyond the gurney straps, and stay safe." Very useful. Really gets the job done. I got more practical training out of my Abnormal Psychology class and that wasn't supposed to be practical at all. Now, once patients are dropped off at the ER, there are people on call ready and waiting to help them, but that link between things falling apart in the community and the hospital is weak and that doesn't seem to be changing.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I've only glanced at the thread. It certainly it appears that he is basing his claims on actual research, but without researching the research, I can't tell how valid it is.

[elengil]

Many journalists say they were targeted by police while covering protests

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/many- ... qmRvh7c9z8

[Dave_LF]

I am so freaked out by the situation on so many levels. Here's just one: what's going to happen in a few days when people living in areas where order has broken down completely realize there's nothing left to loot nearby and they're starting to get hungry? I live not far from Chicago and it's just total anarchy over there. LA looks to be about the same.

[elengil]

I am so freaked out by the situation on so many levels. Here's just one: what's going to happen in a few days when people living in areas where order has broken down completely realize there's nothing left to loot nearby and they're starting to get hungry? I live not far from Chicago and it's just total anarchy over there. LA looks to be about the same.

I read somewhere (forget where) that is already being addressed. I am absolutely on the side of 'most locals aren't the ones doing the burning/looting' - at least not in Minneapolis.

[Dave_LF]

That certainly seems to be true, but you'd still have to be crazy to open or restock a store in a zone that's being looted night after night; or that's under threat or being next. It's hard to get an accurate picture of what things are actually like on the ground or how widespread the horrorshows I keep seeing in social media videos truly are, but it looks really bad.

[Maria]

Denver police throwing a reporter into a fire:
https://twitter.com/tessrmalle/status/1 ... 3258653696

[elengil]

On our morning call my boss asked "not to get political but... what do you all think about what's happening?"

After a moment of silence, I just said, "Well, I think Holy Phuq sums up my feelings on the matter nicely."

Everyone kind of agreed...

[Dave_LF]

I just don't see how this stops. Every night there are riots. Every riot results in confrontations with police. Every confrontation results in social media videos that, rightly or wrongly, look like police brutality. Every video is shared millions times nation and worldwide, spreading and inflaming the rioting elsewhere. And of course there's an entire ecosystem of bad actors who are consciously promoting this feedback loop for their own reasons.

The best hope is that Americans' notoriously short attention spans set in and they get bored with the whole thing, but it's not like they have a whole lot else to do right now. Maybe next week's new catastrophe will put a stop to it.

[River]

Denver police throwing a reporter into a fire:
https://twitter.com/tessrmalle/status/1 ... 3258653696

That'll de-escalate things for sure!

[elengil]

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-n ... dik2w8W52Y

"As a Marine veteran who was trained to disobey unlawful orders ... I am also calling on the men and women of the Minnesota National Guard to ignore the president's unlawful order to shoot civilians," Moulton added. "And rely instead on your training and your oath to defend our Constitution, which upholds our American values including freedom of assembly and freedom of speech."

Also, Trump sure does "accidentally" know an awful lot of racist phrases

[elengil]

https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justi ... wKC27H4Q4Q

Nationwide Demonstrations Turn Violent as Police Attack Protesters
In Seattle, for instance, police maced a child.

There's a video in the article

THE FUCKING ATLANTA POLICE JUST OPENED THE DOOR TO A CAR, TAZED A BLACK WOMAN AND A BLACK MAN AND SLASHED THEIR TIRES THEN ARRESTED THEM. THEY WERE LITERALLY JUST DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. THIS WAS ON LIVE TV. WHAT THE FUCK

[RoseMorninStar]

A poignant contrast of 'taking a knee' from LeBron James.

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(image shows violence)

This 2nd image is from the Houston Chronicle Sunday Sports page:

[elengil]

exactly

[RoseMorninStar]

Link to the full Houston Chronicle article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas- ... ron-result

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Post

How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change

[Inanna]

That’s a great article by Obama, V. I really like both his action points: vote at local level and ask for specific changes.

(Can I request you to repost the article, as opposed to your FB post, or describe it in a line when you post it here? It just shows up as “Post”, and half the time I don’t click on it. And I’m wary of FB).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I've edited in a direct link to the Medium post

[Inanna]

Thank you!

[Sunsilver]

Rose, I saw a meme very similar to that the morning after he was murdered, and posted it on my FB page. It said "Which knee bothers you more?"


Football players are being urged to 'take a knee' to protest Floyd's killing:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -sanctions
Here's the Liverpool team taking a knee before a practise: