The death of the Black man by the authorities started a revolution. Still in his forties, he was murdered by a White man representing law and order. His killing lit a spark that overturned the old order and led an oppressed people to revolt for their freedom. That brisk spring day will forever be etched in the memory of America. The date? March 5, 1770 The event came to be known as The Boston Massacre and the man's name was Crispus Attucks. This brave patriot was the first person to die in the American Revolution.
Like Attucks, George Floyd's murder shocked a Nation steeped in injustice. His killing also became a tipping point, where everyone had had enough. Now as the cities burn from the anger of enraged protestors, the cowardly act of officer Derek Chauvin using his knee to crush the life out of him will never be forgotten.
One of the four "officers" at the scene of the killing of George Floyd, Tou Thao, is reported to have fled Minnesota, the others are wisely laying low.
This article was originally going to be a comment on the excellent piece by @v4vapid titled: From Noble Protests to Violent Riots| Reframing the Narrative which is a great read. However it started getting longer and longer, and thinking no one would bother to read such a lengthy comment, I realized it would be better as a post on its own.
For YEARS, I've been thinking that the targeted harassment and murder of people of color by the police, almost seemed designed to provoke a violent response resulting in a massive clampdown.
The symbolism of capturing a clear murder on video, yet watching the officer receive a soft slap on the wrist, or most often, walk completely free, spoke to the impotence of the public. This seemed to have the effect of lighting the fuse of a time bomb. Almost as if they were saying: We just killed another one. Watcha gonna do about it?
The possibility that agent provocateurs were in action amongst the crowds was on my mind while seeing events unfold across the Nation. I wondered when they were going to drag the name of Antifa and Anarchists into this, and now they have. The plan now must be to turn the sympathy of the Floyd killing, into anger against the people protesting it. All the while creating new oppression and making bad cops even more of an anal hemorrhoid than they already are...
Like this guy:
A modern-day "Tommy the Traveler"
Notice how casually he breaks the windows at the Autozone and walks away, not to mention the umbrella which no one else has. Decked out all in black, with a full facemask and seemingly not affiliated with anybody. Even the other protestors ask him if he's a cop. His brazen act began the destruction that spread later. A classic agent provocateur...
Possibly law enforcement, alt-right or ex-mil, private security group (think Blackwater). Maybe part of a fast-reaction team that hops from city to city, leading the violence, then melting away.
Tommy the Traveler (real name: Thomas Tongyai) was an undercover agent who traveled from campus to campus inciting students to carry out violent acts. Posing as a leftist radical, he would set fires in progressive student groups, then walk away leaving a huge mess behind. This is the danger currently at hand and the immediate concern is learning how to indentify these instigators for removal before they have a chance to destroy the movement.
Situational awareness is key.
The hidden hand
Watching the vandalism at the CNN Center in Atlanta, put my spidey sense on full alert. What possible benefit would protesters get from attacking an organization which was giving sympathetic exposure to Floyd's murder and had just had their own Black reporter arrested while covering the protests?
The "law and order" crowd...
This gave them an opportunity to strike at a symbol of the hated CNN, while driving a wedge between it and peaceful protestors. Gotta give them credit, that's wily and sneaky.
If an organized "hidden hand" is sparking the useful images of violence and destruction while framing the narrative for the media, what if the people did the same?
Here's how this usually plays out:
Cops kills Black person.
Delayed arrest, giving offender time to get his story straight, alter evidence etc.
Law enforcement/DA says don't rush judgment, need to see what happened before the video started, etc.
Character assassination of the dead person.
Paid trolls online, smear victim on message boards and websites, while blindly supporting police. Words like "libtard and snowflake" frame anyone posting support for the person killed.
BLM protest, "hands up, don't shoot!" Al Sharpton makes statement.
$$$$$ Officer sets up GoFundMe page, rakes in cash for "legal defense." [George Zimmerman raised over $200,000 after killing Trayvon Martin, while Darren Wilson pulled in over $500,000 after killing Michael Brown]
Grand Jury or trial, officer acquitted or little slap on the wrist. Given two-week paid racial sensitivity vacation as a reward.
Officer retires/hired by police department in another city, or writes best-selling book, while giving paid speeches to cash in on the killing. [Former "Detective" Mark Fuhrman from the O.J. Simpson trial, was awarded a book deal and wrote the best-seller: Murder in Brentwood after being convicted of perjury.]
1O) Other police see the financial windfall in killing a Black person and decide to do the same.
So as you can see, the way the machine is set up, it's almost impossible to expect any justice from the system. As a police officer, killing a Black person can be lucrative. If done properly, you can expect a sympathetic DA and jury, with little chance of doing any real time.
This is where the wisdom of the people come in...
What if, after watching yet another miscarriage of justice, they organized their own hidden hand? Taking smart action, then melting away like a vapor. Gone in an instant, leaving nothing for the agent provocateur to work with. Only affecting the individual celebrating his huge GoFundMe cash windfall. No burning down shops or looting malls. Once the officer realizes he can't enjoy his ill-gotten gains and begins to really feel it, this may begin to alter the calculations of anyone else thinking of doing the same. As Star Trek actor George Takei tweeted:
"The enemy is cunning. Be smart. Be safe."
What are you more upset about? The protests? or the murder of George Floyd? The answer can be very telling...
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photo credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Video credit: 1, 2
wow, great writing. I am also following the large scale hack of real accounts on twitter. have you seen this? it's truly bizarre, and it affected a lot of BLM accounts. Also would you be interested in a Black Lives Matter Community on Hive?
Thanks so much for your support. No, I'd not heard of that happening on Twitter yet. Just took a quick look over there now, and didn't see any chatter about it among my followers.
BLM? Is there enough of an audience to support the community once the protests begin to ebb? Don't know.
My tweets about George Floyd/police violence are reaching more people than ever right now, until the next big story...
my country is falling apart. that's reason enough to do it.
start here and research the hashtag #dcblackout
Anonymous has posted about this also.
i found many people on twitter whose accounts were hacked and then the same message was put out, using their hacked accounts.
It's infuriating to watch officers and 'neighborhood watch' security guards (Zimmerman) create Go Fund Me pages that amass these sums of money. Didn't Zimmerman also launch a civil suit against Trayvon's family for millions of dollars after the initial trial? The pattern you describe here is accurate though, there's very little justice for the victims and the system always protects their own.
Are you familiar with "qualified immunity?" I'd never heard of it until I was digging around today and wondered if this could explain the violent brazenness of some police officers.
Yahoo published an article from USA Today that was eye-opening to say the least. It helps to explain why some cops feel they are beyond the law.
Maybe someone could do a #deepdive on it, but after spending all day Sunday into Monday morning writing this post, I'm taking a break! :)
Zimmerman sued the Martin family and others, but CNN doesn't think his suit has any chance of being successful. You'd think this guy would lay low and behave, but his actions since the killing have shown otherwise.
The good thing about all of this is seeing people of all races coming together to fight injustice. I just wish it was under better circumstances.
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