In Front of Our Noses: Thuggery
By law enforcement.
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.
For previous entries, click here.
So, as we continue to assess the war zone of it all (whether it be in Portland or Chicago), here are a number of stories and video clips that demonstrate that, regardless of anything else, many members of law enforcement are clearly seeing themselves as above the civilians they are supposed to be serving. While we all continue to try and understand where we will land in the space between the rhetoric of the administration and the actual usage of troops in our streets, the increasing willingness of law enforcement to treat peaceful protestors like the enemy is profoundly disturbing.
Take, for example, the case of David Black, a clergyman who appears to have been shot in the head with a pepper ball for the crime of praying on a public street.
Via the Religious News Service: In Chicago, clergy and faith-based protesters say ICE is threatening their religious freedom.
Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.
“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”
A few people peacefully shouting is no reason to deploy crowd control methods. The agents are at least two stories in the air. There is no threat. And yet, they keep firing pepper balls.
And here is Black again getting it in the face at close range and demonstrating why agents want to be masked, because who wants to be identified as the guy who attacked a priest?
But it is not just priests, how about older men?
How is this necessary? What was he doing to justify being shoved to the ground?
And, to share a clip again, what, big, strong, armed officers can’t take being talked at by a girl?
Then there is this via The Oregonian: Federal agents knock down elderly couple during Portland protest.
Laurie Eckman, 84, said she and her husband Richard Eckman, also 84 and a Vietnam war veteran, were rushed by federal officers “for no apparent reason.” She said her husband was leaning on his walker and wearing his Vietnam veterans cap as he was pushed to the ground.
“It was totally unprovoked. It was not the kind of crowd that shouts the ‘F word.’ It was people like us, our neighbors. There were families, there were several veterans,” Laurie Eckman told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “With no warning the feds charged into us, knocked us down and sprayed us. I was hit in the head with a projectile.”
But it isn’t just Chicago and Portland. The willingness of federal officials to escalate is constantly being recorded (and goodness only knows what isn’t being recorded).
For example.
Getting frustrated and grabbing an elected official is not acceptable. Just walk away if you are at an impasse.
What justifies this? I am referencing especially the second clip.
Or this?
Look, I get it; she is impeding the vehicle, and I expect is breaking the law by doing so. But you cannot tell me this is the best and only way to get her out of the way. Such tough guys, shoving a middle-aged woman to the ground! Call the police. Have her arrested or find some other way of dealing with the situation. Shoving her to the ground like that is unnecessary and thuggish and speaks to the character of the one doing the shoving, and to the culture of their organization.
All of this is the direct result of rhetoric from Trump. He keeps talking about the “enemy within” and wants US troops to train in US cities and has, since his first term, told law enforcement that they don’t have to “be nice” to suspects.
Respect my authoritah! is no way for law enforcement in an alleged democracy to behave.
There is also the video of ICE agents shoving one journalist into another. The second one appeared to suffer a seriously injury to his head.
I used Nitter to look at the comments under the Nicolle Wallace f-bomb link you wrote about last week. The one about the Chicago raid.
Some dismissed it because it was on MSNBC, though the info came from one of the building’s tenants.
Annoying.
A few blamed Biden for open borders. So, this has to happen.
Delusional.
Others said ‘illegals’ deserved it because they are criminals. When it was pointed out that citizens were caught up in the raid, they prattled on about ‘illegals’.
Authoritarian.
I wonder, when authoritarian ideologies gain currency in a society, is there an increase the percentage of sociopaths?
And it’s all predicated on bullshit.
Bullshit piled on bullshit.
One should note that while pepper balls are pushed as non-lethal weapons, a ball to the head could easily cost an eye or other serious injury.
“David Black, a clergyman who appears to have been shot in the head with a pepper ball for the crime of praying on a public street” – to be fair, Jesus did say not to pray in the public square in Mathew 6:5.
“How is this necessary? What was he doing to justify being shoved to the ground?” – Again, Jesus very clearly said not to welcome strangers and to assume they are all bad Samaritans in Luke 10:25-37. Wait. My bible must be defective, it says something completely different.
Trump unleashing masked goons onto our streets to shoot praying clergyman def sounds like Nobel Peace Prize activity to me.
@Kurtz: No, I don’t think there’s an increase in sociopaths.
What I think is that there are people who are envious of sociopaths, who seem to them to be powerful and free of constraint. Better at getting what they want. And in authoritarian times, the thought is typically that “we need to be more like a sociopath, because those guys get things their way!”
What it ignores is that humans are best when taking collective action. We do best when we form teams and each specializes in something.
The worst part of all this is that El Taco won’t ever be held accountable for any of his criminal, savage, and unconstitutional actions. And neither will be the vast majority of his thugs, enablers, cabinet, etc.
There are duty rosters, and superiors who can be subpoenaed to name names, if we cared. And many of the masked thugs are wearing masks tight enough that their features can still be seen.
I would like an enterprising DA to bring John Doe charges, subpoena those records, and then charge the superiors on site for obstructing justice when they refuse.
I would also like a pony.
@gVOR10: The vast majority of non-lethal ammunition is “supposed” to be shot at the ground. (Like how you’re not supposed to put q-tips in your ear)
@HelloWorld:..Wait. My bible must be defective, it says something completely different.
On the Bible as the “inspired word of God”
“Jesus rose to Heaven on the same day as his resurrection,..actually wait,..no 40 days later. I wrote both.” The Gospel of Luke.
I don’t get justifications for evilness, myself. Never have. I thought I wasn’t the odd one out, but maybe I am.
@Scott F.: Perhaps you would be kind enough to clarify your comment? Whom are you suggesting is justifying evil?
@Steven L. Taylor:
Anyone who would argue against you that for impeding a vehicle, the thug’s response was appropriate.
It feels to me that you are going far out of your way to allow for some counter-argument to the gist of your OP which is: “you cannot tell me this is the best and only way.” The evidence indicates not merely imprudent behavior, but genuine evil intent in this Trumpian thuggery. Therefore, I am not keen to give any quarter to the notion that what she was doing was relevant – legal or not. I am breaking the law when I jay-walk, but were the local police to summarily shoot me in the act, in no way did I have that coming.
You are being more generous than I, to your credit. I get that you are trying to diffuse the counter-argument by getting ahead of it. Screw that.
I’ve stated this before here, but I’m saddened that I lack strong enough words to condemn what is happening in our country right now. Reasonable rhetorical debate seems inadequate to the times. We need to be spitting fire.
Border Patrol is also joining ICE in these affairs, despite members not being trained for them.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/greg-bovino-trump-border-patrol-escalation
I don’t know whether to call it performative cruelty, or orgasmic cruelty. Or both. Or just cruelty.