Minneapolis is a Warzone

Couldn't sleep last night listening to the sounds, knowing my city is on fire.

Maybe George Floyd's death at the hands of our unchecked, militarized, racist police force will be the final straw. The mayor is calling for the arrests of the officers but so far...nothing. The police would rather watch the city burn than make a move on one of their own. It's going to get worse if they delay any further. Or when the shitsack union leader wins their jobs back.

Then I wake up and read the reports of armed, white agitators breaking windows and setting fires. Of NEWS CREWS blasting recorded gunfire sounds "on accident." Rubber bullets and tear gas canisters aimed at people's heads...

What I've learned from this is that it's OK to storm a state capitol building, heavily armed, and yell and spit at police officers because you need a haircut...as long as you are white. But protesting the latest in a long line of murdered black men at the hands of the cops? Uncalled for. Find a less intrusive way to express yourself.

I'd like to believe that what I was listening to last night was the beginning of real change but it's hard to have any faith in that anymore.

The best quote Ive seen so far:

"If, this week, you watched Minneapolis police murder a man on camera, stand idly by and watch it happen, and lie to try to cover it up, but now believe their version of how protests escalated last night, then you're not learning on purpose."

Of NEWS CREWS blasting recorded gunfire sounds "on accident."

More details please. What is the source of this nugget of information?

I don't live in Minneapolis, but I live in an adjacent suburb, less than a mile from where Philando Castile was killed by a police officer in 2016. I moved here in '91, and have noticed over the years that Minneapolis is a very progressive city with a very fascist police department. How is that possible? The voters elect the mayor, and the mayor has the power to remove and appoint a police chief. The police chief theoretically can fire bad cops, but in reality, he has limited authority because of the police union. Most big cities across America have a powerful police union that has negotiated hard to limit their accountability for their actions.

www.reuters.com/investigates/special-rep...9Psx0yhDdfTrpQwxaMFs

Sagrilarus wrote: Of NEWS CREWS blasting recorded gunfire sounds "on accident."

More details please. What is the source of this nugget of information?

So far, unsubstantiated. I've been trying to follow local Twitter feeds looking for a more boots on the ground viewpoint and I've heard several claims regarding this. If it's true, which at this point I don't doubt, we won't see it covered.

I’ve been following this via a couple of sources.

This is just remarkable. The video clearly shows a MAGA white supremacist willfully and deliberately murdering a terrified and helpless man. This guy has also been at Trump rallies as part of some “Cops for Trump” group or whatever.

If there is any justice and if America is not a white supremacist, racist country then this cop will face the most extreme punishment possible.

Very glad to see folks protesting in force on this.

blatz wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: Of NEWS CREWS blasting recorded gunfire sounds "on accident."

More details please. What is the source of this nugget of information?

So far, unsubstantiated. I've been trying to follow local Twitter feeds looking for a more boots on the ground viewpoint and I've heard several claims regarding this. If it's true, which at this point I don't doubt, we won't see it covered.

Seriously?

Sagrilarus wrote:

blatz wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: Of NEWS CREWS blasting recorded gunfire sounds "on accident."

More details please. What is the source of this nugget of information?

So far, unsubstantiated. I've been trying to follow local Twitter feeds looking for a more boots on the ground viewpoint and I've heard several claims regarding this. If it's true, which at this point I don't doubt, we won't see it covered.

Seriously?

Exactly, how do you mean?

I wouldn't trust Twitter for the correct time. It's the easiest media source to manipulate ever invented.

Sagrilarus wrote: I wouldn't trust Twitter for the correct time. It's the easiest media source to manipulate ever invented.

So...no comment on the actual issue, just picking apart one of my news sources? I didn't mean to imply I'm ONLY getting my news from Twitter. But, I tell you what, I trust local live feeds and friends who live here more than the mainstream media outlets on this so far.

blatz wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: I wouldn't trust Twitter for the correct time. It's the easiest media source to manipulate ever invented.

So...no comment on the actual issue, just picking apart one of my news sources? I didn't mean to imply I'm ONLY getting my news from Twitter. But, I tell you what, I trust local live feeds and friends who live here more than the mainstream media outlets on this so far.

No one has any idea who you are, you could just be another purveyor of false or biased news (even though you likely aren't). I think the comment on using twitter as any type of trusted news source was completely fair - and spot on, it actually made me laugh.

blatz wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: I wouldn't trust Twitter for the correct time. It's the easiest media source to manipulate ever invented.

So...no comment on the actual issue, just picking apart one of my news sources? I didn't mean to imply I'm ONLY getting my news from Twitter. But, I tell you what, I trust local live feeds and friends who live here more than the mainstream media outlets on this so far.

No, I asked the specific question because it has a right-wing the-media-is-trying-to-manipulate-you sort of aroma to it. When you followed with, "if it's true, which at this point I don't doubt" based on two Tweets I became incredulous. Sorry for the bluntness, but I could create three extra sources for you from here in my living room in about fifteen minutes.

Why on Earth would a news team bring a PA system with them (and set it up?) Sounds more like something some joker in a building behind them would do with their stereo system.

I get it. Twitter can be manipulated. I'm not an idiot. I try to do my best to vet things out and weigh them against other sources. Theres a lot of conflicting info coming in hard and fast and Minneapolis/St Paul is insane right now. My backyard is the stage for the current protest outside the Hennepin County Attorney's home. Businesses all over are boarding up and the bus lines are shut down

You don't have to be right wing crazy to understand that the media can and does paint whatever picture they want. I'm not talking abolish freedom of the press Trumper bullshit, but I do believe lot of mainstream news is misleading and designed solely for clicks and ad revenue and so, yeah, I think Twitter and other social media CAN, SOMETIMES be a useful tool. But hey, glad you guys got a good laugh out of it.

My facebook feed has been wild today. Several of my friends live within easy walking distance of Lake Street, where most of the action has taken place. Others live within a couple of miles. One friend is coordinating delivery of donated goods to food shelves in the area, in anticipation that the neighborhood will be a food desert for the foreseeable future. Another is offering rides to and from tonight's protest, because public transit is no longer serving that area. One used his phone to film an impromptu bucket brigade protecting a house across the street from the burning apartment building. The heat got so intense that the vinyl siding on the house was melting and windows were breaking. A friend of a friend claimed that she gave first aid to 30 protesters who were injured, and many of them had big circular bruises from direct hits from tear gas canisters. The Minnesota Red Pill Militia facebook page is trying to organize an armed counter-protest, so tonight's protest will likely feature some gunfire. They claim that they are going to fight tyranny, but their idea of tyranny is a crowd of uppity black people, not murderous cops.

The Minnesota National Guard will also be attending the protest tonight. If Governor Walz is serious about ending the riots, he should pressure Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman to file charges against the four officers who participated in the murder.

Here is how Freeman addressed some controversial cases in 2017:

www.hennepinattorney.org/-/media/Attorne...73546AA454C75560F682