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[Helgoland]

Another good joke is American SWATs. That much is clear for everyone, but no one does anything. Swats aren't supposed to be the local jokers, they are supposed to be the absolute best expert in desescalations, while also being the best fighter available. Belgian Swat are only called for the very worst cases and they hardly ever kill anyone, look them up. Look the German ones up too while you're at it.

Oh, the SEK, or Spezialeinsatzkommando - such a German word that is. They were founded to combat terrorists, among other things. They're a response to those guys, to be precise. They hardly ever fire a shot, and their total kill count is below 200, possibly even below 100 - in fourty years.
In a word: They're fucking awesome.

We also have the GSG9, founded in response to the same terrorist attack. They stormed a hijacked plane once. In Somalia. The number of casualties among the hostages? Four, and they were 'slightly wounded', not dead.
Note that they're part of law enforcement, not part of the military. They're based just a couple of kilometers from where I live, by the way.

For elite units at least the size of the country shoudln't influence their quality.

Also, Baffler, I find it hilarious that you kept using 'horse' instead of 'force'. Now I imagine 39,000 Belgians stuffed inside a wooden horse, and one of them keeps asking for waffles.

[Phmcw]

Try inflating your police horse to the size ours needs to be and see how well it holds up.

My bad, carry on then....


(The actual point I'm trying to make is : how the hell is that relevant?).

[Baffler]

It's a browser extension that replaces certain words on my browser with others (for comedic effect.) For some reason, that word gets replaced when I write it too, but none of the others do.

[Baffler]

-snip-

Yup, the very same.

[Jimmy]

Warning: The spoiler contains quite a few pics. However I feel they genuinely reflect in a wonderfully satirical way the injustices against which many are protesting.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[palsch]

Obama designates $263 million of federal money for police training.

$75 million of that is specifically for body cameras, looking to put 50,000 on the streets.


On the protests, I don't see them as part of or representative of a 'movement' at all. There is a clear and separate political dimension to the reaction, and the riots simply aren't a part of that. They are a natural reaction of anger and rage, separate to the political and measured reactions, which, again, are being condemned and dismissed in equal measure.

Trying to make the riots representative of the 'movement' as though they were part of the political strategy of an organised group is just another method of marginalising the serious protests and refusing to hear the message that people are trying to get out.

Which isn't to say that rioting (and the associated anger) isn't often representative of the community alongside the more measured actions, but using it to paint the broader movement as violent seems like a deliberate effort to dismiss them without engagement or thought.

[Phmcw]

The above is 100% true.

It's a shamefull and dirthy tactique to use unrelated violence or wrongdoing to a political movement to discredit it, and it's all too common. I wasn't trying to do that, I was just answering what was posted, and the question if the movement should become violent based on what motivation.

I'd like to add that while using past violence as an excuse for violence is a bad idea, using mild and targeted political violence to express your anger (burning tires, trowing eggs and rotten fruit, ....) can be a good idea if you feel the movement isn't getting the recongition it deserve, or if you feel you're pushed to the point where actual revolt is menacing. It's been a part of mainland europe's politic for age and is helpfull I think.

[smjjames]

Perhaps they should have been throwing more rotten fruit (or maybe just soft fruit) and eggs at the protest instead of bricks?

Anyways, regarding those cameras, it's going to have to be done in a way that the video is uploaded somewhere that the department can't tamper with them or there is at least a copy. I'm sure there are plenty of decent departments who wouldn't do that, but by that line, theres plenty of dishonest ones too.

[smeeprocket]

Yea copies of police video like to disappear whenever something goes wrong. Don't get me wrong, body cameras are very effective. They can restrain officers quite a lot, but a system of accountability also has to be in place. There needs to be significant punishments for going too far or behaving like a monster. Police murder, beat, and rape innocent people all the time and walk away without prison time, and often with their job intact.

Personally, I would have gone to more upscale territory to riot. Trash the property of the people that refuse to care and make them wake up. Of course, the National Guard and police force would actually defend such property. Because those people matter.

[Phmcw]

Perhaps they should have been throwing more rotten fruit (or maybe just soft fruit) and eggs at the protest instead of bricks?

Anyways, regarding those cameras, it's going to have to be done in a way that the video is uploaded somewhere that the department can't tamper with them or there is at least a copy. I'm sure there are plenty of decent departments who wouldn't do that, but by that line, theres plenty of dishonest ones too.

Failure to product the tape should always result in very severe sanctions (up to and including prison). Problem solved.

Trash the property of the people that refuse to care and make them wake up

You never attack personal private property, and you should aim for something symbolic and related to the protest. Burning tires in front of the town hall look like a good compromise. You can also egg it, block the main street for an hour...
You aim is to get a point across, with minimal destruction and harm.


 "Look we are REALLY angry, do something!"

[Helgoland]

Personally, I would have gone to more upscale territory to riot. Trash the property of the people that refuse to care and make them wake up. Of course, the National Guard and police force would actually defend such property. Because those people matter.

So because a racist cop shot a black man, you thrash the front lawn of a college professor who voted for the democrats?

Yeah, that's definitely going to get you what you want.

[smeeprocket]

Perhaps they should have been throwing more rotten fruit (or maybe just soft fruit) and eggs at the protest instead of bricks?

Anyways, regarding those cameras, it's going to have to be done in a way that the video is uploaded somewhere that the department can't tamper with them or there is at least a copy. I'm sure there are plenty of decent departments who wouldn't do that, but by that line, theres plenty of dishonest ones too.

Failure to product the tape should always result in very severe sanctions (up to and including prison). Problem solved.

Trash the property of the people that refuse to care and make them wake up

You never attack personal private property, and you should aim for something symbolic and related to the protest. Burning tires in front of the town hall look like a good compromise. You can also egg it, block the main street for an hour...
You aim is to get a point across, with minimal destruction and harm.


 "Look we are REALLY angry, do something!"

The national guard and police were crawling all over the govt sector.

Also I'm talking about businesses. If you are going to loot businesses, loot the wealthy ones.

[smjjames]

Perhaps they should have been throwing more rotten fruit (or maybe just soft fruit) and eggs at the protest instead of bricks?

Anyways, regarding those cameras, it's going to have to be done in a way that the video is uploaded somewhere that the department can't tamper with them or there is at least a copy. I'm sure there are plenty of decent departments who wouldn't do that, but by that line, theres plenty of dishonest ones too.

Failure to product the tape should always result in very severe sanctions (up to and including prison). Problem solved.

Trash the property of the people that refuse to care and make them wake up

You never attack personal private property, and you should aim for something symbolic and related to the protest. Burning tires in front of the town hall look like a good compromise. You can also egg it, block the main street for an hour...
You aim is to get a point across, with minimal destruction and harm.


 "Look we are REALLY angry, do something!"

The national guard and police were crawling all over the govt sector.

Also I'm talking about businesses. If you are going to loot businesses, loot the wealthy ones.

And if any of them happen to be black owned or ones that are on the side of the protestors?

[palsch]

An outlining of (one of) the case(s) for Federal intervention in Ferguson.

The links in that piece are important. Especially this WaPo piece on the absurd justice system of the region.

[Phmcw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dLwSdgEOupE


A robbery in France, caught on cam. Just for reference, police arrive at about 5min.