Almost midnight on Saturday, May 30.
Another weird night. Maybe where you are too?
^ This is a gum ball in a broken dispenser. It was lying on the ground by the burned-out shopping mall yesterday.
I want to be clear: I place the destruction in this & other cities at the feet of the "law enforcers", from the individual cops who murdered George Floyd all the way to the White House.
Yeah, destruction is not good, and it's not a sustainable political movement--I hope we move on from here.
I took today off from The Thing That's Going Down Here.
[#SayHisName . . . I mean, the uprisings in response to four police murdering George Floyd on Monday.]
My throat was sore from toxic fumes yesterday. I went to the nearby creek instead. Lying in a secluded spot, I fell asleep in the sun for a couple hours.
I woke up feeling better. I went home and cooked up the wild morel mushroom Ass't Man had given me yesterday after our day on Lake St.
So that was nice, but now it's another super freaky night here.
Marz called an hour ago. She'd just been in a totally peaceful march ("it couldn't have been more peaceful," she said)-- when the State police pulled up in cars, jumped out and started firing tear gas and flash-bangs into the crowd, with no warning.
Luckily she and her friends could get away without being gassed.
It was 8:30 p.m. (quite light outside)--half an hour past the curfew of 8 p.m. The authorities had warned they would come down hard on people breaking curfew.
I get the need for curfew.
Here's the thing:
the Twin Cities mayors and the gov said that last night, 80 percent the people arrested for violence were NOT from Minnesota. [NBC article]
I'd thought claims that outside agitators were among us was conjecture, or a conspiracy theory (to make us look good, like"we wouldn't do this"]--- but it is legally verifiable---and some are white supremacists.
HOW SCARY IS THAT?
So, I get the need for curfew, but
THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT!!!
Firing tear gas with no warning, no order to disperse, just instantly attacking peaceful marchers.
I HATE this.
Below: A protestor holds a US flag upside-down while confronting the National Guard on Lake St. yesterday afternoon:
The previous [Friday] night's curfew did not hold AT ALL--there was no protection and, among other things, rioters burned down MY POST OFFICE---the one I went to for 17 years where the lovely, patient clerks helped one of the most diverse communities who needed the most amazing range of services...
Once, a customer came to the window with a handful of stuff not even in a box, and they showed him how to box it up and address it....
I used to love to go there even though you always had to wait in line forever...
Meanwhile, all day gangs are roving the streets armed with brooms and dustpans and garbage bags.
This is the underlying spirit. May it prevail.
Another weird night. Maybe where you are too?
^ This is a gum ball in a broken dispenser. It was lying on the ground by the burned-out shopping mall yesterday.
I want to be clear: I place the destruction in this & other cities at the feet of the "law enforcers", from the individual cops who murdered George Floyd all the way to the White House.
Yeah, destruction is not good, and it's not a sustainable political movement--I hope we move on from here.
I took today off from The Thing That's Going Down Here.
[#SayHisName . . . I mean, the uprisings in response to four police murdering George Floyd on Monday.]
My throat was sore from toxic fumes yesterday. I went to the nearby creek instead. Lying in a secluded spot, I fell asleep in the sun for a couple hours.
I woke up feeling better. I went home and cooked up the wild morel mushroom Ass't Man had given me yesterday after our day on Lake St.
So that was nice, but now it's another super freaky night here.
Marz called an hour ago. She'd just been in a totally peaceful march ("it couldn't have been more peaceful," she said)-- when the State police pulled up in cars, jumped out and started firing tear gas and flash-bangs into the crowd, with no warning.
Luckily she and her friends could get away without being gassed.
It was 8:30 p.m. (quite light outside)--half an hour past the curfew of 8 p.m. The authorities had warned they would come down hard on people breaking curfew.
I get the need for curfew.
Here's the thing:
the Twin Cities mayors and the gov said that last night, 80 percent the people arrested for violence were NOT from Minnesota. [NBC article]
I'd thought claims that outside agitators were among us was conjecture, or a conspiracy theory (to make us look good, like"we wouldn't do this"]--- but it is legally verifiable---and some are white supremacists.
HOW SCARY IS THAT?
So, I get the need for curfew, but
THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT!!!
Firing tear gas with no warning, no order to disperse, just instantly attacking peaceful marchers.
I HATE this.
Below: A protestor holds a US flag upside-down while confronting the National Guard on Lake St. yesterday afternoon:
The previous [Friday] night's curfew did not hold AT ALL--there was no protection and, among other things, rioters burned down MY POST OFFICE---the one I went to for 17 years where the lovely, patient clerks helped one of the most diverse communities who needed the most amazing range of services...
Once, a customer came to the window with a handful of stuff not even in a box, and they showed him how to box it up and address it....
I used to love to go there even though you always had to wait in line forever...
Meanwhile, all day gangs are roving the streets armed with brooms and dustpans and garbage bags.
This is the underlying spirit. May it prevail.
"History in Making"
I've been seeing this on my TV news each night and it saddens me so much. The police and military who are firing the tear gas etc, I wonder how they feel about being told to do such things? They can't refuse or they'd lose their jobs maybe, but I wish none of it was happening.
ReplyDelete"Another weird night. Maybe where you are too?"
ReplyDeleteNot yet, Fresca, but it is coming. I feel the tensions rising. Protests and counter-protests and white supremacist pot-stirring will inevitably appear, if for no other reason than as an outlet for pent up fears and frustrations over CoVid-19 restrictions.
We've had peaceful demonstrations in the center of town for 3 days now protesting the death of George Lloyd and the reprehensible police brutality responsible for his death. So far, only white people have shown up for the demonstrations, and not many thus far. Maybe there will be more people there today.
But, in this town, such displays of public outrage seem to be bait for white supremacists or wannabes. It has been in the past.
Maybe it won't be this time. Maybe the rising tension I feel is within me. Maybe.
My daughter and I watched the report of the CNN reporters being arrested by Minnesota State Police and were afraid for the reporters, and for the city and its citizens.
We talked about how you must feel, worried for your safety and that of those folks we know of through your blog.
Be safe, stay strong and we hope peace comes soon.
RIVER: I get the sense police feel all different ways--I saw a video of a police officer crying, talking with the community.
ReplyDeleteAs Oscar Romero said, No one has to follow an order to hurt other people. There is a higher law.
CROW: Thanks for the update.
Tensions are rising. This ongoing tsunami of police brutality!
And then the restrictions of Covid --I think that makes it even more tense--people itchy for action (for good or for ill).
Yes, white supremacists are involved here too--both local ones and people who come here in order to participate! They said 80 percent of those arrested were from out of state!
Work & pray for peace. Work & pray for justice.