More severe police injuries and deaths on that one day of rampaging Trumpers than in five years of Anti-Police protests.
Nearly 140 officers were injured during pro-Trump extremists' Capitol siege \u2014 including officers who sustained brain injuries, smashed spinal discs, one who'll likely lose an eye, and another stabbed with a metal fence stake, the Capitol Police union said.https://t.co/D9jFSkKtJm
— NPR (@NPR) January 28, 2021
But they came to resist police.
Which is completely different.
Because one group is literally arguing for human dignity and the other glorifies violence.
Once you accept that... WHO is standing opposed to you doesn't matter much.
This stark difference in approaches to violence is not trivial.
This is different than violent rage consuming anything in its path.
The clashes are characterized by protesters attempting to stand ground against police assault.
Physical contact is generally unarmed
They came with an intent to intimidate, to kidnap, to kill, to destroy and to use violence to force a specific political outcome during a governmental process.
This is nothing like anti-Brutality protest.
They TOTALLY would.
But once inside, they'd sit around singing and making speeches until someone in Congress agreed to come and speak to them and hear them out.
They're two wholly different ideologies with completely different core values.
You have to do a lot of cynical acrobatics to say they're the same.
This doesn't pan out.
Anti-police protestors and BlueLivesMatter people aren't mirror images. They don't use the same tactics to reach different goals.
Similarly, Antifascism is seen as the mirror image of fascism, but none of this makes sense.
It's illogical and ridiculous.
But comforting.
People who are anti-Police brutality do not want citizens to be able to shoot cops at will.
They want nobody shooting people.
More from Legal
I have seen so many people (including folks on #lawtwitter) comparing what happened at the Capitol yesterday with the violence and property damage that happened in some cities during protests last summer.
Let me explain what is wrong with that analogy . . . . .
To clarify -- my disagreement is not with those who are pointing out that law enforcement didn't respond with the same level of force and arrests at the capitol as it did during BLM protests.
That comparison deserves to be drawn and it raises some very important questions.
My disagreement is with those who are saying that what happened at the Capitol yesterday is so similar to what happened during protests this summer, that people's reactions ought to be similar--a suggestion that those reacting more strongly now are hypocritical.
Here's one example of someone (a law professor) making the argument. But I've seen it plastered across the site all day, it keeps cropping up in my mentions, and so I want to respond.
There are a number of things that distinguish what happened at the Capitol from what happened during BLM protests. The most obvious is the reason that people protested---some protested about factually false claims about election fraud; others about real police shootings.
Let me explain what is wrong with that analogy . . . . .
To clarify -- my disagreement is not with those who are pointing out that law enforcement didn't respond with the same level of force and arrests at the capitol as it did during BLM protests.
That comparison deserves to be drawn and it raises some very important questions.
My disagreement is with those who are saying that what happened at the Capitol yesterday is so similar to what happened during protests this summer, that people's reactions ought to be similar--a suggestion that those reacting more strongly now are hypocritical.
Here's one example of someone (a law professor) making the argument. But I've seen it plastered across the site all day, it keeps cropping up in my mentions, and so I want to respond.
Very different reaction then. But kudos to those who\u2019ve consistently condemned riots. I hope, if nothing else, today\u2019s violence means we are all on the same page now. https://t.co/JhWadB80So
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 7, 2021
There are a number of things that distinguish what happened at the Capitol from what happened during BLM protests. The most obvious is the reason that people protested---some protested about factually false claims about election fraud; others about real police shootings.
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Great article from @AsheSchow. I lived thru the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980's/early 1990's asking myself "Has eveyrbody lost their GODDAMN MINDS?!"
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
For three years I have wanted to write an article on moral panics. I have collected anecdotes and similarities between today\u2019s moral panic and those of the past - particularly the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) September 29, 2018
This is my finished product: https://t.co/otcM1uuUDk
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
