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Minneapolis: The Consequences of Disingenuous Identity Politics
Published 5 years, 10 months ago
Description
As Minneapolis burns, the abstract failure of identity politics can be seen in the plumes of smoke that hovers above the city. The system is working; holding those responsible for the death of a minor offender responsible for their actions. But arrogant and self-righteous protesters are opportunistically wreaking havoc on the city, destroying their own neighborhoods, and destroying their neighbors' dreams.
To what end?
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TRANSCRIPT
I was going to talk about how we at The Underground are going to start featuring insightful articles that will help expand the thinking about issues that are relevant in today’s ideological and political spheres, but the news coming out of Minneapolis – and from other urban centers – has circumvented those plans.
As of this recording, the city of Minneapolis and its surrounding counties are on fire, literally. The use of excessive force by at least one of four Minneapolis police officers caused the death of another human being, George Floyd. As it stands, the four police officers associated with this crime have been terminated by the Minneapolis Police Department and the chief offender, Officer Derek Chauvin, who had a history of reprimands for questionable use of force, has been charged with 3rd degree murder and manslaughter.
Ironic here is that a Progressive city administration refused to take issue with Chauvin when the use of force issue was originally brought up. Even more ironic is that when Progressive darling Sen. Amy Klobuchar served as Hennepin County attorney, she took no action against Chauvin.
But I digress.
By all rational accounts, the system – which used to ignore the use of excessive force by law enforcement – is working this time. The four cops who used excessive force in Minneapolis were terminated, Chauvin has been charged with murder, and the DoJ is looking into the application of Civil Rights violation charges. The system is working. Bad people who did bad things are being punished, investigated, charged and will get tried by a jury.
Yet, in the face of the system working, protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis and – under the guise of “he started it” began rioting, looting, and committing acts of arson on an scale that makes Devils Night in Detroit look like a quaint bonfire. This escalated to the use of tear gas, rubber and sponge bullets on the one side and First Responders being the targets of gun fire by the protesters. Protesters were shooting at Fire and EMS First Responders and police officers.
Let me give you some insight on the mentality of those who would execute such moves.
After identifying myself on a Facebook thread as a retired professional firefighter/paramedic, I made my thoughts known about how I feel about the protesters anarchic actions. This is what I got in reply:
“‘the system did what it was supposed to do’... that’s right, when a group of people are being killed by cops they should riot. Also, it’s not just “one of your brothers” who supposedly got shot at... it was one of your brothers who murdered a man over $20. So you should show some support and help keep your brothers in line. Pulling the first responders card as if that automatically makes you a hero? I’d say civil servant. One charged with protecting ALL the people. If you want to pull that card like a hero, ACT LIKE ONE, and do your part to end this police brutality instead of excusing it. There’s a huge difference between hero and boot licker.”
The idiocy of this poster – who admits he was at the protests and got shot in the ass with a sponge bullet, is immense. How did his actions “play a part” in ending police brutality? They didn’t. He served to hypo
To what end?
Please subscribe to our podcast at iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and on podcast platforms like Castbox, Podcast Addict, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, and anywhere podcasts are heard.
TRANSCRIPT
I was going to talk about how we at The Underground are going to start featuring insightful articles that will help expand the thinking about issues that are relevant in today’s ideological and political spheres, but the news coming out of Minneapolis – and from other urban centers – has circumvented those plans.
As of this recording, the city of Minneapolis and its surrounding counties are on fire, literally. The use of excessive force by at least one of four Minneapolis police officers caused the death of another human being, George Floyd. As it stands, the four police officers associated with this crime have been terminated by the Minneapolis Police Department and the chief offender, Officer Derek Chauvin, who had a history of reprimands for questionable use of force, has been charged with 3rd degree murder and manslaughter.
Ironic here is that a Progressive city administration refused to take issue with Chauvin when the use of force issue was originally brought up. Even more ironic is that when Progressive darling Sen. Amy Klobuchar served as Hennepin County attorney, she took no action against Chauvin.
But I digress.
By all rational accounts, the system – which used to ignore the use of excessive force by law enforcement – is working this time. The four cops who used excessive force in Minneapolis were terminated, Chauvin has been charged with murder, and the DoJ is looking into the application of Civil Rights violation charges. The system is working. Bad people who did bad things are being punished, investigated, charged and will get tried by a jury.
Yet, in the face of the system working, protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis and – under the guise of “he started it” began rioting, looting, and committing acts of arson on an scale that makes Devils Night in Detroit look like a quaint bonfire. This escalated to the use of tear gas, rubber and sponge bullets on the one side and First Responders being the targets of gun fire by the protesters. Protesters were shooting at Fire and EMS First Responders and police officers.
Let me give you some insight on the mentality of those who would execute such moves.
After identifying myself on a Facebook thread as a retired professional firefighter/paramedic, I made my thoughts known about how I feel about the protesters anarchic actions. This is what I got in reply:
“‘the system did what it was supposed to do’... that’s right, when a group of people are being killed by cops they should riot. Also, it’s not just “one of your brothers” who supposedly got shot at... it was one of your brothers who murdered a man over $20. So you should show some support and help keep your brothers in line. Pulling the first responders card as if that automatically makes you a hero? I’d say civil servant. One charged with protecting ALL the people. If you want to pull that card like a hero, ACT LIKE ONE, and do your part to end this police brutality instead of excusing it. There’s a huge difference between hero and boot licker.”
The idiocy of this poster – who admits he was at the protests and got shot in the ass with a sponge bullet, is immense. How did his actions “play a part” in ending police brutality? They didn’t. He served to hypo