Protests following the killing of George Floyd

Pogue Mahone said:
Thoughts on protests where there’s no (recent) history of any kind of police brutality?

Dublin city centre is currently thronged with BLM protesters. All very peaceful but obviously not great in the middle of a pandemic. Especially when we know how street parades have been attributed as a big factor in the horrendous second wave of Spanish flu.

I think it’s good to show solidarity but - in a country like Ireland - surely we need to find a way to do that without taking to the streets?



Any chance ye could piss off home, lads?
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The world has to react to this because although it's a very American problem that started this particular round of protests, racism is still a massively prevalent thing everywhere and people refuse to admit it thinking 'we've come so far'.

I think it shows solidarity, no matter where it is. Social media will make it a worldwide thing so why not let everyone protest to show they care (even if people may suspect they don't and they're just bandwagon members)?

As for COVID. Honestly I think in Britain and Ireland the whole thing has gone off the rails since Cummings. People don't give a shit anymore about social distancing, they only did to a degree before because there weren't stories of the 1% openly flouting it and spitting in people's faces (metaphorically). There's not much point complaining about it now because it seems the public have decided it's a risk worth taking for right or for wrong. It'll be interesting to see if a second wave hits because from what I've been reading, as long as people are still washing their hands regularly and not coughing on each other then it's not likely IMO.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I just don’t get it. This time last year, knock yourself out. No harm done and it’s the thought that counts. In the middle of a fecking pandemic? Wise the feck up and go home. Nobody outside Ireland gives a shit about your ‘protest’.
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It's most likely the people who were vehemently demanding people to stay home and demonising those that didn't conform to lock down rules who are the first ones out there.

But I agree it's a big public health issue.
 
SirAnderson said:
Archbishop Tutu:
"If you are neutral in situations of
injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
At the death of George Floyd.

No truer words.
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I'm not really sure how to apply that in this context. I think the cop who killed George Floyd should be charged with murder and colleagues who just stood by should be punished as well, I am all for peacefull protests, but I don't see this looting and rioting as something that's gonna cause better relations between the citizens and the police.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
To be honest, I don’t even think the protests in the US will have any effect on the situation. But yes, I stand by my comments that the protests in Dublin today (or anywhere in Europe) will do sweet feck all to reverse systemic racism on the far side of the Atlantic.

I’m well aware of our history of fighting for civil rights and in any other year, at any other time, I’d be proud as punch to see our streets full of people supporting the BLM movement. Not now though. Feck that. We have to find a different way to express solidarity. A way that won’t set back all the progress we’ve made in fighting this virus. It can’t be all that difficult, surely?
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It's fair enough to have the opinion that due to the pandemic people should stay home but it was the implication that this was for social media likes which then prompted others to claim they wouldn't even know the name George Floyd which caused me concern.

I was surprised to see so many on O' Connell street myself and while it may not be the best idea in regards to covid I'm not going to start casting aspersions that these people are attention seeking for social media clout.
 
Port Vale Devil said:
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So does a private autopsy hold more weight than the official one? Once in the court, lot of things hung on technicalities I guess.

Don't the police just have to prove is that there is not enough to ascertain the cause of death is asphyxiation?
 
Shamana said:
I'm not really sure how to apply that in this context. I think the cop who killed George Floyd should be charged with murder and colleagues who just stood by should be punished as well, I am all for peacefull protests, but I don't see this looting and rioting as something that's gonna cause better relations between the citizens and the police.
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How often do peaceful protests actually get stuff done? How often do they change anything? The likes of Kaepernick were peaceful protestors and they were demonised.

America unfortunately has to see this stuff on their streets for them to wake up to it, arguably the world does in the current era of disinformation.

I don't wish violence or death on anyone but peaceful protesting only gets you far in the moral stakes, riots and looting do more for the real factors. Those people in power only really take notice when they have to as opposed to when it appears to be good optics to offer platitudes.
 
Withnail said:
It's fair enough to have the opinion that due to the pandemic people should stay home but it was the implication that this was for social media likes which then prompted others to claim they wouldn't even know the name George Floyd which caused me concern.

I was surprised to see so many on O' Connell street myself and while it may not be the best idea in regards to covid I'm not going to start casting aspersions that these people are attention seeking for social media clout.
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Yeah, that was a cheap shot. Mea culpa.
 
RedDevil@84 said:
Involuntary right? If they prove that cause of death is not asphyxiation.
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I don’t know the specifics on that, as the news cycle has blown past that and I don’t even know of any possible charges on the other cops. But manslaughter is an out if they cannot nail him on the homicide charge.
 
RedDevil@84 said:
So does a private autopsy hold more weight than the official one? Once in the court, lot of things hung on technicalities I guess.

Don't the police just have to prove is that there is not enough to ascertain the cause of death is asphyxiation?
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Just said on CNN that the official report will be the one that is followed but they can at least counter it.
 
Black guy gets killed by white cop. International news. Football players kneel in a circle. Footballer celebrates goal by showing message of support on shirt. Virtue-signalling tweets galore. Riots. World-wide protests.

Something scary is happening.
 
SirAnderson said:
Archbishop Tutu:
"If you are neutral in situations of
injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
At the death of George Floyd.

No truer words.
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But putting a post on social media saying you give a shit does something?
 
McUnited said:
Black guy gets killed by white cop. International news. Football players kneel in a circle. Footballer celebrates goal by showing message of support on shirt. Virtue-signalling tweets galore. Riots. World-wide protests.

Something scary is happening.
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Woahhhh we got a live one ‘ere boys.
 
nimic said:
You mean he didn't die because he was on drugs like some criminal?
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I worked out why there was a comment about intoxicants, despite no mention of any tox screen (@Wolverine @Carolina Red ) The NYT did a detailed breakdown of events on the day and the kids from the cornershop that called the cops described him as “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself” which the pathologist will have been told about (and/or smelt alcohol off him)

 
McUnited said:
Black guy gets killed by white cop. International news. Football players kneel in a circle. Footballer celebrates goal by showing message of support on shirt. Virtue-signalling tweets galore. Riots. World-wide protests.

Something scary is happening.
Click to expand...

Enlighten us.
 
Worldwide protest is inevitable. America present themselves as leaders of the free world, a perception only sustained by their military and economic might. Because everything else is fecked and is nothing more than a house of cards stood on blood and oil.

But seeing as they are the world police and set example, if it exists there it exists on our door step. The blatant brutality may differ, but make no mistake the structures are all inherently the same. This is more than just the police, it's in every layer and the fabric of society.
 
All these peaceful walks and marches have done feck all. This is a bit like SA. Yes more polished. Look we have even had an African American president they say. Feck all he did for the non whites. Feck all he did for the rest of the World. In fact he created more trouble and killed more people.
Now Trump is there without the facade. He is the real thing as he doesn't know how to hide it. America is exposed to the world as what really it is.
We will protect our interests they say. No one asked them what interest they should have in a foreign country? What has the Bolivians or the Cubans or the Venezuelans or even the Iraqis or their government did to the Americans?
Charity begins at home. Get your own house in order before trying to preach others.
Every president is the same. Some are more open and stupid than others. Trump leads the pack in that he is willing to destroy the USA for his own gain. Others take a more national view in they at least try to keep a show of being a democracy.
With this idiot only humiliation is going to get him off the rails. Only non stop demonstration will make him lose it.
 
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