Caught on camera, police explode in rage and violence across the US
Over the past 72 hours, people across the US have captured what may be the most comprehensive live picture of police brutality ever. Any one of the videos we’ve seen could have sparked a national discussion, with people picking apart their elements, searching for context to argue about, and digging through the pasts of everyone involved. But it’s not just one act of violence. It’s everywhere.
Here is just a short list of scenes from the past few days:
- A New York City police officer tore a protective mask off of a young black man and assaulted him with pepper spray while the victim peacefully stood with his hands up
- New York City police officers, in two separate vehicles, rammed a crowd in a street. Separately, an officer in a moving police vehicle slammed someone with a car doorand drove away
- Security forces in Minneapolis marched down a quiet residential street and shot paint canisters at residents who were watching from their private porch
- Police in Louisville raided a public square, confiscating and destroying water and milk, which is used to counter irritants like pepper spray
- Atlanta police stopped two black people, inexplicably shooting them with tasers and tearing them out of their car
- A New York City officer used two hands to throw a woman to the ground, reportedly calling her a “stupid fucking bitch”
- San Antonio Police used tear gas against people. So did Dallas police. So did Los Angeles police. So did DC police. The list goes on.
- Many people reported being shot by rubber bullets. MSNBC host Ali Velshi says he was shot after state police fired unprovoked into a peaceful rally. A freelance photographer in Minneapolis says she went permanently blind in her left eye after being shot by police.
- Police have brutalized lawmakers participating in demonstrations, including New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie
On Saturday, the names of several police officers allegedly seen perpetrating violence in different cities began trending on Twitter as people worked to cross-reference faces from videos with personal information on the web.
The violence appears so widespread and consistent that you could be mistaken for thinking it’s coordinated at a national level. To some extent, it is: President Trump has cheered on police violence like a fan at a sports event, and police departments across the country have styled themselves as military forces after receiving two decades of hand-me-downs from the War on Terror.
“US cities face toll of violent protests,” says a headline at the top of Fox News. “Fury in the streets as protests spread across the US,” says The New York Times. “Fire and fury spread across the US,” says The Washington Post. “Wave of rage and anguish sweeps dozens of US cities,” says CNN. But whose rage? Whose fury? Whose violence?
Here’s another: ABC local news in Utah runs a graphic saying “violent protests in Salt Lake City.” In the background of the video, police knock an elderly man with a cane to the ground. He was simply standing near a bus stop.Timothy Burke✔@bubbaprog
Salt Lake City cops shove down an elderly man with a cane for the crime of standing along the street:
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We can’t deny what we are seeing, and we must describe it accurately. Whose violence? Whose rage? It’s from American police.
NYPD officer just called a female protester a “stupid fucking bitch” and threw her to the ground
151KTwitter Ads info and privacy72K people are talking about thisJohn Cusack✔@johncusack
Cops didn’t like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm herea the audio
48.6KTwitter Ads info and privacy18.8K people are talking about thisKevin Krause✔@KevinRKrause
She says she was walking home with her groceries when police fired some sort of pellet in her face. Says she’s not a protester. #DallasProtests
83.3KTwitter Ads info and privacy38.6K people are talking about thisjordan✔@JordanUhl
Who is this serving?
Who is this protecting?
507KTwitter Ads info and privacy302K people are talking about this𝓉 ⚢@theresakost13
they were literally SITTING????????? PEACEFULLY??????? this is absolutely insane.
158KTwitter Ads info and privacy66.3K people are talking about thisAaron Rupar✔@atrupar ·
dystopian scenes in Minneapolis tonight
MSNBC reporters were just almost hit with some sort of explosive device by law enforcement officers in Minneapolis
10.8KTwitter Ads info and privacy6,053 people are talking about thisTanya Kerssen@tkerssen
Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling “light em up” #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter
269KTwitter Ads info and privacy199K people are talking about thisCBS46✔@cbs46
Police exercise increased force as tasers are used to pull two people from a vehicle in downtown Atlanta.https://www.cbs46.com/apd-use-taser-to-get-driver-out-of-car/video_60cd66da-2301-5fd7-ae1a-618efe1cac20.html …APD use Taser to get driver out of carAPD officers used a Taser to get a driver out of a car in downtown Altanta out after the curfew.cbs46.com66Twitter Ads info and privacy70 people are talking about thisMichael Anthony Adams✔@MichaelAdams317 · Replying to @MichaelAdams317
Police had weapons trained on a group of us. We held up our press passes. One kept his rifle on us while the others continued to fire foam baton rounds.
Michael Anthony Adams✔@MichaelAdams317
Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down.
50KTwitter Ads info and privacy35.2K people are talking about thisZach Williams@ZachReports
Cops losing patience
18.9KTwitter Ads info and privacy7,324 people are talking about thisRachelle D’nae@heyydnae
my older brother went to a protest in Denver last night. as the police were leaving, one of them shot him with a pepper pellet that smashed the back of his phone and exploded in his face. they were ~30 feet from each other and it looks like the officer aimed directly at his face
27.7KTwitter Ads info and privacy15.3K people are talking about thisDianne Morales@Dianne4NYC
We are home and we are safe. But my children were pepper sprayed tonight whole peacefully protesting. I was there. I saw it. The violence and brutality the NYPD unleashed on protesters was staggering. So much rage targeted toward the very people they are sworn to protect.
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