CivilRights

Only Republicans would encourage running over demonstrators by indemnifying and pitting RWNJs and their vehicles against peaceful crowds. Because who knew that the “unintentional” weaponizing of personal vehicles was possible when pretending you’re driving a Tesla into a crowd of demonstrators.  “Five states besides Florida introduced similar bills this year, granting some...

More
  • April 25, 2021

Who failed: “The FedEx gunman legally purchased his two semiautomatic rifles just a few months after the police seized a shotgun from him amid concerns about his mental health. Authorities apparently didn’t consider him subject to Indiana’s red flag law.” “Red flag”laws only work when they’re properly applied: Indianapolis police...

More
  • April 18, 2021

I’m not sure if I liked Republicans better when they were secretly racist or if it’s better now that they’ve decided to wear their racism on their sleeves. Seriously, the way Tucker Carlson is going lately, I expect him to show up on the air in a Waffen SS uniform any...

More
  • April 17, 2021
  • 1

Structural change needs to happen, because in community policing, community should precede policing. The paramilitary trend should not be seen as a burgeoning conflict between armed militias, one more official than the other. We need a de-escalation whose goal is the diametric opposite of the 1/6 insurrection. The problem isn't...

More
  • April 15, 2021

Ending qualified immunity for police officers would certainly fill the gap in insurance company revenues created by universal healthcare in the US. There’s plenty of other liabilities that insurance companies can cover including civilian firearms liability insurance on the model of auto insurance. Forcing individual officers to bear more individual liability...

More
  • April 13, 2021

The driver Daunte Wright was pulled over for a traffic violation by Brooklyn Center, MN police, and in the process of being arrested for an outstanding warrant. He was shot while returning to his car, got in and drove for a short distance, crashing and dying. Protests have begun ten miles...

More
  • April 12, 2021

The CEO of YouTube just announced that Donald Trump will be let back on the platform. Bloomberg News reports that Facebook is likely to lift Trump's ban as well, allowing him to once again push his lies and racist conspiracy theories all over the Internet. — Don Winslow (@donwinslow) April...

More
  • April 7, 2021

LIVE Q&A | BEGINS 2:30 PM EDT APRIL 5, 2021 As the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community continues to grapple with violence, many are searching for ways to prevent further harm toward Asians. Join Wall Street Journal reporter Ang Li in conversation with John C. Yang, president and executive director...

More
  • April 5, 2021

Q&A | APRIL 5, 2021 As the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community continues to grapple with violence, many are searching for ways to prevent further harm toward Asians. Join Wall Street Journal reporter Ang Li in conversation with John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice,...

More
  • April 5, 2021

More NYC stories of anti-Asian hate. Because bullies and haters come in all shapes and sizes. TRIGGER WARNING NYPD says 65-year-old Asian American woman was walking to church this morning when suspect assaulted her and said “f*** you, you don’t belong here.” Happened in front of 360 W. 43rd St....

More
  • March 30, 2021

The 6th Circuit rules that Shawnee State University violated a professor’s free speech and free expression rights by punishing him for refusing to use a trans student’s preferred pronouns. More lawfare ahead. Apparently a professor’s socratic method (and his religious beliefs) trumps gender expression and public accommodation keeps bigotry in a bathroom...

More
  • March 26, 2021

Concealability had nothing to do with Monday’s massacre in Boulder, Colorado, but the details tell us more about the marketability of semi-automatic firearms using high-capacity magazines. Discussing open-carry regulation may have been rendered irrelevant with the death of the police officer although some details will be important: was he carrying his “patrol rifle” and...

More
  • March 25, 2021

So much thick-headed media activity this past week. OTOH Chuck Todd panders to the center again, or perhaps it's the college drop-out demographic. x A @MeetThePress fail today: talking about anti-Asian violence and racism – without any Asians on the panel. I can’t imagine MTP having a discussion about anti-Black...

More
  • March 22, 2021

A not unexpected result with National Guard in place. Other legal activities will ensue. x Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley: “No Kenosha law enforcement officer in [the Jacob Blake] case will be charged with any criminal offense.” Graveley follows that with: Also, “no charge will be filed against Jacob...

More
  • January 5, 2021

As with most faculty politics, there is a subtext to the story of a professor fired for specious reasons. Garrett Felber was fired for failing to “communicate face-to-face” with his department chair at University of MIssissippi, even as he was outspoken about a variety of university actions after the selection of...

More
  • December 22, 2020

Old John Brown’s body lies moldering in the grave, While weep the sons of bondage whom he ventured all to save; But tho he lost his life while struggling for the slave, His soul is marching on. Abolitionist John Brown was executed by the state of Virginia on December 2, 1859. pic.twitter.com/AOAIpDQKPG — Haymarket Books (@haymarketbooks) December 2,...

More
  • December 2, 2020

Stores are already being boarded up in anticipation of election week violence, as cops begin to take sides in spite of the rule of law. x if you've never read any police training manuals/literature before, this article is worth reading. it offers a good snapshot of how police are psychologically...

More
  • October 31, 2020

Reminding myself that during nearly two decades of my life, racial segregation dominated some states, and that in 2020 we are still battling some of the same issues preventing people from voting. As if we didn’t need more reminders of systemic racism. People are going to need to be “carefully taught”,...

More
  • October 28, 2020

Apparently the person who gave their gun to Kyle Rittenhouse has some explaining to do. x Blue Lives Matter Supporters Say Kyle Rittenhouse Not Reflective Of Most Peaceful Apologists For Police State https://t.co/JdlxmfEkix pic.twitter.com/CMlVBh6Teq— The Onion (@TheOnion) October 17, 2020 Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old gunman charged with killing two men with...

More
  • October 23, 2020

Assuming that there will be some violent provocations, we should encourage all deescalation efforts for election week, regardless of the vote outcomes. We’ve now seen the potential for serious planned electoral violence with the attempts on the governor of Michigan and the mayor of Wichita.   We’ve also seen long-term confrontations in...

More
  • October 20, 2020

Taking bear repellent to a gunfight doesn’t work in all states. This event, still being investigated in Denver unfortunately replicates the incident in Portland where a RW counter-protester assumed that leftist protesters were not armed with guns. In that case, the shooter was hunted down by a US Marshalls SWAT...

More
  • October 11, 2020

Antifa is a candy and a breath mint. I know because you’re soaking in a floor wax and a dessert topping. x Slave masters weren’t just an idea but apparently it’s one you’re in LOVE with. pic.twitter.com/uwyGQJzOR0— Karyn Bradford Coleman (@KweenKayBee) September 30, 2020 Trump’s shout out to the Proud...

More
  • September 30, 2020

Trump’s gaslight went greenlight as Trump gave the Proud Boys domestic terror group a shoutout. x Within minutes of President Trump's mention of them during Tuesday's debate, members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that has endorsed violence, were celebrating online, calling his comments “historic.” Some claimed to see...

More
  • September 30, 2020

More Florida men-a-tee, standing their ground even as it moves beneath them at 101 mph, hot brass flying around the cabin of the pickup truck. Shooter appears to have shot through a partially opened driver side window, and then there’s that jump-cut to the front-facing image of presumably the target vehicle; OTOH he...

More
  • September 29, 2020

Much jackboot-quaking as a much-touted demo in Portland had a weak showing north of the anarchist jurisdiction.  x tickled by this because I watched 5 seconds of the KATU coverage and the proud boy on the mic said something like 2,000 people were there— voltaverse (@voltaverse) September 26, 2020 x...

More
  • September 26, 2020

In revisionist history, perhaps the Union troops hunting down John Wilkes Booth were only interested in him because of some ‘wanton endangerment’. We do know who’s a snake in these counterfactual historical narratives. x For sure! It’d be like charging John Wilkes Booth for shooting recklessly inside a crowded theater....

More
  • September 24, 2020

From CNN: Former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville is favored to beat Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones this fall and join one of the world's most exclusive clubs. Which makes his recent answer to a question about whether or not he supports the Voting Right Acts all the...

More
  • September 18, 2020

In an interview yesterday, Trump went all in on sanctioning extralegal political killing, because death squads seem right for his presidency, shooting people on the avenue, Fifth Avenue. x Trump on a purported antifa sympathizer who allegedly killed someone in Portland being killed by federal forces: “This guy was a...

More
  • September 13, 2020

Trigger-happy extralegal shooting by federal law enforcement. US Marshals fired many rounds into/at him. But surely death squads don’t exist in America. When police last week surrounded Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described anti-fascist suspected of fatally shooting a member of a far-right group in Portland, Ore., the wanted man wasn’t obviously...

More
  • September 11, 2020

Like the fantasy airline flights filled with numerous thugs, the delusional election stunts continue. The riff here is on “autonomous zones”. x This is the latest attempt to distract from the fact that COVID-19 has infected over 6 million Americans, killed 185,000 people, and destroyed the American economy. The only anarchy...

More
  • September 3, 2020

‘We’re all safe because of law enforcement’ Trump says in Kenosha where a cop shot a Black man in the back 7 times x Can we just pay to run this as an ad across the country? #Strokeahontas pic.twitter.com/MC6j6oEYW6— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) September 1, 2020 How weird is it for Trump,...

More
  • September 2, 2020

“Coming from out of town to drive through crowds of people, spraying mace, and shooting paintballs all falls under “self defense.” Interesting. So if BLM travels to the suburbs and does the same, you would defend it as well?” Or more stupidly, is Trump condoning their use by non-LEOs when he...

More
  • September 1, 2020

“Work, work, work, work, work, work, work. (turns to the bosom of a female staffer) Hello boys! Have a good night's rest? I missed you! Gentlemen, affairs of state must take precedent over… affairs of state.” Trump is truly Le Petomane. Trump’s America must remedy the horrible ills of . . . Trump’s America. x “Trump is attempting to win...

More
  • August 30, 2020

The Kenosha killer was apparently a Trumpist, and wasn’t immediately arrested, even as the police witnessed several people being shot. Jacob Blake’s assailant has also yet to be arrested. Tucker Carlson weighs in on the side of the 17-year old shooter, pitching for a pardon. x Fox News hosts are...

More
  • August 27, 2020

More revelatory would be whoever created the “Kenosha Guard” page on FB, as Kyle Rittenhouse has been arrested on first-degree murder charges. x Police chief describes the seventeen year old that killed 2 people as “trying to resolve the conflict”. What could he possible mean by that?— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart)...

More
  • August 26, 2020

Blake is currently paralyzed from the waist down having been shot seven times by police.  x BREAKING: Jacob Blake, a Black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is paralyzed from the waist down, his father tells the Chicago @Suntimes. Doctors don't know if the paralysis will be permanent. https://t.co/pCiKvzTK2Z— The...

More
  • August 25, 2020

Proud Boys appeared at today’s “Back the Blue” demonstration in Portland OR, one brandishing a firearm like the St Louis couple defending their villa. Perhaps another last-minute speaker at the RNC perhaps to speak about self-defense law when you have superior force. Plenty of violations today. One qualification is that there were technically...

More
  • August 23, 2020

Too many compelling arguments for defunding rather than refunding police departments, as the Aurora police seem good at arresting movie theater terrorists but crap at arresting violinists. More sad is their ability to flout authority by mocking that violinist’s death and breaking up mobs of violinists. And then there’s the...

More
  • August 6, 2020

This pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? From today’s New York Daily News cover story: One by one, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton stood tall Thursday at the Atlanta funeral of civil rights icon John Lewis, honoring the life and legacy of the fearless Congressional...

More
  • July 31, 2020

In his presser, Trump blamed Portland violence on “professional anarchists” because of course they carry cards noting their memberships, rather than those awful amateur anarchists. There are so darn many of them, so many moms and vets. Too many pro-tips for Trump, because when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro....

More
  • July 31, 2020

​Aside from being charged hourly for the fence around the Portland federal building because it blocks the street ($192,000 at last count), federal forces will be withdrawn beginning Thursday. Trump apparently hasn’t gotten the memo. “We're not leaving until they secure their city … if they don't secure their city soon,...

More
  • July 29, 2020

William Barr’s opening statement has been released and apparently anarchists abound as the Mueller report signaled a “bogus Russiagate scandal”. Hopefully House questioners will ask Barr why sending DHS “contractors” to cities isn’t the kind of provocation where gaslight gets thrown on a fire.  x YouTube Video x In an opening...

More
  • July 28, 2020

Community policing can happen even if it’s been talked about for half a century against a backdrop of paramilitary enforcement and military intelligence. Sadly, the change must be serious and even more radical, requiring even greater defunding/retraining and anti-corruption. x LA Mayor Eric Garcetti is speaking right now about police reforms....

More
  • July 28, 2020

Garrett Foster was shot and killed as he tried to protect his disabled wife during a peaceful march in Austin Texas. The alleged killer has been arrested.  Austin PD, per NYT: “The driver opened fire from inside the car as Mr. Foster approached. Another person in the crowd pulled out...

More
  • July 26, 2020

Trump's cosplay paramilitary uses repression stunts to reinforce GOP's voter suppression message, pointing their tiny mushrooms. x “I can't turn my back. But I fear for my life”: photographer captures pictures of #TrumpsGestapo pointing their guns at him during #PortlandProtests https://t.co/GgFF9VOtmx— Julie Laumann (@Otpor17) July 23, 2020 Putting the sado...

More
  • July 23, 2020

Led with Pfizer vaccine trial progress and exaggerated its availability. More than a few lies spewed. Trump implies that the wall is keeping the virus out, spins that protests are spreading the #TrumpVirus. Goes blah-blah on a variety of cherry-picked data. Went bleak and dire about cities, even though they aren’t....

More
  • July 22, 2020

The use of federal protection squads in Portland and DC is expected to expand, even as there is no need for them except as actors in re-election campaign media. It’s more security theater, situated in cities rather than airports. It is pseudo martial law, transgressing on state and local laws, superspreading...

More
  • July 22, 2020

Chad Wolf confesses to committing a crime on national television. One person’s ‘proactive arresting’ is another’s extralegal detention and subsequent rendition. If you get scooped up, we wish you well. DHS Secretary @DHSMcAleenan just said on Fox News that unmarked agents are making “proactive” arrests in #Portland:“If we think you will...

More
  • July 22, 2020

The federal protection squads have now engaged in the second attempt to  operate without accountability, this time in a state run by Democrats. we’ll see how it works in a state run by the GOP.  Something scary is happening in Portland. It’s the very thing conservatives and especially the NRA...

More
  • July 19, 2020

Joe Anderson at Slate Magazine has a great piece where he trashes Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, Brian Kemp and the Cato Institute for praising Rep. John Lewis (D. GA) as a hero while constantly blocking his legacy on voting rights. But Anderson really singles out the biggest obstructionist to Lewis’...

More
  • July 19, 2020