With the shocking murder of five police in America on Friday it seemed like a moment when the powers that be could take notice and take action to restore people’s faith in the police in response to #blacklivesmatter; or else it was going to be the point when it turned into war on the streets.
Sadly it seems like the latter is true. The newsfeed is full of examples of police brutality this morning, particularly incidents yesterday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
Or: In St Paul, Minnesota, 21 officers were injured on Saturday when they were pelted with rocks, bottles, construction material and fireworks.
It’s really scary to see how this is developing in the states. In a huge majority of social protests / civil rights protests there is a violent and a non-violent approach and often it feels like the violent approach is the one that the authorities take notice of and fear. It’s a tactic to prevent policy changes as by associating the protests with violence people become scared to protest.
This is a critical time in the States where there is an increasing recognition that #blacklivesmatter is a legitimate protest and that the police really are treating people of colour in a really racist way and abusing their power.
Does this relate to gun control?
Absolutely it does. If there weren’t so many guns on the streets then the police wouldn’t need to be so heavily armed and wouldn’t be so quick to fire first. If you fear the other person has a gun you are going to be way quicker to use your own. It’s a crazy country. I’m glad I live in a place where it is difficult to get a gun.
