U.S. Politics

To be clear:

Civil war before dictatorship.

Death before submission to MAGA.

I mean that very seriously.


Also: anyone who cares to know, knows that SoCal LEO orgs are rife with racist fash gangs, but even the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol are disavowing this MAGA thuggery.
The talk last night about how when LAPD is being the reasonable one and not escalating a situation being a sign of the times... Maybe they're disavowing bigotry, maybe they just know who pays their overtime and it's not ICE, but either way, I'll take that level of passive resistance.
 
I just got an email from our school district telling all parents they are aware of ICE operations and immigration enforcement is not permitted on any campuses in the district. "We stand firmly by our values of inclusion, safety and dignity for all students and families in our care." They also include links to pages for support/solidarity and mental health resources.
 
See this is where Trump fucks up, because he’s so insulated by his yes-men and his cult and his personal social media site (and his mental disorders) that he really has no sense of how deeply disrespected, disregarded, and otherwise seen as a complete buffoon he is by folks like us in LA.
Like we’re not scared of you, dude. We’re not impressed. We aren’t intimidated, not by you anyway. You’re a silly dipshit and we simply don’t hold you in any awe. You can order terrible things and try to carry them out, but you yourself are nothing but a figure of fun to us. And so are all the clowns you’ve hired into your administration.
Pete Hegseth does not make us go “oooh what a ‘warfighter’!” He’s a drunken incompetent. Noem and Bondi are completely unserious. All y’all are goofy losers cosplaying as “tough guys”.

We see right the fuck through you.
 
Every video or pic I've seen from LA so far has been peaceful protestors whose greatest act of aggression has been open mockery, while standing in the face of heavily armed and armored men in masks. The utter buffoonery of it all... Just saw a pic of a guy in a blue blow-up T-Rex costume holding a sign while a line of men in fatigues look on trying to look tough. Caught a video of a guy with a bullhorn asking an ICE agent to show everyone his pretty smile and to settle a bet because the crowd was debating if he has Nazi tattoos or not, and the ICE agent just turned his head and stared off into space.

Meanwhile we've got Adam Schiff capitulating and saying violent protests must stop. Dude, a skateboarder flipping off guys shooting tear gas at him and then doing the Dougie isn't violence, it's mockery. We've seen more violence after a basketball championship.
 
Trump said he was sending 2000 National Guardsmen to LA but apparently it was 300? I have no idea why I expected him to say a number that wasn't inflated.
 
Meanwhile we've got Adam Schiff capitulating and saying violent protests must stop.
The trouble is that the states likely to be hit hardest by the administration—CA, OR, and WA—are run by cowards. They have about two decent politicians between them.
Australian reporter shot from behind with a rubber bullet a close range - camera catches the cop look, aim, and fire. Literally NOTHING happening in the vicinity to prompt the shot. This is why we can't trust anyone on the other side of the line. The whole situation is one MAGA shitheel getting trigger happy away from exploding.
This is the exact shit we saw from police during the George Floyd protests. It was all documented and circulated for public consumption, but somehow it never connected with the mainstream public. It's crazy-making.
 
Watching the video of that reporter being shot made me yell out loud. Rough stuff.

But I simply don’t trust the media to cover this all. Actually being here is a surreal experience, because folks outside are literally trying to tell us what’s really going on, even against what we see with our own eyes. And then of course, there’s the people who think California deserves this or that all this is all funny. One of our resident trolls on this very site is going around laugh-reacting to serious posts about what’s happening. It very difficult to deal with all this when we are also being gaslit.
 
Here is a timeline for those interested in what went down this weekend in Los Angeles:

“Happy Monday California and everywhere else
We survived the weekend.

Here's a recap of the last 72 hours

Friday Daytime:
- multiple ice raids designed to cause panic
- militarized officers not in standard uniform not wearing badges doing snatch and grabs
- targets: fashion district (heart of LA downtown), various Home Depots (for day laborers, not for employees), one location close enough to a kindergarten graduation that the school (not warned by ICE that there would be LEO action called a lockdown, panic ensued)
- protestors chanting at ICE and demanding answers were attacked with flash bang grenades. One oce vehicle partially ran over a protestor. The SEIU union leader was maced and arrested for legally observing.

Saturday daytime
- ice spotted massing by Alondra Home Depot in Paramount. Reported on by local news.
- protestors arrive and make it hard for ice to leave
- LAPD called in to protect ICE
- protestors were largely peaceful. Some roads blocked but mostly standing and chanting, marching, holding signs, calling for accountability. About 1/5 of people protesting are live streaming
- some rocks thrown at cars, and one protestor car burned (unclear if it was set by protestors or as a result of tear gas bombs from law enforcement).
- Law enforcement were disproportionately militarized
- protests downtown LA at the Metropolitan Detention Center
- congresspeople who serve CA in the house of representatives arrived at the detention center to legally use their right to see their constituents. They were denied entry. Tear gas used on protestors on the other side of the building blew onto congresspeople
- LAPD tries ro distinguish themselves from ICE by saying they're not part of raids but have to defend any law enforcement that calls them

Saturday evening:
- Trump and co call the protests a riot and an insurrection. Note: at this point over 95% of violence and property damage is from law enforcement
- protest at Allondra and 710 in Paramount has broken up, new protesting starts at Allondra and Atlantic in Compton.
- Trump signs an order to mobilize 2000 national guard troops
- Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass both say LA does not need National Guard. Multiple CA officials deny that this is a riot, and defend the right to peaceful protest
- Compton protests involve some broken glass at a gas station but minimal to no looting. Minimal to no violence from protestors. Lots of tear gas. Some fireworks in the sky.

Saturday overnight:
- protests wrap around midnight
- trump praises national guard for 'stopping unrest'
- karen bass again defends peaceful protest and clarifies that national guard isn't even here yet

Sunday morning
- no action
- 200-300 national guard arrive. Trump has not invoked insurrection act so they are legally not allowed to police civilians. Largely they guard the building.
- basically all LA and CA leaders call Trump and ICE's actions intentionally inflammatory. Widespread speculation that Trump is intentionally trying to provoke people so that he can declare martial law.

Sunday afternoon
- 2pm protest downtown.
- multiple people shot with rubber bullets including one reporter who was clearly reporting shot in back at close range. At least one woman shot in head and there is footage of LAPD refusing to call her an ambulance unless everyone leaves (protestors carry her to safety).
- couple of major freeways blocked by people marching
- again protestors 99% peaceful
- the only protestor'violence i heard reported was people throwing small fireworks in the direction of mounted police to try to scare the horses
- LA pride parade goes as planned a few miles away. LAPD has enough spare officers that they don't pull their parade security or the officers who march in the parade
- Mayor Bass gives a press conference where she compares the protests to the type of passionate demonstrations you see after sporting events. A lot of people are in the streets shouting and most of them go home and a few people hang around and "have bad ideas"

Sunday later
- protestors start 2 dumpster fires in an open area
- a couple cars are burned (i don't see any info on this)
- over 90% of protestors are still peaceful. Maybe 500-1000 protestors scattered over several city blocks. Lots of live streaming
- no reported looting
- besides graffiti very minimal reports of vandalism
- at a solidarity protest in San Francisco police kettle peaceful protestors into a single block. 60 arrests.
- something like a dozen arrests in LA last i heard.

Ongoing
- Gov Newsom is suing Trump for mobilizing the guard without justification
- peaceful protests planned for this afternoon
- Trump is shipping in tanks to DC for his birthday parade, which adds to the tension
- people are sharing videos from other protests and claiming its LA. People are sharing video of other cases of militarized policing and claiming its LA. Lots of fake news.

My Asks:
- be very aware of the words you and others use to describe what is going on. For example: protestors clash with ICE, vs ICE agents clashed with protestors. There is a key tone shift in who started it. LAPD deploy tear gas against peaceful protestors who refuse to dispurse, vs Tear Gas Deployed in second day of unrest in LA.
- make informed decisions about protesting. Know your rights. Be prepared. Be logical in if it is safe for you to attend. Be smart in deciding when it is time to leave. Consider if your motivations and take actions that lead to your goals and don't set back your overall movement (Trump declaring martial law is in nobody's best interests)”
 
There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.
 
My Asks:
- be very aware of the words you and others use to describe what is going on. For example: protestors clash with ICE, vs ICE agents clashed with protestors. There is a key tone shift in who started it. LAPD deploy tear gas against peaceful protestors who refuse to dispurse, vs Tear Gas Deployed in second day of unrest in LA.
It boils my blood when I see "Rioters throwing rocks at ICE" etc. Fuck that. When the oppressed fight back it's not rioting.
 
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