Atlanta
Looking southeast towards Atlanta. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

This is What Happens When Populations are Locked Down for Months.

Ever since George Floyd was allegedly murdered by at least one police officer in Minneapolis who pressed his knee into his neck to restrain him on Monday, May 25, 2020, violent protests have erupted in cities around the United States — resulting in fires burning, looting, blocked traffic on highways, the release of pepper spray, countless arrests, and the property of innocent entities being damaged.

This is What Happens When Populations are Locked Down for Months.

Derek Chauvin has been charged with the third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd — and many people around the United States believe that not only are the official charges not strong enough; but that the other three law enforcement officers should have been charged and eventually prosecuted and sentenced as well…

…and that has resulted in demonstrations — most of which have started peacefully; but some of which became violent.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266231100780744704

“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right…..” is what Donald J. Trump — who is the current president of the United States — posted at his official Twitter account. “….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!

Despite that the message violated the rules of Twitter, it was allowed to remain:

This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.

That puerile comment is certainly a shining Chamber of Commerce moment for the United States which should attract visitors once travel opens up again.

“As aviation’s first responders, Flight Attendants are trained to de-escalate incidents in the air. De-escalation is the minimum we can expect from law enforcement. We know this is possible. When heavily-armed mostly white protestors stormed the Minnesota state capitol and threatened lawmakers just weeks ago, police were able to maintain calm and did not take aggressive action” is what Sara Nelson — who is the president of the Association of Flight Attendants — wrote in this media release. “As a white woman, mother, wife and daughter, I have never experienced racism. I recognize what white privilege has meant in my life. But I, like millions of other white Americans, have witnessed violent racism. Most often we have witnessed it from the safety of our homes and yet been heart sick by it.

Only days ago, people were celebrating first responders as “heroes” due to their roles during the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — and yet, the ironic dichotomy of a “hero” being charged with murder combined with the fury of protesters towards them has tarnished the respect of the law enforcement profession in general.

Now protesters are taunting police officers as I write this article. Why are people turning violent against police officers in other jurisdictions who had nothing to do with what happened in Minneapolis? Are they trying to purposely anger and provoke innocent law enforcement officers to prove a point — and perhaps force them to take action which would be considered brutality? For example, water bottles, knives, and other items were being thrown at police officers in Atlanta, where police cars were set on fire; at least two hotel properties were vandalized; and graffiti was sprayed around the exterior of the building of CNN, whose windows were smashed — and the police force in Atlanta have been remarkably restrained and professional, despite all of that…

…and with many of the aspects of the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — such as the financial bailout of companies and individuals — who do you think is going to pay for all of the damage?

Summary

Anger and frustration had already been pent up for years pertaining to black people being brutalized and murdered by white police officers — such as when an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown was reportedly shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday, August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, which is a suburb of Saint Louis…

…but the frustration levels increase exponentially when a vastly ridiculous overreaction to a viral pandemic — which has caused entire populations of cities, states, and even countries around the world to being locked down for months — is thrown into the mix and exacerbating an already combustible volatility which was ready to explode.

Derek Chauvin did not uphold his main purpose of being a law enforcement officer; and George Floyd should not have been needlessly killed. As protected by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States, people have the right to peaceably assemble and let their thoughts be known — they have a right to be outraged by what happened in Minneapolis — but they have absolutely no right to cause chaos, destroy property, and injure or kill people in the process of doing so. Exactly what purpose does all that serve or resolve, anyway?

Surely no logical person with any sense of intelligence actually thought that forcing the restriction of millions of people in their homes would turn out with a happy ending — especially as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus continues to spread?

Regardless of whether the police officers in Minneapolis or the crowds of protesters around the United States were boiling over with frustration — likely as a result of being locked down for so long as a result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — this is what happens when populations are locked down for months…

…but tragically, humanity as a whole will not learn from what this 2019 Novel Coronavirus was supposed to teach us: the frailty and flaws in general which have been exposed — but alas, will never be fixed.

I find the entire situation to be unacceptably and inexcusably deplorable and disgusting; and I am ashamed to even be a human being at this time. I am hoping that some semblance of sanity will eventually prevail; and that the basic rights of all human beings are better protected in the future…

…but for that to happen, we cannot rely on “leaders” such as Donald Trump — in fact, I do not plan to vote for anyone who was a so-called “leader” during the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, as none of them deserve to be re-elected — but rather, we need to model the way ourselves by:

  • Being civil and respectful to one another
  • Keeping an open mind and listening to the point of view of another person
  • Resolving issues with equal parts of logic and compassion
  • Not needlessly destroying property — and lives, for that matter

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

  1. As I watch my city under attack and on fire, I agree wholeheartedly that the insane Coronavirus lockdown has fueled this outburst.

    Yes – without any doubt, the senseless murder of Mr. Floyd is reprehensible. And those responsible must be held accountable. But in no way is the city of Atlanta, our law enforcement, and even more upsetting, the owners of our local businesses at fault for what happened in Minneapolis. The knee jerk reaction that led our “leaders” to shut down the entire country over a virus perpetuates the thoughtless and irresponsible behavior that leads to rioting, loss of property, and – potentially – more loss of life.
    Where did rational thought go?

    1. The sad part is that Atlanta is not the only city being affected by thoughtless rioters, NB_ga.

      In addition to Minneapolis, New York and the District of Columbia are also experiencing demonstrations…

      …and yes — the point I made at least two months ago: the loss of life trying to prevent the loss of life due to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus:

      https://thegatewithbriancohen.com/as-many-as-46000-people-may-have-died-from/

      https://thegatewithbriancohen.com/have-we-become-a-society-of-wimps-addicted-to-drama/

      Sure was worth it, wasn’t it?

  2. Are you kidding me??? This is the result of generations of racist oppression. You are also talking about a community that doesn’t have the luxury of lockdown. People of color don’t go jetting around the world every day like you do and then have the luxury of sulking while being able to do their work from home. You are talking about communities that have been dying the most from from the pandemic. You are so out of touch and it is disgusting how you trivialize the justified anger of those who die at the hands of police. I will never read your crap again.

  3. Certainly anyone who has ever run a prison, and knows first hand what happens when people are locked up, saw this coming 🙁

  4. I would really like to see some action, like a dystopian nightmare.

    Let’s pick a midwest city, Give a bunch of people on the left and the right a lot of guns. Seal the city. Let them go at each other. No rules of war. Beam it on pay TV like hunger games.

    The winner gets 72 virgins. Omg Americans are effing no different than Islamist jihadists.

    I would 9.99 for the channel.

  5. The coverage from inside the CNN building was pretty tense, Then just when it really seemed like the sh*t was going to hit the fan everything suddenly backed off.

  6. I really don’t know where to begin. As a black person in America even hinting that this situation is somehow enflamed due to the lockdown dismisses generations of black oppression with continued systemic racism. This post in itself is racist.

    As a physician and critical care doctor, the “lockdown” was certainly not an overreaction and if anything history will likely show it was the correct reaction to an invisible threat that without immediate action would lead and will lead to countless lives lost. This is also still the beginning of this pandemic. I hope that it really is winding down and that like the 1918 pandemic the most deaths won’t occur once complacency sets in.

    1. “Derek Chauvin did not uphold his main purpose of being a law enforcement officer; and George Floyd should not have been needlessly killed.”

      I wrote that in the article, BlackDoc — I attempted to ensure that that statement was as clear as possible, which is also my opinion and point of view — and yet you still consider my article racist.

      Shall I change the sentence to “Derek Chauvin upheld his main purpose of being an upstanding law enforcement officer; and George Floyd should have been killed”? Would that render my article any less racist to you? Of course not.

      You have every right to respectfully disagree with the content of my article as you see fit, but might I suggest that calling it racist is grossly irresponsible — no matter what is your race or profession — in my opinion. In fact, I stand by my thoughts even more than ever since I first wrote this article.

      Just because I am not a doctor does not mean that I do not have the right to post my thoughts and opinions pertaining to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — especially when I back them up with links to the most reliable sources available, which include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

      As I alluded earlier in this comment, you are welcome to disagree with what I write.

  7. I have family who lives in Minneapolis. Some of them were driving home to Minneapolis from Wisconsin during the curfew this evening there. While I-94 into Minneapolis was closed to coming in that way, some other roads into Minneapolis had zero curfew enforcement and they drove home anyway late into the evening. If my family had got ticketed or worse for going home under the curfew order, we would be dealing with the prosecutor’s office and courts to get the misdemeanor fine/charge tossed.

    Even before the riot-related curfew order hit, the police with jurisdiction in and around Minneapolis have been acting strangely, including with random police vehicles driving down stretches of downtown roads during the day and spraying mace and whatever onto people harmlessly standing or waking on sidewalks that weren’t even very close to any scenes of rioting/looting. Not very professional behavior from the police, and this too shows a complete lack of proper command and control structure in compliance with the law. Same lack of professionalism at some level shows with the ridiculous arrest of a live-on-the-air CNN crew and the lies that came from the state police involved in that arrest of a CNN news crew (consisting mainly of ethnic minorities) while the other relatively nearby CNN reporter (who happened to be ethnically European) was allowed to continue reporting by the very same police leadership on site.

    The three then-police officers literally on Floyd’s body when he was being blood choked to death by the knee on neck method by then-officer Derek Chauvin (and the fourth acting as a lookout) are a problem, but they are also the symptom of a systemic racism/dehumanization problem that has nothing to do with the COVID-19 public health emergency situation in Minnesota/Minneapolis.

    And for anyone who tries to claim that a police officer can’t be racist when married to someone of a different ethnicity — as they may try to do since Chauvin’s most recent wife is Hmong — I call that bluff.

  8. People have been out biking around Minneapolis in April
    and May. The police officers in Minneapolis have been amongst those most able to move out and about during this time. The notion that the COVID-19 public health emergency-related “lockdowns” are a major factor in Floyd’s death by police blood choke on the neck, in the protests or even in the riots strikes me as being akin to trying to claim that the earth is flat even after personally circling the globe a few times and then some.

    By the way, it wouldn’t surprise me if the poorer neighborhoods of Minneapolis-St. Paul had a real income boost as a result of the CARES Act. So this isn’t a protest about a loss of economic opportunity or “freedom” during this novel coronavirus public health emergency. It’s a protest against deadly, systemic racism and against the qualified immunity protection that our governments and courts have granted the police engaged in abuses and been unwilling to revoke. It should be noted that there are also some political right-wing elements — Including some Tea Party types and some even further to the political right — protesting against Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.

  9. I think you mean well with your interpretation of what happened/is happening but are losing the overall picture.

    YOU weren’t directly harmed by the coronavirus, just inconvenienced. I am currently in the ICU recovering from cancer surgery and am talking to nurses every day about their experience with how upside down their world is right now. They are disgusted as to how flippant the “it was an overreaction” crowd has been. We were sheltered in place, wore masks, etc. specifically to prevent THEM for more risk of contracting this virus. THEY needed us to slow the spread so that their lives could be spared. And because of that you write about us being wimps and inconvenienced.

    YOU have a voice to express your frustration. Imagine being a black person who sees this systematic violence against black people far, far too often and is told your response is always incorrect. Support taking a knee during the national anthem? You are a Thug. Protest peacefully in the streets, like thousands have done in the past few days? No press coverage, so ignored. Sick of being killed, ignored, abused and it boils up and explodes inside of you? Then articles like this are written about how YOU are the problem.

    I’m sure your first reaction to reading this is to go into defense mode, and that is understandable. Are you angry? Are you frustrated that I didn’t read this solely from your point of view? Do you think I’m overreacting? Then let those feeling sink in and understand you have the privilege to respond in a way that is protected and encouraged, and there are millions of Americas who aren’t afford that luxury.

    1. No, I am not angry or frustrated that you did not read this solely from my point of view, All Love — nor do I think you are overreacting.

      In fact, I welcome constructive feedback which disagrees with my point of view, as that helps me to learn more from the points of view of others. I actually do not want for you to agree with my point of view if you do not agree with it.

      Note that I have neither criticized health care workers who are helping to mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus; nor have I ever said that black people do not have a right to express their frustrations. In fact, I wholly support their right to be heard and am willing to help to be a voice for them. In my opinion, we all should actually band together and fight the very entities which want us to battle each other in order to enrich themselves and advance their own agendas.

      The main point of the article was that racial injustice — as well as other social issues — have been bubbling below the surface of our incredibly imperfect society for years. I am convinced more than ever that the overreaction of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus fueled the frustrations of people even further. The match which lit up the volatile mix of pent up frustrations was the police officer who allegedly killed George Floyd.

      In other words, I did not blame the protests on the pandemic. The point of this article is that I believe that the pandemic helped to exacerbate the already volatile situation — and I will not be surprised if other social issues are ignited in similar ways as a result of the pandemic.

      Your comment was civil, thoughtful and constructive. I may not agree with all of it — and that is okay. Please do come back and continue the conversation with me — which is the purpose of many of the articles which I write: to promote further discussion and not simply to hear myself talk…

      …and my thoughts are with you as you recover from cancer surgery. May you be released from the intensive care unit as soon as possible on your road to recovering to completely good health.

    2. @All Love: “YOU weren’t directly harmed by the coronavirus, just inconvenienced.”
      Oh my goodness, what an incredibly presumptuous assertion to make!!!

      That you would venture to tell ANYONE how they are affected by this situation shows you have zero regard for anyone beyond yourself. The privilege you show in your condescending and pompous post negates any value your words could ever have.

  10. Wow. What a horrible post, mixing one with the other to make a case against the lockdown. Wrong and wrong. Since the underlying theme is the lockdown. Yes, nobody likes it, but can you really criticize it. We have 100k deaths with lockdown…..check what US, UK, Brazil and Russia have in common. (Hint what the leaders said) The reality was that we were not prepared,, remember at beginning they were even discouraging the use of masks

    1. I completely respectfully disagree with the first and second sentences of your comment, Nic

      …and yes, I can really criticize the lockdown. In fact, I have done so in many articles here at The Gate, using the most reliable sources available to back my statements and opinions.

      I do completely agree that we were not prepared — whose fault is that — and I even wrote an article about the change in policy about wearing masks.

  11. Did all of you forget that Atlanta had a person of color killed after being chased down and confronted by civilians not too long ago? Can we say tone deaf??

    Looting is not justifiable but the protests are – people are getting fed up being damned to death whether they flee, fight or submit.

    1. Are you referring to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County in Georgia, Ms M?

      If so, please kindly note that Glynn County is at least 265 miles southeast of Atlanta and is a drive of at least 4 hours and 15 minutes away — just in case you want to get your facts straight before once again accusing others of being “tone deaf”…

      1. Atlanta news covered the story a lot – that is how I learned about it. Atlanta has the largest population of African Americans in the South. Atlanta was the home of MLK. While the killing did not take place IN Atlanta, for people of color in Atlanta it was close enough to them to empathize and imagine it happening to them – frankly may have but not resulted in death.

        Protests are conducted to bring attention to issues so (hopefully) a resolution can take place. Protests taking place in larger cities bring more attention.

        All of these factors play a role in why Atlanta would be a logical location for the protests.

        And if you were not being so “right”, you would step back and think about what you are saying instead of resorting to some of the tactics that are tearing us apart today. Stop being so quick to judge as if there could not be another view. Tone deaf means you are not hearing all sides. You are only hearing your own. Be better!

        1. I called you out on a proven error which you committed when you posted your most recent comment, Ms M — and it is a factual error which you cannot dispute. I did not judge you at all. There is no need for you to retaliate by being judgmental of who I am as a person — especially as there is so much about me that you and other people do not know.

          Here is one article for you to read to get started to get to know who I am as a person a little better:

          https://thegatewithbriancohen.com/more-holiday-gift-ideas-of-a-different-kind-2017-from-micro-entrepreneurs/

          If you actually read the article to which you commented, you would know that I am not blaming the protests pertaining to the death of George Floyd on the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic. I am merely suggesting that the pandemic exacerbated the “response” — if you want to call rioting, looting, and purposely causing harm to others a justifiable “response.” With millions of people who have been sheltered in place and unemployed, there was already a lot of frustration out there — and I have even suggested in the article that the possible frustration of the police officer in question with what he did to George Floyd could be what detonated the entire situation in the first place.

          I have a challenge for you: how about you read the thousands of articles I have written over the past almost 14 years here at The Gate and find one single example in which I have a myopic point of view pertaining to this topic, as you so crudely suggest? Find one sentence in which I oppose peaceful protests against unnecessary violence inflicted upon innocent citizens by members of law enforcement.

          The saddest part of your comment is that I actually agree with the first three paragraphs of what you wrote. I always have agreed with that point of view…

          …but you just had to ruin it with the last paragraph, which is filled with assumptions and unfounded statements. You know — to prove a point.

          Might I suggest that if you meant what you said in that last paragraph that you are the one who is “resorting to some of the tactics that are tearing us apart today”?

          Frankly — if I had it my way — I would want for ALL of us to band together and fight the powerful figures who want us to tear each other apart solely for their own political gain, power, and legacy. That is the real purpose of the articles which I write; and at least I have the guts to say something in order to start a dialogue…

        2. As to your initial point, Ahmaud Arbery’s murder occurred in a county far closer to Florida and South Carolina than to Atlanta. It was originally not properly investigated due to locals being too closely involved with the attackers. However, admittedly far too long after it should have occurred, prosecutors in the GBI, Atlanta and the metro area became involved, charges were brought, and hopefully some justice will be served. You felt the need to lead with this attack so it seems best to make sure you are aware of ‘all sides” of the story.

          Furthermore, as a lifelong resident of Atlanta and a head of a multi-racial family… I am well aware of the deep past our city has with civil rights. Choosing to peacefully protest in our city is a delightful idea. Neither in the initial article nor in the 50+ comments here have I read one response that says peaceful protest is not valid and welcomed.

          However, choosing to riot and loot and physically/verbally attack the law enforcement in our city simply because of their occupation is completely counter to the works and life of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the others at the forefront of the Atlanta civil rights movement.

          Before you are so quick to judge motive or intent, please carefully reread to see where anything here ever negates the reality that George Lloyd was murdered at the hands of rogue police officers and that those officers should be held accountable. Additionally, please locate anything here say Atlanta should not host protests. That said, neither Atlanta, nor any other city, should be attacked, burned, or looted by violent criminals who have highjacked the original message and turned it inside out.

  12. “…likely as a result of being locked down for so long as a result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — this is what happens when populations are locked down for months…”

    This is what happens when unqualified people exercise their freedom of speech. Meaningless unscientific assertions are made and published in former travel blogs.

    There are experts who are capable of determining why these folks are doing what they are doing; it involves actually asking them (and doing so in the proper way). You are not one of them. Thanks for sharing your opinion (and assumption).

  13. ” Regardless of whether the police officers in Minneapolis or the crowds of protesters around the United States were boiling over with frustration — likely as a result of being locked down for so long as a result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — this is what happens when populations are locked down for months…”
    REGARDLESS? You are an imbecile beyond belief. What a horrible thing to say the riots are due to being in lockdown. They are protesting because a white police officer murdered a black man in broad daylight. AGAIN. AGAIN. AGAIN. AGAIN. No one stopped him. No one pursued him. No one saved the victim.

    Do you think Kaepernick knelt because he was bored? Or wanted attention?

    You are nothing more than a white narcissistic elitist who thrives on the minimization of those less fortunate, and proudly touts his holier than thou righteousness for all to see by donating lousy racist platelets. Good for you. We are so proud of your sacrifices.

    You cannot claim you have any understanding of the plight of the American Black Citizen.

    This isn’t your fight but your responsibility as a fellow American to stop the injustice. If you do not, you support it. As evident by your ignorant opinion.

    I used to read your blog thinking I would learn something about TRAVEL. It was fun. Now it is all just drivel masked behind your right to free speech. Just because you can say such stupid things, doesn’t mean you should. Have some responsibility for your actions. If you don’t like the way the world spins, make a change by starting with yourself.

    You are actively spreading this hatred by quoting the biggest racist’s tweet of our time. Your spewing of ignorant rhetoric is not helping. Use your platform for good. Not evil.
    Or better yet, sit this one out. For the good of all humanity.

    1. Let’s not confuse relative naïveté with racist malice. It’s very hard for most people to fully realize and fully appreciate how systematic racism works in all its ways and how extreme, chronic, persistent injustice makes the proverbial blood boil until such injustice hits themselves or someone whom they love at least as much as they love themselves (if not even more).

      People viewed without much suspicion and hostility by people in power lack the personal experience and appreciation of being subject to extreme suspicion and hostility for just being who they are from birth. And people tend to do a limited job with empathy for “the other” until they or their own loved ones get to walk in the shoes of being subjected to systemic, chronic, extreme injustice.

      Being a relatively well-off male perceived to be of ethnic European appearance is a whole different world of experience than being a “black male” in a world where the “the dark man” is the scary bogeyman and the knight in shining armor is “the white man” who “knows best”.

      People angry at the public health emergency lockdowns may be hostile to whatever they see as an abuse of authority to undermine the freedom and autonomy of the individual to live their own life without oppression, and such people may be looking at blaming the “lockdown” in anyway possible or they may want to marry the opposition to systemic oppression of one sort under color of authority to systemic oppression of another sort under color of authority.

      Whether I agree with the way the public health emergency rules and recommendations have played out in various parts, I still am considerate to the idea that there are people who would have preferred that the US tried to go the way of Sweden — with voluntary compliance to health recommendations — as anything else may opens the door to oppression now or in the future. Any advance in power of the state over the individual is a potential risk to the life and dignity of the individual confronted by the agents of the state with their privileged position of power over the average citizen regardless of the color of the skin.

    2. “Racist platelets”?!?

      That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time, Mr. Grey. Thank you for that hearty laugh!

      For the record, the articles about platelets are not about me being “proud of” my “sacrifices.” Their purpose was to compel others to donate blood, platelets, red blood cells, or plasma. Tell me: when was the last time you got away from spewing vitriol from your keyboard and helped a fellow human being by donating blood or platelets?

      As for learning something about TRAVEL, there were at least three references to travel in this article: the Omni Hotel and the Embassy Suites hotel in Atlanta were both damaged from protests; the statement from the president of the Association of Flight Attendants; and people visiting the United States after the rioting and violent protests started earlier this week…

      …but if that does not meet your obviously discerning standards, how about a peek at this helpful article of 2 reliable resources of countries with updated travel entry restrictions due to 2019 Novel Coronavirus as one of many travel articles which I am still writing?

      https://thegatewithbriancohen.com/2-reliable-resources-of-countries-with-updated-travel-entry-restrictions-due-to-2019-novel-coronavirus/

      Thank you for providing a golden opportunity to once again allow me to prove that comments which are posted to The Gate are not censored…

      …and I would suggest you work on your reading comprehension skills, as they are sorely lacking if your comment is actually supposed to address this article.

      Or better yet, how about following your own sage advice and sit this one out? You know: “for the good of all humanity.”

      Thank you for being a dedicated and devoted reader of The Gate, Mr. Grey.

      Oh — one more thing — I hope that you will never have to experience this; but should you ever need an infusion of platelets, you are more than welcome to mine…

  14. Uniformed, armed personnel supposedly on duty to serve and protect under the law in Minneapolis apparently had some officers on duty who were deliberately aiming guns with laser scopes at journalists covering the protests and rioting. The law enforcement personnel were even deliberately aiming at and hit a female Swedish journalist in Minneapolis with a projectile of some sort and was also teasing a Norwegian journalist with a red laser sight with its dot on his chest and following him around until he managed to get cover.

    This is the kind of dirty “policing” I would expect in a banana republic or authoritarian state, but it’s now part and parcel of America in an age where the President has groomed his supporters to think of the media as being the enemy, a virus to be eliminated. And, unfortunately, our police forces and even military forces have too many bad apples who buy into the President’s hostility and extremism to such an extent that press freedom in the US is under greater threat today than it has been in many decades.

  15. This blog post is shameful. I was going to call it idiotic but that’s unfair to idiots. It’s perfectly legitimate to have a debate about measures to stop the spread of the virus. But to blame the rioting on these public health measures is ridiculous and not based in a shred of evidence.

    1. Tell me, 02nz: how and when did you become such an expert on idiots? Are experts on idiots required to have experience of being idiots themselves?

      If you read the article, you will see that I never blamed the rioting on those public health measures which were implemented as part of the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic…

      …and some of what I wrote was based on my opinion, which — last I looked — I still have a right to express in the United States.

  16. I wanted to also add,
    The very first line of this article:
    “Ever since George Floyd was allegedly murdered by at least one police officer in Minneapolis who pressed his knee into his neck to restrain him on Monday, May 25, 2020, ”
    Allegedly.
    Allegedly.
    Allegedly.
    You are blind.
    You are complicit.
    You are the problem.

    1. I have to assume you have no idea what the word allegedly means, Mr. Grey, as you kept using it in your wonderfully constructive comment; so please allow me to provide you with the definition: “used to convey that something is claimed to be the case or have taken place, although there is no proof.”

      https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/allegedly

      Assuming that you actually do know the meaning of the word allegedly and accuse me of being “blind” and “complicit”, then you do understand that if I definitively state that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, I open myself up to potential liability — especially if he is found not guilty or acquitted of all charges by a jury of his peers — and I know you care enough about me that you do not want to see me sued…

      …so I await the links to reliable sources provided by you that Derek Chauvin was in fact tried and convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd and sentenced; and I must have missed it.

      Go ahead, Mr. Grey. Provide the links and I will immediately remove the word allegedly in the article.

      I’m waiting…

      …and if you cannot provide those links, might I suggest that you are part of the problem and are trying to further exacerbate the situation.

      1. For someone with such impeccable attention to detail (and so anal-retentive), your misaligned nearly subscript italicized words are truly troubling.

        1. Thank you for reporting a technical issue to me with the WordPress platform which powers The Gate, Dave.

          Apparently, the HTML coding of italicizing text [i] is what is causing the misaligned subscript; and the tag [em] — both using horizontal chevrons or “less than” and “greater than” symbols instead of brackets — is to be used instead…

          The Gate versus The Gate

          …and I recently lost the ability to format a style of bold, italic, underline and others with one click, so now I have to do it manually — and please note that I cannot see the formatting when initially writing and posting a comment.

          So that you are not truly troubled, please let me know which comments I can manually fix for you…

          1. Brian, rather go through all that trouble on my behalf, feel free to just are your logon credentials with me. I will be happy to install a plug-in for you that will make your WordPress “coding” much easier.

            Best regards,

            Dave

            1. Thank you for the offer, Dave; but when I presented the issue to the support team at BoardingArea, I was told that the WordPress theme used for The Gate is no longer supported by its publisher — and therefore the controls for formatting content in comments from the administration mode is no longer available.

              This means that the plug-in which you offered to install will likely not work properly if the theme is out of date.

              One solution with which I was presented is to get a new theme for The Gate, which I thought is a good idea after using this same theme for almost six years — and I was never really crazy about this particular theme anyway…

              …so guess what? You actually did me a favor by pointing out that annoying subscript italic formatting — and I want to sincerely thank you for that.

              Now for me to choose a theme — although I wonder if I should have readers of The Gate choose one for me…

  17. Only a white privileged person could write a blog post like this. You should take a hard look at yourself.

    1. We all should take a hard look at ourselves. Each and everyone one of us is part of the problem, and we can all be part of the solution by seeing our own failings and our contribution to the injustices that need righting and always standing up for justice and against oppression.

      A Minneapolis restaurant business that was built by an immigrant to the US has been burned down during the protests, and it is one that my family has been eating at over the years. The owner’s words: “Let my building burn. Justice needs to be served: put those police in jail.”

      The Palestinian-American store owner where Floyd tried to pass a fake $20 bill said that when one of his store employees saw what the police were doing to Floyd, a store employee called the owner to tell him what was going on. The owner told the employees to call the police on the police. Think about that: the country needs to call the police on the police.

      1. This comment is one of the few here that well-addresses that we all have a part to play in eradicating racism in our country. It serves to bring us together to solve a very real problem. Kudos for making your point without the senseless name-calling and insults lobbed by many other commenters.

        While I recognize the metaphorical idea that a restaurant can never be equated to a human life – an extremely valuable message – I fail to see how the burning of this man’s business aids in the imprisonment of the murderous police officers.

        1. He probably wanted the police to focus on going after the police, as that is what justice would require this time.

          The owner of the restaurant was also probably not be happy with the police in Minneapolis attacking non-violent protesters and doing the kind of stuff he had seen the police do to protesters in the impoverished, then-authoritarian country of his birth in Asia. He had his restaurant acting as a place of refuge for protesters fleeing the rubber bullets and gas grenades until that was no longer possible because it caught on fire.

          He probably thinks that freedom from oppression involves material sacrifice at times and his business can be rebuilt while life cannot be and justice must be done.

          By the way, since when should peaceful Americans not be allowed to stand on their own property to look at what is going on on the street outside their home’s front door? We have the police and National Guard acting like Minneapolis is Fallujah, Iraq, including with the call to “light em up”:

          https://twitter.com/tkerssen/status/1266921821653385225?s=20

          Too many Americans don’t see all Americans as fellow Americans, and that is what allows for the dysfunctional dynamics to persist and make things more depressing than they would otherwise be. And now we have more uniformed hotheads on the streets to stoke even more anger and division.

          What’s America’s President Nero going to do next, play golf, play on Twitter, or stoke fires? He will do all this while the country burns and hope he can scare people into voting for him in the November election.

          1. Perhaps.

            I still fail to see how wanton property destruction is ever a goal or how his burned business correlates to the arrest of police officers. I am pleased if he feels its loss will real afford change.

            I cannot speak to what is happening in Minneapolis currently. But the uniformed officers in Atlanta, as a whole, are accepting an extreme amount of physical and verbal abuse right now for a situation they did not create nor can they correct. Blanket attacks on all police officers for the crimes of some is hateful and unfounded.They, too, are these fellow Americans you mention.

    2. Well, when you find that white privileged person, Rus, please let me know.

      Oh. Wait a minute. That comment was directed at me, wasn’t it?

      You do not find calling someone a “white privileged person” racist? Do you honestly believe your comment was helpful at all?

      Any credibility you may have had was lost once you decided to cast an assumption anonymously with no constructive dialogue or solution — and you have demonstrated that you did not even read the article.

      You have proven to be part of the problem rather than the solution. How about instead having the guts to reveal who you really are and engage in a civil conversation instead of cowardly casting aspersions based solely on race?

  18. Coming back to this article after having initially read it days ago… I have combed through the post try to decipher the supposedly racist, idiotic, hateful rhetoric that many commenters seem to find. While I recognize we all read through our own lens, I just do not see it.

    *For reference of my lens* (since many here have chosen to infer Brian’s race, heritage, economic status, political beliefs, and more… solely from his photo): I am a white, single, economically lower middle class person, born and raised in Atlanta — raising a brown teenage male. I have experienced white privilege. My son, for the most part, has not. There are situations where he is treated better when he is with me as opposed to when he is on his own. There are situations where his race is used against him. And there are absolutely situations in which I fear for his safety.

    ** The blogger clearly implies that Mr. Floyd’s death comes at the hand of the involved officers.
    “Ever since George Floyd was allegedly murdered by at least one police officer in Minneapolis who pressed his knee into his neck” and “Derek Chauvin did not uphold his main purpose of being a law enforcement officer; and George Floyd should not have been needlessly killed.” The legal addition of ‘allegedly’ required by members of the media to shield themselves from frivolous lawsuits does nothing to refute that these police officers committed a brutal crime.
    ** The inflammatory tweets sent by President Trump are clearly called out as “puerile”.
    ** The value of peaceful protest is clearly espoused. “As protected by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States, people have the right to peaceably assemble and let their thoughts be known — they have a right to be outraged by what happened in Minneapolis”
    ** Organized civil unrest and the questioning of improper authority is part of the very founding of our country… all of us have a responsibility to stand up when we see wrongdoing.

    Therefore…
    It is is not a far stretch to say that people who have been endlessly locked in their homes, with the their livelihoods at risk, and being constantly fed news that their lives are in peril over this virus… while helplessly watching as gross abuses are perpetuated on their fellow humans… will quite possibly react in inappropriate ways – such as the violent, hate-filled riots that have grown from the initially peaceful protests.

  19. Just because a person who is tragically killed is part of a racial minority doesn’t mean it’s because he was part of a racial minority. Instead of protesting the injustice of a human being dying in the hands of the police, this turned into a racial protest. There must be people that are not part of a racial minority that die as a result of mistreatment by police but it rarely makes the news headlines nor sparks protests. Why is that? I also don’t think this has anything to do with the lockdown.

        1. “White rage” protests and riots take place too in the US, but the police don’t go “as military” and pre-emptively militant on such protesters or celebrants than when the protesters are predominantly or otherwise heavily ethnic minorities.

          Check out what goes on during or after some sports-related events in the US that have had property damage take place. Not all of those have taken place in places that are in minority-majority communities and yet the rubber bullets and gas grenades and batons and steel toe boots go into overdrive in minority-majority and more diverse communities than in other kinds of American communities.

    1. How is this a racial protest? In Minneapolis, NYC, DC and elsewhere there are people of many different ethnic backgrounds who are protesting against the systemic racism, related injustice and state actor oppression that is represented in part with the police killing of George Floyd and what has followed.

      George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis, and Chauvin’s blood choke move was the instrument of this murder.

      1. It’s a racial protest because it’s claiming that the incident that started it had racial motives when there is no evidence this is the case.

        1. Racial motive or not in a given incident, there is a systematic racism and policing problem in America and it shows up in the way the police and prosecutors interact with minorities and in the set up of laws and the criminal justice system. And it can and does also take place with policing and prosecutorial activities even when the police officer and/or prosecutor may be of the same apparent ethnic background as the person subjected to injustice from the police, the prosecutors, juries and judges/courts.

          A lot of people don’t want to acknowledge that they’ve sort of been brainwashed to fear “the black man”, and that includes “black men” fearing other “black men” even in areas that have low crime rates or have most of the crime in the immediate neighborhood being perpetrated by members of the ethnic “white” majority in those neighborhoods with low crimes rates too.

          If you want to deny the reality that police in America tend to be more suspicious of, and harassing and brutal with “black males” than “white males”, you are either in the market to buy a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn or are just wanting to sell people to buy into the kind of systematic racist attitudes that gave us these massive protests and even riots.

          And before you try to give us the “blacks are disproportionately more likely to commit crimes than whites” narrative, that narrative is not going to disappear the reality that there is systematic racism in the policing of ethnic minority communities and members of such ethnic minorities and that all individuals should be treated as individuals and with justice.

          Do you want to claim that there is any justice in a racist police officer — and Chauvin is a proven racist as far as it comes to what I have found out about him and his activities going back to when he was in high school — killing an unarmed person with a blood choke with the knee when the person’s alleged crime was an attempt to pass a fake $20 note to a store whose own owner says he told his employees to call the police on the police for Chauvin and his accomplices doing what they did while killing Floyd.

          1. There is racism and hatred against Asians and Jews, who have also suffered terrible persecution even in recent times. What has enabled them to thrive?

        2. So was this a racial protest too:

          https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/01/us/tulsa-race-massacre-1921-99th-anniversary-trnd/index.html ? “White rage” directed at “scary black men” has a long, still living history. Today’s the 99th anniversary of the destruction of a “racial riot”. And it’s a racial riot when peaceful ethnic minorities get attacked by the police while protesting peacefully.

          So the armed MAGA-hat-wearing protestors against the public health emergency “lockdowns” get the benefit of a restrained police but the Floyd-supporting, unarmed protestors (against systemic racism and related oppression) and even journalists become target practice and a training exercise for loose cannon law enforcement even violating civilian’s property rights and shooting at homes of people just standing on their porches and balconies and slashing tires of parked cars in the vicinity.

          Too many people in America’s militarized law enforcement system are treating civil American civilians as if the US is Iraq and peaceful protestors and recording observers are enemy insurgents to be light up and suppressed with extreme prejudice.

  20. In reply to NB_ga, with regard to the “Free palestine” scrawl, I have to say that I also wondered what the Jewish community of LA, and Jews in general, have done to deserve to have their livelihoods ruined in such a way because of what happened to George Floyd.

  21. You were ahead of your time here. Over a month later… and now the mayor of Atlanta has agreed whole-heartedly with your assertion that Covid is at largely responsible for protests in her city:

    “I think that people are obviously anxious and even angry about COVID-19. Loved ones are dying, people are losing their jobs and I think there’s a lot of frustration, a lot of angst and I think that the rhetoric that comes out of the White House doesn’t help at all,” she said. “It doesn’t give people much hope. And I think it’s all converging together.” ~Keisha Lance Bottoms
    “A perfect storm of distress in America.” ~Keisha Lance Bottoms

    https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/paying-covid-positive-atlanta-mayor-state-reopened-71647167
    https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-mayor-says-she-opposes-governors-decision-call-national-guard/EDBI6Y3IQVGUPL7FFTJP2RN6RE/

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