{"id":176473,"date":"2020-06-08T18:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T23:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2020\/06\/08\/there-are-thugs-at-the-black-lives-matter-protests-unfortunately-they-are-the-cops\/"},"modified":"2020-06-08T18:06:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T23:06:00","slug":"there-are-thugs-at-the-black-lives-matter-protests-unfortunately-they-are-the-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2020\/06\/08\/there-are-thugs-at-the-black-lives-matter-protests-unfortunately-they-are-the-cops\/","title":{"rendered":"There Are Thugs at the Black Lives Matter Protests, Unfortunately, They are the Cops"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border: 1px solid black; float: right; margin: 0px 10px; padding: 5px; text-align: center; width: 330px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5wk-mRv1Nlo\" width=\"330\"><\/iframe><br \/><i>Despicable<\/i><\/div>\n<p>Videos have emerged showing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/anti-racism-police-protest\/2020\/06\/videos-show-cops-slashing-car-tires-at-protests-in-minneapolis\/\">police slashing tires on cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Their excuse, that someone might drive the cars in a dangerous manner, is bullsh%$.<\/p>\n<p>It is thuggish retaliation and vandalism, and, dare I say it, swinish.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly this will convince people that there is no need to reform the police:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: blue;\"><i><b>Update, 6\/8\/20<\/b>: The Star Tribune has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/officers-slashed-tires-on-vehicles-parked-amid-minneapolis-protests-unrest\/571105692\/?refresh=true\">identified<\/a> the officers puncturing tires as state troopers and deputies from the Anoka County Sheriff\u2019s Office. The officers strategically deflated the tires to \u201cstop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement,\u201d said Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bruce Gordon. The troopers reportedly targeted cars that \u201ccontained items used to cause harm during violent protests\u201d such as rocks and concrete. The Anoka County Sheriff\u2019s Lt. Andy Knotz said deputies were following directions from the state-led Multiagency Command Center. <\/i><\/p>\n<p>After long nights of tear gas and rubber bullets, some protesters, news crews, and medics in Minneapolis last weekend found themselves stranded: The tires of their cars had been slashed. <\/p>\n<p>\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The officers appear to be state troopers or county police, though it\u2019s  not clear from the videos. Neither the Minnesota State Patrol nor the  Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office responded to requests from <i>Mother Jones<\/i>. The Minneapolis Police Department and Minnesota National Guard denied involvement. <\/p>\n<p>Update, 6\/8\/20: The Star Tribune has identified the officers puncturing tires as state troopers and deputies from the Anoka County Sheriff\u2019s Office. The officers strategically deflated the tires to \u201cstop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement,\u201d said Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bruce Gordon. The troopers reportedly targeted cars that \u201ccontained items used to cause harm during violent protests\u201d such as rocks and concrete. The Anoka County Sheriff\u2019s Lt. Andy Knotz said deputies were following directions from the state-led Multiagency Command Center.<\/p>\n<p>After long nights of tear gas and rubber bullets, some protesters, news crews, and medics in Minneapolis last weekend found themselves stranded: The tires of their cars had been slashed. <\/p>\n<p>In a city upended by protests about police brutality after the death of George Floyd, many assumed protesters were to blame. But videos reveal a different culprit: the police. <\/p>\n<p>In the videos, officers puncture tires in a K-Mart parking lot on May 30 and a highway overpass on May 31. Both areas briefly turned into police staging grounds near protest hot spots.<\/p>\n<p>The officers appear to be state troopers or county police, though it\u2019s not clear from the videos. Neither the Minnesota State Patrol nor the Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office responded to requests from Mother Jones. The Minneapolis Police Department and Minnesota National Guard denied involvement. <\/p>\n<p>The gray car in the video above was the rental car of Luke Mogelson, a New Yorker writer who typically covers war zones and is now stationed in Minneapolis to write about the protests. As the protest on Sunday evening turned hairy, with law enforcement tear-gassing peaceful groups soon after curfew, Mogelson went to check on his car, showing his press pass to officers along the way. (Media were exempt from the curfew.) One officer took a picture of his press pass and said he would \u201cradio it up the chain so everyone knew that car belonged to the press,\u201d said Mogelson. When he came back later that evening to retrieve his car, officers informed him that the tires were punctured. \u201cThey were laughing,\u201d Mogelson recalled. \u201cThey had grins on their faces.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With every violent, criminal, and petty act, police are making the case for dismantling the entire rotten edifice of law enforcement in the United States. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despicable Videos have emerged showing police slashing tires on cars. Their excuse, that someone might drive the cars in a dangerous manner, is bullsh%$. It is thuggish retaliation and vandalism, and, dare I say it, swinish. Clearly this will convince people that there is no need to reform the police: Update, 6\/8\/20: The Star Tribune &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[368,364,526,590,401],"class_list":["post-176473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-corruption","tag-evil","tag-law-enforcement-misconduct","tag-protests","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}