What are they thinking?

By G. S. Norwood

When armed civilians take to the streets, what are they thinking?

The news out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, is bad. A 17-year-old boy, armed with an assault rifle, killed two protesters and wounded a third. I wanted to finish up this cycle of protest-related blog posts by trying to answer the question: What are they thinking?

Peaceful Protests or Armed Militia?

To get to that answer, I’ll recount a conversation I had online with two men who appeared to support the presence of heavily armed civilians at otherwise peaceful protests.

Before we get any deeper, I want to make clear that in the protests I discuss in this post, people marched peacefully in Weatherford, Texas, and other small towns around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was broad daylight. Nobody broke windows, toppled statues, or looted places of business. Nobody announced any intention to commit such acts of destruction.

The local police were both aware of the protesters’ actions and in place to keep the peace. Conditions might be different in other parts of the country, but this is what I saw, and learned from others who were present at the protests, including law enforcement officers.

Online Rumors

After a July 25 march in Weatherford, Texas, to protest the Confederate statue on the Parker County Courthouse lawn, rumors began to spread on the internet. They whispered that the group was going to march again at 3:30 pm on Saturday, August 8.

Photo by Trice Jones, via Dallas Morning News.

As early as 8:30 am, Facebook commenters had spotted some guy in a heavily armored pickup truck with a trailer parked on the square, apparently waiting for the marchers. Others appeared as the day rolled on. Local law enforcement was out in force, detouring traffic away from the square, and calling in reserve officers to monitor the situation.

Right about here you might wonder, “What are they thinking will happen?”

No marchers appeared and, according to a friend within the D/FW progressive community, no march was ever planned. Perhaps it was another example of someone trolling the militia, as happened at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 4.

Asking For A Friend

I asked another friend, one of the reserve law enforcement officers called to the square that day, what the official line was on vigilante policing. That is, “private armed citizens threatening other private, possibly armed, citizens in public places.”

He said he couldn’t speak for the officials, but personally he was not a fan. His response echoed the opinion expressed by other former law enforcement officers I know.

That was the point at which one of his other Facebook friends said state statutes and the Constitution allow “protection of property, including that of others.” He said they were there to protect the statue, in case the protesters tried to pull it down.

Photo by Tony Gutierrez, via Dallas Morning News.

While my reserve officer friend agreed that state law allows private citizens to protect property, he offered a more nuanced response. “Her question was about ‘private armed citizens maintaining order by threatening other citizens . . .’ which is NOT allowed by statute or otherwise. I doubt seriously that a citizen that tried to justify the use of force ‘protecting a statue’ would stand much of a chance in court.”

As a former law enforcement officer, who has to maintain his state law enforcement certification to continue to serve as a reserve officer, he has actually studied these questions.

Then a second person commented that, “For a lot of them, [the armed civilians] they’re not specifically protecting the statue. The BLM and Antifa are known to destroy the surrounding area of statues.”

Which isn’t significantly different than just protecting the statue, so still isn’t a legally defensible excuse for armed civilians to threaten protesters. But I wanted to understand the rationale for coming out armed.

What Are They Thinking?

So, I asked one of the commenters, “Isn’t it the job of the Weatherford Police Department and the Parker County Sheriff’s Office to prevent that kind of property destruction? Not the job of private citizens? Do you have any credible information that the WPD and PCSO are incapable of doing the job taxpayers pay them to do in an effective and professional manner? I have always found the professional law enforcement officers in Parker County to be well-trained and highly capable.”

The commenter responded, “I never said the law enforcement agencies here were incapable of doing their job. I personally think that it would serve all concerned much better if there were no armed citizens looking like they were ready for a battle on the town square. I think that there should be a good number of people prepared, however, if things got ugly, to be there quickly to back the LEO up. Some of the folks parading around down there are not helping Weatherford, Parker County, or themselves look good.”

Photo by Jason Janik, via Dallas Morning News.

Then I asked, “Isn’t that what reserve officers are for? Trained and TCOLE certified? They would operate in coordination with, and under the command of, WPD, PCSO, and/or DPS. Otherwise you just have a bunch of freelance cop wannabes, operating on their own ‘best judgement’ with no accountability. Seems to me that just makes the whole situation harder for the actual cops to contain.” Nobody responded to that one.

What are WE Thinking?

What are they thinking? It appears to be that they’ll take their guns and go to the protest to “uphold the law” with no real training in what the law actually says, and no grasp of the fact that cops have to let the BLM people march and speak too.

The cops can’t take sides or they undermine the rule of law for everybody. If a bunch of freelance wannabes ride into town to enforce the law as they see fit, they are just winging it on the back of their self-aggrandizing hero fantasies. They make things worse for the real cops, who are trying to do their real jobs.

George Fuller, the mayor of McKinney—another Dallas suburb about 100 miles north and east of Weatherford—put it a different way when a small militia group showed up on the town square there. “As far as those outsiders that are coming in; get on the damn bus and go home. You are not wanted here, you’re not liked here, you don’t add anything other than division, and you look silly. Go play G. I. Joe somewhere else.”

A summer of protests, marches, confusion and disinformation now promises to plunge us into an autumn of more protests, marches, confusion, disinformation, unasked-for Federal responses, and a divisive election. On The Weird Blog and on my sister Jan’s “Artdog Adventures” blog, we’ve spent much of the summer commenting and exploring the issues that have arisen. Anyone who’s read them knows where we stand.

So the themes of Jan’s posts will vary for a while. At least until something else happens to make us ask, “What are they thinking?”

IMAGE CREDITS:

Many thanks to the Dallas Morning News for all three of the images in this post. We’d also like to salute photographers Trice Jones (a local activist?), for the photo of the guy in the truck with a gun in Weatherford TX, Tony Gutierrez, for the photo of the Parker County Confederate Veterans Memorial on the courthouse grounds in Weatherford TX, and Jason Janik, Special Contributor and an AP-affiliated photographer, for the photo of typical-for-2020 militia and protesters. These appear to have been in McKinney, TX, but they represent their compatriots well.

Ripe for protests

 We were ripe for protests. We should have seen them coming. Some of us undoubtedly did.

The COVID-19 pandemic stripped all the systemic problems and weaknesses in our racist, inequitable society bare. They stare us in the face every day of our transformed lives. Every news cycle, the horrors pile up.

Cascades of catastrophe

An ever-changing number of states show uncontrolled spread of COVID. We’ve recorded more than five million cases of COVID in the USA. And more than 160,000 deaths. By the time this post goes live, there will be more. Of course—inevitably—Black, brown, and non-gender-conforming groups and communities take the hardest hit. Always.

From the New York Times

Approximately 16.4 million people currently face unemployment in the US. Our GDP dropped off the bottom of the chart in the second quarter. It’s officially a recession, but Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson recently called for us to “call it what it is,” a Pandemic Depression. His arguments are compelling.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans are staring homelessness in the face, as short-term pandemic aid from the Federal Government runs out. Thanks to Senate inactivity, nothing is there to replace it.

If past is prelude, protests were inevitable

Oh, yes, we were ripe for protests. At crisis points like the one we’re in, people always take to the streets. A recent National Geographic article surveyed earlier protests in the USA, but you don’t have to stop at our borders. Just look at the unrest that swept several continents in 1848. Driven by civil unrest, famine, and accumulated outrage, these uprisings toppled governments and transformed many parts of the world—including the USA.

Courtesy of National Geographic

Crisis breeds desperate measures. Five hundred years ago, a climate crisis drove the Chimú people of Peru (the empire that preceded the Inca) to sacrifice hundreds of their own children.

We haven’t gone that far, but some of us do seem willing to send them, their teachers, and other school personnel back into classrooms with less-than-ideal safeguards. Was anyone surprised to see the North Paulding High School close after only a week?

Photo by Hannah Waters, via AP and The Washington Post

Yes, it’s getting more violent. That was predictable, too.

When I started the First Amendment series, I had protests in mind. I thought it was important to remember that the First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging . . . the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Dr. Martin Luther King called riots “the language of the unheard” in a 1966 interview with Mike Wallace on the TV show 60 Minutes. He explained how people can be pushed to violence, yet steadfastly argued for nonviolent protest. Unfortunately, many today have grown impatient.

Back at the start of the summer, the protests were mostly peaceful—except when exacerbated by forceful curfew enforcement, or a minority of agitators. Lately, however, we’ve seen a troubling uptick in violence.

Why the violence? Why now? It may be deepening desperation, sparked by the worsening death toll and unemployment picture. Perhaps it's growing disillusionment, after a summer of protests that have sparked conversation—but no real action in response to people’s deepening needs. And it might be a partial reaction to the clear disregard by police and some authorities for the arguments protesters make.

We’re still ripe for protests. And I fear we’ll continue to be a powder keg till inequalities are ameliorated, help is delivered, and the pandemic abates.

In other words, don’t hold your breath. It’s not nearly over.

IMAGE CREDITS:

I deeply appreciate the New York Times for providing a graphic demonstration of the Second-Quarter 2020 drop in the US Gross Domestic Product, as compared with previous decades. Many thanks to National Geographic for the photo of the archaeological excavation of child-sacrifice graves in Peru. All respect to Hannah Waters, the brave 15-year-old who blew the whistle on her alma mater, North Paulding High School, with thanks to the AP and the Washington Post for making her photo available. Finally, I want to thank You Tube and 60 Minutes, for the historic Mike Wallace interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This post wouldn't be the same without you!

With disrespect for all: When authorities attack journalists and protesters

American authorities attack journalists and protesters? That just ain’t right! As the First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of . . . the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Hyoung Chang, a Denver Post photographer, took this photo of his broken press pass after police fired “a projectile” at him. USA Today later reported the “projectile” actually was “two pepper balls [fired] directly at him.” (Hyoung Chang, via the New York Times)

Freedom of the Press has met The Right to Peaceably Assemble in the streets of many cities all over the USA, this summer. And both provisions of the First Amendment have too often been trampled by authorities who should know better.

When police themselves break the law

Don’t believe it? Watch this short video from VICE News.

 

No, these were clearly members of the press. Licensed and trained sworn officers should have known they had a right to be there. Law enforcement agents who knowingly break the law vividly illustrate why so many people have begun to protest that they need to be defunded, abolished, or at least redefined. If they themselves can’t be trusted to follow the law, why are we paying them and maintaining a police force at all?

Unfortunately, these aren’t the only documented cases. Journalists from two different agencies, The US Press Freedom Tracker and Nick Waters of Bellingcat, who created a Twitter thread to count incidents, each independently identified about 100 instances, just in the first weeks of protests. By June 6, Forbes reported “328 . . . and counting.”

As I write this, The US Press Freedom Tracker’s count is considerably higher: “600+ aggressions against the press during national Black Lives Matter protests,” 157 journalists attacked, and 51 journalists arrested. Their equipment hasn’t been spared, either. The US Press Freedom Tracker says police damaged equipment 43 times, and have searched or seized it 10 times.

The next video, from The Washington Post, shows new examples, in addition to some shown in the previous video.

I’ll share a link to one more video, to offer an even more comprehensive overview, and an international perspective. Although the video is in English, DW is a German news agency (hint: the part about attacks on the press ends 2 minutes before the video does).

How much harm are they doing?

When authorities attack journalists and protesters, it does a lot of harm. Trampled Constitutional rights are serious breaches of the law and deeply un-American. But these attacks also can do serious physical and psychological harm.

Most of the protests have been peaceful. And journalists should be completely off-limits. But this summer police have freely used a variety of so-called “less-lethal” weapons on both groups.

What is a “less-lethal” weapon? Police have a variety at their disposal. They used to be called “nonlethal,” but that turns out to be wrong. They can and have caused death.

 

(Washington Post)

Projectile weapons can leave bruises, lacerations, broken bones. If you’re hit in the eye like photographer Linda Tirado, you can be blinded. That’s why the American Academy of Ophthalmology called for a nationwide ban on the use of rubber bullets against protesters.

In a recent article USA Today quoted Charlie Mesloh, a certified instructor on the use of police projectiles and a professor at Northern Michigan University, who said, “On day one of training, they tell you, ‘Don’t shoot anywhere near the head or neck.’ That’s considered deadly force.”

Eye doctors are no fans of tear gas or other chemical irritants, either. Neither are experts on respiratory diseases—especially in a time of COVID-19 pandemic. Tear gas causes a variety of effects. Most go away after a while. But people with respiratory problems can struggle with the effects for a long time.

Minneapolis police advance through tear gas toward a group of protesters. (Scott Olson/Getty Images, via NPR).

Why are the police acting this way?

This kind of police aggression toward journalists is not only unconstitutional. It’s also not normal. Why act this way? Why now?

As I discussed in previous post, it’s very difficult to hold police accountable in the current legal climate. But perhaps they feel more empowered than usual. Many commentators point to the president as part of the reason why that might be.

He’s been an outspoken critic—to the point where he’s used inflammatory, authoritarian phrases such as “enemy of the people” when speaking of the press. Various groups have protested this treatment, to no avail.

I don't mean to say the president is the only reason for this change. Am I his fan? No. Is he the first president to have issues with the press? Hardly! Speaking truth to power is dangerous. But there’s something at work here that goes beyond Mr. Trump.

Police officers and police departments feel empowered to lash out against journalists as they never have before this summer. All too predictably, many of the journalists targeted also appear to be BIPOC and/or women.

When American authorities attack journalists and protesters, this is new in the Twenty-First Century. This is disturbing.

This  is dangerous.

IMAGE CREDITS

I really want to thank Hyoung Chang, via the New York Times, for the photo of his broken press badge. I appreciate YouTube and VICE News for the first video, YouTube and The Washington Post for the second video, and YouTube and DW for the third. Many thanks also to the Washington Post for the excellent illustration and article on “Less-Lethal” police weapons and their dangers. And to NPR and photographer Scott Olson for the image of Minneapolis police in riot gear, striding through billows of tear gas smoke.

Freedom of the Press is under attack

Important as the “sages of the ages” may have considered it to be, freedom of the press is under attack in the first quarter of the 21^st Century. Many economic problems have beset our news media. Local newspapers have taken the hardest blows.

The business model that profitably supported newspapers and what we now consider “traditional” broadcast news media for decades has eroded out from under these organizations in the Age of the Internet.

(Osama Hajjaj/Cartooning for Peace/Global Geneva)

Freedom of the press is under attack from social media that draw eyes away from paid news sources, too. News aggregators depend on them, but they also freely borrow from them, reaping the benefit of their paid professional journalists.

(AZ Quotes)

This changing landscape drains surviving news agencies drier and drier. The average regional newspaper that still exists has seen its staff of professional journalists dwindle down to a hard-working, multi-tasking few. Efforts such as Report for America (modeled on Teach for America, but a separate entity) can’t fill that gap.

It also has trained people to expect free news. I hear complaints all the time from people who have followed my links to a fuller discussion on a news source, only to face a paywall.

(Terry Hagz/Sacramento News & Review/L.A. Times)

Free news, “echo chambers,” and the rise of fake news

Recent research by Reuters found that most people aren’t willing to pay for news. Those who do pay for a subscription rarely have more than one. And even those willing to pay may suffer “subscription fatigue” from repeatedly being confronted with pleas to pay, wherever they go. Personally, I have at least ten subscriptions—I just tried to count them all and was kinda shocked—but I still get subscription fatigue.

This whole dynamic can lead to a range of problems. We all have heard how divisiveness in politics is exacerbated when people stick to their own echo chambers of information and opinion. Their confirmation bias grows ever more entrenched when they only listen to people who agree with them.

(AZ Quotes)

Mistrust of information from the outside, and uneven or sporadic exposure to free news, that may or may not be accurate, poses an existential treat to democracy. Confirmation bias can cause people to avoid information that may make them question their beliefs. Even if it’s true.

This makes them vulnerable to chicanery. Malicious actors or propagandists have learned how to use this mistrust for their own ends. Roosevelt inveighed against “Editorialists who tell downright lies” in the quotation above. But in the Age of the Internet, they don’t even have to identify themselves.

(AZ Quotes)

People with no clear reference points and a distrust of established news agencies fall for fake news such as "Pizzagate" (referenced in an earlier post in this series). Or any other malign messages that foreign agents and domestic ideologues decide to package.

(Antonio Rodriguez/Cartooning for Peace/Global Geneva)

A misinformed electorate

This is how wild assertions get spread and believed. They can be life-threatening messages, such as the idea that one might cure Covid with an injection of bleach, or that wearing a mask during a pandemic is somehow weak.

Or they may be democracy-threatening, such as the idea that one leader or political party is coming to take away all the guns belonging to members of the other. Or that voting fraud is rampant, so it’s futile to vote, or it’s okay to place burdensome restrictions on voting.

(AZ Quotes)

We can't ignore or wish away the fact that freedom of the press is under attack in our world today. Misleading messages and widely-believed falsehoods are the very opposite of what prevails in a functional democracy.

If the United States—indeed, to a great extent if the world—does not soon learn to counter this pernicious trend, we stand to lose all of our freedoms.

(AZ Quotes)

IMAGE CREDITS:

Deepest thanks to Global Geneva and Cartooning for Peace, for two images: I also thank Jordanian cartoonist Osama Hajjaj for the unsettling image of the effect of all too many social media/Internet forces on professional journalism, and Mexican cartoonist Antonio Rodriguez, for his “tightrope over fake news” image.

Many thanks to the L.A. Times, photographer Terry Hagz, and owner Jeff vonKaenel and the Sacramento News & Review, for the “Suspending Publication” photo. I’m pleased to discover their demise wasn’t permanent.

And heartfelt gratitude to AZ Quotes, for the assorted quote-images used in this article: For Indian author Arundhati Roy’s analysis of the free market’s influence on free elections, courts and press. For the warning from FDR about false messages in the news, long before the term “fake news” had been coined. For the description of “spin” from Kathleen Hall Jamieson. For the quote from former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) on the importance of an engaged and informed electorate. And for the Barack Obama quote about lies versus the truth (from a speech given in Estonia in 2014).