Of course, the Asshole-in-Chief has been spreading a conspiracy theory which posits that Mr Gugino was an 'antifa' provacateur on a sinister police equipment blocking mission:
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020
Trump's comment was inspired by a dubious source, One America News Network riffing on a piece by the "Conservative Treehouse" blog. Supposing that it were true, which it is not, the police reaction to this purported provocateur was entirely inappropriate. People are provoked all of the time, but very few people respond with horrific violence, such as we have seen over the past week of protests. If Mr Gugino had been doing something nefarious, he could have been detained without the use of excessive force, which he wasn't. I mean, here was one eldery, unarmed man against scores of armored cops.
It's telling that Trump received more responses that 'likes' for his tweet (the dreaded 'ratio')... this was something straight out of Orwell's 1984: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
For me, the whole nasty affair has provoked a profound revulsion.
What got me was the way the cop shoved Mr Gugino as if he was a bit of rubbish that had got in his way. Like the old man wasn't even a human being at all. We've seen so much casual brutality from the police over these protests, it's hard not to think that this is literally how the police see the civilian public they serve - as 'things' in their way, not humans who need help.
ReplyDeleteAnd not just a few bad apples either. This seems to be the default attitude. It would explain so much. But you can't fix this with training. Cops with that mentality are as broken as Trump, and should be nowhere near weapons or a position of authority or power.
Mr Gugino is still in critical condition. I truly hope he pulls through.
I think there should be extensive psychological screening for anybody who applies for police work. This hardline authoritarian cruelty really has to stop.
ReplyDelete>>I think there should be extensive psychological screening for anybody who applies for police work. <<
ReplyDeleteThere should also be an IQ test. Anyone who scores at "moron" or below should be required to re-take the test.
Yours crankily,
The New York Crank
If an IQ test was required for voting,,,, (eye roll)
ReplyDeleteYa know, its gotten to the point where if someone showed me a bunch of tweets with the author's identity concealed, I feel very confident I could accurately pick out which ones were by Trump.
That hard pushing move shows up over and over in videos of the protests. It's apparently something many departments across the country train the tactical units to use. Also a move that's very easy to misjudge or abuse.
ReplyDelete