The American Police State is Out of Control: a Message to my White Friends and Family
I wrote this for my white friends and family who may be frightened and confused right now. I know it can be upsetting to see broken windows, burning buildings, cities and places you love in such chaos. But there’s something I really need you to understand.
The police in the United States are completely out of control. They are a force for oppression, terror, and violence and over the past week they have committed atrocity after atrocity, all on camera, all documented for the world to see.
Noam Chomsky has talked in the past about how language is manipulated by those in power to manufacture consent with the governed. One example of this is the word “terrorism.”
The most common definition of terrorism is “violence committed to achieve a political goal.” By that definition, the United States of America’s federal, state, and municipal governments have been committing terrorism for many decades.
But Chomsky also speaks of the “doctrinal definition” of words. The doctrinal definition of terrorism is “any action which threatens the power of the United States government.” This is why antifascists like myself — people who seek only to end fascism, police brutality, and inequality — have been labeled terrorists by President Donald Trump. Because we seek to end the political violence of the United States.
Another word that is being manipulated these days is “violence.” Breaking a window is not violence. “Looting” or stealing from stores is not violence. Violence is when harm is done physically to a human being.
The media and political leaders of the USA are calling such damage “violence.” Whether you agree that vandalism and looting is warranted or not, I think we can agree that breaking a window or damaging a building is not “violence.”
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
“Property is not life. Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”
I have been watching live streams of the protests in cities across the country for several hours every day, and overwhelmingly, I am seeing a nonviolent movement. I am seeing a racially united movement. I am seeing racial harmony on a scale I’ve never seen before, with people of all races marching together, encouraging each other, in solidarity, to end violence against the black community.
There have been SOME acts of violence committed by protesters. I have seen some myself. But the scale of violence committed by protesters is infinitessimally small compared to the scale of savagery and assault and terror enacted by the police over the last several days.
I am going to document some of the most egregious incidents now. And I want you to know — what I am sharing here is only a small sample. The police are covering their body cams or deactivating them, hiding their badges. This is all well documented and undeniable, as you will see.
Please take the time to witness, if you are able, and accept that this is the United States of America which the black community has known for hundreds of years. The police of the United States began as an institution of slave catchers and have been used to suppress black people for a very long time.
There has also been a narrative of “outside agitation” used in the 1930s and 1960s when the KKK and racist Southern politicians tried to deligitamize Civil Rights movement activity by discounting African-American protests as being driven by white radicals, rather than being legitimate expressions of grievances.
Jail records and social media are showing that these protests are overwhelmingly being lead by the black community. I can tell you as a white anarchist that my community is overwhelmingly trying to SUPPORT these protests under the guidance and leadership of black activists and organizers.
If you have skepticism about any of these claims, I will be happy to discuss the facts with you and share evidence. I am not trying to get you to buy into my ideology or agree with everything I have to say about the police and the government of the USA — but if nothing else, I want you to know what the police and the federal government are doing to innocent, peaceful protesters RIGHT NOW.
So with that being said, let’s take a look at some examples of police violence over the last week.
If you only want to watch one video, this is a 10 minute clip reel of incidents of police violence:
But that’s just the tip of the iceburg.
The first thing you should know is that the traditional media and TV stations are BURYING the police violence and hiding it. Look at the difference between the press coverage of this attempted spree killing vs. what really happened:
This is surprising to me, since the police are actively assaulting, tear gassing, and arresting innocent journalists in the course of their work:
This photojournalist lost an eye from rubber bullets:
Of course the journalists aren’t the only ones being assaulted and attacked for no reason. This incredibly shocking footage shows what appear to be National Guard or perhaps just militarized police assaulting a suburban neighborhood and shooting people lawfully on their own porch. They used the term “light’em up” which I am told by my friends in the military is unprofessional, bombastic language that demonstrates a certain joy in firing on innocent citizens within their own homes:
Indeed, the police are very trigger-happy and gleefully want to attack people, as we can see not only in this clip…
But also with this Denver cop who was fired for posting on Instagram that he wanted to “start a riot”
There is also a lot of evidence of police looting, vandalizing, and instigating as agent provocateurs:
The police are also willing to attack people they see as “allies.” There is also strong evidence that a fire at an Auto Zone was started by a police officer.
David McAtee is a man who owned a restaurant and would give free food to the police. He was murdered by the police. He was unarmed and witnesses say he did nothing wrong.
Keep in mind this was a day after protesters PROTECTED a cop who got left behind in the same city of Louisville:
Black store owners are being arrested all over the place. This happened in LA:
There are also many reports of cops kneeling and praying with protesters, then firing at them and tear gassing them shortly after:
Some people say “if you are peaceful, nothing will happen to you.” Here are some clips that prove otherwise. Watch very carefully the pink umbrella at the bottom of this video:
There are so many other incidents of police attacking innocent, peaceful people:
Here they are shooting an unarmed man point blank in the face with a tear gas cannister after pepper spraying him:
Here are police TORTURING a woman with a tazer and shooting anyone who tries to film them with rubber bullets:
Two guys shot for standing peacefully:
Military police turning violent on peaceful protesters:
This is the violence we’re seeing at these protests. Violence committed by cops against unarmed citizens:
Attacking people kneeling with their hands up:
Strong violence against black people while white people are spared the worst, in many cases:
Watch how the cop stops when the white woman gets in the way:
Is this a free country?
Protesters TRAPPED in a confined area by the police then tear gassed. Remember that tear gas is illegal to use in war by national convention. This is cruelty and torture, it serves no purpose:
Even the elderly and disabled aren’t spared:
If you managed to make it this far and watched all this sickening violence and you STILL think seeing a building burned or a window broken is comparable to this massive scale of police violence? I don’t know what to say. Buildings can be rebuilt. Windows can be replaced. Human lives are much more sacred.
I promise you, this is really just scratching the surface. There are HUNDREDS of grotesque moments of atrocity I haven’t shared. National guard helicopters suspended in the air over peaceful protesters in New York City. The police trapping people in houses and tear gassing them inside. The police are not a force for good. They are brutal, bloodthirsty, unrepentant, deceitful. They are not here to serve and protect. They are here to coerce, control, and dominate.
Remember the name of the man killed by the police by having his breath snuffed out of him for 9 minutes as he plead for his life. Remember the name of George Floyd.
And remember:
Black Lives Matter.
