Will mainstream media be calling this another “peaceful protests” – like the other ones where there were anarchy, riots and injuries, but where nonethelss called “peaceful” as well?
Here is the beginning of Paul Wash’s article for the Mineapolis Star-Tribune:
A dramatic protest late Saturday and early Sunday on Interstate 94 in St. Paul turned violent, with 21 police officers injured and more than 100 people arrested. Under occasional clouds of colored smoke, fireworks, hurled rocks and tear gas, confrontations continued until 4:30 a.m. Sunday, as demonstrators responded to the police killing in Falcon Heights of Philando Castile.
Just a few hours later, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Police Chief Todd Axtell stood together and denounced as “a disgrace” the pelting of officers with rocks, bottles and other items.
At an 8 a.m. news conference, Axtell said 21 officers from all law enforcement agencies on the scene were injured in the mayhem. One of them suffered a broken vertebra after a concrete block was dropped on his head; he was still hospitalized as of Sunday afternoon, police said. The State Patrol said six of the 21 were troopers who were slightly hurt by thrown objects. Steve Linders, St. Paul police spokesman, said he doesn’t know how many other officers are still in the hospital.
The all-night faceoff on a major freeway drew national attention. President Obama also weighed in Sunday, saying at a news conference during a one-day stop in Madrid that “any violence directed at police officers is a reprehensible crime.”
Obama added, “Whenever those of us who are concerned about failures of the criminal justice system attack police, you are doing a disservice to the cause.”
Don’t you love it when the same people who, when emotions were highest, couldn’t wait to push them even further, now call for calm and peace?
I doubt racial enmity will end in my lifetime or come close. Not in the USA, not anywhere else.
But it would be nice if that end were given a chance by some people in authority shutting their big mouths and at least giving it a minimal chance.
