zlacker

>>epista+(OP)
I feel like some upfront setting of expectations would really, really be helpful here. If you're planning to arrest people after curfew, explain that in clear terms: "Our curfew is at 8pm, so we will start asking groups to disperse at 7:30. At 8pm, no large assemblies will be permitted, and police will begin arresting people in large groups at that time. We understand some people will engage in civil disobedience, and if they are cooperative with the police, they will be arrested peacefully. If any protesters start taking action that endangers police (e.g. throwing bricks or running at police unexpectedly), they will be met with force and arrested. Because it can be difficult for police to determine the perpetrator of violence, additional crowd control tactics such as tear gas may be used, so we strongly encourage you to self-police and prevent any violence towards police. After 8pm there will be a 30 minute grace period for those who are not gathered in groups but are in the process of heading home. At 8:30pm, anyone who remains on the street will be detained."

I think it would really help both in terms of outcomes as well as the perception of police if they gave this kind of clear description of what's going to happen. As it stands now, the curfews aren't enforced with any kind of regularity, so they just cause confusion.

>>awille+t8
The main issue is that the Police have lost legitimacy. Mostly due to our confusing structure in the USA.

https://twitter.com/sunriseon7/status/1267587976986427393

Same incident, different camera angle: https://twitter.com/benyc/status/1267587033783992322 . We can see the first officer shield-bashing the crew unprovoked, and a 2nd officer come in to baton-smack the reporter.

As members of the press, they are morally obligated to be there, recording what is going on. And it is pretty clear that the Police charge and attack the cameracrew in this instance.

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This was the stupid decision of two officers. However, we can bet that this "stupid decision" will go unpunished. Which is the entire point of the protests. The Police do not seem to have any mechanism for feedback in these circumstances, and can do whatever they want.

The protesters now want this officer to be punished. But once again, we have no mechanism to punish police officers in the USA.

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A few more aggravating factors:

* DC has a ton of different police departments due to the confusing structure of the city / not a state / seat of the federal government. Case in point: were these officers Secret Service? DC Park police? Metropolitan Police Department ? Unclear who to blame right now.

* Its unclear because these officers in this instance taped over their badges and identification. We don't know the names of the cops in riot gear, we don't know who they were working for. We don't know the chain of command.

* This happened roughly 45-minutes BEFORE curfew. The President (or really: Attorney General Barr) seemed to want the area cleared for a Press Briefing on Monday, but this fact was not clearly communicated to the protesters, nor to members of the press.

* Given all the advantages Police officers have in the justice system, it is unlikely that if we press charges (even if we managed to get the names of the officers in this incident) that the courts would ever be on our side. The courts overwhelmingly take the side of officers.

I will note: there's clearly one officer who is holding back his colleague in this instance, who provides room for the cameraman and the reporter to escape. There are "good guys" in the police department, but it is increasingly looking like a minority.

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The "Go home before curfew" argument doesn't work in these circumstances. With protesters (and reporters) getting bashed long before the curfew, its only natural for the protesters to not respect the curfew anymore.