zlacker

When you have violent mobs committing arson and vandalism I think bringing out the tear gas is reasonable and not a misuse of force.

>>monocl+(OP)
Sure, violent mobs. But last night they used it to disperse a peaceful crowd so that trump could get his picture taken across the street they were occupying. Sounds like an egregious use of force to me.

>>monocl+(OP)
The problem here is that the police are failing to distinguish between groups peacefully protesting and groups who are tearing things up. They're rounding up all the protestors. The police have a responsibility to distinguish targets. Their job is to police, not to suppress. Even in the middle of a peaceful protest they should be making an effort to police the protest by differentiating between people maintaining civil order and people who are not. They should not arrest or attack anyone who is maintaining civil order.

I think the biggest issue with police forces is that they're all basically trained to treat all situations with equal gravity. They fear for their lives even when it is not warranted. And because of that they respond more like a military force, with a level of violence out of all proportion to the situation.

The police are a bigger deterrent to peaceful protest in this country than any politician, and they have been since they came into existence.

>>monocl+(OP)
You're ignoring the fact that crowds of nonviolent protestors are being sprayed and gassed without any provocation. The cops are being blatantly abusive in their application.

>>monocl+(OP)
When you have violent mobs committing arson and vandalism I think bringing out the tear gas is reasonable and not a misuse of force.

But police keep tear gassing people who are not being violent, and were doing this before any rioting and looting. That's why people began escalating in response.