zlacker

Thanks for the video. Sure and that's terrible and there is a lot to improve, no doubt. But how often does this happen, even in a single protest? Can you find a video where the German police shoots rubber bullets into people's faces on purpose on a protest? Without any provocation whatsoever? Hunting and hurting press? Shooting from far distances at them? Kneeling on people's necks? Throwing tear gas explosives and flash bangs? Driving with cars into groups of people? Kicking protesters on the floor in their heads as, individually and as group? Having no accountability (granted, this is needs also a lot of improvement also in Germany)? Dragging people out of their cars without any explanation whatsoever and a pregnant woman inside?

Wikipedia [1] says in the US 28.4 people per 10 million people are killed in the US by the police. In Germany this rate is at 1.3. In Europe all countries except for Malta and Luxembourg (no idea what's going on there) have a rate lower than 6 (or exactly 6 like Sweden). Regardless these killings are of course distressing, especially because if seems to often happen in connection with psychotic episodes of the victims [2]: "Police violence is well-documented in the United States, so well-documented that people, even in Germany, tend to think of the US first when they think of police violence. And also (from [2]):

> But here in Germany, there are people - and not just a few - who are killed in these encounters," Peter said. "It's a German problem, if on a much smaller scale than the US." > > Because US officers might kill or injure more people in a week than Germany's do in a year, police here are much more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt. "The cases of death that are reported here are not like in the US, where unarmed minorities are shot," Behr said. "As a rule, there is not an intent to kill," he added.

I have lived in both the US and Germany for a long time. In Germany I never feared for my life or to get hurt by the police (even on protests). This might be luck, sure, but I also don't know anyone who did. In the US I had multiple encounters where the police tried to bully me and make me feel uncomfortable (shouting aggressively, following me, pointing a gun at me for getting to them to ask a question, …). And I am regular white dude, who doesn't look scary.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforc... [2] https://www.dw.com/en/police-in-germany-kill-more-than-you-t...

>>ohlook+(OP)
I'm replying to this "There are so many countries around the world that do fine without the violence, brutality and military gear the US forces use."

I'd love to see someone identify a country where the police have never been accused of violence or brutality.