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> With all that's happening the last few days, please don't associate Minnesotans with the riots that have captured the attention of everyone. I understand wha

• dx87 6y ago
  > People aren't rioting because they want to destroy things, they're rioting because they don't feel like they're being heard. That's not why people are looting liquor stores and target. Some people are just destroying things, there's always those groups of people in every riot. Sometimes people even travel to the riot just for the chance at destroying things.
  • komali2 6y ago
    Word on the ground is target only started getting looted after it tried to close its doors to protestors looking to buy water and medical supplies.
    • golf3 6y ago
      Unlikely, were they on their way to church also?
      • komali2 6y ago
        Who knows, but the protests were noore violent than when white militiamen stormed the statehouse two weeks ago.. and yet the cops shot tear gas plastic bullets into the crowd anyway.
        • coryrc 6y ago
          Did they loot the place while they were there?
          • komali2 6y ago
            Did they suffer from endless degrading at the hands of the police for generations? Cry more about target losing televisions, if the death of yet another unarmed black man makes you feel nothing at least the looting does.
            • coryrc 6y ago
              People used to block café counters and demand to give money for service. Your racism is the soft bigotry of low expectations.
              • komali2 6y ago
                Did blocking cafe counters work? Look outside: did it work?? My racism. Hahah. I love this tactic - no YOU'RE the racist cause uhh, oh, I know, low expectations! What low expectations? I AGREE that it's great that people are burning down police stations and looting massive capitalist businesses. You're the one coming here with a twisted ethical system that somehow places property over people. And you call me racist, lol.
            • ryandrake 6y ago
              Police abuse of power and brutality happens every day and mainstream America doesn't bat an eye. But you burn down one Target... and all of a sudden everyone loses their minds!
    • Simulacra 6y ago
      I find it really sad that Target and other stores damaged in the protests may never return. Insurance and risk assessment may unfortunately decide reopening in a certain area is too dangerous.
      • komali2 6y ago
        Target leaving is only a good thing - local business can regain ground in its absence.
        • ryneandal 6y ago
          I understand your meaning, SMBs, but Target is based in Minneapolis, so one could argue it IS a local business :)
  • deleted 6y ago
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• chasd00 6y ago
  people do, indeed, riot and destroy things to steal and loot. That's the point. Notice it's not the police station being burned down.
  • daeken 6y ago
    > Notice it's not the police station being burned down. A police station was burned today. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/protests-looting-erupt-again-minneapolis-area-following-death-george-floyd-n1216881 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/protests-looting-erupt-... https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/h_58a4d4f3a5e1df02d0793755ae84d86a https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-update...
  • 49531 6y ago
    Well, also the fact that a police station is filled with armed police might also be a reason.
    • nickff 6y ago
      So the rioters are hurting their fellow innocents because it's easy and less risky than going after the guilty? You're probably right, but it's not a flattering view of the rioters.
      • testbot123 6y ago
        > hurting their fellow innocents Are you talking about property damage, or actual violence like police killing unarmed black folks?
        • nickff 6y ago
          I am talking about the potential for injury (as always exists with fires, looting, and the like, here exemplified by the wheelchair-bound woman sprayed with a fire extinguisher), as well as the property damage, which often causes stress and emotional injury. It's also easy to forget that the people most harmed by looting are usually members of the (original) victims' own communities.
• deleted 6y ago
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• joshmn 6y ago
  What I don't understand is why many of these small businesses — which have items of value to many people — were targeted. To me, that's burning to burn, damaging to damage, and looting to loot. https://www.startribune.com/these-minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-are-damaged-looted-after-george-floyd-protests/569930671/ https://www.startribune.com/these-minneapolis-st-paul-buildi... This is my home. I visit many of these businesses. I do business with two owners on that list. There are groups of people out here who, yes, are looting to loot and burning to burn. I understand burning down the precinct though. I'm not upset about that.
  • daeken 6y ago
    To some extent, they were burned/looted/otherwise harmed because they were there. But on the other hand, you have things like this experimental Target whose whole purpose in that (very impoverished) neighborhood was to develop new LP techniques, aimed at putting more people of color in prison: https://twitter.com/IanColdwater/status/1265867904844693505 https://twitter.com/IanColdwater/status/1265867904844693505 Target is complicit in this systemic disease; I have zero sympathy for them.
    • dmitrygr 6y ago
      Isn't LP more about "Loss Prevention"? I am pretty sure Target does not care about imprisoning anyone.
    • _-david-_ 6y ago
      Target is complicit in racism for trying to stop people from stealing from them? Do you have any evidence that Target systematically lets white people steal from them while calling the cops on non-whites? Would would you only try to stop somebody who is stealing from you if they were white? If so that would be quite racist! Trying to stop anybody regardless of their race from stealing from you is not racist. Regardless, according to the tweet you posted the policy is targeting poor people not people of color. 40% of poor in the US are non-hispanic whites. That means this policy would presumably also be targeting a huge number of white people as well.
• vladTheInhaler 6y ago
  >they're rioting because they don't feel like they're being heard. This is almost the exact same phrase that MLK used, and it makes complete sense. If we use violence (implicit or explicit) to exclude people from "polite" discourse, they will find other ways to communicate.
• joshmn 6y ago
  > People aren't rioting because they want to destroy things There are people who want to destroy things. See: https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/1266127105621983238?s=20 https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/1266127105621983238?... for a the current manchild of the hour. It often cascades from individuals like these. He may be the poster boy of the chaos but I assure you, as someone who has been in these streets, he is not alone. Please, come join us and you can see for yourself. There are countless innocent business owners who were ransacked, who were had their livelihoods changed that would beg to differ with you. I understand the concept of being loud to be heard. I understand making a statement. I understand burning down the precinct. What I don't understand is looting independent pharmacies, liquor stores, and restaurants to steal inventory and merchandize and break into safes. https://www.startribune.com/these-minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-are-damaged-looted-after-george-floyd-protests/569930671/ https://www.startribune.com/these-minneapolis-st-paul-buildi... https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/gsum4h/minority_business_owner_who_invested_life_savings/ https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/gsum4h/minority_...
  • daeken 6y ago
    Does rioting destroy things? Yes. But read that sentence from me again: "People aren't rioting because they want to destroy things". People are rioting because they see this as the only way forward, not because they want a new TV. They may get that TV in the process, but it's not the motivation.
    • JumpCrisscross 6y ago
      Protesting and rioting are separate, and often done by separate people. One gives cover to the other. But it doesn’t need to lead to the other.
      • wbronitsky 6y ago
        It’s is wildly racist that this comment, and many other comments on here, are far more focused on the rioters than the murder that occurred on a sidewalk in broad daylight.
• kfrzcode 6y ago
  I listened to many, many, people, on the ground. I live a few blocks away from the location of the Floyd incident. Attacking police officers (or really anyone, at all) shouldn't be encouraged, in my opinion. Ever. Is an eye-for-an-eye the type of justice that's needed? I don't like it. These are actual quotes: "Fuck police, shoot the pigs!" "Innocents are gonna die" "This is just the start, you ready? You ready?" "We're going to burn this fucker down" "Kill the white folks! Kill whitey!" Whatever. I've been labeled racist for not wanting to watch my city burn. Can't we have justice without violence?
  • mindslight 6y ago
    > Can't we have justice without violence? Yes we can. In fact, this is the entire point of the police and criminal justice system - to reduce violence by providing a predictable and civil source of justice. Unfortunately yours has gone rogue, leading to the failed societal conditions you're experiencing.
• luckylion 6y ago
  That line of thinking is incentivizing violence as a means of "being heard". Whoever riots the loudest and strongest gets to speak and be listened to. No doubt the next step after listening is to compromise, aka "meet in the middle".
• deleted 6y ago
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• outworlder 6y ago
  > People aren't rioting because they want to destroy things Tip: don't use absolutes. Always leave some margin. As long as there is one single person alive or that has ever lived that conflicts with your statement, that will be used as a counter-example and will be nitpicked to death and people will focus on that, instead of the main point. If you say "most people", that immediately deflects those arguments. I've learned that the hard way.
• golemiprague 6y ago
  Like we didn't hear this message about how violent the police is to black people. We heard it enough, I am not convinced and all this looting doesn't help to convince me. I am convinced that the police in the US is extra violent comparing to other countries but I am not at all convinced they are specifically violent against blacks, if anything I can see why they should be considering this behaviour. I also understand that they must be more strict because of all the guns and weapons going around comparing to other countries. I haven't seen such riots when police in the US killed white people with no justification so I don't understand the point of all of this, it is just senseless violence, even more senseless than the regular violence among black communities, at least in those cases there is some criminal motives like someone invaded a drug selling territory and get shot for that. I am not American but my only conclusion from all of this is that we should strive for homogenous society as much as possible, mixing different populations with each other will always cause problems. Diversity is a disaster everywhere and will never work. Did I "hear" the message correctly? If not maybe they should try a different method.
• jds375 6y ago
  Your words almost exactly echo Marilyn Manson’s commentary on the columbine shootings. Interesting parallel. He was asked what he would say to the shooters and he said “I wouldn’t say a single word to them. I’d listen to what they have to say. And that’s what no one did.”