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Quoting https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/the-only-way-to-stop-violence-why-protesters-are-unmasking-belarus-police https://www.theguardian.com/worl

• eecc 6y ago
  That’s true, and I’m all for mandatory identification badges when doing crowd control, but you have to realize the context in which the identity is revealed: in a democratic country it’s meant as a mechanism to correct violent (hopefully) outliers. But unmasking violent agents of a violent state won’t do anything except provide the excuse to repress even harder... you’ll just end up with riot police firing live ammo (a bit like in the US, where police will always claim the victim appeared to reach for a weapon before they start hailing bullets.) It’s simple power game: if you challenge a bully that is much stronger than you, you will be crushed. If you really want to make a dent, you collect the evidence and plea for help from a stronger one. (EU, UN, ICJ...) Unless the objective is to provoke a violent reaction and use the bruises to mobilize help in sympathy (problem is who “gets to suffer the bruise”... you, or a random protestor caught in a retaliatory strike)
  • fsflover 6y ago
    > in a democratic country it’s meant as a mechanism to correct violent (hopefully) outliers. But unmasking violent agents of a violent state won’t do anything except provide the excuse to repress even harder... Knowing who breaks the law and applies violence to civil protesters will allow to have a fair trial later.