4 ms·
I know you're being intentionally obtuse, as is the fashion right now, but I'm going to give a straight response to this for anyone genuinely engaging. We don'
by jessedhillon 6y ago
I know you're being intentionally obtuse, as is the fashion right now, but I'm going to give a straight response to this for anyone genuinely engaging.
We don't know what went through that officer's mind. If you're standing watch and someone stands next to you and clicks a photo, is there anything you can and should do? Should you, as the officer, wrestle him to the ground, knowing there's a riotous mob right behind him?
But even if it's the case that the officer enthusiastically posed for the photo, it's probably best not to understand police like a monolithic entity operating perfect information, but rather as a group of heterogeneous actors working in a fog that limits their awareness. Otherwise, if you extend the "one officer did X therefore the motives of all officers are established" logic you quickly get really stupid contradictions. Over the summer, I saw several photos of officers kneeling in solidarity with BLM protesters -- I guess that means all police everywhere support the aims of the BLM movement now?
Probably not, because police aren't a monolith, and subsequent police actions contradict that solidarity. Likewise, police teargassing, manhandling, and shooting these other protesters also paints a more complex landscape than "one officer took a selfie, therefore they're all collaborating."
- fencepost 6y agoI mostly kept it brief because I was browsing on a phone. I'd have no concerns had that selfie pic been taken outside at the original rally, but once that group had broken into the Capitol building everyone there was present illegally. That is not the time to pose for pictures, even if the situation or orders are such that you're not able to make arrests or expel them.
- jessedhillon 6y agoIt's a shame these officers didn't go to a police academy as fine as the one you attended.