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I've recapped the depths of last summer's BLM/antifa violence in previous threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667848 https://news.ycombinator.com/i

I've recapped the depths of last summer's BLM/antifa violence in previous threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667848 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667848 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25691407 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25691407 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25671284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25671284 Objectively, the summer's riots (as opposed to the more numerous peaceful protests) caused more deaths, injuries, and property damage. At the same time, the assault on the capitol was an unprecedented attack on democracy and the peaceful transition of power, to which there is no direct BLM parallel. For now, I suggest we all stop comparing these things. I don't think many are receptive to either side of the argument. Emotions are still running high, and we're not through the transition of power just yet.

hannasanarion 6y ago
ooOOOOOoooo a video of a molotov cocktail, some people standing around and shouting, and a fake guillotine with a plastic blade, very scary. That's totally the same as invading the center of government decked out in illegal guns and armor while most of the line of succession is there, chanting your intention to murder them while breaking down doors, stealing government laptops, building a gallows to hang the politicians you don't like with, dragging police officers outside to beat them to death, all the while declaring the start of a new civil war, and while sympathetic insiders feed them real-time information about the location of the politicians you intend to kill, etc etc etc.
generalk 6y ago
> I suggest we all stop comparing these things. Agreed, they are comparable only in superficial ways which remove context vital to the understanding of both events. One group of people were protesting/rioting because police continue to suffer little consequence for murdering Black folks, despite years of effort at reform. The other group protested/rioted by breaking into the Capitol and threatening to murder politicians because the current POTUS has claimed, repeatedly and without any evidence, that the election he recently lost was somehow rigged against him. Again, for context, this has come from the side of American politics that has for the past four years claimed that "elections have consequences." To compare these two events on a "look who did more violence" level is reductive at best and at worst a bad faith argument in support of the folks who stormed the capitol.
- neartheplain 6y ago
  One group of people were protesting/rioting because police continue to suffer little consequence for murdering Black folks, despite years of effort at reform. If "protesting/rioting" includes gunning down unarmed black kids in the street (third link above), count me out. This is a highly flammable topic and we seem unlikely to agree, so I'd prefer we pause here.
  - hannasanarion 6y ago
    A shooting happening in a protest area is not the same as armed protesters attacking the seat of the federal government chanting their intention to murder politicians.
    - neartheplain 6y ago
      Please don't use the passive voice [0] to intentionally obscure a crime's perpetrator. Antonio Mays Jr. was not killed near a protest by a random passerby. He was murdered by armed "anti-fascist" protestors. They shot him in the face with a rifle. It's on camera. The killers audibly confessed to the murder. See this link [1] for the clips, if you must. The footage is disturbing. [0] https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/george-floyd-protests-media-coverage-police-passive-voice-20200624.html https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/george-floyd-pro... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0tXOBPMHA&t=1m25s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0tXOBPMHA&t=1m25s
      - hannasanarion 6y ago
        That doesn't change the fact that is was an isolated shooting that happened to happen in a protest area. That is not the same as mob formed and mobilized for the explicit and exclusive purpose of murder.
      - generalk 6y ago
        > He was murdered by armed "anti-fascist" protestors. It appears that that link has not been confirmed, as of an August 2020 WaPo article[0], which points out that many of the deaths at the protests can not be conclusively linked to the demonstrators. [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/26/almost-none-deaths-linked-recent-protests-are-known-have-been-committed-by-protesters/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/26/almost-no...

hannasanarion 6y ago

ooOOOOOoooo a video of a molotov cocktail, some people standing around and shouting, and a fake guillotine with a plastic blade, very scary. That's totally the same as invading the center of government decked out in illegal guns and armor while most of the line of succession is there, chanting your intention to murder them while breaking down doors, stealing government laptops, building a gallows to hang the politicians you don't like with, dragging police officers outside to beat them to death, all the while declaring the start of a new civil war, and while sympathetic insiders feed them real-time information about the location of the politicians you intend to kill, etc etc etc.

generalk 6y ago

> I suggest we all stop comparing these things. Agreed, they are comparable only in superficial ways which remove context vital to the understanding of both events. One group of people were protesting/rioting because police continue to suffer little consequence for murdering Black folks, despite years of effort at reform. The other group protested/rioted by breaking into the Capitol and threatening to murder politicians because the current POTUS has claimed, repeatedly and without any evidence, that the election he recently lost was somehow rigged against him. Again, for context, this has come from the side of American politics that has for the past four years claimed that "elections have consequences." To compare these two events on a "look who did more violence" level is reductive at best and at worst a bad faith argument in support of the folks who stormed the capitol.

neartheplain 6y ago
One group of people were protesting/rioting because police continue to suffer little consequence for murdering Black folks, despite years of effort at reform. If "protesting/rioting" includes gunning down unarmed black kids in the street (third link above), count me out. This is a highly flammable topic and we seem unlikely to agree, so I'd prefer we pause here.
- hannasanarion 6y ago
  A shooting happening in a protest area is not the same as armed protesters attacking the seat of the federal government chanting their intention to murder politicians.
  - neartheplain 6y ago
    Please don't use the passive voice [0] to intentionally obscure a crime's perpetrator. Antonio Mays Jr. was not killed near a protest by a random passerby. He was murdered by armed "anti-fascist" protestors. They shot him in the face with a rifle. It's on camera. The killers audibly confessed to the murder. See this link [1] for the clips, if you must. The footage is disturbing. [0] https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/george-floyd-protests-media-coverage-police-passive-voice-20200624.html https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/george-floyd-pro... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0tXOBPMHA&t=1m25s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0tXOBPMHA&t=1m25s
    - hannasanarion 6y ago
      That doesn't change the fact that is was an isolated shooting that happened to happen in a protest area. That is not the same as mob formed and mobilized for the explicit and exclusive purpose of murder.
    - generalk 6y ago
      > He was murdered by armed "anti-fascist" protestors. It appears that that link has not been confirmed, as of an August 2020 WaPo article[0], which points out that many of the deaths at the protests can not be conclusively linked to the demonstrators. [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/26/almost-none-deaths-linked-recent-protests-are-known-have-been-committed-by-protesters/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/26/almost-no...