Riots Continue to Draw Negative Press as Curfews Shut Down Major Cities
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Riots Continue to Draw Negative Press as Curfews Shut Down Major Cities

A House Divided Against Itself

It’s impossible to miss the riots and protests happening throughout the US right now. Whether you’re pro or anti the riot sentiment, it’s going to continue to be a massive movement for at least another two weeks.

When African American George Floyd was wrongfully killed in broad daylight, the police faced scrutiny. Officer in question, Derek Chauvin was originally only fired and an investigation was promised. However, people did not trust the police to have a balanced conversation about the investigation. This led to mass protests that began as peaceful, but soon spiraled out of control.

After the Fire Department  was called to put out a fire set in an AutoZone store, more than 15 buildings would go up in flames. Local police for Minneapolis began to fear even more repercussions. Another three officers were fired in wake of the Floyd controversy, but it was not enough.

Fire Fought With Firepower

Shortly after the riots continued to escalate, officers had to vacate Minneapolis for fear of their lives. Riot officers were called in to mandate control measures and begin instituting crowd policies.

A mere few days after this, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, mobilized the National Guard units. More than 10,000 soldiers are now present in Minneapolis for control measures and enforcement of public safety. As one can expect, protestors are not happy about more authorities with weapons. Riots have only intensified.

Soon after, President Donald Trump made a controversial statement on social media. Effectively calling for much harsher treatment of certain protestors if they continued to cause damage and unrest.

Now, we are seeing even more protests and riots pop up all over the US. Denver recently had an 8PM – 5AM curfew instituted. Protest crowds were asked to disperse and when they failed to comply, police threatened usage of tear gas and pepper bullets.

LA is seeing the same result as people are blocking roadways, burning property and failing to comply with requests.

Is There an End in Sight?

Things may potentially escalate even further. A cursory glance through Reddit, Twitter, Snapchat etc will show increases in violent behavior across the board. Some police officers seem to be almost reveling in the chance to exact violence.
Similarly, some protestors are causing public damage and threatening people’s lives by climbing on cars and throwing rocks.

Not to say there is no definite cause to the blame. The police did begin the fallout effect by causing the death of Floyd. Tensions between citizens and cops have been at the breaking point for years, all it was going to take was one more action.

That being said, people that are threatening innocent lives, burning property and looting should be condemned. There is no justification in doing the same thing that we are accusing officers of doing. If you want to make a difference, you have to be better than them, not stoop to the same level.

Right now there is no telling when riots will begin to calm down and disperse. There’s a lot of emotion right now and a lot of people that are just looking for excuses. We need to be diligent and proactive, but we are not animals.

 

For more updates on George Floyd, protests and police responses, stay tuned here at Scoophash.

 

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