Approximately 100 protesters who were opposed to the pro-police rally in Sunnyside/Woodside Aug 22 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Aug. 22, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
More than 150 supporters of the NYPD 108 Precinct marched up Greenpoint Avenue into Sabba Park in Woodside Saturday as part of a pro-police rally.
The supporters– who were carrying signs that read “back the blue” and “who are you going to call? 911”–– were greeted by about 100 protesters who were waiting for them at the 49-12 Queens Blvd. park. The park was where the pro-precinct rally ended and speeches took place.
The protesters – with signs that said: “defund the NYPD” and “white silence = violence” sat with raised fists along the main pathway inside Sabba Park.
The pro-108 Precinct supporters initially tried to use the pathway to get to the war monument where several speakers were lined up to speak. They were essentially blocked off and a brief but tense standoff ensued.
The pro-police supporters– accompanied by cops– then walked on the grass outskirts of the park to get to the monument.
Diane Ballek, who is the president of the 108th Pct. Community Council and the organizer, kicked off the speeches by thanking the police officers for protecting the people in the community.
“They go to work every day and give up their lives for strangers, complete strangers,” Ballek said.
“Behind that uniform is somebody’s brother, sister, mother, father, niece, nephew,” she said, while protesters held up signs and began to surround the pro-police supporters.
She also told the crowd that her late brother Kevin Czartoryski died from a 9/11 related illness which he caught while on the job and that her two nephews are NYPD cops.
Meanwhile, Phil Alvarez, whose brother was in the force and started his career in the 108th precinct, asked the crowd to view cops as people.
“My wish today is that you see some of these officers in blue…for who they are,” Alvarez said, as the protesters began hemming in the police supporters.
“They have families. They just want to make sure the laws are followed and that no one gets hurt– and that when someone gets in a situation … there is someone there for them.”
When Alvarez stopped speaking, Council Member Bob Holden took the microphone and was soon interrupted by a loud bullhorn siren set off by a protester.
“That’s what they try to do, stifle everyone, stifle the silent majority,” Holden said to loud cheers and applause from the cop supporters.
“They’re getting the kind of New York that they deserve and they’re going to be the first to squawk when the cops don’t arrive in time because they want to defund them,” Holden said.
Holden, who voted down the recent budget cuts to the NYPD, said the group’s message would be heard despite the protesters.
“They’re trying to silence us, we won’t be silenced,” he said to more cheers.
Holden, who was the only elected official to turn up at the march, said the community didn’t want to be under siege like other cities.
“The silent majority is stepping up now,” he said.
A protester then interfered with a “thin blue line” flag which was being held up behind Holden while another protester blasted out speeches by famous racial justice leaders over a bullhorn.
“This is what they try to do, we’re not falling for it guys. Let’s keep going and let’s get the city back on track,” he concluded.
HAPPENING NOW:
Counter protesters block pro-police from getting to monument at Sabba Park – they had initially said they would move aside. Pro police go around them
@NYPD108Pct @queenspost @sunnysidepost pic.twitter.com/XfnQVSdOuN— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 22, 2020
Joseph Conley, the former Chairman of Community Board 2, then told the crowd that the 108th precinct had historically one of the lowest crime rates in the city because the community worked closely with the police.
He said that it was “lunacy and insane” to defund the police department and that the move would only send the city back to the high crime rates of the 70s and 80s.
“This is nonsense…we need to support the police department, god bless the men in blue,” Conley said as protesters with anti-cop signs like “blue lives don’t exist,” and “f**k the police” filled the space behind him.
Ballek then ended the speeches which had lasted around 10 minutes. She told the Queens Post that the 108 Precinct supporters – some of whom were elderly– felt intimidated so she cut the event short.
108 Pct. supporters, Aug 22 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The Rally
The pro-108 Precinct rally started at 39th Street and Greenpoint Avenue shortly after 11 a.m.
The participants said the NYPD needed their support following a wave of protests against cops and the rise of the defund the police movement.
The pro-police marchers walked behind two men who carried a “Thin Blue Line” American flag – which represents law enforcement – and carried various signs in support of the precinct and the NYPD.
They carried signs that read “who are you going to call? 911,” “don’t like police? don’t call them” and “enough with the hate, respect goes both ways.”
The pro-police marchers were a mixture of of older people, boy scouts and some teenagers.
Pro Police rally Aug 22, 2020 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The marchers were flanked by more than a dozen police officers on foot and several NYPD vehicles escorted the participants from the front and at the rear.
Some bystanders cheered and clapped the marchers along their route.
pro police rally has grown to 150@queenspost @sunnysidepost pic.twitter.com/I58B2l2JGw
— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 22, 2020
Meanwhile, the protesters had begun assembling at John Vincent Daniels Jr. Square in Woodside at 10 a.m. and consisted of a diverse group of individuals mainly aged in their 20s and early 30s.
Many of the protesters told the Queens Post that they turned out to express their outrage at the NYPD, saying that the police are killing and abusing people of color.
They said that the police abuse their power and minorities are the victims. They said they were upset by the rally– arguing that the participants were enabling the racist oppression to continue.
The protesters were highly organized and leaders wore handheld transceivers with earpieces. Many had traveled from various boroughs to attend the protest.
They also said that many of the pro-cop marchers had misunderstood the goals of the “defund the police” movement. They called for more money to be spent on education– as opposed to on cops–and carried signs calling for criminal justice reform.
Several of their leaders demanded that the NYPD be abolished completely.
HAPPENING NOW:
Around 80 counter protestors to a pro-police rally have assembled at John Vincent Daniels Jr. Square, Woodside.They plan on marching towards the pro police rally at 39th St. & Greenpoint Av. which kicks off at 11 @queenspost @sunnysideposthttps://t.co/XyeZdiAKBw pic.twitter.com/pLzbQXPMGF
— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 22, 2020
.@BobHoldenNYC was immediately interrupted by counter-protesters as he took the mic?️ at pro-@NYPD108Pct rally in #Sunnyside Saturday.
?️“They’re trying to silence us, we won’t be silenced…
We have to #BackTheBlue,” Holden said.@queenspost @sunnysidepost #Queens #protest pic.twitter.com/XSiNn5wn2X
— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 23, 2020
“The silent majority is stepping up now, this is not going to hold…
“Let’s keep going and let’s get the city back on track,”
@BobHoldenNYC said at pro-@NYPD108Pct rally in #Sunnyside Saturday.@queenspost @sunnysidepost #Queens #protest pic.twitter.com/xzjSmbuD1T
— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 23, 2020
Counter-protester signs (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The Protesters
Grace Frutos, a Sunnyside resident who organized the protest, spoke to the crowd at Sabba Park after the pro-police rally ended.
She said that the black and brown kids she teaches as a speech therapist are constantly bullied because of their skin color– and that we lived in a racist system.
She said that the protesters are part of a youth-led revolution “who can see a new world.”
“We will continue to fight for prison reform because even if we get rid of police the system that we have in place for someone who has made a mistake is not working.”
“We need to give them transformative and restorative justice and rehabilitate them so that they can come back into the world and we won’t be scared,” she said. These systems, she added, often involve the victim and the offender meeting and reconciling with one another.
UPDATE:
The counter protestors WILL NOT march to pro-police rally starting point.
They will now meet them at their END POINT at Sabba Park at 49-12 Queens Blvd.
I spoke to counter-protest organizer Grace Frutos @queenspost @sunnysidepost pic.twitter.com/rtrzZoAIK3— Michael Dorgan (@MDorganNYC) August 22, 2020
After the event, Frutos told the Queens Post that the protesters sat in the pathway space at Sabba Park in silence to convey their discipline.
She said that they did not intend to block the marchers from getting to the monument. Their goal, she said, was to force the marchers to read their signs as they walked through.
Frutos said that her group did not block the pro-police marchers from entering the park or from conducting their rally. She said that they had just taken up space in the park beforehand.
“We didn’t get in between them, we were already occupying the park so they got in our space,” she told the Queens Post.
Luis Galilei, an organizer who traveled from Harlem, also spoke to the crowd for around 10 minutes after the pro-police rally ended. He took issue with the large number of police who had remained at the park after the pro-police rally had left.
He was also upset that the cops were engaging and speaking to the pro-police supporters earlier.
“Why are you showing love to the people that support an oppressive system?” he asked.
“Let me remind every police officer here and every person here that we are here to abolish the NYPD,” he said to cheers and claps.
Several other speakers spoke out against racism, capitalism and called for reparations for black people. The group then marched back toward their starting point at John Vincent Daniels Jr. Square.
Supporters are stopped at Sabba Park (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
(Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Local residents supporting the 108th Precinct (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Pro-police rally Aug 22 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Defund the police, BLM signs (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
A sign reading “enough with the hate, respect goes both ways” at the pro-Police rally Aug 22, 2020 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
“Who are you going to call? 911” (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Counter-protesters were highly organized and wore handheld transceivers with earpieces (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
(Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Signs at John Vincent Daniels Jr. Square in Woodside (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
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91 Comments
Do the cops not find that PC enough?
George Floyd OD on fentanyl.
You should tell the DA so they can reverse the murder charges against the cop! Trump lovers are so gullible.
Don’t even like Trump much less love him. Read the autopsy report. Watch the full bodycam footage.
Autopsy report lists the cause of death as “asphyxiation from sustained pressure.”
Thank for proving me right! If you weren’t so misinformed you wouldn’t be embarrassed as often.
How about those bike lanes ?
If we allow these anarchist to call the shots then is going to be chaos for all. We are citizens that live in a civil society ruled by law, if you don’t like this country there are options like communist China, Cuba and Venezuela, of course in those countries they will not be able to protest at all. Tired of the extreme left demanding that all of us align with their demagoguery of hate and chaos.
As an octogenarian who lived as an adult during the 1960’s I am afraid that there is nothing solid or permanent occurring now.
Most of the energy present seems to be of the temporary type manifested by the people who are concerned about cultural constructions and gender pronouns.
I’m shocked!
another hot take!!…thank god you paid $200k for a fake education!!
Was there a way they could have phrased to offend you less?
Herd mentality (also known as mob mentality) describes behavior in which people act the same way or adopt similar behaviors as the people around them — often ignoring their feelings in the process. Think of a sheep blindly following the flock no matter where they go just because that’s what the herd is doing. Protesting has a lot to do with the herd mentality.
A lot of what is going on right now is a smoke screen to distract from the real issue: economic fairness and a strong black middle class. Taking a selfie in a BLM t-shirt and posting it relieves white people of the burden to do anything about this essential problem, which many take part in but refuse to acknowledge.
Ms., you are a bold face liar and YOU are the racist!
if “all lives matter” then why aren’t you mad too?
The last imbedded video interview of Grace Frutos is very telling. For the printed record, she says:
“What does a world without police look like? And are we in fact safe in a world without police police? And the answer is yes.”
Grace, you’re living in a fantasy dream world. In reality, you don’t have the answer.
Put yourself into Grace’s shoes. I cannot speak for her specifically, but she is coming from a world in which negative contact with police is pervasive to an extent that is difficult to grasp for those who haven’t experienced it. And yes, she lives in our community, but her own vastly different experiences are due to her being a young person of color.
I take her statement “A world without police [being safer]” to mean that Grace wants to have the same kinds of interactions with police that “gardens” residents like you and I do. She wants to live in a world where PD are infrequently needed and respond courteously, professionally, and respectfully to do their job and do it well.
Maybe it isn’t Grace who is living in the fantasy dream world. Maybe we are for thinking that other people don’t want to share our privileged experiences and positive interactions with the police. Black Lives Matter. Think about it.
” She wants to live in a world where PD are infrequently needed “….then stop committing crimes, resisting arrest and choosing not to work
What makes you think I haven’t had contact with the police? What makes you think I don’t think black lives matter?
She wants a world without police. Those are her words. I take her at her word, and won’t be deluded into thinking she only wants to defund the police.
What did you think about Bob Holden’s words? Do you also take him at his word that he wants to bring back choke holds? Is that how you #backtheblue? Those should answer your own questions.
Holden isn’t my councilman, but his remarks on this video referred to the diaphragm portion of the bill that the council passed and the Mayor signed — NOT to chokeholds.
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan
said it clearly on PIX11: “The idea of the diaphragm bill — and I call it a diaphragm bill — because we have no objection to the chokehold portion of it, but any cop who’s ever fought with someone on the street, trying to get him into cuffs, there’s a great possibility that your knee is going to end up on that individual’s back, and now this new law is criminalizing it.”
Expect an amendment to the law soon.
Grace has had limited contact with police. She is just repeating what she hears in the echo chamber. Biggest users of police services in USA are poor black and brown people. Middle class black and some middle class brown calling for police defunding when they have less need of police themselves.
Mighty old and white crowd, the kind of people that would never have to worry about getting shot in the back for being a different color. clueless and out of touch. I have many friends that are and have been cops in NYC. One thing they all have said at one time or another, “i dont get paid to be a psychiatrist, a social worker, a teacher, a parent, etc etc etc”. That is what Defund the Police is all about, amazing how this goes over the heads of the entitled crowd. Instead of being a reactive society, it makes much more sense to be proactive and strike at the issues that lead to crime. This means taking $ earmarked for the militarization of the police, etc and putting it to much better use in order to prevent crime to begin with- after school programs, community ctrs, job training, mental health, etc. Policing, and training, need to be reexamined, 6 months and you are a cop? That’s a joke. 2 years makes much more sense. Lastly, pro publica released documents showing that 4000 current members of the NYPD had substantiated claims against them, that’s 1/8 of the work force. The bigger problem are the 7/8 that let them get away with their illegal behavior because they fear retribution, a real career killer. The blue wall of silence helped create this situation. Do the job the right way. Respect is earned
You are blinded by your and Ageist and Racist generalizations.
Headline should have been “Terrorist kids and their antifa and BLM pals confront people who live in the neighborhood and love their country.” There, fixed it!
Wow – look at the hatred towards anyone older than yourself. You are an ageist and a racist and a product of public school brainwashing. Your parents must be so proud of you!
Biden2020
Oh please. Try dealing with the police at a precinct to file a report. The only way they listen to you is if you know the law including your rights and speak “proper” english. I watched as people were turned away and given the wrong information. They had a young cadet on the front desk turning people away. I guess to blame his inexperience if he gave the wrong info or turned away the wrong person. The cadet tried to tell me that my case was a civil matter until i asked to speak to a sergeant. I felt so sorry for everyone that i saw that they turned away. Most were minorities that spoke limited english.
This has been going on for months! Just STOP!!!! I support BLM, but this has been lasting too long. Its getting old and annoying!
This is getting too close to home. Next time, stay away from our park in Woodside please so the kids can enjoy it on the weekends!
BLM is looking mighty white these days.
If you’re looking for white privilege, find a Liberal. Crossing boundaries is a hobby.
I feel bad for the police officers having to babysit all these silly protests. Both sides need to stop. Maybe just come together once a month to better the community and do things like clean the park!.
I read that the cases of unarmed black people being killed by police is small compared to the number of black people being killed by other black people.
Your point is?
As a Mexican living in Sunnyside I have a question: how did White People take over BLM protests?
I was thinking the exact same this.
Maria, good question, but “how” should really be “why.” Scroll down to Living in the past’s comment.
I refuse to believe skin pigment conspiracy is why civilians die in police interactions. The totality of the circumstances on a case by case basis. Police are armed professionals that sometimes things go south in countless variables in each situation. t’s a case by case basis not a clandestine police racial conspiracy as the media will tell you. Assuming race is the motive for those deaths is laughably stupid, but here we are, millions of people seem to believe this nonsense. Each situation is different, but one common issue appears to be people fighting with the police which leads to an escalation where someone dies.
Robert Holden, a councilmember, showed up and he doesn’t even represent this district. WHERE’S JIMMY???
Who cares about that little coward and the to think the 108th caught the burglar of his house.
Hate is like the Bat Signal for Bob Holden. This could have been in Tottenville and he would’ve been there!
81% of blacks support current levels of policing or want more. I fail to understand why white people who just moved to NYC are lobbying against what blacks want under the guide of protecting them.
Grace let the cat out of her bag earlier in the year with an Instagram post.
I wish the police would arrest the narcotics dealer who operates on the corner of Skillman and 48th..He’s a middle aged balding man with tattoos and normally wears tank tops. We don’t need drug dealers in Sunnyside
A person in the article is quoted as saying something along the lines of ‘we need to see the police as people who have families’. well, shouldn’t the police be doing that for all the people that they deal with, instead of brutalizing them? When the good cops start turning in those that are corrupt and violating the rights of the citizens of our city, then and only then will they earn respect from everyone in the community. until then their silence only enables the situation, which makes them complicit, so they have no one to blame but themselves for anti-cop attitudes. And what’s the United States flag with the blue line? people whine about a guy taking a knee during the anthem but you’re allowed to do that to our flag? Hypocrites. the PBA bozo pat lynch basically admitted that there’s a slow down because they don’t like the fact that they’re not allowed to kick the crap out of people any longer, so that’s why crime is up because these snowflakes don’t want to do their job the legal way. Do your job and stop crying about everything. they’ve been arresting less people and confiscating less guns. it’s almost as if they want to prove that we need them by not doing their job. Clown show. Then these fools back trump, who in a speech with police right behind him said it was OK for them to bang the head of someone in handcuffs while putting them in their car and all the cops laughed. And people wonder why so many citizens don’t like or trust the police.
You sound triggered snowflake. All this blood of young black men, women and babies is on the hands of BLM / Antifa and the progressive (read communist) wing of the Democratic Party. This is what you wanted. Stop whining and go preach peace and love in the PJs, you’ll either get laughed at or killed. You wanted the police out, they’re out.
Actually they aren’t arresting people because most these days are resisting and the dumb city council said cops can’t use their knees. Problem ALL NYS cops are taught to use knees and now they don’t have proper training to arrest based on new law. Has nothing to do with chokeholds. Would you arrest if you can go to jail for it?
Better idea, get rid of that part.
The thin blue line flag has been around for decades and shows support for fallen and injured law enforcement officers. It’s not a ‘blue lives matter’ flag.
Great reporting, Michael Dorgan!!
there is protesting and there is insanity…proposing to abolish the NYPD and that person is called “a leader”…this is irresponsible and just flaming just the thing we don’t need-creating mistrust and division..lets not become the very thing we’re protesting against-that’s the perfect way to alienate people…threatening someone because you disagree with them? Who’s the bad guy now?
Typical fascist antifa members trying to stifle free speech. Silent majority will speak on November 3rd.
Black children are screwed because their schools are crappy; and the dems run the schools in most big cities!
Kids are not school ready so are behind on day one.
Charter schools seem to work and dems oppose them!
Get smart!
Charter school- Provide more proof than “seem to work”. Charter school strips the under performing students from the school roster then people like Eva Moskiwitz produce the same statistics without the under performing students . A scam to present to the gullible. Charters make money by short changing like an insurance company makes. There is more to education than just the school. My sister has worked in the inner city Bronx and is currently teaching in a public school in this area out if safety concern. She and a number of colleagues (people of all persuasions) transferred out of her Bronx school because of threatening parents and parents who think education stops and begins on the school steps. Charter school gets to throw the poor performers and bullies out, regular public school doesn’t. My son is now teaching at Hostos Community and stories of students needing extensive remedial instruction. The schools that are failing are the same ones that were failing fifty years ago and under Republican administrations as well.
BS David: Charters work, set expectations high, with parent support for education from day one and every child will thrive.
These people just expect everyone to just ignore all the abuse of power, racism and murder the NYPD does and give the NYPD respect. Stop playing the victims and offer real change, then you will earn respect
great reporting. thank you for spending time with both sides
yes both sides. One side wants Black people to be treated equally and the other is a police force abusing their power
I’m glad there was extended coverage of the counter protest
Isn’t it obvious that Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter were inspired as a racist response to Black Lives Matter? Think about it. Which came first?
Black Lives Matter happened because of systemic and institutionalized racism, particularly in law enforcement and incarceration. The racism was already there for 400 years.
Blue Lives Matter was founded after 2 NYPD officers were murdered while sitting in a patrol car eating their lunch by a BLM subscriber from out of town.
No it’s not obvious
Can you explain to me why I was the victim of crimes committed by black people various times ?
And I mean violent crimes
I can’t wait to hear your response !
My life matters also
She stopped people from physically entering the small park. She and her pals should have been arrested for that and their signs were obnoxious and hateful. Please go away and take your hatred of law abiding citizens, the police and crime victims with you.
Just wait until her next event. will be given the same treatment
Naw, we didn’t prevent anyone from entering the park. Plenty of people walked through us. You can stop lying now.
No. The 108 rally had the permits for the square. Grace took it upon herself to take up that whole area. You can’t even five people the same courtesy that you get. Speaks volumes
The videos show your side’s blockage, #BLM. So glad SSP reporter got it on video.
America needs to address the issue of mental illness. People with mental illness are exponentially more likely to have negative interactions with police and drain resources. Prison wardens have petitioned congress for more psychiatric ward funding and say prisons have become dumping grounds for the mentally sick and that their facilities are not equipped to handle.
Stop blaming everything on mental illness.
@Guest- Nobody is “blaming” anyone. Pointing out a fact is not blame. Dealing with schizophrenic people, mentally sick homeless people, people with untreated mental illness, suicidal people, drug and alcohol dependent and the list goes on, cost the police department’s a fortune in man power, man hours and other resources.No other modern civilized society treats mentally ill people in this fashion. That’s why these countries have less crime and less people killed and hurt in police involved shootings and other incidents.
Were they upset about police murdering George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes while he screamed “I can’t breathe” or something else?
Floyd died approximately 30 minutes after entering the hospital and not from asphyxiation but he was loaded with drugs fentanyl being the main drug. Read the autopsy report. The cop should not have done what He did and here was no excuse for that.
@Eileen: You’re wrong!! You obviously haven’t read any official reports or the autopsy.
The official transcripts of bodycam footage from officers Lane and J Alexander Kueng show Mr Floyd said more than 20 times he could not breathe as he was restrained. He was also pleading for his mother and begging “please, please, please”.
At one point, Mr Floyd gasps: “You’re going to kill me, man.”
Officer Chauvin replies: “Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”
Mr Floyd says: “Can’t believe this, man. Mom, love you. Love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.”
A female bystander told the police: “His nose is bleeding, come on now.”
About six minutes into that period, Mr Floyd became non-responsive. In videos of the incident, this was when Mr Floyd fell silent, as bystanders urged the officers to check his pulse.
Officer Kueng did just that, checking Mr Floyd’s right wrist, but “couldn’t find one”. Yet the other officers did not move.
At 20:27, Mr Chauvin removed his knee from Mr Floyd’s neck. Motionless, Mr Floyd was rolled on to a gurney and taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center in an ambulance.
He was pronounced dead about an hour later.
No pulse at scene meant he was already dead upon arrival at hospital. Nice try.
Can you imagine being gullible enough to believe that? His murder is on video tape.
We can talk about all the other black people murdered by police if you want?
Can we talk about all the people murdered by black people including other blacks if you want ?
Crickets chirping
Do you have anything to say that’s relevant to that or just “WHATABOUT SOMETHING ELSE?!”
“…we are here to abolish the police.”
Direct quote from one of the counter-protestors.
Then they tell you they don’t really want to get rid of the police, just divert funds to their pet projects.
They can’t seem to even make up their minds.
Pet projects like… drug treatment? Domestic violence intervention programs? Homeless services? You know, things police are called on to when it really shouldn’t be their job.
Check. Already spending gazillions on those pet projects.
This has nothing to do with Marxist ideology. Not all desire for change or accountability is an attack on your beliefs or “ideology”. Fox News propaganda is evident in your post.
At least the alt-right rally was’t violent as usual
No but the alt left is violent
it’s not going to happen. Even Trump dropped it!
What is your point? Some people want to abolish the police and some want to divert funds to other things. People can have different thoughts on how to fix the problem. you don’t have to fall in line with one thought to be in BLM
How can you support an organization that was founded on enforcing racism and was originally created to uphold slavery? Read a book, watch a documentary , do some research if you’re going to speak ignorantly. if you think the system is reformable that’s laughable and that’s why folks are saying abolish the police. defunding is one option take to reinvest in social programming to uplift underserved communities which is the entire point when the police oppress and target bipoc communities. Why do they need billions in Funding to protect us? Why do they need riot gear at protests when no-one was provoking anyone? Why do i see cops just mozying around doing nothing wearing no masks? Why is there an IQ maximum threshold for the law enforcement exam? Ask yourself questions rather than boot licking and pretending like everything is just dandy
Racism is a prevalent issue in this country and if you willingly choose to think that it doesn’t exist in the police force that is truly sad. This isn’t about one cop who is human, We are talking about an entire corrupt system which does not hold itself accountable nor truly has ever served justice.
People who need police most are minorities. The call to abolish/defund police is absurd in the extreme and is indicative of a puerile mindset. The medical field has been institutionally racist and remains so. No one is calling for abolishing hospitals and defunding medical schools.
Oh and if you have actually been to a protest to learn and hear everyone out you’d know the medical field is a large issue too. We can’t fight against everything right now. One of the most pressing dangerous organizations threatening bipoc communities are the police. Hence the fpcus. Light and love
Why do people live in the past and try to conflate current events with past history? Answer, to seize power. By delegitimizing others as corrupt or tainted they dismiss an entire system as irredeemable and therefore must be replaced. The replacement? Them! Old tricks. They divide on the basis of sex, religion, race, economics, and whatever other contention they can stoke. This is politics under the guise of social justice. They think they are enlightened but they aren’t. They are sophists, nothing more.
Same reason the Democratic Socialists have used BLM: to further their political power.
They pressure Democratic lawmakers into supporting their position. If they don’t comply, they don’t get the DSA endorsement.
Some people want to abolish the police and prison system. The majority of other police reform advocates are calling for reallocation of funds to what you are calling “pet projects”. Do you really think mental health care, drug reform, or housing for homeless who would otherwise be jailed are really ‘pet projects?’ I would argue that relying on police to solve these healthcare, housing, education, labor and cultural issues is a pet project that the NYPD is not equipped To perform, nor wishes to do. So why not fund projects that will reduce crime so the police don’t have to work so hard on what they view as petty issues they aren’t trained to deal with?
OK Jimmy. Where’s your comprehensive plan? We’ve reached a boiling point.