for people who are unaware of why the riots in minneapolis started happening, here’s the facts:
it wasn’t george floyd’s protesters who started reacting violently; it was the cops.
the protest was peaceful until the cops showed up in riot gear, and started using water cannons, followed up by tear gas and rubber bullets. i got videos from friends who were there, of people screaming and running away from the cops shooting the water cannons, rubber bullets and throwing tear gas at them. they were even shooting at the protesters dragging people away to get medical attention.
speaking of medical attention, dispatch refused to provide any medical attention to the protesters. people literally had to drive their bleeding friends to the hospital because they refused to send ambulances.
cops are using non-lethal weapons in a lethal way. they shot rubber bullets into people’s heads and injured them. there’s dozens of photos of protesters with bleeding head wounds from the rubber bullets.
multiple people used police scanners and heard that there were undercover cops pretending to be violent protesters who were throwing rocks and whatnot at the police, with dozens of eyewitness accounts confirming that information.
the person who instigated all the chaos last night (it was a fire at an autozone) with the looting and burning buildings is highly suspected to be an undercover cop pretending to be a protester, because the video of him keeps getting taken down. protesters tried to stop him but couldn’t because he had a hammer and they were scared for their safety.
the cops jammed cell phone towers and cut live streams to interrupt broadcasts and to prevent people from seeing what was really going on and who actually started the violence.
the cops lied about protesters being armed and about throwing rocks and are literally trying to continue the violence happening and yet no one is holding them accountable for that.
and during all this, the cop that murdered george floyd still hasn’t been arrested. he has had more than ten complaints filed against him and was involved in three other civilian shootings in the past. and yet he’s still out free along with his three other buddies involved, probably sitting on his couch while all this chaos is happening.
so don’t get it twisted. the cops just want to change the narrative to make it look like they’re the wounded and righteous party, when they’re the ones who started reacting violently in the first place and are still acting violently. so don’t you ever forget who started this tragedy and murdered someone, and who are continuing to react to the situation with violence.
black people, please take care of yourselves. please take care of your health. please take care of your mind. please take care of your spirit.
i understand if your soul is not at peace. i understand if you are exhausted. just, please take care of yourselves in these dark, hateful times and surround yourself with people who understand why.
you can’t read a few text posts on tumblr and reblog a couple pictures of black lives matters and think you’re not racist. racism is a deeply engrained part of our culture - sometimes it’s not even conscious. you have to constantly question yourself. it’s pretty hard to unlearn 400+ years of institutional racism and in order for us to properly
dismantle systems of injustice, we have to stop pretending we all aren’t part of the problem.
