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US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

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Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#121

Post by meragrin_ »

dv_dt wrote: post #81
stult wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Police helicopters don't have hellfire missiles as standard optional armament. I mean, they could. And firefighting planes could be rerigged to disperse chemical weapons, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them existing. >Also police helicopters are operated by local/state forces. This is a federal agency which is way out of its jurisdiction. I'm guessing it's on loan. It's hardly unusual or questionable for…

Perhaps this is too political, but the only tool they actually needed was one they had the whole time. Charge the offices based upon the evidence and open a more detailed investigation. The military equipment was entirely unnecessary - but it's very availability makes opportunity for bad decisions.

In all probability, union rules stand in the way of making any quick arrests. Their hands are tied. It is better for them to appear slow and do things by the book than try to appease the irrational mob. They'll eventually get to where the mob wants to go rather than ending up with the cops "winning" in some way due violations of union rules and procedures.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#122

Post by komali2 »

mythrwy wrote: post #108
evanlivingston wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comments reads as "god save capitalism. Everything is justified unless dollars are burned in the process."

More like "god save common sense and basic human decency" WTF is the matter with people?

May you never experience the generations long frustration of any of the people driven to burn down a police station just to get their voices heard.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#123

Post by jtr1 »

mythrwy wrote: post #85
_bfhp wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well if we can speak with such absolute certainty, I'll go next: there are dozens of undercover and rogue police officers involving themselves in escalating all the bad stuff

For what purpose?

in the past, riots have strengthened public support for more armor, more weapons, bigger budgets, less oversight. But there are less calculating possibilities as well.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#124

Post by dogma1138 »

ip26 wrote: post #78
r00fus wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police helicopters don't have hellfire missiles as standard optional armament. Also police helicopters are operated by local/state forces. This is a federal agency which is way out of its jurisdiction.

Are you sure? Police use military surplus helicopters, such as the Cobra and Black Hawk, both of which can be armed with hellfires.

Which police forces use Cobra helicopters? These are gunships that have no utility what so ever.

As for Blackhawks I’ve never seen them used by police forces, those in civilian use are not surplus military helicopters or even the UH-60 but rather it’s civilian version the Sikorsky S-70 which are used by fire departments and search and rescue crews.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#125

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

dariusj18 wrote: post #110
Rebelgecko wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's usually called the Reaper, to distinguish from the original Predator

That seems more sinister somehow.

Reaper was designed to kill from the start.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#126

Post by taylodl »

corrupt_measure wrote: post #47
coldpie wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Friend, you have no idea what you are talking about. Please do as the other guy said and shut up and listen for five minutes. Protesters took over the precinct station that the murderers worked at and burned it to the ground last night. https://kstp.com/news/protests-continue-in-twin-cities-st-pa...

Which was a terrible thing to because it harms the community and their own cause as it makes them look like thugs and villains. And there have indeed been many taking advantage of the situation to steak and cause chaos for chaos' sake.

But the police don't look like thugs and villains when they murder black men? Note this murder came off the heels of the protests at several state capital buildings where armed white males were in the faces of the police and shouting (images available on the internet). Not a single tear gas canister was fired. It's time for all of us to realize there's something sinister going on. The state is singling out a certain class of people for an extremely violent response. The point was driven home to me when I saw the CNN news crew get arrested. It's all on camera. It's all there now for the world to see. I'm afraid there's something really bad underfoot. We'd all better be paying attention.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#127

Post by mythrwy »

mythrwy wrote: post #108
evanlivingston wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comments reads as "god save capitalism. Everything is justified unless dollars are burned in the process."

More like "god save common sense and basic human decency" WTF is the matter with people?

May you never experience having your livelihood burnt down because of an unrelated issue.

It seriously blows my mind anyone does think this is justified or supports it. That is way beyond reason, even from an understandably aggrieved point of view.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#128

Post by diob »

joshmn wrote: post #3

Native Minnesotan here — living in Minneapolis — that has lived on both coasts: With all that's happening the last few days, please don't generally associate Minnesotans with the violent riots that have captured the attention of everyone. The peacefulness of the protests and gatherings has been overshadowed by the violence. There are countless examples of Minnesotans standing up to those who choose to loot and destro…

I just want to point out that you're wrong to say these places "didn't do anything". Or rather, I would contend that they did do something, aka nothing, which is what led to this situation.

"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a 'more convenient season.'" - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 16 April 1963

I'm not advocating for violence or destruction, this result right now sucks to the nth degree. But I am advocating that folks start paying attention to kneeling football players and other peaceful protestors instead of telling them to shut the fuck up.

Because you know what else sucks in addition to businesses burning? Folks dying for no other reason than the color of their skin. If you're asleep when it comes to human costs, but awake when it turns economical, take a look deep inside yourself.

If you make peaceful revolution impossible, if you deny justice for too long, this is the result. Don't pretend that society at large "didn't do anything". By doing nothing, we all did a whole lot of something.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#129

Post by kec »

king_magic wrote: post #58
kec wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pointing a gun at someone is a threat even if you say it's unloaded. The US government should not be threatening its citizens. > The government could in theory drive a ballistic missile launcher hidden in an 18-wheeler into any major US city - should we not allow trucks on the road? This is a straw man, the Predator is a weapons platform, nothing is being hidden here.

A police helicopter manned with police officers with long guns is a weapons platform too. What's the difference?

Police helicopters don’t regularly kill dozens of people. The helicopter is more akin to a cop walking around with a sidearm. Still not great, but less overtly threatening.

Re: US customs and border protection is flying a surveillance drone over Minneapolis

#130

Post by mythrwy »

jtr1 wrote: post #123
mythrwy wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what purpose?

in the past, riots have strengthened public support for more armor, more weapons, bigger budgets, less oversight. But there are less calculating possibilities as well.

That. Or it could be a bullshit claim. I'm going to go with the more likely scenario here.
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