COVIDIOTS

[Bluebird Hewitt]

45 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

TBH it's not to bad up this way, you still get the odd arseholes who think they are god almighty and can do what they want but people seemed to be listening to Nicola Sturgeon and the easing of her parties Lockdown.

Princess Street in Edinburgh is dead as a dodo, I went on the bus the other day down there and I hardly saw anybody and the trams were rumbling by with just the driver aboard and the only places I saw open with security at the door was The £ shop and Marks & Spencers.

We're the same as well in Wales, though I guarantee that once restrictions start to ease, the streets will start to be packed again. 

[Honey Honey]

2 hours ago, Carnivore Chris said:

It's impossible to social distance in big cities anyway. Most of them have, not thousands, but millions too many people living in them.

How can you social distance in London, for example, when there are 9 million living there, what can you do? 

It's even same around here nowadays because of the ever expanding university. Every pub, club, or any other old building are turned into student accommodation and now they are tearing through forests and fields on the outskirts, to build more shit houses and accommodation. Then people wonder why there are suddenly so many floods. The drainage systems can't cope. 

A virus is it its element in today's world.

 

Fortunately COVID doesn't spread well outdoors so London has driven R rate very low by the masses avoiding workplaces and public transport. 

[Stan]

Quote

 

Liverpool's deputy mayor has stepped down while the Labour party investigates footage of a gathering in her garden during lockdown.

Labour councillor Lynnie Hinnigan told the Liverpool Echo it was not a party for her 50th birthday on 9 May and she had stayed away from people.

The Labour party says she has "voluntarily and temporarily" stepped down while it investigates.

Meetings between different households at the same time are currently banned.

 

 

[RandoEFC+]

Moron.

[Stan]

Quote

 

Hundreds of people were at an unlicensed party in east London breaching lockdown rules on Saturday night.

Met Police officers were called to Springfield Estate in Clapton at about 21:00 BST where a large number of people had gathered.

Footage shows a DJ booth was set up and those who attended were not socially distancing by keeping two metres apart.

A small number of arrests were made for various offences and a Taser was used on one person who was arrested. Offences included assault on an emergency worker and breach of the peace.

 

 

What's a group of Covidiots called?

Cunts.

Approved.

[CaaC (John)+]

Me and the wife knew something was going on last night, around 19.00 hrs we heard a helicopter flying over our flats and we presumed it was a police one and something was going on, normally the chopper is used for missing persons or football as the Hibernian FC ground is just behind us but there were no matches played there last night, sure enough, the wife found this in the Local Rag.

Police were called to break-up a party of around 40 people with takeaway-beer outside a Tesco store in Leith today.

Edinburgh Evening News

 A lot of them were more than likely local Junkie/Piss Heads and yesterday I think it was Giro day for them, cash the Giros and get others to buy the booze from Tescos just right of the second photo, fucking morons and idiots.

The funniest sight I saw was about 2 years ago, around 7/8 of them were sitting on the benches with bottles of White Lightening Cider and cans of Tennents Extra Strong lagers, swigging and smoking away and singing their hearts out, then along came a police paddy wagon, pulled up beside them on the square, 2 big burly coppers got out of the van, took all the bottles and cans from them and poured them down the drain nearby.

I pissed myself laughing as the look on their faces knowing that all their Giro money they spent on booze was now down the plughole, about 3 of them got lifted for trying to get the cans and bottles back off the coppers before they got emptied away.      

[Bluebird Hewitt]

A controversial one this but I'll mention it anyway. 

Would you class the ridiculous amount of protestors that gathered in London under the banner of COVIDIOTS? 

While the protest was done with meaningful and good intentions:

1. There was practically no social distancing at all due to the sheer number of people that gathered. 

2. Following the report that those from BAME backgrounds are at higher risk, a lot of the mass protestors being black and the lack of social distancing mentioned above, this could easily cause a possible spike. 

[Stan]

48 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

A controversial one this but I'll mention it anyway. 

Would you class the ridiculous amount of protestors that gathered in London under the banner of COVIDIOTS? 

While the protest was done with meaningful and good intentions:

1. There was practically no social distancing at all due to the sheer number of people that gathered. 

2. Following the report that those from BAME backgrounds are at higher risk, a lot of the mass protestors being black and the lack of social distancing mentioned above, this could easily cause a possible spike. 

Idiots for the lack of social distancing, not idiots for the reason they are there, unlike those that travel 100s of miles for some fish and chips or just to go on a walk in some place (when lockdown rules were stricter).

But what you probably won't see, because it doesn't get the headlines, is the part of the Hyde Park protests where there was social distancing. Granted I don't know when this picture was taken in the day or how long it stayed like this, but nonetheless it's not all just crowds and there is some element of discipline amongst them...

(more so the picture on the right)

[Smiley Culture]

4 hours ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

A controversial one this but I'll mention it anyway. 

Would you class the ridiculous amount of protestors that gathered in London under the banner of COVIDIOTS? 

While the protest was done with meaningful and good intentions:

1. There was practically no social distancing at all due to the sheer number of people that gathered. 

2. Following the report that those from BAME backgrounds are at higher risk, a lot of the mass protestors being black and the lack of social distancing mentioned above, this could easily cause a possible spike. 

100%. 

[The Palace Fan]

Whilst the cause is admirable, I was quite shocked to see my timeline covered with people attacking key workers and vandalising The Cenotaph yesterday. 

The attendance however didnt surprise me. It was larger than I expected but I anticipated it happening. Most people perceive the lockdown as effectively over following the Dominic Cummings debacle. 

I'd be even more surprised as a result of the last two weeks if we dont get a second wave now at the end of the summer due to a combination of government incompetence, government arrogance and a lack of a large percentage of people taking individual responsibility. 

[RandoEFC+]

I admire the people who turned up to the protest, carried out peacefully and at least made some effort to socially distance from others.

I sympathise with those feeling too much genuine anger to give a toss about social distancing whilst also acknowledging that they were irresponsible not doing so. At least some of them wore masks. If you're being generous you could assume most of them will self isolate but that's not happening is it.

Despite it being clear to anyone not blinded by particular loyalties that Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules and lied about it and the government lied about it too, undermining the public health message, that's not an excuse for anyone else not to follow the guidance. I actually think it's a minority of people who are using him as an excuse and most people are just fed up of following the rules. The government has to take a small share of the accountability but mostly people need to recognise that they're grown ups and just because someone else broke the rules doesn't make it okay for them to do so. Barry Gardiner joining in is far from helpful as well because all MPs should be setting an example.

We've had to adapt every other part of our lives to fit in with the social distancing rules. We should be doing the same when it comes to protests as well, that's the bottom line, but like I said I can understand those feeling real anger not really thinking about it.

As always with protests, a small minority take it too far and undermine the peaceful majority. Vandalism and looting is unacceptable, even moreso over here than in the US where this murder was actually committed and which has a larger structural problem and a more racist leadership than we do.

As a public worker who is used to being portrayed as some sort of amorphous blob rather than a selection of actual human beings, be it "teachers" or "the police" or "the NHS" I have nothing but disgust for those who attacked police officers. What's actually wrong with people? Every single man and woman stood there in uniform are trying to enable a peaceful protest and a few twats decide to start a physical conflict. Next time you shout FUCK THA POLICE please remember that "the police" isn't just some emotionless machine that tells you what you can and can't do, it's a group of human beings like yourself who have put themselves on the line throughout the pandemic to keep the community safe. All of them have families to go home to and lives to live at the end of their shift. There are cunts among them as with any profession but 99% of them signed up for the job, knowing that they could be put in danger at any given time in order to serve and protect you and your families. The police in the US are a different matter perhaps, seems like they have more cunts but even that is probably more of a problem with how they're trained. It seems like there's an institutional problem with US police training where they're taught to see every member of the public as a potential threat whereas in the UK you can see someone spit in a police officer's eye and they won't react with anything but patience.

The vandalism falls into much the same category. Breaking stuff doesn't tend to achieve anything.

Finally, certain sections of the media and influential social media commentators who have tried to paint these protests as riots to suit their own agenda of whataboutism and deliberately miss the point, are just as bad as the violent twats ruining the protests. You know the types, "where were the riots when Lee Rigby was murdered by two Muslims in his own country?" How about you fuck off into a hole instead of stoking further racial divisions while claiming you're some sort of voice of reason (remember him?)

[Smiley Culture]

Tyrone Mings has tweeted pictures of him protesting. 

[The Palace Fan]

Piers Morgan, one of the biggest critics of everything the government has done throughout this period (bar the furlough scheme) and very vocally slams anybody who has not completely obeyed the lockdown laws, has praised his son for participating at the protests in London.

[Danny]

14 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

Piers Morgan, one of the biggest critics of everything the government has done throughout this period (bar the furlough scheme) and very vocally slams anybody who has not completely obeyed the lockdown laws, has praised his son for participating at the protests in London.

Racism is also a public health issue that hasn’t gone away because of coronavirus.

Piers Morgan in general is a massive twat and has previously contributed to a culture of racism with his attack on Raheem Sterling, why people still listen to him is beyond me.

But you can criticise the governments consistently poor response to covid-19 and also protest for human rights, racism is not secondary to covid.

[RandoEFC+]

It was fine that there was a protest.

They should have organised it in a way where people were still socially distanced.

Just because they didn't, doesn't mean that everyone who went on the march was irresponsible or an idiot. Many will have gone with the intention of social distancing but simply not been able to with the way others were acting. I don't blame them for seeing the protest through instead of going home.

A small minority of people there were idiots though. The police in this country are among the most tolerant and passive in the world and I have nothing but sympathy for the position they were put in yesterday and admiration for their handling of it. Violence was kept to a minimum. Let's also not ignore that the majority of the crowd at one point were literally chanting "no violence, no violence". The social distancing may have gone to shit but the peace was maintained by the majority.

Some of these idiots were clearly getting to the front to jostle with the police with their phones out wanting to be filmed in a scuffle so they could get 10,000 retweets like their US counterparts who suffered genuine police brutality from a flawed policing system. Morons.

I also believe some people pissed on or vandalised a statue of Churchill somewhere along the way, the British PM who led the charge against Hitler, the biggest racist and fascist of recent history, as a part of their march against racism and fascism. Nice work, morons.

Some people I'm absolutely sure hate this government so much that they're not only happy but actively want there to be a second wave for the damage it would do to the government. These are the people who happily scream "well after Dominic Cummings why should we obey the lockdown". Well because it'll kill someone's nan if you don't. For the record I'm not denying that everyone involved with the Cummings farce isn't at least slightly culpable for this because it gave idiots an excuse to use for being idiots but lets not pretend these riots wouldn't have happened if that never happened. These are uber-morons and many will try to believe that nobody could be this moronic but I'm afraid they definitely exist.

The morons I've mentioned so far have also enabled the pro-government, #WhiteLivesMatter morons to paint the entire protest as a dangerous socialist communist Marxist Antifa rabble mob that also has something to do with the amorphous blob they call "the Left" in an attempt to score political points against those who wanted to protest against racial injustice, or Labour, or Jeremy Corbyn, or the Guardian, or something. A slightly odd look for them as it suggests that nobody on their team, the amorphous blob I presume they call "the Right" was out supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which clearly isn't the case either. But, well, morons are morons, regardless of which "team" they think they're on.

Basically, I think that because so many morons have come out of this looking like morons from across the moronic spectrum that it's easy to think everyone's a moron but the majority were not. Those who failed to socially distance shouldn't be given a free pass but it's understandable that they were unable to because they felt strongly enough about the protest to sacrifice that element of responsibility. We may not agree with them but it doesn't make them morons. It also doesn't make any difference to how we should judge other people who fail to socially distance in more or less understandable circumstances.

The one demographic that comes out of this with a lot of credit for me is the police. They do a great job in the UK under difficult circumstances and while the spotlight has rightly been on the NHS throughout this crisis I think the police have gone massively under-appreciated for the work they've been doing.

[Danny]

22 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

It was fine that there was a protest.

They should have organised it in a way where people were still socially distanced.

Just because they didn't, doesn't mean that everyone who went on the march was irresponsible or an idiot. Many will have gone with the intention of social distancing but simply not been able to with the way others were acting. I don't blame them for seeing the protest through instead of going home.

A small minority of people there were idiots though. The police in this country are among the most tolerant and passive in the world and I have nothing but sympathy for the position they were put in yesterday and admiration for their handling of it. Violence was kept to a minimum. Let's also not ignore that the majority of the crowd at one point were literally chanting "no violence, no violence". The social distancing may have gone to shit but the peace was maintained by the majority.

Some of these idiots were clearly getting to the front to jostle with the police with their phones out wanting to be filmed in a scuffle so they could get 10,000 retweets like their US counterparts who suffered genuine police brutality from a flawed policing system. Morons.

I also believe some people pissed on or vandalised a statue of Churchill somewhere along the way, the British PM who led the charge against Hitler, the biggest racist and fascist of recent history, as a part of their march against racism and fascism. Nice work, morons.

Some people I'm absolutely sure hate this government so much that they're not only happy but actively want there to be a second wave for the damage it would do to the government. These are the people who happily scream "well after Dominic Cummings why should we obey the lockdown". Well because it'll kill someone's nan if you don't. For the record I'm not denying that everyone involved with the Cummings farce isn't at least slightly culpable for this because it gave idiots an excuse to use for being idiots but lets not pretend these riots wouldn't have happened if that never happened. These are uber-morons and many will try to believe that nobody could be this moronic but I'm afraid they definitely exist.

The morons I've mentioned so far have also enabled the pro-government, #WhiteLivesMatter morons to paint the entire protest as a dangerous socialist communist Marxist Antifa rabble mob that also has something to do with the amorphous blob they call "the Left" in an attempt to score political points against those who wanted to protest against racial injustice, or Labour, or Jeremy Corbyn, or the Guardian, or something. A slightly odd look for them as it suggests that nobody on their team, the amorphous blob I presume they call "the Right" was out supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which clearly isn't the case either. But, well, morons are morons, regardless of which "team" they think they're on.

Basically, I think that because so many morons have come out of this looking like morons from across the moronic spectrum that it's easy to think everyone's a moron but the majority were not. Those who failed to socially distance shouldn't be given a free pass but it's understandable that they were unable to because they felt strongly enough about the protest to sacrifice that element of responsibility. We may not agree with them but it doesn't make them morons. It also doesn't make any difference to how we should judge other people who fail to socially distance in more or less understandable circumstances.

The one demographic that comes out of this with a lot of credit for me is the police. They do a great job in the UK under difficult circumstances and while the spotlight has rightly been on the NHS throughout this crisis I think the police have gone massively under-appreciated for the work they've been doing.

Praising the police in regards to equality for black people is a strange take mate, they’re a known institution that is systemically racist against them. They are a key issue as to why black people in this country are so outraged at what’s happening in America, because they’re not just relating to it on a level of if they were American they’d be in the crossfire, they’re reacting to it on a level that is they have been racially abused by British Police.

Painting the police as the good guys in this scenario when a large amount of anger that erupted into violence from the protestors against the police is created by them does not support the BLM, it is gaslighting. The police consistently abuse black people and communities, that is generally hidden by mainstream media bar a few high profile cases. General public then believe we have a fair police system. The people that are abused (and some allies) get angry and protest, some of the protestors see the oppressive force and react violently based on the experiences they’ve previously had with the police. The violent protestors are then painted as the aggressors, the Police as the victims. Some people will even acknowledge this and still burden their guilt onto black people by saying “well now you’ve given x, y and z a chance to slander you”. Essentially putting onto them an expectation that they have to plan ten steps ahead of everybody else to simply live their lives and not be marginalised.

Yes there are cases of people who do not have the previous experience with the police jumping on the bandwagon, this has been seen here and in the States where black people have removed often white kids from protests. But using these people as the default for violent protestors then takes away black peoples legitimate right to defend themselves with violence against a system that violently oppressed them. The more violence is denied (though is idolised when it comes to British history) as a tool for black people to achieve equality through protesting, the more time is spent victimising and painting the police as hero’s, which is more time pinning the responsibility of that legitimate anger and violence back onto the black community when in fact all of that was brought to them by various White supremacist institutions spanning hundreds of years to this day.

[RandoEFC+]

4 minutes ago, Danny said:

Praising the police in regards to equality for black people is a strange take mate, they’re a known institution that is systemically racist against them. They are a key issue as to why black people in this country are so outraged at what’s happening in America, because they’re not just relating to it on a level of if they were American they’d be in the crossfire, they’re reacting to it on a level that is they have been racially abused by British Police.

Painting the police as the good guys in this scenario when a large amount of anger that erupted into violence from the protestors against the police is created by them does not support the BLM, it is gaslighting. The police consistently abuse black people and communities, that is generally hidden by mainstream media bar a few high profile cases. General public then believe we have a fair police system. The people that are abused (and some allies) get angry and protest, some of the protestors see the oppressive force and react violently based on the experiences they’ve previously had with the police. The violent protestors are then painted as the aggressors, the Police as the victims. Some people will even acknowledge this and still burden their guilt onto black people by saying “well now you’ve given x, y and z a chance to slander you”. Essentially putting onto them an expectation that they have to plan ten steps ahead of everybody else to simply live their lives and not be marginalised.

Yes there are cases of people who do not have the previous experience with the police jumping on the bandwagon, this has been seen here and in the States where black people have removed often white kids from protests. But using these people as the default for violent protestors then takes away black peoples legitimate right to defend themselves with violence against a system that violently oppressed them. The more violence is denied (though is idolised when it comes to British history) as a tool for black people to achieve equality through protesting, the more time is spent victimising and painting the police as hero’s, which is more time pinning the responsibility of that legitimate anger and violence back onto the black community when in fact all of that was brought to them by various White supremacist institutions spanning hundreds of years to this day.

Which police victimised black people yesterday? All I saw was a professional and measured response to a moronic minority who were there hoping to get in a scrap and undermining the point of the protest in the process. I'm sure it happens often enough across the country but the UK police aren't the US police.

[Danny]

1 minute ago, RandoEFC said:

Which police victimised black people yesterday? All I saw was a professional and measured response to a moronic minority who were there hoping to get in a scrap and undermining the point of the protest in the process. I'm sure it happens often enough across the country but the UK police aren't the US police.

The Police is an entire institution, praising the polices response to yesterdays violence and ignoring that that violence is the product of their violent marginalisation of black people is contradictory, it is promoting the polices system of abuse of black people and vilifying legitimate violence responses.
 

You are trying to individualise the police force, most likely well intentioned, to highlight a good on both sides argument. But the police is from the top down systemically racist against black people, every police officer is apart of that system regardless of whether they are good or bad individuals. Using individual deeds to paint a peaceful and non-racist image of a racist institution is a disservice to the groups they marginalise, and supports the systemic racism in place.

[DeadLinesman]

So basically, they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t. In a nutshell.

[RandoEFC+]

12 minutes ago, Danny said:

The Police is an entire institution, praising the polices response to yesterdays violence and ignoring that that violence is the product of their violent marginalisation of black people is contradictory, it is promoting the polices system of abuse of black people and vilifying legitimate violence responses.
 

You are trying to individualise the police force, most likely well intentioned, to highlight a good on both sides argument. But the police is from the top down systemically racist against black people, every police officer is apart of that system regardless of whether they are good or bad individuals. Using individual deeds to paint a peaceful and non-racist image of a racist institution is a disservice to the groups they marginalise, and supports the systemic racism in place.

I honestly don't know where to start with this. Firstly you've failed to provide me with an example of those protecting the public yesterday victimising black people.

I didn't say any of the stuff you're criticising was okay but your argument is ridiculous. All of those individuals put themselves in harm's way yesterday and dealt with the situation well, protected themselves and others without hurting anyone.

The systematic racism you speak of runs through the entire society, and it runs through the police because the police is part of that society, it's not a problem exclusive to the police even if the consequences when it rears its head in the police are more noticeable because it usually involves people getting killed, assaulted or locked up unfairly.

It's absolutely completely ridiculous to say I can't praise individuals for doing their job well yesterday in extremely difficult circumstances based on the fact that there is inherent racism in the police which they personally have nothing to do with.

I can't get my head around this one mate, sorry. We need to stop talking in black and white terms and accept that pretty much everything in life is a grey area.

[Danny]

10 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I honestly don't know where to start with this. Firstly you've failed to provide me with an example of those protecting the public yesterday victimising black people.

I didn't say any of the stuff you're criticising was okay but your argument is ridiculous. All of those individuals put themselves in harm's way yesterday and dealt with the situation well, protected themselves and others without hurting anyone.

The systematic racism you speak of runs through the entire society, and it runs through the police because the police is part of that society, it's not a problem exclusive to the police even if the consequences when it rears its head in the police are more noticeable because it usually involves people getting killed, assaulted or locked up unfairly.

It's absolutely completely ridiculous to say I can't praise individuals for doing their job well yesterday in extremely difficult circumstances based on the fact that there is inherent racism in the police which they personally have nothing to do with.

I can't get my head around this one mate, sorry. We need to stop talking in black and white terms and accept that pretty much everything in life is a grey area.

The police is an institution used to control society, it in itself is systemically racist. It enforces systemic racism into society, it is not a victim of systemic racism alongside society.

The violence caused yesterday is a result of police brutality, praising the police for dealing with violence against them that is a reaction to their own brutality against a group they consistently marginalise creates the message that it is not OK for a marginalised group to react violently when they are being oppressed with violence and as such they should only protest in a peaceful way that the racist authorities are happy with because they authorities will still have power over that group. It promotes systemic racism, I can’t make it any clearer than that.

You asking for individual cases of the officers there as if the Police force isn’t an entire organisation that enforces systemic racism takes away from the discussion of the bigger picture, BLM vs Police is anti-racists vs racist enforcers, that is why BLM exists in the UK, because the police force uses institutionalised racism to oppress black people. The anger and violence on show from any anti-racist is a reaction to an oppressive force. There being good individuals within the police force does not detract from the fact that the police is clearly, factually and demonstrably a system that enforces racism onto the public.

[RandoEFC+]

7 minutes ago, Danny said:

The police is an institution used to control society, it in itself is systemically racist. It enforces systemic racism into society, it is not a victim of systemic racism alongside society.

The violence caused yesterday is a result of police brutality, praising the police for dealing with violence against them that is a reaction to their own brutality against a group they consistently marginalise creates the message that it is not OK for a marginalised group to react violently when they are being oppressed with violence and as such they should only protest in a peaceful way that the racist authorities are happy with because they authorities will still have power over that group. It promotes systemic racism, I can’t make it any clearer than that.

You asking for individual cases of the officers there as if the Police force isn’t an entire organisation that enforces systemic racism takes away from the discussion of the bigger picture, BLM vs Police is anti-racists vs racist enforcers, that is why BLM exists in the UK, because the police force uses institutionalised racism to oppress black people. The anger and violence on show from any anti-racist is a reaction to an oppressive force. There being good individuals within the police force does not detract from the fact that the police is clearly, factually and demonstrably a system that enforces racism onto the public.

So if I join the police tomorrow and do an incredible job of protecting and safeguarding citizens of all colours and backgrounds for 40 years while putting myself at great personal risk on a semi-regular basis, nobody is allowed to praise me individually unless I also single-handedly solve the systemic racism that undoubtedly exists in parts if the organisation?

The police is an institution made up of individuals. You cant hold every individual equally culpable for the problems of the collective. Its stupid to do that and it won't solve the problem. You need to identify and challenge the policy makers, the people who train new recruits and others that have the power for making a positive difference but could currently be doing more.

People who join the police, at their core, do so with a desire to serve the public. It hits home with me because I have to put up with people on social media blasting teachers as a collective blob because one teacher said or did something they don't like. I could earn twice as much money in my life if I chose a different career but I chose to serve the public instead because that's what I wanted. Bashing the police who are ultimately just people who have their own lives and families and go to work every day out of a sense of public duty above anything else leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. None of those who were there yesterday did a thing wrong in the face of a minority of cunts who were spoiling for a fight. Just because BLM are supposed to be the good guys doesn't mean that the people spoiling for a scrap under their banner are automatically in the right. Judge people by their individual actions and not on which "team" they're on.

[Danny]

3 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

So if I join the police tomorrow and do an incredible job of protecting and safeguarding citizens of all colours and backgrounds for 40 years while putting myself at great personal risk on a semi-regular basis, nobody is allowed to praise me individually unless I also single-handedly solve the systemic racism that undoubtedly exists in parts if the organisation?

The police is an institution made up of individuals. You cant hold every individual equally culpable for the problems of the collective. Its stupid to do that and it won't solve the problem. You need to identify and challenge the policy makers, the people who train new recruits and others that have the power for making a positive difference but could currently be doing more.

People who join the police, at their core, do so with a desire to serve the public. It hits home with me because I have to put up with people on social media blasting teachers as a collective blob because one teacher said or did something they don't like. I could earn twice as much money in my life if I chose a different career but I chose to serve the public instead because that's what I wanted. Bashing the police who are ultimately just people who have their own lives and families and go to work every day out of a sense of public duty above anything else leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. None of those who were there yesterday did a thing wrong in the face of a minority of cunts who were spoiling for a fight. Just because BLM are supposed to be the good guys doesn't mean that the people spoiling for a scrap under their banner are automatically in the right. Judge people by their individual actions and not on which "team" they're on.

If you act on behalf of a racist system to police violent anti-racist protests (which I’m aware the vast majority of the protests were peaceful) you are literally carrying out systemic racism.

[RandoEFC+]

2 minutes ago, Danny said:

If you act on behalf of a racist system to police violent anti-racist protests (which I’m aware the vast majority of the protests were peaceful) you are literally carrying out systemic racism.

If you can just answer the first question honestly we can come to an agreement and move on.

[Stan]

4 hours ago, Danny said:

If you act on behalf of a racist system to police violent anti-racist protests (which I’m aware the vast majority of the protests were peaceful) you are literally carrying out systemic racism.

This is quite a bizarre statement, to be honest. It's a massive generalisation and quite insulting to anyone within the police force who wants to bring about real change and just do the job they're asked to do, and do it well - that phrase we've come to know about running towards danger when others flee. 

So how does change come about then?

Using @RandoEFC's example, if he was to join the police force and put efforts in towards eradicating the systemic racism you speak of, then what?

The police's job in society is to protect those within it. I felt for those there yesterday caught up in the fights and targeted by sheer nutters. Those who attended the protests and ended up picking fights with the police went there for one reason and one reason only.

It angers me that people not knowing what they are out in the street for are taking the message away from that that do know what they're there for and what the protests are for. 

Too many people seem to have seen this as a way to 'fight back' physically as opposed to peacefully marching as is allowed.

I don't get how you can blanket the whole police force as racist even though the individuals within might not have a racist bone in their body.