George Floyd’s brother Terrence spoke at the scene of the crime in Minneapolis and called for peace. On behalf of his family, he called for an end to the looting and vandalism. He urged people to “do this peacefully.” Educate yourself, vote. “Peace on the left. Justice on the right.”
Watch this 11-minute video.
Terrence Floyd recognizes that looting and vandalism are not productive or acceptable forms of protest. The Constitution protects peaceable assembly. Marches, protests, dissent are protected by the Constitution, no matter what people say or how noisy they are. Actions such as smashing windows, looting and theft, vandalism, burning and destroying buildings are criminal. They are not protected “speech.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for nonviolence because it endows protestors with moral authority. Criminal behavior strips away moral authority. Terrence Floyd knows this.
The civil disorders of 1966-1968 did not produce progress. They elected Richard Nixon as the man who promised to restore “law and order.” The current looting and vandalism can help re-elect a man who has openly supported racism and promoted policies that undermine social and economic justice. Those who are breaking windows and grabbing loot are helping Trump, not the cause of justice.
Listen to Terrence Floyd. Educate yourself. Vote. Vote. Vote.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
YES. And thank you for amplifying Terrence Floyd’s voice. Trump’s proposed policy of using military force is a danger to all of us, not just the vandals who are taking advantage of George Floyd’s unconscionable death from a police officer.
Please see these photographs by Richard Grant. There are a number of them, with his captions. https://twitter.com/richardgrant88/status/1267523353289474048
This all could have been prevented if the police and the Minneapolis and St. Louis authorities had simply listened respectfully to the first peaceful protests and taken appropriate action (as they would have done without any protests necessary had George Floyd or Breonna Taylor been white). Instead, the protests were met with violent military response, as have been most peaceful protests since.
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/george-floyd-protests-police-brutality
Not only did that give cover for the looters and rioters, it has drawn police resources away from the looters and rioters (many of whom are actually non-uniformed cops who proceed with vandalism and destruction even when legitimate black protesters tell them to stop). The looters are making off with whole stores-full of stuff while the police are busy dragging innocent people out of their car.
Armed right-wing protesters in Michigan’s Capitol Building get high-fives from bored police officers who do nothing to stop them. Peaceful black protesters (and white allies) get pepper sprayed at point-blank range, shot with rubber and wooden bullets, run over with horses and vehicles, beaten with batons, kettled and arrested even when they’re trying to follow orders and leave the scene, etc., etc.
The violence will continue so long as police continue to provoke it.
Trump and the GOP will use the images of looting, violence, arson, random shootings and nihilism to win the election. Most people are turned off by the destruction of property and businesses, many of which are owned by minorities and people of color. The looting, mayhem and chaos are a perfect excuse for Trump to proclaim himself the law and order candidate. One can only hope that more people will take Terrence Floyd’s advice.Talk about a perfect storm of negativities: the worst president + a pandemic + an economic armageddon + revolution, insurrection and violence in the streets. This country needs a break, a time out to breathe and a few days in which there is no hate, no racial killings and no looting.
The people who looted Kate Spade last night were not provoked by NYC cops. You want to get Trump re-elected? Keep justifying looting and violence. I stand with Terrence Floyd. Honor his brother with peaceful protest.
But what if the people who looted Kate Spade don’t care what Terrence Floyd thinks? What if they don’t care what Black Lives Matters think?
What if they were provoked by people who have a vested interest in discrediting the BLM movement or simply don’t care about BLM and want anarchy?
The fact that this is happening in an organized manner is worrisome, and it is important to point out that those people have nothing to do with the movement.
We don’t discredit all sports fans and say we must end all sports, from Little league to the NBA and NFL, because some people act out violently and destroy properly in their city if their team wins a championship.
The police don’t go into the stadium and arrest and teargas peaceful tailgaters while ignoring the fans rampaging through the city destroying property.
There is no evidence that the people stealing and vandalizing have anything to do with the protesters, and it is very important not to help the far right propaganda by starting with the assumption that they do.
Violence is not peaceful protest. Floyd’s brother understands that violence overshadows reason for the protest. According to several news outlets there are outside groups that are fueling the violence. In Pensacola there has been a peaceful protest for the past week. Yesterday, a car drove by protesters and threw a bag containing flyers that read, “THE CONFEDERACY WILL NOT LOOSE ROUND 2, THE SOUTH WILL RISE AND WIN THIS WAR.” cx (LOSE) There are outside groups that are fanning the flames of frustration and inciting the violence.“https://weartv.com/news/local/pensacola-protesters-receive-backlash-during-demonstration
According to Vice News right wing hate groups posing as left wing groups are infiltrating demonstrations and starting the violence. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7jvq8/white-supremacist-group-identity-evropa-posed-as-antifa-on-twitter-and-called-for-looting-and-violence?utm_source=vicenewsfacebook
The problem is that most of the people who are looting and destroying are not the people who are protesting. They are simply using the protests for their own ends. There is more than enough video evidence from all over that there are some people — most of them white — whose commitment to racial injustice is about nil but whose commitment to other causes – including Trump but also simply anarchy — is the only thing they care about.
So rather than sending the message “don’t be violent”, the better message would be “look out carefully for white people who are carrying supplies to destroy and follow them and take video and post them on a website so they can be identified.”
Brian Bartels, the 20 year old white man who started vandalizing in the middle of a non-violent protest in Pittsburgh, did not really care about racial justice and he does not really care if African Americans pay the price for his privilege. It was lucky he was caught. But he represents a segment of white people who are so privileged that they have decided to hijack the protests.
Many others are clearly there to provoke others to loot and destroy.
Those people don’t care what Terrance Floyd says because they don’t care about what happened to George Floyd.
The media needs to stop focusing on the few violent people and start asking why the police are acting out brutally toward all the people who are NOT violent.
I had my neighborhood completely overrun by looters last night, starting in broad daylight. Shops smashed up and gutted. Car windows smashed, front doors smashed, fires in the street. I watched hundreds (it’s hard to even estimate, could have been thousands) of people stream by carrying merchandise they’d taken. Police were on the block but standing down, watching it happen, and frankly I’m not sure I can blame them. I have no insightful commentary to add. Just want to say that I have never seen anything like this.
FLERP,
Dienne approves of what happened in your neighborhood last night.
Well, it’s like my dad always told me, everybody dies alone.
What happened to you, Diane? You used to be so much better than this. You didn’t used to twist the words of people who disagreed with you. You didn’t used to smear other people. In fact, such behavior used to be prohibited in your living room.
The fact is that you have had almost nothing to say about the brutal tactics the police have used against peaceful protesters but multiple times you have scolded the looters who have not physically harmed anyone.
Dienne,
I support peaceful protest. I agree with Terrence Floyd, brother of the murdered George Floyd.
I steadfastly oppose looting, vandalism, destruction of businesses, and burning buildings.
The only person helped by these criminal actions is Trump.
Disagree if you want. But you won’t ever convince me that smashing windows and stealing and destruction is praiseworthy.
Various media report that the Knights of Columbus-funded National Shrine to St. John Paul II (the preferred Pope of the right wing) was the site of a Trump visit today. (Too bad that Jefferson isn’t still alive.)
Two days ago, the unwelcome Trump visit to a Washington Episcopalian church resulted in two female church clergy being tear gassed by police after protestors were moved aside to make room for Trump’s photo op.
The Knights of Columbus, run by a former legislative aide to Jesse Helms, funds a National Shrine in D.C., which hosted a Trump photo op today.
A message can be left for Shrine administrators at 202- 635-5400 and, a contact form is available at the National Shrine to Pope John Paul II website.
Unfortunately, there are always some “interventionists” who pretend to support George Floyd and protests but actually exploit his tragedy for creating a chaos. Trump once again condemned the Antifa for causing violent protests and looting with no evidence. As of today, there is no documented evidence that Antifa involved in the protests whether local or state wide, according to the FBI report. Nevertheless, some people really love to denounce them on this social unrest, while we’re seeing names of white nationalists and supremacists groups as “provocateurs.”
Contrary to “outsider protestor” narrative created by most media and Trump, many organized protesters are actually stopping some people from looting and vandalizing. But for many police forces, it doesn’t really matter. They choose to round up anyone in their sight–kicking, shoving, attacking(and even killing some black protesters!). There’s even a photographer who lost her eye after police shot a rubber bullet at her.
It becomes very clear that police attacking peaceful protesters, journalists, and photographers with pullet guns, sprays, maces, pepper grenades, and tasers under the pretext of order. Once again, police show that they are exactly the source of public distrust through their aggressive behavior.
And Trump’s reckless order of sending federal troops to the states just adds to his another tale of drunken fascist man driving a broken dump truck without a brake. He must be defeated in November. All police departments that tolerate the brutality and coverup of their officers misconduct must be defunded. Any police officers who involved in violence and brutalities against innocent citizens must be criminally held accountable. And governors, mayors, and attorneys who have condoned the system of racism and broken criminal justice system must be replaced for good.
I’m anti-fascist, aren’t you?
Yes, I don’t like fascists, either. Hate to say this, but Trump may not be the only and last one. It’s really scary to imagine to see likeminded politicians behaving like him in the future. I’m so glad Steven King was defeated in Iowa primary. What’s not clear is how much will be enough for state/national leaders to have a change of heart.
Its interesting in this vid https://youtu.be/xRoqSyIi-98
The guy fails to explain what he explained here
Which basically amounts to the fact that you can literally hold your breath until you’re dead when you’re on dope like fentanyl. You also would never need to announce you couldnt breath let alone in a suspicious emotionless monotone. This floyd thing looks scripted and rehearsed.
And lets not forget what happened next, the death was used by racists to launch a race riot.
There’s two ways for the queen’s honor guard to get paid. One of them is to do stupid sht for the camera for a kickback from newspapers.
Heres what happened. A black guy commits suicide by cop with his buddy he works and shares lines with so his family can get a lawsuit and the cop can get a kickback. The death was used by enemy subversives to incite race riots and radicalise leftist sympathizers who deal them both the cheap drugs they both use.
https://deplorablefeed.com/u-s-soldiers-punished-under-obama-admin-for-blowing-whistle-on-afghan-muslim-pedophiles/
Btw, i tracked this deplorablefeed group to bulgaria. Pretty sure it’s all legit tho.
Err what he explins here https://youtu.be/QKIobyk6Isc
Rather.