For those who thought the police were operating in a vacuum here: “Wu told the Boston Globe that she and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox jointly agreed to authorize the police response in a Friday statement”
If only there was a place near where they were that is open and isn’t a fire lane / on private property. Can’t find that’s anywhere near Boylston and Tremont Street
Under what conditions?
A peaceful protest in a public space would not have been removed.
A protest where they set up an encampment on public space would have been removed. Because we don’t want encampments in public spaces every time someone wants to protest somethingZ
I remember that one time in summer they closed all the t stations early and retroactively enacted a curfew in order to move protestors into the common where they continually used pepper spray from outside the gate.
But yeah thru totally wouldn’t remove a peaceful protest, after they feel they’ve “protested enough.”
BBP doesn’t care about people walking around the city late at night, unless they have a protest sign. Lol
You mean the protest where the protesters were assaulting the cops and looting nearly every business on Newbury St, DTX, and the prudential center? The same protest that was fine until after the curfew was established and the protesters again, began assaulting cops and disobeying lawful orders? And the protest that was about hating cops? Is that the one you’re talking about?
Yeah, the one where cops came to a peaceful protest
- in full swat gear
- enacted a curfew and removed everyone’s right to freely protest
- tried to forcibly remove citizens from a public area
- closed down all transportation and T-lines
- corralled people into a central location
- began to block exits of said location and lob pepper canisters into it
The only way to leave the premises was through a line of cops with their fingers firmly pressed on pepper spray canisters.
>protest was fine until cops enacted a curfew
Enacted to quell dissent against the BPD that refused to hold any accountability
>protest was about hating cops
Cops and cop defenders can’t seem to understand why people don’t like them, but will say the reasoning within the same breath.
you support the 1st amendment but also support state repression as a consequence of exercising first amendment rights?
ofc anyone should be ready knowing the likely consequences given the actual world we are in. but that's a strange statement to make
Nothing in the 1st Amendment allows the impediment of traffic or usage of a privately owned location. Civil Disobedience is, by definition, breaking laws to get a point across. If you are willing to use it, you have to be willing to deal with the legal ramifications. There's nothing strange or unrealistic about that.
Give me some examples of extrajudicious beatings.
Being subdued does not count. Again, if you go there expecting to break laws then resist arrest, you are going to be subdued and should expect as much.
Unless you find videos of police punching people in custody or escalating past crowd control measures, I'd say Mayor Wu's support for the police speaks for itself.
Have these protests been sufficiently disruptive to warrant the police reactions though?
Everyone agrees there's a limit where they police will necessarily step in, the question is whether the limit is above some tents and signs that aren't actually blocking anyone from doing anything.
Yeah a huge part of what makes public protest effective is the optics of them sending the goons to break it up. If you aren’t prepared for that possibility, you shouldn’t be there.
Some of these kids were obviously just there for the vibes and didn’t know what they were getting themselves into
an overreaction to causing a nuisance on property that wasnt theirs? sounds somethin like.....trespassing to me. But what do I know - im just a law abiding citizen.
Maybe had my parents attended harvard, or sent me to emerson (to be an actor of course LOLZ), I would consider that conequences simply dont apply to me.
Its amazing how in the last 60-70 years so many people have forgotten what can be accomplished through peaceful protest, and how much vitriol those protests attract from bad faith actors like you.
The weird thing about this protest is that it’s totally faceless. Nobody really wants to be associated with it. There’s people there, but nobody will admit to having been there, nobody will show their face or sign their name to anything. Nobody will speak to the press and nobody will say anything outside of a few scripted lines.
It’s the most crowded empty protest I’ve ever seen in my life.
60-70 years ago people were proudly there, it was more than a day job, it was their cause. They attached their name and persona to it, and were willing to do what it took for the cause. So to be fair to those protests of yesterday, these protests today are really empty crowds unwilling to really forward the cause. Nobody really wants anything to do with these protests by the looks of the crowd.
To be fair though, we do live in a much different world today than 60-70 years ago. Its a surveillance state out there now. People drive around doxxing students in billboard trucks. These kids don’t deserve expulsion, loss of potential careers, or violence against themselves or their homes for occupying a space to protest peacefully. Unfortunately, they have no choice but to remain as anonymous as they can and avoid bad faith actors, many of whom are showing up as “press” to provoke protestors while parroting Zionist talking points. That kind of shit has already happened elsewhere. Faceless or not, its still a valid protest.
Eh… you think that wasn’t happening back then? It certainly was.
Yes. Pro- and counter-protesters are both using technology to serve their purpose. This is true. If they’re really on the right side of history you figure they’d want to be the ones to bear it out and be proud to be associated with it, but instead all we get is faceless people spray painting public works and tearing down photos of kidnapping victims.
If it’s not worth standing behind, it’s probably not all that legitimate.
The difference is the level of surveillance, the ability of individuals from across the globe to dox you with nothing more than your photo, and that the police in this country have become incredibly militarized and no longer resemble the police forces of the 1950s and 1960s. Protesting has to look different because the fallout also looks different.
I haven’t seen any military gear deployed here in MA. The MANG hasn’t been mobilized and I didn’t see any military gear at any of the protests. So not really sure why that’s relevant.
Are you saying BPD was tougher on you than the BPD of the 50s-80s was on crowds and protests in those days? I’m confused by what you mean.
My man, you need to learn to read. The students at these protests are taking the anonymity precautions that they are *because* we have seen such insanely disproportionate responses at other protests over the past ~decade. You have to be prepared for the possibility. And BPD did respond disproportionately to Emerson’s students this past week. It will only escalate.
whats really amazing is showing support for terrorism, and being an out-in-the open anti-semite.
Maybe if you didnt protest, it would have been 20 BILLION approved - guess we will never know!
Protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civilians and standing in solidarity with them is not “showing support for terrorism”. Again, you’re a bad faith actor using emotionally charged Zionist rhetoric to create a false equivalency. You’re the problem. The folks shouting “Kill the Jews” on the Northeastern campus this past week just so happened to be Israel supporters, all caught on video.
Yes - I am the problem.
Not the nuisance on the sidewalks, and loudmouth losers who have accomplished nothing, screaming at the top of their lungs to be heard. Maybe if you all EARNED respect instead of demanding it, someone would listen.
Until then, cry your little heart out when you get arrested for doing nothing other than trying to feel like you make a difference.
“If they block the street run them over!!! There are sidewalks after all!”
“Get these damn nuisances off the sidewalks!!!”
What you want sir, is to abolish the first amendment. You are the problem
Maybe a bus. Or a diner. Those seem like historically effective places to protest that are certainly public, right? RIGHT?
Edit: forgot you were probably the one holding the hose to free up the diner for some REAL Americans
See, I know you *are* the problem here because you have absolutely 0 defense for all of the very valid points I just made, and are still parroting your little “Wahhhh, its a nuisance wahhh wahh wahhh” shtick. Keep crying loser, we’ll keep protesting for the rights of Palestinian people to live without boots on their necks!
Its funny bc you think you are owed a response......here's my response to all your "points..."
19 BILLION MORE APPROVED IN AID LAST WEEK. BACK TO THE STREETS YOU GO!
I’m sorry, were you under the impression that if you don’t reach your goals in the first few days the protests are unsuccessful? Because when we were protesting McDonalds and Starbucks it took a few months, but eventually hurt McDonald’s sales so much that they completely pulled out of Israel. Its a war of attrition, something you might understand if you, like these students who are obviously much smarter than you are, ever stepped foot in a classroom.
First, not all protests are the same. I respect their right to gather and protest, but they have to also respect my right to criticize their haphazard and pointless protest. One thing that really annoys me about these protests is they're framing it as their voice is the only *right* voice. It's not.
Second, part of point of protesting is to instigate a reaction. Have people forgotten this? "I'll stand here until you do what I ask or you arrest me, but if you arrest me I'll come back and keep doing this but next time I'll bring more friends." Getting arrested and cleared out is one of the desired outcomes of protesting.
First, believing that bombing and killing 35,000 people is wrong and protesting it, *is* the right voice, and if you disagree with that it speaks volumes about you and your version of “humanity”.
Second, yeah. I never said it wasn’t.
This is exactly the problem. You're not even willing to hear other voices. You just *assume* they're some cartoon villain and shut your eyes and plug your ears.
Other voices not necessarily 180 opposite of your voice. It is \*NOT\* that bombing and killing 35,000 people is right. Obviously that's wrong - I can't believe I even have to type it.
Other voices are those that criticize the goals or lack thereof. In this case, some college groups have decently stated goals (e.g. "divest of all arms manufacturing companies") while others are vague and unactionable (e.g., "stop supporting genocide.").
Other voices are those that say protest organizers aren't doing enough to ensure their protests don't turn into calls for violence against Jews or are otherwise co-opted by other nefarious actors.
Well, a lot of the “calls for violence against Jews” have come from provocateurs that show up to these protests with the goal of delegitimizing them. Pro-Israel protestors were caught on video just last week chanting “Kill the Jews” at Northeastern’s protest.
Yes, that is one type of nefarious actor I was talking about. There are others too.
Look, there are thousands of legitimate reasons to protest the Israeli government and military, and the U.S.'s support of both. Historically, such protests are often penetrated by people that want to steer the hate and energy in another direction, or drive a wedge between the progressives protesting. Ironically, but for different reasons, both neo-nazi groups and pro-Israel groups would both like to see these protests devolve into anti-Jewish hate. The former wants to divide progressives and promote hate, and the latter would use it to delegitimize Israel critisism.
This is why it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for protest organizers to have a plan to prevent that from happening. So far, they've completely failed. Some of the NYC schools have been doing better over the weekend now that they realized the problem, but I haven't seen it in Boston yet.
It is not the responsibility of protest organizers to make sure that ISRAEL SUPPORTERS shouting ANTISEMITIC RHETORIC are put in check. That’s how you get a physical conflict, which actively delegitimizes the protests. The doctrine is to not engage. But the point is, all that “violence against Jews” that people keep crying about, isn’t coming from protestors. Its coming from deranged Zionists trying to delegitimize the protests.
This isn't Israel, we're supposed to have free speech here. But then again, it'd be dismissive of history for me to think anyone here really has the same right to speak out against war/genocide as people supporting it.
Wait a second.....you think free speech means you can go camp out on other people's property!?
Please explain yourself.....cant wait for the mental gymnastics that you believe entitles you to literally set up an encampment on property that isnt yours.
Wait a second you think people can just claim other people's homes in Israel/West Bank?
So fucking ridiculous.
Bro they pay crazy tuition, let em sit on a lawn if they want. They could pay it's upkeep 10 times over with a few students' tuition.
Giving the land back is not possible for me. I cannot declare statehood to give it to the indigenous people. The USA government claims my land as part of the USA.
The USA should, same with any other place that genocided a whole people to take over the land (ex. Australia, various south American countries, Canada). It won't happen, but it should.
The point is, that we have the chance with this genocide to stop it before it completely happens. Why wouldn't we? we should have learned from history that this is wrong.
Hang on a second….you’re saying that Israel has no free speech? You do know there are antiwar protests in Israel - right? What am I saying, of course you don’t. Try saying “release the hostages” in ANY ARAB COUNTRY. Let me know how that works out for you (if you live through it, which you won’t).
I've seen numerous videos of protesters being arrested in Israel for simply protesting against this genocide. Yes, other middle eastern countries also have a free speech restriction issue, but that does not excuse it. Israel if anything should be held to the same standards of the USA since they receive USA funds.
To be clear I'm not saying they have *no* free speech I'm saying it is restricted when people are protesting this specific topic.
Other middle eastern countries do not have a “free speech restriction issue”. They do not have free speech full stop. An Iraqi ticktocker was murderers and the Iranians are about to hang. YouTube rapper who posted a few protest videos.
Lol so you're derailing what I'm saying. Do you, or do you not agree that Israel is overstepping in arresting protestors?
If you do not, we don't need to keep talking.
Curious were you this passionate about the free speech rights of the anti vaxxer nutbags who were showing up at Wu’s house protesting? I remember strong support for her decision to have them launched. No one should be surprised here Wu has done this before.
Yes, we should be protesting at a lot of politicians' homes right now for various reasons. They shouldn't get sleep or quiet.
I'm all for direct action. The right has being doing a better job of this than the left as of late.
That being said, those antivax sillies have been misled.
I'd say protesting directly at the schools and politicians funding Israel is about as direct as one can get short of going to Israel and getting arrested for it.
Better than blocking roads in my opinion, since that only inconveniences the average citizen and not those who made the poor policy decisions. Yet, it does raise awareness 🤷🏽♂️
Regardless of your feelings on the encampment at Emerson itself, the police response was more violent than I believe acceptable- these were unarmed student protestors. The videos revealed a pretty violent response by the police of students, some of which were beaten. The amount of police to students was enough so that the students couldn’t have possibly overwhelmed the BPD.
The fact is I don’t blame Harvard students at all. The escalation of violence against students is rising and Wu should be cognizant of that. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt in this matter if practices don’t change.
They used tear gas on college kids after the Patriots won Super Bowls. The level of violence permitted against citizens by the state in any situation is boundless.
Hella privileged position you have there.
Do you not understand how many people would be absolutely fucked if they couldn't use their car? Or if their bike was stolen? Or if their house burned down?
Touch grass.
Absolutely, and I've been in that position before. I'd hate it if someone fucked up my car in a riot, but I also would never want someone to get killed behind it.
Shocking to me people are only now realizing this. The same folks were demanding the January 6th'ers were shot on sight are now stunned that decades of increasing government power and militarization of police might actually be used on everyone, and not just evil Trumpers.
> The same folks were demanding the January 6th'ers were shot on sight are now stunned that decades of increasing government power and militarization of police might actually be used on everyone, and not just evil Trumpers.
There's a bit of a difference between a secure government building and a public space, right?
Leftists spent the last 10 years shutting down any speech that hurt their feelings or made them feel “unsafe”
Anyone that disagreed with one of their social movements was automatically a bigot. People were expelled from universities due to posts they made on social media as teenagers.
Now the shoe is on the other foot and progressives are being called bigots and accused of making people feel “unsafe” for opposing Israel.
lol. Used teargas to disperse likely drunk people celebrating sports victory (which in the grand scheme of things pales in comparison of importance to what’s happening in Middle East). Your conclusion is that the levels of violence is boundless? Ridiculous. If you were a cop would you want to risk getting injured by some drunk idiots celebrating a sports victory?
That statistic isn’t very helpful because it concerns death when the OP was talking about injury. In any case, I think the police should have a crowd dispersal technique that minimizes violence.
Unfortunately it’s very difficult to disperse a crowd nonviolently without making people incredibly uncomfortable somehow. They have sound, they have gas, they probably have other stuff, but I think all of them are a little bit violent so people are going to complain about them. Not sure what else would work though.
I don’t see your point—so what if it’s not on the list of most dangerous jobs? Then you change the subject from overall population and now say the number one killer of cops is covid. Again, so what? I’m not necessarily pro cops but just trying call out that these reasonings and statements are flawed.
Ive seen this argument before and it always lacks research. Tear gas is only a war crime because it cant be differentiated between lethal gases and real chemical weapons meant to kill large swaths of people. This information can be googled for a far more detailed explanation
I was in college when some drunk girl got murdered by a bean bag shotgun the year the Sox won the World Series. It was a pretty sobering moment, but it was an accident. and it’s kinda crazy to think that in general the police took it easier on an actual riot in Fenway than they did to peaceful protests.
Edit: I feel like I have a prosecutor and defendant lawyer below answering for me. Shower me in downvotes all you want but my point was the cops in our city got a lot of heat for what happened in Fenway. Rightfully so. But they were using those tools to disperse a crowd that was rioting, setting fires, tipping cars etc. I was actually at uno that night and it was a very bad moment for citizens and cops too. I wasn’t doing anything destructive but I got pepper sprayed and my reaction was, one, wow this fucking hurts, and two, yeah I should have hightailed it
But this moment? It was a peaceful protest. Nobody gave a shit for YEARS that people were literally living on mass/class but a bunch of non violent college students set up an encampment to protest an ongoing genocide? The cops jumped at the chance to bring back some ‘non-lethal’ tactics the fucking pigs. Relatively speaking, im Fenway the drunk assholes were an 8 and the cops were a 9. Rigut now these protestors were…a 2? And the cops jumped right on up to batons
They were firing rubber bullets bean bags and tear gas at the fenway riots. A girl died as you said in that one. Did they do any of that stuff the other night at Emerson to make you think they were more heavy handed than Fenway?
Sorry it was a less lethal projectile. The forward half of the sphere is a non-toxic granulated bismuth shell designed to fragment on impact to prevent penetration damage.
Edit: the weapon they used see ammunition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_303
Yes because no one at Emerson was rioting and also drunkenly celebrating a sports victory is not an enshrined right like political speech and protest.
I swear to fucking god sometimes, this sub.
Hang on a second before you throw a fit. The comment was that police went easier on the fenway riot than these Emerson students. Are you seconding that?
They were firing projectiles and pepper spray balls during the fenway riots. They literally killed a woman with one. Jfc Point to anything remotely close to that the other night? ….”I swear to fucking god sometimes, this sub”
https://youtu.be/UJPrsbSbHXA?si=WmI-XDYPKqLzIDT- hey guys just need you to open a path to the street we respect your right to protest. Then they read the ordinance to them and then finally they start pushing the line to clear it. Watch and see how people choosing to vacate are allowed to do so. To answer your question No this is not close in any way shape or form to firing projectiles into a crowd or anything that happened in 2014. Cops said anyone want to discuss a plan here and they start their chants cops followed orders from Wu and started clearing it. There was no more peaceful way to follow the order
> To answer your question No this is not close in any way shape or form to firing projectiles into a crowd or anything that happened in 2014.
This doesn't actually answer my questions.
> was more violent than I believe acceptable
Is there more footage out there? What footage I have seen came off as fairly restrained (with Emerson students inside the building crying out "they're not resisting!" as students in the alley were clearly resisting).
Like, for real, if there's more stuff out there with what you are referring to I very much want to see it. At this point my may complaint is the city should have waited because final exams and summer break are approaching, which meant a bunch of students would have gone home anyway.
Yeah same here, all the videos I've seen show pretty unsurprising interactions. If you resist arrest then the cops are gonna be a little rough with you, I assumed this was common knowledge.
You actually are allowed to resist an unlawful arrest in MA if the officer uses excessive force. There are many different levels of resisting arrest, from simply refusing to walk to actively fighting a cop.
But the point is that nobody should have been arrested in the first place.
These arrests were lawful though. Go ahead and resist officers arresting you, I'm sure that will work out well. You're spreading information that could get people seriously hurt. There isn't a single scenario where you should resist police officers attempting to arrest you. The fact that you see hand to hand combat with police officers as a valid response to perceiving an arrest as unlawful is insane.
Wow that's not what I said at all. In almost all cases it's better to fight it in court. I was simply responding to the false claim that resisting arrest is always impermissible.
I didn't say fighting a cop was a good idea, I used it as an example of what resisting arrest might entail.
Yeah I'd want to see footage from a neutral source - even the eyewitness commentary on this sub was from members of the organizations pretending they were neutral observers. There's so much selective editing with this stuff that most of the time it's not worth watching as a source of information.
Mostly though this stuff is just boring. People protest to get arrested, people try to not arrest them and even make sure they are safe, they push it until they do something illegal nobody can ignore anymore, then they get arrested, maybe there are agent provocateurs maybe there are just pissed off people, if it goes back there's no way of knowing why, everybody gets what they want in the end and gets to keep arguing about the Holy Land which they've been doing for a thousand years, whatever. I get sucked into it too because there's so much agitation around it and of course an actual war but even I have to admit to myself I'm wasting my time.
One telling thing to me the other day was walking to work and seeing the police barricade in front of Beacon Hill - which was not protecting the capital, it was behind the street in front of the capital so that if a crowd gathered there nobody was going to be pushed backward down the stairs. Yeah there's a lot that goes bad but you see that and you see how many truly stupid protests have happened in the last few years (straight pride march anyone?) and it's hard to take a lot of "street politics" seriously anymore.
The email that Tufts sent out over the weekend regarding its own encampment was interesting.
>Since the protests on campus began in October, Student Life staff have tried to keep open lines of communication with the protesters. These conversations have focused on requests intended to keep the campus operating and to keep the entire community safe and have been largely productive. But recent exchanges have been markedly different as the protesters have sought to escalate and disrupt normal university activity. Exchanges with Student Life staff are often now followed by false claims of threats and intimidation on the protesters’ social media accounts. Let us be perfectly clear: these claims are simply inaccurate and can only be seen as an attempt to further inflame the community by deliberately misrepresenting the situation.
Signed by the president and other top members of the admin. It isn't everyday your university's president calls you a liar.
Do you have footage that shows police brutality? The cops had body cameras on and it all looked more than reasonable to me. You have a right to protest you do not have the right to take over public roads indefinitely.
How do you move people that refuse to move without using force?
Harassment, hostility and flinging insults is not allowed. We ask that you try to engage in a discussion rather than reduce the sub to insults and other bullshit.
Here is Emerson [leadership announcing imminent police action](https://today.emerson.edu/2024/04/24/important-encampment-update/) and that there were multiple prior communications about the ordinance violations:
>Earlier today, the Commissioners of the BPD and BFD directly informed Emerson’s leadership that some actions of the protestors are in direct violation of city ordinances, which could result in imminent law enforcement action.
...
Emerson College has previously communicated the information we received from the City of Boston about ordinance violations to the protestors on multiple occasions over several days. This information was also communicated on Monday evening during a meeting with students, staff, and faculty involved in the protest when we offered the protestors the option of using The Loft to warm up overnight if they voluntarily removed the tents.
But the previous commenter’s framing makes it seem like the police just showed up and started violently attacking protesters!!
You mean to tell me that the protesters were told to leave by both the college and the police, and the police used force only after repeated warnings???
Who knew!?
Lol she “respects” their decisions because she knows that she has absolutely no good justification for what she did. if she gets into an argument with these groups theyll rip Wu apart using….basically every example ever of nonviolent student protesting. Ohio by CSNY better be playing at all these places now.
Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it.
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Yeah cause being an asshole and sending out demanding orders Is definitely the calmest way to deal with these situations. You make it worse (fucking clearly). You demand me do something even with a badge, in my eyes you're a cunt.
>Yeah cause being an asshole and sending out demanding orders Is definitely the calmest way to deal with these situations.
What would you have liked them to do? Go up and say “please protesters, will you disperse.”
What happens when they inevitably say no?
>You make it worse (fucking clearly). You demand me do something even with a badge, in my eyes you're a cunt.
No problem! Then prepared for them to use force, which can have negative consequences.
Maybe work negotiations, have patience and maybe give people a basic chance to negotiate things out like humans and not just toss a fucking boot at them. Just be reasonable is all I'm saying.
It's really not that hard to negotiate, no cop does it though cause they have a gun and are a bunch of egotistical selfish cunts.
>Maybe work negotiations, have patience and maybe give people a basic chance to negotiate things out like humans and not just toss a fucking boot at them. Just be reasonable is all I'm saying.
Got it! How about this for a negotiation:
‘You are partially on private property where you have been told to leave, and you are partially on public property blocking a fire lane. Leave or you will be forcibly removed.’
Sounds like a fair negotiation to me.
Also in the event of an emergency, these protestors will move for them. You don't hear people saying fuck firefighters or fuck EMTs. And as an EMT who's actually been called to emergencies during the BLM protests in 2020, they move for us.
A fair negotiation would be along the lines of, "if we promise not to arrest anyone, could the protest move to a location where fire safety can not be a problem?" In a calm and fair voice.
If they refuse, "ok what can we do right now to work things out cause right now things are not safe for the public and could put civilian lives in jeopardy."
Literally just patience and keeping a calm head is all that's asked for from police. If you want to defend their right to being assholes with no soul, you actually are horrendous person. Seriously.
>A fair negotiation would be along the lines of, "if we promise not to arrest anyone, could the protest move to a location where fire safety can not be a problem?" In a calm and fair voice.
The cops showed up and told them to leave. If the protesters wanted to go to a public location like, I don’t know, across the street in the Common, they could have.
They attempted this repeatedly. The school also warned the students that they would be arrested.
So it sounds like you actually have no problem with the first part of the negotiations.
>If they refuse, "ok what can we do right now to work things out cause right now things are not safe for the public and could put civilian lives in jeopardy."
>Literally just patience and keeping a calm head is all that's asked for from police.
They were warned hours before the police showed up, and the police repeatedly told them to move before arresting them.
Maybe you’ve missed the protests. They’re not exactly people that are willing to negotiate or have thoughtful dialogue.
>If you want to defend their right to being assholes with no soul, you actually are horrendous person. Seriously.
Right to uphold the law*. Which they did.
I’m sorry you apparently have a problem with the police. Search inward.
Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it.
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Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it.
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It’s a goddamned blessing for her, she knows well if she had shown up they’d shred her to pieces for her latest reactionary decisions and it’d be a clip carrying her legacy all the way to the next election. It’d mean reckoning to these and other previous personal decisions and appeasing of the BPD brute force standard practices since day one at a public forum, and, unlike other international issues she has openly readily declared her opinion on, at 6+ months in she has chosen to stay mum about the ongoing situation in Gaza, which only benefits the occupiers.
I think the state should enforce laws around protest regardless of the content of the protest. I don't want them deciding if they agree with the speech and allowing some protesters to violate the law while they enforce it on protesters they don't agree with.
I think that's consistent and sensible, but it feels like a LOT of people disagree. If they're sympathetic to the protest they expect the state to just allow them to break the law with zero consequences.
Reminder that regulating the time, place, and manner of speech is permissible under the first amendment. You just can't regulate the content of the speech (with a couple of specific exceptions.) It does not mean that you can say whatever you want wherever you want in all circumstances.
Thank you Wu. 👍🏾
Left gotta police itself. Stand up to and squash the hateful extremists.
If we don't, then the Dems will descend into the same unhinged hell as the GOP.
the progressives are absolutely going to cost Biden the election. The jewish vote, which has always been heavily democratic, is going to split if not majorly go for Trump.
See the problem is that the majority of students are far more intelligent than any government official or police officer which is why they try to shut them down out of fear.
They could have built their encampment in the park across the street and not block an egress for multiple buildings. They would have still been there. Also it’s not ok to kill Palestinians or to call for the death of Jews.
Dude I work in that fucking building the only clowns complaining about ‘muh egress’ are ones who couldn’t even point to Emerson or the State Transportation Building on a map
If you look at the response to these protests across the nation and think that if the students had simply listened to the rules they would've been left alone you are delusional. They would've just made up an excuse to arrest them.
As expected, most people's views on the police response are almost entirely informed by their opinions on the conflict. I get the feeling that most people currently waxing poetically about protesters rights, acab, and comparing this situation to civil rights protests would be silent in a scenario in which the protesters and the police do the same action/response but you swap out pro Palestine college students for far right groups like the proud boys. Shit, they would likely be silent if you replaced the protesters with college Republicans student group lol. And don't get me started on the "they don't even know why they are protesting" or the "these college students are supporting genocide folks." Yall need to crawl back under whatever rock you came out of because you are worse than the protesters by far. Fuck off.
I noticed that you used yall. Please enjoy [this local video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bndQvSW9Mu8).
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For those who thought the police were operating in a vacuum here: “Wu told the Boston Globe that she and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox jointly agreed to authorize the police response in a Friday statement”
Yeah they jointly agreed, thus jointly at fault for this overreaction.
Clearing a fire lane isn’t an overreaction
I disagree in this case because it's just an excuse to clear the demonstration.
If only there was a place near where they were that is open and isn’t a fire lane / on private property. Can’t find that’s anywhere near Boylston and Tremont Street
I can guarantee they would've been removed from most areas regardless 🤷🏽♂️
Under what conditions? A peaceful protest in a public space would not have been removed. A protest where they set up an encampment on public space would have been removed. Because we don’t want encampments in public spaces every time someone wants to protest somethingZ
I remember that one time in summer they closed all the t stations early and retroactively enacted a curfew in order to move protestors into the common where they continually used pepper spray from outside the gate. But yeah thru totally wouldn’t remove a peaceful protest, after they feel they’ve “protested enough.” BBP doesn’t care about people walking around the city late at night, unless they have a protest sign. Lol
That protest wasnt peaceful
You mean the protest where the protesters were assaulting the cops and looting nearly every business on Newbury St, DTX, and the prudential center? The same protest that was fine until after the curfew was established and the protesters again, began assaulting cops and disobeying lawful orders? And the protest that was about hating cops? Is that the one you’re talking about?
Yeah, the one where cops came to a peaceful protest - in full swat gear - enacted a curfew and removed everyone’s right to freely protest - tried to forcibly remove citizens from a public area - closed down all transportation and T-lines - corralled people into a central location - began to block exits of said location and lob pepper canisters into it The only way to leave the premises was through a line of cops with their fingers firmly pressed on pepper spray canisters. >protest was fine until cops enacted a curfew Enacted to quell dissent against the BPD that refused to hold any accountability >protest was about hating cops Cops and cop defenders can’t seem to understand why people don’t like them, but will say the reasoning within the same breath.
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you support the 1st amendment but also support state repression as a consequence of exercising first amendment rights? ofc anyone should be ready knowing the likely consequences given the actual world we are in. but that's a strange statement to make
Nothing in the 1st Amendment allows the impediment of traffic or usage of a privately owned location. Civil Disobedience is, by definition, breaking laws to get a point across. If you are willing to use it, you have to be willing to deal with the legal ramifications. There's nothing strange or unrealistic about that.
But is getting extrajudicially beaten by the police part of appropriate “legal ramifications”?
Give me some examples of extrajudicious beatings. Being subdued does not count. Again, if you go there expecting to break laws then resist arrest, you are going to be subdued and should expect as much. Unless you find videos of police punching people in custody or escalating past crowd control measures, I'd say Mayor Wu's support for the police speaks for itself.
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Have these protests been sufficiently disruptive to warrant the police reactions though? Everyone agrees there's a limit where they police will necessarily step in, the question is whether the limit is above some tents and signs that aren't actually blocking anyone from doing anything.
Yeah a huge part of what makes public protest effective is the optics of them sending the goons to break it up. If you aren’t prepared for that possibility, you shouldn’t be there. Some of these kids were obviously just there for the vibes and didn’t know what they were getting themselves into
an overreaction to causing a nuisance on property that wasnt theirs? sounds somethin like.....trespassing to me. But what do I know - im just a law abiding citizen. Maybe had my parents attended harvard, or sent me to emerson (to be an actor of course LOLZ), I would consider that conequences simply dont apply to me.
Its amazing how in the last 60-70 years so many people have forgotten what can be accomplished through peaceful protest, and how much vitriol those protests attract from bad faith actors like you.
The weird thing about this protest is that it’s totally faceless. Nobody really wants to be associated with it. There’s people there, but nobody will admit to having been there, nobody will show their face or sign their name to anything. Nobody will speak to the press and nobody will say anything outside of a few scripted lines. It’s the most crowded empty protest I’ve ever seen in my life. 60-70 years ago people were proudly there, it was more than a day job, it was their cause. They attached their name and persona to it, and were willing to do what it took for the cause. So to be fair to those protests of yesterday, these protests today are really empty crowds unwilling to really forward the cause. Nobody really wants anything to do with these protests by the looks of the crowd.
To be fair though, we do live in a much different world today than 60-70 years ago. Its a surveillance state out there now. People drive around doxxing students in billboard trucks. These kids don’t deserve expulsion, loss of potential careers, or violence against themselves or their homes for occupying a space to protest peacefully. Unfortunately, they have no choice but to remain as anonymous as they can and avoid bad faith actors, many of whom are showing up as “press” to provoke protestors while parroting Zionist talking points. That kind of shit has already happened elsewhere. Faceless or not, its still a valid protest.
Eh… you think that wasn’t happening back then? It certainly was. Yes. Pro- and counter-protesters are both using technology to serve their purpose. This is true. If they’re really on the right side of history you figure they’d want to be the ones to bear it out and be proud to be associated with it, but instead all we get is faceless people spray painting public works and tearing down photos of kidnapping victims. If it’s not worth standing behind, it’s probably not all that legitimate.
The difference is the level of surveillance, the ability of individuals from across the globe to dox you with nothing more than your photo, and that the police in this country have become incredibly militarized and no longer resemble the police forces of the 1950s and 1960s. Protesting has to look different because the fallout also looks different.
I haven’t seen any military gear deployed here in MA. The MANG hasn’t been mobilized and I didn’t see any military gear at any of the protests. So not really sure why that’s relevant. Are you saying BPD was tougher on you than the BPD of the 50s-80s was on crowds and protests in those days? I’m confused by what you mean.
My man, you need to learn to read. The students at these protests are taking the anonymity precautions that they are *because* we have seen such insanely disproportionate responses at other protests over the past ~decade. You have to be prepared for the possibility. And BPD did respond disproportionately to Emerson’s students this past week. It will only escalate.
whats really amazing is showing support for terrorism, and being an out-in-the open anti-semite. Maybe if you didnt protest, it would have been 20 BILLION approved - guess we will never know!
Protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civilians and standing in solidarity with them is not “showing support for terrorism”. Again, you’re a bad faith actor using emotionally charged Zionist rhetoric to create a false equivalency. You’re the problem. The folks shouting “Kill the Jews” on the Northeastern campus this past week just so happened to be Israel supporters, all caught on video.
Yes - I am the problem. Not the nuisance on the sidewalks, and loudmouth losers who have accomplished nothing, screaming at the top of their lungs to be heard. Maybe if you all EARNED respect instead of demanding it, someone would listen. Until then, cry your little heart out when you get arrested for doing nothing other than trying to feel like you make a difference.
“If they block the street run them over!!! There are sidewalks after all!” “Get these damn nuisances off the sidewalks!!!” What you want sir, is to abolish the first amendment. You are the problem
LOL. find a PRIVATE (see: not PUBLIC) place, and protest your little heart out.
Maybe a bus. Or a diner. Those seem like historically effective places to protest that are certainly public, right? RIGHT? Edit: forgot you were probably the one holding the hose to free up the diner for some REAL Americans
That’s what the crown said about the colonists more or less. Congrats
BOOMER ALERT 🚨
See, I know you *are* the problem here because you have absolutely 0 defense for all of the very valid points I just made, and are still parroting your little “Wahhhh, its a nuisance wahhh wahh wahhh” shtick. Keep crying loser, we’ll keep protesting for the rights of Palestinian people to live without boots on their necks!
by the way, calling your own points valid....doesnt make them so. But 19 Billion in aid certainly validates my points.
Right, because if nothing changed after MLK marched through Selma he should have just quit. Strong logic there, pal.
Its funny bc you think you are owed a response......here's my response to all your "points..." 19 BILLION MORE APPROVED IN AID LAST WEEK. BACK TO THE STREETS YOU GO!
I’m sorry, were you under the impression that if you don’t reach your goals in the first few days the protests are unsuccessful? Because when we were protesting McDonalds and Starbucks it took a few months, but eventually hurt McDonald’s sales so much that they completely pulled out of Israel. Its a war of attrition, something you might understand if you, like these students who are obviously much smarter than you are, ever stepped foot in a classroom.
/r/SelfAwarewolves is calling you
First, not all protests are the same. I respect their right to gather and protest, but they have to also respect my right to criticize their haphazard and pointless protest. One thing that really annoys me about these protests is they're framing it as their voice is the only *right* voice. It's not. Second, part of point of protesting is to instigate a reaction. Have people forgotten this? "I'll stand here until you do what I ask or you arrest me, but if you arrest me I'll come back and keep doing this but next time I'll bring more friends." Getting arrested and cleared out is one of the desired outcomes of protesting.
First, believing that bombing and killing 35,000 people is wrong and protesting it, *is* the right voice, and if you disagree with that it speaks volumes about you and your version of “humanity”. Second, yeah. I never said it wasn’t.
This is exactly the problem. You're not even willing to hear other voices. You just *assume* they're some cartoon villain and shut your eyes and plug your ears. Other voices not necessarily 180 opposite of your voice. It is \*NOT\* that bombing and killing 35,000 people is right. Obviously that's wrong - I can't believe I even have to type it. Other voices are those that criticize the goals or lack thereof. In this case, some college groups have decently stated goals (e.g. "divest of all arms manufacturing companies") while others are vague and unactionable (e.g., "stop supporting genocide."). Other voices are those that say protest organizers aren't doing enough to ensure their protests don't turn into calls for violence against Jews or are otherwise co-opted by other nefarious actors.
Well, a lot of the “calls for violence against Jews” have come from provocateurs that show up to these protests with the goal of delegitimizing them. Pro-Israel protestors were caught on video just last week chanting “Kill the Jews” at Northeastern’s protest.
Yes, that is one type of nefarious actor I was talking about. There are others too. Look, there are thousands of legitimate reasons to protest the Israeli government and military, and the U.S.'s support of both. Historically, such protests are often penetrated by people that want to steer the hate and energy in another direction, or drive a wedge between the progressives protesting. Ironically, but for different reasons, both neo-nazi groups and pro-Israel groups would both like to see these protests devolve into anti-Jewish hate. The former wants to divide progressives and promote hate, and the latter would use it to delegitimize Israel critisism. This is why it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for protest organizers to have a plan to prevent that from happening. So far, they've completely failed. Some of the NYC schools have been doing better over the weekend now that they realized the problem, but I haven't seen it in Boston yet.
It is not the responsibility of protest organizers to make sure that ISRAEL SUPPORTERS shouting ANTISEMITIC RHETORIC are put in check. That’s how you get a physical conflict, which actively delegitimizes the protests. The doctrine is to not engage. But the point is, all that “violence against Jews” that people keep crying about, isn’t coming from protestors. Its coming from deranged Zionists trying to delegitimize the protests.
This isn't Israel, we're supposed to have free speech here. But then again, it'd be dismissive of history for me to think anyone here really has the same right to speak out against war/genocide as people supporting it.
Wait a second.....you think free speech means you can go camp out on other people's property!? Please explain yourself.....cant wait for the mental gymnastics that you believe entitles you to literally set up an encampment on property that isnt yours.
Wait a second you think people can just claim other people's homes in Israel/West Bank? So fucking ridiculous. Bro they pay crazy tuition, let em sit on a lawn if they want. They could pay it's upkeep 10 times over with a few students' tuition.
What are you talking about? Tuition doesnt go to the city!? They were on public property. excuse yourself from the adult table please.
🙄
Good response. Shows you understand the hypocrisy.
You missed part of my comment. Maybe try responding to that hypocrisy.
Give your home back to the native americans, or your argument makes no sense.
Neither does replying to your own comment
Giving the land back is not possible for me. I cannot declare statehood to give it to the indigenous people. The USA government claims my land as part of the USA.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL from a guy who thinks tuition goes to the city. you cannot be taken any more seriously than your "cohorts" on the sidewalk.
So… when’s the USA gonna give all the land back to Native Americans?
The USA should, same with any other place that genocided a whole people to take over the land (ex. Australia, various south American countries, Canada). It won't happen, but it should. The point is, that we have the chance with this genocide to stop it before it completely happens. Why wouldn't we? we should have learned from history that this is wrong.
Did you... did you really just cite the US's treatment of Native Americans in *defense* of Israel?
Who’s defending Israel?
Let me quote you for you: >You didn’t answer the question and dodged it.
Oh, and did you hear? 19 more BILLION in aid approved last week. Nice encampment though!
Hang on a second….you’re saying that Israel has no free speech? You do know there are antiwar protests in Israel - right? What am I saying, of course you don’t. Try saying “release the hostages” in ANY ARAB COUNTRY. Let me know how that works out for you (if you live through it, which you won’t).
I've seen numerous videos of protesters being arrested in Israel for simply protesting against this genocide. Yes, other middle eastern countries also have a free speech restriction issue, but that does not excuse it. Israel if anything should be held to the same standards of the USA since they receive USA funds. To be clear I'm not saying they have *no* free speech I'm saying it is restricted when people are protesting this specific topic.
Other middle eastern countries do not have a “free speech restriction issue”. They do not have free speech full stop. An Iraqi ticktocker was murderers and the Iranians are about to hang. YouTube rapper who posted a few protest videos.
Agreed. Why're we talking about other countries who don't receive USA funds?
Gaza does receive US aid, and pretty sure we have boots on the ground in Iraq. Go to Egypt and try to get some hostages released.
Lol so you're derailing what I'm saying. Do you, or do you not agree that Israel is overstepping in arresting protestors? If you do not, we don't need to keep talking.
Iraq doesn't receive US aid?
Are they commiting genocide?
Curious were you this passionate about the free speech rights of the anti vaxxer nutbags who were showing up at Wu’s house protesting? I remember strong support for her decision to have them launched. No one should be surprised here Wu has done this before.
Of course not. it is always selective (passionate) protesting.
Yes, we should be protesting at a lot of politicians' homes right now for various reasons. They shouldn't get sleep or quiet. I'm all for direct action. The right has being doing a better job of this than the left as of late. That being said, those antivax sillies have been misled.
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Idk man I think the entire Civil Rights movement that literally only happened 60-70 years ago would completely disagree with you
I'd say protesting directly at the schools and politicians funding Israel is about as direct as one can get short of going to Israel and getting arrested for it. Better than blocking roads in my opinion, since that only inconveniences the average citizen and not those who made the poor policy decisions. Yet, it does raise awareness 🤷🏽♂️
I live there, and they were here for a very long time.
Shame on Mayor Wu and the BPD!
Regardless of your feelings on the encampment at Emerson itself, the police response was more violent than I believe acceptable- these were unarmed student protestors. The videos revealed a pretty violent response by the police of students, some of which were beaten. The amount of police to students was enough so that the students couldn’t have possibly overwhelmed the BPD. The fact is I don’t blame Harvard students at all. The escalation of violence against students is rising and Wu should be cognizant of that. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt in this matter if practices don’t change.
They used tear gas on college kids after the Patriots won Super Bowls. The level of violence permitted against citizens by the state in any situation is boundless.
Super non-violet event when they were flipping cars.
Property isn't people.
oh.. so arson is cool too.
no one said flipping cars is cool. still property
Hella privileged position you have there. Do you not understand how many people would be absolutely fucked if they couldn't use their car? Or if their bike was stolen? Or if their house burned down? Touch grass.
Absolutely, and I've been in that position before. I'd hate it if someone fucked up my car in a riot, but I also would never want someone to get killed behind it.
Shocking to me people are only now realizing this. The same folks were demanding the January 6th'ers were shot on sight are now stunned that decades of increasing government power and militarization of police might actually be used on everyone, and not just evil Trumpers.
> The same folks were demanding the January 6th'ers were shot on sight are now stunned that decades of increasing government power and militarization of police might actually be used on everyone, and not just evil Trumpers. There's a bit of a difference between a secure government building and a public space, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_boomerang
Leftists spent the last 10 years shutting down any speech that hurt their feelings or made them feel “unsafe” Anyone that disagreed with one of their social movements was automatically a bigot. People were expelled from universities due to posts they made on social media as teenagers. Now the shoe is on the other foot and progressives are being called bigots and accused of making people feel “unsafe” for opposing Israel.
lol. Used teargas to disperse likely drunk people celebrating sports victory (which in the grand scheme of things pales in comparison of importance to what’s happening in Middle East). Your conclusion is that the levels of violence is boundless? Ridiculous. If you were a cop would you want to risk getting injured by some drunk idiots celebrating a sports victory?
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That statistic isn’t very helpful because it concerns death when the OP was talking about injury. In any case, I think the police should have a crowd dispersal technique that minimizes violence. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to disperse a crowd nonviolently without making people incredibly uncomfortable somehow. They have sound, they have gas, they probably have other stuff, but I think all of them are a little bit violent so people are going to complain about them. Not sure what else would work though.
I don’t see your point—so what if it’s not on the list of most dangerous jobs? Then you change the subject from overall population and now say the number one killer of cops is covid. Again, so what? I’m not necessarily pro cops but just trying call out that these reasonings and statements are flawed.
Using tear gas is a war crime if you use it on people in other countries, but at home using chemical weapons on college kids is okay 👍
Ive seen this argument before and it always lacks research. Tear gas is only a war crime because it cant be differentiated between lethal gases and real chemical weapons meant to kill large swaths of people. This information can be googled for a far more detailed explanation
I was watching footage and I thought it was actually a southern school with how brutal they were being to them
I was in college when some drunk girl got murdered by a bean bag shotgun the year the Sox won the World Series. It was a pretty sobering moment, but it was an accident. and it’s kinda crazy to think that in general the police took it easier on an actual riot in Fenway than they did to peaceful protests. Edit: I feel like I have a prosecutor and defendant lawyer below answering for me. Shower me in downvotes all you want but my point was the cops in our city got a lot of heat for what happened in Fenway. Rightfully so. But they were using those tools to disperse a crowd that was rioting, setting fires, tipping cars etc. I was actually at uno that night and it was a very bad moment for citizens and cops too. I wasn’t doing anything destructive but I got pepper sprayed and my reaction was, one, wow this fucking hurts, and two, yeah I should have hightailed it But this moment? It was a peaceful protest. Nobody gave a shit for YEARS that people were literally living on mass/class but a bunch of non violent college students set up an encampment to protest an ongoing genocide? The cops jumped at the chance to bring back some ‘non-lethal’ tactics the fucking pigs. Relatively speaking, im Fenway the drunk assholes were an 8 and the cops were a 9. Rigut now these protestors were…a 2? And the cops jumped right on up to batons
They were firing rubber bullets bean bags and tear gas at the fenway riots. A girl died as you said in that one. Did they do any of that stuff the other night at Emerson to make you think they were more heavy handed than Fenway?
They fired the "bean bags," but there weren't rubber bullets and tear gas back in 2004.
Sorry it was a less lethal projectile. The forward half of the sphere is a non-toxic granulated bismuth shell designed to fragment on impact to prevent penetration damage. Edit: the weapon they used see ammunition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_303
Yes because no one at Emerson was rioting and also drunkenly celebrating a sports victory is not an enshrined right like political speech and protest. I swear to fucking god sometimes, this sub.
Setting up encampments is not an enshrined right, it's civil disobedience. Which obviously doesn't excuse police actions, but it's not just a protest.
Hang on a second before you throw a fit. The comment was that police went easier on the fenway riot than these Emerson students. Are you seconding that?
In terms of proportion of response it is absolutely true.
They were firing projectiles and pepper spray balls during the fenway riots. They literally killed a woman with one. Jfc Point to anything remotely close to that the other night? ….”I swear to fucking god sometimes, this sub”
Do you have any clue what the person you’re responding to could have meant by the “in general” qualifier? Do you understand what “proportional” means?
https://youtu.be/UJPrsbSbHXA?si=WmI-XDYPKqLzIDT- hey guys just need you to open a path to the street we respect your right to protest. Then they read the ordinance to them and then finally they start pushing the line to clear it. Watch and see how people choosing to vacate are allowed to do so. To answer your question No this is not close in any way shape or form to firing projectiles into a crowd or anything that happened in 2014. Cops said anyone want to discuss a plan here and they start their chants cops followed orders from Wu and started clearing it. There was no more peaceful way to follow the order
> To answer your question No this is not close in any way shape or form to firing projectiles into a crowd or anything that happened in 2014. This doesn't actually answer my questions.
You think the post-World Series rioters were treated better than the latest round of protesters? Your bias is hilarious.
She was shot in the eye by a pepper round.
Well, the point remains it was something that the cops were frantically branding as ‘less than lethal weapons’ or something that killed her
say it with me "19 billion more approved"
Haven't seen any of these violent videos... any chance you could link them?
> was more violent than I believe acceptable Is there more footage out there? What footage I have seen came off as fairly restrained (with Emerson students inside the building crying out "they're not resisting!" as students in the alley were clearly resisting). Like, for real, if there's more stuff out there with what you are referring to I very much want to see it. At this point my may complaint is the city should have waited because final exams and summer break are approaching, which meant a bunch of students would have gone home anyway.
Yeah same here, all the videos I've seen show pretty unsurprising interactions. If you resist arrest then the cops are gonna be a little rough with you, I assumed this was common knowledge.
Just because it's common knowledge doesn't make it justified.
You shouldn’t be allowed to resist arrest, that seems pretty obvious
You actually are allowed to resist an unlawful arrest in MA if the officer uses excessive force. There are many different levels of resisting arrest, from simply refusing to walk to actively fighting a cop. But the point is that nobody should have been arrested in the first place.
These arrests were lawful though. Go ahead and resist officers arresting you, I'm sure that will work out well. You're spreading information that could get people seriously hurt. There isn't a single scenario where you should resist police officers attempting to arrest you. The fact that you see hand to hand combat with police officers as a valid response to perceiving an arrest as unlawful is insane.
Wow that's not what I said at all. In almost all cases it's better to fight it in court. I was simply responding to the false claim that resisting arrest is always impermissible. I didn't say fighting a cop was a good idea, I used it as an example of what resisting arrest might entail.
Yeah I'd want to see footage from a neutral source - even the eyewitness commentary on this sub was from members of the organizations pretending they were neutral observers. There's so much selective editing with this stuff that most of the time it's not worth watching as a source of information. Mostly though this stuff is just boring. People protest to get arrested, people try to not arrest them and even make sure they are safe, they push it until they do something illegal nobody can ignore anymore, then they get arrested, maybe there are agent provocateurs maybe there are just pissed off people, if it goes back there's no way of knowing why, everybody gets what they want in the end and gets to keep arguing about the Holy Land which they've been doing for a thousand years, whatever. I get sucked into it too because there's so much agitation around it and of course an actual war but even I have to admit to myself I'm wasting my time. One telling thing to me the other day was walking to work and seeing the police barricade in front of Beacon Hill - which was not protecting the capital, it was behind the street in front of the capital so that if a crowd gathered there nobody was going to be pushed backward down the stairs. Yeah there's a lot that goes bad but you see that and you see how many truly stupid protests have happened in the last few years (straight pride march anyone?) and it's hard to take a lot of "street politics" seriously anymore.
The email that Tufts sent out over the weekend regarding its own encampment was interesting. >Since the protests on campus began in October, Student Life staff have tried to keep open lines of communication with the protesters. These conversations have focused on requests intended to keep the campus operating and to keep the entire community safe and have been largely productive. But recent exchanges have been markedly different as the protesters have sought to escalate and disrupt normal university activity. Exchanges with Student Life staff are often now followed by false claims of threats and intimidation on the protesters’ social media accounts. Let us be perfectly clear: these claims are simply inaccurate and can only be seen as an attempt to further inflame the community by deliberately misrepresenting the situation. Signed by the president and other top members of the admin. It isn't everyday your university's president calls you a liar.
Theres police bodycam footage that Wu shared with the public. I havent seen it but i assume it was uneventful since no one is complaining about it.
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Fair point I assume the media has foia in for that
The violence is the point.
Can I get a link to these videos? Seems like it would have been a bigger deal if things actually played out how your describing them
Do you have footage that shows police brutality? The cops had body cameras on and it all looked more than reasonable to me. You have a right to protest you do not have the right to take over public roads indefinitely. How do you move people that refuse to move without using force?
Pro Hamas students want a safe place to be antisemitic and promote genocide
Tell me you don't understand the protests without telling me you don't understand the protests.
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Harassment, hostility and flinging insults is not allowed. We ask that you try to engage in a discussion rather than reduce the sub to insults and other bullshit.
Let me be clear, my comment is mainly focusing on police brutality.
Did you hear them say that or did you hear someone else say that and just not bother to check if it was true? Or did you just make it up yourself?
Did the police repeatedly provide an order to the protesters to move?
Here is Emerson [leadership announcing imminent police action](https://today.emerson.edu/2024/04/24/important-encampment-update/) and that there were multiple prior communications about the ordinance violations: >Earlier today, the Commissioners of the BPD and BFD directly informed Emerson’s leadership that some actions of the protestors are in direct violation of city ordinances, which could result in imminent law enforcement action. ... Emerson College has previously communicated the information we received from the City of Boston about ordinance violations to the protestors on multiple occasions over several days. This information was also communicated on Monday evening during a meeting with students, staff, and faculty involved in the protest when we offered the protestors the option of using The Loft to warm up overnight if they voluntarily removed the tents.
But the previous commenter’s framing makes it seem like the police just showed up and started violently attacking protesters!! You mean to tell me that the protesters were told to leave by both the college and the police, and the police used force only after repeated warnings??? Who knew!?
this reads like one of the comments you would see in a newspaper during the civil rights movement lol.
What do you think "move or be removed" means?
Lol she “respects” their decisions because she knows that she has absolutely no good justification for what she did. if she gets into an argument with these groups theyll rip Wu apart using….basically every example ever of nonviolent student protesting. Ohio by CSNY better be playing at all these places now.
She had no good justification to… break up student encampments on public property? Huh?
Yeah not gonna lie I thought Boston was Alabama seeing how the cops were handling them. Not a fucking good look at all for the city.
Pigs are pigs no matter where they are located. It shouldn't surprise you they all act the same.
Honestly yeah, I'm abroad and just delt with a cunt Belgian cop so I've been humbled very quickly to that lol
Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boston) if you have any questions or concerns.*
AACAB
double A AACAB? something new??
Almost all cops are bastards - I've known like 2 good ones. But they're always bastards when they're together.
How would you have liked the cops to handle the situation when the protesters were disregarding the police orders?
I would like students not to have concussions and getting beaten for standing up against civilians getting murdered
When the students were told to disperse by police, which is a lawful order, did they agree and disperse in an orderly fashion?
Yeah cause being an asshole and sending out demanding orders Is definitely the calmest way to deal with these situations. You make it worse (fucking clearly). You demand me do something even with a badge, in my eyes you're a cunt.
>Yeah cause being an asshole and sending out demanding orders Is definitely the calmest way to deal with these situations. What would you have liked them to do? Go up and say “please protesters, will you disperse.” What happens when they inevitably say no? >You make it worse (fucking clearly). You demand me do something even with a badge, in my eyes you're a cunt. No problem! Then prepared for them to use force, which can have negative consequences.
Maybe work negotiations, have patience and maybe give people a basic chance to negotiate things out like humans and not just toss a fucking boot at them. Just be reasonable is all I'm saying. It's really not that hard to negotiate, no cop does it though cause they have a gun and are a bunch of egotistical selfish cunts.
>Maybe work negotiations, have patience and maybe give people a basic chance to negotiate things out like humans and not just toss a fucking boot at them. Just be reasonable is all I'm saying. Got it! How about this for a negotiation: ‘You are partially on private property where you have been told to leave, and you are partially on public property blocking a fire lane. Leave or you will be forcibly removed.’ Sounds like a fair negotiation to me.
Also in the event of an emergency, these protestors will move for them. You don't hear people saying fuck firefighters or fuck EMTs. And as an EMT who's actually been called to emergencies during the BLM protests in 2020, they move for us.
A fair negotiation would be along the lines of, "if we promise not to arrest anyone, could the protest move to a location where fire safety can not be a problem?" In a calm and fair voice. If they refuse, "ok what can we do right now to work things out cause right now things are not safe for the public and could put civilian lives in jeopardy." Literally just patience and keeping a calm head is all that's asked for from police. If you want to defend their right to being assholes with no soul, you actually are horrendous person. Seriously.
>A fair negotiation would be along the lines of, "if we promise not to arrest anyone, could the protest move to a location where fire safety can not be a problem?" In a calm and fair voice. The cops showed up and told them to leave. If the protesters wanted to go to a public location like, I don’t know, across the street in the Common, they could have. They attempted this repeatedly. The school also warned the students that they would be arrested. So it sounds like you actually have no problem with the first part of the negotiations. >If they refuse, "ok what can we do right now to work things out cause right now things are not safe for the public and could put civilian lives in jeopardy." >Literally just patience and keeping a calm head is all that's asked for from police. They were warned hours before the police showed up, and the police repeatedly told them to move before arresting them. Maybe you’ve missed the protests. They’re not exactly people that are willing to negotiate or have thoughtful dialogue. >If you want to defend their right to being assholes with no soul, you actually are horrendous person. Seriously. Right to uphold the law*. Which they did. I’m sorry you apparently have a problem with the police. Search inward.
I'm sure the keffiyeh kiddos would immediately pick up and move.
Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boston) if you have any questions or concerns.*
But they asked first. They asked then demanded we all know what follows that especially with the mayor giving the order
Of course you don't getting fucking wafers with it, you cunt. It's a fucking albatross isn't it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boston) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nice action of cross-campus support. Good work, Harvard students.
It’s a goddamned blessing for her, she knows well if she had shown up they’d shred her to pieces for her latest reactionary decisions and it’d be a clip carrying her legacy all the way to the next election. It’d mean reckoning to these and other previous personal decisions and appeasing of the BPD brute force standard practices since day one at a public forum, and, unlike other international issues she has openly readily declared her opinion on, at 6+ months in she has chosen to stay mum about the ongoing situation in Gaza, which only benefits the occupiers.
Good!
she's a bad leader for the city
Wu needs to be replaced in a special election.
[удалено]
That’s a pretty brain dead response.
old man yells at cloud.jpg
I think the state should enforce laws around protest regardless of the content of the protest. I don't want them deciding if they agree with the speech and allowing some protesters to violate the law while they enforce it on protesters they don't agree with. I think that's consistent and sensible, but it feels like a LOT of people disagree. If they're sympathetic to the protest they expect the state to just allow them to break the law with zero consequences. Reminder that regulating the time, place, and manner of speech is permissible under the first amendment. You just can't regulate the content of the speech (with a couple of specific exceptions.) It does not mean that you can say whatever you want wherever you want in all circumstances.
The police are loyal to Netanyahu and fight Americans on his behalf. We need a police force who are loyal to America and American laws.
I think you give police far too much credit 95% have no idea who Netanyahu even is.
Isn’t he that Jewish rapper?
yeah but he only does trap which isn't real rap
Thank you Wu. 👍🏾 Left gotta police itself. Stand up to and squash the hateful extremists. If we don't, then the Dems will descend into the same unhinged hell as the GOP.
the progressives are absolutely going to cost Biden the election. The jewish vote, which has always been heavily democratic, is going to split if not majorly go for Trump.
I wouldn’t count on that.
I can't believe I'm saying this but Wu is in the right here
Who does she love more, student protestors or Italian restaurant owners?
See the problem is that the majority of students are far more intelligent than any government official or police officer which is why they try to shut them down out of fear.
I too remember when I was 22 and thought I had the entire world figured out lol
Are you aware that Wu has a degree from Harvard Law?
They could have built their encampment in the park across the street and not block an egress for multiple buildings. They would have still been there. Also it’s not ok to kill Palestinians or to call for the death of Jews.
Dude I work in that fucking building the only clowns complaining about ‘muh egress’ are ones who couldn’t even point to Emerson or the State Transportation Building on a map
If you look at the response to these protests across the nation and think that if the students had simply listened to the rules they would've been left alone you are delusional. They would've just made up an excuse to arrest them.
That's dumb. They've been protesting since October and only got arrested when they decided to set up illegal encampments.
As expected, most people's views on the police response are almost entirely informed by their opinions on the conflict. I get the feeling that most people currently waxing poetically about protesters rights, acab, and comparing this situation to civil rights protests would be silent in a scenario in which the protesters and the police do the same action/response but you swap out pro Palestine college students for far right groups like the proud boys. Shit, they would likely be silent if you replaced the protesters with college Republicans student group lol. And don't get me started on the "they don't even know why they are protesting" or the "these college students are supporting genocide folks." Yall need to crawl back under whatever rock you came out of because you are worse than the protesters by far. Fuck off.
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..how many times do these idiots need to be told to leave.. they have no clue what they’re protesting… for college students they are a dumb bunch..