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peace
Husband went out for smokes and some pizza. got caught out 5 minutes to 8 PM curfew. Was hurrying home and all the streets and alleyways were blocked by SWAT teams. He was trying to get back before the crowd of protesters got into the neighborhood, but it was too late. They caught up to him two blocks from home. The cops started firing on people with rubber bullets, pepper spray bullets and tear gas. They started funneling people into vans and arresting them. Cops were shooting out windows in parked cars. They were kicking in doors of houses and pulling people out. People were running, trying to get free. Cops were tackling people. Macing people. People were bleeding, crying, screaming.
Rioters were running around with golf clubs, baseball bats. Cops were firing weapons, blocking routes home for people just trying to make it back from restaurants. BTW, things are open past 8 PM, so what's up with the curfew if the 7-11 is still open all night???
My husband had just dodged bullets, hid behind cars, climbed a tree to get away from people running through the streets. Not safe from the cops. Not safe from the protesters, he grabbed a rock out of sheer desperation and tried to get home. That's when a cop came up from behind him and tackled him. My husband said while they stood on his back the cop kept saying "Don't fucking bite me or I will mace you. Don't bite me." But his face was literally shoved into the sidewalk. His face is messed up. His finger might be broken. His arms are scraped up. Could be worse.
Then they put my husband in a van with all the other curfew breakers. And I spent from 10 AM until 6 PM the next day trying to post his bond. They let him out at about 1:30 AM. Right in the middle of curfew to walk home alone downtown.
My husband said he was screaming for me, hoping I would hear him that he was being taken to jail. Because he was only a few blocks from home. It's heartbreaking. I heard screams. Lots of them. Every night I hear screams and guns firing and helicopters and smell the tear gas and the smoke from fires.
It's a warzone here. I know not many people read this, but I want people to know. There are some looters. Some problems, but the cops are by far doing more damage and are far more dangerous than any of the protestors.
Please, people, stop protesting. You are playing their game and not accomplishing anything. You need to stop, regroup. Form stronger. Do things right. Make a real difference. Make them think they are safe, that they have won, and come up with a better way to make change.
The age of peaceful protest is gone. We need something stronger. More powerful. Don't loot. Don't play the war games. Real change needs to occur and this is just keeping things going, or making things worse.
The cops have military grade weapons. And they are having fun hurting people. And they WILL kill us all if we give them the chance.
This is war. Lose the battle. Win the war.
Be safe everyone and I hope things will change for the better for everyone.
7:24 PM - Tuesday, Jun. 02, 2020
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