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LA Protesters Aren’t Inviting Violent Authoritarianism, They’re Mobilizing to Stop It
(theintercept.com)
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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I’m not saying protest doesn’t have power. But the power of nonviolent protest diminishes sharply if there’s no implicit threat of violent protest if matters get pushed too far. One of the primary reasons MLK succeeded was because Malcom X was waiting in the wings.
Nonviolent protest against a status quo ante is one thing; nonviolent protest against an aggressively authoritarian regime that’s grabbing more power by the day is quite another. It is a very, very different context.
I feel like we're all saying the same thing: if you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable. It's not about what's right or wrong, or what the public should or should not do; it's about which of those two options Trump himself has decided we're doing. And he has chosen....poorly.
As an additional point to add to yours, every single political protest movement in history has included violent elements. It's unavoidable. When these political "moderates" start pearl clutching about some windows being broken or whatever it is an attempt to de-legitimize the entire movement, and draw the focus away from the actual source of the majority of violence, the cops (including ICE).
I think I need to be clear, I don't give a shit if windows are broken or they throw scooters off bridges onto cop cars, I'm talking about violence against humans. TBH, the looting sends the wrong message of greed instead of being for a cause, but not because they're damaging shit.
I don’t even need to reach into the past for a very clear counterexample: do you really think Zelenskyy could have asked Putin nicely to not invade his country anymore, and it would have made a damn bit of difference?
This is not an invasion of our land, these are democratic protests. There is a huge difference between Russia sending bombs to bomb LA and Americans protesting. If Russia sends bombs, fuck them up.
It is very rare for the president to send the National Guard into a state without the governor's cooperation. The last time was when LBJ used it to protect pro civil rights protestors in Alabama.
Unfortunately, Trump's goal in LA is not so well-intentioned, it's to establish authority so ICE can continue disappearing citizens without due process. It is, for all intents and purposes of the word, an invasion. Thing is, if Newsom attempts to intervene, Trump would loooove to arrest him for treason. And if they do nothing, and protestors step aside, ICE will just continue disappearing people, moving state to state, pushing and pushing, further and further, hoping that someone gives him an excuse to escalate.
And if America sends bombs to LA?
Okay, then violence is a good response, since it's a defense.
And those bombs are in the form of the military policing American citizens on American soil, right now, so…?
You first, make sure to take lots of video.
I see what you're saying, but I live in Seattle. I saw how they spun our city as a "hellhole" and "it's on fire" for months. I had family members calling to see if I was okay when it was very contained and our cops had been quiet quitting for years anyway, it was that fucked up. You have to have the people on your side, and not be on the side of the soldiers/agents/whatever.
They will say that regardless of how much violence protesters actually do. Purity testing demonstrations only makes the situation worse by allowing the right the ability to dictate the narrative.
What are you trying to say? That the demonstrators should start killing people, looting and setting everything on fire? I don't think that's a good solution. In fact, that would just get a lot of protesters killed.
There's no purity testing. I'm counteracting a lot of people saying to bring their guns and start shooting. I wonder why people are calling for that? It doesn't seem in the protester's best interest.
I am saying that:
I agree wholeheartedly with you. People are being mixed in to the comments that want violence and are promoting violence all over Lemmy. I apologize for somehow lumping you in with that.