On May 25th 2020, George Floyd died as a result of the actions of four Minneapolis police officers. Several videos have emerged showing one officer kneeling on the back of the neck of Floyd as he was handcuffed and lying face down on the ground, while two other officers were kneeling one on his back and another on his upper legs. Audio from the videos and statements for witnesses indicate Floyd pled with the officers to be let up and placed on his feet as he could not breathe. His death is a tragic demonstration of the abuse of authority and power placed in the hands of some misguided police officers. The three officers kneeling on him merit criminal punishment, which hopefully will come to pass. The fourth officer also merits punishment as an accessory in the death of Floyd because of his failure to intervene.
Following Floyd's death there have been violent protests across the United States. Anyone who has seen any of the videos cannot deny the excessive use of force. Floyd was pinned to the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds by the knee of the officer on his neck. The protests and demonstrations are warranted, at least in Minneapolis and Minnesota where the incident took place. If others around the country want to show their solidarity with the protestors in Minnesota that too is fine. I am horrified but what I saw in the videos. No one should have to endure such treatment.
The protests, however, have been violent and have led to much destruction in the cities where they have taken place. Participants have been injured, police have been injured, bystanders have been injured, property has been destroyed and as a result any message the protests were intended to convey has been completely lost in the chaos. The news outlets do not try to enlighten the world about a message but instead show the violence and destruction taking place. What is the message? The organizers of the protests mention injustice, inequality, police brutality and failure on the part of government to act. They never speak to specific injustices and what should be done. They never explain the inequality and a preferred outcome. They speak of police brutality as if it were specifically directed at blacks and never elaborate on measures police forces should take to minimize the actions of the few bad apples in the bushel. The never expound on the actions the expect government to have taken. If they are not able to articulate their concerns more specifically instead of so generally, how can a path forward be mapped out? If they are not able to articulate proposed solutions, what can be evaluated and chosen as the best path forward?
Why have these protest turned so violent, much more so than past protests for similar incidents? Here are a few of my thoughts. The country has been cooped up and required to stay at home for almost 3 months. 40 million workers have lost their jobs. Hundreds of thousands of businesses have been forced to close. The country has been put into a state of fear. Everyone is unhappy these things have occurred. Everyone feels the events were beyond their control but they have never the less been severely impacted. Somebody must be to blame. It is always easy to blame the faceless government or society for the bad and evil in our lives. What better way to express/vent frustration than to engage in a protest and if it gets a little out of control and mob mentality takes over, well shit happens.
The First Amendment to the Constitution provides for the "the right of the people peaceably to assemble". There has been little peaceable in the protests shown by the media. Yet participants still try to cloak themselves in their First Amendment Right. Many of the participants go to the protests wearing masks and not medical masks but black masks hiding their faces from the view of the police and the cameras. I believe this does two things it imbues them with anonymity leading to acts on their part that they likely would not commit should their face be on display. Second, it indicates a consciousness of will to commit unlawful acts should they feel the course of events warrants. In my opinion organizers have a responsibility to advise their followers no one will be allowed to protest who is wearing a mask and government is within it's right to pass laws prohibiting the wearing of masks in public demonstrations. Every participant should be prepared to take responsibility for his/her actions.
Thomas Sowell, one of my favorite authors of non-fiction, said something to the effect, "we are entering an age where the individual does not take responsibility for his actions but everyone is expected to take responsibility for the actions of an individual, whether past or present."