(no subject)

[simrob]

Reports in Raleigh that there were Proud Boys instigating violence against property are extremely credible.

At Wilmington and Davie last night, I saw a group of primarily quite young, primarily Black people surround a cop car and realize that they had power and control when they acted together. The mood was tense and joyous; I felt much safer near that crowd than I did anywhere near areas where police were asserting control.

Online, I saw protest organizers focus on the first narrative and deny the second one, because it was not their narrative. Frankly, people who claimed "the escalation was only police" lost a lot of credibility in my eyes. (The police escalated further, and more broadly.)

At the same time, most of those leaders that lost credibility were reasonably upset and reacting to having attached their names to an event that they wanted to be gentler.

There may not be enough shared trust for a Hong Kong like strategy where different groups of "brave fighter" and "non-violent peaceful" protesters are able to coordinate, support each other, and (when desired) stay out of each other's way.