Tag: protests

Brutal Tunisian Police Response Fuels 2nd Day of Protests in Tataouine

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Police used tear gas on Sunday to disperse residents in the restive Tunisian city of Tataouine protesting their leader’s detention and the region’s high unemployment rate. Demonstrators formed a sit-in protest camp at El Kamour, outside Tataouine, two months ago to demand the jobs in the oil and gas sector the government promised them in 2017.

Over the past two months, after three years of empty promises, residents of Tataouine demanding more job and economic development opportunities have been staging peaceful demonstrations. On Saturday night, security forces raided the El Kamour sit-in and arrested movement spokesperson Tarek Haddad and other members, who were released on Sunday morning. 

With Haddad still in detention, El Kamour sit-in members took to the streets on Sunday morning calling for his release, protesting the use of force during the Saturday raid and lags in regional economic development. Protestors threw stones at law enforcement officers, blockaded roads with burning tires, and allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at the district police station. 

On June 22 the Tataouine Local Labour Union (URT), which falls under the powerful Tunisian General Workers Union (UGTT), launched a “general strike.”  

They called for authorities to release the activists and criticized the police’s overzealous response, warning “they would be forced to resort to other, more severe forms of struggle” if their demands are not met.  

UGTT Secretary General Noureddine Taboubi echoed the URT demands, and urged the government to enter into “a peaceful and responsible dialogue with a view to finding a way out and giving hope to unemployed youth.” 

As requested, the House of People’s Representatives Bureau confirmed they discussed the situation in Tataouine during their Monday afternoon meeting. The energy minister has also agreed to a meeting in Tataouine on June 23, Tataouine District Governor Adel Werghi said on June 22.  

The Tunisia Press Agency (TAP) reports eight security officers were injured on Sunday. Werghi has defended the police response, saying the intervention was “carried out in accordance with the law.” 

The security forces used tear gas to disperse protestors on Sunday, but undeterred protestors returned on Monday chanting, “we will not give up, we want our right to development and jobs.” The security forces again resorted to using tear gas to diffuse protestors, according to witness and media reports.  

Despite having oil, gas, and underground water reserves, the economy in Tataouine remains primarily agriculture-based. After a 2017 sit-in in El Kamour, the UGTT negotiated a deal between the Tunisian government and sit-in leaders that was supposed to bring in $28 million worth of investment per annum to the impoverished region.  

Protestors say the deal has not materialized and have reverted to the same sit-in tactics used to draw attention to their cause three years ago. Citizens in a number of governorates are feeling the weight of unemployment and Tunisia’s economic stagnation, including in neighboring Kebili and Gafsa. Unemployed residents of the neighboring Gafsa governorate joined the Tataouine protest on June 22.

Read also: Subject of Tunisian COVID-19 Scandal Details Quarantine ‘Escape’

 

 

MENA Region Faces Wave of Post-Lockdown Protests

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Citizens of several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have taken to the streets following the easing of COVID-19 measures. Citizens are demanding action from their governments after having adhered to painful lockdowns and curfews that brought severe economic hardship.

In Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Tunisia, large protests have emerged over the last week as citizens call upon government officials to ease their suffering. While COVID-19 fears begin to wane, a new focus on structural poverty and inefficient government is emerging across the region as protesters express their discontent.

Lebanon

The Lebanese military arrested dozens of protesters on Monday, June 15, for alleged acts of vandalism. Protesters expressed their frustration with skyrocketing inflation amid a spiraling currency crisis, while the indebted nation struggles to balance its debt obligations with popular demands for a significant increase in living conditions.

After nearly two months of empty streets, economic deprivation, and fear of the coronavirus, the Lebanese people have returned to the streets to protest the lack of solutions offered by the government of Hassan Diab. Banks and shops were attacked as Lebanese people grow more desperate, even as new sanctions on neighboring country Syria are likely to further damage Lebanon’s economy.

Iraq

Newly inaugurated prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s “honeymoon phase” in government has ended quickly as increasing austerity measures are sparking furious protests. Monthly pensions were hit by a drop in oil-revenue that is forcing the government to take unpopular measures. Nearly one million Iraqis depend on their pension each month and this month the $920 pension was more than $100 short, according to France24.

The Iraqi government has introduced several ambitious reform plans, but a dramatic fall in government revenue as a result of cratered oil prices and production cuts has meant introducing painful cuts to public sector salaries and pensions. Public sector employment has served as a method to appease Iraqis since the 2003 US invasion, but falling state oil revenues have now undermined this strategy.

Syria

Syria has seen few large protests since the 2011 pro-democracy protests that started a civil war. But protests again emerged over the rise in prices of basic necessities, a doubling in food prices and continued corruption in government. The city of Druze saw four days of intense protests as the Syrian Pound continues to fall dramatically in value.

The protesters are unlikely to see a swift resolution to their concerns as the “Caesar Act,” a new round of US sanctions targeting Syria, is set to heavily impact the last remaining economic activity that has sustained the country’s flailing economy. With an apparent consolidation of power ongoing in Damascus that has gone public, Bashar al-Assad’s regime is facing renewed pressure from all sides.

Tunisia

Protests have emerged in at least seven Tunisian cities, Reuters reported on Thursday, June 18. Unemployed and economically deprived people across the country protested what they considered government inaction in the face of a continued economic crisis. University graduates shouted “we need jobs” in Gafsa and hundreds protested in Hajeb el Ayoun and Sidi Bouzid.

The Tunisian tourism sector has suffered an unprecedented crisis after COVID-19 measures closed borders and shut the industry that provides 10% of state revenue. After a decade of high inflation and unemployment, Tunisians now call for an increased focus on jobs by protesting and even halting the country’s phosphate production through sit-ins.

A new era

The current protests across the MENA-region are likely only the beginning of popular unrest in the region, with global institutes like the IMF predicting that local economies will suffer from post-lockdown economic woes for some time to come. Protests against corruption and ineffective government appear to be supported by data, and the World Bank has called for greater transparency from MENA-governments.

As global oil prices continue to be volatile, supported by painful production cuts, revenue will likely remain impacted in many oil-dependent MENA-countries. With structural economic issues in many countries, unemployment and poverty are likely to worsen in the months ahead, as the region braces itself for a new era of popular discontent.

Protests Rage On in Lebanon

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The Lebanese pound has lost a quarter of its value over two days and unemployment soars as the Lebanese become increasingly destitute, prompting another night of angry protests.

Protests rage

Angry protesters blocked roads across the country, with burning tires sending pitch black smoke into the night’s skies. What the protests lacked in size, relative to some of the mass demonstrations seen before the pandemic, they made up in intensity, hurling stones and fireworks at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

An announcement by the Lebanese central bank that it would inject more foreign currency into its market to stop the free-fall of the Lebanese Pound did anything but calm tempers. The Lebanese are exasperated by what they see as inefficient amateurism in government. Protesters appear to have little faith in their government’s ability to find a solution in coming talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Comprehensive reforms

Banks were a major target with several branches damaged or set alight as the Lebanese have few avenues left to convert righteous indignation into positive change for the country. The government of Hassian Diab is coming under increasing pressure as its promises of rapid reforms are yet to materialize.

Fears exist that the coming negotiations with the IMF will bring the painful austerity that usually accompanies assistance provided by the neoliberal institute. A Bloomberg reporter on June 4 asked the IMF, “In Lebanon it’s said that the IMF is asking to decrease government expenditures, will these costs of reforms fall on the poorest?” This prompted the IMF’s Communication Director, Gerry Rice, to vaguely emphasize the importance of “the right diagnostic and the right set of comprehensive reforms.”

Looming sanctions

The Lebanese appear to be completely justified in their frustration as further economic woes are on the horizon, a tie purposely made by a foreign actor. The US “Caesar Act,” a package of sanctions on Lebanon’s northern neighbor Syria, is about to destroy a large part of the country’s remaining international trade.

The sanctions are intended to cripple Hezbollah and perceived Iranian influence in the region, but they do so by attempting to impoverish the local population into revolt. For both Syria and Lebanon, trade with their neighbor has provided a fragile lifeline as both countries face a currency in free-fall that resulted in skyrocketing prices for basic necessities and food.

With few positives to look forward to and any optimism drained by an inefficient government, the Lebanese protests are set to continue as the people voice their exasperation with an increasingly worrying collapse of Lebanon’s future prospects.

Lebanon: Currency Collapse, Protests Trigger Emergency Cabinet Meeting

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Angry citizens in cities across Lebanon shrugged off recent sectarian clashes to present a united front that called for Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and Prime Minister Hassan Diab to resign in the wake of a spectacular currency devaluation.

Violent skirmishes with security forces and arson punctuated last night’s demonstrations and, amid calls for calm, triggered an emergency cabinet meeting on the morning of Friday, June 10. 

Pound plunge 

The currency hit a new low on Wednesday and Thursday, trading at 5,000 pounds to the dollar on the country’s parallel market. After trading at an official rate of 1,500 pounds to the dollar for 35 years, there were rumors the Lebanese pound hit highs of 6,000-7,000 pounds to the dollar on Thursday, although those appear to be unfounded. 

The dramatic plunge represents a 25% depreciation in the Lebanese pound in just two days. 

The pound has lost 70% of its value since protests kicked off last October and is heading into uncertain territory as neighboring Syria’s currency has also spiraled out of control in recent days, ahead of a fresh round of economic sanctions. 

The cost of living has risen exponentially, dollars are scarce, and, as the recent drop shows, the government’s efforts to stabilize the currency have so far failed.   

In response to the raging protests, Diab called an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday morning. In attendance was controversial Central Bank Governor Salameh, who many believe is responsible for mishandling Lebanon’s foreign currency reserves and the exchange rate. 

Speaking after an additional meeting between himself, Diab, and President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri ruled out sacking the Central Bank governor.  

“It was agreed with President Aoun and PM Diab to lower the dollar exchange rate as of today to below LBP 4,000 and gradually to 3,200, but the results will not begin appearing before Monday,” Berri announced on Friday afternoon.  

Berri added the ruling triumvirate will be “addressing the International Monetary Fund with a unified language,” referring to the ongoing negotiations with the IMF over a bailout triggered by Lebanon’s sovereign debt default, and ensuing economic deterioration. 

“Citizens in a State,a new political party which has gained a large following during the October revolt, rejected the government’s announcement and instead called for more protests on Saturday. 

Citizens in a State, backed by a coalition of 20 civil society movements, parties, and unions, is calling for Diab’s administration to be replaced by a transitional government with exceptional powers to drag the country out of the economic and political crisis it is now mired in.  

Protestors set up roadblocks and tents amid last night’s fury, indicating they are again in for the long-haul after a COVID-19-enforced break. Hezbollah and Amal supporters, who were behind last weekend’s unsettling sectarian violence, also rushed to join last night’s protests, according to Lebanese journalist Luna Safwan.

“With Hezbollah and Amal supporters joining the protests tonight, it seems that there’s a plan to take down the cabinet. Back to October 17th 2019,” Safwan tweeted last night. 

Thursday night’s fiery protests 

The streets of Beirut, Saida, Jal el Dib, Tripoli, Zouk, and many other cities filled with major demonstrations for the first time since the October 17 uprisings that brought down ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri. 

There was nothing to be seen of the sectarian clashes that punctuated demonstrations on June 6, with large moped-convoys of residents from majority-Shia suburbs joining the protests shouting, “Shia, Sunni, F*ck sectarianism.” 

In Beirut, law enforcement was minimal, and protestors set a massive bonfire directly in front of the country’s seat of government. Protestors set a branch of the Central Bank alight in Tripoli, along with tire barricades, billboards and other buildings. When riot police did try to disperse demonstrators in downtown Beirut, young men pelted them with rocks and fireworks, screaming “the riot police are sons of b**.”

The currency crash has reduced first responders’ wages to a pittance, and like the protestors they are supposed to control, police and fire crews are growing tired of the declining economic situation. 

“Why do you destroy shops and things and attack us security forces—do you think we’re happy? Go and f****** break that wall or go to the politicians’ houses,” a police officer told Al Jazeera as he stood by, watching protestors tear down a barrier set up to protect Parliament.  

“In the end we are with you and we want the country to change. Don’t you dare think we’re happy. My salary is now worth $130,” the officer added. 

The Civil Defence, whom the fire brigades fall under, later told local news channel LBCI they did not fight the many of the fires around Beirut, because they had no diesel to run their fire trucks—just another consequence of Lebanon’s economic implosion. 

The government — under intense pressure from protestors, the currency collapse, COVID-19, and Lebanon’s unenviable economic situation — will be waiting on tenterhooks to see what eventuates tonight, and if the protest movement maintains momentum.

Read also: Despairing Domestic Workers Dumped at Ethiopian Consulate in Lebanon

Syria’s Ailing Economy Draws Protesters Back to the Streets

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Syria is in the grips of a deepening economic crisis, fuelled by US and European sanctions, plus neighboring Lebanon’s dramatic financial decline and associated currency crash.  

The Syrian pound followed its Lebanese counterpart this week and crashed spectacularly, sending the cost of living through the roof and sparking fears amongst ordinary Syrians of an impending famine.  

Syrian Pound in trouble  

The Syrian pound traded at 47 pounds to the dollar prior to the country’s bloody civil war, but has now hit 3,000 pounds to the dollar. The currency had been on an even-paced decline until last week. From Saturday to Monday the parallel exchange rate skyrocketed from 2,300 to 3,000 pounds to the dollar where it was still hovering on Wednesday.  

The head of Lebanon’s money-changing syndicate, Mahmoud Murad, said the plunging Syrian and Lebanese currencies are “surprising and incomprehensible,” but the two economies are intrinsically linked. “They are twins,” he explained to Arab News on June 11.  

“What affects the Lebanese pound affects the Syrian pound, and vice versa. The dollar exchange rate in Syria suddenly jumped to 3,500 pounds before unexpectedly dropping to between 2,600 and 2,700 pounds.  

“We do not know why. Has someone poured US dollars into the Syrian market to cause this drop? Where did these dollars come from? It is strange,” Murad said.  

As of this week, the Syrian pound has lost 80% of its value in the last 12 months alone. The worrying trend is concerning all levels of society, pushing some Syrians back to the streets for the first time since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that descended into civil war. 

Protests entered their fourth day on Wednesday, and have spread to the majority Druze city of Suweida. Demonstrators started with economic slogans, but in Suweida, which has largely been exempt from the conflict, openly called for Al Assad’s downfall. 

“Protesters called for freedom and toppling of the regime as a result of popular anger over the deteriorating economic, social, security and political situation,” Syrian activist Noura al Basha told Reuters on Thursday. 

Soaring Cost of Living 

The sudden currency crash has sent the price of basics like bread through the roof, pushing more Syrians into poverty and hunger.  

“Prices are through the roof. Every day… it’s more expensive than the day before,” Damascus mother of five Lamees al-Sheikh told the French Press Agency (AFP).

“I’m scared one day I’ll… come back home empty handed.” 

Business owners are also worried by the fast-developing situation, and say that even after raising prices, they cannot make money.

“There is one exchange rate in the morning, and another one in the afternoon,” said grocery store owner Rashed Umari from Qamishli in the north. “Everything we sell is at a loss.” 

Meanwhile, Al Assad replaced Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis Thursday, according to state media. Al Assad is yet to provide an explanation for Khamis’ downfall, but the move indicates the growing civil unrest and economic problems are also being felt in the upper echelons of Syrian politics. Given the interlinked nature of the Syrian and Lebanese economies and ongoing sanction pressure, it is unclear how Al Assad can reboot Syria’s ailing economy and how the war-weary Syrians will respond to the unfolding situation.

Read also: Despairing Domestic Workers Dumped at Ethiopian Consulate in Lebanon

Tensions Ease in Lebanon After Weekend of Sectarian Clashes

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On Saturday, protesters in Lebanon returned to the streets for the first time since the country lifted COVID-19 restrictions. 

What started as peaceful marches protesting the country’s economic crisis, fuelled by endemic corruption, descended into worrying sectarian clashes decried by Lebanese politicians, religious leaders, and the army as a “dangerous ordeal” planned by certain factions. 

The country’s leaders unanimously condemned the slip into sectarianism, and invoked memories of Lebanon’s bloody civil war to warn against further aggression.

Leaders Condemn Saturday’s Violence 

The Army Command released a statement on Sunday calling the Sunni-Shia violence a “dangerous ordeal” and warning Lebanese citizens “against being dragged into strife.” It reported 25 soldiers were injured on Saturday, and vowed to “preserve civil peace and protect national unity.” 

Calls for disarmament for Iranian-backed Hezbollah appeared to trigger sectarian violence after some counter-demonstrators insulted the Prophet Mohammed’s wife Aisha and other historic Sunni figures, inflaming Sunni-Shia tensions.  

The military and security services intervened to prevent Hezbollah and Amal counter-demonstrators clashing with protestors in downtown Beirut, but gunfire and scuffles broke out in neighborhoods across the capital.  

Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri used colourful language to decry the events, declaring the sectarian violence “a strife that is more severe than killing!” 

“Cursed be the one who awakens it, so beware of falling into its furnaces, for it will spare no one,” Berri chastised, while also condemning insults against Islamic or Christian symbols or sacred places. 

On Monday, Interior Minister Mohamed Fahmi announced the violence had been “intentional and premeditated,” and required further investigation.  

“We had strong indicators that a fifth column could interfere in the demonstrations to trigger tension and sedition, and this is exactly what happened,” Fahmi told Lebanese daily al-Joumhouria on June 8. 

“It is inadmissible to trigger sectarian strife, no matter what it costs,” said the interior minister, who has also backed up the military’s assurances the situation is now under control. 

“Saturday’s incidents were a big shock to all political parties who must join efforts to protect the country. What happened has dangerously stirred strife and sedition, putting the fate of the nation and Lebanese at stake,” unnamed political sources also told al-Joumhouria. 

Protest Movement’s Future Endangered? 

Hezbollah supporters, who planned to protest US interference in Lebanese politics by demonstrating outside the US Embassy in Beirut on Sunday, abandoned the demonstration in the wake of Saturday’s unrest. Political commentators were quick to defend the protest movement, telling Arab News it will push ahead despite Saturday’s events.  

“Indeed, people are repulsed by what happened, but it will not prevent them from taking to the streets again to demand their rights,” commentator and public affairs academic Dr. Ziad Abdel Samad told Arab News on June 7.

“What happened on Saturday will not eliminate the civil movement, which is committed to its demands and to pressuring for the reestablishment of the authority by forming a government with powers that allow it to draft a new electoral law, as happened in Tunisia.”

A report from Brussels think-tank the International Crisis Group (ICG) agreed that the protest movement is critical and must continue to exert pressure on the government and elite to institute reform.

The June 8 ICG report states that “the current Lebanese government, and any government that may follow it, will have to carry out substantial structural and institutional reform to put the country’s fiscal and economic system back on a sound footing.”

“To succeed, such structural change will have to put an end to the political model in which corrupt and self-serving cliques appropriate and redistribute state resources and public goods,” the report added. 

It is, however, highly unlikely the Lebanese elite, who have grown rich on the current status quo of corruption and wildly unbalanced wealth distribution, will pragmatically put their own interest aside in order to save Lebanon from economic collapse.  

“It is very hard to imagine that they (Lebanon’s ruling elite and political class) will do so unless the Lebanese who have gone into the streets since October 2019 find ways to exert sustained pressure on the country’s political institutions,” the report concluded. 

Disarmament Calls and Government Stability 

It is not the first time protestors have called for Hezoballah to disarm, and political commentators remain divided about what really triggered the weekend violence. Some argue it signals a new stage of the protests, while others believe it is the beginning of the end for Hassan Diab’s government. 

Public affairs expert and activist Dr. Walid Fakhreddin believes the sectarian strife is symptomatic of the Diab government’s impending decline.  

“Hezbollah previously caused such tensions four or five times since the protests started on Oct. 17. However, this is the first time this happened under the government of Hassan Diab. This means that Diab’s government is in crisis, and this is Hezbollah’s way (of operating) when it does not want a government to continue,” Fakhreddin explained on June 7. 

According to Fakhreddin, “no one is ready to stand up to Hezbollah” and demand disarmament, while the current government “is unable to continue and will not manage to obtain funds to prevent economic collapse.”

“What happened is new. It is not an extension of Oct. 17, but rather it will mark the start of a new stage,” says political analyst Ghassan Hajjar. He agrees that Hezbollah is feeling the heat of disarmament calls, but argues it will not topple Diab’s government unless it receives assurance that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will be reinstated.  

“No one won on Saturday — not the government, the Hezbollah nor the protesters. Everyone lost,” Hajjar concluded, a sentiment shared by many in Lebanon at present. 

It appears that for the time being, the shock of sectarian clashes on Saturday and united condemnation from Lebanon’s political, religious, and military leaders has quelled Sunni-Shia tension. The painful memories of civil war seem to have given actors across Lebanon’s political and religious spectrum a wake up call and timely reminder that sectarian violence comes at a dangerous cost. 

As the country plunges ever-deeper into the economic abyss, political control and stability become increasingly fragile. It remains to be seen if some actors in Lebanon’s fractious political scene will use that weakness to grab power, by any means, regardless of the cost. 

Read also: Fueled by Sectarian Clashes, Protests Reignite in Lebanon

Violent ‘Boogaloo’ Movement Aims for Second Civil War in the US

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On June 4, three men made their way to protests in downtown Las Vegas: Twenty-three-year-old Army reservist Andrew Lynam, 35-year-old former Navy enlistee Stephen Parshall, and 40-year-old Air-force veteran William Loomis. The three white Las Vegas residents filled gas canisters at a local parking lot and used glass bottles to make Molotov cocktails as they made their way to the anti-racism protests in the city’s center.

Before they could make it to their destination, an FBI anti-terrorism unit busted the three men, arresting them on terrorism-related charges. A complaint filed at the Las Vegas district court claimed the men identified as members of the “Boogaloo” movement, which the government document described as “a term used by extremists to signify a coming civil war and/or fall of civilization.”

Eager to escalate

The arrests were the result of nearly two months of work. Earlier in April, the three men had attended a rally to advocate for the ending of COVID-19 measures. At this “Reopen Nevada” rally, they had struck up a conversation with a man that turned out to be an FBI informant.

On May 29, the informant accompanied the three men at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest on the famous Las Vegas strip.

Lynam, Parshall, and Loomis had decided to bring their rifles to the event. Lynam joined the crowd of protesters and deliberately went up to the police, yelling at them to taunt them into a reaction. Parshall became agitated as the protests continued peacefully.

Parshall was “very upset that the protests were not turning violent,” the court complaint said. The armed men told the FBI informant that they had gathered all the ingredients to make Molotov cocktails, prompting the Bureau’s anti-terrorism unit to intervene on their next outing.

Boogaloo movement

The Boogaloo movement that the three men identified with is an offspring of the American gun rights movement. An online network of gun owners, fearful of any regulation of their firearms, started an escalating joke over their perceived idea of an inevitable conflict with the government over their gun rights.

The term “Boogaloo” comes as a Reddit reference to a potential “sequel” to the American Civil War. The term is derived from the 1984 movie sequel “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” and has since sparked a variety of other movement-related terms.

Members of the movement call themselves a variety of related names, including the “Boogaloo boys,” the “Big Igloo Bois,” or the “Boojahideen,” in reference to Afghanistan’s anti-Soviet guerrilla force from the 1990s.

As their names suggest, the group consists of mostly male online-engaged gun rights supporters that consider themselves to be the victims of an ever-expanding state that will inevitably “come for their guns.” The men identify themselves by wearing Hawaiian-print shirts often matched with military-grade body armor and rifles or handguns.

Provocateurs

Because members of the Boogaloo movement consider another civil war to be inevitable, they appear to have little remorse in escalating the progress towards such a conflict. The current protests over state violence and structural racism have provided a platform on which they appear to want to trigger a full-blown civil war.

The movement’s preference for military fatigues and equipment gear has meant it is relatively easy for its members to pose as “Antifa” protesters, a left-wing anti-fascist group. US President Donald Trump is moving to classify Antifa as a terrorist organization, although experts doubt the official designation will be constitutionally possible.

Members of the Boogaloo movement have been caught impersonating the left-wing group on Twitter. Posting under the account “@antifaUS,” Boogaloo members called for violence, stating, “Tonight is the night comrades, tonight is the night we say f… the city and we move into the residential areas, the white hoods, and we take what is ours.”

Once the group was exposed as a Boogaloo operation, the Twitter account promptly re-styled itself as an “Antifa parody account,” deleting earlier calls for violence. It appears that members of the movement are trying to provoke the police and the country’s right-wing by posing as violent left-wingers in order to spark a violent reaction.

Because there is no official membership or vetting process, any person can claim a role in the non-organized and leaderless protests in the United States. The Boogaloo movement’s apparent aim is to use the protests to provoke both political sides into a violent conflict.

Now that the Boogaloo movement is getting significant attention from the media and law enforcement, it remains to be seen whether it can realize its dangerous goal.

Trump: States Should ‘Dominate’ Anti-Racism Protesters

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Protests against institutional racism in the United States, triggered by the death of George Floyd, are meeting state violence and media sensationalism. While US presidents commonly try to bring people together during such moments of national unrest, President Donald Trump used his May 2 speech to decry “an angry mob,” saying that the “biggest victims are peace-loving citizens in our poorest communities.”

Trump promised to “fight to protect you, I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters,” before describing the anti-racism protesters as “professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters,” and “Antifa.” The US president blamed the death of two protesters on “dangerous thugs,” a racially charged term for black men.

Distorted narratives

US media networks have been busy building the narrative that racism and police brutality are bad, but that violence during protests is even worse. Governors, mayors, and public figures have urged people to stop protesting and “allow justice to be done.” But it appears to be exactly the absence of justice in so many cases of police brutality that are spurring protesters to continue.

Anyone that watches American television is left with the impression that the country is on fire. Images of burning buildings, violence, and the few instances of looting are played over and over while the mainly peaceful protests go under-reported. US media and politicians appear to have settled on a playbook of decrying George Floyd’s death with numerous superlatives, followed by highlighting cases of violence as justification to halt peaceful demonstrations.

Prominent US figures continue to caution of white supremacists infiltrating protests to instigate violence and escalate tensions.

Fanning the flames

As per usual, Donald Trump’s reactions are less subtle than most. He called for increased state violence and for governors to “dominate” those exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech and addressing their grievances to the government. Trump announced he is “taking immediate action to stop the violence and restore security and safety in America.”

While Trump applauded the mainly-white protests against COVID-19 measures in April, the current protests will face the full mobilization of “all available federal resources, civilian and military.” Trump is now pressuring governors to deploy the National Guard, a branch of the military, against protesters in order to “dominate the streets.”

Police provoke confrontations

An increase in security forces is unlikely to deescalate protests, as police have often been the source of violence. US police forces are overwhelmingly treating protesters as “the enemy” due to years of a militarization of US law enforcement. Heavily armed police officers in riot gear have been wrongly trained to escalate situations and use violence, according to an analysis provided by The Conversation.

“There was a time when the playbook was much more straightforward. The police would meet with the organizers of the protest, and they would lay out ground rules together that would provide for an opportunity for protesters to do exactly what they have a right to do,” Ronal Serpas, a former police chief and professor of criminology told The Marshall Project.

Electoral ploy?

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman called Trump’s strategy “weaponized racism” in a New York Times opinion piece on Monday as it appears Trump is pitching America’s white and Black populations against each other. The Boston Globe highlighted how Trump ignores racism and police brutality as he fuels unrest between different segments of US society.

Donald Trump appears to see the protests as an electoral winner. The unrest distracts from the 105,192 dead Americans due to COVID-19 and energizes racist elements in his base of support.

By filling his supporters’ minds with fear of racial unrest and burning businesses, he appears to want to trigger the anxiety and fear that too often drive some conservative voters.

With the current de-facto state of martial law featuring soldiers on the streets and political opponents labeled “terrorists,” Trump slowly appears more like the dictators he praises on a regular basis.

US Burns With Anti-Racism Rage One Week After George Floyd’s Murder

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George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a white police officer jammed a knee into his throat for seven painful minutes during an arrest for a non-violent crime on May 25. The video documenting the incident, when Floyd repeatedly told officers “I can’t breathe,” triggered a wave of outrage that has transformed into protests across the United States and in major cities around the world. 

Protestors chanting “I can’t breathe” and “George Floyd, say his name” filled the streets of Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, and 135 other cities around the US. Protests in cities like Phoenix and Albuquerque remained peaceful, while others turned violent, resulting in vandalism, burnt-out buildings, looting, and a heavy-handed police response.

Amid the anger and violence, the message from protesters has been clear: Black lives matter, and systemic racism and injustice must end. The protestors’ messages have spilled onto social media, which has been filled with calls for white people not to be silent, to recognize their privilege, respect black culture and experiences, and move from being passively non-racist to vocally anti-racist. 

Mahira Louis, a 15-year-old protestor from Boston, summed up protestors’ sentiments.  

“They keep killing our people. I’m so sick and tired of it,” Louis told the Associated Press News (AP News).  

“I hate to see my city like this but at the end we need justice,” said Jahvon Craven, an 18-year-old protestor from Minneapolis. 

Trump retreats 

On Sunday evening, as a protest in Washington, D.C. encroached on the White House, Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump into a secure bunker. Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker as protesters in adjacent Lafayette Park chanted “George Floyd” and peppered the presidential mansion with rocks as police and the National Guard held them back.  

The response from US law enforcement and government has been mixed, with some lawmakers praised for their efforts to calm tensions and others including President Donald Trump accused of inflaming them further. Trump’s advisers counseled him against giving an Oval Office address to try and quell the country’s anger, according to reports from White House insiders, but he has continued to tweet about the unfolding situation. 

Police response criticized

Dozens of cities have rolled out night-time curfews, including Minneapolis, where the National Guard and military police are enforcing restrictions. Utopian scenes played out on Sunday evening as military hummers rolled through the suburban streets of Minneapolis and military police viciously ordered citizens to get inside their houses ahead of the 8 p.m. curfew.  

A number of violent police responses to the protests sparked by the police brutality that killed George Floyd have also drawn criticism. In Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms fired two officers and placed others on desk duty for using excessive force after video emerged of officers circling a car on Saturday and stun-gunning the occupants.  

The mayor and “mother to four black children” launched a passionate plea for calm in Atlanta on Friday and has since called on Trump to “just stop talking.”  

“He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet and I wish that he would just be quiet. Or if he can’t be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray he reads it and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse,” she told CNN on Sunday night.   

Pepper spray from police hit black lawmakers Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, 70, and Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin at the end of a rally in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. “Too much force is not the answer to this,” Beatty said in a Twitter video posted after the incident.  

The police response comes as no surprise to people like the Director of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Christ White. “What’s happening, it’s the way American society has always been,” White said.

Police have arrested over 4,100 people to date in connection with the George Floyd protests. Police have repeatedly used pepper spray, batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and driven their vehicles at demonstrators to disperse and control crowds.  

Read also: US Meets Protests Over Police Brutality With Increasing State Violence 

 

US Meets Protests Over Police Brutality With Increasing State Violence

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Protests across the US continued on the night of Friday, May 29. Outrage over the death of George Floyd, yet another black person that died while in police custody, has sparked large protests around the country. While most media express agreement with the main complaints of the protesters, the events are nonetheless painted as violent, destructive, and chaotic.

Systemic racism and widening inequality in the United States appears to have reached a tipping point as civil disobedience and protest are the only tools left for a black community seemingly under siege. But the protests are not being treated as a legitimate form of expression and productive outrage. Instead, the media paint the events as violent disruptions of American society.

State violence

The main complaint of the protestors is the excessive violence exercised by American law enforcement on people of color. The continued disregard for and distrust of America’s black communities by those that are tasked with protecting them has created a state in which a certain section of society has to fear those that police them.

With decades of political inaction, the only recourse left for the embattled community is to take to the streets and perform that most American of all values by freely protesting the government.

State officials are not channeling the understandable outrage into productive events. Instead of granting permits to protests and creating venues for free expression, protesters have met police in riot gear, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

Over half a century since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dared to dream that one day his children might live in a nation where they would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” that dream still appears elusive.

Press attacked

Even the press covering the events have faced police repression. A camera crew in Louisville, Kentucky was pelted with pepper-infused non-lethal ammunition. As is common in US policing, the individual officer shooting at the camera crew was not corrected by his colleagues, forcing the local television staff to retreat.

In Minneapolis, state troopers arrested Omar Jimenez, a black reporter for CNN during his live broadcast after repeatedly expressing his team’s willingness to cooperate with police instructions. The governor of Minnesota has since apologized to CNN, but the event remains an example of the distrust and intimidation commonly applied by local law enforcement.

Media framing

US media have covered the protests primarily by first briefly recognizing the grievances of the crowd, before spending the rest of coverage with sensationalist footage of looting and violence.

The Washington Post spoke of “absolute chaos” in its headline, the New York Times similarly called the events a “night of chaos,” while MSNBC emphasized “clashes with police.” Governors, mayors, and state officials around the country have told protesters to “go home” as the media has effectively turned the narrative away from George Floyd’s tragic murder and onto a projecting of chaotic and unruly largely black protesters.

Fox News has been the worst offender as it has disproportionately broadcast footage of looting and violence in an apparent attempt to discredit the protests and reinforce stereotypes of the black community being disruptive and violent.

Black and white contrast

The police and media responses stand in stark contrast to the protests against COVID-19 measures over the past weeks. Heavily armed, mostly white protesters faced no police barricades, tear gas, or rubber bullets, but instead enjoyed a pleasant afternoon as they exercised their unimpeded constitutional right to free speech.

Even when protesters “stormed” the capitol building in Michigan they faced little to no resistance or police response. These protestors were able to enter the government building carrying rifles and pistols and organize rallies with not a single armed police officer in sight.

Systemic racism

The contrast between the protests could not be more clear. Unarmed black protesters with genuine grievances face tear gas and rubber bullets while heavily-armed white protesters disregarding public health advice are treated with “kid gloves.”

The COVID-19 crisis has added even more evidence of the systemic and structural racism that people of color in the United States face on a daily basis. Black Americans are arrested disproportionately, face longer prison sentences, are on average ten times poorer than white Americans, and even die in much greater numbers from COVID-19 infections.

And much more injustice is ahead. As a moratorium on evictions is set to soon expire, a “tsunami of evictions” is coming, which will, again, affect the black community to a much greater extent.

With no political recourse left, a long-unanswered question remains. Americans are left to ponder what black communities are supposed to do to achieve justice and equality in the eyes of law enforcement if merely exercising their constitutional rights to protest their government is met with state violence, media sensationalism, and continuing systemic oppression.

US authorities would be wise to heed the words of Michel Foucault, who said “justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.”

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