There have been 104 terrorist attacks against protesters since George Floyd protests began - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Cars have hit Black Lives Matter demonstrators 104 times since George Floyd protests began

Dozens of people had gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a third night of protests demanding justice for Breonna Taylor when a car barreled through the crowd, hitting several protesters.

"It just went straight into the middle of the crowd and veered off toward the left," said Samantha Colombo, 25, an Albuquerque resident who said they've been protesting with dozens of other people for three nights at the same intersection. No one appeared to be injured, Colombo said. Video of the incident began to circulate on Twitter on Friday.

"For the first two nights, the police blocked off the streets. Today they did not, so we had a couple cars blocking the streets for us and people lining up their bikes," Colombo said. "There was this one car that for a few minutes was just beeping for a minute or so straight, so a few people went up to the car to get them to move, and they eventually just started going."

Amid thousands of protests nationwide this summer against police brutality, dozens of drivers have plowed into crowds of protesters marching in roadways, raising questions about the drivers' motivations.

New York, Denver, Minneapolis:Disturbing videos show vehicles plowing into George Floyd protests across USA
Two protesters climb onto the hood of a moving Detroit police SUV before being thrown off.

Witnesses, law enforcement and terrorism experts said some of the vehicle incidents appear to be targeted and politically motivated; others appear to be situations in which the driver became frightened or enraged by protesters surrounding their vehicle.

"There are groups that do want people to take their cars and drive them into Black Lives Matters protesters so that they won’t protest anymore. There’s an element of terrorism there. Is it all of them? No," said J.J. MacNab, a fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. "I look at it as an anti-protester group of acts, some of which are white supremacists, some not."

There have been at least 104 incidents of people driving vehicles into protests from May 27 through Sept. 5, including 96 by civilians and eight by police, according to Ari Weil, a terrorism researcher at the University of Chicago's Project on Security and Threats who spoke with USA TODAY earlier this summer. Weil began tracking the incidents as protests sprung up in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody.

There have been at least two fatalities, in Seattle and in Bakersfield, California.

At least 43 incidents malicious and 39 drivers charged

Weil said that by analyzing news coverage, court documents and patterns of behavior – such as when people allegedly yelled slurs at protesters or turned around for a second hit – he determined that at least 43 of the incidents were malicious, and 39 drivers have been charged.

Most of the incidents happened in June, in the weeks following Floyd's May 25 killing, Weil said, and half of the incidents happened by June 7. While incidents continue to happen, they've trended downward since then, he said

"While these incidents were clustered in the beginning of the protest period, they continue to occur," Weil said on Twitter on Thursday. "As violent rhetoric intensifies in the lead up to the election, I worry about an uptick in these incidents."

New York, California, Oregon and Florida have seen the greatest number of incidents, according to Weil's data.

Just this past week, drivers struck protesters in Denver, in Laramie, Wyoming, and in Los Angeles, where one person was hospitalized, according to local news reports.

On Saturday, in Yorba Linda, California, south of Los Angeles, a woman drove through a crowd of protesters and counterprotesters, injuring two people who were transported by ambulance, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. A man had possible broken legs, and a woman had "multiple injuries all over her body," according to Carrie Braun, director of public affairs for the department.

"It's unknown at this time if that was an intentional act or if that person was attempting to leave the area," Braun said.

Many of the incidents have been captured in photos or videos shared on social media: Earlier this summer, two New York police vehicles plowed into demonstrators as the crowd pushed a barricade against one of them; a woman in a black SUV drove through a crowd in Denver; a Detroit police vehicle accelerated away with a man flailing on the hood.

One of the more "clear-cut" cases of malice, MacNab said, was in early June in Lakeside, Virginia. An "avowed Klansman" drove up to protesters on a roadway, revved his engine, then drove through the crowd, wounding one person, Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a statement.

The 36-year-old man was "a propagandist of Confederate ideology," Taylor said. He was charged with four counts of assault with hate crimes, two counts of felonious attempted malicious wounding and one count of felony hit and run.

"We lived through this in Virginia in Charlottesville in 2017," Taylor said, referring to when a neo-Nazi plowed his car through a crowd of counterprotesters at a Unite the Right rally, killing Heather Heyer. The driver was sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

In June in Visalia, California, occupants of a Jeep displaying a "Keep America Great" flag hit two protesters in the road, causing minor injuries, according to Visalia police. Witnesses said those inside the car mocked protesters by cupping their ears as if they couldn't hear their chants. The protesters started chanting profanities and throwing items before they approached the Jeep, which accelerated, hitting the protesters before driving off.

County prosecutors didn't charge the driver, saying the protesters involved weren't "seriously injured" and the driver and his passengers felt threatened. Other civilians and police officers have similarly claimed that they drove through protesters because they were afraid of them and wanted to escape the situation.

MacNab noted that "some of that fear is going to come from racism and bigotry."

Officials in Minnesota said in June that a 35-year-old semitruck driver who drove through a crowd of thousands of protesters on a bridge did not deliberately target the group.

A lawyer for a man who hit two protesters in Seattle, killing one, said the crash was a "horrible, horrible accident." Prosecutors filed three felony charges against the man.
Videos of vehicle rammings have become 'a meme in white supremacy circles'

Video of many of the vehicle rammings has circulated on social media, including white supremacist websites, according to MacNab, who said she has seen "revolting" commentary on videos shared to white supremacist accounts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

"This has become something of a meme in white supremacy circles. There’ll be a picture of a car driving into a crowd, and then there will be a humorous remark about it. It’s definitely part of the discourse," said Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at Brookings who researches counterterrorism and Middle East security. "They’re doing a lot of kidding-not-kidding sort of humor ... which is the modern white supremacist world."

Drivers striking protesters with cars:Indiana has seen at least 3 cases

Byman said earlier this summer thathe's seen a meme shared by the Charlottesville killer circulating in white supremacist circles. Right-wing extremists turned the man into "a bit of a saint" after the killing, MacNab said.

Since the grand jury indictment in the Breonna Taylor case Wednesday, and the protests that have erupted in the ensuing days, the use of particular Twitter hashtags referencing such memes has more than doubled, according to Weil.

"These 'Run Them Over' memes continue to circulate. Twitter said they were going to block the hashtag All Lives Splatter, but it still remains in use," he said.
Vehicles have a history of being used for terror, and 'ISIS made it a science'

Vehicles have been used as tools of terror for decades, but it's become more common in the past 10 years, experts said. The Islamic State disseminated information about how to use the tactic, said Lorenzo Vidino, director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism.

"Between 2014 and 2017, we saw several attacks, and ISIS was very meticulous in a variety of languages that gave clear instructions about what trucks to use, how to rent a truck and how to hit a group," Vidino said. "ISIS made it a science."

Most of those attacks were in Europe and the Middle East, Vidino said. Terrorists influenced by the Islamic State used vehicles to kill people in Nice, France, in 2016 and on London Bridge in 2017. That year, a man influenced by the Islamic State killed eight people when he drove a pickup about 1 mile in Lower Manhattan.

Other extremist groups borrowed the tactic, Vidino said. In 2018, a member of a misogynist online subculture drove a van into downtown Toronto, killing 10 people.

The vehicular attacks have been "the trademark of the affiliated wannabes that are at times extremely deadly," he said. The tactic is cheap and doesn't take much coordination or organizational support. It's also "camera-friendly," Vidino said.

"The Charlottesville attack, it killed one person, but it stuck in everybody’s mind because you have the spectacle of bodies flying. It’s catchy. And that’s what a lot of extremists pursue. It terrorized people," he said.

In the U.S., the tactic was introduced by the far-right around 2016 to attack Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Weil said in a Twitter thread. That's when "the right began creating memes to celebrate" the attacks, he said.

"I would be very careful in the middle of the street," MacNab said. "There's a significant amount of people who think that any protester hit in the street has it coming, and that’s a dangerous mindset."

Contributing: Sheyanne N. Romero and Kyra Haas, Visalia (California) Times-Delta

Follow Grace Hauck on Twitter at @grace_hauck
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Unthinking Majority wrote:Some people are idiots.

Some cops are idiots. Some leftwing protestors are idiots. Some rightwing protestors are idiots. They should all be called out for their idiocy, including people who hit other people with their cars.


I like how your response to acts of terrorism is essentially the Donald Trump line of "well we have to look at all sides!"
#15123362
KurtFF8 wrote:I like how your response to acts of terrorism is essentially the Donald Trump line of "well we have to look at all sides!"


The only "sides" we need to be concerned about are the ones that commit terrorism.

Some cops act like terrorists, some rightwing nutters act like terrorists, some leftwing nutters act like terrorists. They should all be in jail.

Let me remind you that i'm not the one with a pic of a rifle draped in a flag in my signature. Do you denounce all terrorism?

I suspect you only dislike terrorism if it's being done by people you disagree with ideologically, which means your concern isn't for terrorism at all.
#15123381
"Terrorist attack" in this context often means that they climbed on top of the hood of a car, causing the driver to accelerate to get away from the mob, whereby the "victim" fell off the car and scuffed up his elbow real bad. There was bone showing, I saw it on my Snapchat. Literal fashism.
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Unthinking Majority wrote:The only "sides" we need to be concerned about are the ones that commit terrorism.

Some cops act like terrorists, some rightwing nutters act like terrorists, some leftwing nutters act like terrorists. They should all be in jail.

Let me remind you that i'm not the one with a pic of a rifle draped in a flag in my signature. Do you denounce all terrorism?

I suspect you only dislike terrorism if it's being done by people you disagree with ideologically, which means your concern isn't for terrorism at all.


There have been 0 cases of what could be considered Left wing terrorism in the US since about the mid 1990s I believe. Your false equivalence just helps the far right.

Your rhetorical questions at the end there are baseless and meant to divert your covering for right wing terrorism against peaceful protests.

Instead of joining in with Trump condemning non-existent Left wing terrorism, come back to reality and acknowledge that right wing terrorism is actually a problem.

Wulfschilde wrote:"Terrorist attack" in this context often means that they climbed on top of the hood of a car, causing the driver to accelerate to get away from the mob, whereby the "victim" fell off the car and scuffed up his elbow real bad. There was bone showing, I saw it on my Snapchat. Literal fashism.


This is the kind of comment that exists when someone's main source of news is Infowars :lol:

skinster wrote:If the past is anything to go by, liberals and their mates further on the right usually either ignore that this type of terrorism happens or blame the victims.

I think I'm already correct on both of the above so far, given how few have responded here too.


Exactly. Liberals usually side with the far-right on these things by buying into their narratives about "both sides" being violent. The problem is that it just isn't true.
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KurtFF8 wrote:There have been 0 cases of what could be considered Left wing terrorism in the US since about the mid 1990s I believe.


FBI: "Terrorism is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).

https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005

So obviously your claim is wrong. There have been a great many acts of leftwing domestic terrorism since the Floyd death, most of them violence against property for political aims, though some violence against people. An Antifa supporter shot and killed a rightwing protestor a few weeks ago in Portland:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/portland-shooting-suspect-followed-right-wing-activists-after-spotting-them-downtown-unsealed-arrest-warrant-says/

Rightwing terrorism tends to more often use violence against people, and causes more death, so I would say it's more serious. I condemn all domestic terrorism. Do you? Yes or no.
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skinster wrote:Also, terrorism from cops.


So this twitter user thinks cops are causing all of them mayhem and rioters are causing none? Cops are causing mayhem for sure, but he's just pushing a one-sided narrative.

Cops are starting shit and being violent, then rioters are being violent in response. There's war in the streets. Choosing either side of these idiots means you endorse violence.

The people I support are the non-violent protestors going out BEFORE curfew and legally exercising their right to peacefully protest these scumbag abusive cops. If you're a punk ass cop breaking the law, or a punk ass rioter/looter breaking the law, I have no sympathy for you. Go fuck yourselves. Any of you cop and rioter apologists on here and twitter can go fuck yourselves too, you're just pouring fuel on the fire. And yes @KurtFF8 is right to mention rightwingers causing violence too, fuck them too.

Many Americans only know how to solve problems with violence and destruction. Grow the fuck up America.
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Unthinking Majority wrote:FBI: "Terrorism is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).

https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005

So obviously your claim is wrong. There have been a great many acts of leftwing domestic terrorism since the Floyd death, most of them violence against property for political aims, though some violence against people. An Antifa supporter shot and killed a rightwing protestor a few weeks ago in Portland:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/portland-shooting-suspect-followed-right-wing-activists-after-spotting-them-downtown-unsealed-arrest-warrant-says/

Rightwing terrorism tends to more often use violence against people, and causes more death, so I would say it's more serious. I condemn all domestic terrorism. Do you? Yes or no.


Violence against buildings is not terrorism. Even by the FBI's (broad) definition, none of the protests fit the definition. Hurting a building is not terrorism, point to any case that actually fits the definition.

As for the "An Antifa supporter shot and killed a rightwing protestor a few weeks ago in Portland:" You're misrepresenting what actually happened. The right wing person was armed and violent, hardly a case of terrorism.

Again you're just acting like a typical Trump supporter. Pretty sad. Are you a member of the Proud Boys or just support them from a distance?
#15123563
KurtFF8 wrote:Violence against buildings is not terrorism. Even by the FBI's (broad) definition, none of the protests fit the definition. Hurting a building is not terrorism, point to any case that actually fits the definition.

If someone puts an explosive inside a building such as a government building and blows it up, even if there's nobody inside it, that's still terrorism, as per the FBI/DOJ definition under US law. Why? Because it's meant to "intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". So you're wrong. Now as I said, killing people is much worse than destroying property, but it's all terrorism.

As for the "An Antifa supporter shot and killed a rightwing protestor a few weeks ago in Portland:" You're misrepresenting what actually happened. The right wing person was armed and violent, hardly a case of terrorism.

Now defend the BLM protestor who shot 2 cops during the Breonna Taylor verdict protests.

Again you're just acting like a typical Trump supporter. Pretty sad. Are you a member of the Proud Boys or just support them from a distance?

I don't support any rightwing politicians, parties, or alt-right civilian groups, but nice try LOL. You, on the other hand, support violent far-left tyrants like Castro and the CCP. Everyone on this forum is well aware of who the violent extremist is among you and I. Equality at the barrel of a gun, am I right terrorist?
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KurtFF8 wrote:There have been 104 terrorist attacks against protesters since George Floyd protests began

Wrong. You edited the title of the article and added "104 terrorist attacks", which is not correct.

From your article:

Witnesses, law enforcement and terrorism experts said some of the vehicle incidents appear to be targeted and politically motivated; others appear to be situations in which the driver became frightened or enraged by protesters surrounding their vehicle.

"There are groups that do want people to take their cars and drive them into Black Lives Matters protesters so that they won’t protest anymore. There’s an element of terrorism there. Is it all of them? No," said J.J. MacNab, a fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism.


So some of these attacks can be classified as terrorism, others can't. I'm sure a bunch of them can even be classified as self-defense as protestors surrounded and bang on their vehicles etc and then the vehicles accelerate through the angry mob to escape.
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Unthinking Majority wrote:If someone puts an explosive inside a building such as a government building and blows it up, even if there's nobody inside it, that's still terrorism, as per the FBI/DOJ definition under US law. Why? Because it's meant to "intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". So you're wrong. Now as I said, killing people is much worse than destroying property, but it's all terrorism.


Well firstly, it's a very lose definition you're using here. The idea that an attack on a government building without any civilian causalities can be considered terrorism is absurd. Secondly, why does the FBI have the final say on the final say on this term? You keep citing them as if they are the ultimate source on political definitions.

Most importantly though: this hasn't happened as the result of these protests. Name one case of it happening.


Now defend the BLM protestor who shot 2 cops during the Breonna Taylor verdict protests.


Is this confirmed that it was a protester? Usually it's actually the far-right that does those kinds of attacks. This would be a rare exception. Provide details.

I don't support any rightwing politicians, parties, or alt-right civilian groups, but nice try LOL. You, on the other hand, support violent far-left tyrants like Castro and the CCP. Everyone on this forum is well aware of who the violent extremist is among you and I. Equality at the barrel of a gun, am I right terrorist?


You consistently side with the far-right and reproduce their talking points when discussing important issues. Whether you want to believe it or not, that's the side you've chosen.
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KurtFF8 wrote:Well firstly, it's a very lose definition you're using here. The idea that an attack on a government building without any civilian causalities can be considered terrorism is absurd. Secondly, why does the FBI have the final say on the final say on this term? You keep citing them as if they are the ultimate source on political definitions.

Most importantly though: this hasn't happened as the result of these protests. Name one case of it happening.

There's no universal 100% agreed upon definition of "terrorism". This is the definition that US federal law uses. It is considered terrorism under US law, therefore within US borders these people are committing acts of terrorism when they burn cop cars and set buildings ablaze in order to achieve political goals. It's also terrorism with these rightwing nutjobs shooting up mosques etc for political reasons. Obviously, as I've said several times, the latter is worse than property destruction. I am equating the two in that they're both terrorism and violent, destructive, anti-social behaviour. I'm not equating the two in that killing someone (as is more common among far-right terrorists) is far worse and far more violent and anti-social than destroying property. One is worse than the other, but neither should be supported or given a pass.

Is this confirmed that it was a protester? Usually it's actually the far-right that does those kinds of attacks. This would be a rare exception. Provide details.

Well the man was black and was at a Breonna Taylor protest getting PO'd at cops. But hey, maybe a fool cop was doing something illegal and abusive to him first, who knows, we'll have to see the case unfold. What you need to realize is that i'm equal opportunity when it comes to my dislike of violent fucktards. I literally don't give two fucks what their ideological leanings are. I'm actually agreeing with you in condemning these rightwing morons driving cars into people whose politics they don't like.

My goal is this: no more unnecessary violence. No more a-hole cops killing people they shouldn't, no more far-left dummies burning and looting cities, no more far-right fools strapped and shooting up people. I support the peaceful protestors 1000%, I also want to see massive police & justice system reform & make bad cops accountable.

You consistently side with the far-right and reproduce their talking points when discussing important issues. Whether you want to believe it or not, that's the side you've chosen.

Maybe to a far-left Marxist a moderate looks like a Nazi 8)
#15123622
Actually some environmentalists have been imprisoned for violating the post 9-11 terror legislation for doing arson attacks, sabotage and vandalism even though there was no harm to any person. Right wingers who fly planes into gov't buildings killing and injuring people inside aren't terrorists though.

The 2010 Austin suicide attack occurred on February 18, 2010, when Andrew Joseph Stack III deliberately crashed his single-engine Piper Dakota light aircraft into Building I of the Echelon office complex in Austin, Texas, United States, killing himself and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) manager Vernon Hunter. Thirteen others were injured, two severely.

[...]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that it was investigating the incident "as a criminal matter of an assault on a federal officer" and that it was not being considered terrorism at this time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Aust ... ide_attack


Daniel McGowan

Also lol at maz posting a video defending a terrorist that clearly shows the driver stealing from protesters before running them over. Definitely submit that piece of evidence to bolster the prosecution's case.

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