The Mayor of Minneapolis requested the Minnesota National Guard to be deployed in the city after the night of rioting May 27th, 2020. It is clear that further civil unrest will continue unless a different path is chosen. Maybe it will calm down once the perpetrators are arrested. It is clear that the Minneapolis P.D. lacks the tactical (unit-level) ability to respond effectively. It’s just a large gang of patrol cops who are freelancing. Circling up the wagons.
There were two distinct sites of crowd activity. The first was the murder scene where the crowd was reported to be respectful. The second was closer to the 3rd precinct station where the arson took place and a person was shot.
It doesn’t help that the M.P.D. is tasked to de-escalate a situation that they caused. All they can do is to apply the approach that got them in this problem in the first place. No wonder the community doesn’t trust them. Would you?
I learned yesterday that Unicorn Riot has been based in Minneapolis for the past five years. This fact is a clue that the problems have been ongoing……
The big question is how to de-escalate things so that an orderly process of justice can be applied. As if it ever is. The cynic in me says there is a long history of brutality by the police and nothing will change. The optimist says maybe if somebody shows some commonsense we can bend this arc….
The first point is, the city police are simply outnumbered. They failed to intimidate or dominate the people at the precinct. There was no deterrent effect from what I can tell.
We all need to study
I have a book recommendation for everyone. The Official US Army Civil Disturbances Handbook - Updated: Riot & Crowd Control Strategy & Tactics. The National Guard does not make it up as they go along. This is the training manual they use, and describes how they operate. If they are well trained they act as a team, they have centralized command, and they use techniques that engage the leaders of the protest in flexible ways.
Civil (or “Civic”) Leadership
This particular civilian response is hampered by the fact that the latest flash point came on suddenly and a bit unexpectedly. After the Philando Castile debacle a few years ago, I think nobody expected that the cops would do something quite as stupid as what they did. It receded into the back ground. It would be easier for the city to engage the community leaders and somehow redirect the energy into something productive that would re-purpose the anger into a better channel. I note that Al Sharpton was there. Also, PBS Newshour broadcast an interview with Tyrone Terrell, a community leader, which I thought was informative. He showed the kind of gravitas and authority to contribute to a solution. Surely there must be others. Now is the time for community organizing. It is never too late.
There was a diarist here who expressed a sort of schadenfreude to see the violence take place. Yep, those cops are getting what they deserve.
Nope, they are not. The bad apple cops don’t give a care and they think they have impunity. Way too many innocent bystanders here.
The Protesters need to read up, too.
When I saw the pictures of the cops on the roof of the 3rd precinct I realized they were bozos. They retreated because they knew they were outnumbered. They lacked proper gear and they lacked courage. Now, I have often thought that there ought to be a book that explained the informal rules regarding how to beat the riot control tactics used by local cops. When a protest is overwhelming like this one, it is possible to shut it down and take it over (at least temporarily) if the protesters have a plan. (another clue: there are always more protesters than cops). Yes, how to beat them tactically is something that can be learned, as exemplified by the WTO protests in Seattle way back in 1998. I read an unsubstantiated report that such books can be found in nooks and crannies of the web, frequented by the kind of RWNJs we all hold in disdain around here. But I don’t like those guys, so I am not linking to those sites.
But for us who think we are normal? If you are going to go outside during a day of civil disturbance, you need to learn some situational awareness. That’s one good reason to study riot control tactics. You don’t want to tra-la-la into some fantasy of a new and invigorating experience, and find out you have been peppersprayed, teargassed, hit by a baton round, or kettled.
Two rules to begin with
Leave the kids home.
By all means, bring a smartphone with video capability and make sure it is fully charged up.
YouTube is the place
There are some videos that depict riot control training. I Highly recommend this one:
I started to compile a playlist of relevant videos. The Playlist link is: www.youtube.com/… and if others have suggestions please let me know.
Why “Part 1?”
I wrote this because I have been interested in the idea of communal violence for about ten years. I have lived in Asia where it is a fact of life, and when I am there I teach nurses and doctors how to de-escalate small riots when harm is directed at health care workers. I am considering whether to make this into a series. The focus will be on how to act when this sort of chaos happens. I worry that we will descend into a period of more street action, particularly if the Senate keeps stonewalling everything. We completely lack any leadership from the White House; in fact #IMPOTUS made things worse when he held his rally in Minneapolis last fall. (are you surprised?) We all need to familiarize ourselves with the relevant psychology. I don’t pretend I am the expert in this field. But we all need to study this. Please let me know if this diary was helpful; or whether I should fold up my tents and move the circus to another location……