To all those saying that this was a mistake… let me ask you.
What good is a protest that inconveniences no-one?
What good is a protest that lets normal life carry on unaffected?
I’ll tell you what good it is… it’s feel good. Feel-good for the participants, and feel-good for the passersby who nod in agreement and think themselves more “progressive” as they proceed to the Starbucks.
REAL PROTEST COSTS. REAL PROTEST DISRUPTS.
If everyone can go along with their daily lives without noticing, then it’s a complete waste of time.
Yes. And I’d rather have BART shutdown than people running onto the freeway, which is dangerous not only for the protesters but for motorists as well.
However, REAL PROTEST should also have consequences for those who choose to break the law. If you choose to unlawfully disrupt, then own it and expect to be charged. The fact that freeway protesters “got off” is not a justification for dropping charges. Rather, it is an argument that future freeway blockers should also be held responsible for their actions. Civil disobedience requires responsibility.
What if the next Black Friday 14 shut down BART not for Black Lives Matter but for White Pride or to protest “Illegals” or “Nobama” or sumthin we find repugnant?
Meanwhile, Ferguson protests have been going on every day since this hashtag was invented. But stuff that goes on on the coasts is much more important than the place where this thing actually started.
This is article about the empowerment of 14 people that felt that they did something in a major media market that liberals seem to care about for some reason.
That is something that the people who live where the Ferguson stuff happens on daily basis couldn’t give a shit about.
Ferguson residents were in DC protesting with the local groups engaging in the same kind of action. It happens on a daily basis in Ferguson, Oakland, St Louis and needs to be attacked on all of those fronts. The comment about impressing liberals is an unfounded presumption.
Yes, and they WERE prepared to be arrested, and they WERE arrested.
There’s nothing wrong with pointing out that the arrests were disproportionate, however.
See, that’s the thing when you are a protestor - when you are arrested, it often provides you with MORE rhetorical ammunition.
