If Only Cargo Shorts Held More Rage: APD, The Modern American Protest, and How To Make A Real Difference
Yesterday I watched a live-steam of the Albuquerque Police Department protest that was held as a means to express the outrage that has occurred in the wake of a viral video which showed a homeless man being shot in the back by a police officer in Albuquerque's foothills. Watching the video, it is very clear that the shooting which resulted in the man dying was completely unjustified.
In many ways, the footage that I saw from the live stream of the protest was just as disturbing as the video that inspired the protest. From what I could tell, the protest was basically a huge clusterfuck. What started out as a peaceful protest escalated into a giant shit show. Large mobs of what looked like mostly young people took over public streets. Some of them sprayed graffiti on walls, some of them banged on drums and some of them even attempted to take over a freeway overpass. Many of them even harassed drivers, who by no fault of theirs got caught up in the mess.
Some of them wore those tired 'V for Vendetta' masks that have been co-opted by the "hacktivist" group Anonymous. Others wore bandannas on their faces like the very prototypical anarcho-revolutionaries that are depicted by the media. Usually, during riot footage. Many of these same people were also wearing t-shirts that read TAP-OUT or the brand-name of various skate companies and pro-sports teams. Very radical!
Almost all of them seemed to chant "fuck the police!" or FTP for short. Many of them carried longboards. It was all very embarrassing. I'm sure that types of the people who participated in the protest weren't limited to these immature "lets fuck shit up" knuckleheads, but I can't help but feel that the whole protest was misguided nonetheless. The misguidedness was perhaps best exemplified by the act of people Instagramming the event and even taking selfies of themselves in action. Clearly, there is no better way to undermine your cause than by indulging a narcissistic impulse to appear cool via social media because the truth is that most of these young people don't give a shit about causes or desire change, they just want to look cool and feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.
How is a cop shooting and killing a homeless person in cold blood all that different from a civilian driving by passively while they freeze and risk death from exposure or go hungry? It's a crime of omission. If these people cared about the homeless they would feed them, they would clothe them, they would give them blankets or maybe even open their home to them. But they don't. They ignore them and maybe give them some spare change or let them bum a smoke, not because they care, because they want to be left alone.
Another truth to consider is not all cops are heartless thugs out for blood. They are working class people who have to deal with some of the most unsavory people and situations on a daily basis. It can be a jading experience. Unfortunately many of them are veterans who have been to hell and back and suffer from PTSD. They have been stripped of their identity, traumatized, and trained to demoralize and kill. Should we be surprised when they are involved in situations that escalate to the use of deadly force?
I am not saying that their impulses are justified. I am saying that there is much to be considered. Perhaps the recruitment and training process of the APD needs to be questioned more than the actual cops themselves. Change rarely occurs because it requires hard work and people don't like to work hard. It's much easier to reduce yourself to a walking bumper-sticker with a catchy slogan, take some pictures and post them online, and convince yourself that you are an activist than it is to actually engage in a meaningful and productive community wellness.
If you really care about homeless people volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen or at least donate some money to one of the many organizations that can and will help them. If you really want to be radical give them shelter and food, or better yet, create facilities and resources for them. If you really hate the cops, form a cop-watch program. Follow them around with cameras. Document their shady tactics and ethics, inform the public. Hold them accountable in real time. Go to town hall meetings, write politicians and express your concern, not just about the cops, but the politics and policies that drive the police force.
OR if you really wanna go balls to wall radical, how about taking to an APD hub with a Ukrainian style tire fire? Even then, change is not guaranteed. Volunteer. Educate. Engage. That's how you make a difference. Anything else is just a childish tantrum.
Sadly, the modern protest has been subsumed by pseudo-hippy peacenik burnouts, social media attention whores, willfully ignorant collegiates, fauxhemian Anarchist posers, and dudebros who have read watched Fight Club too many times for their own good.
You are better than that.
