Army veteran, arrested at Kansas City protest, says police use of force uncalled for

[Jamastiene]

Army veteran, arrested at Kansas City protest, says police use of force uncalled for

By CORTLYNN STARK | The Kansas City Star | Published: June 13, 2020

KANSAS CITY (Tribune News Service) — If someone threw rocks at James Gillcrist and his fellow U.S. Army service members in Iraq 10 years ago, they would simply reposition.

Responding with force wasn't worth it.

The Rockhurst High School theology teacher, during the second night of protests May 30 in Kansas City at the Country Club Plaza, saw police use tear gas on peaceful protesters and called the police response undisciplined. He said he would have been court-martialed out of the Army if he responded the same way overseas.

During the several days of protests against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter in Kansas City, hundreds were arrested. Before deescalating their tactics, police used pepper spray and tear gas in the first few days. Protesters sustained bruises, one lost sight in one eye and another's leg was broken.

"This isn't the country that myself and (other) veterans fought for," Gillcrist said. "We made an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. And they're out here violating the constitutional rights of citizens.

"It makes you angry."

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/army-veteran-arrested-at-kansas-city-protest-says-police-use-of-force-uncalled-for-1.633648

[EarnestPutz]

1. When we talk about defunding the police, it's because they aren't very good...

...at what they do, as this veteran and high school theology (!) teacher explains.

[Jamastiene]

2. Exactly. US cops are too busy trying to beat Americans down, because they don't like what we say.

The cops didn't bother to engage at all with the ones who did the vandalism or looting. They were too busy following and corralling peaceful protesters into that "kettle" trap, then waiting for one of them to say something they didn't like, then tear gassing the protesters, shooting them with rubber bullets, then arresting them for it.

That's not how our country is supposed to be. We are supposed to have first amendment rights to say what we think here.

Cops have been bullying and falsely arresting protesters based on what the protesters are saying to them. They have no reason to be doing that just based on what the protesters are saying, but most of the videos show just that happening. Police have been brutalizing protesters based on the protester saying they don't agree with how brutal police are acting.

Even one of the groups of cops that knelt with protesters ended up shoving a 75 year old man down and causing him to have brain damage later on in the day.

The cops aren't earning any points if they are trying to rehabilitate their image. Then again, they are not trying to do that. They are making it a pissing match to try to beat protesters down for using their 1st Amendment rights.

It is like something you see in some brutal authoritarian regime that treats its citizens like garbage with no regard for human life.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Cops used the same tactics on OWS protests, plus bulldozed their encampments

trashing their belongings. These thug police love beating the crap out of their fellow peaceful citizens it would seem.

[Jamastiene]

4. Cops are a part of our government that openly hate us.

I have often wondered if we are not in an abusive situation when it comes to our government, at least when Republicans are in charge. They barely pay us enough to live in the first place, take some of our paychecks, then turn around and call us beggars if we ask for any of it back in the form of services, protections, or help during a pandemic.

Meanwhile, they vote themselves pay raises ever so often and act like they personally earned all of this money they took from us and decided to give to the rich. They call us freeloaders and worthless beggars, tell us to buy overpriced insurance for even more overpriced healthcare or die if we need healthcare and are poor, but always GLADLY dig deep into money they took from us to give their billionaire buddies more and more money they don't need.

They also don't mind digging deep to build more bombs to blow brown people half a world away into bits against most of our wishes.

And now, Trump's antisocial, cruel, vindictive wall is another waste of our money too. Most of the people who use that path would be just innocent families trying to escape horrible situations, not drug dealers, rapists*, etc. The drug dealers would be using the hundreds of miles of tunnels under various cities south of the border into various US cities. Under Trump's wall, there will be laughter as they freely come and go and American idiots waste money on that hateful wall.

All in all, our government mostly secretly despises us and just wants to take money from us, then turn around and treat us like garbage. Cops are just being more honest and open about the fact that they only want to beat us down if we dare complain about the shit treatment they already give us. That still don't make it right. It's crap all the way around. Cops piss me off.

*I despise when anyone claims rape as their reason for anything, because rape is a CINO, crime in name only. It almost never gets charged or prosecuted when women get raped. We are told we must have changed our minds or did something to ask for it or we are just sluts or in my case, deserved it for being gay. Cops told me to go to church when I got raped for being a lesbian. Cops are pro-rape, if you ask me. Look at how they treat people. It's all about beating someone down, then pinning them down on top of that. Once a person is cuffed and face down on the pavement, why do they feel the need to have several men holding them down too? That's rape-like all by itself. It is their mentality, clearly.