Would protestors be safer? Thousands of masked people with guns. Chaos?
I can’t help but think that the only solution to ICE is a “well regulated militia” in combination with political reform, with both being necessary.
We saw ICE disarm and shoot a citizen who had a gun. A lesson from this is that a weapon is only threatening if we create an environment where it’s a credible threat, like outnumbering them with armed citizens.
Masks? I could go either way on this. Masks can be protective, and can also be seen as alienating from the community. That alienation is not some unchangeable truth, it’s just a result of how they’re perceived in our cultures (often associated with crime). For a counterexample, look at the Zapatistas who regularly wore masks to protect them from cartel and state violence:
[photos; click to show]
That’s a great point I hadn’t considered about masks. Face paint and drag makeup can help protect from facial recognition, and they’ll also let us speak clearly and emote on camera to make any footage more compelling. I wonder if that’s something that could catch on.
I know that juggalo and dazzle paint is an antiquated ai countermeasure. I would be surprised if drag makeup still works but with the extreme contouring it might. Lots of facial fc is run through IR now though, so it basically negates that.
whack one cop and i bet they won’t be as “brave”.
If everybody at ICE protests showed up with masks and a gun would there be more or less violence?
Yes
Haha more or less
My guess is: ICE shoots first (either because of their regular activities or trying to incite a larger riot), the protesters shoot at them, the media shows it as a national tragedy between a rebellious, anti-American group of traitors and the honorable Burger brownshirts and the prez drops the military there and in nearby areas, imposes curfews, etc etc and further restrictions on freedom that, if they trigger a larger conflict, the people would never win because they’d be fighting the American empire’s forces. If it happens, other cities would lower their heads, and America would continue its path into a slave base country. Maybe?
Ice disguised as a protestor going on a mass shooting spree
Certainly my expectation. This is how the empire has destabilised other countries, they have a lot of experience.
Most times the US military has gone up against the general population of a society, the US military has lost.
Then let’s hope that from a post civil war America something good can still grow, then. 👍
This is my big hope. That this fall is so deep that it is burned into our DNA. That a more humane species of mankind emerges from the ashes.
Have you read God Emperor of Dune? 😁
Why yes I have!
Bullies target the defenseless, and always pick weak targets. So unarmed protestors who pose no threat, are going to get attacked far quicker than an armed and disciplined group.
But unfortunately US cops can kill anyone with impunity so no one is safe even if they do defend themselves.
Yeah showing up as an armed militia would just escalate from ICE to national guard and then you can’t do much unless you can get real soldiers on your side. But we know how it plays out when a military takes over the government.
There would be violence, more or less.
There would be more violence. These thugs in riot gear want an excuse to slaughter people en-mass.
At the risk of dying themselves?
They think they’re beyond consequences and “it can’t happen to me, I’m the main character!”
I doubt they’re worried about that. Protest implies that the gun is symbolic or defensive. ICE is there to shoot, and will shoot first.
If it turns into a gunfight, one side gets a gov pension when the smoke clears, and the other side gets prison if they live.
Fair but it’s hard to pin down who shot who if there are hundreds/thousands of shooters and all wearing masks.
I think the real issue would be having to deal with national guard.
bro they jumped and executed a person they don’t think about risks anymore
Legal repercussions are totally different than thousands of masked people with guns. They all know that the law is slow and easy to get around.
