I started this post two nights ago, but I started to get so angry after just one paragraph, I had to stop. In order to have a historical record of what is happening in our life, I decided to pick it back up today.
5/29/20
Things have gone from bad to worse this week. As most of the United States has turned to Phase 2 of reopening, a police officer in Minneapolis has killed George Floyd and violent demonstrations have broken out all over the United States. Last night the 3rd prescient was set on fire as well as every business around it in Minneapolis. Today, many large cities have joined in the protests. The demonstrations have turned violent as well as Brooklyn, Atlanta, and San Jose. The National Guard has been deployed in many places. This is crazy. I feel humanity has lost their control. The pandemic has had people confined to their homes and emotions have built up. The death of Mr. Floyd was murder and I hope his family gets justice but responding with violence is not the answer.
5/31/20
Last night was night 5 of violent protests across the country. More clashes with police, more businesses were set on fire, more destruction occurred in almost every large city across the United States. We have become the Un-united States of America. I am sad to say that I am embarrassed to say I live here. The POTUS has been silent on the chaos while our men and women in blue were out all night trying to save lives, save property, and restore order. Many officers were hurt, a few were killed, and many more could be harmed in the coming days. If I weren't afraid for my life, I would love to be out photographing these protests, but I will rely on other brave people's photos to bring home the severity of the issues. Now, these protests are not about the killing of George Floyd. They are outright criminal acts. Looting, arson, and violence are what's taking place. Yes, there are protesters who have good intentions and are not instigators. There have been peaceful protests, but many, if not all of those protests have turned violent. The National Guard has been deployed in Minnesota. It's the largest deployment since 1968 with over 13,000 troops rolling in.
In Charlotte, we have had two nights of protests. The first night took place on Beatties Ford Road in West Charlotte, where looting took place and fires were set. Yesterday, the protesters took to the streets of Center City, spread to the interstates, and caused chaos on the streets of Charlotte. For the most part, it seemed as though our PD kept things pretty much under control. I turned the news off at midnight, where things looked to be heating up, but I couldn't find much evidence online about damage to our city last night.
There are conspiracy theories that the man arrested for the killing of George Floyd is not the person seen killing him. The mug shots do not match. People say he was also seen in the Sandy Hook shootings. There is also a theory that the burning of the 3rd prescient in Minneapolis was started by a police officer. Police and the National Guard were "targeting" reporters and innocent bystanders who were sitting on their porch, documenting the violence. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but there is some leverage to what is happening and what people are thinking. This is an election year and many want Trump taken out of office and that this is mostly the Democratic party's doing. I do not have an opinion. I just want this to stop.
Meanwhile, the POTUS is posting outrageous posts on Twitter. Maybe he has good intentions, but he might need an editor for his posts before he hits the "post" button.
These protesters are stopping traffic, pulling people out of their cars, and then destroying them. They are setting fires to police vehicles and businesses. This is an outright war. This is not the America I love. This is not the America I am proud to be a citizen of.
In better news, yesterday SpaceX sent two astronauts into space to dock at the International Space Station. This was the first launch of US astronauts from US soil in 9 years. This morning I watched them dock, approximately 19 hours after launch.
And lastly, I'm not sure what's going on with the pandemic. I think we will see a rise in cases due to all the protests. While many of the protesters are wearing masks, they are definitely not social distancing. It will be interesting, for sure, to see statistics in two weeks.
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