11 June 20
The People's Daily ran an article on a report on a clash between a Pride parade and counter-protesters that took place in June, 2019. Long story, but the police intervened and broke it up but not to the satisfaction of the LGBTQ+ organizers. The complaints of the organizers were reviewed by an independent lawyer and the police standards branch.
The curious thing about the Floyd riots is that they occur in the cities that are the most progressive, where ‘systemic racism’ ought not to exist. The chief of the Minneapolis police is black, and he has been chief for the last two years. The Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota is black. Seattle, the site of an insurrection, has had an extreme progressive as Mayor for years, and the population of Seattle has for decades been politically progressive to a high degree. The same is true of Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. So, what gives? Why should rioting over police excesses and demands for the defunding of police occur in cities where progressive attitudes generally and progressives in power ought to have wiped it out? These cities aren’t Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1963. The Klan doesn’t run these cities.
The answer is found in the book On Guerrilla Warfare, written by Mao Tse-tung in 1937. The guerrillas are the fish and the people are the sea, he wrote. If the sea won’t support the fish, the fish die.
Systemic racism has been a cardinal principle of progressivism for fifty years. It has been inculcated in universities since the end of the Vietnam War. The most progressive cities are the places where the progressive analysis is most widely accepted. Those seas are most congenial to the accusation that the death of George Floyd is representative of the racism of police. And as Mao wrote, the way of bringing down the system of government is to attack the force that supports it and the people that run it. This explains why even the most progressive of mayors are attacked along with calls for the defunding of city police.
With this in mind, I read the story “Pride report puts police chief in hot seat.” One report written by Scott Bergman, is clearly aimed at bringing down Chief Eric Girt. That report is at odds with another report written by Gary Heron of the Professional Standard Branch that says the complaints against the police were unsubstantiated. Berman’s report is endorsed by the official spokesmen of the LBGTQ+ organizations. Regardless, the tactical handling of the small affair at issue would have been in the hands of a Staff Sergeant, who is two levels below the Chief in the police hierarchy.
The clash between the Pride parade and a small number of counter-protesters was a one-off. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps it could have been handled differently. It was a learning experience for many. But does peace in the city turn on the taking of the Chief’s scalp? Is there some principle to be upheld?
If there is a principle to be upheld, the principle ought to be of the maintenance of order. But disorder, confusion, and the demoralization of police is the aim of getting rid of Chief Girt over this affair. That is something the police board and the city council cannot countenance.
You can’t salve every sore. When the sore is disingenuous, salving it will only lead to more demands, and another demonstrations of the complainant’s power. This is the opposite of democratic rule, and lies on the road to Seattle.
Chief Girt needs to be sustained in his position as a counter-demonstration of reasonableness and order, and the maintenance of police morale.
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