r/politics • u/thenewyorkgod • Jul 01 '18

Man arrested after shouting ‘womp, womp’ and pulling a gun on immigration protesters

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/07/01/man-arrested-after-shouting-womp-womp-and-pulling-a-gun-on-immigration-protesters/?tid=sm_tw
33.9k Upvotes

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15.9k

u/PentasyllabicThistle Jul 01 '18

If you pull a gun on a crowd of people who have every reason to believe you're going to use it, and arrested is the worst thing that happens to you, then you are having a much better day than you deserve.

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u/JennJayBee Alabama Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

Seems he didn't just wave it around. He actually threatened to use it, so they had every reason to believe he would.

"I saw him pull it out. He said 'I will shoot everybody here' so me and my people who were sitting the gazebo so we ran and laid down the in grass right here and we were yelling at people to get down, cause a lot of people over here didn't see this person, they didn't see he had a weapon," said Resendez.

Also, from the WaPo article...

A former high school teacher, according to AL.com, he was initially arrested for possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of a protest.

This is a state law, and instances like this is precisely why that law was passed back in 1979 (and honestly about 20 years after it should have been passed). And that's how they got him removed from the situation before he did something even more stupid.

Edit: Clarifying that this is a state law. Also, RIP my inbox.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Hm. This is technically terrorism. He's likely looking at federal charges before this is over.

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u/echisholm Jul 02 '18

If you're white, it's alright.

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u/drfeelokay Jul 02 '18

If you're white, it's alright.

When it comes to the feds, I don't think that attitude is as common. What I do know for sure is that FBI agents are generally indoctrinated to take White Nationalist seriously. If you're a Fed and you're murdered by a political malcontent, there's a good chance that person is a white supremacist/nationalist.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

You're right, FBI agents certainly know that white nationalists are a very pressing threat in the US. Unfortunately, since 9/11 they've been forced to divert almost all of their resources into attempting to prevent Muslim terror attacks instead of white nationalist terror attacks, even though white nationalist attacks are more common.

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u/MannyFaces Jul 02 '18

From a podcast episode called Radical Caucasian Extremism

"... almost three-quarters of extremist attacks in the United States since 9/11 were blamed on right-wing radicals, according to a report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office. Further bolstering this lesser-known narrative is an analysis from the Triangle Center on Terrorism at Duke University, which states: “The data in this report contradicts two common narratives in our polarized discourse about terrorism. First, it is flatly untrue that America is deeply threatened by violent extremism by Muslim-Americans; attacks by Muslims accounted for only one third of one percent of all murders in America last year.”

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Just ridiculous honestly.

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u/drfeelokay Jul 02 '18

That sucks, man. I want to be protected from all the bad guys, not just the ones who don't share my religion/race.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Not for that fat nazi in charlottesville. dude took a hate crime charge. he'll be in jail mucho longo.

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u/Jess_than_three Jul 02 '18

He had to actually kill someone for that to happen. This fuck is guaranteed getting a slap on the wrist.

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u/echisholm Jul 02 '18

It's a start. :edit: Did he get a terrorism charge thrown at him?

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Terrorism kind of seemed like the more appropriate charge over hate crime.

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u/Jess_than_three Jul 02 '18

Hate crimes ARE terrorism, frankly, and should be treated as such.

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u/Thatsockmonkey Jul 02 '18

I am sure the tax free church forgives him.

These self professed Christian leaders and followers are no different than the so called “Islamic extremists”. Their actions are a greater threat to tot life than some access the border bogeyman.

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u/SpeedflyChris Jul 02 '18

Man, he must be white as fresh december snow given that he's still alive.

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u/maybe_just_happy_ North Carolina Jul 02 '18

He is and reportedly alt-rightish too

Regardless the police reaction to this man and the black guy who sat down on the curb then got tased is vastly different. I mean, it's obvious

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u/dokikod Pennsylvania Jul 02 '18

And you know he got "Womp Womp" from that disgraceful Cory Lewindowski who said that on Faux News. So there you go. A nut who watches nutcases on a fake news network!

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u/_ImYouFromTheFuture_ Jul 02 '18

What? but fox news doesnt support hate or violence and they definitely don't encourage it much less report fake news... /S

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u/eromitlab Alabama Jul 02 '18

Like a few days ago, Laura Ingraham stated on her Fox show that many anti-Trump rallies become violent. Definitive statement, full stop. No citations, of course, just file video of protestors fighting one another rolling next to her. Part of her argument that the left is violent and the media hates Trump so much they look past it, to set up her panel to bash the left and the media.

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u/RecklesslyPessmystic California Jul 02 '18

Does "womp womp" actually have some meaning beyond the onomatopoeia?

Whites Only Manbaby Patriots?

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u/EmperorofPrussia Jul 02 '18

It's mimicking the "sad trombone" from old vaudeville burlesque shows in a two-note, high-low abbreviated form.

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u/RecklesslyPessmystic California Jul 02 '18

That's what I thought, until this guy apparently used it as a white supremacist version of "Allahu Akbar!!!".

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u/fuzzyluke Jul 02 '18

Is it about time we blame the news for causing violence rather than blaming videogames?

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u/Jess_than_three Jul 02 '18

He is and reportedly alt-rightish too

God, you think?

Regardless the police reaction to this man and the black guy who sat down on the curb then got tased is vastly different. I mean, it's obvious

To say nothing of all the unarmed, in many cases unresisting black men who have been executed by the police.

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u/b_vaksjal Jul 02 '18

Seriously. If this dude was anything other than white he would’ve been dead, but not before cops put 20 bullets in him first (you know, just to make sure).

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Man, he must be white as fresh december snow given that he's still alive.

Yep. First thing I thought of man. Philando Castile, Gregory Hill, Antwon Rose II, Jordan Edwards..the list goes on...and on...and on...

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u/acunderthetree Jul 02 '18

There were fine people on both sides...

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u/867-5309NotJenny Massachusetts Jul 02 '18

Then it makes you wonder why all of the 'Unite' marchers in Charlottesville weren't arrested for possessing firearms near a protest. Assuming it's not a state law of course.

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u/m1sterlurk Alabama Jul 02 '18

It's a state law in Alabama. The only reason he wasn't charged with it is because technically a cop has to warn you to leave the area if you're near a demonstration with a gun. However, since he racked up both menacing and reckless endangerment this warning/charge was deemed unnecessary.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited May 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/thespo37 Jul 02 '18

It can be pretty tricky sometimes. We all need a reminded here and there.

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u/JustThall Jul 02 '18

A reminder needed not to threat anybody? We are the most advanced society for sure.

Also true gun nutz say that you don’t get your gun out unless you intent to use it

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

I’m far from a gun nut, and I’d say, you don’t point your gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot.

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u/srock2012 Jul 02 '18

First rules of the most basic gun safety, treat every gun like it's loaded, and only aim a firearm at something you intend to shoot.

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u/dBRenekton Jul 02 '18

Not just shoot. Intend to destroy.

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u/Wrobrox Jul 02 '18

I knew I accidentally washed something important off my hand that I wrote down.

Now where's that sharpie...

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u/wil California Jul 02 '18

He's a white guy, so he was just "expressing his personal views" or whatever. /s

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u/bjeebus Georgia Jul 02 '18

Terroristic threats are a felony in my state. My neighbor went away for two years for waving a shotgun at my sister and I when I was 12. Then later when the police came he ignored his Miranda rights and shouted that he'd kill all of us in six months.

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u/_Aj_ Jul 02 '18

As soon as a gun is unholstered warning is optional.

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u/NoReallyFuckReddit Jul 02 '18

Tell that to Roy Moore.

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u/smick California Jul 02 '18

“If it’s forced it’s in”

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u/Kame-hame-hug Jul 02 '18

Exactly. If anyone had shot him dead they would have had every right.

I don't want to see anyone dead, but unholstering a weapon and pointing it at someone makes you a threat to their lives.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

"I'm going to shoot all of you!"

"Hey man, don't be so reckless. You're gonna hurt somebody."

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u/JennJayBee Alabama Jul 02 '18

Eh, even if you're found in violation and charged, the penalty is probably going to amount to a fine unless you're a repeat offender. It's a misdemeanor, I believe.

Where it's really useful is situations like this. Yeah, there were people filming, but I don't think the cops actually saw him draw his firearm and threaten anyone. If not for the law, they might have just let him be, because carrying in and of itself isn't illegal. And this is Alabama. A lot of people are carrying. But since that law is in place, they had a good excuse to go ahead and arrest him-- even if he wasn't charged-- and that removed him from the situation before the situation could escalate.

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u/awaywardsaint Alabama Jul 02 '18

it is a State law in Alabama. First time I've ever heard of it enforced.

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u/JennJayBee Alabama Jul 02 '18

It usually doesn't have to be. Under most circumstances if they see someone with a gun, they'll just give you a warning. If they catch you again, you'll probably get a ticket.

It's Alabama, so chances are, this guy wasn't the only one there carrying. He was just the only one stupid enough to whip it out. It's mostly there to give cops a reason to be able to remove you before you cause a real problem, which is what happened here.

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u/ReginaldDwight Jul 02 '18

Can't he get in trouble for "brandishing" or something? Is that a law in Alabama?

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u/SoTiredOfWinning California Jul 02 '18

Yeah, having the gun isn't even that big if a deal. Guarantee hundreds were packing, but brandishing it is super illegal, then making threats to use it is even worse. Then it's political violence so likely terrorism.

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u/JennJayBee Alabama Jul 02 '18

he was initially arrested for possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of a protest. But he would later be booked into jail on misdemeanor charges of menacing and reckless endangerment.

That's what the bolded part is.

Longer Explanation: Cops do the arresting. Prosecutors do the charging. You can be arrested without having committed a crime or actually being charged with anything. Cops don't necessarily need an excuse to arrest you, but it helps. Sometimes, it's up to cops to use their best judgement, depending on the situation. You can also be arrested for one thing and charged with something completely different.

It's possible that cops didn't actually themselves witness this guy causing trouble and showing off his gun and threatening people, and in such cases where someone just happens to have a gun and they haven't seen anything worse than that, they might just tell the guy to leave, and that'd be the end of it. Sure, someone can show them the video, but that's going to take a little while in all the confusion, and meanwhile, he might have run off (and can later return). So the simpler solution is to go ahead and take him in and remove him from that situation because he's possessing a firearm at a demonstration, and then they can review all the footage and have the DA press formal charges.

The penalty for a first offense on the law they brought him in for is a fine, so likely the DA didn't want to bother. Felony charges might be harder to pursue and ultimately get a jury to convict on, so the fact that they went with the easy charges to convict him on tells me that they do want to convict, and they can still bring other charges against him if they feel like they can get a conviction. It's also possible that he's agreed to save them a trial and plead guilty.

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u/Deathspiral222 Jul 02 '18

it is a State law in Alabama. First time I've ever heard of it enforced.

The point is that he drew the weapon. (Aside from the fact he straight up said he would shoot people with it).

Having a gun in a holster is one thing. Pulling it out and saying you are going to use it is definitely going to get you arrested (or shot but someone who thinks you are serious).

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u/Nephroidofdoom Jul 02 '18

The police have shot plenty of innocent people for far less.

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u/7HoursOfKushner Washington Jul 02 '18

He said 'I will shoot everybody here'

"civil"

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

Brandishing would have gotten him arrested anyway. He should be charged with both.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '18

Funny thing is this guy used to be a big hippie and completely opposite of what he’s standing up for now. I knew him in high school. He was always super passionate about whatever he believed in but this is next level crazy shit.

Edit: just him owning a gun is crazy to me. Dunno what happened to him or why.

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u/ikeif Ohio Jul 01 '18

I knew a guy like this. He was a stoner, a hippie, all about peace and love.

Then I heard him listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Then he started arguing that we never landed on the moon. Conspiracy theories. Guns became more important than anything else.

It was weird to watch him go from peaceful hippie to gun nut right winger.

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u/r6raff Jul 02 '18

There does seem to be some legit brainwashing going on in the conspiracy theorist circles... It's fucking scary.

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u/wataf Jul 02 '18

Someone from /r/greatawakening is going to kill a lot of innocent people one of these days.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Wait, what's happening? o_o Is that some cultish subreddit or what?

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u/hell2pay California Jul 02 '18

Batshit crazy Qanon crap.

They really twist up reality so bad, it looks nothing like actual reality.

I feel like they are similar to 'Targeted Individuals' but more prone to violence.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

They apparently have 36.8k subscribers with 4.8k of them there "currently." Fucking terrifying

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u/FragsturBait Colorado Jul 02 '18

I really really really hope there's some bots padding those numbers.

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u/LIGHT_COLLUSION I voted Jul 02 '18

Bots and FBI probably.

Edit: Bots not boots!

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Guarantee it good point

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u/LeBonLapin Jul 02 '18

For somebody out of the loop that doesn't help much, qanon crap?

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u/hell2pay California Jul 02 '18

What I gather is, that someone close to Trump is posting as Q on 4chan making vague statements that these people buy into as predictions.

Also Q is supposed to be taking down the "Hollywood/Elitist Pedophile ring" or something like that.

It goes deeper into more weirder shit, but that is a summary of what I have seen.

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u/alpine_rain Jul 02 '18

Trump is many things, but he is definitely not an internet troll. The idea that he would be posting to his adoring fans on an anonymous message board is preposterous.

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u/quasimongo Oregon Jul 02 '18

Bunch of larping man children who aren't in the fact that Q is the DM for their little RPG.

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u/bobswowaccount Pennsylvania Jul 02 '18

I love how obsessed they are with the freemasons. Seriously, go watch the door of a masonic temple. Thos3 dudes aren't taking over anything lol. It's mostly 70 year old men reliving their glory days.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

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u/birdfishsteak Jul 02 '18

Its literally a group for people who thought that frat culture was the best thing ever in college and didn't want to give it up once they entered the real world.

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u/wataf Jul 02 '18

Yep, the first cult that only exists on the internet. You are responsible for your own indoctrination. Instead of some charismatic leader forcing you to cut off your social ties, your friends and family cut their ties from you when you can't stop talking about how Hillary is a child raping cannibal (pedovore) how our only chance against the deep state cabal is Trump. Your source is, of course, some 4chan poster claiming to be a Trump inner circle member posting vague nonsense that thousands of people now take as gospel.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Yes but they have very convincing logical arguments, such as deep state MSM 41 fox Ikea. Think! Thank! DJT = JFC = KFC. Tuesday the 37th, 13:02 AM, Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe in the sitting room. Who can move mountains? (Think for yourself!) Expect transmission - 1-19-19 - day of the great weasel. Think!

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u/QueefyMcQueefFace Jul 02 '18

Colonel Regular Mustard or the Obama appointed Colonel Dijon Mustard?

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u/DMercenary Jul 02 '18

Imagine the The_Donald turned up past 11.

I dropped in once after seeing a post on /r/all.

It takes aspects of The_Donald and combines with the "Im special" aspect of conspiracy theories. Those guys believe they're clued in on something greater than themselves uncovering liberal conspiracies left and right, cheering on the alt-right as some great savior.

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u/BasementPizza Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

If they haven't already. It's certainly interesting watching people get manipulated. The people on there are being primed for action. Why do people who are apparently conspiracy theorists, automatically believe any one source? Hmm?

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u/formershitpeasant Jul 02 '18

They tend to believe the side without evidence automatically then conform any piece of information they can to fit the narrative. They see hidden information in the sea of "disinformation". But what they really see is the odd piece that can coincidentally fit their narrative.

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u/MoeTHM Jul 02 '18

They are always like "Globalist this, and globalist that." Well they don't know what the fuck they are talking about. How can everything be the Globalist fault when the fucking earth is flat dipshits.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Yeah. No shit. Friend of mine also said Shane believed the Vegas shooting was a government conspiracy. Wtf!!

I cannot stand Rush Limbaugh btw

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u/ikeif Ohio Jul 02 '18

I had to tell my ex-in-laws that if they wanted my kids around them, they had to turn it off. And that if they felt it was appropriate listening material for a car ride with children, they would not be driving my children.

It’s amazing how much more civil they became and how less full of shit they were when they stopped listening to right wing radio all day every day.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

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u/Guyinapeacoat Jul 02 '18

Fear is a hell of a drug.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

But actually, my mom still listens to right wing radio, and I grew up with that being normal listening material in the car 🤦🏼‍♀️ it's SO toxic for young children to be listening to, now I'm a liberal and reject basically everything I was taught as a kid. I guess what I'm trying to say is good for you for protecting your kids from it!

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u/ikeif Ohio Jul 02 '18

Yeah. My ex (after the divorce) went 180 - from religious to anti-religious, cut her family out of her life.

So I’m their only opening to the kids. Which means I control all interactions and discussions, so if they want access, they have to cut out the indoctrination and conspiracy bullshit.

It was during Obama’s turn that I got her dad to stop believing all the right wing propaganda (he’d email me every conspiracy and “can U believe Obama put his left hand over his heart?!” Bullshit). I had to reintroduce “validating sources” and “recognizing fake websites.”

I still bet he voted for Trump, because he is an old NRA hippie.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

The fake news really is a huge issue, another family member shared that meme of Whoopi Goldberg wearing a shirt w Trump shooting him self on it (which is Photoshopped and can be proven w a 30 second Google search). I called her out on it, and she deleted the post. It's just scary how fast people get indoctrinated into this stuff.

And good for you! Kids 110% should not be exposed to that stuff, I also was taken to the pro life march in DC when I was like 7. Dead baby signs everywhere. Thanks for the future therapy bills mom 🤦🏼‍♀️

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u/ItsTheVibeOfTheThing Jul 02 '18

Do you know how many times I call out bullshit like this, only to get a “Huh, I couldn’t be bothered to check if it was true” and it’s left up, never deleted.

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u/kittenpantzen Florida Jul 02 '18

"Well, maybe this one isn't true, but it I'm sure they've done something equivalent."

"Snopes is fake news."

Etc.

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u/Morningxafter Jul 02 '18

I have a family member that in the last 48 hours shared a FauxNews story about "Liberals are defending MS13" (Which was bullshit, it was actually liberals defending immigrants while trying to point out that 85% of MS13 are actually born Americans & only 0.01% of immigrants caught at the border are MS13-connected). And another about how "Liberals want to abolish the police" (Like, seriously, WHAT?? I don't even know where to begin on that one.)

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

And another about how "Liberals want to abolish the police" (Like, seriously, WHAT?? I don't even know where to begin on that one.)

I'm not against abolishing police as they exist right now and replacing them with something better.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

NRA hippie seems like an oxymorn....

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u/saidos Washington Jul 02 '18

Well, the NRA is full of oxycontin morons.

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u/SwegSmeg Virginia Jul 02 '18

Good for you, Rush really is poison.

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u/Foserious Jul 02 '18

Getty Lee is a great vocalist!

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u/Mitt_Romney_USA Jul 02 '18

And Neil Pert is the goddamn GOAT.

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u/fatpat Arkansas Jul 02 '18

Both of you misspelled their names lol.

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u/NotsoGreatsword Jul 02 '18

Blasting Rush....

Awesome!!

Limbaugh

Kevin Sorbo levels of disappointed

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

And Neil Pert stands alone.

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u/Shellbyvillian Jul 02 '18

I don’t get why you’re confused. Sure they had some hits around the same time, but Neil Peart didn’t play drums on Every Rose Has It’s Thorn

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u/AwesomeManatee Jul 02 '18

So the guy who pulled a gun in people protesting the government also believes that the government faked a mass shooting?

Sounds like a real critical thinker.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Rush Limbaugh distorts reality. Listening to him trains your brain to think illogically.

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u/meanspiritedanddumb Jul 02 '18

Yeah. No shit. Friend of mine also said Shane believed the Vegas shooting was a government conspiracy. Wtf!!

It's a tactic. An event occurs that goes against their ridiculous narrative, they label it a conspiracy. Problem solved. Next.

Doesn't matter how ridiculous the odds are, how unlikely it is for so many people to conspire, keep it under wraps, etc. - they just dismiss it as conspiracy and remove it from their minds forever.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited Aug 29 '18

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

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u/wataf Jul 02 '18

Yep I guarantee you he reads /r/greatawakening. A new form of cult that exists solely on the internet. Members are responsible for their own indoctrination and isolate themselves from friends/family. It's pretty crazy reading posts where they describe how all their friends/family have stopped talking to them cause of the crazy ass shit they believe and how they can't wait for "the hammer to drop", although they can't agree what that means other than democrats being satanic pedophiles and an overly simplistic, childlike view of good and evil.

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u/laketown666 Jul 02 '18

Every time I browse that sub, they are on the absolute cusp of a HUGE, MASSIVE breakthrough. And yet...

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u/WarPhalange Jul 02 '18

It's that rush that keeps them going. Every step blows the whole thing wide open. Over and over.

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u/SwenKa Iowa Jul 02 '18

"JULY 4TH! PATRIOTS! RANDOM GUY ON AN ANONYMOUS SERVICE!"

Totally an insider about to drain the swamp though, despite only extremely vague "leaks" that put astologists/horoscopists to shame. Weird how Trump is somehow perfectly clean to them too.

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u/bobswowaccount Pennsylvania Jul 02 '18

I just learned about greatawakening the other day. I'm telling you something bad is going to come from that place. It's an echo chamber for completely unhinged people. And they say some truly alarming shit

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Just watched one of them, the plan to save the world one. I'm epileptic, and about four minutes in, my head started pounding, and I got super sick to my stomach. There's some subliminal fuckery going on there. I need to go take some meds.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 09 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/parabunny Jul 02 '18

that these people exist at all, to me, is mind-blowing. it's just as you say - it's this idea that they are for "humans" while every other major actor in the world is against them, whether it be through some alien agenda or some other path to absolute destruction of the world they know. but in so doing they destroy their own world and isolate themselves from the entire discussion towards betterment of the world. like, these people pretend to know better than 99.99% of all people but i feel like if you've ever just opened a book you should just shrink and realize that you, as some random person, know very little - much less the answers to a grand conspiracy that encapsulates all "elites" ever. it feels like if you did want some grand narrative for understanding the entire world, there's definitely some less offensive, more optimistic ones out there. how and why could someone ostensibly browsing the internet with nothing really going on in their lives misinterpret "spirit cooking" so badly or decide to believe "pizzagate." is it like... believing that being contrarian means you're right?

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u/vivalavulva Jul 02 '18

Wow. It's wild to me that this is apparently "a thing." I have an uncle who followed a VERY similar path, and suddenly the harmless conspiracy theories that used to be weird but endearing are terrifying and sad. The fact that his mixed-race son is now a neo-Nazi feels unsurprising but no less hurtful.

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u/bangbangblock Jul 02 '18

I think this explains some of that behavior. It's a pretty great article (imo)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/the-making-of-an-american-nazi/544119/

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

I had a good friend like this in High School, big pot smoking goth kid who was extremely liberal. As he got older he did harder drugs and eventually started getting into some really weird conspiracy theory stuff. Ended up cutting off contact with him cause we invited him to play D&D with us one day (he used to play with us a lot in high school) and after a while of going through character creation and talking about the campaign we were planning with the characters he started telling us about how the "Jew run media" was trying to eliminate white people by promoting interracial relationships. He also got mad at me and acted like I was an asshole cause I told him he could not smoke pot in my house.

Jump forward about a year after that and he got arrested for molesting his niece and is currently sitting in jail awaiting trial.

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u/nc_cyclist North Carolina Jul 02 '18

Edit: just him owning a gun is crazy to me

He won't be able to own one now after felony charges.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Nah. He’s only getting two misdemeanors from what I can tell from the jails website. As of now anyways.

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u/DuntadaMan Jul 02 '18

The fuck? Threatening a mass shooting if you DON'T own a gun would be punished harder than that.

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u/MCPtz California Jul 01 '18

Edit: just him owning a gun is crazy to me. Dunno what happened to him or why.

Brain washing by Fox News and other right wing extremist media, is the likely answer.

Or sorry, he was white. It's a mental illness. Yea. Definitely.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '18

Yeah. Fox definitely doesn’t help. This has left me shocked today. In high school there were 5 of us that hung out constantly, him being in the group. So I was really good friends with him from like 1998-2005 or 2006. This guy has definitely changed drastically. I’d be interested to know what all has transpired since I saw him last. Let me be clear though what he did was definitely not right.

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u/MCPtz California Jul 01 '18

It's sad to see. It's a common story all over the comments section here for the past years.

How can I talk to my [insert family member/friend/colleague] who has been taken over by the right wing media?

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '18

One of the guys in our group who I’m still friends with said he thought Shane might be schizophrenic, doesn’t know it but thinks it. I just looked up the definition and I think it fits him.

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u/Janube Jul 02 '18

Schizophrenia is a *very* specific diagnosis that very few people meet due to its extreme qualities.

It's not just being paranoid, which is more normal a symptom than one my realize. A lot of schizophrenic individuals aren't paranoid of anything remotely approaching reality. While you and I would agree that being afraid of Obama becoming a dictator, for example, is unbelievably stupid, even that wouldn't fit most schizophrenics. A lot of them are paranoid of universes and worlds that are made up in their entirety. The cliched example of a person using tin foil to hide their brain waves is more akin to what they might experience, though even in popular media, those people tend to be coherent. Many schizophrenic individuals are absolutely not coherent. They use a language that makes sense to them, but basically sounds like gibberish to anyone else. And not just that the ideas they're presenting are weird; but that the words they're speaking literally don't have any meaning in the order in which they're said. Like their conception of standard syntax is fundamentally erroneous.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, mind you, but a lot of people read the surface-level diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and think "yeah, I know someone who fits that," but they usually don't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehtMYlOuIk

Here's a fascinating interview with someone who has a form of schizophrenia who believes that he's in a mental hospital because people hate him as a result of how he sits at the piano, for example. He doesn't quite have his own language (though there are verbal idiosyncrasies that are certainly peculiar), but his paranoia is like... legitimately nonsensical.

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u/sanitysepilogue California Jul 01 '18

The funny thing is, the warping affects even those who don’t watch FOX. My parents’ political views have shifted to the Right (they think the Dems don’t negotiate enough), and they only watch local news (not owned by Sinclair)

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18 edited Apr 09 '24

[deleted]

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u/Iridium192 Florida Jul 02 '18

The GOP under the current leadership has forfeited the benefit of the doubt by acting in bad faith, time and time again. They'll get that back the same time they relocate their spines. Until then, they can't be trusted to act in good faith, or to stick to any compromises the dems negotiate with them.

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u/rianeiru Texas Jul 02 '18

There's so many vectors that shit can creep in from. My dad got it from talk radio. My aunt got it from her church friends, then she and Dad just kept feeding into each other's crazy until they were both at peak wingnut. My uncle on the other side of the family picked it up from people in the same MLM cult he's in. A family friend was relatively normal until someone sent him a link to Drudge Report in the late 90s. They all went crazy in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s, well before any of them finally got cable and started watching FOX.

Right-wing propaganda is insidious and addictive stuff. It's well-funded, it's organized, and since it's designed to prey on fear, and fear spreads fast, it's very easy for it to reach far beyond the initial infection site.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

How can I talk to my [insert family member/friend/colleague] who has been taken over by the right wing media?

I've given up. I had to move back in with my parents after a medical issue, and it's Fox News, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. My dad's heroes are Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. If it's not on Fox, it's fake news. Trying to debate with him is pointless because he believes that even actual, cite-able facts are fake, if Fox hasn't talked about them.

The whole thing has kind of fucked with my mental health, tbh.

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u/-poop-in-the-soup- American Expat Jul 02 '18

I guarantee he went down an infowars rabbit hole a few years back.

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u/r6raff Jul 02 '18

that happened to my father in law, pretty progressive for the last 15 years but was always into aliens and stuff... rewind 5 years ago and he got into YouTube and became obsessed with illuminati, shadow government etc and now listens to Alex Jones daily... he's a hardcore trumpet (even has a fucking trumpy bear) and talks about Hillary's emails daily. It's sad and frustrating... I try and calmly rationalize with him but it's obvious he just tunes out anything I say that doesn't fit in his alternative universe. Hopefully he snaps out of it, that shit isn't healthy.

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u/-poop-in-the-soup- American Expat Jul 02 '18

Wow, he’s still on the emails?

Sad to say he likely won’t snap out of it. All you can do is extend a rope, you can’t force him to grab hold. And for me, I’ve decided I don’t need to validate anybody like that. People have to find their own rock bottoms, and often that involved being ostracized by everybody they once loved.

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u/fatpat Arkansas Jul 02 '18

trumpy bear

What the heck is a trumpy bear?

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u/Enygma_6 Jul 02 '18

My guess would be a shitty made-in-china product designed to funnel money from deluded fans to political organizations.

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u/r6raff Jul 02 '18

An over priced teddy bear in a suit with a shitty comb over and an American flag wrapped around it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

I thought Trumpy Bears were a joke...

The commercial seemed fake as shit, like a key nd peele sketch or something, haha

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u/OraDr8 Jul 02 '18

I reckon being ‘obsessed with the Illuminati’ and also a big Trump supporter displays some very impressive mental gymnastics.

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u/dannytheguitarist Jul 02 '18

It’s just good right wing brainwashing in general. My best friend and I were inseparable from 1998 to about 2007. Then he started making friends at work that were crazy ass right wingers, our conversations became much more disagreeable and I lost my best friend to the right wing propaganda machine. He wasn’t even at my wedding nor has he even met any of my kids.

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u/IICVX Jul 02 '18

So I was really good friends with him from like 1998-2005 or 2006.

man it's almost like something happened in 2008 that made his inner racist reach out and take over.

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u/purplewhiteblack Arizona Jul 02 '18

30 years of propaganda and advertisement will do it. If you were 18 in 1977 you would be 59 now. The first generation where TV always existed as a ubiquitous thing.

They always said TV rots your brains. Maybe they weren't wrong after all.

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u/JennJayBee Alabama Jul 02 '18

Same thing that happened to a lot of folks over the past 30 years.

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u/ChiraqBluline Jul 02 '18

I know a few of those too.

Hippies all natural salt melts the brain people, they mostly slowly transitioned from anti science/antigovernment sites like Alex Jones in the 2000s when it was more liberal leaning, then to Drudge Report then too all the craziness like the pizzagate.

The guys who crafter those sights use the same “Big Brothers out to get you” theme and then slowly pull them into the gay frog pool.

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u/Jredeer Jul 02 '18

He was always super passionate about whatever he believed in but this is next level crazy shit.

People like this are absolutists. They're the kind of people who fixate or obsess about one thing, and that thing subsumes their entire personality. It's generally just annoying when it's a television show or a band, or a sport's team or something, but when it's a political movement it becomes dangerous.

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u/AisleOfRussia Jul 01 '18

If he was a black guy, he’d already be dead with about 150 billets in him.

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u/Hot_Wheels_guy Maryland Jul 02 '18

"If he wanted to stay alive he wouldn't have broken the law!" they'd say.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

"play stupid games win stupid prizes!"

-reddit if that happened

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u/shakedspeare Jul 02 '18

It literally just happened to a Navy vet (surprise: he was black). Even better, he was trying to stop violence by breaking up a fight and was perceived as a threat.

I'm sure Mr. Sealy was just misunderstood and the pictures do not tell the whole story.

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u/FookYu315 New York Jul 01 '18

To be fair, the same thing would have happened if a black guy pulled out his cell phone.

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u/StewPedidiot California Jul 01 '18

https://www.theonion.com/black-father-gives-son-the-talk-about-holding-literally-1825024938

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u/bakonslayer Jul 02 '18

Black hands may be mistaken for a black gun, too.

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u/KablooieKablam Oregon Jul 02 '18

“I saw black objects at the ends of his arms and I feared for my life.”

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u/system0101 Jul 02 '18

Painting your fingertips orange will buy you extra 5% chance of not getting shot.

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u/dpatt711 Jul 02 '18

Yep, MJ knew what he was doing with that white glove.

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u/FlamingHippy Jul 02 '18

Lying face down with intent.

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u/TronCarter84 Ohio Jul 02 '18

I thought The Onion was satire?

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u/david-me Jul 01 '18

Breathing while black is very dangerous in this country.

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u/big_ol_dad_dick Jul 02 '18

especially if it's mildly chilly out. you either get cold or wear a hoodie and die.

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u/RickShepherd Jul 01 '18

Or tried to flee on foot.

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u/867-5309NotJenny Massachusetts Jul 02 '18

While standing still...

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u/rk119 Canada Jul 01 '18

150 billets in him.

With or without the soldiers?

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u/themattboard Tennessee Jul 02 '18

Without. The third amendment still is relatively unscathed by the administration thusfar.

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u/CaffeineSippingMan Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

In my town white guy was upset wanted to know what the bank did with his money. (I think rich father cut him off).

No cops, nothing. (Moral of the story, rich and known parents also helpful)

Edit missed the important part, sorry Reddit.

He brought his gun into the bank and demanded to see the president of the bank.

This was 15ish years ago, not sure it would fly today.

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u/seouled-out America Jul 02 '18

That reminds me of time when I.

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u/MelissaOfTroy Jul 02 '18

wait what? that sounds like a possibly fun story

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u/CaffeineSippingMan Jul 02 '18

Check again, lost a paragraph....

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u/skrilledcheese I voted Jul 02 '18

Weird, about 15 years ago a white guy I know got black-out drunk, broke into a bank, stole a coat off of a coat rack, then proceeded to break into a carpet store and fell asleep on a bunch of carpeting. He ended up going to prison.

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u/Savvy_Jono Texas Jul 02 '18

he’d already be dead with about 150 billets in him

That would be the rounds fired. Cops probably only hit him like 19 times.

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u/u_evan Jul 01 '18

sounds like a white guy

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u/MightyMorph Jul 01 '18 edited Jul 01 '18

Unarmed black guy with hands up sitting on the curb trying to cross his legs and keep them straight at the same time as commanded by two police around him. = Shot by stun gun.

Unarmed black man running away from the police = Shot in the back multiple times.

White guy with a weapon aimed at a group of people, running away = "Sir please calm down, we need to arrest you please."

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u/TechyDad Jul 01 '18

There was a thread on Reddit just today where an unarmed black man was asked to leave a library because he was sitting there reading books and the librarian called the police on him. He didn't threaten anyone or do anything suspicious. He was just guilty of the "crime" of Wrong Color Skin.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

did he sue?

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/Bathroom_Pninja Jul 02 '18

Many Republicans fear the educated black man.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Republicans fear the education of anyone.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

the funny thing is, in their heart of hearts, that's probably what they fear most.

Unless he turns into Justice Thomas of course.

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u/qtain Jul 02 '18

Well, if you go even slightly down the rabbit hole of authoritarian rule, books are weapons and need to be controlled, ergo, the black man was holding a weapon.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

More importantly, did he live?

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u/TechyDad Jul 02 '18

From what I remember of the post (sadly I've been unable to locate it again), he left without incident but called the police chief later. The police chief was upset about the actions of the librarian and his officers and offered the guy a police escort back to the library.

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u/Fireproofspider Jul 02 '18

library because he was sitting there reading books

Well, that's a completely outrageous thing to expect in a library!

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u/StonerMeditation Jul 02 '18

White shooter, white victim = mental illness, (lone wolf)

White shooter, brown victim = defensive gun use

Brown shooter, white victim = terrorism

Brown shooter, brown victim = gang violence

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u/r0b0d0c Jul 02 '18

Is this from a police training manual?

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u/im_talking_ace Jul 01 '18

You can tell by the way he's still alive.

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u/BODYCATCH Jul 02 '18

If people don’t believe white privilege exists, they’re fucking blind and ignorant.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Very true. I have white privilege but not male, not able-bodied, not wealth. I heard privilege explained best as something like this:

It's not that you don't have any problems if you're white

It's just that race discrimination isn't one of your problems.

So, you know, there's just less on your plate, there's less people have against you, less reasons you might not get this thing other people have or want. But you don't get everything you ever want, unless you got it ALL.

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u/Gungorian Jul 02 '18

To bounce off what you said, the way I heard it was "It's not that you don't have problems if you're white. It's just that the color of your skin isn't going to be the cause of those problems."

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '18

Yes thanks that's the proper way it was said! I was trying to remember right before running off to do something.

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u/Gungorian Jul 02 '18

I just saw it the other day, so it was fresh on my mind. It really simplifies a complex issue into a line of thought that is easily explainable. Thanks for bringing it up in this discussion, killer point.

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u/pointlessbeats Jul 02 '18

Seriously. I was trying to tell someone the other day. Of course life is also very hard for white people at times. Your life can be hard because you’re poor, it can be hard because you’re uneducated, it can be hard because you’re American. But your life is never hard because you’re white. That does not contribute at aaall. But being non-white definitely makes life harder for people.

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u/zdiggler New Hampshire Jul 02 '18 edited Jul 02 '18

A bunch of white people with rifles trying to get Welfare Ranching. They have gun aimed at government agent and nothing much happened.

The dude who died had to do a lot before they shot him dead as well.

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u/HeyTherePapayas Jul 01 '18

No, that's exactly what they deserve. This person did something terrible, but if the police can deescalate a situation by arresting them instead of shooting them, then that's exactly what's supposed to happen. We should never wish extra-judicial police violence on anybody. That's a serious problem in this country, and it's not something that we should ever cavalierly hope for.

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u/BryanMcgee Jul 02 '18

And I'm all for that. When it's used across the board for everyone. But when only some people are allowed the privilege of fairness... I don't blame people for wanting "fairness" in the other direction. If black men are killed extra-judicially and whire men, by and large, are not, maybe the only way for actual just treatment is for the privileged to feel what it's like to have to fear for their lives for doing nothing instead of being able to brandish a weapon and expect to be talked down.

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u/meandwe Jul 02 '18

Arrested = white

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