Trump's visit very stressful.....

[LDAHL]

I was glad to see your violent fantasies weren't realized.

The "American police" didn't "start gunning protesters down" despite what appeared to me to be a good bit of provocation. They seemed to do a pretty fair job of keeping opposing camps of imbeciles from savaging each other, for which I'm sure they will get a lot of after-action criticism. "A policeman's lot is not a happy one."

Trump did his Trumpy thing, feeding off the dark energies of his supporters without saying much of substance. His enemies shrieked in rage and frustration outside, which they seemed to find cathartic. The media collected their quota of sound bites. Various public servants earned some overtime. Everybody pretty much got what they came for.

[Lainey]

"A good bit of provocation"?? According to the local newspaper, none of the protestors crossed the barrier lines established by police.
One eyewitness saw an empty water bottle lobbed towards the police line, and police "responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. I saw several people get hit. They opened fire into areas where no one threw anything."

People have been blinded and even killed by rubber bullets, although luckily not this time. Now there's going to be an inquiry into what's being described as police over-reaction.

In a related news item, yet another assertion on Twitter and Craigslist that the protestors at the Trump rally were paid. I guess we should no longer be surprised how fervently many Republicans believe this.
Make America Think Again.

[LDAHL]

"A good bit of provocation"?? According to the local newspaper, none of the protestors crossed the barrier lines established by police.
One eyewitness saw an empty water bottle lobbed towards the police line, and police "responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. I saw several people get hit. They opened fire into areas where no one threw anything."

People have been blinded and even killed by rubber bullets, although luckily not this time. Now there's going to be an inquiry into what's being described as police over-reaction.

In a related news item, yet another assertion on Twitter and Craigslist that the protestors at the Trump rally were paid. I guess we should no longer be surprised how fervently many Republicans believe this.
Make America Think Again.

The police have a different story, from what I've read.

[Alan]

"A good bit of provocation"?? According to the local newspaper, none of the protestors crossed the barrier lines established by police.
One eyewitness saw an empty water bottle lobbed towards the police line, and police "responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. I saw several people get hit. They opened fire into areas where no one threw anything."

I think you have to take this sort of accusation with a grain of salt. Why throw an empty plastic bottle, and how would an "eyewitness" know it was empty? One of the issues police routinely have to deal with in situations like this is protesters lobbing water bottles filled with urine and worse. Once an "eyewitness" begins creating facts to advance a narrative everything else becomes suspicious.

In a related news item, yet another assertion on Twitter and Craigslist that the protestors at the Trump rally were paid. I guess we should no longer be surprised how fervently many Republicans believe this.

There's a great deal of historical precedence to make it easy to believe. My city was home to an international fruit company for many years with extensive farming interests in Central and South America. One of our local Nun/Professor at local college ran an advocacy group which routinely paid a good percentage of our local homeless shelter residents to inflate numbers at her organized protests against the company. Protests are all about drawing attention, and sometimes you have to pay for it.

[JaneV2.0]

"A good bit of provocation"?? According to the local newspaper, none of the protestors crossed the barrier lines established by police.
One eyewitness saw an empty water bottle lobbed towards the police line, and police "responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. I saw several people get hit. They opened fire into areas where no one threw anything."

People have been blinded and even killed by rubber bullets, although luckily not this time. Now there's going to be an inquiry into what's being described as police over-reaction.

In a related news item, yet another assertion on Twitter and Craigslist that the protestors at the Trump rally were paid. I guess we should no longer be surprised how fervently many Republicans believe this.
Make America Think Again.

I heard an interview with a demonstrator who was gassed; she adamantly stated there were no rocks or bottles thrown in her vicinity.

There are more than enough of us on the left who are outraged enough to protest--and from my experience, the 1% are more careful of their money than this particular fable would imply.

[jp1]

Once an "eyewitness" begins creating facts to advance a narrative everything else becomes suspicious.

The police also have an equally compelling reason to advance a narrative that justifies their reaction. Why should anyone believe their version of the story any more than the other eyewitnesses.

[LDAHL]

How far could someone throw an empty water bottle? I wouldn't think you could get much distance.

[Alan]

The police also have an equally compelling reason to advance a narrative that justifies their reaction. Why should anyone believe their version of the story any more than the other eyewitnesses.

You shouldn't. Most people will believe or reject any narrative based upon their personal feelings. A smart person will question all.

[jp1]

Of course if everyone takes rob's advice and videos the event then we dont have to have a he said/she said. Or at least we're less likely to.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Of course if everyone takes rob's advice and videos the event then we dont have to have a he said/she said. Or at least we're less likely to.

Bingo...Thank You for understanding that. Were I there I would have videoed EVERYTHING and I'd be quite popular today with people wanting my video for lawsuit potential......though I have a hard time believing that others there were not taping. Someone will step forward with some juicy video, watch.....Rob