By Scott Taylor
Just two weeks ago it would have seemed almost unfathomable that something could knock the COVID-19 pandemic out of the headlines yet the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police has done just that. The video footage of Floyd being suffocated by a policeman’s knee to his throat went viral. Initially the four arresting officers involved were fired by the Minneapolis police chief and that is what sparked the outrage. Everyone knows that murder is not a firing offence-it is a capital crime.
Floyd’s death sparked a powder keg of pent up frustration and outrage over police brutality and the inequality of the U.S. justice system. Ignoring the threat of spreading the coronavirus, crowds of protestors took to the streets of most major American cities.
As racial injustice is not confined within the boundaries of America’s borders, marches were also staged in Canada and throughout many European capitals. Almost without exception these international demonstrations were peaceful whereas from the outset many of the American protests turned violent.
Military police clear LaFayette Park on 1 June, 2020
Things quickly escalated out of control as President Donald Trump felt that the best way to counter people protesting police brutality was to exert more authority. To augment police forces Trump advocated deploying National Guard units and chastised those governors who resisted doing so as being “weak.”
The whole Trump ‘tough guy’ routine seems to have been the driving force behind his bizarre response to the crisis. Since he first hit the presidential campaign trail in 2016, Trump has repeatedly claimed to be “the most militaristic person ever.” This makes no sense, as Trump never served in uniform and used a total of five deferments, including that of bone spurs, to avoid being drafted to fight the war in Vietnam.
In response to his boast of martial prowess the New York Daily News labelled him “G.I. Joke” and more recently he has been dubbed ‘Bunker Boy’ after it was revealed that he and his family took refuge in the White House emergency shelter during one of the initial protests.
In response to these criticisms Trump had military police in riot gear clear peaceful protestors from Lafayette Square so that he and his entourage could bravely walk to the Church of St. John’s. This landmark place of worship had been burned by protestors and Trump staged a photo op of himself holding a bible in front of the damaged structure.
This was Trump play-acting at being a war time president evoking memories of Winston Churchill inspecting the bomb damaged streets of London during the Blitz in WWII.
The big difference being that Churchill was fighting a foreign enemy and his acts of defiance had a unifying effect on the people of Britain. Trump’s ‘war’ is against his own people who are seeking equality and justice.
Trump’s plan is to apply more military force – possibly invoking the insurrection act which will allow him to deploy regular troops against American citizens – in order to ‘dominate’ them.
California National Guard at protest in los Angeles with unit name on shields
To be fair, Trump is not alone in this insanity as evidenced by a recent tweet from Republican Senator Tom Cotton, which read “And if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82 Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd infantry – whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters and looters.”
For those not familiar with the term ‘no quarter’ it means ‘take no prisoners.’ This clown Cotton is calling for U.S. soldiers to shoot and kill Americans without due judicial process.
Canada is not without racial injustice, proof of which being demonstrations held in Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax last week. However the current crisis has served to illustrate that there are indeed cultural differences between Canada and our southern neighbour.
Social media has recently resurrected the observation by the late comedian Robin Williams that “Canada is like the old lady’s apartment above a meth lab.”
One image that drove this point home to me was a photo depicting protestors confronting a line of riot police whose shields were all emblazoned with the words ‘California National Guard.’
I cannot imagine that Canadian militia units have such crowd control equipment complete with their unit name on it. “This beat down brought to you courtesy of The Princess Louise Fusiliers.”
