I think these minivans is a rational and smart move (amoral, but that's another story). The protest is snowballing and there's not enough police-like forces that blindly support the current regime. The administration understands that victory loves preparation and starts preparing now: they normalize the minivans, so people get used to them and won't question this later when millions of such minivans show up on streets. Generic outfit and lack of ID allows to hire just about anyone to work as a police-like force. My bet is that "the minivans force" will get out of control once they realise that nobody is looking after them. On a side note, I know that many rich and wealthy people have expressed a sudden interest to spend an extended vacation in new Zealand a few month ago.

Related: A dark green Ford Falcon will still make Argentinians uneasy : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Falcon_(Argentina)

The "resistance" LARPers are gradually memeing death squads into existence.

It's not a second Trump administration that anyone should be worried about.

"won't question this later when millions of such minivans show up on streets."

Is this a new conspiracy theory similar to the old republican black helicopters and fema camps one?

It's not a theory.

This occurred with an actual minivan.

millions of minivans have been deployed?

Unfortunately the way I see people defend this sorta stuff is that they tend to work backwards. They were detained because they are obviously criminals and they are obviously criminals because they are protesters and are guilty by association.

Though I have a feeling that if any of the anti-mask protesters were treated like this you'd see sentiment change rather rapidly.

In the US the main power of policing is detaining on suspicion. A non-officer can only detain or intervene after observing concrete evidence. So what you are saying is "how it works" but with the caveat it needs to be recorded as an arrest to hold the system accountable to society.

The anti mask protesters were not trying to burn down federal buildings.

They are, however, stabbing people that ask them to put on a mask [1], or shooting them [2] or assaulting them in general [3].

And let's be honest here. If you want to associate all protesters with the rioters, then I'll associate all anti-mask violence with the anti-mask protesters. Guilt by association should be treated equally, correct?

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/14/michigan-fac...

[2] https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/0...

[3] https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-shoppers-pull-guns-h...

My wife chided me saying "can we not go to Nazis right away?", so I corrected to the Stasi, or the KGB. I'm appalled. I live in a suburb of Portland. The worst that can be said about what's going on here is there's a lot of graffiti. I don't know how anyone can claim that The US retains some special status of freedom now.

Whites are way too obsessed with Weimar and the Russian Revolution / USSR (I wonder why).

The more relevant analogues are Latin American ones. We're becoming Brazil, not Nazi German or Soviet Russia.

And a garbage can was set on fire. And one or two windows smashed. But to hear it from Fox news, they think its the LA riots from '92.

Hop on a bus and go across the river; go downtown. Neighborhoods which are on the western "downtown" side of the river, but north of Burnside, are fine. Drive up MLK and you'll see nothing out of the ordinary.

If you are looking at our city only through the lens of some biased cameraperson, then you are getting a limited view. Go outside.

Indeed, go to a park! Only the two parks across from the downtown courthouse are closed.

Edit: Downvoters, go outside and look at Portland. Or, if you don't live in Portland, consider carefully why you think that firsthand observations are worth discounting.

Seriously. If your only source of what's happening is a few selected videos, I'm not surprised people think it's bad here.

Have there been a few incidents, over 50 days of protest? Yes.

Are they common? No.

Do you feel unsafe walking downtown? Only if the police are moving around.

He was beaten, punched and kicked by a mob of Antifa. It's all documented on video.

He's well known for doxxing, providing kill lists to AtomWaffen. I don't think that behavior is exactly rewarded in the public square.

> providing kill lists to AtomWaffen.

.. that's a really serious claim. Do you have any sources?

Sure, during his time at Quillette, he regularly posted the full names of left-wing protestors after being told not to by the individuals. He was caught on video hanging out with a right wing group associated with AtomWaffen planning to commit violence at a local bar. He wasn't reporting at the time, and only started when an anti-facist group showed up.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/journalist-andy-ngo-...

>No one should be OK with it.

Agreed. And no one should be okay with the police standing down while rioters smash public buildings, vandalize and desecrate public spaces and burglarize innocent local businesses. What is the fair middle ground, and how do we get there?

I’d suggest the fair middle ground is to loosen state power by defunding police departments and reinvesting in communities. I keep seeing this sentiment voiced, but from a ground level looking up it comes off as closeminded because it implies that “riots” and “protesting” are different things. The reality is no one in portland tried to burn down the justice center, if they did they would be shot on sight. Whats happening is people are disrupting their societies to make a point to the people who run it that they’re doing a poor job. That’s a noble endeavor, no matter the means. America’s founded on white supremacy, and America’s maintained white supremacy. I think it’s inspiring that people are targeting the police forces of their cities, who are in no uncertain terms the major enforcers of a rotten status quo.

>That’s a noble endeavor, no matter the means. America’s founded on white supremacy, and America’s maintained white supremacy.

That's fair. But understand that not everyone agrees with this, and will be willing to do what it takes to defend their way of life. What does the end-game look like?

The people holding on to the past lose. It's not complicated.

Hopefully they don't use a bunch of violence in the process.

The fair middle ground does not include secret police.

Please check your language with regards to protesters vs rioters.