The pig sees her, turns, aims, and shoots her almost point blank.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    It should also be noted that the term “rubber bullet” is exceedingly euphemistic.

    So-called ‘rubber bullets’ are huge and have been known to maim and blind people. These aren’t tiny little paintball rounds, folks.

    • lautre@jlai.lu
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      3 months ago

      Yes, they are “less-lethal” but there are still hundreds of cases where people have been killed or permanently disabled because of these.

    • OrganicMustard@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Because most of them have a core of metal or other high density material and a softer exterior. It’s like wrapping a brick in a couple of layers of bubble wrap and hitting someone if the face with it.

      • Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Well, you have to have something heavy to hold enough inertia to have a deterring impact.

        How else are you supposed to suppress the growing second class citizenry? Communicate?

        • outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 months ago

          Look, nobody’s saying there shouldn’t be special munitions to assault and potentially maim people who have the audacity to tell you the state is doing a bad thing.

          We’re just arguing about the particular construction of this tool for doing that.

      • Lumisal@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        No, more like wrapping metal in rubber, as you had described. No need to downplay it.

        It’s like getting the end of one of these lobbed at you:

      • u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)@lemmy.sdf.org
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        3 months ago

        Yeah, in a different thread there were some drawings too.

        Until today, I imagined rubber projectile being something that’s just something fast but soft, perhaps something that even disintegrates on impact.

        Kind of like paintball.

  • Jack@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    I think the provocation was her reporting facts. Can’t have that when most voters have chosen Trump.

  • Absaroka@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    A good time to remind everybody that while rubber bullets are considered “non-lethal,” they can kill.

    Back in 2004 a college student in Boston died from a bullet that missed its intended target, hit the ground and ricocheted into her eye.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Victoria_Snelgrove

    So, while the shot certainly wasn’t warranted, IMO its worse because of what could have happened because this officer was taking a shot for fun.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Even if less-lethal ammunition were risk free, that should still be a crime. Even in the ideal risk-free case, how is this any different from assault, if the cop came up behind a reporter swinging his baton. There was clearly no justifiable reason, it was clearly assault for fun or intimidation, and any reasonable person would know that.

    • obsoleteacct@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      There’s a distance at which they stop being “less-lethal”. At 10 meters/30 feet they’re considered extremely dangerous. The “effective range” at which they’re generally considered less likely to penetrate is 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 feet).

      Lenses make estimating distance tricky, but based on the lines in the road, I don’t think she’s 20 meters away from that cop.

      These journalists need body armor and helmets if they’re going to be that close to American Police. Back in 2011 an Iraq War vet named Scott Olsen was head shot at a distance of a few feet fracturing his skull and when some protestors tried to rescue him they flashbanged the rescue effort. It’s extremely unsafe to be that close to these guys.

    • Wolf314159@startrek.website
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      3 months ago

      “non-lethal” Oh, boy! What an infuriating misnomer that is.

      This is also a good time to remember nothing here in this context is “non-lethal”. All of these things (sand bags, tear gas, tasers, pepper spray, mace, rubber bullets, batons, shields, tactical holds, etc.) are accurately called “less lethal” because all of them can and will kill under certain circumstances, even when used by trained officers with good intentions. (I know. How often does that happen, right?) It doesn’t take much to cross that line between “not intending murder” and “actual fucking murder”, often something as simple as a common medical condition or simply falling while moving over hard ground like curbs and sidewalks. If a reporter is using the term “non-lethal” in the context of police brutality, that’s a pretty good sign that you are being lied to.

    • CMonster@discuss.online
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      Almost all " non-lethal" munitions are really “less lethal” and capable of killing someone if they get hit in the wrong area. They also easily maim. I saw a pellet from what are called “donkey balls” which are essentially clay-more mines filled with little rubber pellets bounce off a wall fast enough to go through someone’s cheek and exit out the other side of his mouth. TLDR You can really fuck someone up with that stuff. Cops think they are like nerf toys.

      • RealSpiderLane@lemmy.zip
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        3 months ago

        Those are the things the Jackass guys got shot with in the first movie. The company called it a “Stingmore” mine.

        Way too many people are comfortable with utilizing anything referred to as a “mine” against unarmed civilians.

  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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    3 months ago

    I want to tell all the centrists who acted like leftists were radical, dangerous people for the last 30 years in the US while treating violent, rightwing conservative ideology as if it was innocent and defenseless… to personally eat shit you naive idiots, leftists were trying to warn you about this moment in the US for decades, fucking DECADES and y’all still chose to listen to fascists over learning some basic things about leftist ideology. Even after violent rightwing fascists attempted a literal coup on Jan 6 y’all still wanted to be afraid of leftists more than rightwing mobs actually assaulting the U.S. capitol.

    Over the years I have wasted soo soo soooooo much breath talking to older boomer conservatives who believed themselves to be centrists or even democrats, and it was all a damn waste of time, these people have brainworms and admitting they have been living inside a bubble that popped late in their life interferes too much with their ego and sense of impending mortality (have I lived a life and learned worse than nothing about what the future will be???) for them to listen to kindness. Bypass these people and organize with people who understand, leave the naysayers I am criticizing behind and let them catch up once they realize how truly alone they are (with no younger people on their side from the conservative or leftist end of the spectrum).

    spits on the authoritarian, rightwing dictatorship at my feet

    • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      Look, you don’t understand. Biden didn’t use all the leverage he could with Israel, and was old. Democrats tried to give everyone healthcare… So obviously, “Both sides are exactly the same!”

      • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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        3 months ago

        Biden used zero leverage with Israel to the point that Israeli figures would openly brag about the US letting them do whatever they want.

        They aren’t the same, at all, one is the bad cop and the other plays good cop.

    • OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      Unfortunately there are quite a few young people on their side. We’re going to have to address the amount of Gen Z support we saw for Trump in the last election.

      • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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        Meh, it is concerning but it is concerning in the sense that liberals and centrists won’t actually make an appeal to young people who are scared, all they will do is shame them for being lazy and sternly tell them their life is going to be MUCH harder than their parents so fall in line and get used to being screwed over and over and over again.

        Conservatives appeal to young people with fascism, but that is not a new thing, it isn’t a new thing for young people to be enticed by it either, what is new is the cynicism of older people towards younger people being terrified of their future. It is disgusting, it honestly makes me want to vomit my body has no other response to my “elders” spitting in the face of scared angry children who only see toxic role models and empty talking heads as role models.

        Blame someone else other then Gen Z, I am sorry but I didn’t spend my whole life listening to boomers say “but what about McGovern! Fall in line stop complaining trust me I am older than you and have earned my cynicism, you will never win young people never vote” to then have the narrative instantaneously switch to “Gen Z has abandoned us for conservatives are voting now why are the kids evil now!?!?!”.

        I have been using the word “pathetic” a lot lately, but I will use it again here because nowhere else fits the usage of the word better, stop being pathetic and stand up for kids instead of concern trolling about what is going through their heads as they watch the world fall apart around them while all the kind adults are mostly in utter denial about it.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        They are getting young women and girls with the TERF stuff/4B insanity. No one is paying attention to this.

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
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    3 months ago

    There’s zip about this in the Australian TV news this morning. One of their own and they still don’t have the balls.

  • Frostbeard@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Bullet proof west with PRESS on it and a helmet/glasses. Trump made a war zone so it should be treated as a war zone.

  • bigtiddygoth@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    LAPD shot a protester in the head with rubber bullets and refused to call an ambulance for her as she lay there bleeding and concussed; another protester was trampled and concussed by mounted police; countless other protestors were beat over the head savagely with batons… and this is only what was on video.

    • Bloomcole@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s one thing to constantly talk about standing up to tyranny and defending your precious freedoms, owning guns especially for that long awaited moment when they can be revolutionary heroes.
      Looks like Americans talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

      • Ilovemyirishtemper@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The Americans who spout off about things like standing up to tyranny and how much they love having guns are not the same people participating in this protest. The government is actively supporting those people.

        The protesters are the ones expecting the rule of law to eventually win, but also know how important it is to protest so that the rule of law continues to exist. It may not be as violent as you’re expecting, but it seems to me that they are walking the walk.

        We haven’t done this in a while and we’re a little rusty, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fighting.

        • P03 Locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 months ago

          The Americans who spout off about things like standing up to tyranny and how much they love having guns are not the same people participating in this protest

          And this is part of the problem. Maybe we should be the people bitching about tyranny and loving guns.

        • Bloomcole@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Guns is probably and mostly a typical right-wing fetish (despite Dem uniparty politicians doing nothing about it).
          The freedom and revolutionary spirit talk is for sure bipartisan and typical American.

          I can tell you now the velvet gloves, following the little rules is not going to work.
          You will get nothing if you don’t take it.

          And when have you done this before?
          I can’t think of anything.

          Edit:
          Wondering if you’ve been influenced by this rat here:
          https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDeprogram/comments/1l7iqgl/stfu_lib_show_some_solidarity/

    • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      California should pass a ballot initiative making it legal for any random person to shoot police with less lethal munitions whenever they want. You should just be able to walk up to any cop, any time you want, and shoot them with a rubber bullet. If it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander.

    • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      NYpd and lapd are probably the most corrupt out there. LAPD has actual gang affiliations, some with white supremcesists.

      • Antwares@lemmynsfw.com
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        3 months ago

        Rage against the machine lyrics are factually based.

        Lots of police departments started as slaver patrols, Union busters, and right wing militia.

        Portland’s police, for example, were originally a KKK militia.

  • NJSpradlin@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I mean, let’s not use charged language like ‘almost point blank’ when it clearly isn’t… to attempt to make it more provocative than it already is.

    This is already a blatantly obvious unwarranted attack on a reporter and the 1A. An attack on someone who isn’t even participating in the protests, just reporting. Who the officer clearly saw. This is assault (edit: or battery, depending on your legal definitions and the jurisdiction).

    But, ‘almost point blank’…? That’s like 20-30 yards there.

    • echo_dream_nomad@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Point Blank: The distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it. In particular no allowance needs to be made for effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile.

      You are correct, it wasn’t “almost point blank”, because it is absolutely point blank.

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 months ago

        Honestly I assumed that it was a lot closer than that too, by that definition since I have a 50-200yd zero on my rifle, that’d mean anything out to 200yd is technically “point blank” which kinda seems like not how the phrase is usually used.

        • LowtierComputer@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          No, for you it would be anything within 50 that’s essentially an easy shot. No leading or anything like that.

          At 200 yards the bullet has curved above the point of aim and fallen back down to your impact point.

          • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            3 months ago

            I’ve rethought actually, and technically, since gravity starts to affect it the second it leaves the muzzle (trajectory is parabolic because your muzzle is aimed slightly up, not because bullets defy gravity), there is no point blank past the muzzle.

              • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                3 months ago

                Don’t blame me, blame the dictionary that decided to define it by “affected by gravity” which honestly it still would be affected by gravity in the barrel even, since it’s on damn earth. I guess point blank only exists in space lol.

                • LowtierComputer@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target.[1][2]

    • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      “20-30 yards”!? I’m assuming you’re in the US as well, so you should know yards better than that. But I’m not going to quibble over exact distance. He shot a reporter! Not in the midst of defending himself. He was standing, then raised his rifle, aimed, and deliberately fired on an uninvolved member of the media obviously covering the situation with a microphone. THAT’S the issue.

      • NJSpradlin@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Re-read the center ‘paragraph’ of my earlier statement.

        Also, I still believe a good argument can be made for it being close to 20 yards and that there’s still room to quibble on the left and right of ‘point blank’.

        Edit: not that any of that matters

    • destructdisc@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 months ago

      Judging by their relative sizes in the screengrab and with some quick back-of-the-envelope math, the cop is about 5 meters away from her. That’s pretty fucking close to point blank, no?

        • SaltSong@startrek.website
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          3 months ago

          I’m sure that applies for some combination of bow, arrow, and archer. I’ll add it to the list of things 5e has done to irritate me.

      • Sciaphobia@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        I’ll admit that before reading this comment thread I probably would have said that point blank is so close you could basically reach out and touch, or nearly touch, the target.

        I do hope, however, that I would look it up before contesting how it was used.

        • SaltSong@startrek.website
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          3 months ago

          The technical term comes from archery. In archery, the arrow rises when fired, so when shooting at very close targets, you actualy aim lower than the point you want to hit. At distant targets, of course, you aim higher, because the arrow will start to fall.

          “Point Blank” is the distance at which you aim directly at the target. Last time I did any shooting, it was about 22 feet, with my bow and my arrows.

          • too_high_for_this@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            It actually comes from artillery, but it’s the same idea.

            Cannons were tapered, so the bore would point slightly upwards compared to the line of sight on top of the cannon. So the projectiles trajectory would rise above and then fall below the line of sight.

            Point blank range was the distance at which the projectile drops below that line when the cannon was aimed at zero elevation.

            • SaltSong@startrek.website
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              3 months ago

              It actually comes from artillery, but it’s the same idea.

              I question the accuracy of this statement. Archers existed long before black-powder artillery. At the same time, though, I don’t know if anyone would have been concerned with that measurement, way back when.

              EDIT: Wikipedia suggests that the term did, in fact, originate with muzzle-loaded artillery. Good on you for correcting me.

  • Pnut@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Imagine if you were the security guard at literally anywhere and did this. Not only would you be fired. You would likely not work security ever again. Also, you’d face criminal charges. I get cops have more responsibility than a security guard at the mall. But the video evidence shows us a clear psychopath that wouldn’t qualify for a security guard position. Will there be punishment? Maybe an investigation? Not really. American police are not police any more. They’re the SS. And they will shoot kids dead for looking in the wrong direction. We are far beyond the point of no return.

    • RealSpiderLane@lemmy.zip
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      Private security here! Spent eight years as a guard before moving up to corporate level.

      I think about this daily. How an armed guard could get not only fired, but potentially blacklisted from the entire industry (at least locally) for pulling their gun at the “wrong” time. If I were on duty and shot a journalist with a rubber bullet on fucking TV….its just inconceivable. If I were a manager and got a call that one of my guards did this, I can’t even imagine, I’d have to Japanese-train-conductor myself live on the 5pm news after reading a 20 page apology. There aren’t responses strong enough in my repertoire for something like that.

      Cops just do it and saunter on to their next abomination.

      Like it or not, private security have ten times the liability, accountability, damn near any metric you wanna use, that police do. We get fired (or removed from contracts at client request) for tiny shit daily. A guard being caught burping by a dickish client manager could lose a contract worth millions and dozens of people their jobs.

      There are enough bad apples in our industry that I can’t really argue against the leeriness, ridicule, etc, from the public. I get it; there are a lot of IRL Paul Blarts out there. It means the industry needs to raise standards…meh, I’m getting off topic here.

      You’re entirely correct, and I’m glad to see this pointed out. Police get away with shit that would get any guard super-extra-mecha fired, whether it’s a highly trained armed guard working a federal contract or an unarmed kid making $9 an hour to sit in an empty parking lot.

      From both sides of the fence, this is not how this should be working.

      • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        the difference is police, are enabled the govt to do this. and the police union, really a gang can strongarm a city by refusing to do thier job.

        as a side bonus, it preferentially chooses conservatives and social rejects as a hiring preference.

  • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz
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    3 months ago

    I think Trump dreams of a civil war. That will be the perfect excuse to hurry the slow dictatorship takeover.

    That is slowly happening anyway, while people are still having wet dreams of democracy.