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After Seeing How The U.S. Deals With Protesters, Scotland Votes To Stop The Supply Of Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, And Riot Gear To The U.S.
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After Seeing How The U.S. Deals With Protesters, Scotland Votes To Stop The Supply Of Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, And Riot Gear To The U.S.

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In light of recent events, the Scottish parliament took a stance against institutionalized racism and showed support to the BLM movement. The parliament has voted to end the export of rubber bullets, tear gas, and riot gear to the United States in order to help maintain the citizens’ right to peaceful protests, which have been met with police force in many cities throughout the USA.

Image credits: Getty Images

Last Thursday, the motion was put into place with the overwhelming support of 52 to 0 voting in favor and 11 abstentions. The motion says that the parliament “stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and considers that the UK government must immediately suspend all export licences for tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear to the US.”

Image credits: Geoff Livingston

The parliament also took the opportunity to address the country’s historic links to the slave trade. The same amendment also called for the creation of a slavery museum in Scotland.

Image credits: quinn norton

Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Green Party, who proposed the successful amendment, called the police brutality happening in the US “appalling” and said that the Black Lives Matter movement is an inspiration for the whole world.

Image credits: tamaradhia

“In the weeks since George Floyd’s brutal murder the world has been watching the appalling systematically racist police brutality and the systematically racist political establishment in the US that underpins that inequality. The Black Lives Matter movement has been inspiring and it needs to be heard right around the world: that racism exists in this country as well,” he said.

Image credits: quinn norton

“I’m delighted that today the Scottish Parliament agreed a Green amendment in an anti-racism debate calling for an establishment of a Museum of Slavery to really shine a light on this country’s grim past connections with slavery and how the inequality of that history perpetuates even now.”

Image credits: ep_jhu

“But our amendment also called for an immediate halt of UK exports of tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot gear to the US. Those weapons of oppression are being used by a racist state and it is unacceptable for us to be exporting them, putting those weapons into the hands of people who will brutalise marginalised communities. It’s important that we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement.”

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Image credits: Geoff Livingston

According to Insider, since 2010, the UK has supplied roughly $7.53 billion worth of munitions to the United States, including over $1 billion in firearms, $22 million in less-lethal rounds like tear gas and rubber bullets, and more than $2.5 million in riot shields.

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Image credits: Adam Cohn

However, the UK’s licensing criteria states that material can’t be sold if there is a “clear risk that items might be used for internal repression.”

Image credits: Geoff Livingston

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erickahuth avatar
EHops
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! I truly hope this goes through our joke of a police force whose sole job is to 'protect and serve' is a nightmare of a joke and they don't need further ammunition to abuse their title and hurt/kill innocent people.

ben_22 avatar
Ben Allen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pseudo Puppy, there was a supreme court decision very recently that literally stated that the police are under no legal obligation to save you. None. That sounds bad enough but from a legal precedent it is downright devastating and a terrifying foreshadowing of what they can use that defense for. Selecting who to save based on race or religion, advancing that precedent with a conservative majority to say they are at no legal obligation to save civilians from other cops, the list goes on. It shook the legal world and anyone who was paying attention. This country's original slogans like "serve and protect" and "give me your tired, your poor," are now just false advertisements.

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lizmolloy1969 avatar
Elizabeth Molloy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hank you, Scotland. I hope the rest of the UK follows their example!

michel_2 avatar
Marcellus the Third
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Given that Westminster happily supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and 'interrogation training', just forget it. On a global scale, you're safer in the US than in dozens of other countries; they're just not in the first-world tier of countries. Never been for their black population, used to be for their white population.

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the_mysterious_lady_analyn avatar
Analyn Lahr
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah but...look, I agree the cops have been handling this all wrong and their behavior as a whole needs a serious overhaul. But if the bad ones don't have rubber bullets they're gonna use real ones. Maybe we should be like the UK and not give the patrol cops guns. But with a country this size, that'd be difficult especially with the illegal weapons trade and all the bad guys with automatic guns. We need more regulations, maybe more specialized units. I don't know. But every single cop needs a body can and if they turn it off while on duty they get in trouble. But every cop can't get a body can if departments get defunded. If the police are disbanded, who the hell is going to enforce the laws? Do you think criminals are just gonna stop committing crimes because there are no cops on the streets? Sorry, people in my town are calling for the defunding of the police. Good cops need to speak the f**k up. Also, we should take politics out of police and county sheriffs.

josephinemaes avatar
Josephine Maes
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you want to understand how society would look with a defunded police system, here is a great response by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: "It looks like a suburb. Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing etc more than they fund police. These communities have lower crime rates not because they have more police but bc they have more resources to support healthy society in a way that reduces crime." Here is a link to her full statement: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indy100.com/article/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-deund-police-black-lives-matter-aoc-9562736%3famp Defunding the police is necessary to creating a safer and more equitable society for ALL of us.

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crunchewy-watson avatar
CrunChewy McSandybutt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope every supplier of these things refuses to sell to our police. There is a real sickness in our country right now and we could use all the help we can get to eradicate it.

emilypreator avatar
The Harry Potter person
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So sad that the US now needs to be babysat and reprimanded by other countrys because some of us can't seem to accept that all humans are equal.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How are we expected to report racist scumbag comments here on this site? I see no reporting tool at all.

irenewalton2001 avatar
Irene Walton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

rubber bullets are better than the real ones. They can't just let people run amok in the streets

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They’re not for quelling protests. Protest is protected speech.

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jonoffdwall avatar
Jon OffDWall
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It meant nothing, they don't manufacture those things, so there is no way they would ship them even if they agreed. It's like someone in the Sahara Africa saying they refuse to ship bottled water to the US.

beklah324 avatar
Beks Czar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And last year, after seeing that an American company was producing and supplying Hong Kong police with tear gas to use against protestors, a law was signed that no American company could sell/export tear gas, riot gear, rubber bullets, etc... to the Hong Kong police. Go figure.

kevin-braid avatar
ADHD
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scotland now needs the worlds help, we need to remove ourselves from the UK, so many reasons. so so many. the gist of it is, we are being robbed blind, Scotland, the only country to hit oil and become poorer for it. our democracy is being destroyed, we have no voice. history buffs, look up a film called Nae Pasaran, its about workers actions in Scotland against the Chiles Pinochet. HELP SCOTLAND BREAT FREE FROM THE CORRUPT BRITS !!!

firstbk50 avatar
Carol Roeder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America is a laughing stock of the world right now and Trump is leading the way as the number 1 buffoon leading it! Everyoe needs to go about their protesting peacefully so you don't give them any reason to use tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear. PLEASE calm down and do this right so no one else gets hurt! ALL LIVES MATTER! NOT JUST BLACK LIVES! YELLOW, BROWN, BLACK, RED AND WHITE!! WE ALL MATTER-!!-

jeffrequier_1 avatar
Jeff Requier
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sooo, Scotland sells ANTI RIOT supplies to the US and than sees how its used and decides its bad? You dont f*****g use rubber bullets on enemy combatants.

catscratchfever_1 avatar
CatScratchFever
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i am from Scotland and I wish my government would ban peat excavation, the destruction of peat bogs puts billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year, and cause more CO2 emissions than air travel. Almost 90% of peat is sold as compost to amateur gardeners growing tomatoes. Also I have the great misfortune of living in Edinburgh where almost every scrap of the green belt is being turned into housing estates. Every single bill this parliament passes to protect animals and the environment are so full of loop holes that they are just not worth the paper they are written on, unless of course you run out of toilet paper. Birds of prey, such as eagles are regularly shot and poisoned all over Scotland, I hate to quote Trainspotting but "It is shite being Scottish"

leoh avatar
Leo H
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Im sorry but why are we getting these things from the uk? US companies could easily make these items. Not sure why the uk thinks this will have any influence on our police

koryo_1988 avatar
Signe Manat Hansen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure why you think that's the point. We can't stop you but we can sure as s**t refuse to participate.

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irenewalton2001 avatar
Irene Walton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is not ok to loot stores and trains and burn buildings down and beat on random white people. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon

mantadave avatar
Dave Williams
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hopefully someone else in the uk will supply the USA. It’s a good money earner and provides jobs. So that’s Scots losing jobs. These are non lethal ways of stopping criminals. Without these methods the police will simply use something more harmful or deadlier or simply buy from elsewhere. The police are brutal because they need to be, only a small proportion of police are killers. I’d sooner live with the police in control than rioters

andrewpjump avatar
Andrew P Jump
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, when "protesters" start throwing objects, police has no choice but to respond. It's a shame that a few bad apples spoil the bunch, same principle applies to police.

sheri_pasanen avatar
Sheri Pasanen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In all of the protests across the country: it was the police who fired first into peaceful protestors. Today's police is a direct descendant of slave patrols that were created to round up runaway slaves. They're still doing it. In 2007 the FBI warned that white supremast groups were planning on infiltrating our police forces. Nothing was done to stop it. So, your arguement that it was a "few bad apples" is patently false as proven by all the officers who stand around and did not stop the murder of George Floyd and hundreds of other black men.

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seeker6 avatar
Jerome Goodwin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scotland has no right to judge how we use products they sell. They need to judge themselves and stop selling it to anyone . What did they think they were used for?

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Less-lethal ammunition is useful to quell riots without murdering your populous. The problem with the USA is that our police forces are using these weapons to enable themselves to be overpowered counter-protestors. That’s not what the tools are for. Protest is protected speech in the USA and the authoritarians (typically Republicans and other conservative, comfortably privileged white people) want to quell it.

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lisachambers2018 avatar
Lisa Chambers
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They stopped selling it, but they didnt stop making it. Key omission there hmmm.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well you’re not going to see capitalists willingly stop making money, even when they have enough... because there’s never enough... And no, it’s not because of care for their working employees.

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3rainbow avatar
Emyo Jennifer Nakayama
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This should say something to the idiots in Washington DC. The other countries of the world look upon America today and are totally disgusted. It is time that America gets itself together and starts to mature if it wants a future. Otherwise, it will become an example of WHAT NOT TO DO with your society.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The authoritarians responsible for this shitshow in the USA don’t CARE what the rest of the world thinks or says. That’s part of the problem here: blind nationalism and bootlicking.

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goes-bart84 avatar
Bart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Unicorn has a set of big balls if you ask me. Finally a government willing to take a stance.

cebenspe avatar
Solrac
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Perfect. Leave the streets to those that want to riot and sack the cities and capture pacific protests, because that's what ends up happening.

lilycarino avatar
ruthenium the ruther
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

GOOD CHOICE!!! This will only stop the police for a while though; they'll find a way.

ilikepie22334 avatar
John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. WHY ARE BLACKS ALWAYS HAVING POLICE ENCOUNTERS!? Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. COPS HATE BLACKS! Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. BLACKS ARE JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE OUT THERE! Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. WHEN WILL THIS INJUSTICE END!? Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. Wake up America. Sigh.

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mikaylaleach avatar
Mikayla Leach
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can just picture someone saying in a comment section as brutal as this something like "Oh I like apples" "Statistics show that apple's can drop your IQ and since some of them are red you must be from a bad neighborhood. Educate yourself" People shut the laptop grab some chips and chill out

sandyo310 avatar
Sandra Gomez
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Man they're idiots. Stopping supplies of rubber bullets does nothing. Obviously you don't need them to kill. Reform needs to be done on police training. Thats how they were trained. This whole world is full of idiots! P.S. don't bother replying i never check.

blackpinkhmcg avatar
Dani_has_arrived <3
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have something to say to anyone who happens to scroll and see's this comment, Scotland's gov has made a fair share of mistakes (such as the whole rubber bullet ordeal) it's amazing that the voices of people I share my country with are able to correct those mistakes, even if it's only baby steps. Thank you.

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annielaurie avatar
AnnieLaurie Burke
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am sad and ashamed for my country. But I am glad that our allies are no longer willing to be party to our brutality.

dddoucett avatar
Tres D
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Statistics from the Department Of Justice. In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous. African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015. That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects. In 2018, the latest year for which such data have been published, African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population. The police fatally shot nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, according to a Washington Post database, down from 38 and 32, respectively, in 2015. In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims. Assuming a comparable number of victims last year, those nine unarmed black victims of police shootings represent 0.1% of all African-Americans killed in 2019. By contrast, a police officer is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer. A cop is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a cop. #BlueLivesMatter #FactsMatter

gretals avatar
Gretal S
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish Bored Panda wasn't mainly a platform for leftists because I like the other content on this site. I wish there were more people who actually knew what was going on

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delphinum4 avatar
Zophra
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rubber bullet is large to increase surface area impact and NOT concentrate all force at just one point. The situation is horrible, not the size of the bullets.

onemessylady avatar
Aunt Messy
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

And yet people have died being shot by "safe" rubber bullets. STFU with your excuses.

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hugofitch avatar
Hugo Fitch
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cry me a river. And smart move, Scotland, you economic powerhouse, walking away from a source of revenue. Was this decision made under the influence? The left destroys all it touches.

bagpipz avatar
Alex
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has absolutely NOTHING to DO with Racism! It is the goal of George Soros to bring down America by any means possible. BLM Protesters were , for the most part, not the violent arsonists, but Antifa, employees of Soros

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dude, take your Fox News racist conspiracy theory b******t and f**k right off with it.

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kea987 avatar
Cathryn Williams
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my! This is ridiculous! If people are out looting and burning, the police need to intervene. You can’t lump a whole nation together and say it’s racist. That’s just not the case! It’s the same as saying all blacks are criminals or all Germans are Nazis. Are we not noticing how many police have been shot and injured over this? If we don’t have police, think about it, what will happen. 🙄 They need to do their job.

ctodd1000 avatar
Catherine Todd
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cathryn Williams, most people are not out there "looting and burning." The protests are over the thousands of bad police who are NOT "doing their jobs." And there's enough of them that the protests have spread all over the United States and the rest of the world in support of Black Lives Matter. Police brutality must be stopped and no longer excused, as your post seems to do.

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lemonbailey avatar
Lemon Bailey
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How funny that this fuels the false narrative. This is tokenism at it's best and will have no effect on the US. The hypocrites in the UK including the Scots are the very inventors of white supremacy and their involvement in the slave trade through out history is 2nd to none. They set the standards on white supremacy and slavery. Now only to the determent to their own economy they try to hide their shame and shift focus to the USA. I'm sure the BLM can find better friends in the world community than these frauds.

sendmorerum avatar
Up All Night
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Slave trade is long over, buddy. What shame are you talking about, people do not live for hundreds of years. But I agree that this is just virtue signalling.

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willcam avatar
Everyone calm down
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Scotland last year exported £1billion of whiskey to the USA. How many Americans do you think died as a result of alcoholism. How many people were killed by someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey? How many American women were raped, children neglected and abused by someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey? How many American people were maimed or assaulted? No, I don’t know either but I can guarantee that it is at least 1000 times more than people killed or injured by Scottish tear gas or bullets. Even countries are virtue signaling now, when will this madness end?

joranquinten avatar
Joran Quinten
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Replace "someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey" with "a police officer on or off duty". Fixed your narrative, you're welcome

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willcam avatar
Everyone calm down
Community Member
3 years ago

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When is this anti-police hysteria going to end. What a pathetic woke empty gesture. The Police will just source m from somewhere else. Also the police need less lethal weapons to preserve peace. The law allows them to use rubber bullets etc.. you can’t expect police officers to have to stand and be attacked, particularly by left wing agitators, funded from Moscow. We are in a Cold War.

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Mahbubur Rahman
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3 years ago

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NevadaJo
Community Member
3 years ago

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What a stupid decision. If they have other options then it's not stupid but non lethal forms should be allowed especially since there is an increase in assault rifles at the protest by protesters

lawrence_dillard avatar
Terd Fergison
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are not non-lethal forms. They are less lethal forms. They can still kill. Get yourself educated. At least one protester was killed by a rubber bullet to the face. Why don't you honor his memory?

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William Teach
Community Member
3 years ago

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So Scotland doesn't want police to be able to protect themselves from rioters throwing bottles, rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, attacking them? Will Scotland ban their own police from using shields and body armor?

erickahuth avatar
EHops
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! I truly hope this goes through our joke of a police force whose sole job is to 'protect and serve' is a nightmare of a joke and they don't need further ammunition to abuse their title and hurt/kill innocent people.

ben_22 avatar
Ben Allen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pseudo Puppy, there was a supreme court decision very recently that literally stated that the police are under no legal obligation to save you. None. That sounds bad enough but from a legal precedent it is downright devastating and a terrifying foreshadowing of what they can use that defense for. Selecting who to save based on race or religion, advancing that precedent with a conservative majority to say they are at no legal obligation to save civilians from other cops, the list goes on. It shook the legal world and anyone who was paying attention. This country's original slogans like "serve and protect" and "give me your tired, your poor," are now just false advertisements.

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lizmolloy1969 avatar
Elizabeth Molloy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hank you, Scotland. I hope the rest of the UK follows their example!

michel_2 avatar
Marcellus the Third
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Given that Westminster happily supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and 'interrogation training', just forget it. On a global scale, you're safer in the US than in dozens of other countries; they're just not in the first-world tier of countries. Never been for their black population, used to be for their white population.

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the_mysterious_lady_analyn avatar
Analyn Lahr
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah but...look, I agree the cops have been handling this all wrong and their behavior as a whole needs a serious overhaul. But if the bad ones don't have rubber bullets they're gonna use real ones. Maybe we should be like the UK and not give the patrol cops guns. But with a country this size, that'd be difficult especially with the illegal weapons trade and all the bad guys with automatic guns. We need more regulations, maybe more specialized units. I don't know. But every single cop needs a body can and if they turn it off while on duty they get in trouble. But every cop can't get a body can if departments get defunded. If the police are disbanded, who the hell is going to enforce the laws? Do you think criminals are just gonna stop committing crimes because there are no cops on the streets? Sorry, people in my town are calling for the defunding of the police. Good cops need to speak the f**k up. Also, we should take politics out of police and county sheriffs.

josephinemaes avatar
Josephine Maes
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you want to understand how society would look with a defunded police system, here is a great response by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: "It looks like a suburb. Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing etc more than they fund police. These communities have lower crime rates not because they have more police but bc they have more resources to support healthy society in a way that reduces crime." Here is a link to her full statement: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indy100.com/article/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-deund-police-black-lives-matter-aoc-9562736%3famp Defunding the police is necessary to creating a safer and more equitable society for ALL of us.

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crunchewy-watson avatar
CrunChewy McSandybutt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope every supplier of these things refuses to sell to our police. There is a real sickness in our country right now and we could use all the help we can get to eradicate it.

emilypreator avatar
The Harry Potter person
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So sad that the US now needs to be babysat and reprimanded by other countrys because some of us can't seem to accept that all humans are equal.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How are we expected to report racist scumbag comments here on this site? I see no reporting tool at all.

irenewalton2001 avatar
Irene Walton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

rubber bullets are better than the real ones. They can't just let people run amok in the streets

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They’re not for quelling protests. Protest is protected speech.

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Jon OffDWall
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It meant nothing, they don't manufacture those things, so there is no way they would ship them even if they agreed. It's like someone in the Sahara Africa saying they refuse to ship bottled water to the US.

beklah324 avatar
Beks Czar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And last year, after seeing that an American company was producing and supplying Hong Kong police with tear gas to use against protestors, a law was signed that no American company could sell/export tear gas, riot gear, rubber bullets, etc... to the Hong Kong police. Go figure.

kevin-braid avatar
ADHD
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scotland now needs the worlds help, we need to remove ourselves from the UK, so many reasons. so so many. the gist of it is, we are being robbed blind, Scotland, the only country to hit oil and become poorer for it. our democracy is being destroyed, we have no voice. history buffs, look up a film called Nae Pasaran, its about workers actions in Scotland against the Chiles Pinochet. HELP SCOTLAND BREAT FREE FROM THE CORRUPT BRITS !!!

firstbk50 avatar
Carol Roeder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America is a laughing stock of the world right now and Trump is leading the way as the number 1 buffoon leading it! Everyoe needs to go about their protesting peacefully so you don't give them any reason to use tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear. PLEASE calm down and do this right so no one else gets hurt! ALL LIVES MATTER! NOT JUST BLACK LIVES! YELLOW, BROWN, BLACK, RED AND WHITE!! WE ALL MATTER-!!-

jeffrequier_1 avatar
Jeff Requier
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sooo, Scotland sells ANTI RIOT supplies to the US and than sees how its used and decides its bad? You dont f*****g use rubber bullets on enemy combatants.

catscratchfever_1 avatar
CatScratchFever
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i am from Scotland and I wish my government would ban peat excavation, the destruction of peat bogs puts billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year, and cause more CO2 emissions than air travel. Almost 90% of peat is sold as compost to amateur gardeners growing tomatoes. Also I have the great misfortune of living in Edinburgh where almost every scrap of the green belt is being turned into housing estates. Every single bill this parliament passes to protect animals and the environment are so full of loop holes that they are just not worth the paper they are written on, unless of course you run out of toilet paper. Birds of prey, such as eagles are regularly shot and poisoned all over Scotland, I hate to quote Trainspotting but "It is shite being Scottish"

leoh avatar
Leo H
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Im sorry but why are we getting these things from the uk? US companies could easily make these items. Not sure why the uk thinks this will have any influence on our police

koryo_1988 avatar
Signe Manat Hansen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure why you think that's the point. We can't stop you but we can sure as s**t refuse to participate.

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Irene Walton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is not ok to loot stores and trains and burn buildings down and beat on random white people. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon

mantadave avatar
Dave Williams
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hopefully someone else in the uk will supply the USA. It’s a good money earner and provides jobs. So that’s Scots losing jobs. These are non lethal ways of stopping criminals. Without these methods the police will simply use something more harmful or deadlier or simply buy from elsewhere. The police are brutal because they need to be, only a small proportion of police are killers. I’d sooner live with the police in control than rioters

andrewpjump avatar
Andrew P Jump
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, when "protesters" start throwing objects, police has no choice but to respond. It's a shame that a few bad apples spoil the bunch, same principle applies to police.

sheri_pasanen avatar
Sheri Pasanen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In all of the protests across the country: it was the police who fired first into peaceful protestors. Today's police is a direct descendant of slave patrols that were created to round up runaway slaves. They're still doing it. In 2007 the FBI warned that white supremast groups were planning on infiltrating our police forces. Nothing was done to stop it. So, your arguement that it was a "few bad apples" is patently false as proven by all the officers who stand around and did not stop the murder of George Floyd and hundreds of other black men.

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seeker6 avatar
Jerome Goodwin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scotland has no right to judge how we use products they sell. They need to judge themselves and stop selling it to anyone . What did they think they were used for?

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Less-lethal ammunition is useful to quell riots without murdering your populous. The problem with the USA is that our police forces are using these weapons to enable themselves to be overpowered counter-protestors. That’s not what the tools are for. Protest is protected speech in the USA and the authoritarians (typically Republicans and other conservative, comfortably privileged white people) want to quell it.

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Lisa Chambers
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They stopped selling it, but they didnt stop making it. Key omission there hmmm.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well you’re not going to see capitalists willingly stop making money, even when they have enough... because there’s never enough... And no, it’s not because of care for their working employees.

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3rainbow avatar
Emyo Jennifer Nakayama
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This should say something to the idiots in Washington DC. The other countries of the world look upon America today and are totally disgusted. It is time that America gets itself together and starts to mature if it wants a future. Otherwise, it will become an example of WHAT NOT TO DO with your society.

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The authoritarians responsible for this shitshow in the USA don’t CARE what the rest of the world thinks or says. That’s part of the problem here: blind nationalism and bootlicking.

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Bart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Unicorn has a set of big balls if you ask me. Finally a government willing to take a stance.

cebenspe avatar
Solrac
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Perfect. Leave the streets to those that want to riot and sack the cities and capture pacific protests, because that's what ends up happening.

lilycarino avatar
ruthenium the ruther
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

GOOD CHOICE!!! This will only stop the police for a while though; they'll find a way.

ilikepie22334 avatar
John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. WHY ARE BLACKS ALWAYS HAVING POLICE ENCOUNTERS!? Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. COPS HATE BLACKS! Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. BLACKS ARE JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE OUT THERE! Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. WHEN WILL THIS INJUSTICE END!? Blacks continue to commit massively disproportionate amounts of violent crime. Wake up America. Sigh.

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Mikayla Leach
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can just picture someone saying in a comment section as brutal as this something like "Oh I like apples" "Statistics show that apple's can drop your IQ and since some of them are red you must be from a bad neighborhood. Educate yourself" People shut the laptop grab some chips and chill out

sandyo310 avatar
Sandra Gomez
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Man they're idiots. Stopping supplies of rubber bullets does nothing. Obviously you don't need them to kill. Reform needs to be done on police training. Thats how they were trained. This whole world is full of idiots! P.S. don't bother replying i never check.

blackpinkhmcg avatar
Dani_has_arrived <3
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have something to say to anyone who happens to scroll and see's this comment, Scotland's gov has made a fair share of mistakes (such as the whole rubber bullet ordeal) it's amazing that the voices of people I share my country with are able to correct those mistakes, even if it's only baby steps. Thank you.

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AnnieLaurie Burke
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am sad and ashamed for my country. But I am glad that our allies are no longer willing to be party to our brutality.

dddoucett avatar
Tres D
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Statistics from the Department Of Justice. In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous. African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015. That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects. In 2018, the latest year for which such data have been published, African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population. The police fatally shot nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, according to a Washington Post database, down from 38 and 32, respectively, in 2015. In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims. Assuming a comparable number of victims last year, those nine unarmed black victims of police shootings represent 0.1% of all African-Americans killed in 2019. By contrast, a police officer is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer. A cop is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a cop. #BlueLivesMatter #FactsMatter

gretals avatar
Gretal S
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish Bored Panda wasn't mainly a platform for leftists because I like the other content on this site. I wish there were more people who actually knew what was going on

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Zophra
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rubber bullet is large to increase surface area impact and NOT concentrate all force at just one point. The situation is horrible, not the size of the bullets.

onemessylady avatar
Aunt Messy
Community Member
3 years ago

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And yet people have died being shot by "safe" rubber bullets. STFU with your excuses.

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Hugo Fitch
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cry me a river. And smart move, Scotland, you economic powerhouse, walking away from a source of revenue. Was this decision made under the influence? The left destroys all it touches.

bagpipz avatar
Alex
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has absolutely NOTHING to DO with Racism! It is the goal of George Soros to bring down America by any means possible. BLM Protesters were , for the most part, not the violent arsonists, but Antifa, employees of Soros

dysamoria-accounts avatar
Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dude, take your Fox News racist conspiracy theory b******t and f**k right off with it.

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kea987 avatar
Cathryn Williams
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my! This is ridiculous! If people are out looting and burning, the police need to intervene. You can’t lump a whole nation together and say it’s racist. That’s just not the case! It’s the same as saying all blacks are criminals or all Germans are Nazis. Are we not noticing how many police have been shot and injured over this? If we don’t have police, think about it, what will happen. 🙄 They need to do their job.

ctodd1000 avatar
Catherine Todd
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cathryn Williams, most people are not out there "looting and burning." The protests are over the thousands of bad police who are NOT "doing their jobs." And there's enough of them that the protests have spread all over the United States and the rest of the world in support of Black Lives Matter. Police brutality must be stopped and no longer excused, as your post seems to do.

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Lemon Bailey
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How funny that this fuels the false narrative. This is tokenism at it's best and will have no effect on the US. The hypocrites in the UK including the Scots are the very inventors of white supremacy and their involvement in the slave trade through out history is 2nd to none. They set the standards on white supremacy and slavery. Now only to the determent to their own economy they try to hide their shame and shift focus to the USA. I'm sure the BLM can find better friends in the world community than these frauds.

sendmorerum avatar
Up All Night
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Slave trade is long over, buddy. What shame are you talking about, people do not live for hundreds of years. But I agree that this is just virtue signalling.

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willcam avatar
Everyone calm down
Community Member
3 years ago

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Scotland last year exported £1billion of whiskey to the USA. How many Americans do you think died as a result of alcoholism. How many people were killed by someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey? How many American women were raped, children neglected and abused by someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey? How many American people were maimed or assaulted? No, I don’t know either but I can guarantee that it is at least 1000 times more than people killed or injured by Scottish tear gas or bullets. Even countries are virtue signaling now, when will this madness end?

joranquinten avatar
Joran Quinten
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Replace "someone drunk on Scotch Whiskey" with "a police officer on or off duty". Fixed your narrative, you're welcome

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willcam avatar
Everyone calm down
Community Member
3 years ago

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When is this anti-police hysteria going to end. What a pathetic woke empty gesture. The Police will just source m from somewhere else. Also the police need less lethal weapons to preserve peace. The law allows them to use rubber bullets etc.. you can’t expect police officers to have to stand and be attacked, particularly by left wing agitators, funded from Moscow. We are in a Cold War.

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Mahbubur Rahman
Community Member
3 years ago

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NevadaJo
Community Member
3 years ago

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What a stupid decision. If they have other options then it's not stupid but non lethal forms should be allowed especially since there is an increase in assault rifles at the protest by protesters

lawrence_dillard avatar
Terd Fergison
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are not non-lethal forms. They are less lethal forms. They can still kill. Get yourself educated. At least one protester was killed by a rubber bullet to the face. Why don't you honor his memory?

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William Teach
Community Member
3 years ago

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So Scotland doesn't want police to be able to protect themselves from rioters throwing bottles, rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, attacking them? Will Scotland ban their own police from using shields and body armor?

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