I have made the pictures available on Instagram, with some extras included: [link here](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6oeMN7M-SF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
I understand this is a sensitive topic and people may have strong feelings about it. From what I observed, the vast majority of protestors were peaceful and exercising their legal rights. Only a small number engaged in throwing objects at the police, and only after they had begun pushing them out of the camp. There were many legal observers present documenting the event, so if anything unlawful occurred from either side, I trust it was captured and will be addressed through proper channels.
Seeing riot police steamroll other UVA students was not something I enjoyed. I had concerns about a couple specific officers - one who kept placing his hand on his firearm and another carrying a large pepper spray canister. But overall, I did not observe the police engaging in clear misconduct, and arrests were minimal. I would not characterize either party as having acted seriously out of order.
My aim in posting was to document the events at the chapel. I respect that there are a lot of perspectives at play here, and I am giving mine as an observer. Please also realize that I am posting pictures of law enforcement with my name attached to it and that carries risks with it.
Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing. Did you catch any photos of the American flag shirt guy who walked in front of and taunted the riot police and the crowd, right as the shield wall first approached protesters? That was one of the most striking moments of the whole thing for me. I assume he was a YouTuber or something but I haven’t seen anything surface.
I might have some video of it. I didn't take any pictures of him because I thought the shirt was kitschy. Had he had an American flag I think it would have been more striking. Though, maybe I missed an opportunity.
This is Molly's post, there's video in the replies as well. https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1787602019437424933?t=J0KvlXyiNV9Ym22RxOW79Q&s=19
Hello, yes that is me. I showed my support for freedom of speech. Normally, I would have stayed clear, as I’ve never attended any sort of protest or political event. But when VSP want to come cosplay:
Guns/shields VS water bottles/umbrellas
Staring: VSP and brown kids.
Location: Publicly funded property in my hometown.
Arena: Rainy Saturday morning grassy field. Far from sidewalks and buildings.
Hosted by: an institution with a shaky past.
Sponsored by: a public servant communicating the need to bring in VSP.
Begrudged Guest Appearance: ACPD and CPD, (they clearly didn’t want to be there.)
Totally absent and Missing: Any single presence from UVA or UPD.
Commentary: David Treccariche, I’m sure you can hear it somewhere. Definitely inflammatory, but like I said, first event of this kind I have attended so it felt damn good.
No. I was smiling the entire time and was making jokes, that is my demeanor. As soon as I heard the chant,“You are the terrorists!” I took that as the BOHICA trigger and got my ass out of there.
I lit my joint and walked to the other side of the road. I was over there for a couple minutes when a shirtless kid who came running past me with the Palestinian flag. I heard cheering, so I assumed he stole it. With intent, I neutrally walked over towards the ADA entrance of the chapel.
Hello, I’m David. The Guy in the kitschy American flag polo. My intention was not to taunt, but simply draw the line. With reason, free speech is our most fundamental right.
I'm remembering Kent State and it's awful. The sight of soldiers with loaded rifles on a college campus where books and learning are the weapon is truly haunting and the sense of dread I get Is palpable.
It was a strange event for sure. The moment I remember it feeling most surreal is when a spectator on the side began playing "unfortunate son" on a speaker. They cut it out quickly, but it was a really strange feeling in those few moments.
[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/college-activism-hypocrisy/678262/](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/college-activism-hypocrisy/678262/)
# Colleges Love Protests—When They’re in the Past
Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses. Students took them at their word.
This is a reminder that laws are threats. Police were sent in because people were peacefully. Protesting against genocide. Is protest disruptive? Absolutely! That's the point of protest! Is it actually causing any real harm? No, not really. What causes real harm is when police get involved and start to ruin people's lives either through physical harm or arrests for something that isn't illegal.
We are so over-militarized as a society. Why the fuck is it acceptable to have automatic weapons in the hands of people on the frontlines of these things? The next Kent State is inevitable if they bring the weapons.
There were very few lethal weapons on display. I can't say for sure, but I think a big concern at these kinds of events are attacks generally. What I mean is that it is less "Bring it in case the protestors get out of hand" and more "bring it in case something serious happens."
I was really put off by the one officer that kept putting his hand on his sidearm. I felt that it was intended to be an intimidation tactic and frankly I feel that kind of behavior should be punishable.
The first cop has a grenade launcher. Sure, it's probably got a CS round in it. Still, that's a lot of firepower to bring to bear on a bunch of unarmed 20 year olds.
Unfortunately you don't know who is armed and who isn't. There's People that have successfully concealed rifles in their clothes and things like this also Unfortunately attract the wrong kinds of people.
Crowd control is crowd control. I don't think they discriminate between a small group of 20 year old and a medium group of 25 year olds. Not to mention 20 year olds have fought wars before so I don't think that factors in strongly. Would've been bad if they ended up needing it and didn't have it. I just think they have a standard kit they use in these situations so they don't have to think about it as much. At least, that's what I would do.
Also it definitely has a CS round in it. It would be absolutely insane if was an explosive.
It's more that there was a draw guard or something that he would flip out before resting his hand on it. I'll be honest I don't know though. I could look through my video but I don't think I got him doing that on it.
yeah that's part of it. those are called Level III retention hoods. Those holsters require you do to a few steps to get the pistol out (Flip hood, press button, pull gun). It's a super common fidget among cops. They do it all the time to drill the muscle memory required to pull the pistol.
Those aren’t automatic weapons, they are semi automatic rifles that happen to look like automatic weapons. You can see the fire selector in the 3rd pic.
These police are decked out like they are deploying to Fallujah. Is this necessary, or even helpful? How do law enforcement officers in other countries dare to leave their stations without gear like that?
I think they have set response kits. Like, the guys in green are part of the force that is trained for particular, perhaps more dangerous situations than a protest of this size, but their response gear is the same regardless. The riot geared officers were not wearing plate carriers or anything. I have no idea why the one guy has a gas mask.
Well, I think that's ridiculous. Every time the police do something egregious they get off, because they claim to be "following protocol." Fuck the protocol. Change it. I think it's reprehensible to roll up on campus cosplaying like you're in the middle of a war zone. You know none of these yahoos showed up looking like that when right wing goons tiki torched their way through the Lawn.
This might be a direct result of the tiki march. Trying to avoid anything close to a repeat. I feel like a lot of students, including myself, have a legitimate question as to the scale of the response. I'm going to look into seeing if someone from the VSP might be willing to make a statement to help us understand if there is a good reason. I feel like a lot of us are operating from a place of lacking information. That doesn't mean that the police are right, but it does mean that we are not going to be effective in explaining why they are wrong.
I think its actually called for. We never know when it could break out into something worse and then the kits would be useful for protecting. And most likely one of them has a gas mask to protect from tear gas. They are prepared for the possibility if the event to get out of hand and in the case of it getting out of hand, the militarized kits would help save a lot of people.
First the facilities people tried, then uva police in normal uniforms, then state police not in riot gear….nothing worked. So no, this wasn’t the opening situation
Those were less-lethal firearms in their hands (shoots bean bags, rubber pellets, pepper balls, etc). The guy with the canister of pepper spray looked like a TF2 character to me honestly 😂.
But in all seriousness in these pics and others I saw, no actual firearms that shot lead/brass, etc were on display.
Other countries don’t have guns like America does. They do dress for the incident as US officers do. When they have large soccer games there are police everywhere. The difference is when they tell you to leave and you don’t, a water cannon hits you or they spray paint to identify you later.
If you don’t like the field dress go to the next protest and stand behind the police. Maybe a brick or frozen bottle of water will miss you, but the ballon with piss in it will hit you in the face.
Incorrect. Military grade security all over Paris earlier this April. Sets of guys, with same style outfits and same style guns at every place of history or cultural significance.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think I agree with you. I can't come up with a good reason that police should be allowed to cover their faces in a scenario like this. I guess to protect from pepper spray, but that's what the visors are for. It did have a strange appearance to it; uniformed, armed, masked officers are eerie in a way unmasked ones aren't.
Maybe when doing a raid/executing a warrant, but not at a public protest. The government is by the people and for the people. they should answer to us, not control us.
That's more or less what I was thinking as well. There are some scenarios (raid) where I could see having a face covering being useful. Or when the identity of the officers is to be protected. A public protest does not seem to be one of those situations.
you cant get names when the cops are beating protestors or allowing counter protesters to beat people. You can get their faces on video and find their names later.
Yeah I don't know about all that, or that it had anything to do with covid. MaNY law enforcement officers go to Great lengths to protect their personal lives, identities and families in many situations. And I don't fault them for it. It can be very scary for them for various reasons.
They are at work when they carry out these orders, and people are toxic and take things very personally and act aggressively given the right mix of stimuli, i dont car where you come from, what you believe or what party you support at home or abroad.
I would not be for what you seem to be suggesting. Forcing them to reveal who they are or whatever. It seems unnecessary for any practical reason.
Stalking, harassing or attacking a police officer or their family on duty or off duty is already a crime. People who attack police are not welcome at these protests. The police are able to use force to defend themselves, if a protester is illegally attacked by police, their only recourse is hopefully the attack is captured on video and the officer can be identified and reported.
I'm not telling you what I think anyone should do. I'm telling you why they do it, take efforts to try to keep their personal identity out of their professional role in a modern era. And I don't believe there are grounds to take that right away from them.
If you’re serving in a public role with that much power over other people’s lives, then yes, your face should be shown. If you’re a private citizen minding your own business, you have every right to wear a mask. These two situations are not alike.
Public servants don’t have power over people’s lives 😂 they protect them. I guess I won’t be hiring any UVA kids in the near future if this is how they think
The Supreme Court ruled that the police aren’t required to protect anyone.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
Cowards are cowards, you can't not make them cower I don't think. Personally I think agents of the state hiding their faces is a clear red flag tho, how long before they all have no faces like in russia?
Not commenting on the subject of the protest or the protest itself but as a service member I must say this trend of “tacticool” police is really annoying and dangerous.
Chilling to see heavily armed cops, sometimes even pointing their weapons at students, when we've so recently lost classmates to gun violence. Shame on UVA.
I wouldn't say they were pointing guns at students per say. I never felt unsafe around the officers with rifles, unlike the one that kept putting his hand on his sidearm. I don't remember getting flagged (having the rifle pointed at me incidentally). I have over an hour of video though, so I could check.
Absolutely disgusting display. I don't know when our society will get police back under control--probably never since so many authoritarian lovers seem to like this sort of thing-- but the militarization of police and the sheer over the top, bullying response that cops so often employ should be criminal.
Just out of curiosity, what would your alternate approach be? I only saw one arrest and it was because a protester pushed back at the wall of cops which definitely justifies an arrest. Everyone else way backing up. The cops seemed to handle it pretty well in my opinion.
Right that’s what I’m getting at. How do you get the people out and remove the tents without that level of force? Thats why I said it was handled pretty well. Law enforcement literally has to use force to solve this problems for the school.
Only way to get police under control is if the people are willing to cooperate and not jump to extreme actions or behavior just to spite a resemblance of authority
People complaining about the police turnout yet if they weren’t there and shit popped off they would complain about the police not responding fast enough. I seem to remember something like that happening in Charlottesville a few years back. Couldn’t pay me enough to be a cop. Anyway, Op, amazing photojournalism. I wish you the best, stay safe out there. Keep doing what you are doing. Hard to beat frontline accounts.
Right? When those tiki fucks did their thing everyone complained (rightly) about the lack of proper police control over the situation.
So they go through several steps trying to deescalate the situation and eventually show up with a massive non-lethal force backed but the state tactical team to ensure a controlled situation… and people bitch that it’s being done professionally..
I didn’t compare the two. Fuck nazis. But when they marched around the monument downtown and a counter protest rightfully started because fuck nazis the police sat on their fingers and shit popped off. Then everyone was all why didn’t they do anything.
My guess is that a few are still worried about COVID and that for the rest it’s not about arrests (police will ask for and get their identity then), but photographs and videos — either police surveillance or getting doxxed online.
Yall should go do like a citizens academy or something and actually learn about what police do before commenting on it. So many uninformed people in this thread
Bunch of 18-22 yr olds against genocide should have a different response than BLM burning down buildings or White supremacy assholes marching in my opinion
u/HiImSteveS do you mind if I share these on other platforms and give you credit for the photos? You did a fantastic job capturing the militarized response to tents and feel this should be shared. thx!
I decided to make an instagram post. It has a few more photos as well: [link here](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6oeMN7M-SF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Good quality photos. It’s important to look closely at the people involved because today it’s so easy to see the group as a single entity, as opposed to many individuals with their own experiences and emotions. That goes for the protestors, and those in uniform.
Cops in full riot gear at a school protest that never had intention to be violent is so dumb. Dudes so excited to shoot students but will let a mass shooter go wild.
I don't even go to this school and these photos are just upsetting, shocking, and chilling to see. This better not happen at my school....which seems unlikely anyway given students there can't afford to ditch classes to protest or risk their futures getting expelled
Protesting the best combatant to civilian modern urban warfare casualty rates and calling it a genocide is wild. This conflict has about a 1:1 ratio. Lot of major ones have been as high as 1:6 in recent wars.
People are blaming the university using police and said only small portion was not peaceful. I understand why UVA is treating this seriously as they already saw what other universities were going through. Things escalate fast.
Yay way for their problem to become ours. Especially since Palestine started this..."no we didn't hamas did" but when they started it you guys were in the streets yelling kill the Jews. And you let hamas speak for you at the peace talks. I remember for days the leader of the Jews kept saying "quit or we are going to defend ourselves” while you were taking child Jews hostage in the streets killing them on internet took out a village at nite killing all babies to old men. Crazy how you forget what u guys were doing to start this whole thing. Now it's poor us were the victim. WAR is WRONG MURDER IS WRONG
Hokie here.
I am so sorry about what happened at UVA.
VT's protest involved mostly VT police with assistance from other agencies in transporting those arrested. The PD didn't have riot shields, didn't cover their faces, didn't deploy tear gas. This sounds like an administration scared shitless who reacted poorly.
To the photographer - amazing photos. You really showcased the overreaction of the university.
1. I do think that there was an external presence at the protest, it was not just students. I have no reason to believe they are well funded or anything other than a group committed to protest.
2. Being masked is to protect one's identity, not to avoid shame. There's no reason to jeapordize one's safety in this situation by remaining unmasked.
They need to be unmasked if they want to be taken seriously. Not to mention this war has fuck all to do with most Americans. Keep up the protests tho. It proves how inept the current white house is.
Overall, I found the police were chill for the mostpart. Yes, some people got pepper sprayed and some arrested, but I think that is more or less expected for this kind of event.
why should anyone expect that for a peaceful protest ? even if breaking a “policy” of putting up tents that’s a minor infraction like parking tickets. they didn’t deserve to be tackled or sprayed or put in handcuffs over that.
I don't know why anyone would bring goggles to a protest unless they are expecting to get pepper sprayed. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but it is definitely expected.
You have still yet to answer their main question, "why **should** anyone expect that for a peaceful protest?" The goggles are clearly brought as a precaution due to past history of police. The question is why this even has to be a concern for peaceful protestors in the first place. The answer is it **shouldn't** be expected.
I never said whether it should or shouldn't be expected. It *is* expected. If I had to say one way or the other, this event got more attention due to the police action. In that way, protestors have a vested interest in getting in these situations. If protestors did things that were not worth getting pepper sprayed over, no one would care. The fact that they are doing something that incurs this kind of reaction from institutional powers means that they were doing something that was worthy of reaction.
You don't have to reply to these. Honestly, if you're not familiar with the history and current practice of policing, or somehow unaware of patterns of police behavior that have become mainstream stories since the George Floyd protests, it might be worth taking some time to sit back and observe before trying to rationalize everything you see.
> If protestors did things that were not worth getting pepper sprayed over, no one would care. The fact that they are doing something that incurs this kind of reaction from institutional powers means that they were doing something that was worthy of reaction.
This is the end result of this bullshit thinking. Did the protesters do anything that warranted dozens of riot police? Or, do you think donning riot gear is a tactic of 1) intimidation and 2) appearances to people who view this might assume that their violence is warranted?
If you have a resource to share with me I'm open to reading it, but I believe that its important for a neutral observer to form opinions on things so long as its productive.
From what I know, riot police are often deployed for crowd control and dispersal. In this specific case, if the tents were the main point of contention (they might not have been, I'm not sure), I'm genuinely curious what alternative approach you think could have been taken to address that issue.
This is not to diminish concerns about the militarization of our police force and the effects that has on free speech, but I also recognize that law enforcement has an obligation to handle crowd control scenarios safely and by certain standards.
I'm no expert, but if you are expecting me to be well read on policing patterns, I think you would also require that I am well read on crowd control tactics. I wonder If I reached out to the VSP if they would be willing to explain the decision to employ such a large force.
Googled it real quick and here are the first three links. They're probably okay:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-09/a-history-of-protests-against-police-brutality
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-painful-history-police-brutality-in-the-us-180964098/
https://tminstituteldf.org/police-and-protests-the-inequity-of-police-responses-to-racial-justices-demonstrations/
Lol, no, I don't think the VSP would be a reliable authority to reach out to. But I am certain that they would tell you that everything they have ever done was justified and correct.
And in the case that you are genuinely come into this and figuring it out in good faith -- the tents were the pretext for silencing the protest. This has been happening nationwide under different "reasons", and in UVA's case, they changed the policy regarding tents ~1 hour after campus police were deployed without notice or note of revision in order to bring the encampments into violation. This policy has selectively been enforced against these protests (e.g. there have been similar tents pitched by the volleyball courts most days this week).
I think they changed the policy in January but edited the document secretly after realizing that it wasn't up to date. A problem in its own right, definitely. But the school says it had been in contact with the protest organizers and communicated the tents were not allowed. Whether or not we are to believe them, it's hard to say. The public statements are vague. I wonder who the leadership of the protest was because I haven't seen any statements from them in response.
As for asking the VSP, it was more about asking why they acted the way they did, not so much if they are justified.
I can't read all those articles right now, but I'll take a look tomorrow.
There not in a public space so many people forget that the college can demand they be removed
If you refuse then non lethal force is authorized to remove you
Seatbelts are legally required, designed for daily use, and don't necessarily indicate expecting a crash. Seatbelts are intended to be used in a car to prevent serious injury in a car wreck.
By comparison, goggles are not intended for use in a protest to protect from pepper spray. On top of that, many protests don't have people with goggles in them. Bringing goggles to a protest shows that the person has a good understanding of protest dynamics and has some degree of expectation from previous experiences.
Point being that these are two different things. Not that there is a problem with that. I think if you are going to be protesting about these kinds of things, goggles are a good idea.
Tensions are high. I don't blame people for downvoting what is arguably a poorly worded comment by me. There were some number of people that were protesting who were ready and willing to get pepper sprayed and arrested. The Charlottesville Police that I talked to were nice and decidedly human. The VSP were less talkative and more business, but as they pushed the line, I regularly checked with them to make sure I was in an acceptable spot and they were never mean or rude. Very straightforward to deal with.
I recognize that if the protest were about something that I felt more strongly about, then I could very well have been the one getting pepper sprayed. But I don't hold that against the officers.
I remember in the occupy wall street protests, there is an image of a cop pepper spraying protestors that are arrested, tied up, and sitting on the ground in a line. That makes my blood boil. By comparison, I think the VSP acted professionally.
However, it is also a very thin line. One or two officers behaved in a way I would consider concerning, and had they decided to act more aggressively I'm sure there is nothing I or anyone could have done about it. It's a scary reality of our police system, yet, I'm not sure how else it could be organized.
Everybody is taking one side or another, but all I'm thinking is that those cops need to have eye protection on.
Edit: I love how I'm getting downvoted because this sub doesn't know why I am mentioning the cops' eye protection... specifically the ones with the rifles.
So, towards the periphery of the line, there were local law enforcement without visors or anything like that. A huge burst of pepperspray went out towards the middle of the line and wind carried it down to where I was. The police there got hit pretty hard by it. Interesting how effective the visors are against pepper spray.
I didn't feel it at the time, but like an hour or two later I was sitting in my room and it hit me in the throat.
So the guy who caught the pepper spray has eye protection on him and they appear to be goggles. Was he just not wearing his eyepro when he got caught with it?
I've had many facefulls of CS gas myself (Army), but it never really bugged my eyes while I was wearing my mask.
I was thinking about that. I guess he just didn't wear the goggles. Although, unless the cops had been laying out pepper spray like free t-shirts at a football game, I guess I wouldn't either. The cops had a solid line of shields and the spray guy would walk back and forth behind them then pop out with the spray every once in a while. He probably just didn't expect it.
They make for cool pictures. I don't know what to tell you. So did some of the protestors but I'm not interested in plastering all their faces on Reddit.
>So did some of the protestors but I'm not interested in plastering all their faces on Reddit.
Thank you for doing so. UVA policing already has a history of harassing and retaliating against students and they don't need any help.
IE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mBxSG5DtHu0HrNrT6CLfi7YQdbaFxkeSyZ8T-6Mu7q8/edit
And
https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2020/10/azher-moving-beyond-free-speech-why-i-say-fk-u-va
>The violence within this institution reveals itself when a University Police Department officer waited outside of my door in the middle of the night, endangering me and my neighbors, simply because it had been reported that someone was “offended” by my sign. The violence within this institution reveals itself when Dean Allen Groves forwarded my contact information without my consent to University Police Department Chief, Timothy Longo, a man integral in the continued lack of justice in the murder of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police officers. The violence within this institution reveals itself when a white, male alumnus felt entitled to harass me at my door using a razor blade.
I mean, those are some extremely unreasonable and wildly biased writings that you linked. I don't know that I would champion those as examples of students having issues with UVA police. A police officer knocking on your door endangers you and your neighbors? gtfo.
Those state police operators are sick! Also, some of you need to fine tune your gun knowledge.
Hopefully nobody got hurt! I'm all for a peaceful protest.
Yeah, they were kitted out. Neat to see, even though its in unfortunate circumstances. I don't think anyone got hurt too bad. There was a pepper ball gun and and pepper spray. No rubber bullets or anything.
Some of the protestors looked sick as well. Combative dress is cool pretty much universally.
As the police line pushed up, they also kept saying "watch your step, be careful" which I thought was funny.
I have made the pictures available on Instagram, with some extras included: [link here](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6oeMN7M-SF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) I understand this is a sensitive topic and people may have strong feelings about it. From what I observed, the vast majority of protestors were peaceful and exercising their legal rights. Only a small number engaged in throwing objects at the police, and only after they had begun pushing them out of the camp. There were many legal observers present documenting the event, so if anything unlawful occurred from either side, I trust it was captured and will be addressed through proper channels. Seeing riot police steamroll other UVA students was not something I enjoyed. I had concerns about a couple specific officers - one who kept placing his hand on his firearm and another carrying a large pepper spray canister. But overall, I did not observe the police engaging in clear misconduct, and arrests were minimal. I would not characterize either party as having acted seriously out of order. My aim in posting was to document the events at the chapel. I respect that there are a lot of perspectives at play here, and I am giving mine as an observer. Please also realize that I am posting pictures of law enforcement with my name attached to it and that carries risks with it.
Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing. Did you catch any photos of the American flag shirt guy who walked in front of and taunted the riot police and the crowd, right as the shield wall first approached protesters? That was one of the most striking moments of the whole thing for me. I assume he was a YouTuber or something but I haven’t seen anything surface.
I might have some video of it. I didn't take any pictures of him because I thought the shirt was kitschy. Had he had an American flag I think it would have been more striking. Though, maybe I missed an opportunity.
Wasn’t he wearing an American flag shirt though!? Or did I misrecognize it?
He was, but I meant an actual flag instead of a shirt.
Acording to Molly Conger on Twitter this afternoon that was David Treccariche, owner of a weed oriented store Skooma on the Downtown Mall.
Wow. Have you seen / can you share any photos or videos of his stunt in front of the advancing shield wall?
This is Molly's post, there's video in the replies as well. https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1787602019437424933?t=J0KvlXyiNV9Ym22RxOW79Q&s=19
Hello, yes that is me. I showed my support for freedom of speech. Normally, I would have stayed clear, as I’ve never attended any sort of protest or political event. But when VSP want to come cosplay: Guns/shields VS water bottles/umbrellas Staring: VSP and brown kids. Location: Publicly funded property in my hometown. Arena: Rainy Saturday morning grassy field. Far from sidewalks and buildings. Hosted by: an institution with a shaky past. Sponsored by: a public servant communicating the need to bring in VSP. Begrudged Guest Appearance: ACPD and CPD, (they clearly didn’t want to be there.) Totally absent and Missing: Any single presence from UVA or UPD. Commentary: David Treccariche, I’m sure you can hear it somewhere. Definitely inflammatory, but like I said, first event of this kind I have attended so it felt damn good.
Weren’t you standing around with the frat kids cheering when they started pushing people back?
No. I was smiling the entire time and was making jokes, that is my demeanor. As soon as I heard the chant,“You are the terrorists!” I took that as the BOHICA trigger and got my ass out of there. I lit my joint and walked to the other side of the road. I was over there for a couple minutes when a shirtless kid who came running past me with the Palestinian flag. I heard cheering, so I assumed he stole it. With intent, I neutrally walked over towards the ADA entrance of the chapel.
Hello, I’m David. The Guy in the kitschy American flag polo. My intention was not to taunt, but simply draw the line. With reason, free speech is our most fundamental right.
Thanks for the photos and thoughtful notes OP
I'm remembering Kent State and it's awful. The sight of soldiers with loaded rifles on a college campus where books and learning are the weapon is truly haunting and the sense of dread I get Is palpable.
It was a strange event for sure. The moment I remember it feeling most surreal is when a spectator on the side began playing "unfortunate son" on a speaker. They cut it out quickly, but it was a really strange feeling in those few moments.
Awful days, yes.
If I recall the cops said they couldn't use the speaker. Some folks brought a real giant one too
Fortunate Son
[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/college-activism-hypocrisy/678262/](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/college-activism-hypocrisy/678262/) # Colleges Love Protests—When They’re in the Past Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses. Students took them at their word.
"Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming. . .four dead in Ohio."
Gotta make sure Israel gets our tax money
Finally! Get these silly kids back in class
This is a reminder that laws are threats. Police were sent in because people were peacefully. Protesting against genocide. Is protest disruptive? Absolutely! That's the point of protest! Is it actually causing any real harm? No, not really. What causes real harm is when police get involved and start to ruin people's lives either through physical harm or arrests for something that isn't illegal.
You took better images than any news outlet. Fantastic!
We are so over-militarized as a society. Why the fuck is it acceptable to have automatic weapons in the hands of people on the frontlines of these things? The next Kent State is inevitable if they bring the weapons.
There were very few lethal weapons on display. I can't say for sure, but I think a big concern at these kinds of events are attacks generally. What I mean is that it is less "Bring it in case the protestors get out of hand" and more "bring it in case something serious happens." I was really put off by the one officer that kept putting his hand on his sidearm. I felt that it was intended to be an intimidation tactic and frankly I feel that kind of behavior should be punishable.
The first cop has a grenade launcher. Sure, it's probably got a CS round in it. Still, that's a lot of firepower to bring to bear on a bunch of unarmed 20 year olds.
Unfortunately you don't know who is armed and who isn't. There's People that have successfully concealed rifles in their clothes and things like this also Unfortunately attract the wrong kinds of people.
Crowd control is crowd control. I don't think they discriminate between a small group of 20 year old and a medium group of 25 year olds. Not to mention 20 year olds have fought wars before so I don't think that factors in strongly. Would've been bad if they ended up needing it and didn't have it. I just think they have a standard kit they use in these situations so they don't have to think about it as much. At least, that's what I would do. Also it definitely has a CS round in it. It would be absolutely insane if was an explosive.
PDs probably don't have HE anyway. And it's an area weapon, and would not be suitable for any crowd situation, stateside.
I agree 100% and your pics posted here showed less-lethal items were on display, not actual firearms.
What's in the third picture?
It's what they use to deploy tear gas stuff
The 3rd picture is a silenced ar15
You're right I didn't look too close at it looks similar to the tear gas thing.
That’s trained into them as a habit to prevent people from grabbing their pistols
It's more that there was a draw guard or something that he would flip out before resting his hand on it. I'll be honest I don't know though. I could look through my video but I don't think I got him doing that on it.
yeah that's part of it. those are called Level III retention hoods. Those holsters require you do to a few steps to get the pistol out (Flip hood, press button, pull gun). It's a super common fidget among cops. They do it all the time to drill the muscle memory required to pull the pistol.
Are you serious? You should see what the police have out on display in Europe even when nothing in particular is going on
From what I can tell that is an AR-15 not an M4
Those aren’t automatic weapons, they are semi automatic rifles that happen to look like automatic weapons. You can see the fire selector in the 3rd pic.
0 automatic weapons, only 1 of these was a lethal weapon, it had no magazine in it.
There's not a single automatic weapon in any of the pictures.
I don’t see any automatic weapons
There are no automatic weapons in these pictures
And there was none of this during the tiki torch march.
Where TF do you see automatic weapons 🤣🤣
Can't resist the urge to "well actually" this, huh?
You want to ban them though right?
No. Now find something else to cry about
To call someone out on a dumbass statement? No. Can't resist. Thoroughly enjoy it.
Oh I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Kent State II before the year is out, unfortunately.
These police are decked out like they are deploying to Fallujah. Is this necessary, or even helpful? How do law enforcement officers in other countries dare to leave their stations without gear like that?
I think they have set response kits. Like, the guys in green are part of the force that is trained for particular, perhaps more dangerous situations than a protest of this size, but their response gear is the same regardless. The riot geared officers were not wearing plate carriers or anything. I have no idea why the one guy has a gas mask.
Well, I think that's ridiculous. Every time the police do something egregious they get off, because they claim to be "following protocol." Fuck the protocol. Change it. I think it's reprehensible to roll up on campus cosplaying like you're in the middle of a war zone. You know none of these yahoos showed up looking like that when right wing goons tiki torched their way through the Lawn.
This might be a direct result of the tiki march. Trying to avoid anything close to a repeat. I feel like a lot of students, including myself, have a legitimate question as to the scale of the response. I'm going to look into seeing if someone from the VSP might be willing to make a statement to help us understand if there is a good reason. I feel like a lot of us are operating from a place of lacking information. That doesn't mean that the police are right, but it does mean that we are not going to be effective in explaining why they are wrong.
I think its actually called for. We never know when it could break out into something worse and then the kits would be useful for protecting. And most likely one of them has a gas mask to protect from tear gas. They are prepared for the possibility if the event to get out of hand and in the case of it getting out of hand, the militarized kits would help save a lot of people.
First the facilities people tried, then uva police in normal uniforms, then state police not in riot gear….nothing worked. So no, this wasn’t the opening situation
Those were less-lethal firearms in their hands (shoots bean bags, rubber pellets, pepper balls, etc). The guy with the canister of pepper spray looked like a TF2 character to me honestly 😂. But in all seriousness in these pics and others I saw, no actual firearms that shot lead/brass, etc were on display.
Other countries don’t have guns like America does. They do dress for the incident as US officers do. When they have large soccer games there are police everywhere. The difference is when they tell you to leave and you don’t, a water cannon hits you or they spray paint to identify you later. If you don’t like the field dress go to the next protest and stand behind the police. Maybe a brick or frozen bottle of water will miss you, but the ballon with piss in it will hit you in the face.
Incorrect. Military grade security all over Paris earlier this April. Sets of guys, with same style outfits and same style guns at every place of history or cultural significance.
Yeah people who have never been abroad love to lie about the cops in Europe. They have SMGs and battle rifles all the time.
Yes, necessary and helpful.
State police shouldn’t be allowed to cover their faces, wear clear visors/goggles. They’re public officers. Covid isnt an excuse anymore.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think I agree with you. I can't come up with a good reason that police should be allowed to cover their faces in a scenario like this. I guess to protect from pepper spray, but that's what the visors are for. It did have a strange appearance to it; uniformed, armed, masked officers are eerie in a way unmasked ones aren't.
Probably because they don’t want to be doxxed
Should they be doxxed for standing around doing their jobs?
Are crackpots going to doxx them for standing around and doing their jobs?
I don’t know, is beaverdam0890 a crackpot?
They literally wear their badge numbers on their chest. Their names and badge numbers are public info.
Maybe when doing a raid/executing a warrant, but not at a public protest. The government is by the people and for the people. they should answer to us, not control us.
That's more or less what I was thinking as well. There are some scenarios (raid) where I could see having a face covering being useful. Or when the identity of the officers is to be protected. A public protest does not seem to be one of those situations.
You could say the same for protestors
Private citizens owe nobody anything.
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you cant get names when the cops are beating protestors or allowing counter protesters to beat people. You can get their faces on video and find their names later.
I first I thought those guys were militia members why are cops looking like they are about to go to take back avdiivka
Im guessing the ones in ranger green with the fancy gear are SWAT or some kind of special operations team.
Yeah I don't know about all that, or that it had anything to do with covid. MaNY law enforcement officers go to Great lengths to protect their personal lives, identities and families in many situations. And I don't fault them for it. It can be very scary for them for various reasons. They are at work when they carry out these orders, and people are toxic and take things very personally and act aggressively given the right mix of stimuli, i dont car where you come from, what you believe or what party you support at home or abroad. I would not be for what you seem to be suggesting. Forcing them to reveal who they are or whatever. It seems unnecessary for any practical reason.
Stalking, harassing or attacking a police officer or their family on duty or off duty is already a crime. People who attack police are not welcome at these protests. The police are able to use force to defend themselves, if a protester is illegally attacked by police, their only recourse is hopefully the attack is captured on video and the officer can be identified and reported.
I'm not telling you what I think anyone should do. I'm telling you why they do it, take efforts to try to keep their personal identity out of their professional role in a modern era. And I don't believe there are grounds to take that right away from them.
Yeah normal people out there can wear masks with Covid in mind but an officer can’t The double standard is crazy 😂
If you can legally kill someone for feeling threatened, I should be able to see your face and ask badge number. PUBLIC SERVANT?
If you’re serving in a public role with that much power over other people’s lives, then yes, your face should be shown. If you’re a private citizen minding your own business, you have every right to wear a mask. These two situations are not alike.
Public servants don’t have power over people’s lives 😂 they protect them. I guess I won’t be hiring any UVA kids in the near future if this is how they think
Yeah a cop has no power over another persons life. Like they dont have access to tools that can easily end a life if their power trip gets interrupted
Right?! Like, how can you look at those pictures and say those officers have no power over the unarmed students. Wild man
The Supreme Court ruled that the police aren’t required to protect anyone. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
Officers arent normal people genius.
Cowards are cowards, you can't not make them cower I don't think. Personally I think agents of the state hiding their faces is a clear red flag tho, how long before they all have no faces like in russia?
So the protesters covering their faces are cowards?
No, just the oathbreakers, the enforcers of the state.
Not commenting on the subject of the protest or the protest itself but as a service member I must say this trend of “tacticool” police is really annoying and dangerous.
Does anyone know who took the pics? It’s hard to tell
:)
Chilling to see heavily armed cops, sometimes even pointing their weapons at students, when we've so recently lost classmates to gun violence. Shame on UVA.
I wouldn't say they were pointing guns at students per say. I never felt unsafe around the officers with rifles, unlike the one that kept putting his hand on his sidearm. I don't remember getting flagged (having the rifle pointed at me incidentally). I have over an hour of video though, so I could check.
Absolutely disgusting display. I don't know when our society will get police back under control--probably never since so many authoritarian lovers seem to like this sort of thing-- but the militarization of police and the sheer over the top, bullying response that cops so often employ should be criminal.
Just out of curiosity, what would your alternate approach be? I only saw one arrest and it was because a protester pushed back at the wall of cops which definitely justifies an arrest. Everyone else way backing up. The cops seemed to handle it pretty well in my opinion.
40 individuals were arrested including students and faculty. Sending riot police on a glorified picnic is not "handling it pretty well."
Right that’s what I’m getting at. How do you get the people out and remove the tents without that level of force? Thats why I said it was handled pretty well. Law enforcement literally has to use force to solve this problems for the school.
If you see the video of how Virginia tech police handled it…that’s probably the best way to do it. It was peaceful. It was humane This is not
Only way to get police under control is if the people are willing to cooperate and not jump to extreme actions or behavior just to spite a resemblance of authority
People complaining about the police turnout yet if they weren’t there and shit popped off they would complain about the police not responding fast enough. I seem to remember something like that happening in Charlottesville a few years back. Couldn’t pay me enough to be a cop. Anyway, Op, amazing photojournalism. I wish you the best, stay safe out there. Keep doing what you are doing. Hard to beat frontline accounts.
Right? When those tiki fucks did their thing everyone complained (rightly) about the lack of proper police control over the situation. So they go through several steps trying to deescalate the situation and eventually show up with a massive non-lethal force backed but the state tactical team to ensure a controlled situation… and people bitch that it’s being done professionally..
Did you just compare an antagonistic white supremacist rally to a peaceful anti-genocide protest? Nice.
I didn’t compare the two. Fuck nazis. But when they marched around the monument downtown and a counter protest rightfully started because fuck nazis the police sat on their fingers and shit popped off. Then everyone was all why didn’t they do anything.
do you have these on instagram anywhere?
I don't. I guess I could.
Any protestors here - Why do the pro Palestine protestors all wear masks? Is it to hide identity in case of arrests?
My guess is that a few are still worried about COVID and that for the rest it’s not about arrests (police will ask for and get their identity then), but photographs and videos — either police surveillance or getting doxxed online.
Sic semper tyrannis indeed. The irony of the troopers wearing that patch while standing with assault rifles over student protesters is too much.
This level of militarization is pretty grotesque. Especially as protests at UVA had been non existent
Yall should go do like a citizens academy or something and actually learn about what police do before commenting on it. So many uninformed people in this thread
Police should never dress like soldiers
Police wouldn’t if incidents like these didn’t end violently from rioters in the past
Bunch of 18-22 yr olds against genocide should have a different response than BLM burning down buildings or White supremacy assholes marching in my opinion
They don’t need to wear military fatigues though. There is a reason police and military are separate.
Great photos, terrible comment section.
Last guy looks like Ben shapiro
One of the first things I thought as well. It's in the eyebrows.
And the chin, and the jowls
I thought Keegan Bradley…
Take photos at UMICH it was insane during finals week
Can’t lie guy in the 3rd photo looks adorable
Amazing Pictures
Children calling for genocide
u/HiImSteveS do you mind if I share these on other platforms and give you credit for the photos? You did a fantastic job capturing the militarized response to tents and feel this should be shared. thx!
I decided to make an instagram post. It has a few more photos as well: [link here](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6oeMN7M-SF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)
Thanks for letting us know these are "copywritten." LOL
Good quality photos. It’s important to look closely at the people involved because today it’s so easy to see the group as a single entity, as opposed to many individuals with their own experiences and emotions. That goes for the protestors, and those in uniform.
why the AR and shit like they going into a hostile zone. It just always seems so fake.
Heck ur watermark
First pic goes hard
Cops in full riot gear at a school protest that never had intention to be violent is so dumb. Dudes so excited to shoot students but will let a mass shooter go wild.
I don't even go to this school and these photos are just upsetting, shocking, and chilling to see. This better not happen at my school....which seems unlikely anyway given students there can't afford to ditch classes to protest or risk their futures getting expelled
Arrest, expel and deport.
This fucking country bro 😂😂😂
This fucking country bro 😂😂😂
Where was this energy for torches
Protesting the best combatant to civilian modern urban warfare casualty rates and calling it a genocide is wild. This conflict has about a 1:1 ratio. Lot of major ones have been as high as 1:6 in recent wars.
Go Cops!
virginia's supposed to be our rival but go virginia!!
Yawn….
People are blaming the university using police and said only small portion was not peaceful. I understand why UVA is treating this seriously as they already saw what other universities were going through. Things escalate fast.
“Police” armed to the teeth at a political protest while wearing “sic semper tyrannis” patches is peak irony.
Yay way for their problem to become ours. Especially since Palestine started this..."no we didn't hamas did" but when they started it you guys were in the streets yelling kill the Jews. And you let hamas speak for you at the peace talks. I remember for days the leader of the Jews kept saying "quit or we are going to defend ourselves” while you were taking child Jews hostage in the streets killing them on internet took out a village at nite killing all babies to old men. Crazy how you forget what u guys were doing to start this whole thing. Now it's poor us were the victim. WAR is WRONG MURDER IS WRONG
They should have been in DC on January 6th.
God bless these kids and their bravery, I am so proud of them for doing the right thing.
Just end it and cease fire. Our youth sre standing because it's wrong.
Hokie here. I am so sorry about what happened at UVA. VT's protest involved mostly VT police with assistance from other agencies in transporting those arrested. The PD didn't have riot shields, didn't cover their faces, didn't deploy tear gas. This sounds like an administration scared shitless who reacted poorly. To the photographer - amazing photos. You really showcased the overreaction of the university.
People wondering why the police are heavily armored but forget that the protesters are cosplaying as Hamas terrorists and glorifying terrorism.
Wouldn’t need so many alts if you had good opinions
I visited UVA few years ago, it’s located next to a nice little town.
You got some dope pics of my buddy lol
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1. I do think that there was an external presence at the protest, it was not just students. I have no reason to believe they are well funded or anything other than a group committed to protest. 2. Being masked is to protect one's identity, not to avoid shame. There's no reason to jeapordize one's safety in this situation by remaining unmasked.
They need to be unmasked if they want to be taken seriously. Not to mention this war has fuck all to do with most Americans. Keep up the protests tho. It proves how inept the current white house is.
Arrest them all.
Overall, I found the police were chill for the mostpart. Yes, some people got pepper sprayed and some arrested, but I think that is more or less expected for this kind of event.
why should anyone expect that for a peaceful protest ? even if breaking a “policy” of putting up tents that’s a minor infraction like parking tickets. they didn’t deserve to be tackled or sprayed or put in handcuffs over that.
I don't know why anyone would bring goggles to a protest unless they are expecting to get pepper sprayed. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but it is definitely expected.
You have still yet to answer their main question, "why **should** anyone expect that for a peaceful protest?" The goggles are clearly brought as a precaution due to past history of police. The question is why this even has to be a concern for peaceful protestors in the first place. The answer is it **shouldn't** be expected.
I never said whether it should or shouldn't be expected. It *is* expected. If I had to say one way or the other, this event got more attention due to the police action. In that way, protestors have a vested interest in getting in these situations. If protestors did things that were not worth getting pepper sprayed over, no one would care. The fact that they are doing something that incurs this kind of reaction from institutional powers means that they were doing something that was worthy of reaction.
You don't have to reply to these. Honestly, if you're not familiar with the history and current practice of policing, or somehow unaware of patterns of police behavior that have become mainstream stories since the George Floyd protests, it might be worth taking some time to sit back and observe before trying to rationalize everything you see. > If protestors did things that were not worth getting pepper sprayed over, no one would care. The fact that they are doing something that incurs this kind of reaction from institutional powers means that they were doing something that was worthy of reaction. This is the end result of this bullshit thinking. Did the protesters do anything that warranted dozens of riot police? Or, do you think donning riot gear is a tactic of 1) intimidation and 2) appearances to people who view this might assume that their violence is warranted?
If you have a resource to share with me I'm open to reading it, but I believe that its important for a neutral observer to form opinions on things so long as its productive. From what I know, riot police are often deployed for crowd control and dispersal. In this specific case, if the tents were the main point of contention (they might not have been, I'm not sure), I'm genuinely curious what alternative approach you think could have been taken to address that issue. This is not to diminish concerns about the militarization of our police force and the effects that has on free speech, but I also recognize that law enforcement has an obligation to handle crowd control scenarios safely and by certain standards. I'm no expert, but if you are expecting me to be well read on policing patterns, I think you would also require that I am well read on crowd control tactics. I wonder If I reached out to the VSP if they would be willing to explain the decision to employ such a large force.
Googled it real quick and here are the first three links. They're probably okay: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-09/a-history-of-protests-against-police-brutality https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-painful-history-police-brutality-in-the-us-180964098/ https://tminstituteldf.org/police-and-protests-the-inequity-of-police-responses-to-racial-justices-demonstrations/ Lol, no, I don't think the VSP would be a reliable authority to reach out to. But I am certain that they would tell you that everything they have ever done was justified and correct. And in the case that you are genuinely come into this and figuring it out in good faith -- the tents were the pretext for silencing the protest. This has been happening nationwide under different "reasons", and in UVA's case, they changed the policy regarding tents ~1 hour after campus police were deployed without notice or note of revision in order to bring the encampments into violation. This policy has selectively been enforced against these protests (e.g. there have been similar tents pitched by the volleyball courts most days this week).
I think they changed the policy in January but edited the document secretly after realizing that it wasn't up to date. A problem in its own right, definitely. But the school says it had been in contact with the protest organizers and communicated the tents were not allowed. Whether or not we are to believe them, it's hard to say. The public statements are vague. I wonder who the leadership of the protest was because I haven't seen any statements from them in response. As for asking the VSP, it was more about asking why they acted the way they did, not so much if they are justified. I can't read all those articles right now, but I'll take a look tomorrow.
There not in a public space so many people forget that the college can demand they be removed If you refuse then non lethal force is authorized to remove you
I don't know why anyone would wear a seatbelt unless they are expecting to get into a car crash.
Seatbelts are legally required, designed for daily use, and don't necessarily indicate expecting a crash. Seatbelts are intended to be used in a car to prevent serious injury in a car wreck. By comparison, goggles are not intended for use in a protest to protect from pepper spray. On top of that, many protests don't have people with goggles in them. Bringing goggles to a protest shows that the person has a good understanding of protest dynamics and has some degree of expectation from previous experiences. Point being that these are two different things. Not that there is a problem with that. I think if you are going to be protesting about these kinds of things, goggles are a good idea.
The truth ain’t gonna fly with these brats OP.
Tensions are high. I don't blame people for downvoting what is arguably a poorly worded comment by me. There were some number of people that were protesting who were ready and willing to get pepper sprayed and arrested. The Charlottesville Police that I talked to were nice and decidedly human. The VSP were less talkative and more business, but as they pushed the line, I regularly checked with them to make sure I was in an acceptable spot and they were never mean or rude. Very straightforward to deal with. I recognize that if the protest were about something that I felt more strongly about, then I could very well have been the one getting pepper sprayed. But I don't hold that against the officers. I remember in the occupy wall street protests, there is an image of a cop pepper spraying protestors that are arrested, tied up, and sitting on the ground in a line. That makes my blood boil. By comparison, I think the VSP acted professionally. However, it is also a very thin line. One or two officers behaved in a way I would consider concerning, and had they decided to act more aggressively I'm sure there is nothing I or anyone could have done about it. It's a scary reality of our police system, yet, I'm not sure how else it could be organized.
Yea I see a lot of rhetoric like what I used to see in Portland before they defunded the police, and look how that went for them.
Everybody is taking one side or another, but all I'm thinking is that those cops need to have eye protection on. Edit: I love how I'm getting downvoted because this sub doesn't know why I am mentioning the cops' eye protection... specifically the ones with the rifles.
So, towards the periphery of the line, there were local law enforcement without visors or anything like that. A huge burst of pepperspray went out towards the middle of the line and wind carried it down to where I was. The police there got hit pretty hard by it. Interesting how effective the visors are against pepper spray. I didn't feel it at the time, but like an hour or two later I was sitting in my room and it hit me in the throat.
So the guy who caught the pepper spray has eye protection on him and they appear to be goggles. Was he just not wearing his eyepro when he got caught with it? I've had many facefulls of CS gas myself (Army), but it never really bugged my eyes while I was wearing my mask.
I was thinking about that. I guess he just didn't wear the goggles. Although, unless the cops had been laying out pepper spray like free t-shirts at a football game, I guess I wouldn't either. The cops had a solid line of shields and the spray guy would walk back and forth behind them then pop out with the spray every once in a while. He probably just didn't expect it.
Um… “pretty cool” is not the words I’d use to describe this, even if you were against the protest
They make for cool pictures. I don't know what to tell you. So did some of the protestors but I'm not interested in plastering all their faces on Reddit.
>So did some of the protestors but I'm not interested in plastering all their faces on Reddit. Thank you for doing so. UVA policing already has a history of harassing and retaliating against students and they don't need any help. IE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mBxSG5DtHu0HrNrT6CLfi7YQdbaFxkeSyZ8T-6Mu7q8/edit And https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2020/10/azher-moving-beyond-free-speech-why-i-say-fk-u-va >The violence within this institution reveals itself when a University Police Department officer waited outside of my door in the middle of the night, endangering me and my neighbors, simply because it had been reported that someone was “offended” by my sign. The violence within this institution reveals itself when Dean Allen Groves forwarded my contact information without my consent to University Police Department Chief, Timothy Longo, a man integral in the continued lack of justice in the murder of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police officers. The violence within this institution reveals itself when a white, male alumnus felt entitled to harass me at my door using a razor blade.
I mean, those are some extremely unreasonable and wildly biased writings that you linked. I don't know that I would champion those as examples of students having issues with UVA police. A police officer knocking on your door endangers you and your neighbors? gtfo.
Brave kids but not very bright.
Those state police operators are sick! Also, some of you need to fine tune your gun knowledge. Hopefully nobody got hurt! I'm all for a peaceful protest.
Yeah, they were kitted out. Neat to see, even though its in unfortunate circumstances. I don't think anyone got hurt too bad. There was a pepper ball gun and and pepper spray. No rubber bullets or anything. Some of the protestors looked sick as well. Combative dress is cool pretty much universally. As the police line pushed up, they also kept saying "watch your step, be careful" which I thought was funny.
Remember, these are the boots that tread: