DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
Viewpoints—
(With select original commentary)
Last [several] nights at times violent protests took place in some 30 U.S. cities.
The escalation of the protests is not driven by people of color whose grievance about systemic police brutality and institutionalized racism is driving the original, and in most cases peaceful protests.
There are clear signs that other groups have joined and abuse the original protests for their own purpose:
Mayor Jacob Frey said the people who are coming to Minneapolis to protest are not residents and are "coming in largely from outside the city."
"Our Minneapolis residents are scared and rightfully so. We've seen longterm institutional businesses overridden. We've seen community institutions set on fire. And I want to be very, very clear. The people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents," he said at a news briefing on Saturday.
He said the protests earlier this week that were mostly peaceful and were largely attended by those who lived in the city, but "the dynamic has changed."
"Gradually that shift was made and we saw more and more people coming from outside of the city. We saw more and more people looking to cause violence in our communities, and I have to say, it is not acceptable," Frey said.
"This is no longer about verbal expression. This is about violence and we need to make sure that it stops," he added.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said everyone who was arrested in his city last night was from outside the state.
"What we are seeing right now is a group of people who are not from here," he said.
Detroit has seen the same phenomenon:
Detroit Police Chief James Craig spoke in a Facebook Live video late on Friday evening.
“You know, I love this community and we work very well with this community, and we know that the individuals from outside the city of Detroit who converged at the protest location don’t represent this city. They’re not from this city,” said Craig. “And so I’m just asking for all Detroiters to continue to support us, let’s peacefully protest. But outside of that, we’re not going to tolerate it. We’re not going to tolerate criminal acts.”
While mostly people of color where protesting the murder by police of George Floyd, the looting was often led (video) by white young men (video).
WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE ONES BURNING SHIT AND LOOTING! WE ARE NOT THUGS! #Oakland #JusticeForGeorge pic.twitter.com/iQQQjzJgSb
— Chazz (@MynamesChazz) May 30, 2020
That the police is infiltrating protests and political movements is the norm. But who or what is sending people from outside a city to vandalize it? Who put down a palette of bricks at a bus station in a high end shopping street in Dallas during a time of protests? Who is supposed to use these?
One group suspected to be involved in this capture of legitimate protests are the "Boogaloo Bois":
On May 26th, crowds gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to protest the death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of the city’s police department. Floyd was black. Many of the protesters were people of color.
...
On the internet, meanwhile, a largely white, and far right movement publicly contended over what risks its members should take to support a black man killed by police.
...
On the Facebook page, Big Igloo Bois, which at the time of writing had 30,637 followers, an administrator wrote of the protests, “If there was ever a time for bois to stand in solidarity with ALL free men and women in this country, it is now”.They added, “This is not a race issue. For far too long we have allowed them to murder us in our homes, and in the streets. We need to stand with the people of Minneapolis. We need to support them in this protest against a system that allows police brutality to go unchecked.”
One commenter added, “I’m looking for fellow Minneapolis residents to join me in forming a private, Constitutionally-authorized militia to protect people from the MPD, which has killed too many people within the last two years.”
These exchanges offer a window into an extremely online update of the militia movement, which is gearing up for the northern summer. The “Boogaloo Bois” expect, even hope, that the warmer weather will bring armed confrontations with law enforcement, and will build momentum towards a new civil war in the United States.
The Boogaloo Bois are mostly rightwing but the militia movement includes some African-American groups. They are armed and they seek conflict with the state.
The ruling oligarchy in the U.S. is behaving towards its own population no different than towards foreign ones. It looted the Iraqi gold reserves after the invasions of Baghdad. It is looting the oil of Syria. It is looting the money that was supposed to support the population during the pandemic:
In the ten weeks since the nationwide lockdown first began, the [Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)] calculates that billionaires have increased their wealth by $485 billion – equal to 16.5 percent. This half-trillion-dollar rise, for Chuck Collins, Director of the IPS’ Program on Inequality and the Common Good, is something close to looting the whole economy.
“The wealthy are economically distancing from the rest of society. Worse, some are pandemic profiteering, looting government stimulus programs and taking advantage of market monopolies,” he told MintPress News.
The looting by the oligarchs is one reason why I have expected protests and riots in the U.S. as a consequence of the badly handled epidemic. But I expected them for later in the summer, after July 31 when the federal unemployment insurance runs out. By then some 20 million of the 40 million currently unemployed will have learned that their old jobs are forever gone and that there are no new ones to find. By then mortgage defaults and evictions will have risen sky high.
Many of the affected people will not be from minorities but from the white lower classes. People who have lost their job and maybe even their home.
The social tensions will be extreme and will seek relief one way or another. Cornel West explains well (vid) why party policies in the U.S. can not be the way to solve this conflict. Something will have to give and it will not be the people - at least not without resistance.
Trump has asked the military to prepare to suppress unrest in Minnesota and elsewhere. Military police units have been put on alarm:
Soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York have been ordered to be ready to deploy within four hours if called, according to three people with direct knowledge of the orders. Soldiers in Fort Carson, in Colorado, and Fort Riley in Kansas have been told to be ready within 24 hours.
...
The person said the military units would be deployed under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which was last used in 1992 during the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King trial.
The shooting of unarmed blacks protesters would probably be welcome by Trump's core voters. He could even use that as an advertisement in his re-election campaign.
But how will this evolve when Trump sends in the troops and recognizes that the conflict is with mostly white working class people who probably voted for him in 2016 but are now inclined to shoot back?
Posted by b on May 30, 2020 at 18:01 UTC | Permalink
Another good article. I see some striking similarities between the way peaceful protests in other countries were hijacked by instigators and destabilization agents (negative factions of foreign intel services, namely CIA in many cases), and the way that the protests in the United States are being destabilized by way of instigations and incitement. Is this being done for the same purpose? Is it truly to provoke civil war? By what agencies (there are many that are known to have experience in such operations)?
Would it be a great surprise if the deep state is going to fund and supply armed groups with the purpose of imposing martial law and identifying individuals and organizations/groups/etc (it has already targeted) for indefinite arrest and detention? I don't think this will work too well in rural areas of red states, but can be achieved in cities.
Posted by: Perimetr | May 30 2020 18:20 utc | 2
Whoever controls the narrative in this situation wins. You are siding with the same lame stories and excuses we lived through in the 60s and 70s. You devalue the message when you take away the validity of the protest by blaming outside agitators. This is an attempt to control the narrative. I could go through this tripe item by item and destroy the whole premise, which is very tiny but is being reinforced by it's reiteration by separate paid entities. Why has the story been the same for over 50 years b? You are in Germany or something right? You've never demonstrated here, have you? The German police don't have a prerequisite duty to murder black people, do you? I should say anymore since that whole final solution thing, right B? I'd filet you more but you wouldn't publish the comment. You're whole response here is choreographed right wing clap trap. You are appearing to be a straight up tool for right wing white supremacy and a racist to boot if you can't dig deeper. We really laughed when my people took over Alcatraz and the media said we were outside agitators and we were all native american. We kept that narrative. See you at the barricades where you side with the wrong side of history B.
Posted by: Madison James | May 30 2020 18:24 utc | 3
A repost from the last thread: "Watching alot of videos from various cities where protesting occurred last night, one thing that stands out is the fact that all are involved, black, white, latino, etc. This is not a race war but a class war. The powder keg was lit by a racism issue but now transcends it.."
Posted by: Lozion | May 30 2020 18:32 utc | 4
Well b, my comment at the end of the previous thread stands well here too. Trump's attempt to rapidly escalate the new Cold War versus China to cover his Treasonous Ass isn't going to work as the explosives and fuse for what's happening were laid long ago and awaited the spark. Ross Ashcroft was extremely prescient to revisit in abridged form his award winning, 90 minute, Four Horsemen documentary and call it "Four Horsemen: Chickens home to roost." They contain all the background reasons for an insurrection to occur within the Outlaw US Empire. And if I know about them, there's nothing to keep millions of others from knowing them too.
It appears that instead of reopening for business as usual; the Outlaw US Empire will experience a period of retribution and possibly widespread insurrection. Those who predicted no elections in November might be correct, but for all the wrong reasons.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 30 2020 18:45 utc | 5
This is just the dress rehearsal for the day after the elections. America "is going to go through some things".
Posted by: BraveNewWorld | May 30 2020 18:47 utc | 6
I suppose it's too much to expect Moon to be right all the time, but this is ridiculous - Boogaloo Bois, who are 'mostly right wing'?
Why no mention that police were made to let this happen? Why no mention of Antifa, the obvious suspects, paid by Soros?
We've seen this pattern a lot.
- Mayor or someone in authority makes the police stand down
- Then masked men appear and attack
Posted by: Thomas | May 30 2020 18:58 utc | 7
You didn't witness Rodney King riots but you read about it... but I witness the 65 Los Angeles Watt riots, black were and still extremely angry and frustrated. This was not the first racial riots I witness. One raciest combines region riots in the 50s. These freak Americans' white and black never learned and continue bullies and getting greedy and greedier..
"Many of those companies and jobs are not coming back. Ever...." 100% they're not going to Vietnam, Laos or even Myanmar for long either, They're there temporary but spreading to Ethiopia, SA, and Kenya blah, blah.. Did you know even Ethiopia and I think Zambia making smartphone and cheaper than China? If I'm wrong not Zambia another African country. China is a step ahead the western and American they're teaching the African Chinese, yes Chinese...
"Only Trump is stoopid enough to shout, "When the Looting starts, the Shooting starts" but every governor and police and military commander is thinking the same thing." And you really believe people are that stoopid? I'm waiting a day soon than later they're burnt down the WH...NO? Remember the Storming of the Bastille?
Posted by: JC | May 30 2020 19:04 utc | 8
This may appear OT, but there's a connection. "Beijing sees Trump’s hand and won’t fold: With Sinophobic hysteria reaching new heights in US, China's counter play is a massive new economic plan." Some may recall my recent post on Putin's teleconference dealing with Russia's Labour Situation and the policies being employed to support the Russian people--actions that are the polar opposite of what Trump, Pelosi, and GOP have employed. Indeed, when looked at closely, the Russian and Chinese policies are almost exactly the same--their underlying rationales certainly are. Given the current circumstances, Trump's shooting himself in the head while trying to cover his ass as the Outlaw US Empire's economic rebooting relies greatly on having excellent trade relations with China and the rest of the world--conditions Trump's doing the opposite of fostering:
"Geopolitically, China rejects a 'Cold War mentality' and hopes China and the US will be able to cooperate. Li stressed the relationship could be either mutually beneficial or mutually harmful. Decoupling was described as a very bad idea, for bilateral relations and for the world at large. China, after all, will start to import more and that should also profit US companies. [My Emphasis]
Trump unknowingly continues to dig his own grave. Cloud-cuckoo-land is a phrase I've used before to describe TrumpCo. He and They are captured by their own extraordinary ignorance.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 30 2020 19:10 utc | 9
Couple of things:
No, b, shooting unarmed protesters/blacks will not help Trump's campaign.
No, b, inner-city blacks did not sit out the looting. Check the Target videos.
BLM, we all know, is funded by international neolibs like Soros and company. I just tried to do some digging and could not for the life of me come up with a list of big donors. Check their wiki page and NOTHING! Very suspicious.
Please, someone, if you can confirm the inability to determine who funds BLM, that would be great.
If they are fully-funded to pay protesters and bus them in, it is not a stretch to think they could have dropped off the bricks lickety-split.
I imagine some kind of relationship between corrupt police forces, blm, and elites who administer the communication and relationship between all these parties perpetuating the racial divisiveness in this country.
As other posters say, it is a distraction. You will not topple the system by burning buildings to the ground, though I do not blame you for trying.
You would have had to get the drop on the useless elite in this country with a bomb under the table during their catered lunch.
But now, any chance of this is gone, because they have already moved their meeting.
Here is a useful American phrase for ya non-Americans looking on: "Barking up the wrong tree."
As Gruff mentions above. Blacks are in for even more hurt because of this shit.
Posted by: Nemesiscalling | May 30 2020 19:13 utc | 10
This post would be stronger if it situated the concrete analysis of the riots in terms of the historical failures of the US left to build a multi-racial political formation.
That's why we have the chaos and lack of coordination between white progressives, the black working class, the anarchist kids, the Latino unions, the white industrial unions, etc.
Posted by: Prof K | May 30 2020 19:15 utc | 11
“But how will this evolve when Trump sends in the troops and recognizes that the conflict is with mostly white working class people who probably voted for him in 2016 but are now inclined to shoot back?”
b: You’re assuming those violent non-minority protesters would have any interest in shooting federal troops or National Guard troops. They’d likely disappear, to allow the shooting of some minority protesters by troops.
Posted by: Jay | May 30 2020 19:21 utc | 12
. . . add the Hong-Kong Pro-Democracy groups to the list
I love how FOX and their numerous guests found this nuanced position that you can condemn protesters but still be for the original cause once the protesters misbehave or are infiltrated by ... 'anarchists, outsiders, or people looking to cause problems'. But in Hong-kong they were always 'pro-Democracy protesters' no matter what they did.
They could ... wear black head to toe to disguise their identity, throw rocks, shoot arrows, petrol bombs, burn people, buildings, build barricades and we had to applaud them.
We always called the Hong-kong police thugs if they used tear gas or arrested them but now we are using tear gas and concussion grenades. FOX wants us to send in the military because we are too restrained but punish the Hong-kong police for excessive force.
It is good to be king.
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 30 2020 19:35 utc | 13
"US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once called the violent protests in Hong Kong 'a beautiful sight to behold.' Now, the 'beautiful sight' is extending from Hong Kong to over a dozen US states. US politicians now can enjoy this sight from their own windows. Quite a few places across the US are witnessing protesters setting police stations on fire, smashing shops, blocking roads, attacking places and destroying various public facilities, as if the radical rioters in Hong Kong somehow snuck into the US and created a mess like they did last year in Hong Kong.
"A quick question for Pelosi and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: Should the Chinese government and National People's Congress issue a statement to support the protests by African-Americans and the grassroots of US society? It seems to be what Beijing should do according to the logic of Washington cheering for the rioters in Hong Kong. Otherwise, if China does not support the protests in the US, how could the latter keep playing its Hong Kong card? After all, US President Donald Trump just announced Friday to impose sanctions against China over Hong Kong affairs.
"Trump really had the nerve to make the announcement when a group of furious Washington citizens were storming toward the White House, which frightened people inside leading them to erect an emergency blockade."
"Over a dozen US states" and spreading:
"The US political system is declining. Worse, the process is accelerating, while the US showed no strength to carry out substantial reforms. The grievances of the grassroots are still left unheard. Since their difficulties can hardly be resolved, those people have no alternative but to resort to extreme ways to vent their anger."
I very much doubt you'll find anything nearing the honesty of that analysis in any Western media. There's more in the editorial for people to enjoy, such as the concluding paragraph.
And no, the protesters aren't funded by the Chinese Embassy or its government.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 30 2020 19:41 utc | 14
Posted by: Perimetr | May 30 2020 18:20 utc | 2
"Would it be a great surprise if the deep state is going to fund and supply armed groups with the purpose of imposing martial law..."
Not at all. This was done 40 years ago in Turkey where the "deep state" infiltrated or organized both the left wing and right wing groups and pit them against each to create sufficient violence that led to a military coup (backed by the US). In this case to remove a left wing government.
In the US, the divisions between "Democrats" and "Republicans" have been systematically exacerabated through poltical and social means through the past 30 years. The end game will likely be martial law to help cover up the class crisis that would inevitably come later in the year. By pitting the "extreme" right and "extreme left against each other, the oligarchy hopes to whitewash its own responsibilites for the nation's declining economic performance by blaming it on the extremists, and saving the nation through martial law, or perhaps worse. After the weekly violence near home, the people will be grateful.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | May 30 2020 19:43 utc | 15
Looks like a stock-standard regime change operation. Peaceful protests always serve as foil for insurgents, hence it's safe to assume they too are organized as part of the operation, in full or in part. The only remotely organic element has to do with timing, of successfully predicting and latching on to social grievances and general discontent. This time, with help from the pandemic, the insurgency might achieve the unstoppable momentum necessary to remove whatever the unwanted political element may be, unlike the other protests during Trump's tenure where there were timid attempts made to supercharge them, but which instead petered out due to lack of public support.
Prime suspects would presumably still be domestic intelligence agencies or rogue elements within the same -- whether they're working for a "Soros" or the other way around. I doubt foreign services have enough pull to initiate the operation, but they're certainly handed an opportunity to influence the controlled chaos in a direction beneficial to them. If it's a domestically initiated operation, the intent may be to pull back at the brink.
Posted by: Skiffer | May 30 2020 19:50 utc | 16
If I had a dollar for every time I heard "Outside Agitator!!!" while growing up, I could have a pretty good retirement. Calls of "Outside Agitator!!!" are also accompanied by other slogans like, "THAT'S NOT WHO WE ARE!!!", when it is perfectly obvious that state-promoted violence and greed are *exactly* "who we are".
The state has two strategies: (1) brute violence, (2) divide-and-conquer. The state is desperate to prevent a real movement from organizing itself. There are articles stating that Minneapolis (unionized) bus drivers are refusing to transport police or arrested protesters. Such stories suggest that divide-and-conquer may not succeed this time.
Posted by: Trailer Trash | May 30 2020 19:50 utc | 17
"how will this evolve when Trump sends in the troops and recognizes that the conflict is with mostly white working class people who probably voted for him in 2016 but are now inclined to shoot back?"
Posted by b on May 30, 2020
.....
My sentiments exactly when I read ScumTrumps "when the looting starts...the shooting starts"
As if the u$$a Regime has NOT been looting its own citizens and torturing the rest of the world?
u$$a foreign, domestic and economic policies are MURDER on a much grander scale than the murder of Floyd.
When the uSSa Gestapo minions of the cops and military open fire...it will not be a Kent State response. Citizens will return fire and everyone's streets will be red. Peaceful protests don't make a difference, Voting changes nothing for the better... Sooo what else is left?
Dr King: "... the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government"
Posted by: CitizenX | May 30 2020 19:57 utc | 18
Protests in US are always held at the wrong places. Like I offered a while ago, protest should be held at the US oligarchs residences occupy style. Yes, the 400 persons and families that own as much wealth as the bottom 50%. A finite known list (can be looked up)
Only then, can we see an impact. All other protest to date have been put down. Attica. Attica.
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | May 30 2020 19:58 utc | 19
b seriously misunderstands American culture, politics and structure. For example, he does not know that the US is a federation. The rather chaotic response to COVID occurred because the responses were under the legal control of the 50 state governors. The federal government’s role is limited by our Constitution to be advisory in these cases. One price to be paid for an actual representative democracy. All the governments in Europe are centralized police states, and b assumes Trump has dictatorial powers like every European PM.
More importantly, he has completely misread the violent riots that have erupted in a dozen or more American cities. These are not the spontaneous uprisings of the 60’s. They, rather, coordinated attacks by affiliated BLM and Antifa groups. This is more an organized revolt than a riot driven by racial grievances. I’m surprised b didn’t spot that. During the Cold War there were various violent Communist gangs operating in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy. Maybe b is too young to remember them
Posted by: bob sykes | May 30 2020 20:00 utc | 20
Perimetr:
“In the US, the divisions between "Democrats" and "Republicans" have been systematically exacerabated through poltical and social means through the past 30 years. The end game will likely be martial law to help cover up the class crisis that would inevitably come later in the year. By pitting the "extreme" right and "extreme left against each other,”
Haha, sad, Democrats extreme left, more like 1980s republicans. And in many cases the two parties are allied. You read like those who called Obama a socialist, when he was really a rightwing corporate Democrat–who was a much better public speaker than that other rightwing corporate Democrat, Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: Jay | May 30 2020 20:10 utc | 21
US citizens have been looted by their regime and its oligarchs. Crying about looting now is an absurd reaction.
I can recommend Paul Street's article today on RT News. I agree with him wholeheartedly.
Posted by: bjd | May 30 2020 20:14 utc | 23
"During the Cold War there were various violent Communist gangs operating in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy. Maybe b is too young to remember them"
Posted by: bob sykes | May 30 2020
.....
bob- you obviously know nothing about Operation Gladio so maybe you should stfu about what you claim other people don't know hmmm?
Those "various violent Communist gangs operating in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy" you claim were actually working for the CIA and De Gaulle acting as terrorists... You know modern day ISIS style funded by the CIA?
Posted by: CitizenX | May 30 2020 20:15 utc | 24
Re Jay@21
I didn't write that Jay, nice work, obviously you pay close attention to details.
The US has quite a long history of running ops that cause violence, for example, Operation Gladio, which was formally revealed in 1990 by the Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in an official statement to the Italian parliament. By then, Gladio had already been exposed in the courts and elsewhere, but Andreotti’s ‘official’ revelations widely exposed the unpalatable reality. Italian investigations, into the ‘Years of Lead‘, revealed NATO’s hand in a series of terrorist atrocities that had taken place in Italy throughout the 1950s to the 1980s. These included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and mass shootings by terrorist organisations. There is no doubt that elements within the NATO Deep State were routinely using false flag terrorism to control and manipulate public opinion and shape policy.
Posted by: Perimetr | May 30 2020 20:17 utc | 25
Posted by: Jay | May 30 2020 20:10 utc | 21
Yes, thanks Jay, I got carried away. I was thinking Turkey. Let's say extremist conservatives and extremist liberals
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | May 30 2020 20:20 utc | 26
It is striking how last summer's tacit acceptance and support for Hong Kong "marginal violence" from US politicians and commentariat has suddenly flipped now that their own neighbourhoods are in threat of being besieged. The US protests appear haphazard and improvised, in stark contrast to Hong Kong's extremely disciplined and organized (trained) black bloc cadres. If the Boogaloo Bois start hosting screenings of "Winter On Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom" and inviting Azov Battalion members to USA, then this might take another turn - but what I see is most protesters do not articulate reactionary or right-based views.
Posted by: jayc | May 30 2020 20:27 utc | 27
Would it not be funny...
...if everyone in the US was preparing for a race war.
And when the war finally came they would all find themselves on the same side of the barricade.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | May 30 2020 20:28 utc | 28
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"b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com. 
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Posted by: Joshua | May 30 2020 18:17 utc | 1