Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

“These people are not afraid of all violence: only of individual violence. They have no objection to battlefields, and policemen, and electric chairs, and other ornaments of the present system. So long as violence is committed in the name of the State they are happy. As a matter of fact the voluntaryists don’t propagate violence. They only struggle against what already exists, and it is necessary to defend against violence with violence. That is the only way that a new peace can dawn.”
— Emma Goldman, 1909

The American people have been patient for decades while the police murder more and more of us. Last year, the police murdered over a thousand Americans. Police unions are against any form of oversight, any meaningful review of police conduct, and will not tolerate dissent within their ranks. All police are volunteers, none are conscripted. They chose this work, and they chose to cooperate with those police who commit crimes in the name of their fraternal solidarity.

The people in power never have any control except such control as 332 million Americans are willing to provide through patience, some obedience, and limited responses. There are 200 million Americans who live in a home with one or more guns. The government counts " firearms" and claims only 87 million Americans "own firearms " but many guns are not registered with any government, and many guns are not as-defined firearms. I believe there are over 750 million guns in America, and since 3D printed guns have a marginal cost of $8 plus electricity, millions more are on their way.

Tonight, at 01:00 east coast time on Friday 29 May, there are two police precinct buildings in Minneapolis which are on fire, and I gather police retreated from both locations. The people have captured the buildings and have taken possession of all the equipment their tax dollars paid to provide them.

Those in power may ask: How did we lose control?

Quite simple, really. You never had control. We had patience. We were frustrated by the ways you treated Americans, the ways you allowed police to murder us, and we have been outraged by the prison for profit industry that incarcerates millions of Americans and arrests millions more every year. Yet we have been patient.

We’ve been frustrated by the red flag laws and the deaths of people like Duncan Socrates Lemp and Breonna Taylor. We’ve objected to the conduct of police in many specific instances. And we’ve patiently awaited some justice.

George Floyd was a very good man, and beloved of family and community. He was murdered, in cold blood, by a police officer, while other officers stood and watched. And now Minneapolis is on fire. Shots have been fired in Louisville, Kentucky. Protesters have been maced in New York and Los Angeles. Protesters are in other cities, too, facing the police. In all, some 27 cities seem to have active protests going on right now.

My Experiences

My first experience being falsely charged with crimes I did not commit was in 1991. It was not the last. Since then I have been arrested many times, in many states, for various reasons. I’ve never been convicted of a felony. I have been badly beaten by police, including eleven broken bones and a damaged lung on one occasion.

Also, I’ve had the experience of watching the events surrounding the police murder of Philando Castile, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Duncan Lemp, and many, many others.

Some of the readers of this essay will insist that the rioters are always wrong. But, let’s remember that the riots in Los Angeles did not happen until *after* the police officers who beat Rodney King were given a change of venue and then acquitted by a Simi Valley jury. People are patient while there is some reason to believe justice may occur.

Today there is no reason to believe that the system will police the system. The police will investigate the police and the police will exonerate the police. And what are you going to do?

You’ll next want to take me to task because a Target store near the Third Precinct in Minneapolis, where the murderers of George Floyd worked was looted and burned. That store prominently donated to the Third Precinct. I gather there was a longstanding animosity between store management and the local population. But, let’s be clear, if you don’t want your business destroyed, don’t allow your government to let the police your taxes support the murder of men and women in cold blood on camera. Also, keep in mind that the peaceful protests two nights ago were attacked by Minneapolis police.

Mobs are not entities with controls. Expecting a violent mob to be rational is not itself a rational expectation. So, if you don’t like mob violence, do what you can to avoid provoking enough people to form a mob.

Target, AutoZone, Wendy’s and the other businesses were deemed essential while many small businesses were forced to close. That’s unjust, and that’s your government. Employers collect payroll taxes which go to the government after 90 days (yes, they keep that money for a while, how nice) and they collect income tax (sometimes state and local as well as federal). Businesses collect sales tax which funds the city government. And businesses pay lobbyists to get what they want, and apparently what they want is police unions to have ultimate power and police officers to have zero accountability. So, cry me a river about the burned out businesses.

The people in power never had control. They had the patience of the American people. That patience is gone, and it is time for it to stay gone.

Do the people in power want to end these riots? Then they can answer these demands:

1. All police officers involved in crimes will be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
2. All prison for profit industries will be ended, and all profits from incarceration will be distributed to the taxpayers directly.
3. Unreasonable bail will end and cruel and unusual punishment will end.
4. All calls to and from jail will be free of charge at all times. Over a billion dollars profit was made extorting collect call fees from the families of the arrested, and none of the family members were even accused of a crime let alone convicted, so stop punishing them.
5. Conditions at all jails will be open for inspection every day by local volunteers for humane treatment of prisoners, proper food, access to health care, and decent conditions of imprisonment.
6. The public defenders are meant to plea bargain convictions, and the prosecutors are paid bonuses for extra convictions. These practices will now end.
7. All records of all police brutality will be made public and all future police camera recordings (bodycams, dashcams, etc.) will be live streamed to blockchains and publicly available at all times. Those are our cameras, our tax dollars paid for them, and if you want to pretend those are our public servants, let’s see everything they do all the time.
8. All police unions will be closed and all police pensions will be seized pending investigation of all accusations of crimes by police. Police who are convicted of criminal behaviour will forfeit all their property. Police who do not arrest the police will be fired - knowing of a crime and not arresting the criminal is police foulness and it must end.
9. Police who are convicted of crimes will be incarcerated with the general population at all times. If the police do not like how they are treated by prisoners, they will reconsider how they treat suspects.

Unless these demands are met, there is no reason to believe that there can be justice.

There can be no peace without justice. There can be no justice without freedom. There can be no freedom without weapons. And until those in power earn our respect, we’re keeping ourselves on high alert. Our patience is gone.

 

Jim Davidson is an author, entrepreneur, actor, and director. He is the cfo of KanehCN3.com and the vision director of HoustonSpaceSociety.net You can find him on Twitter.com/planetaryjim as well as Pocket.app and Flote.app also as planetaryjim. He appreciates any support you can provide as times are very difficult. See the Paypal link on this page. Or email your humble author to offer other choices. Visit IglooLuau.com for more information. Those seeking a multi-jurisdiction multi-hop VPN for communications privacy please visit https://secure.cryptohippie.com/houstonspacesociety.php For those seeking colloidal silver try ppmSilver.com/Jim Ask Jim about CryptoWealth.