Is this racist?

[HairOfTheDog]

It's not racist for LE response to be different in this case. "What if they were all black people?" There was a group like that... they were called the Black Panthers. They disrupted a government session by armed force. About 30 people, 6 were arrested. Were they all gunned down? No. Was the group labeled thugs? Not historically.

Okay, you got me curious and I had to check this out Cutz.

It happened here in California in 1967. The Black Panthers interrupted the session in the state capitol which was considering repealing Open Carry in the state. They did not threaten anyone, but called attention to their cause and surrendered peacefully. The group pleaded guilty to the one law they broke: a misdemeanor charge of disrupting a legislative session. In no way were they provoking a stand off with their gun rights demonstration. This is what put the Black Panthers on the map.

In 1985, the black activist MOVE group did in fact provoke a stand off with law enforcement when they refused to vacate a portion of a building they'd been occupying. When tear gas was used and shots were fired, the Philadelphia police commissioner ordered the building to be bombed. 11 people, including 5 children, were killed. The fire department was ordered not to quash the flames. 250 people were rendered homeless as the entire block was destroyed. No one faced criminal charges, but the city had to pay civil damages.

When the American Indian Movement occupied the town of Wounded Knee, SD in 1973, demanding that the federal government honor their treaties and grant the Indians greater control over their native lands, the police, military, and FBI turned the reservation into an all-out war zone and snipers shot dead two AIM members. A U.S. Marshal was shot and paralyzed.

Then there was the Waco siege in 1993 with more than 75 dead.

Anyway, I hope that times have changed enough that any race of protesters or bystanders would not be killed over an occupation, and LE would instead be able to use non-lethal means and charge the occupiers later (as long as they weren't endangering the lives of others). Donovan is right about history pointing away from a death-free forced evacuation. I hope the Bundy militia folds before we have to find out if that holds true in present day Oregon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_incident