Have you looked at any of the videos of police beating up peaceful protesters from the last few months?
Sure, there are cases where protests escalate into riots, but that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the many, many, documented cases of peaceful protests where police initiated violence.
How do you reconcile behaviour like this https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/20/christopher... with your view that "Polices are always either just there, or they escort specifically"? In this case they actively escalate violence against a peaceful and unarmed protester (who also happens to be a Navy vet).
How about Buffalo police assaulting this old man, leaving him with blood pouring from his ears? (https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/06/05/buffalo-police-push...) Are the riot police "wanting to do the right thing" here? Especially when they walk past him and leave him lying as his blood pools on the sidewalk? Can you honestly watch that video and feel fine with how the police handled that situation?
> but it's insane to think the majority of them are psychos.
This is a strawman. The post you replied to was not claiming anything close to this.
> I think most of them are fine with people just protesting.
This can be true at the same time as the viewpoint you're arguing against being true. A couple bad actors escalating things can result in a peaceful protest turning into an uncontrollable riot. Also, use of force orders vary by county, as do the orders handed down to the cops on the ground. Read https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/de-escalation-keeps-pro... for some evidence-based discussion around varying use-of-force policies and how they affect the outcomes during protests.
> There was a time when local police would turn fire hoses on peaceful protestors and release dogs.
We've made progress since then, but to claim we've fixed the problem is like claiming that racism in the USA ended with the victory of the civil rights movement.
Have you looked at any of the videos of police beating up peaceful protesters from the last few months?
Sure, there are cases where protests escalate into riots, but that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the many, many, documented cases of peaceful protests where police initiated violence.
How do you reconcile behaviour like this https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/20/christopher... with your view that "Polices are always either just there, or they escort specifically"? In this case they actively escalate violence against a peaceful and unarmed protester (who also happens to be a Navy vet).
How about Buffalo police assaulting this old man, leaving him with blood pouring from his ears? (https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/06/05/buffalo-police-push...) Are the riot police "wanting to do the right thing" here? Especially when they walk past him and leave him lying as his blood pools on the sidewalk? Can you honestly watch that video and feel fine with how the police handled that situation?
> but it's insane to think the majority of them are psychos.
This is a strawman. The post you replied to was not claiming anything close to this.
> I think most of them are fine with people just protesting.
This can be true at the same time as the viewpoint you're arguing against being true. A couple bad actors escalating things can result in a peaceful protest turning into an uncontrollable riot. Also, use of force orders vary by county, as do the orders handed down to the cops on the ground. Read https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/de-escalation-keeps-pro... for some evidence-based discussion around varying use-of-force policies and how they affect the outcomes during protests.
> There was a time when local police would turn fire hoses on peaceful protestors and release dogs.
We've made progress since then, but to claim we've fixed the problem is like claiming that racism in the USA ended with the victory of the civil rights movement.