Protesting is a non-essential activity, according to the Raleigh Police Department

To be clear: I have absolutely no sympathy for the selfish so-called "protestors" who are being irresponsibly cheered on by the President to "re-open the economy" and endanger millions of American lives. While I can understand economic stresses and concerns about an overreaching government, I simply cannot abide by a movement that was literally organized by nihilistic white nationalists bankrolled by greedy right-wing donors who want other people to die in order to boost a bunch of inherently hollow economic statistics that cannot hold any meaning without human life.

That being said, the Raleigh Police response to the "ReOpen North Carolina" protest was also painfully ridiculous.

The protestors are in violation of the Governors Executive Order and have been asked to leave. #ReopenNC pic.twitter.com/AIEetS42NE

— Raleigh Police (@raleighpolice) April 14, 2020

Protesting is a non-essential activity.

— Raleigh Police (@raleighpolice) April 14, 2020

"Protesting is a non-essential activity." That's what the police said.

Humans are complex beings, and we are capable of holding more than two thoughts in our minds at once. That's how I'm able to recognize that these protestors were, at best, the unwitting patsies of a bigoted death cult while also acknowledging that a police department deeming protest as "non-essential" is, at best, dumb, and at worst, utterly horrifying.

Even if one is to agree that these protestors should have been arrested, this is a terrible way to justify that action. They could have just as easily written this off retroactively as reckless endangerment, or simply left it as a public safety violation. Read the rest