Some Lessons That Have to be Learned

Not "Leared". Learned.

What lessons are those?

• Back in the day, as Official Old People used to say, the cops clearing out crowds of people acting out in public MIGHT have used 'rubber bullets'. Those would be projectiles designed to be less than lethal, but delivering a nasty bruise/painful injury that would also deliver the message - Do NOT Mess with Us.
• Those intended-to-be-less-than-lethal means have LONG been discarded. ANY crowd with a significant number of people who are non-compliant when ordered to leave must face the reality that the LEAST awful 'persuasion technique' will likely be nightsticks/batons or tasers.
• The idea of non-violent protest was accelerated in the late 1950s and early 1960s, by those in the Civil Rights movements. The idea that, should the police be seen, on camera/film, delivering physical blows to people standing/sitting/lying down, non-compliant, but not presenting a threat, the news media would amplify both the protest and the Cause. 
• That worked, more often than not, in a society not accustomed to seeing police dispatching miscreants with physical means.
• Most people tended to sympathize with the protesters, who were dressed in dress/business clothing, and looked very much like a quiet, civil crowd, presenting no threat.
• Physical means escalated, employing fire hoses, dogs, and other non-lethal means to get people dispersing. This led to widespread opinion opposing the police actions, and shifted peoples' thinking to view the police as "the bad guys" in this controversy.
• Eventually, with BOTH sides escalating, outright violence became the norm (and, was used in other actions - anti-Vietnam-war, womens rights and other causes). Bombs and other weapons became so commonly used that, looking back on news of the time, I realized that I had forgotten much of the violence of the 1970s. It failed to make much of an impression on me.

The lesson of escalating violence was not learned. Starting off with 'soft persuasion' didn't disperse protesters, and led them to believe that cops COULDN'T use guns against the crowds.

Sadly, many still believe that lie.

Including Renee Nicole Macklin (Good), and her wife, Becca Good (I use parentheses around Renee's last name, as there is apparently no official marriage between the two women).

For those not understanding why a cop would consider a car moving at him as a threat, I offer the following:

I was once struck by a car, moving under 10 miles an hour. I was in a legal crosswalk, walking with the green light.

The car that struck me was driven by a woman turning left. She had kids in the car, so may have been distracted by that.

When struck, my legs were knocked out from under me; I landed on the top of the hood, then bounced off it to the street. I was knocked out of my shoes. They landed about 15 feet away.

I only remember parts of the accident, but there were multiple witnesses. Despite that, the driver was not cited (I have NO idea why not).

The relative difference in mass/weight between the vehicle and me was substantial. Me - around 160 pounds. The car - at least 1500 pounds. So, I was accelerated rather abruptly, and suffered considerable soft tissue injury. No broken bones. I was lucky to be 40; at my age now, 74, I have no doubt would not have recovered without broken bones and possibly brain damage.

So, I have first hand experience with vehicle-pedestrian collisions.

Furthermore, Good was accelerating. The video shows that even after being shot, the car continued down the road, fast, until it hit another car. I would love to see someone figure out the velocity/acceleration/force involved by video analysis. Given the fact that video collects information, including the time involved. By plugging in the numbers for distance and time, velocity can be calculated. After that, acceleration and force.

It doesn't matter that the ICE officer didn't go flying into the air. It doesn't matter than he didn't instantly collapse.

I know my own soft tissue injuries took MONTHS to heal. Actually, broken bones heal faster, and with less pain. As long as the bone is set properly, it generally doesn't cause many problems later (other than a tendency to become a GREAT weather predictor).

Soft tissue injuries are horrifically painful. They often leave muscles and tendons with scar tissue, weakness, and cause mobility problems for years to come.

Intentional assault by vehicle is Attempted Murder. That is the charge Good would have faced, had she lived. 

At this point, anyone participating in the 'Street Actions' has to consider that not only might they be seriously injured, but that they may die. Most people won't have all that much sympathy for their suffering, nor support their cause.

The majority of protesters are being USED by political activist organizations, and their often foreign financial supporters, as what used to be called cannon fodder.

Their lives mean NOTHING to the causes. Their deaths are WELCOMED by those in charge, for the possibility of using their demise as a weapon against the State/Federal government.

Their deaths will, ultimately, have little effect on the outcome. They are wasting their lives chasing the goal of becoming a symbol of resistance.

Do you want to do something USEFUL for the world?

• Volunteer at a food bank.
• Help disabled/elderly maintain their yards.
• Organize local efforts to teach English to those lacking facility with the language.
• Work to help the homeless, particularly veterans, find housing and other services. If they are not legal, solicit money to provide what they cannot LEGALLY get from the government.
• Teach kids Math and Reading. MANY are behind due to school closing over the last several years.
• Volunteer for a Suicide Helpline.

Those are just some of the acts that would actually benefit society, not just the privileged few who run the activist organizations.