The George Floyd March

Impressive.

Sixty thousand people joined the family of George Floyd as well as elected officials and religious leaders today in a peaceful Houston march from Discovery Green to City Hall organized by rappers and civic activists Trae tha Truth, Bun B, and Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams.

Floyd, 46, a native Houstonian from the Third Ward, died in handcuffs last week after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin, who was fired immediately after the incident was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter four days later.

It was released Monday that both a private autopsy done by Dr. Michael Boden and Dr. Allecia Wilson hired by Floyd’s family as well as the Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled Floyd’s death a homicide though both reports differed on cause of death. The medical examiner ruled it was heart failure, while the private autopsy ruled asphyxiation. Both reports agreed Floyd died on site, and not later in an ambulance.

The march began and ended with a prayer as well as Floyd’s family’s wishes that the day remain peaceful—and it did. It is reported that prior to the march the Houston Police Department removed bricks and artillery that had been stashed around downtown and a Houston Alert asked everyone to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

A family member of Floyd spoke deliberately stating, “This is our home, we will find justice on the streets of Houston, we are going to march in peace and show the nation, show the world what George Floyd is all about.” She thanked Bun B and Trae tha Truth for helping to organize the event.

Although this was not a city-sponsored march, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner turned out and addressed the crowd, once again applauding them for standing up for George Floyd and the need for change, but again warning that violent actions undermined their cause.

I assume the Chronicle will have a full story on this, but as of when I wrote this post, what they had was a liveblog of the event, which you have to read from the bottom up. The question that always accompanies mass protests is what actions should come of it? Tarsha Jackson, who is still awaiting a court ruling to allow the runoff in City Council District B to proceed, posted on Facebook nine specific items to address in the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the police union. Seems to me that if you believe the problem is mostly “a few bad apples”, then you should want to make it easier to pluck those apples out of the barrel, or at least make it so they have a harder time advancing in their career. These ideas have been out there since 2018. Do we have the will to fight for them?

Three other things. One, you can make a contribution to support bail funds around the country here. Two, William Barr needs to be arrested at the first opportunity. And three, our two US Senators really suck. You can do something about one of them this November.

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45 Responses to The George Floyd March

  1. Megan Taverna says:

    Such a great piece. Thank you!

  2. voter_worker says:

    Until last week, I had never heard of the doctrine of “qualified immunity”. Reps Amash and Omar are introducing legislation to end it. There are stirrings to end the provision of military ordnance to local police. There are hints of reducing the power of police unions. Officer Chauvin, with his disgustingly cruel act, lit a fuse which has ignited a series of seismic events. I just read this morning that although he worked for the MPD, he is a resident of a St Paul suburb and also a suburb of Orlando FL. He is registered to vote at his Florida residence. How about we focus on hiring residents of communities to provide police protection to those communities, not literal outsiders. Congratulations to Houston for demonstrating to the nation how aggrieved communities can partner with their city in the effective airing of grievances rather than everyone getting sidetracked by violence.

  3. Jason Hochman says:

    I am very upset. Here was the mayor leading the gathering of 60,000. I thought that large gatherings were banned. All holiday festivities have been cancelled. I can’t go to church. Local sports teams can’t have spectators at their events. But the mayor is OK with leading a gathering of 60,000.

    Also, the police chief of Houston was talking to PBS and portrayed himself as some brilliant reformer. What about just last year when his department using fabricated evidence to obtain a warrant gunned down a couple and their dog. The officers involved were not fired. Goines got to retire and draw a pension from us. It took months for charges to be brought. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, the officers were fired within hours. The officer with the biggest role in the killing was charged within a day.

    I am upset and there is nothing to do about it. I guess I am most upset because as I was biking home from work yesterday, I narrowly averted death, by a truck blowing through a stop sign on Eli Street. The police won’t do anything, even though I have a license number, and talked to the driver of the truck. There is no concern from our local government about the carnage on the streets of Houston, which cause more deaths here than viruses or cops. I’m depressed because if I would have been killed, there might have been a small mention in the news, but I would not have City Hall lit up and a big celebration of me, even though I work, follow the laws, and don’t hurt anyone. Just thinking.

  4. brad says:

    Jason,

    I am sorry to hear about your dangerous close call with the truck.

  5. Bill Daniels says:

    Obviously there was no reason to shut down the rodeo, since all our elected leaders have no problem with big crowds. No danger of the Wuhan virus now! SheJack, Lizzie, Sly, Acevedo….they all participated! They all are officially endorsing getting back to normal. After what we saw, there’s absolutely no reason NOT to have the Astros, Rockets and Texans play to full crowds. There’s no reason to cancel the ‘Pride festival’

    It’s over. Covid is over! All restrictions on gatherings, occupancy…..all that is moot now. Houston just proved it! We showed the world that Covid is over! Nobody was worried about killing grandma.

  6. brad says:

    Thanks for the laugh Bill.

  7. Bill Daniels says:

    Jason,

    Of course HPD doesn’t care about your brush with death. You’re the wrong color. You should have identified as black and said it was a white man in a red truck that almost killed you. That would have gotten some action, pressers with SheJack, etc.

    Having said that, Art is becoming a national celebrity because he’s showing that yes, he’s down with the cause.

    His ‘big teddy bear’ and crew mercilessly gunning down the Tuttles and their dog. Oh how he defended his crew. He still defends them, still trashes the Tuttles. Them white folk deserved what they got. Compare and contrast with the current dead guy, a multiple time felon who pistol whipped a pregnant woman while robbing her. Fentanyl and meth in his system when he died? What’s that called? Speedball? Anyone know where to even get meth and fentanyl? I don’t. But who cares about any of that, the guy was the right color to care about, so here we are.

    I don’t recall Acevedo marching for the Tuttles. I don’t recall him offering a police escort for the Tuttle’s funeral. Acevedo is a hero because he’s got his anti-white bona fides firmly cemented here. And that’s what this is really all about….a predictable race riot, since Russia, Ukraine, and now the Wu flu have failed. We’re down to the insurrection portion of our program.

    Hillary told us this was the way. Remember? Civility can return when Dems retake power? These are Joe Biden’s biggest campaign rallies to date, and Joe seems to do better when he doesn’t even bother to show up for them.

    The important takeaway here is, fuck Trump, he’s a racist, even though he wasn’t responsible for decades of Dem. rule in all the cities that are currently being looted and in flames. Look at Houston. It’s been 40 years since Jim McConn, a Republican, was mayor. So we’ve got this horrible problem with systemic racism (translation: fuck white people), and we’re gonna blame Trump for that. We are NOT going to blame decades of Democrat rule, we’re not going to ask why Obama-Biden didn’t fix all this supposed systemic racism. We’re not going to do any of that. We’re just going to vote Biden, because THIS TIME, he’ll do something about ‘systemic racism.’ It’s about time.

  8. Bill Daniels says:

    Brad,

    De nada.

  9. voter_worker says:

    Jason, Officer Chauvin and the others were fired on Tuesday and Chauvin was not arrested until Friday. The delay in his arrest escalated the already enormous outrage over what he had done. As for the crowds downtown, people all over the country are out doing their thing, so the “let’s throw caution to the winds” meme seems to have prevailed and the pandemic is on the back burner for the time being, like it or not. I’m all for the Mayor and the Chief being perceived as co-organizers; HPD has its issues and yes traffic law enforcement is at a bare minimum. Very few of us will die in the demonic, captured-on-video fashion that befell George Floyd so it’s a good thing that most of us pass without a lot of fanfare. We are all very upset and frustrated; you are not alone. I’m thankful that your encounter with the truck was a miss and am sympathetic to your feelings of futility and despair about the danger of our streets and the other contradictions you pointed out.

  10. voter_worker says:

    Bill, white people almost never give a damn when other whites are brutalized by the police and they certainly never march in protest, so why should Acevedo have been out marching by himself? Thanks for the perfect example of white apathy about this issue.

  11. brad says:

    Bill,

    You are good. Jumping and jiving all over the place to try and obfuscate what is literally happening before our eyes.

    The important takeaway is that Trump is acting racist and unfortunately is being enabled by the Republican Party. You see that, right?

    So, your campaigning effort is that 40 years of systemic racism is not over in our country so we need to vote in Republicans who wave Confederate flags…got it.

    By the way, I used Googled Translation for “systemic racism” [English to Republican]. The answer was “I am late for a lunch, can’t talk about it right now”.

  12. Mainstream says:

    I don’t believe Mayor Jim McConn was ever a Republican, however conservative or business-friendly he may have been.

  13. Bill Daniels says:

    Mainstream,

    I admit I used Wiki to source that claim, and, since they often get it wrong, I won’t double down on that.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McConn

    Perhaps McConn was not a Republican, which just makes Houston’s ‘systemic racism’ problem even that much more perplexing, because Dems would have run the city even longer than 40 years. How is all this racism here with Democrats running the city that long?

    How did all this systemic racism flourish under 8 years of Obama/Biden, and how will 4 years of Biden/asyetunamedblackwoman solve this problem? What magic wand does Biden have now that he failed to use for 8 years in power?

  14. robert says:

    How is all this racism here with Democrats running the city that long?

    Because of people like you Bill, because of people like you.

  15. brad says:

    Bill,

    Good questions.

    Maybe we should ask the Congressional Republican Black Caucus.

  16. brad says:

    Bill,

    No magic wands. Just a long arc of justice that is being promoted by one of the major political parties.

    The other political party has its head in the sand or is too busy to answer questions about it because they are late for lunch.

    Can you guess which political party is which?

  17. Bill Daniels says:

    Brad,

    Have you noticed that R’s break down into congressional groups by policy? Freedom Caucus = very conservative folk, for example.

    Dems break down into RACIAL sub groups. Why is that? Why is just being a Democrat not good enough? Why not subdivide by blue dog, progressive, etc.? It’s telling that the Dems sub group by race….identity politics.

    Isn’t that counterproductive? Aren’t we trying to achieve a merit based country, one where we judge people by what they do? Congressional black caucus seems to just by skin color alone.

    What about the Squad? Could white congressmen (people of Congress?) join? Or is that exclusively for hate filled non whites?

  18. C.L. says:

    I’m not all that interested in expending energy to blame one party or another for how we got to where we are, I’m only interested in changing policing policies so I don’t end up with an eight minute knee on my neck for ‘faulty’ $20 bill.

  19. Flypusher says:

    Police reforms I’d like to see

    1) No more no-knock raids, especially if you’re going to have castle doctrine laws. I’m honestly surprised that what happened to the Tuttles hasn’t happened more often. I also think what happened to them was just as heinous and wrong as what happened to George Floyd.

    2) Civil forfeiture reform- if charges are dropped, not filed in a timely matter (we can debate how long that should be), or the accused is acquitted, the cops have to give back the confiscated stuff. Immediately. No excuses, no arguments, no red tape.

    3) Residency requirements: I don’t like the idea of dictating where someone has to live to hold a job, but you can offer incentives for police officers who live in the neighborhoods they patrol.

    4) What Voter-Worker had to say about qualified immunity.

    5) Oversight- The State AG’s Office needs a new division to handle any complaints about police misconduct. Kick this upstairs away from conflicts of interest immediately. Alternatively, establish a civilian review board with elected seats.

    6) Hiring standards: Raise the standards, but also raise the pay. If you want the best people, you have to pay them what they are worth. That’s why I’m not on board with these defund police ideas some people are floating. Stop buying military surplus and pay for better people instead

    7) There need to be a database of the bad cops who get fired for being bad, and they need to be blacklisted from future law enforcement employment.

    Now on the political side, who might I look to for actually doing any of this? I see the Dems as the party that COULD get these things done. Note that I said COULD and not WILL. They have incentive to do so at the bare minimum out of political self interest, as their base wants this. So possible. But when I look at the other side of the aisle, I see too many GOPers scrambling to kiss ass on an lying, bigoted, authoritarian bully. So I’ll wager on the maybe rather than the no.

  20. brad says:

    Bill,

    Obfuscation foul.

    Democrats do heavily participate in the ethnic/race based caucuses (Hispanic, Black, Asia Pacific Islander) because they are a diverse political party. There are important issues affecting these communities requiring thoughtful policy discourse. No mention of merit based on race. Nice try.

    What would the Republican equivalent sub groups be? White, Off White, Lily White, Snow White? Not seeing a lot of different colors in the Republican crayon box.

    Not sure what you are talking about the Dems not differentiating…surely you’ve heard of the ideological caucuses for Blue Dogs, Progressives, New Democrats, etc?

    I read a quote from one of the founders of The Squad that “Our squad includes any person committed to creating a more equitable and just world.”

    So yes that could include white congressmen. Maybe you could ask Republican Steve King if he is interested in joining?

  21. brad says:

    Anyone still confused as to why the Republican Party has been painted as insensitive (at bare minimum) to valid racism concerns.

    Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “acknowledged that he is holding up a bill with broad bipartisan support that would make lynching a federal hate crime, saying he fears it could allow enhanced penalties for altercations that result in only ‘minor bruising,’”

  22. Manny says:

    Bill Daniels is on record that he favors the shooting of unarmed women and children.

    Bill Daniels and other enablers have brought us “Mourning in America”.

    https://youtu.be/t_yG_-K2MDo

  23. Wolfgang says:

    DO YOU BELIEVE IN A UNIVERSAL RIGHT TO BREATHE?

    Was any one of the usual suspects here actually at the Tuesday afternoon march?

    If you are not-fact-averse (and I try not to be), you would have to agree that social distancing could NOT easily be maintained in Discovery Park, on Avenida de las Americas (except if you positioned yourself right in front of the GRB and remained an onlooker), and on Walker Street all the way to City Hall. So far, so risky. The crowd was just too big for the available square footage in the park and along the route, what with the street being mostly bounded by buildings.

    That said, most of the marchers wore masks/face coverings. I would estimate more than 85%. Moi too. So, there was some mitigation going on, consistent with Lina’s twittered warning about mass gatherings. It would very well have contributed to further COVID-19 spread, and it probably did. Some risks may be worth taking, perhaps even a chance of getting pepper-sprayed?

    But why would the right side of the political divide even worry about that since most marchers were black, brown, or otherwise presumptively liberal, and likely to vote Democrat, if at all….. Unless, of course, Republicans, or at least those brave enough to make themselves available for rhetorical target practice in a bona-fide left-tilting forum such as this one, do care about people of all ideological couleurs and degrees of pigmentation? In which case perhaps we should consider raising an olive branch in addition to the BLM placard.

    Jason: That was satire, right?

    Flypusher: That list would provide fodder for a serious debate.

  24. Bill Daniels says:

    Manny,

    When I was in high school, and my friends and I used to go to rock concerts, at the Summit, and particularly at the Coliseum, gangs of Mexicans would hang out after the show in the parking garages, to steal the concert goers’ t-shirts, and sometimes mug them for their wallets as well. They would gather en masse, and they’d send the scrawniest kid in the group over to get the targeted concert goer’s shirt, with the explicit threat that they would kick the concert goer’s ass if the shirt wasn’t handed over. They would also hang out in the upper prom of the Coliseum and pull knives on people, because generally the upper prom wasn’t as packed with people. We NEVER got upper prom tickets for Coliseum shows.

    Once, at an Iron Maiden show, one of our friends got separated from us INSIDE the Summit, and when we saw him again, a Mexican had pulled a knife on him and stolen the shirt he just bought. At that same show, another buddy was sitting in his seat, shirt in lap, when a little Mexican kid ran by and grabbed it. We were able to chase that kid down and we had him cornered and were just about to beat his ass when a HPD cop showed up. We told him what the kid did (had already gotten the shirt back), and the cop said he’d handle it, so the cop tossed him out.

    I don’t know that the story has anything to do with any of this, but your constant hate filled, racist invective made me think about that. That had to be 35 plus years ago. Were you one of the older Mexicans in that group, sending the younger kids out to steal shirts? Were your kids stealing shirts?

    Seems likely. Why don’t you return my buddy’s Iron Maiden shirt, assuming you still have it, and I’ll make sure it gets back to him, OK?

    Wolfgang,

    Speaking for the right (pun intended) side, we think the Covid scare is over, since it is now Summer, so we’re not worried about all those rioters causing another outbreak. The danger there presents as mob violence, not as a disease vector.

    Brad,

    Hate crimes laws are anathema to justice and equality. What was that famous quote? Some animals are more equal than others? I oppose hate crime laws. If a law has been violated egregiously, like, say, the dragging death of the black guy in Jasper, Hell yes they all needed the death penalty. I would have gladly offered to put the bullets in their heads myself, at no cost to the taxpayers.

    If Manny steals my friend’s shirt, charge the crime. The fact that he did it because my buddy is white, and he chose not to rob my Mexican buddy is immaterial. Prosecute for the crime, not his hate.

    Voter:

    I could go with some of those, particularly 1 and 2. Doesn’t the CoH already do # 3? Seems like the have some special incentives for cops and firefighters to live in the city already.

  25. Manny says:

    There you go again Bill with your racists comments, “Mexicans” how do you know they were “Mexicans”? Did you ask? Did they tell you they were “Mexicans”. Back in those days almost everyone you consider “Mexican” were American born. That makes them Americans, Bill?

    Besides you lie about everything, I doubt that your narrative is true.

    Bill you have written that you are in favor of killing women and children. You are a mirror image of the god you follow, Trump. You are full of hate, for people that ain’t white and male. You hate this country because you people are making sure that America becomes a broken country.

    You people have brought “Mourning to America”, Bill:

    https://youtu.be/t_yG_-K2MDo

    Move to Russia Bill, you will feel right at home, maybe that is where the source of your income is from.

  26. Jason Hochman says:

    Wolfgang–what part of my comment are you asking about satire? I would really love a serious answer. If mass gatherings are a super high risk, why are our leaders presiding over a gathering of an estimated 60,000? The masks are stupid. I saw Mayor Turner spewing loudly into a microphone WITH THE MASK HANGING AROUND HIS CHIN AND NECK. Talking loudly like that causes more droplets, and at that time his mask was pulled down. Also, he was there handling his mask to pull it up and down. This was the exact why Fauci said in the first place we shouldn’t wear masks. Because you will be constantly fiddling with it, touching your face, and risking putting germs near your mouth and nose. I didn’t see Turner wash his hands when adjusting the mask. Please explain how this is not risking putting virus on his face. I also can’t wait to see what happens as summer heats up, and the masks are full of sweat, people can’t breathe as freely in the heat, and people start getting acne around their mouth and nose from the sweaty bacteria filled masks. Oh, and when the lighter skinned people see the tan lines around their faces. Serious questions, and I would love to hear any well reasoned answer, not something like, “you don’t care about anyone.” Or “you are stupid.”

  27. Jason Hochman says:

    @Bill, I have to disagree that the cops would’ve come if I said that I was black and a white guy in a pickup truck almost hit me. See the big response the Karen in Central Park got when she said that an African American man threatened her. Of course she is probably a progressive, but not averse to using racial stereotypes to further her ends and punish a man who just didn’t want the dog to scare away the birds he was watching, and when in fact that part of the park has leash laws.

    Now, if you can get your friend’s Iron Maiden shirt back, it would come in handy. You could make some home made masks out of it.

    I’ve kind of recovered from my near death experience. I was coming up Parker, with no stop sign, and the truck was coming west on Eli, with a stop. Somehow I could see out of the corner of my eye that it was accelerating, and so I braked hard, ducked to the left, and the truck saw me and braked hard. I could tell that the people inside thought that I was a goner. Their mouths and eyes all looked like this “O” Very frustrating that the government has little concern for the vehicular pandemic. No vaccine for death by car, and no cure. The third leading cause of death worldwide. I am still frustrated that the police don’t care about this. And, if you read the news, they always blame pedestrians or bikes for the crash. The bike or pedestrian “darts out,” or “fails to yield.”

  28. Jason Hochman says:

    voter-worker: the Wikipedia story about this incident says that the incident happened on 5/25, and that all officers were put on administrative leave on 5/26, first thing, and then all were fired later that day. At this point all four officers have been charged.

    These things happen all the time, but only become a major story when their is a video by a witness. Like Rodney King was recorded by a man on his balcony. Johnny Gammage was only noticed because he was a cousin of a Steelers player, and the car that he was driving belonged to the football player.

    I am a bit worried about the trials of the officers in this case. If they have decent lawyers, no way is it a slam dunk conviction. Floyd had some arterial disease, multiple drugs, high blood pressure, and now they say he tested positive for corona virus. Sounds like the officers have a great defense. Remember what happened when the Rodney King officers were acquitted or the juries deadlocked. Do you remember Reginald Denny? I saw him go on TV and meet and forgive one of his attackers. Reginald Denny was an innocent victim, who has permanent damage and is lucky to be alive.

  29. brad says:

    Bill,

    We can still tell you are upset about your concert shirt being stolen. You are right to be angry about it.

    But the readers of this site can clearly see where the hate is coming from.

  30. Wolfgang says:

    Re: “The danger there presents as mob violence.”

    — Okay, so if the corona threat is now at bay, perhaps it’s time for someone to do the honors and point out that the danger of mob violence is (also ?) overblown, at least in Houston. Locally, the last few Mother-Nature or Act-of-God events (take you pick of label) were much more violent, destructive of property (if not lives), and costly. … to put general area risks into perspective. (I’ll get to the traffic-deaths later).

    Personally, I didn’t witness any mob violence at Discovery Green, on the Walker route, at City Hall of in Tranquility Park, even with thousands of participates in various states of mood and agitation, or purely intent on expressing a desire to stand up for beliefs and convictions, and to express a demand for change. Or sympathy and interracial solidarity.

    I do wonder, though, how much tax-payer money was wasted on all that hyper-security buildup: HPD, State Troopers, DHS, embedded undercover agents. It didn’t make me feel any safer, and if I had had any serious safety concerns, I could have passed on the event and stayed home to watch violent footage and associated media hype on TV.

    But then again, there are different ways to look at things: Unlike the protesters, the law enforcement personnel do it for the money. They get paid to police First Amendment compliance by others, however unpleasant that may be, and most of that money will ultimately get plowed back into the economy. Still, it could probably be spent on more socially useful endeavors.

    In my view, the law enforcement presence was OVERKILL, to say the least, compared to the other annual Downtown events, such as Rodeo Trail Riders, Via Colori, Art Car Parade, and International Festival.

    Finally, if you feel threatened by chanting and screaming, I would point out that such also happens at sporting events and that there is — if you don’t sympathize with cause and try to look at it sociologically — a long history of panem et circenses. Not to mention hooliganism at sports events … though perhaps more of it in the Mother Country.

  31. brad says:

    Wolf,

    Maybe we should a Six Sigma analysis to manufacture the appropriate amount of law enforcement coverage. Might be hard to get the input data from the bad apples though.

    Funny enough, I remember when I took my little girls to the Art Car Parade we cached up some extra bricks along the route just in case things got dicey with any pop-up civil rights protests when the Obama art car drove by. I think the security for that parade easily should have been tripled.

  32. Bill Daniels says:

    Wolfgang,

    Have you seen the civil unrest, insurrection, arson, looting, assault, murders, and general mayhem generated by these “peaceful protests” throughout the country? Maybe you missed all that. Maybe you can’t name the black people killed by the protestors/rioters, but they are dead just the same, killed not by the hated police, but by the peaceful protestors themselves. Did you miss the Verizon store being looted, right here in Houston? Miss Cafe Express being destroyed? Did you miss the peaceful protestors trying to loot stores in the Galleria, including Forever 21 and Nordstrom? Is your metric, “Well, they didn’t loot or vandalize anything TODAY in Houston, so it’s fine?”

    Are you really going to tell me that these protests are not wreaking death and destruction across our land? Did you miss the peaceful protestors damaging the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial, and partially burning St. John’s Church? Trump had to mobilize the 82nd Airborne to keep the Lincoln Memorial and other important American landmarks from being destroyed by the protestors of peace. Think about that. We send in the Army to defend stuff all over the 3rd World, and now, thanks to the current insurrection, we have to have the Army defend our shared heritage here on US soil.

    Are you going to discount all the pain caused to Americans of all stripes, inflicted by the peaceful protestors? People no longer have jobs because these protestors of peace burned their workplaces down. Some people no longer have their lives, because protestors of peace killed them. Others were merely savagely beaten; we consider them the lucky ones.

    Have you not watched any news coverage of these events, or are you just telling us the emperor has a very fine set of clothes?

    My work takes me to all parts of town, and I’ve never been fearful of going anywhere before. Not to steal a phrase, but I’ve met some very good people in all parts of town, even the very roughest. There’s good everywhere if you look for it. Having said that, mob violence is mob violence, and that scares the crap out of me. Houston has been spared the worst of it, thus far, but how long do you want to keep pressing your luck?

    At your very peaceful protest attended by Hizzoner, SheJack, Lizzie, Acevedo, and other luminaries, there were over 200 arrests, and you know damn well Acevedo had his troops use the lightest hand possible. I’m sure he wanted no arrests, but still, there were over 200 rioters whose conduct was so egregious that they had to be arrested. I’m thinking you should be grateful you didn’t find yourself present in the after party violence.

    https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/HPD-arrest-more-than-200-after-downtown-rally-for-15313395.php

    Brad,

    I too, love the Art Car Parade. I have friends that used to roller skate to coordinate the parade and keep the crowds back. I don’t think they use the ‘Skate Trash’ for that anymore though. I also don’t recall any rioting at any Art Car Parade I have ever been to. Bonus: Now that the covid crisis is over, maybe the Art Car Parade can be brought back this year. I realize that would take some scheduling to get all the out of state entries here, but I don’t see why it couldn’t happen.

  33. Manny says:

    Bill move to Russia, you seem to find so much wrong with this country, now that Trump has really, really, bigly F up the country. You, also, seem to spook easy.

    Bill Daniels you are a racist and a bigot, your kind have destroyed what was the greatest country in the world.

    There is “Mourning in America”, Bill because of people like you and your god, Trump.

    https://youtu.be/t_yG_-K2MDo

    Nearly 40 million unemployed, over 100,000 dead, thanks to you people that adore the Russian Cheeto.

  34. brad says:

    Bill,

    “There’s good everywhere if you look for it.” I’m looking at your last post and I’m still looking for it.

    “Now that the Covid crisis is over…” What?!

    https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

    MAGA…Winning!!! With President Trump’s impressive response to the public health crisis I don’t think these other upstart countries Brazil and Russia can catch up to us.

  35. Bill Daniels says:

    Here’s a great video for y’all (warning-language NSFW):

    https://www.facebook.com/RealPoliticalCowboy/videos/255419802214791/

    I love this guy! “I’m black, I don’t even know white people!”

  36. Bill Daniels says:

    Brad,

    We’ve just had a government sponsored 60,000 person Joe Biden rally. Just today, we saw a state level funeral in a church packed with mourners. Get with the times. That means social distancing is over! There’s no longer any justification for not allowing normal church services. No need to cancel funeral services for everyone else. There’s no longer any justification for shutting down the rodeo, the Art Car Parade, baseball, football…..no longer any justification to stop any of that.

    Or are you saying that Sly, SheJack, Lizzie, Al Green and the other leaders made a mistake and shouldn’t have condoned or participated in a mass crowd event? Pick one.

  37. Jason Hochman says:

    Some truth to Bill’s post, but I don’t know how many were killed by the protesters. However, let me point again to the Rodney King riot, and what happened to Reginald Denny, who was entirely an innocent party who was in the wrong place. That should not have happened. I fear it could happen again, because that took place after the Rodney King incident officers were acquitted at trial. I think a good lawyer can get the George Floyd officers acquitted. A conviction is not a sure thing, when he had all of the other conditions, I know of course that having a knee on his neck was not a good thing for his health, but proving a murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt with a good defense?

    As for the end of the COVID crisis, I have contacted my county judge with my questions. She never answers my emails or returns calls though. I asked her to please put out a press release or hold a press conference and comment on the irresponsible actions of our leaders who led a 60,000 person event (which should be banned in Harris County), or else tell us that everything is fine, gather away, go to parades, PRIDE, church, festivals, sports, whatever, it all is OK. She seems strangely silent. After all, Mayor Turner and SJL must have inside information on the truth of the situation, right?

  38. Wolfgang says:

    DO YOU DO DIATRIBE?

    Bill & Hochman: Here is to make you guys feel better, deserved or otherwise, and take your minds off the impending mob-inflicted doom and gloom. And yes, I did see the televised coverage, and noticed how greatly it diverged from my own personal observation of peaceful events in Houston. Just saw that Will Hurd was here too, thanks to social media, and no, not sorry to have missed the afterparty with the — what were they — bottle throwers?

    So, without further fire, smoke, or pepper spray, today’s news on the mail-by-vote front:

    Ken Paxton, otherwise doing business as the State of Texas (in State courts) just scored another skirmish victory in the Fifth Circuit. More pats on his back following the recent private ex parte vindication in the Texas Supreme Court (the one against the election clerks who hadn’t done anything improper).

    The Fifth’s interim disposition (of the appellate stay issue only) was hardly surprising, but the plaudits bestowed upon Judge Biery for his efforts to make the law actually serve the people in extraordinarily pandemic times were–shall we say–exceptionally non-routine.

    On the substance of the age-discrimination claim, one of the concurrers suggested that any infirmity under the US constitution could be remedied by making all the seniors vote in person, too, thereby neutralizing their age-based privilege. As a matter of remedy.

    SELECT QUOTES

    “The district court had no trouble agreeing with the plaintiffs, hurling invectives at what it apparently saw as the state officials’ harebrained justifications for gifting older but not younger voters with a vote by mail.”

    “Shooting in the dark, the court guessed that Texas wanted to “forc[e] . . . voters to visit polls in-person [sic] during a novel global pandemic, thus jeopardizing their health” and to “fenc[e] out from the franchise a sector of the population because of the way they [sic] may vote.” This kind of drive-by speculation about the state’s covert motives is utterly impermissible and finds no support in this record.42 Instead of searching for a conceivable basis for the rules, the court jerry-rigged some straw men and proceeded to burn them.”

    -end quote

    Now, as far as polemics go, that’s up to snuff — I do diatribe among other genres, and can make it “harsh” upon request — but this coming from a federal appellate court?

    Gee!

  39. Manny says:

    Bill where was your concern when those mostly white males carrying automatic weapons invaded a city claiming their liberty was being taken away. At least be consist.

    I will even provide you a link to the images.

    You are a racist and a bigot Bill who advocated the shooting of women and children, unarmed women and children to be specific.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52496514

  40. Bill Daniels says:

    “Bill where was your concern when those mostly white males carrying automatic weapons invaded a city claiming their liberty was being taken away. At least be consist (sic).”

    Where was I? I was working, but otherwise supporting them in spirit. Let’s look at the tape and see what happened.

    People who were put out of work by the government, people facing losing their jobs, their houses, their apartments, their businesses because the government said they couldn’t work, assembled and peacefully sought redress of grievances directly from their elected leaders…..just as it’s supposed to be done, for anyone who has read our Constitution. They arrived, made their position known, then went home. They didn’t have a weeks long orgy of violence, looting, arson, assaults, murder, shut down cities, etc. They didn’t seek redress of grievances by looting the Nike store, for example. They sought redress by addressing their lawmakers, who, as luck would have it, were NOT in the Nike store.

    Do you want to know the difference between the protestors who wanted the government shut down ended and the anti-Trump protests going on now? Nobody boards up their windows when people gather to demand their right to go back to work. Zero boarding up. Zero stores closing in fear. Compare and contrast that with your anti-Trump protests, not just now, but even back with J-20. What do we see? Burned limos. Bashed windows. Fires. Looting.

    Why is that, Manny? Why can’t you people get your shit together? What’s wrong with you?

    Right to Work Protest Summary

    Total property damage: $ 0

    Total number of burned structures: 0

    Total number of looted stores and homes: 0

    Number of government buildings burned and looted: 0

    Number of assaults committed: 0

    Number of deaths resulting from protest: 0

    Amount of trash left over after protest: No Trash Left Behind

    Isn’t it strange that actual full on racists, some of whom you admit weren’t white, (not sure how that works because we all know non whites aren’t capable of being racist) don’t hurt anyone, don’t destroy anything, and get their message across without destroying cities? Why is it that your people, the noble non racist folks, can’t seem to do the same thing?

    Oh, and post up the ‘mourning in America’ video again! I really like that, and between that, and calling anyone who disagrees with you a racist, you’re really changing hearts and minds. I bet you were great on your debate team, and moot court, with persuasive shit like that! You and Johnny Mata were probably debate team co captains, back in the day, amirite? You both have the same, well crafted, erudite, reasoned, and fact backed arguments.

  41. Manny says:

    Bill I don’t call everyone that disagrees with me a racist, just racist like you and others that act like you, and say the same BS like you.

    Bill, you complained because they took a knee at a football game. That was peaceful protest. Or as that crazy woman told LeBron, just shut up and dribble.

    You people hate minorities, Bill, you have written that shooting women and children is fine with you.

    You people have given us “Mourning in America” Bill, but that ain’t all. You have given us a coward how hides in a bunker. Your hero is a coward Bill.

    https://youtu.be/M5FvBtu3gB4

    Where exactly were you when the following occurred in a church Bill, probably promoting the same hate and violence.

    The Charleston church shooting (also known as the Charleston church massacre)[6][7][8] was a mass shooting on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those killed was the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney; three victims survived. This church is one of the oldest black churches in the United States, and it has long been a center for organizing related to civil rights.

    The morning after the attack, police arrested Dylann Roof in Shelby, North Carolina; the 21-year-old white supremacist had attended the Bible study before shooting. He was found to have targeted members of this church because of its history and stature. Roof was found competent to stand trial in federal court. 21 YEAR OLD WHITE SUPREMACIST – YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE – BILL.

    You people are sick people, just like the fanatics that followed Hitler, or Stalin.

  42. Manny says:

    There is much more than “Mourning in America”, Bill.

    There is another take on the coward, Trump. You and him are exactly the same when it comes to hate, and I could add coward, because Bill, why not come out and say who you really are, what are you scared of?

    https://youtu.be/oYa8mEr3sJA

  43. Manny says:

    Or maybe you will like this Bill, your god.

    https://youtu.be/yoglNFN5-Js

    Shucks, I am going to donate money to the Lincoln Project and it is, also time to send my monthly donation to Biden.

  44. Wolf-not-gang says:

    ON SETTING THE TONE, VOCABULARILY SPEAKING, IN TIMES OF CIVIL DISCONTENT

    It’s the new normal, apparently:

    “rogue district judge”
    “He resolves to take matters into his own hands.”
    “Shooting in the dark”
    “drive-by speculation”
    “jerry-rigged some straw men and proceeded to burn them.”

    Just harvested these lexical chestnuts (or shall we say cheap shots) from the first salvo the Fifth Circuit fired at Judge F. B. in the vote-by-mail appeal.

  45. C.L. says:

    Dial back the vitriol.

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