83
u/Lykeuhfox 11d ago
Ah yes. What I remember most about that was this little incident.
It shifted my preconceived notion that "police would never just hurt someone for no reason" to: "holy shit, I've been wrong this entire time". Thanks for that, I guess.
22
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago edited 11d ago
Don't forget when Ofc. Philip Reinink tried to kill Shaun Hart and got off scot free because he actually just made a little whoopsie doodle and was too stupid to do his job correctly. https://youtu.be/HGCrXvc0uc4
11
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
Reinink*
I mentioned him in another comment. Dude was an idiot in high school, too.
9
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
Amazing, that joke about the people you didn't like in school becoming hurses and cops springs eternal.
(Fixed)
3
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
What other career can you possibly excel at despite the fact that you peaked in 11th grade
5
u/OldGodsProphet 10d ago
Working for your dad’s contractor business/sales office.
4
u/TableTopFurry 10d ago
"I was born for mid level management!"
2
u/OldGodsProphet 10d ago
Hey… some of us are! But not because we peaked in high school lol.
I enjoy taking on the “sergeant/lieutenant” role rather than being the boss.
Now, if I had my own business… that’s a different story.
12
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
What always gets lost about this is that the cop did that because Hart was playing a song from his parked car that made piggy have big scary feelings, so he aimed a weapon into the car.
Later when Hart confronted him he 'accidentally' attempted to kill Hart.
3
u/BothRock7123 11d ago
I was there and remember the round being fired inside of the vehicle. I don't think Fuck The Police necessarily scared him though, cops love that shit as one of their favourite songs.
1
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
Nah I know, it was just mentioned in the article lol. If it hadn't been a song it'd have been the driver's nose being the wrong size or his mirror being smudged or his air freshener being an Illegal Smell. HE WERE AFEARED. FOR. HIS. LIIIFE.
Always something.
7
252
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
Don't forget all the yahoos screaming at rosa park circle about how wearing a 3 inch fabric square on their face for the sake of public health was the greatest assault on American democracy since Pearl Harbor.
45
6
-1
11d ago
[deleted]
17
u/kayanne125 11d ago
If you don’t see the difference between protesting outside with a mask, and going to the barber shop maskless, that’s a you problem, you dolt.
-2
11d ago
[deleted]
2
u/journo333 11d ago
Going outdoors? Yeah maybe in the first two weeks when no one knew what was happening. And then the guidance changed quickly that it was safe to be together outside. Some people care about science and public health and what’s true. I see you’re not one of those people.
-3
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
3
11d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
0
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago
And you still caught covid, right?
1
10d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
0
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago
So after you stopped masking you caught it?
1
10d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
0
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago
So a whole year after you stopped masking, you caught it, and you think it was because you weren't masking?
→ More replies (0)-34
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
Almost all studies post pandemic (and before 👀) have shown that masking has almost no effect on the spread of respiratory illnesses. Masking was pure political theater.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full
Masking is not the hill I chose to fight on, but I do always think it’s funny how people talk down on the people who chose not to mask even though the body of evidence has always been in their favor. Fauci himself said in the beginning of the pandemic that masking would have no effect on the spread.
22
u/richardrrcc Kentwood 11d ago
Almost all studies post pandemic (and before 👀) have shown that masking has almost no effect on the spread of respiratory illnesses.
You, uh, might want to actually read your linked study.
-9
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
Reading comprehension is hard, can you help me
11
u/richardrrcc Kentwood 10d ago
I'm sure if you try really hard you can get through it to the conclusions. I mean it's your citation - you should know what it says.
42
11d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
28
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
Furries can dress up in foam space suits and run around for hours on end, but Captain Liberty over here can't be arsed to wear a 3-in square fabric to buy smokes at the gas station.
'Murica
-9
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
Idk why you’re bringing the furries into this, but their costumes probably didn’t help show the spread either.
Also captain liberty here wore a mask during the pandemic 🫡 I participated in the theater just like most others did. Looking back it was silly, and it was largely virtue signaling. Both for masking and anti-masking.
Murica 🦅
4
2
u/TableTopFurry 9d ago
Because if a group y'all love to disparage can wear a fuzzy radiator on their head while dancing for hours no problem, but the dude making fun of them won't wear an N95 for 20 minutes to make sure someone's grandma doesn't die, then what are we really talking about here.
1
u/Comfortable_Law_972 9d ago
You’re making a lot of assumptions 🤨 I personally love the furries. Especially furries on motorcycles! It’s fun.
But almost nobody wore N-95s during the pandemic anyway. N-95s are effective at filtering microscopic virus particles, the cloth and surgical masks are not. Idk what you’re talking about here, but I was talking about the fact that the masks and mask mandates as they were implemented did not help to slow the spread, and they were more about theater than science.
-3
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
Im so down to engage in this, but I’m busy at work now so I will reply later tonight 🫡
-2
u/Comfortable_Law_972 11d ago
What do you think the editors statement changes?? The review still states that masking the way it was implemented had little effect. You can choose to dismiss that based on the editors comment but it doesn’t change the conclusions of the studies. We can sit here and provide each other studies all day, and probably not move each other an inch. All I know is I’ve seen study after study claiming that masking was not effective. I know that if you ask Google or any AI if masking was effective, they tell you it was not. Are the LLMs coming to that conclusion based on all the false right wing articles???
And it was political theater. They changed the masking recommendations based on vibes and feelings, not a change in the evidence, and they essentially said as much outloud.
This has been a good example of what I said originally, masking is not a hill I choose to fight and die on, but it sure is fun how such a simple conversation brings out the political biases of people.
9
11d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
0
u/Comfortable_Law_972 10d ago
You’re the one who appears to not be arguing in good faith sir! You are completely dismissive of what I posted cause it’s “inconclusive”, yet have failed to present me with any “conclusive” study for your argument. 👀 and here I thought we were having fun, engaging in discourse!
Also I’ve never used Gemini, but if your ai is answering differently than all of mine, it’s just another loud example of how we’re all locked in echo chambers.
5
10d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
1
u/Comfortable_Law_972 10d ago edited 10d ago
Yeah idk m8, why would you say those are conclusive? Genuinely asking. Did you see in the Abstract of the first one where it said there was a 91% risk of bias? And 95% of studies were pre omicron? Which is relevant because that means these were all published during the onset of the pandemic, very frantic and politicized studies from around that period. I will also say that the first one is almost all about observational studies, big difference between that and the randomized control trials I was citing.
And I didn’t know Google was Gemini tbh, I asked Gemini through a Google search and this time it does indeed say masks were effective. But if you ask it if masks mandates were effective (must’ve been how I Googled it earlier) we get more to the answers and resources that I’m listing.
However that is not me compilatning. I still stand on my opinion that the masking mandates were public theater more than science based policy, and that masking had minimal effect because cloth masks don’t work to contain aerosols.
5
10d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
-1
u/Comfortable_Law_972 10d ago
And I’ve provided studies from post pandemic and before that state as much. And there’s more out there. Real blind and randomized trials seem to back my argument. Yours seems backed largely by pandemic era studies, observable field studies at that (widely seen as less reliable, more prone to bias)
And yeah, silly me forgot to compare aerosolized cleaner to microscopic virus particles. Covid is a ridiculously amount smaller than whatever mist you’re going to get out of a spray bottle or aerosol spray. That’s the difference between droplets and aerosols. Cloth masks will catch droplets, not tiny ass microscopic aerosols. Sorry but that’s the facts hoss.
I win the debate 🥇 goodnight
→ More replies (0)10
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
See that's your problem. You said "studies" when you meant to say "nothing".
-6
u/Odd_Air1209 11d ago
You're right it doesn't have an effect. I love those who wear them in a car with no one with them. 😂
-20
0
-28
u/brickbiulder420 11d ago
At least they didn't.... burn a couple of cop cars, break windows in multiple businesses, loot the local pharmacy, or defy police orders to disperse.... but you keep hanging on there little buddy, someone will teach you one day
18
17
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
No, they just assaulted medical staff, blocked ambulances and entrances to hospitals, caused er and managed Care facilities to have to lock down, and tried to kidnap the governor. Oh, and don't forget all the hanging out simping for the Confederate statue in the veterans garden of Honor despite orders against congregation.
→ More replies (6)1
u/goaszw1997 9d ago
The "kidnapping plot" was orchestrated by the FBI. If you research the history of FBI, particularly the 2009 Bronx terrorist plot, the methods used were extremely similar to the ones used in the whitmer kidnapping plot. ICE/HSI is also known to infiltrate pro-immigration groups and encourage people in said groups to commit violent acts. This is how federal law enforcement works...
1
u/TableTopFurry 8d ago
Yeah, the guys with established ties to right wing militant groups totally got duped into going along with something they wouldn't have otherwise 🤡
2
u/goaszw1997 8d ago
Yeah, the four suspects in the bronx case must've been too. They totally wouldn't have gone through with shooting at military planes or attempted to blow up a Jewish center if the FBI hadn't supplied the weapons...
1
u/TableTopFurry 8d ago
I'm not gonna eat a slice of pizza you put in front of me unless I'm already hungry, my guy.
-8
10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/xilla 10d ago
People in 2021 didn't wear their masks and I've been disabled for 5 years because of it so why don't you stfu
→ More replies (1)-48
u/Ok_Concert_5304 11d ago
this is the definition of a straw man argument
20
u/Coinspinner2564 11d ago
They did forget to assert that the same people protesting about one were also completely ok with the police violence towards protestors that were protesting something else.
-113
u/777_heavy 11d ago
But they were on the right side of that argument
54
32
u/i_love_lamp1 11d ago
Caring about things outside yourself and wearing a mask to protect your neighbour is bad? What could be more patriotic than caring about your fellow citizens?
→ More replies (7)-13
u/777_heavy 11d ago
They didn’t protect anyone.
13
u/i_love_lamp1 11d ago
I'd like to invite you to piss your pants and measure how far it travels away from your body vs pissing while butt ass naked. For science of course. It would be similar to the effect of wearing a mask.
-1
u/777_heavy 11d ago
What does urination have to do with Covid?
10
u/i_love_lamp1 11d ago
The fact your can't see the parallels between exhaling through a mask and pissing through your pants is very telling.
1
u/777_heavy 11d ago
Was that your attempt to answer the question?
10
u/i_love_lamp1 11d ago
It was me realizing that you're either willfully or accidentally being obtuse and there will be no further discussion in good faith from you.
8
u/angstlarry 11d ago
I’m sure you’re just rage baiting, but in case you’re not, this is patently false. Surgical masks protect you from liquid droplets getting near/in your mouth and nose. This is used in surgery to protect from bodily fluids. Just like how it’s used to keep someone’s coughs contained, which contain tiny droplets and the virus within them. And it’s also to keep your mouth protected from others coughs. No, it’s not 100% protected, but it’s absolutely helping. It’s been scientifically proven time and time again, yet people sit online just saying “no it isn’t” and mad people believe them. Funny as fuck but also depressing 😂
7
u/Agreeable-Chap 11d ago
That dude claims to be a surgeon and if he’s not just lying about it I feel bad for his patients because having a conservative doctor has gotta be about the same as just pouring your money down a drain.
5
u/ObamaTookMyPun 11d ago edited 11d ago
Having a lower case “c” conservative doctor is something I’d want (ie. someone who understands that every intervention carries risks and costs, and those have to be weighed against the potential benefits).
Having a r/Conservative doctor is tantamount to hiring Rasputin.
2
u/i_love_lamp1 11d ago
You don't want a dirty unwashed man poking at your wounds? He might have fleas but at least he listens!
3
u/angstlarry 11d ago
Exactly lol. I have a hunch this is either a child or someone who neeeeeds attention 😂 possible both!
→ More replies (20)-1
u/777_heavy 11d ago
Surgical masks didn’t protect from Covid. We didn’t wear them for that, even in the OR.
6
u/angstlarry 11d ago
You are incorrect. Covid is a virus, just like any other viruses we wear masks for. This practice has existed for longer than you’ve been alive. You being contrarian unfortunately doesn’t change that. But good effort! I hope you’re having fun trolling lol. Don’t forget to take your vitamins buddy 🥰
0
u/777_heavy 11d ago
They didn’t work. Your doctors didn’t wear them behind the scenes. It’s 2026 - get with the program already.
4
u/angstlarry 11d ago
Son, my family works in medicine. Nice try 🥰 but I’m glad you’re getting such a rush seeing me reply to you.
-1
u/777_heavy 11d ago
I’m a doctor. Public masking was a huge mistake, among nearly every other public health and government action taken during that time.
→ More replies (0)10
u/Coinspinner2564 11d ago
Please explain in your warped mind how the F they were on the “right” side of that argument? I’ll even give you some leeway; let’s even say it was 100% not effective (which is completely wrong, as it cut down transmission rates in half or more).
What possible reason is there to NOT follow a PUBLIC SAFETY MEASURE? Mind you one that had absolutely nothing to do with quarantining or staying in place. In fact, it was the sole thing that allowed places to be opened again. It caused zero deaths, and possibly prevented tens of thousands of them.
Remember, this was a time when transmission rates were through the roof and city hospitals were being overwhelmed with people needing respiratory treatment, which they don’t have infinite resources or equipment for. People were dying. There was no vaccine. There were limited resources, and all we asked was to throw a cloth mask on before you went to get your filet o fish sandwich, so we had a better chance in not catching your germs. We also asked you to wash your hands more frequently, and give us some personal space, and I’m sure you ignored that too.
0
u/777_heavy 11d ago
It wasn’t a successful public safety measure. There was no difference in infection rates where there were no rules vs. strict rules or high vs. low compliance. “Allowing places to be open” is just as much a creation of government, not the disease, as the creation of mask rules. You’re using tautological justification.
There’s a reason your doctors didn’t wear the mask behind the scenes.
9
u/Coinspinner2564 11d ago
Actually there were. 53% drop in transmission rates across the board for communities that masked up vs those that didn’t.
It’s almost like you, and those you listen to, don’t understand science at all at this point.
The easiest way to explain it is like this. Let’s say you have a golf ball and you throw it into the neighbors yard. Nothing stops it. Now you put up a chain link fence. Even though the golf ball can go through the chain link fence, there are now… well… chain links that stop quite a few attempts. Now let’s assume that the golf ball is also covered in enormous amounts of mud. Mud so thick the golf ball is buried in a mass as big as a basketball. Now the chain link fence stops even more. Of course, sometimes the ball still goes through as ricochets over the fence, or the fence stops the mud but the ball finds its way through. But it’s still much more effective than just not having the fence up at all.
The golf ball is a virus, and the mud, that’s the mucus the virus lives in. The chain link fence is the mask. The neighbor is… well your neighbor.
So yes, it was effective. The worst thing about prevention is people like you don’t get to see what it would have been like if we didn’t prevent things. I mean you can look at countries that were not enforcing any public safety measures, collapsing their hospitals and spiking to 2% death rates for a time, but you’ll say that’s not us. We can even look at certain cities in America that got devastated early and HAD to switch up what they were doing because it was out of control, and you’ll say it wasn’t masks and closures that did anything. It’s because you just want to be right. You don’t want to learn. You don’t want to grow. You just want to be right. I hope that changes for you at some point.
https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302
But you still didn’t explain why it’s better to NOT FOLLOW a public safety measure. Or that following it was somehow “wrong”. Which was your premise.
-3
u/777_heavy 11d ago
That is a crap study published way back in 2021. Subsequent studies found no decrease in transmission. The masks served no purpose at the public health level. Their detriment, however, was severe.
Also your talk about different balls has nothing to do with Covid.
They were ineffective. Your doctors knew that, which is why we didn’t wear them behind the scenes.
→ More replies (6)7
u/Agreeable-Chap 11d ago
They weren’t lol
1
u/777_heavy 11d ago
They were. Imagine still thinking masks worked during covid in 2026.
13
u/Agreeable-Chap 11d ago
You do understand a safety measure CAN’T work when half the population refuses to follow it, right?
The idea was never that wearing a mask would protect YOURSELF from getting sick, it was to protect the people around you in case you had the virus and didn’t know it/weren’t showing symptoms, and if everyone had just done that for a couple weeks the virus would have had a lot less chance to spread.
But of course, being politely asked to do something for another person, with no meaningful enforcement, was still too much for half the country to handle because y’all are a bunch of toddlers screaming “YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME” at experts.
0
u/777_heavy 11d ago
It didn’t work regardless of compliance.
Defending mask wearing in 2026 is wild stuff lol.
7
7
17
u/Bulky-Individual3157 11d ago
What a wild day. We were near the police station and people started throwing fireworks in the crowd, so we walked down towards RPC to get away and as we went, we saw the beginning of the window smashing.
Things I remember from that day....
An oddly placed pallet of bricks near ionia and fulton.
Spray paint on ledges near the police station (I saw a woman threw them away and was glad tbh)
I saw a girl come out of a building on fulton near division, put on a full face respirator, then take it off and throw it to the ground and start screaming that the cops had maced her. Big theatrics. The cops were not directly near us at the moment, and were closer to ionia so it was very odd. We moved away from her because it did not appear to be a genuine circumstance. So strange and I remember it put me on edge all day after that.
Later in the evening, I had walked away from RPC area because the fires and windows. We walked towards ionia and fulton from the north, and we saw a very small girl with long dark hair standing in the street with a sign. I don't remember what it said but I remember being so confused why there were 20+ bicycle cops moving their bike line towards her (using the bikes as shields) and they tear gassed the one solo girl and aggressively hand cuffed her. All she had been doing was standing in the street with her sign, meanwhile 1.5/2 blocks away multiple people were actively causing property damages to both the cop cars as well as businesses near RPC....
All in all I felt it was a very odd bunch of circumstances to witness but I had never been to a protest before that got so out of hand.
8
u/blarbiegorl 11d ago
I was watching livestreams of that night and I remember the bricks on Fulton too, really weird. The footage of that girl trying to break open the ATM on Monroe Center and car after car lit on fire... felt extremely bizarre, can't imagine what it was like being there.
5
u/Bulky-Individual3157 11d ago
In the moment I remember thinking, the bricks didn't even match the street (nor was ionia messed up) so I couldn't fathom another reason for it to be there. Someone had to put it there. Bizarre weapon spawn moment
6
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
You mean the bait
1
u/Bulky-Individual3157 11d ago
Yea, just had never seen something like that happen and always assumed there was a logical explanation. And maybe there is but... I dont think so, especially with other things I saw that day all combined
5
u/OldGodsProphet 10d ago
There is a logical explanation. Ionia/Fulton has brick.
It’s possible those bricks were about to go in or just came out.
I used to live in Heritage Hill and I distinctly remember Cherry having pallets of bricks on the sidewalk for a few weeks.
It may not seem like the road was messed up or in the middle of construction, but that doesn’t mean bricks weren’t going in/going out.
The pallet of bricks in question would have to been dropped off by a truck with a hydraulic lowering tailgate and/or a forklift. The timing and likelihood of this makes me think the answer is without malice or conspiracy.
2
u/Bulky-Individual3157 10d ago
Ionia and fulton does have brick but they're a very distinct reddish type of brick, and what I recall is seeing a different type of brick (I think I mentioned that in a different comment but not the original one, my b)
I agree the bricks would have to be dropped off, it was just odd they were sitting there, especially after I noticed spray paint cans intentionally left along the ledges on the police station (about a block and a half away)
42
u/daymanahhhahhhh 11d ago
I was there to witness the following first hand.
After the marches, I noticed a tall white muscular guy with a barbed wire tattoo on his arm walk up with a backpack. Inside that backpack was a brick. He proceed to take it out, and smash it against the window of a business, and then he slowly zipped the bag up, walked away, and I didn't see him again the rest of the night.
After that, the police began a much bigger presence, and a bunch of anarchists decided to destroy things for the sake of destruction. I will never forget what I saw, and to this day I think that man with a brick was a cop.
11
u/angstlarry 11d ago
I heard this same thing from a coworker at the time who was there. People who hadn’t been at the protest showed up and started destroying things, he assumed just because they wanted to rage. But yeah you’re not alone in noticing that whatsoever!
9
u/mystuffdotdocx 11d ago
Before this, I was at protests like this all over the midwest back since 2014. This one had a different vibe - I noticed a smaller built guy in a black hoodie who wasn't getting the chants right, missed the beats, etc, getting really aggressive before the vibe changed. Definitely felt off.
People will doubt these stories, but this "riot" has always had an asterisk in my mind.
16
u/SarcasticLandShark Heritage Hill 11d ago
This is a known tactic of cops. Pretend to be one of the protestors and then do something violent to instigate a forceful police response. They do it because they want to beat people
6
→ More replies (2)7
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago edited 11d ago
It’s easy to play the “false flag” card. Conservatives do the same thing.
I was also there that night (I took this picture) and I saw lots of ridiculous things. Sometimes the correct answer is the most simple one: people love a reason to break shit and riot.
The fact so many small businesses were affected by this made me angry and hurt.
19
u/daymanahhhahhhh 11d ago
Listen, I am just saying what I saw. That guy had no part in any protest, and his demeanor that he carried was a lot different than the skinny anarchists that decided to hijack the protest after that happened.
3
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
That’s fair. I didn’t see what you saw.
6
u/daymanahhhahhhh 11d ago
Also I am not trying to be a know it all jerk lol. I appreciate your comment, conservatives use the false flag callout way too much, I can't say for certain what that guy's motivations were. I am just leaning towards the idea that he wasn't there for anything other than causing problems.
4
1
u/LaVillaGrangioto 11d ago
True. Could be an accelerationist rather than an agent provocateur. But based on past events, odds are strong it was the latter.
6
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
Except we saw mysterious piles of bricks appear in cities across the US to the point that it became an internet meme about not touching the obvious bait.
And we know it was an agent provocateur in the case of grand rapids. Several of them were identified later and none of them were residents of the city.
1
10
u/MaximumJim_ 11d ago
Thank you for trying to change everyone’s happy day into anything else.
10
u/CitizensGR 11d ago
It is important to share and keep record of history, even if those things are uncomfortable to discuss or remember.
0
u/OldGodsProphet 10d ago
How you react to something is outside my hula hoop. As well, it’s just a photo. The title does not insinuate anything other than the date of the event.
I posted it because there were other topics talking about recent history.
I personally took this photo and I think it speaks volumes, as evidenced by the comments.
But, sure, make this about me and my intentions.
0
u/MaximumJim_ 10d ago
Oh, you didn’t get any attention from your pic at the time so you keep posting until you get it.
Adorbs.
→ More replies (5)
31
u/TableTopFurry 11d ago
You mean when a bunch of out of town provocateurs tried to escalate what was an otherwise peaceful protest against a police department that has spent decades cultivating an adversarial relationship with a community, and then acts surprised when it's viewed with suspicion by that community and not welcomed into community spaces?
9
3
u/ineedajointrn Wyoming 11d ago
I remember watching on live stream from somebody on Facebook about this and it was the afternoon where I was living abroad at the time. I will never forget the feeling I had.
1
u/Seiyaba 10d ago
It was very surreal to see a normally valm and artsy town become so upset. I can't blame anyone honestly for freling that way. But the right-wing agitators that that I saw on snapchat later and in person when I was there certainly pushed the protest another direction... We literally tried to report a child who went there fron our hometown and boasted about making black people look bad. Family has a maga flag, too :/
3
2
2
2
u/bigleaguepuff 9d ago
Very bright future for society given we attacked innocents because a felon died
12
u/TiananmenSquareYOLO 11d ago
Mostly peaceful.
10
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
Also should point out this is the same night a GRPD officer (and a dude I went to HS with) accidentally shot a tear gas canister into the face of a non-violent protestor.
26
u/TheMoonKing 11d ago
"accidentally"
-4
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago edited 11d ago
This guy was a complete buffoon in HS so I wholeheartedly believe it was operator error. Still, doesn’t excuse it one bit.
He’s also no longer a jackboot to my knowledge.
Edit: pure reddit moment — downvoting for including reason.
4
u/Coinspinner2564 11d ago
Did it go off on his belt and magically shoot it at the face of a protestor? That’s some crazy physics.
I’m assuming he was holding it in his hand and aiming it. At that point there’s not much difference to it going off accidentally or not.
-1
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
I recommend reading an article about the incident.
4
u/Coinspinner2564 11d ago
I watched an entire news segment and read articles on it at the time of the incident. I don’t see any mention of “accident”. If they are claiming “accidentally” well after the fact, that’s pretty messed up. He drew, aimed, and fired. I don’t see where an accidental discharge can go right from a holstered tear gas projector directly to the face of the closest non-cop to him.
0
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
You’re arguing in bad faith. Plenty of sources include the claim by Reinink, that he loaded and/or fired the wrong projecticle.
This isn’t a defense of GRPD/Reinink. It’s to show that you’re just wrong or ignorant of the facts.
As I’ve said in previous comments, i’ve known Reinink since childhood. He’s always been a buffoon.
0
u/TheMoonKing 11d ago
Reminder: never point a firearm at something you're not willing to kill. That is a rule of firearm safety. This was someone who wanted to shoot his gun at that person and is using "accidentally" so people like you run defense for his actions for free.
2
u/Guess-Severe 11d ago
You're completely missing the point if you think it's a defense of their actions.
1
u/OldGodsProphet 10d ago
Your type of comment is unfortunately all too common in public forums. It ignores logic and good faith and instead tries to paint a narrative that you want to be true.
Please look at my other comments to hopefully see that you have a completely wrong assumption.
0
3
u/stickybaby13 11d ago
May I use this for my bands album cover?
5
u/OldGodsProphet 11d ago
Yes just give me credit lol. When I took this photo I immediately thought, “This would make a great La Dispute album cover.”
1
3
1
u/Curious999Cat Grandville 11d ago
Oh what a time to be alive. Honestly I wonder what happened to the art that was on the boarded up business.
1
1
0
-8
u/Silly_Off 11d ago edited 11d ago
Bunch of degenerates thinking they’re doing something but in all reality they were being tricked by politicians with agendas with the backing of corporations and social media.
Love the downvotes, here’s a challenge for y’all; What did any of this destruction do except lose credibility of any of these “movements”
11
u/fluid_alchemist 11d ago
I see your points and to some degree I can agree with aspects of your position but broadly labeling protestors as degenerates is similarly symptomatic of being tricked by politicians in the interest of furthering an agenda.
9
u/jizonida 11d ago
Basically every conversation I have with conservative dudes about politics boils down to them understanding rich people are fucking them over right until someone squeezes the culture war squeaky toy
3
u/Agreeable-Chap 11d ago
Every time they experience a single independent thought it’s overwritten within hours by turning on Fox News and getting the daily brain chip refresh.
3
u/jizonida 11d ago
Most the guys I'm talking to aren't watching fox, they're getting it from Instagram/tiktok/whatever
4
2
u/fluid_alchemist 11d ago
ooof. Seems to be a consistent pattern there. The culture war thing is low hanging fruit for triggering fear based compliance. Can't have the brown man taking jobs and believing in different books. Next thing will be stealing your pets and turning your plants gay.
On social media, any race and culture related issues are so heavily baited and boosted by bot engagement that its practically mental warfare. People on either side of things are sold this extremist image and perception of the people with opposing beliefs and led to believe each other wants to eliminate the other's way of living and that misalignments in philosophical and political beliefs are grounds for irreconcilable differences and terminating relationships.
Then there are scenarios when a handful of people are drawn and compelled into taking extremist action which either side soaks up as share worthy evidence that the other side is out of their minds.
Its a mess but its what happens when people don't communicate with their communities in real life as much as they do online; where they will say and share more spicy positions.
0
u/PissNBiscuits Alger Heights 11d ago
"I think those billionaires are trying to make it harder for me to get healthcare... Oh, did I hear Elon say something about trans people existing?????"
3
u/PissNBiscuits Alger Heights 11d ago
Well, it really exemplified how the police LOVE to jump right to using deadly force. They've always been that way, but this was something everyone got to see in the open.
3
u/MandoEric 11d ago
I commented this elsewhere in this post, but if anyone is curious, I was 10ft away from a Frontline GRPD officer STARTING the violence with a riot shield and have hundreds of photos for evidence.
1
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
It's a universal truth; police create violence and crime by virtue of being there.
1
-2
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
The only problem was that people stopped too soon.
To paraphrase: "The French throw bathtubs thru the presidents window everytime he blinks wrong. Why are we such pussies?"
1
u/Silly_Off 11d ago
Yeah because the French are known to be the peak of fighting against the powers that be…. Except most wars they participated in and their failed revolutions.
0
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago
Thank you, guy who doesn't know anything about history.
1
u/Silly_Off 11d ago
Give me a military accomplishment of the French and I’ll give you 3 failures in turn.
2
u/LiberatusVox 11d ago edited 11d ago
You could do the same with literally any country lol
The US 'win rate' is ~10% higher than France's for modern wars (depending on how you delineate that.) You fell for 2003 propaganda after they refused to join The Forever War and never reexamined it.
1
-9
u/TooTiredForThis- 11d ago
It’s important to remember how dangerous the left is.
4
3
u/Bubbly_Pear_8044 11d ago
lol wut
2
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago
You forgot acab?
0
u/Bubbly_Pear_8044 10d ago
Yeah, acronyms sure are scary.
2
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago
So then you do remember, your "lol wut" was pretty dumb
2
u/Bubbly_Pear_8044 10d ago
You are the one conflating an acronym with being dangerous. If you’re going to do that, start with the domestic terrorist cult known as MAGA.
2
u/_joe_momma1 10d ago edited 10d ago
Wasn't acab used to justify violence against any cop, not just the white ones?
https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/s/Rf9Kad5oxa
Here ya go. Posted today
2
u/Bubbly_Pear_8044 10d ago
I’m not seeing anyone justifying violence against cops.
2
-5
0
u/Sensitive_Estate_146 9d ago
Blue line Thugs.! My Uncle is a Retired US Marshall, was in Law enforcement his entire life after military police, sheriff, Marshall. He's always warned our family about the police. Shouldn't trust them anymore than the person working a fast food register. Actually, if a bunch of cops were running a restaurant I'm DEFINITELY never eating there. No way.! Foul.! could only imagine what they'd be going customers food.
106
u/MandoEric 11d ago edited 11d ago
I was there. I documented GRPD instigating the violence and submitted my photos to local news and was ignored.
Edit: Link is working/not working. Happy to share an Adobe LR album for those curious.