Los Angeles is NOT happy...

[Pluvious]

The sound and fury of Righteous Anger from the people.

Link to tweet

[dchill]

1. They know you don't talk about fight club.

[AStern]

2. This would mean so much more if only he were carrying an American flag.

[CrispyQ]

5. Actually, someone on bsky made this point yesterday:

‪Bluedot‬
‪@bluedot-mo.bsky.social‬
· 1h
More protesters should carry or wear the American flag to remind the fascist police that they are fighting with US citizens.

[AStern]

6. I think that's a means to undermine the protesters and it smells like right wing talking points

They can carry any flag they please.

If ICE were targeting Jewish people, I doubt there would be any hand-wringing if protesters were carrying Israeli flags.

Spare me with this non-sense.

[CrispyQ]

12. Your post makes no sense to me, but whatever. -nt

[AStern]

15. Why not?

You posted that someone on Bluesky said protesters should carry American flags and I responded that I disagree with what that person suggested.

[CrispyQ]

28. I've seen very few US flags at any of our protests so I don't know what handwringing you're referring to. -nt

[AStern]

31. There's much concern about it

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220377667

[CrispyQ]

36. A poster below points out that the US & Mexican flags are both American flags.

I think that's where the confusion comes from.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. You can disagree with it, but to say it "makes no sense" is a failure on your end. It was properly written. . . . nt

[Cirsium]

27. It makes sense?

We should carry American flags (US flags actually, the Mexican flag is an American flag, too) so that the brownshirts know we are Americans?

That doesn't make sense to me, either.

[CrispyQ]

29. Thanks for that distinction between American flag & US flag.

Off to correct a post.

[Cirsium]

35. Thanks

Thank you. Minor point, but in this case an important one, I think.

People are being targeted because of their ethnicity and national origin. It is entirely proper and powerful for us to carry the Mexican flag, and the Guatemala flag, and the Haitian flag, etc.

People have been driven from their home countries, in large part due to US policies and US corporate interests, enforced by the US military. They are being persecuted and abused here. Absolutely - fly those flags, it is about reclaiming stolen identities, stolen land, stolen culture, stolen lives. It is time for a deeper reckoning about the root causes of the struggle. We can support that, or we can nitpick about demonstration etiquette or obsess over how we look on Fox news.

This uproar about the Mexican flags is akin to the "all lives matter" nonsense. In both cases, it is about denying people's right to self-identification.

[CrispyQ]

37. I was confusing US with American.

Yes, I agree it's akin to the 'all lives matter' bs. Is anyone upset when a Canadian flag is displayed at a protest? And yes, I've seen a few of those. My guess? No.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

11. The US flag is not supposed to be worn.

[AStern]

16. Are you sure?

[OMGWTF]

20. 🤢🤮

[Skittles]

56. WTF ASTERN

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YER KILLING ME

[misanthrope]

21. Yet it is

By a lot of people, especially this time of the year. You’re right about the flag code, though.

[mwmisses4289]

33. Not positive, but I seem to remember

wearing a flag began with u.s. athletes during the Olympic games in the 1970's: whenever they won an event they would wrap a flag around themselves especially the swimmers, and it accelerated when Ralph Lauren started making it trendy in the 1980's.

[Evolve Dammit]

43. Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals and his swim suit was the flag, as was the whole swim team.

[AStern]

44. Those swimsuits were USA themed rather than the flag. IMHO.

[Wiz Imp]

46. His swimsuit incorporated elements of the flag

But ultimately looked nothing like the flag itself.

[barbtries]

49. 100 percent honest here.

for me it would have to be upside down.

I have a Ukrainian flag that was given to me during one of the early protests.

[AntiFascist]

50. Growing up in a majority LatinX comunity...

I know that fostering Mexican pride has always been important to these communities in order to counter oppressive white racism. Carrying a Mexican flag is nothing more than a show of this pride, not unlike how the Pride flag is used to show pride in the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately, MAGA would interpret this as a show of support for some sort of invasion.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

54. There is a history of fear Mexico wanted their territory back.

More projection from xenophobic zombies.

[CuriousSavage]

51. Don't know where to jump in with this

I spoke briefly with my dad about the protests this morning. 83 years old, Italian immigrant came over in the 60s, started absolutely dirt poor but did well for himself and us. Every member of my family from his generation and most of their kids are neck deep in the cult except him and my mom. He always identified as Republican but his clear understanding of real patriotism & right/wrong always steered him to a liberal point of view..... My father who could never watch 5 continuous minutes of Fox in his life mentioned his dislike of the Mexican flags at the protests. It turned him against the protests. I was honestly shocked.

As a Scout leader, I always told my boys that a flag on its own is nothing more than a piece of fabric but, it signifies so much more. National / cultural identity, where to focus in a battle, lift spirts when weary, instill pride in the hearts of it's citizens and fear in its enemies. While I fully understand that everything going on has little to do with what fabric is being waved, the point is that ICE and POTUS are hiding behind the US flag. They are using OUR flag to justify their actions. Waving a flag of another country in the environment of a protest plays so well into their narrative that "we" are being invaded. Atrocities are mainly being inflicted upon immigrants but we all know that Trump and Miller will not stop with them. He said it himself. Citizens are next. The Federal government is being mobilized piece by piece against us but the militias will want to get in on the brownshirt action too.

Very few among us ever thought that this would be taking place at this point in history. We were supposed to be smarter, richer, more morally evolved. It is proving to be quite the opposite and it appears that it'll only get worse. Alright, I am preaching to the choir, ain't I? Point is, we are citizens. We are the majority. We are not "Others". Seeing innocent American blood on American flags on American streets will awaken the people on the right and middle. Whether it be true spiritual awakenings or just simple shame, we need to pull as many people onto our side as possible. There's no time for purity.

[Attilatheblond]

52. Absolutely! I rigged my walker to support my flag pole. It's a two-fer! Shows my love of country

and offers a bit of shade here in the sunny borderlands.

[Bev54]

57. They should carry the state flag.

[CrispyQ]

3. "Ask yourself about the future you want for your children. Is it this? You can answer me." ...Crickets.

Shameful silence & not one laid down their weapon & walked away, I'll bet.

[EYESORE 9001]

4. It occurs to me that many documentaries will be made from this

LA is still the media capital of this country, after all.

[BeyondGeography]

7. Best line IMO

Do you think Trump gives a fuck about you?

[SalviaBlue]

8. K&R

[Ping Tung]

9. So. Who are the invaders? Immigrants or ICE/National Guard thugs.

[Efilroft Sul]

10. I read on Political Wire that this is Wyatt Russell, the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

[niyad]

17. He looks so much like his father at that age.

[ECL213]

18. IDK about that...

It looks a little like him, but not.

[niyad]

25. And you know this how, exactly?

[ECL213]

39. Why don't you take a pill, or something...

IDK means I DON'T KNOW if that is him. As I said, it looks like him, but not [like] him.

And I "know" this "exactly" because I've seen him in movies, and I don't think it's him.

[IronLionZion]

22. That's not Wyatt Russell

it's a different person who looks vaguely similar.

Wyatt is a famous enough actor that it would make the news.

[niyad]

24. You say that with certainty. But the person in that video looks very much

like the person on Wyatt's instagram account, which I just checked.

[progressoid]

55. Rolling Stone says it isn't him.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/wyatt-russell-la-protest-tiktok-viral-1235359482/

[Efilroft Sul]

34. Okay, I searched for a video of Wyatt Russell shouting.

I found one from a scene in Disney's "Captain America and the Falcon," where his character loses his cool before a military tribunal. The guy in the streets of LA here has deeper tone of voice, whereas Wyatt Russell, when shouting, sounds kind of like his dad.

So, sorry for the confusion, but this man in the OP is not Wyatt Russell.

[awesomerwb1]

13. This is the type of energy and eloquence these times require

Bravo for this young guy. He gets it. Wish we had the entire video.

Wish he was the Dem minority leader.

[sagetea]

14. Good!

That was excellent!

Still think they should hold up mirrors to them. Show them who they are.


sage

[angrychair]

19. They don't care

That's why they are doing it. They are fascist bootlickers full of anger and fear and they get great pleasure from beating unarmed people. It's not more complicated than that.

[tinrobot]

40. I think the National Guard he's talking to might care.

Sure, those in ICE signed up specifically for this. They don't care.

The California NG probably signed up for skills training, a bit of extra money, and the pride of serving. I guarantee they did not sign up to turn their weapons on fellow Californians.

[Cirsium]

26. But, but, but

Someone behind him has a Mexican flag

On edit, I had better add this:

[Grim Chieftain]

30. Excellent and spot-on

This fellow speaks for many of us. Thanks for sharing.

Bookmarked

[Initech]

32. ICE picked the wrong city to fuck with!

[OldBaldy1701E]

38. Finally!

This is what I was talking about. Not some random protest where passerby don't even know why you are there, but direct action against direct actions. There is no 'spin' to cloud what happened.

That is how we change things.

[dawgdan]

41. Fuck You Trump

This is the fight he's been looking for. Burn it all down baby, all down baby. It all stops here.............

[Bernardo de La Paz]

42. Arson is fucking disgusting and a favourite of agents provocateur. Please don't advocate arson here. . . nt

[Warpy]

45. Let's hope it spreads outside Compton

because that's what needs to happen.

Here in NM, we haven't seen the big roundups. I don't think ICE knows what to do about this state, palefaces are a little less than a third of the population. They'd have to round us all up.

[LauraInLA]

58. This is happening all over LA -- Compton was just one of the first. Downtown is the source of most of what you've seen.

Check SignalSafe if you want to see the ICE sightings all over LA. Last night ICE were forced to leave a hotel in Pasadena where they were staying because of protests.

[barbtries]

47. that was fabulous.

i think about this. I hope if I ever have the opportunity to call them out, I will do it as succinctly, elegantly, and bravely as this man has.

[bdamomma]

48. How can

we show our solidarity with LA even if we are from another state???

That felon hates California. And we hate him.

[NoMoreRepugs]

53. That young man has my respect and gratitude - he speaks for millions of us.