Long history of this in the UK, too. A fair few atrocities have been committed by Her Majesty's Finest. The National Front would march all over the place without getting a scratch from the police, whilst left-wing protests would get the full treatment, horses and all. In the UK, my opinion would be that left-wing protests would be more likely to be critical of the state (which the police are a branch of) or government policy, whilst right-wing protests (such as the NF) were much more likely to be centred around anti-immigration (i.e., anti-person rather than anti-state) sentiments. So naturally the coppers are going to go for the left-wingers, who they'd see as their enemy.
In terms of America, I'd say main reason is that I think American police by-and-large seem prone to violence, and seem to prefer wading in with batons and tear gas than not. Directly connected to that is that left-wing protests tend to have more intense anti-police sentiment, "ACAB" obviously being the famous saying; conversely, right-wing protestors are more likely to support the police, at least ideologically. Thus, the police don't want to lose the support of the right-wing, whilst the left offers them an opportunity to get the riot shotguns out (gotta test out that new gear somehow).
There could also be an element of fear. Right-wingers are seen to be more likely to carry arms, so the police might not want to get the bats out for what turns out to be a small militia.
I was going to say that left-wing protests also tend more towards having violent factions (especially Antifa), but not only does the article state that the police "were also more likely to use force [...] whether the protests remained peaceful or not", in the context of the Capitol Hill riot, it can be clearly observed that the police response was absurdly soft. No left-wing Antifa types would have been allowed to get that far into the building; there would have likely been much more bloodshed.
I understand that not all "ACAB", but it's very rare that an officer refuses to participate in forceful action, rarer that one quits due to it. I think the job inherently attracts authoritarians, and the results are shown in the statistics presented in the article.
However, I think it's fair to say that the police are like this regardless of which party is in political power. It's endemic to their place in the system, and America's cultural aggrandising of both violence and law enforcement is well-known.
Anyway, interesting article, Whirly. A good read with a lot to mull over.
Police officers tend to be conservative, Republican, Right leaning. Police unions from what I understand are very Right leaning. As Trump loved to brag "We have the military and we have the cops", he wasn't really lying there. Probably something to do with it, police culture.
Compare their approach to the BLM protest in DC this last summer over George Floyd's killing, to their approach to the protest on the 6th. Night and day difference and them some.
I'm Trini-Canadian and have never had an issue with police, and I've lived in the GTA most of my life where a lot of the nation's crime happens. Police being racist, hateful, authoritarian pricks seems to be an American phenomenon.
KMC Community Forums
Jan 14th, 2021 07:18 AM
Thanks Scribble!
