‘Riot,’ Looting or Peaceful Protest?

Dmitri Petrov on protests in the U.S.

“Fire, pestilence, and a country at war with itself: the Trump presidency is over,” read the headline on an article in The Guardian on recent events in the United States. The author is former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Experts, social media and mass media shape the world’s attitude toward what is going on right now. How do they portray the current events in the States?

“A pandemic unabated,” Reich writes, “an economy in meltdown, cities in chaos over police killings. All our supposed leader does is tweet…Donald J Trump is no longer the president of the United States. He is not governing. He’s golfing, watching cable TV and tweeting.”

What is Reich talking about? Protests over racism began in the United States on May 26, after the death of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis. Under the cover of chaos, looters began to rob stores; police did not interfere, and bloggers filmed and posted the theft of Nike sneakers and Hermes scarves, and viewers confused looters with protesters. Many people, from conservatives to liberals, engaged in heated debate full of hopes, fears, and mutual aggression.

For me, it’s a personal challenge. I spoke at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I love that city. And trouble has come to the place where Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who dedicated his life to fighting racism, was proud of. But often, neither the law nor political correctness can solve such deep conflicts. The result is a tragedy, such as now.

But why does Reich write that Trump has “abdicated his office”? Because Trump “called the protesters “thugs” and threatened to have them shot. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he tweeted. Then he threatened them with “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons” awaiting protesters outside the White House,” but nothing happened to solve the crisis. The conclusion is that “He is not governing … He doesn’t manage anything … There is nothing inherently wrong with golfing, watching television and tweeting. But if that’s pretty much all that a president does when the nation is engulfed in crises, he is not a president.” Reich said.

But Trump didn’t just tweet. He gave a speech. About how “all Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd,” and that “justice will be served.” But “we cannot allow the righteous cries and peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob. The biggest victims of the rioting are peace-loving citizens in our poorest communities, and as their president, I will fight to keep them safe. I will fight to protect you. I am your president of law and order, and an ally of all peaceful protesters.”

Well said, for those who don’t live in the United States. But where the protest rages, it sounds different. But no wonder, a day later, among the U.S. flags at Philadelphia City Hall, Joe Biden responded as Trump’s presumptive rival in the upcoming election: “Donald Trump has turned our country into a battlefield … Is this what we pass on to our kids and grandkids’ lives? Fear and finger-pointing rather than hope and the pursuit of happiness? Incompetence and anxiety? Self-absorption and selfishness?”

Politicians spoke from their offices and in newspapers as the fight is taking place among thousands of people. People, including those in Russia, saw scenes of rage and reconciliation.

Young Eva wrote from the U.S. to her father, the famous gallerist Marat Gelman (excerpts here published with his permission): “Protesters are made up of many groups with different goals. A vast majority of them are not aggressive, and the violence is mainly incited by white agitators, anarchists, and even police. Although the death of George Floyd started the protests, people are protesting against police brutality toward Black people in general. Americans have the constitutional right to attend peaceful protests. It is illegal for police to use violent tactics against protesters, even if there is fear that protesters will become violent.”

By the way, “New York Police Chief Terry Monahan joined activists and knelt in solidarity with Black people, holding their hands,” wrote Karina Orlova from Washington, D.C., on Facebook, but “Russian society from both sides of the ocean stomped its feet about the need … to suppress protesters by any means. And when Floyd was murdered, where were you? Why are you only shouting now? Do you feel sorrier for a window than a person?”

Ksenia Sobchak is feeling hurt for the Hermes store. She wrote on Instagram, “What’s happening in America further proves that no matter how many people are not given freedom and rights, if those people are unsuccessful, they will always find someone to blame for their failure. Those who managed to realize that you need to “enter” to find success have long been conditional on Naomi Campbell, Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. The rest will always find excuses for themselves and their laziness and stupidity.”

Yulia Latynina wrote in Novaya Gazeta, “It’s astounding what’s happening … in a politically correct way it’s being called “protests against racism and violence in connection with the death of George Floyd.” What are these protests? They’re pogroms and robberies. Robbed like a drunken sailor in Russia in 1917… And with the same explanations.”

Russian oppositionists painfully defined themselves and differed in their assessments. Some find their white roots deep in the soil of the South; some feel a kinship with slaves and denounce racism.

Some Russian-speaking Americans understand that activists and rioters are different people. And some put an equal sign between them.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Kulikov revealed on NSN that the root of the problem is that people have indulged themselves. “The authorities were not prepared for an appropriate response,” they should develop a “method of action,” but “where people’s needs are met, these things do not draw their attention.” Does this mean that if people were starving in the United States, they would have handled the protests better? And what sort of “method of action” and “appropriate response” is he talking about?

Before the days of protest, they asked the Russian government whether it wanted to turn out like Paris? Now yellow vest protesters smoke outside. Now comes the question: Do you want it to turn out like the U.S.? To search for an answer “in horror and fear,” as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did. Russia loses its mythological superiority among senseless and relentless riots. Margarita Simonyan’s hypothesis on “civil war in the next few years” sounds like a tall tale.

Various media outlets wrote about the protests. Here is an excerpt from an article in The Spectator: “Antifa’s American insurgency.” The author writes, “The far-left has perfected the art of rioting. In a matter of hours, after the video of Floyd began circulating the internet, militant antifa cells across the country mobilized to Minnesota to aid Black Lives Matter rioters. Antifa, the extreme anarchist-communist movement, has rioting down to an art … Antifa has partnered with Black Lives Matter for now, to help accelerate the breakdown of society.” And finally, the article says, “America is brave and beautiful. She is not invincible.”

The first point is true. The second is doubtful. In the 20th century, the United States experienced a number of crises: war; the Depression; the class wars of the 1920s and 30s; civil rights marches; the space race with the USSR; the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and the riots in Washington. It was relatively quiet until the Los Angeles riots in 1992 when 63 people were killed and damages totaled $1 billion.

But in all of these conflicts, America found an answer. And there is no reason to doubt that it can find one now.

The article mentions Black Lives Matter. What is it? Professor and PhD candidate Mikhail Nemtsev at the Russian University of Economics said on Facebook that the slogan Black Lives Matter came about after the murder of a Black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida in 2012. The killer was acquitted. The Black minority took this as another sign of the indifference to violence against people of color. For many white people, Black subordination and violence against them was the norm until recently. Although they sincerely deny racism, they often act racist without noticing it. It’s called systemic racism. It can be seen very clearly in the relationship between Black people and the police. After all, citizens witness the violence of authorities through the police. And in relation to Black people, that violence is excessive. Hence the slogan, Black Lives Matter.

But there’s another phrase: All Lives Matter. In the American context, it means that there are no problems of structural racism, nor of excessive force against Black people. Police kill them? That’s how they kill any person. And the Black community generates the majority of criminals. (So they are killed more often.. This phrase denies the existence of such problems. Therefore, in the context of the American political conflicts, All Lives Matter is a racist phrase.

In America, the use of excessive force against protesters is nothing new. In 1992, 13,500 soldiers occupied Los Angeles. But now, protests are happening in every state. The soldiers will barely be able to quell them all. Deploying the U.S. Army could provoke an unpredictable response.

Gen. James Mattis, defense secretary 2017 to 2019, opposed the use of the military to put down protests. He wrote in the Times Standard, “The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him. Only by adopting a new path — which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals — will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.”

It’s a shame that we cannot provide more proof of those frightened by the protests, as well as those who sympathize with them. But there are far too many. In short, many politicians in the U.S. look beyond the commentators. They see the approach of a “new world.” Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, SpaceX with missiles, remote services, artificial intelligence and smart cities already exist in America. The riots are not concerned with a digital future. But, it will happen. Suddenly, the return to the reality of the 20th century will vanish. Commercial brands will manufacture scarves and sneakers. The ads will proclaim “We have stolen the most! Just do it!”

Investors in high technology and sustainable development do not work for the “far left” or the poor. Their partners are middle class, work in high-tech, and are intellectuals. They should not condemn looting nor endorse it. It will pass.

In 1968, the core of D.C. was extinguished. And now, they’ll put out the flames where things are burning. They’ll overcome the epidemic.

Mayors and governors remember how Republican Gov. Pete Wilson of California was “scared shitless” in 1992. But so far, there is little they can do with these facts. In a recession, at the right moment, you can play to the mobilization of protest as an asset. And who better to do it?

There is no doubt that the resources of the post-coronavirus world will be distributed by those who move fastest: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Silicon Valley and the surrounding area. It’s not advertising. It’s reality.