George Floyd killingby Geoffrey Churchman

If there’s one thing that Mainstream Media News loves, it’s violence; they are attracted to it like moths to a flame — much more exciting than the daily Jacinda adulation.

Yet another in the infrequent but appalling race-motivated executions by thug cops in America has seen a wave of street protests in its major cities, some of which have inevitably involved violent incidents, not on the scale of the L.A. riots of 1992, but certainly enough to dominate the news bulletins there and here.

There are some intriguing differences with this latest incident, however, and skeptics are starting to pose alternative scenarios, like those on this webpage which begins:

Who benefits from the death of George Floyd?

The answer, of course, is that the forces of chaos and destruction (i.e. anti-American, anti-Trump) benefit from his murder. The more chaos and destruction is unleashed during this election year, the more the media hypes up the disaster and assigns blame to President Trump. Logically, it’s absurd, since President Trump had nothing to do with the murder of George Floyd. But emotionally, the media propaganda messaging whips up fear, anger and frustration — emotions that will largely be translated into anti-Trump sentiment in the coming elections.

There have been several similar incidents where genuine social protests against the forces of the state have been hijacked by anarchists and the ultra-violent Hard Left organisation Antifa to maximize destruction and mayhem in central cities.

That’s America — but there are aspects to all this which have a local relevance.  One is that a small number of cops like Derek Chauvin of Minneapolis are sure to exist in NZ, too. Another is that Jacinda and Stuart Nash’s intended constant arming of the police will create more opportunities to kill disliked petty crims easily — as long as they have a weapon (not necessarily a gun), a case can be made for needing to shoot them dead that a judge will accept.  And the most disturbing aspect is that statistically, Maori and Pasifika are likely to feature disproportionately.

Would there be a reaction here like that in America?  Depending on the particular circumstances, it’s likely and would work to the advantage of an authoritarian government like the one we have at present.


Update: statement by President Trump on 1 June (US time):