Sheriff puts down baton; listen to protesters and joins them

Police officers kneel during a rally in Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday in response to the death of George Floyd

Thank you! I love that.

There is so much good, so much support - nice to see it though. Unfortunately often times the media tends to focus so much more on the negative.

Maybe if we see more of this - we can come together no matter how much we may disagree on certain things - kindness and caring carries so much more meaning.

Kansas City

There is no kindness and caring in property-destruction and confrontation with police. Not only is there violence and destruction going on, but people are spreading COVID19 as well.

Expressing ideas is freedom of speech. What's going on here is guerilla warfare designed to destroy property for economic purposes.

It may even be that the initial murder (or 'lynching' as some have called it) was like the breaking of a wine bottle to Christen a ship. This is a sick culmination to the same kind of witch-hunting culture of destruction that jailed and murdered people in Salem, Ma during difficult economic times when British rule was weak due to there being a transition between monarchs.

I don't know how these forces of creative-destruction organize these things to happen and then trigger them off with a single high-profile murder, but it's sad and pathetic that they pretend to be less than a socialist army destroying property for the sake of stimulating economic activity.

Please leave - post these thoughts on other threads in which they discuss this. Granted there are places for these thoughts - but not on here.

Sorry but I am voting you down because I do not want to see this.

This is a caring forum where we are to post kind and thoughtful things.

A Charlotte police officer taking a knee with everyone during a protest this afternoon.

And New Jersey..



And Houston

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo walks arm-in-arm with a woman during a "Justice for George Floyd" event in Houston, Texas, May 30, 2020,

Orlando

To me these pictures are much more powerful.

If the media highlighted these -- maybe we would have less violence

And if the police reacted a bit more like this - there would also be less violence.

Are you going to stop all violence - No! But you are going to show that most police officers are kind and caring and want to help and protect. How the heck are communities to learn they can trust the officers when all they see and experience are officers killing.

I found tons of examples how police precincts have shown support and the media does a great job reporting it. It's the fact that there's too much of this going on to make a difference:



The problem is this isn't just a "single high profile murder."

It's just murder.

No to diminish this man's life by any means, but it is a symbol of a much larger problem - that is what makes it high profile.

To be honest until I read this one thing about this sheriff - I had not heard or saw one example of the police doing these positives things. It was all about violence. Until you posted a picture and then I did a search. Yes, I could find them if I searched so yes the media is showing it but not high profiling it when I just looked at the headlines (as with the news it has all been negative so I have been limiting my viewing of it) all riots and violence. I did not believe everyone was rioting and being violent just figured typical media.

How do you solve the problem ... some of these pictures are examples of how or at least how to start.

Showing genuine caring, compassion and opening yourself to listen so you can understand more is much more powerful than any violence. Small powerful sincere gestures - the violence is wrong/looting is wrong everyone gets that -- be above that and focus on these people joining together.

Why do you think someone like Martin Luther King was such a great leader?

Here, let me put it more succinctly, in terms even you can understand: piss off, hit the road.

Powerful image of the protest in Santa Cruz this morning. Mayor Justin Cummings and Police Chief Andrew Mills took a knee in solidarity.

You don't get to decide how people interpret and deal with all the tragedy going on. People need to question what is going on and not just assume that it is a natural reaction to atrocity to launch a massive campaign of destruction whose true underlying motive is economic dissatisfaction and nothing to do with vindicating police brutality.

False. A man was killed by a police officer by kneeling on his neck until the victim was dead. I'm not sure why you feel the need to trivialize it.

Play some people will do anything to attract attention to themselves. Even extending to the point of trivializing a tragedy.

Yes best to ignore those folks as that is what they are looking for - very sad to be that self focused.

See what happens when the police decide to listen and understand - a tense situation is stopped. People want to be heard and understood - showing that just changed this situation from being a mess to be something caring -

Tense protest at Iowa police station ends in peace as officers, protesters kneel together

A tense protest outside police headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Sunday night ended in an unexpected show of peaceful solidarity as dozens of officers agreed to protesters' calls to take a knee in honor of George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The protesters had gathered across the street from police headquarters and were concerned that police would use tear gas and pepper spray and begin making arrests at 9 p.m. local time, when Polk County's curfew, set earlier Sunday, began.

Shortly before 9 p.m., the protesters all knelt down, telling police that they were honoring the memory of George Floyd, the man who died in Minneapolis with a police officer's knee pinning his neck, pleading that he couldn't breathe.

The protesters then stood up, raised their hands, and chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot." A shouted exchange followed, with protesters saying that if the officers would kneel with them in honor of Floyd, they would leave.

At the urging of a pastor from the community, senior Des Moines police Officers Irvin Franklin and Jack Kamerick knelt and said a prayer. The pastor spoke with the protesters and officers, and convinced the protesters to assure the other officers that they would leave peacefully if all of the officers knelt for a moment of silence and prayer for Floyd.

At 9:01 p.m., the remaining officers knelt.

Another group of officers in riot gear approached the crowd from the north, calling for them to disperse. The pastor again negotiated between the two groups and after protesters chanted "take a knee," and some of them confirmed they would leave peacefully if the officers did so, those officers also knelt.