Was a pretty rough night last night, in many cities, for our TENANTS. Can't say I was surprised-- but I don't think I would have been surprised even if all 4 officers" had been locked up with the result seen. With all the police video shows out there-- you can just see those who don't belong on the force and those who do. Seen that neck move many many times. I can also say I've seen, first hand, how the police can get out of control-- and I mean seriously out of control with renters.

So my question to all here is what can we do to bring about change? How do we do business-- what can we do better to change things? The future is getting less likely for RE mom and pop's out there.

95% of my tenants are African-American and have been for 20 of the last 35 years. Almost without exception they work hard and are no different then others. I have one who is ANTIFA that plants signs in her yard about race relation items. I have one who told me I just don't like black people-- one called me a cheap Jew. (I'm not Jewish). I let it all run off my back but acknowledge there are serious problems and would like to follow the lead of my other 95%

Jeffery this may get wild but maybe some could post their feelings? I am depressed by what I saw last night-- not surprised but saddened.

It is simply horrifying...my granddaughters and one of my DILs are persons of color and I am so thankful first that they are girls (although we all know of the cases where that didn't help!) And that they live in a real melting pot area with people of all colors and political persuasions (VA near DC.) And even there, they are afraid of the police (well so is everyone.)

Unfortunately I think the idea of being a cop tends to draw bullies into the profession. While some join to try to do good, too many - far too many - do it to have power over other people. The literal power of life or death.

In this case, why are the other three still free? Why are they not charged as well as the first? Why did they not stop him? I can understand the bystanders being AFRAID to intervene and isn't that horrible itself - imagine being there??

The best way to stop this is if everyone in the country shut off their TVs for a year and deleted their social media accounts and actually started TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER and let balance return to their minds.

Granted there is scattered chaos, but if you go out and look around, there is much more peace and understanding and general respect every day in life than you will EVER SEE on the television.

I have never had a good interaction with a cop in my life and I am an old white lady.

My hatred/fear of them started in my teens. We were attending a graduation party in a large sandpit area with bonfires. Cops came and broke it up. There was a LINE of cars exiting the area and we were sitting waiting for a break. Cops came up to us and said "Get going!" and my BF said, "Yes Sir Officer we are just waiting for a break in the traffic."

The cop proceeded to MACE everyone for absolutely NO REASON - except me for some reason. He said to me, 'Get in and drive!' I was crying and said, "I don't have a license, I don't know HOW to drive!" and he said "I don't care, DRIVE." So I did.

I have to agree with NE. I was just reading an article where scientific evidence was presented to Zuckerberg that the FB platform was proven to create and foster social divide. His response, I don't ever want you to bring that to me again.

Unfortunately, it isn't just in racial situations, but politics, business, city VS rural, and many other forms. As an old programmer I've told many users the phrase "garbage in garbage out", in this case if you constantly feed your mind with garbage then what do you expect to come out. The American brain is being coerced to favor hate over respect and for some individuals it doesn't take much feeding to go over the edge.

How do we change it? We have to get out and interact face to face with people that have different opinions than our own. Maybe try hosting a lunch on the greens at your apartment complex and invite the local Police department, Fire depatment and others to come and build some relationships with the residents. I've actually done that (through efforts of our Church) and it was a good experience. Once you talk and understand the different backgrounds people bring you tend to understand different perspectives.

I've had plenty of good experiences with cops. The only really bad one I had is when I got arrested for underage drinking and they threw me to the ground and stuck their guns in my face. I thought that was a little excessive for underage drinking. The other one who arrested me prior to that, I saw him about 15 years later and thanked him for it and told him it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. His eyes lit up and he said really? I said yes, I was Heading down a really bad road and that was a turning point in my life. He was glad to hear that.

Saying all cops are bad is about as bad as seeing all landlords are bad.

You're right Mike A, change happens person to person. Never from the TV, government or internet.

It seems like racial issue is perpetual in this country.. Even if it was not, one can make it into one. I am more depressed with the nasty politicians who use people against people.

The cops were wrong, but the government not taking actions to the riots were wrong as well, so called stand down. All people were involved, white, black, brown/tam.. I heard the chief is black, 2 by standing officers were Asian.. It is not a racial issue.. We have lousy people in every race.

US almost becomes of mockery of the world. Someone commented Minneapolis looked like war torn Iraq.

Fantastic observation and insight. My initial thought is-- for me anyway-- the past 20 or so years I've only had African - American tenants (95%).

I didn't grow up in the south and my high school on LI only had 2 African American students. So not being around hate thoughts and speech growing up kind of insulated me from that peer presure. When I went in the Navy I was to busy working and when I got out I was too busy with school and then working again. So I'm thinking the formative years that this hate develops is 9 thru 16?

When I went to work for a major airline in Atlanta in 78 I was shown the water cooler that had been labed "colored" but was no longer. I found that to be a culture shock that there was actually a place for people of color to drink.....

So here I am in GA and have been for 40 years saying gee's where the heck did this come from. I wasn't raised into it and gee's did I have blinders on?

I have a business to run and customers that need my attention (sometimes baby sitting) but does it really matter what color they are? Well! not to me. I'm just shocked at how blind I was to this until some of my tenants were roused by the police. Heck I've been arrested and rousted but figured it was because I was a Yankee.

I will do the following: give all my residents a great, not just good, place to rent. A place I would move into and live with my family. I will (and always have) given 1st class service to maint request--- yes even when they haven't paid the rent.

My dad was a Deputy Sheriff for 23 years - He would often say "A lot of those guys with guns and badges don't need them"

6x6, he apparently passed a counterfeit bill. It's not clear if he even knew it was counterfeit. He did not resist arrest. He called the officer "Sir" even when he was being manhandled. And then he was murdered, in cold blood, on live TV, while three other officers (of all races) stood by and watched.

Yes racism exists in all colors and all societies. That's not the point here, in this case.

"He did not resist arrest." WRONG! He was lying on the ground refusing to take orders and made them drag him and his fully weight. He did not listen to the orders and refused cooperation.

"And then he was murdered, in cold blood..." Also wrong.

He had at least two underlying conditions that caused his death (yes, the pressure to the neck/head likely was a contributing factor in his death, but it was not murder).

Do the police sometimes use a bit more force than necessary? Sure, it happens. The police are human.

This had nothing to do with his race...and what is disgusting is to see some people...and the media turn it into a race issue. That is the disgusting part.

And you say nothing about the domestic terrorism going on and the innocent victims and business owners who have now been destroyed by the actions of these horrible looters and arsonists. Don't make this out to be about racist police.

I have some police officer friends. They have an incredibly difficult job. And for people to blast them for occasionally getting making mistakes, until you've done their job, you have no idea!

Son in Law was a cop. He says they are trained to never back down.

My newly adopted grandson is balck. I worry about what he will face.

Right now I’m watching the recorded broadcast from inside CNN in Atlanta - a white guy is smashing the glass with his SKATEBOARD...because???

Now I see his hand bleeding from his own actions.

I hear a lot of people saying this is a race issue. I disagree.

I don't think color mattered. The cops involved are different colors. If the victim had been a different color, the outcome (IMHO) would have been the same.

The issue is respect, pure and simple. Respect for our police, and police respecting the people they serve.

What the policemen did was wrong. I believe all 4 should be in jail.

What the victim did...remains to be seen. Maybe he was high and violent at some point. Maybe not. Either way, the police were wrong in their actions.

And either way...color did not matter.

I live in the deep south. We had some riots and vandalism last night in our state capital. It saddens me.

Our tenants are a mix: white, black, other, straight, gay, conservative gun owners, liberal tree huggers... and they are all decent people. No violence, no riots. Some were involved in peaceful protests yesterday.

I hear a lot of people saying this is a race issue. I disagree.

I don't think color mattered. The cops involved are different colors. If the victim had been a different color, the outcome (IMHO) would have been the same.

The issue is respect, pure and simple. Respect for our police, and police respecting the people they serve.

What the policemen did was wrong. I believe all 4 should be in jail.

What the victim did...remains to be seen. Maybe he was high and violent at some point. Maybe not. Either way, the police were wrong in their actions.

And either way...color did not matter.

I live in the deep south. We had some riots and vandalism last night in our state capital. It saddens me.

Our tenants are a mix: white, black, other, straight, gay, conservative gun owners, liberal tree huggers... and they are all decent people. No violence, no riots. Some were involved in peaceful protests yesterday.

Great posts and cause for thought. NE mentioned turn everything off and I found myself agreeing with that. Seeing it is just fueling the fire. Then I realised seeing and knowing about it is the only way to rid ourselves of it. This can't be swept under the rug any longer. Saturday night seeing the protesters (not the vandals) made me think "ALL THESE PEOPLE CAN'T BE WRONG". I for one am going to try to change more.

The second thing that hit me. We know what the one cop did-- but why didn't the other 3 do or say something? Whats the only reason a reasonable person (out of 3 one should have been reasonable) would do nothing to stop it? FEAR! Then it hit me again-- that same FEAR is why not one witness to this did anything-- FEAR --- the same fear from both groups-- the 3 cops and bystanders-- fear of retaliation. No one had the gumption to stand up and say STOP that!

May 30, 2020 · Peaceful protesters led to a pallet of bricks in front of a store neatly placed. No construction going on around. This bricks are meant to throw into the building.

Placed by RIOT ORGANIZERS WITH THUGS WEARING EARPIECES DIRECTING RIOTERS TO THE LOCATION

This is NOT grassroots peaceful protesting

"Cities run by progressives don't know how to police. ... Thirty cities went up last night, I went and looked at every one of them. Every one of them has a progressive Democratic mayor."

I did NOT read all the comments and know little about the recent issues and what lead up to the end, but I want to say most of the time the police are restraining those that resist arrest. Most of the time those that run or gives problems to officers in big cities are those of color. Bottom line - DO NOT RESIST ARREST. Those that are innocent will not be charged after things are sorted out.

Another solution is for cops to use tasers. If the suspect resists, just tase their ars. Suspect goes down and the cops can easily handcuff them with no resistance in most cases.

John[NJ]: While that sounds like good advice, it is not always applicable and things have progressed well beyond that. We have several fairly well documented/filmed cases where they were NOT resisting arrest at all and still things went poorly for them. It is not as simple as "do not resist arrest."

- John...

nhsailmaker[NH], you are absolutely right. Those events are not grassroots stuff.. Imagine our class c-d tenants decided to walk out and protest like that.. Just like the caravans not too long ago. There are professionals behind those events.

I have seen videos where the protesters blocked the highway and targeted nicer cars, smashed many windows while drivers were hopelessly waiting in their cars.

It truly saddens me to see people acted worse than animals.

I am both saddened and sickened by recent events.

We will likely never know the real facts of the Floyd case. The media was quick to spin a narrative. Facts are trickling out that poke some holes in that narrative and are being hushed up. Now honest people who want facts don't know what to believe.

That is one of the reasons the media rush to pump out narratives, so they can go viral before the facts are known.

Turns out Floyd and the Officer worked together at a bar? Floyd was passing counterfit money...?

Could the cop be dirty and the enforcer for the funny money ring?

Did the two have bad blood between them?

Maybe a dispute over a woman?

Maybe they just didn't like each other?

Was the cop a bully who was showing off for the other 3 cops?

Why did the other 3 cops stand around?

Why wasn't the suspect (floyd) put in the police car?

Why leave him restrained on the ground ?

There are a lot of unanswered questions that are relevant and have NOTHING to do with race.

As usual we only get the most inflammatory piece of the story so we can be manipulated into fear, anger, and outrage. That is far more scary than racism will ever be. Rioters and lynch mobs roaming the streets based on reports from a disgraced media that has been caught lying and pushing agendas over and over again.

There were three groups of people on display this weekend.... peaceful demonstrators, opportunists, and anarchists. The latter two did the burning, looting and robbing, and they'll do it anytime there's an excuse and demonstrators to hide behind. The rioters and looters should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

My biggest concern for the cops was that the officer that committed the murder had 18 prior incident reports in his file according to a news report. At what point do all these incidents justify firing? Was it the police union that kept him on the streets, the good old boy network, a pass by internal affairs, or something else? The police need to police their own otherwise this is going to happen again and again and again. And the reputation for police as a whole will be judged by the few bad apples.

If the police can't control or won't control the looters and rioters, then business owners should be given a pass for protecting their stores by any means necessary.

I really like Natasha's response.

What made you leave the US?

Where did you go?

L of the F OH so not true. 3 groups?

Thank you Natasha. That was a bold move and a big risk. I am glad that it worked out for you.

All one hears is how great the US is compared to other countries but, I have wondered if there were other places better then the US. I have never been any where outside of the US and have not been in too many states here.

Society does need to change as whole, but change is difficult to achieve and even harder to keep implemented.

It hurts to see anyone disrespect another persons property

Violence is not the answer, but for many they believe there is no other way that their voices will be heard.

What hurts me the most is learning that many of the local actions were orchestrated from out of state groups. Vandalizing and burning a business only makes things worse.

So far locally, there has not been a loss of life. Violence leads to only more violence. An eye for an eye, leaves everyone blind

My son was a cop for maybe a year. 9 months of that was training. He said they DRILLED it into them that if you were restraining someone on the ground you could put your knee HERE but never THERE. Over and over again they trained like that.

Recently released video from a bystander shows some sort of struggle inside the police car then an urgency with adrenalin when the arrested person seems to break loose out the other door to the street.

We don’t know what was happening inside the car (Who was resisting or attacking who) but it was not peaceful.

This reminds me of high speed car chases. Never back down. They have limited resources or options than to chase, usually ending in a crash often harming or killing innocent bystanders.

I believe frustration of the pandemic lockdown and mistrust of govt info and rules helped fuel the riots.

Back during the LA riots (80’s?) a friend from the area commented that humans are the only being that will defecate in and destroy it’s own home.

Curious to see where this takes our society.

I agree with JKJ.