A smoke

6/3/20
A Smoke

Stepped outside for a smoke. White neighbor-lady also went out to smoke tobacco. She said she finally got her hair done, only cost her $17 bucks. Nice, I say. Then she says, well it was my granddaughter who did it, and we all have a chuckle.


She says she's getting tired of the riots, that they're destroying stores but they leave alone the marijuana dispensaries. She says this as I'm smoking a joint.


I shrug my shoulders and say, well there's a difference between protestors and looters. They're not connected. In fact, 3 people got arrested in Las Vegas who were against Black Lives Matters, and they were trying to start violence.


She shrugs and says she's seen a lot of videos of an-TEEfa paying people to destroy things. I have to ask her what she's talking about when she says anTEEfa...do you mean Anti-Fa? Anti-fascists?


She shrugs and says she doesn't know. I ask her if she knows what is a fascist and she says yes. I tell her, the anti-fascists are aligned with Black Lives Matter, so it doesn't make sense that they would loot. But I just told her about these right-wingers who are against Black Lives Matter, and they were arrested for inciting violence in Las Vegas.


She shrugs and says she's seen a lot of videos of an-TEEfa causing riots. I tell her it's the police who are starting riots by shooting people with rubber bullets.


She shrugs, says those aren't dangerous. I tell her three people have lost an eye because of it. A guy is in ICU because he got shot in the head with a tear gas canister.


She shrugs, says the police weren't the ones that started it. I tell her yes the police started it. They've been killing black people. Police brutality. They're doing it right now. She says it was the protestors who started it by throwing water bottles and lighting fireworks. I tell her there's a big difference between a water bottle thrown at a guy in full armor and helmet, and rubber bullets against a guy in a tshirt and jeans.


She's walking away now. She says the police are only shooting them because they're destroying property, and I say no they're nonviolence. It's the looters who are doing the violence.


She's just about gone now. Over her shoulder she says no they're not.


I'm left alone with a roach, which I toss into the bucket and go back inside.

INCIDENTAL REFERENCE:

The FBI Finds ‘No Intel Indicating Antifa Involvement’ in Sunday’s Violence
Trump wants to designate antifa a terrorist organization, despite lack of authority and evidence of wrongdoing.

By Ken Klippenstein
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/antifa-trump-fbi/