The police support our first amendment right of expression. If you're saying it's not a real protest unless the police need to break it up, then you are welcome to not join.
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Joel’s been out there in person, speaking clearly and peacefully about real issues. If that doesn’t match your vision of protest, that’s okay. But dismissing thoughtful activism from behind a screen isn’t the flex you think it is.
Fair point—I didn’t mean to assume anything about your role. I stepped in because Joel is confronting power, just not in the way some expect. Peaceful, visible dissent still matters—and it doesn’t deserve mockery.
I hear you. Language matters, but strict lines around protest can turn into gatekeeping. Peaceful dissent has always had a place. We don’t have to agree—I’d just rather widen the circle than close it.
That sounds like a rally. If you’re not disrupting you’re not protesting. That’s the point of protesting. It’s not to stand around and tell everyone how mad you are.
A protest only lands when the cops flinch. When order cracks. When the street gets blocked, the plan breaks, and no one knows what’s coming next. That’s the real stuff. That’s the point. Anything else—calm, permitted, polite—is just a leash.
They are supposed to support our first amendment rights, but clearly they don't; they proved that they are the criminals repeatedly during the BLM protests.
Oh dear... as someone who's lived a lot longer, and been through a lot more than you, let me say positively and with love: 𝗟𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘀𝗼𝗻.
Let me be clear: It does not matter whether he comes by this apologia for police repression by way of cynicism or naivety born of a sheltered life. If he knows better, he shouldn't be trusted. If he doesn't know better, he DEFINITELY shouldn't be trusted.
The fact that you assume that any police violence against protests means that the police must have good reason are precisely why no-one should trust you to organise protests.
Hi Joel, I’m glad you’re going out and promoting the Tesla takedowns but people pointing out that police don’t protect or enable our First Amendment rights are correct. I’d encourage you to talk to other organizers to learn about things you can do to stay safe from cops while protesting effectively.
Any protests training recommends to actually coordinate with the police for less conflict. So.... even though I am NOT coordinating, "experienced" protesters would support that.
My wish is simply that all these piss n vinegar know it alls would read more books and less social media.
Widen your reading circle.
This is objectively wrong and you are clearly a baby at protest organizing, so maybe try a little harder to listen to people with experience, even if you find you don't like what they're telling you.
Or....find out the hard way; I'm fine with that given your smug tone.
Your posts don't seem to indicate that you are any expert on organizing. There's no gatekeeping of protests. You're not the one who gets to decide how and what we are supposed to do or say. You're kind of sounding like an authoritarian, to be honest.
The first time I ever went to a protest, I was 14. The police said "this is a riot, leave now or you will be arrested." Some of my friends left... into a line of riot cops. They got their asses kicked and arrested. I was fine because I stayed with the riot. I learned that day to never obey police.
Later on I was taking a bus. I sat behind some off-duty cops. They were talking about how they were excited for the protest that was coming up so they could (direct quote) "get hazard pay to beat up hippies."
In the USA, they are ALL corrupt departments gone mad with power, who seem beyond practical accountability.
Also the FBI keeps publishing articles about how most local police departments in the USA have been heavily infilitrated by neo nazi gangs since the 90's, but people just don't read them.
It is impossible to overstate how comically corrupt and evil all police in the USA are. All the people who aren't fucked up quit in like 2014. Since Ferguson, recruitment has been down nationally. No one but hardcore racists has been signing up to be a cop for over 10 years now.
Thanks for mentioning this.
The majority of the protesters are the ones who don't like the profanity. Our community does not want to communicate our message that way.
Of course, I am just a citizen, I have no way or desire to control the speech of others.
Identify the lie.
All Americans have a 1st amendment right to peacefully protest.
The police are supporting, and preserving our right.
This does not mean there is no police brutality or overreach.
At least I'm not hiding behind a fake name and fake picture, "space monkey"
imagine living in... any society and believing in this, not as a small child or anything but seemingly as a grown adult whom probably has gone outside and talked to literal human beings.
This is what happens when the history textbooks are edited by white supremacists. Can you imagine anyone so fucking dumb to think police support protests?
We WILL
1) Stay off the street,
2) Stay on the pavement or in the park on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET,
3) BEHAVE ourselves,
4) Obey the nice policemen AT ALL TIMES.
We will NOT
5) Swear,
6) Obstruct Tesla IN ANY WAY from going about its business,
7) Call this "TAKEDOWN" a picnic.
If you’re certain about the “correct” way to protest, I assume you’ve moved past the social media comment phase & are deep into organizing your own. Tell me when & where so I can show up?
Peaceful protest has a long and proud history in driving real change, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Discomfort is the point. If that rattles you, take a minute to reflect on why.
If you’re not going to help, at least try not to stand in the way of those who are.
@timshelt.bsky.social:
1) I have NOTHING against peaceful protest. See my 2 replies to Joel on this thread re: MLK. (The linked👇+ its follow up)
I'm criticising INEFFECTIVE "protest".
2) Are you Joel's or @mfish.bsky.social's new burner account? You have only posted TWICE, followers+following = SIX
It’s easy to criticize from the sidelines. Joel’s actually showing up and using his voice. That doesn’t deserve sarcasm—it deserves at least a little respect, even if you’d do it differently.
He literally just got done saying that he assumes that any police violence against protesters must be for good reason and probably is the protesters' fault. After the orgy of state terror against protesters we've seen over the past year and a half. He is not to be trusted.
Let me be clear: It does not matter whether he comes by this apologia for police repression by way of cynicism or naivety born of a sheltered life. If he knows better, he shouldn't be trusted. If he doesn't know better, he DEFINITELY shouldn't be trusted.
Joel works with cops. He is worthy and deserving of criticism. He should be criticized harsher and worse than he’s receiving. His actions endanger others & maintains the problems proclaims to fight against.
Joel’s getting more heat for peacefully protesting DOGE corruption than Musk is for gutting public funding.
When calling out power draws more backlash than abusing it, something’s broken.
That kind of reaction doesn’t build movements. It breaks them.
Allow me to clarify.
I am not working or coordinating with cops.
The police do not interfere because they support - our right of the 1st amendment. Our right to peacefully protest.
You're new to this, aren't you? Cops don't care about "rights". Not only that, but that's not even their job. The entire history of police shows that. It's a clearly laid out fact, not some conspiracy.
Allow me to clarify - I am not working or coordinating with cops. I only give them our plans ahead of time and I promise that we won’t use cuss words or do anything bad. The cops promise to not have any *uniformed* officers at our protest. Not everything is a conspiracy!
Ok, what makes you think the police support your protest in particular? Because the police do not care about your "right" to protest and they certainly won't hesitate to disperse you if the right person tells them to.
When you claim that the police support your right to protest you are simultaneously erasing the police violence that activists are historically and regularly subject to, as well as placing yourself in the same camp of white supremacists and fascists who actually do receive support from the police.
HOW take anyone seriously when they use an image of Musk in his fascist-salute pose + the term "TAKEDOWN", but tell protestors NOT to stand in front of the company which they're claiming to TAKE DOWN nor block its driveway?!
"Let's destroy Musk's business by letting it do business as usual!"
🙄🙄🙄🤣🤣🤣
MLK literally broke laws. It’s called “non-violent direct action”. He was arrested over 100 times. Your actions do not even reach anything close to how radical MLK’s actions actually were. You’ve literally whitewashed what MLK stood for.
It's "Sieg Heil" [Hail Victory]: not "sig heil". As I wrote, a fascist salute.
Don't fucking lecture me on MLK! MLK didn't use violence, but he DID block access on MANY occasions. He lay down in streets. He refused to move when cops ordered him to.
Ain’t got a problem with that but if you’re gonna say brain dead shit like “the cops protect our first amendment rights” don’t act like getting clowned on is a surprise
I've been peacefully protesting Tesla for over 3 months without issues. I am not committing acts of civil disobedience. Go shout your internet righteousness at someone else.
Or come talk to me IRL you know where to find me, big guy.
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests were an act of civil disobedience. The Civil Rights movement led by MLK & his contemporaries was made up entirely by acts of civil disobedience.
The first sentence of your tweet indicates to me that you, if not in fact a pathological liar, dwell in a parallel universe that is altogether vastly different from ours
Not every protest needs to be a spectacle. This one is clear, focused, and public. If your instinct is to mock that instead of engage with the message, maybe take a beat and ask why.
I don’t think you understand the point of a fucking protest if you think it’s not supposed to be “a spectacle.” At the bare minimum, it should be a spectacle. Better yet, it should be an inconvenience to powerful people.
If you don’t like that, you’re on the wrong side. Your priorities are shot.
The police only support that which doesn't threaten state power. As your little parade is making a point of being as inoffensive as possible, no shit they're not going to be against you. Would you coordinate with SS officers to protest in Nazi Germany?
I feel like we shouldn't care what cops think about anything at all. if cops are cool with what you're doing, you're not in trouble and that's good, if they're not cool with it, fuck em. they're bastards.
Comments
They support *order*.
Protests are meant to disrupt *order*.
What you are planning is not a protest. It’s a rally. Please reserve the term for actually confronting power.
A protest only lands when the cops flinch. When order cracks. When the street gets blocked, the plan breaks, and no one knows what’s coming next. That’s the real stuff. That’s the point. Anything else—calm, permitted, polite—is just a leash.
Is that a fair summary?
Citing the first amendment is a joke when law enforcement just makes shit up on the spot to meet their quotas
My wish is simply that all these piss n vinegar know it alls would read more books and less social media.
This is objectively wrong and you are clearly a baby at protest organizing, so maybe try a little harder to listen to people with experience, even if you find you don't like what they're telling you.
Or....find out the hard way; I'm fine with that given your smug tone.
Also the FBI keeps publishing articles about how most local police departments in the USA have been heavily infilitrated by neo nazi gangs since the 90's, but people just don't read them.
The majority of the protesters are the ones who don't like the profanity. Our community does not want to communicate our message that way.
Of course, I am just a citizen, I have no way or desire to control the speech of others.
All Americans have a 1st amendment right to peacefully protest.
The police are supporting, and preserving our right.
This does not mean there is no police brutality or overreach.
At least I'm not hiding behind a fake name and fake picture, "space monkey"
We WILL
1) Stay off the street,
2) Stay on the pavement or in the park on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET,
3) BEHAVE ourselves,
4) Obey the nice policemen AT ALL TIMES.
We will NOT
5) Swear,
6) Obstruct Tesla IN ANY WAY from going about its business,
7) Call this "TAKEDOWN" a picnic.
If you’re not going to help, at least try not to stand in the way of those who are.
1) I have NOTHING against peaceful protest. See my 2 replies to Joel on this thread re: MLK. (The linked👇+ its follow up)
I'm criticising INEFFECTIVE "protest".
2) Are you Joel's or @mfish.bsky.social's new burner account? You have only posted TWICE, followers+following = SIX
The least he deserves is ridicule.
When calling out power draws more backlash than abusing it, something’s broken.
That kind of reaction doesn’t build movements. It breaks them.
I am not working or coordinating with cops.
The police do not interfere because they support - our right of the 1st amendment. Our right to peacefully protest.
Not everyone and everything is a conspiracy.
Go make friends.
You cannot believe the police when they say things like that. It leads to bad operational security.
You certainly can't print it on your flyers.
"Let's destroy Musk's business by letting it do business as usual!"
🙄🙄🙄🤣🤣🤣
We are directly in front of Tesla
We are NOT blocking their driveway bc we are peaceful protesters.
Use your logic on MLK now for my amusement.
You are declaring in advance that you will follow the law.
You are not the same.
Don't fucking lecture me on MLK! MLK didn't use violence, but he DID block access on MANY occasions. He lay down in streets. He refused to move when cops ordered him to.
Peaceful ≠ kowtowing!
You want quotes from MLK?!
really wish this wasn't so typical.
Send all your hate to the people in power, not to allies.
Stay safe.
Hopefully the folks who show up around you have more scrupules than you do.
Or come talk to me IRL you know where to find me, big guy.
You have no idea what these words mean.
Please tell us more about it
If you don’t like that, you’re on the wrong side. Your priorities are shot.