Stephan: Under Trump the thuggery of the police has been greatly exacerbated because his words prompt bullies to bully. It is my view that the entire sheriff structure in the U.S. should be eliminated, ICE and the Border Patrol similarly should be disbanded. And the hiring and training of police should be completely restructured. Other developed nations don't have these problems that we see as routine, and we need to quit lying to ourselves about the fairness of our legal system and admit that it is notably inferior to the rest of the developed world.
An Oregon State Trooper arrests a journalist during a crowd dispersal near the Portland east police precinct on August 30 in Portland, Oregon. Credit: Nathan Howard/Getty
The United States is currently experiencing one of the longest continued periods of civil unrest in generations, after demonstrations sparked by George Floyd’s death expanded to protests against black Americans killed by police and systemic racism in the country.
Retaliation by police against civilians and the press was widely documented in the first wave of protests, but as the protests have continued, so too has the violence. There has not been a single week without an incidence of police brutality against a civilian or a journalist at a protest in the US since the end of May.
Journalist flee Minnesota State Patrol officers as they spray journalists with pepper spray and fire rubber bullets at them […]
