Protests and Rights

I'm having a really tough time with these protests and riots right now. Is that just stating the obvious? I imagine everyone is upset right now, in one way or another. 

I completely support those participating in peaceful protests, one of which took place at the Nebraska State Capitol this afternoon. It is a right afforded us by the First Amendment of the Constitution and is a way to express our opposition, upset or anger over injustices and necessary changes in national policy and mindset.

However, I am heartsick at the rioting taking place across the country. I know things are much worse in Minneapolis, Denver, Washington D.C., etc. But this is Lincoln...little ol' Nebraska...and I acknowledge that seeing it here is more upsetting because it's (literally) hitting close to home. This isn't us...this isn't Lincoln. 

Though I found it very distressing, I couldn't help but watch coverage of the escalating protest-turned-riot last night in front of the City-County Building and down Lincoln Mall. I started watching around midnight, after seeing video coverage of the peaceful protest in front of the Capitol. It kind of freaked me out seeing them there...I was able to see my office window in the 12:03am video. This all stemmed from a protest earlier in the evening (begun at 6pm?) which started at approx. 14th and K, moved all the way to 48th and R and back downtown. 

Those at the Capitol remained peaceful, while a group of several hundred moved down to the City-County Building. Those were taunting the police, throwing rocks, bricks, water bottles and shooting fireworks at them. A reporter from the Journal Star live streamed the rioting, which is what I watched till things broke up around 2:30am. At one point, you could hear one of the rioters moving up to the line of police say "come and get us! We have knives!" In the background you could frequently hear the shattering of glass and later, see people breaking into buildings and setting fires in several of them. Thankfully there were protesters who stepped up and put most of them out. The one in the Universal-Inland Insurance building wasn't sufficiently put out and did extensive damage. Over $10 million in damage was done in one night. 

Seeking equality and for everyone to feel and actually be safe in their communities is a worthy goal. It should be the norm. There's no reason why the color of someone's skin should  cause them to be treated differently. 

What happened to George Floyd was horrendous and inexcusable. But how does vandalism and arson help? How does this serve justice? The police officer who murdered him has been arrested and charged with murder. His conviction will be justice. How is destroying bus stops, graffiti-ing buildings, breaking windows along Lincoln Mall and starting fires justice for George Floyd? These things just further divide communities and hurt those who have nothing to do with the original crime. 

Your neighbors. 

Your friends. 

Your community.

Universal-Inland Insurance on 12th Street.

Offices along Lincoln Mall

The City-County Building

PHOTO UPDATE: I checked in on a friend whose office is in one of the buildings that was vandalized. His personal office wasn't affected (they couldn't break the second layer of glass), but the offices and cubicles around his weren't so lucky. 

View from his desk. You can see where the first pane is broken on the left.
The next three are from other offices and cubicles around him.

There were some unifying images and video from last night and today. Good to see people come together to pray and support each other in the Old Market in Omaha after the violence last night. There was also a great turnout of volunteers helping clean up Lincoln Mall. 

Nebraska State Patrol posted this on Facebook (Saturday night, May 30th): 
People can communicate. It can be peaceful.
Just as bad cops don’t represent good cops, bad actors don’t represent peaceful protesters.
Thanks to those who stay civil.

This is from the BLM protest at the Capitol today,
posted by this boy's mother (Sunday afternoon, May 31st).

A moment with LPD Officer Erin Spilker at the BLM Peaceful Protest today:
“Hi there, what’s your name?”
“Sebastian.”
“I love your sign, do you have any questions for me?”
“Ummm well, just that I want to tell you police officers are my favorite super heroes.”
*Officer Spilker turns her head in tears*
“I really needed to hear that right now buddy. I want to always be a super hero for you. Keep fighting the good fight.”
I want to say a sincere thank you to Officer Spilker for taking the time to stop and speak with my son today. Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.

The Lincoln mayor instated an 8pm curfew tonight (as has Omaha, where they have declared a state of emergency). Hopefully people will respect it. 

Be safe tonight, everyone. 

------

I'm not doing well. I'm upset and stressed. I do best with a schedule and stability. I'm very conflict averse. Everything that has happened in the last three months is the opposite of what I need to be at my best. I didn't get up till 1pm yesterday...I just wasn't up for dealing with life and humanity. I've found myself playing Sims4 more. I think because it's interactive, it's more of a distraction from reality than just watching a movie or TV show. 

I'm a little scared to go to work tomorrow, while also fairly certain things will be fine. I'll only be there during the day and the major unrest has all taken place at night. It's more of an escalation of concern, I guess. Our lack of security makes me a little uneasy on the best days, since we're a government building completely open to the public. So this just makes it worse. 

Awkward Yeti posted a comic that sums up life pretty well these days (see below). I've just moved past the tipping point of hoping things will get better any time soon. I'm not despairing...not yet anyway. But my head hurts, my heart hurts...and I'm so sad and tired. 

~ Katie Q. 🐧

UPDATE at 11:30pm: The head of BLM negotiated with police for the protest at the Capitol to continue after the 8pm curfew, as long as they remained peaceful. However, around 8:45pm things escalated and arrests were made. Objects and fireworks were again thrown at police. Tear gas was deployed to get people disperse, which they finally began to do around 11pm. 

If I find any rubber bullets or cans of tear gas in my office in the morning, I'll let you know. 😒

UPDATE at 9am on Monday: I drove a lap around the Capitol before parking and heading in to the office. There was graffiti being cleaned off the front, around the north steps (and still being cleaned...I can hear it outside my window). The giant construction dumper on the north side was covered in it too. I was texting with my coworker last night and we think it would be a good idea to go completely remote, at least for a day or two, to see how things play out. I'm waiting to hear from the boss to find out if it's ok to shut things down by noon.

UPDATE at 4pm on Monday: I worked a half day in the office and the rest of the day at home. I spent most of the morning packing up all our valuables and breakables. I figure better safe than sorry, since our office is on the north side of the building (where most protests take place). Our boss said it was ok if we just worked from home, so my plan is to see how things go today/tonight and tomorrow, with the expectation of working from the office again on Wednesday. It was just announced that Lincoln has a 9pm curfew tonight. I had higher hopes for things taking a peaceful turn before the news broke that the bar owner in Omaha who shot a protester Saturday night is not being charged. The Old Market is going to be a MESS tonight. Hopefully no one else gets hurt or killed. 😞 

UPDATE at 9am on Wednesday: Thankfully things went better than I was expecting. There were protests both nights, but they were more peaceful than over the weekend. There was some vandalism off O street at Target on N. 48th and Godfather's Pizza on 33rd once the protests broke up (after 11pm). However, I found out more damage was done to the Capitol over the weekend than I'd realized. The Abraham Lincoln statue on the west side was graffiti'd and, while I heard two senators offices on the first floor and accounting had windows broken on Saturday night, I only confirmed with one of office that they'd been damage.