I thoroughly understand that people can disagree with me, I know you disagree with me on many things... but not this. You don't believe their actions are reasonable, I know this of you for a number of reasons.
No. Stop right there. Read what I said and start thinking I meant it.
First, nothing you've ever said has suggested a general support for hooliganism.
You're right, I don't believe in hooliganism.
I do however believe in the principles of direct action, and political violence as long as it is proportionate to injustice. I also accept or tolerate political violence as a natural consequence of circumstance, policy and so on - as MLK approximately said, "A riot is the voice of the unheard". Furthermore, I think it needs to be understood that a great deal of
policing is a form of political violence. Policing is often not neutral, because all too often the police reflect the vested interests of the state itself, thus (and even worse) those that run the state. Indeed, the Trump administration is useful as it is all but explicit about law and enforcement being a tool to oppress its opponents, persecute its enemies, and impose its values.
If you haven't noticed this to be my opinion on the matter, then you just haven't been paying enough attention.
But secondly, even if you did, even if you thought ICE was so terrible to be supportive of people rising up against them directly, you are reasonable enough to know that what they were doing is just counterproductive.
We could also call a protest a demonstration. People are demonstrating their beliefs and values. Democracy is not just turning up every few years to press a button or write a cross on a sheet of paper, it's wider engagement of writing letters to representatives, joining political parties, donating, etc. and, where relevant, demonstrating. That includes demonstrators letting others know they want ICE to get the fuck out of their community - where people includes neighbours, local politicians, national politicians, the media, all their countrymen and ICE agents themselves. So they stand up and make a noise and get in their way in a manner that makes clear that their view is "Get the fuck out of our community".
Now, of course, I did mention proportionality. Relevant here that the invasion of cities by ICE is intensely politicised and partisan: look no further than the way Trump talks about them. It's not just normal enforcement, it's a Republican-led federal administration deliberately targeting Democratic cities with heavy-handed, showy assaults for publicity. It's show punishment, performative thuggery, designed to aggravate and incite Trump's enemies for the pleasure of Trump's most odious supporters. That very much merits a reaction from the citizens of those cities, their clear statement of resistance.
But thirdly and most directly, it's a contradiction of your position on this issue.
Following your logic there, the more violently the state and its agents behave, the more the public should acquiesce to the state. This is exactly the opposite of both what I believe, and what is healthy for a democratic society.
