The following was posted to Boston's Facebook page:
The dual standard for treatment of people according to race by law enforcement has gone on far too long in the US. Most of us know that racial discrimination has existed in our country for hundreds of years, but if it weren’t for cell phone videos and the determined actions of peaceful protestors, most of us would still be unaware of the daily struggle many people live with just to avoid police persecution because of the color of their skin. The mounting abundance of video evidence coupled with a lack of governmental will to hold bad cops responsible for abuse of power, prejudice, and just plain malicious actions, has become overwhelming. My hat is off to everyone who has taken to the streets to make their voices heard.
In no way does this imply that I believe burning down businesses is justified, or that all police are bad. While I understand, and have experienced, the outrage over the reprehensible activities of some bad apples in law enforcement, it is entirely unfair (and ironically discriminatory) to claim “all cops are bad” based on the actions of some. I don’t know the ratio of good cops to malicious ones, but I suspect it is like every other walk of life: there are good people and bad people - some of each become the police you call when you need help fast.
The protestors who have exercised their constitutionally guaranteed right to assemble have done so during an unprecedented pandemic that has killed over 100,000 and is increasing out of control in many states. All of these people have put their health at risk to get your attention.
The deployment of heavily-armed militarized forces by Trump and his henchman William Barr who illegally assaulted peaceful protestors in DC is a deliberate challenge to everything America once stood for. If you haven’t been paying attention, and you think your democracy will always be here, you better wake up. If what’s left of the US is lucky enough to have an election in November, I’d advise you to vote and hope that the election results will be upheld, because right now one man has a choke-hold on the DOJ, FBI, US Military, US Supreme Court, and, through the collective cowardice of the Republican Party, the US Senate. So who is going to stop him when armed troops come to your street like they did in DC?
Tom Scholz