From the dissident perspective, there are right ways and wrong ways to protest government policies. Right ways include malicious compliance and civil disobedience… driving up the costs of enforcement and nudging the Overton windows of acceptance. Wrong ways include public defiance and one-time dramas that can be neither tolerated nor maintained. Such in-your-face tactics work for anarchists only because they’re sponsored by the State. One glance at how much catch-and-release goes on for BLM terrorists makes it obvious how long such organizations will persist once their inside handlers decide to close the ‘release’ spigot. They’re tools, not success stories, and don’t you try to be a tool just because they’re “winning”.
Which brings us to Surf City.
Santa Cruz Police Department responds to Sunday’s anti-mask protest
h ttps://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2021/03/02/santa-cruz-police-department-responds-to-sundays-anti-mask-protest/
By Ryan Stuart, 2 March 2021
SANTA CRUZ . The Santa Cruz Police Department responded on Tuesday evening to the group of anti-mask protesters that on Sunday night took to the streets of downtown Santa Cruz.
.We are getting a lot of messages from community that Santa Cruz is fed up with anti-maskers,. the department stated in a Facebook post. .We hear you..
The group of roughly 20 protesters marched through the downtown sector and returned to Trader Joe.s, the site of a previous protest two weeks prior. Police were present at the scene but did not cite or arrest any of the protestors despite a city and county mandate that requires masks to be worn in public places. Non compliers can be fined $100 for a first offense, which will increase to $200 and $500 on subsequent offenses.
At first I thought this was cowardice but upon reflection, it’s a credit to law enforcement when they can tell the difference between serious crimes and “why did you interrupt my coffee?” The protesting group forced police involvement when they didn’t have to.
How do I know they didn’t have to? Because I’ve gone maskless in that very downtown. I ignored the glares but masked-up when I went into businesses because those were lines that I knew I couldn’t cross. Yet. But when I could get away with disobedience, I did. Eventually, other people began following my example. I doubt they would have had I gotten myself arrested every time I broke the rules.
Also, Trader Joe’s is Ground Zero for the Whores of Fricking Babylon. Karens, feminists and the most toxic/diabetic forms of Wokeness that you would not believe exist. The protesters didn’t choose a neutral site; they marched into the teeth of the dragon. That was stupidity bordering on false-flag operation.
…I see in their video, already gone, that they proceeded to demonstrate in front of the police station itself. I guess because cops didn’t arrest them like they’d wanted the first time around?
SCPD planned ahead for the protests after hearing rumors of “National Maskless Day.. They increased the number of staff on duty to keep the peace. The hope was to ensure the safety of businesses and customers while protecting the protesters. First Amendment rights, the post reads.
AND they protested on such a reliable schedule that the cops were waiting? I want to say that this really was false-flag but as of this writing, police haven’t been able to identify any of them despite their protesting maskless in both downtown and the police station itself.
In order to arrest maskless protesters in the future, police will need the targeted business to file a complaint. The department will then need to file charges against the protesters. SCPD advises business owners not to in a verbal or physical altercation with unruly patrons if the situation escalates.
.Private businesses can decide whether to allow customers or visitors onto a property if they are not wearing a mask,. the post reads. “Companies can tell patrons ” either wear a mask, or you’re not allowed inside. A mask situation is like the no shirt, no shoes, no service policy..
Translating the boldface, “we don’t want to waste our time on harmless dissidents but if there’s paperwork then we’ll be forced to get involved.”
Since the incident on Sunday, police have been working to identify the protesters, write case reports, and send them to the prosecutor, according to the post. Protesters involved will be summoned to court if there is sufficient evidence against them.
While crowdsourcing criminal investigations is the latest trend in police work, this here is a lot of work to punish an infraction that could have been punished much more easily when the infraction was being committed on their literal doorstep. Hmm…
The Santa Cruz Police Department is also asking for the help of the community. It is asking for community members to help identify the maskless protesters who have been staging demonstration within Santa Cruz.
SCPD will accept tips, photos, videos or any other relevant information. Those who wish to help the police department can contact Detective Sergeant Greg…
Methinks that this is simply the lowest-cost effort they can make to appease the Trader Joe Karens. I credit SCPD with knowing, even in Current Year with all the hostile pressures upon them, when to be lazy about enforcement.
I do not credit the protesters with anything but imbecility. I want the mask mandates to end as badly as anybody but my form of protest works because I get most of what I want without forcing local authorities to react. I don’t want them to react. But this kind of marching-through-downtown-ending-at-Karen-Central is exactly the sort of conduct that forces authorities to double down on those same mandates.
How many times must it be said? DO NOT STAGE ORGANIZED, HIGH-PROFILE PROTESTS IN LEFTIST STRONGHOLDS! Keep to yourself, know your limits and let the sheeple get used to the idea that the world won’t end if they get a breath of fresh air, too.
.SCPD takes this issue seriously and will seek the appropriate legal action through the justice system,. the post reads.
Thankfully not so much, but if I knew who these protesters were I’d turn them in myself. They must learn the lesson, that brute-force protests only work if the government is secretly on your side in the first place. What were they expecting, that Trader Joe’s would end their mask policy because of a one-time event?
Very wise. I never understood the value of protesting in any case. Either we have a legitimate way to change things or we have no way of changing things. Protesting doesn’t work, and never has. Maybe they thought they would be “martyrs”? No one cares about a martyr. Unless it’s the government’s martyr.
Last week, I was on the checkout line in a grocery store in Los Angeles. As I was bagging, the woman behind me said to the cashier, “Thank you for being an essential worker!”
Huh? Everyone was wearing a mask. Plus, the cashier was behind a plexiglass shield. She wasn’t in any danger.
I think the customer said what she did, not to thank anyone, but to show off what a good, progressive person she was by publicly thanking “essential workers.”
I suppose I could have topped her by saying, Thank you for being a hero! Of course, I said nothing.
=========
Today, I wanted to enter the elevator in my condo. But there was already a woman inside, alone. We were both wearing masks. She refused to let me on, saying, “I’m sorry, but there isn’t six feet of separation
Really? We’re both in masks, but she imagines she can have the elevator to herself?
I’m living in clown world.
‘She refused to let me on, saying, .I.m sorry, but there isn.t six feet of separation’
I will be sure to keep that in mind if I see her having a heart attack in the middle of the street.
But I AM performing CPR, folks. From a Safe and Approved distance.
When I lived in Santa Cruz, it was very much of a “eh, do your own thing, find your bliss” place–far preferable to the screechy conformism demanded everywhere. Nice to see that there are still hints of this live-and-let-live attitude left.
The surfer vibe is still there but it’s being strangled by the university’s Wokeness. Santa Cruz culture is becoming polarized just like everywhere else.