"Counterprotestors" isn't strong enough. These cops see themselves as putting down an insurrection, fighting a civil war. (1/3) vox.com/2020/6/1/21276…
That the protests are largely nonviolent doesn't matter, since they are aimed at the institution of police force—insisting that force not be exercised with impunity, and that those doing so not be granted immunity, amounts, for cops, to an attack. (Which, given history, it is.)
It is common now to suggest that the protests of the BLM era have revealed American cops to be what they always were. Obviously, they have.
But those protests appear to have radicalized police, as well, making them feel even more like an occupying army, even more comfortable performing as a force of terror, and much less apologetic about being seen as such. (x/x)
