• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’m an Indiana University alum and my dad was a professor there. During the protests there, they had a fucking sniper on the roof. The protests were in a park next to the student union which had been used for protests since the Vietnam War. I was there in middle school in a shanty that was protesting the 1990s Gulf War. Now the new semester has started and there’s a chain link fence around the whole thing.

    The president just got a raise.

    Makes me fucking sick.

    Here’s the sniper:

    I used to climb up to that roof where that sniper is with friends when I was in high school to smoke weed, so that was a trip to see.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      I agree it’s insane what they do, but the sniper is needed with the direction we’ve gone. The sniper is there in case someone with a gun comes to kill protesters, not to kill protesters or they would have done it by now. They really are there for everyone’s safety. Now the guys on the ground who attack people or the guys firing pepper rounds/spray at protesters, they’re the ones we should be complaining about. The ones who are actually applying violence to protesters. The sniper may appear worse if you aren’t paying attention, but they’ve yet to actually shoot anyone, while protesters have been assaulted.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Nonsense. The sniper is part of the same police force as the one attacking protesters.

        Which side did the cops take when protesters in New York were attacked?

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          They are a part of the same police force. I’m not saying they’re good people. I’m saying this role is not one doing harm, and is actually useful until we get our shooting issue under control. You’ll see the same snipers at sporting events and anywhere else with a large gathering. They’re obviously not there for the protesters, but in case someone decides to do something to start killing others.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Why has there never been a sniper there before then? There’s a huge festival every year in that park with a huge number of students and non-students, including a lot of teenagers, with live bands playing on more than one stage. Never a sniper.

            • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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              2 months ago

              No Idea. My university did a yearly celebration as well and we for sure had snipers and guys with rifles walking around. If you know where to look, they’re at most large events. I can’t tell you about this location specifically, but it’s common.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                This is Bloomington, Indiana. Population 80,000. Police snipers aren’t generally a thing in towns that size.

                • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  I know when Bill Clinton gave a speech at UCF (Orlando) in 2012 there were snipers on most of the school’s roofs in the area. Can’t remember if I was getting out of work or getting out of class but he was giving a speech I believe to support Obama’s re-election. They were likely secret service, but they had their own police station and hospital on campus. I’m sure all of the training and certifications had to be funded by the state and reported like this. Robots to deploy for bomb threats were used pretty often, as people would report a suspicious backpack or such, rumor mill was always that there was exams in that building so you could get class canceled by anonymously reporting said backpack. It true, hell of a way to postpone an exam because you didn’t find time to study.

            • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Because gun violence is more of a risk than ever.

              Honestly I would feel better with the sniper there, so they could stop random nut who shows up with an assault rifle. Which is really sad.