stuart andrew thompson

i have a posture lately that I call The Gray Area. which is like.. feeling comfortable being uncertain about things. deliberately not holding a strong opinion. in fact, rejecting the pleasure you get from feeling strongly about something. it's hard but i think needed

in this case it's masks, but that dynamic basically describes the entire internet and especially twitter

at both moments ppl are acting kind of rationally. it's the expert advice so we adopt it but ppl are just SO QUICK to feel 100% confident about a position they literally just heard about. then attack anyone who doubts.

ppl who wore masks in april were alarmist, selfish hoarders stealing supplies from health care professionals ppl not wearing masks today are politicizing a crisis, ignoring Good Science and acting like selfish conspiracy theorists

for a sign of our broken way of thinking, consider this we are SO QUICK to be 100% convinced about things around covid. remember when people were like DONT WEAR MASKS. bc that's what experts said. now we're saying WEAR MASKS. we had total conviction about opposite ideas.

thanks to @Omarisal, the incredible citizen journalist who captured this footage by pushing his way to the front lines of the protest. his feed, before/during/after, was an invaluable public service and the whole thing is worth watching: https://t.co/wA3oWMHbVE

the event is a metaphor in policing writ large. one officer reacts poorly, but others follow their lead. from their perspective, maybe they had to? imagine spraying one person in a calm crowd and then stopping? harder to justify. some force requires total force, they might think https://t.co/o3BFQCpinO

riot officers arrive -> pepper spray becomes implicit threat -> protesters react with umbrellas to protect themselves -> umbrellas annoy riot officers this escalation is entirely predictable. this was the moment things seemed to turn: https://t.co/LHRfL2wHQ6

bike officers were in front (with their bikes, cute!) and it was calm. but then this happened.... tap tap tap, riot officers moving in. gas masks, batons. watched on officer shake pepper spray while staring at protesters. tensions increased. https://t.co/XXUlCkj3fP

protesters gathered trying to reach the East Precinct but encountered a barricade https://t.co/B4LIP7tBtu

new yorkers help me. alternate side parking started today but no one on my street (except me) moved their cars during the required hours. is this normal?

check out our opinion video investigation into violence at the seattle protest by @BrandondelPozo https://t.co/U9LUF2wHMT

What does it mean to defund police? Check out this handy graphic from @C_Resistance https://t.co/BaibmEO0PB

Living in a smallish town, the protests encourage me, make me feel seen and cared for, like someone has my back besides me and my 13 other black friends in town. It says we live here, too, and are important to the community. https://t.co/prfUkeN9mb

In Opinion "Months into the coronavirus pandemic, scientists have identified some clear patterns in which people who suffer from Covid-19 are most likely to die," writes Yaryna Serkez. https://t.co/tXVHuKURqp

All of those phone location data companies that were raving about how they could track peoples' movements during the coronavirus are all pretty fucking quiet about being able to monitor protests eh?

We’re officially past curfew out here in front of the White House and the protest has not shrunk one bit. This is the biggest crowd my colleagues and I have seen all week. Instead of deterring them, the aggressive police tactics of yesterday seem to have moved many to come out. https://t.co/s8N1utXAfi

It is not enough, right now, for officials to focus on protecting property. It’s not enough even for them to think only of protecting life, though that is critical. They need to protect the freedoms of assembly and expression and to hear what’s being said. https://t.co/aGSSw3qUS0

New column — a photo investigation on @realDonaldTrump's photo stunt. Spam around. 😷😘 https://t.co/CdinnyDnDD