A journalist shot by police during the 2020 Minneapolis unrest following the murder of George Floyd is dying from her injuries, friends say.

Linda Tirado was in Minneapolis from out of state covering the protests and rioting when police shot her in the face with a rubber bullet, also known as a “less-lethal” round. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and was blinded in one eye.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    Shit. This hits close to home. I was very active on twatter back then and followed Linda. Her girls are pretty young to be losing their mom.

    Fucking cops.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    5 months ago

    WCCO asked the city whether Tirado’s settlement resulted in any changes to the city’s use of less-lethal rounds. A spokesperson declined to answer.

    I’ll save the suspense: this means it didn’t change.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    That summer, I went to witness the protests in Raleigh, NC. The most intense of it was limited to a group of 7-12 people yelling at a group of police holding a line in a street outside the courthouse. Someone threw a firework at them, and then the tear gas came out, with police shooting rubber bullets at us. My friend and I were off to the side, not doing anything but watching, he got hit by a rubber bullet on his collar bone. Broke the skin, leaving a baseball size bloody petechiae welt. Regulations say that they’re supposed to fire those bullets at peoples legs. But of course, police are given 3 months of training tops, so they just fire them wherever.

    On a side note, whole milk is the best thing to use to wash tear gas off your face. Also hold your breath if you have to walk through it’s smoke, getting that shit in your nostrils, throat, or lungs feels like inhaling fire.

    • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      But of course, police are given 3 months of training tops, so they just fire them wherever.

      I don’t think they fire them wherever. I think they aim at people’s faces because they think it’s funny.

      • I'm back on my BS 🤪@lemmy.autism.place
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        5 months ago

        They’re meant to be fired any where. They say at the legs so people will be okay with it. It’s like when people go to Vegas with their friends for girls/boys trip. There aint nothing there but gambling and debauchery. Most people go there to cheat.

        • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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          5 months ago

          They’re literally meant to only be bounced off the ground, that’s some BS propaganda

          • I'm back on my BS 🤪@lemmy.autism.place
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            5 months ago

            That’s what they say. The people that use them know very well that they are going to shoot them however they please. However, if they were to say so, that might make them illegal or result in liability issues if someone is severely injured. Thus, they have to pretend that they would only shoot them at the legs. This is how I imagine the conversation went:

            Politician A: We can fire rubber bullets at them to stop. It will give us an excuse to make the protestors shit themselves in fear of death, but they wont be killed since we’re using rubber bullets. That will get them to stop fighting us.

            Politician B: Yeah, but how are we gonna get the public to allow us to shoot bullets at them? They’re not going to let us do that. All they would have to argue is that the rubber bullets could severely injure or kill someone that is shot in the face.

            A: We’ll just say that the rubber bullets will only be shot at the legs.

            B: That might not be intimidating enough.

            A: Don’t worry. We’re just saying that. The cops will do as they normally do.

            B: Wont they know that it’s a lie when they get shot in the face?

            A: Nah. We’ll say it was an accident or bounced off of the floor.

            B: 🤜

            A: 🤛

      • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yes, ignore that. Saline may work, but can you buy that at a corner store immediately before a raucous protest? no. Water just doesn’t work, so ignore that. Also, odds are, if you were pepper sprayed/tear gassed, and you’ve washed it off with milk, you’ll probably wash yourself off afterwards. You don’t have to worry about getting an infection from pasteurized milk. This Lemmy user has been spreading that, and it’s just blatantly false. water does not work.

    • Jim_Just_Jim@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      No offense intended, but deliberately placing yourself in the vicinity of potentially violent protests is also deliberately subjecting yourself to a certain amount of risk.

        • I'm back on my BS 🤪@lemmy.autism.place
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          5 months ago

          I knew a guy in my social circle that was a sheriff deputy during the George Floyd protests. He was known for being an all-around douchebag and was mostly tolerated. No one ever wondered where he was at or of he was coming. He kinda just heard of plans and showed up. His conversations would be things like complaining about women or people of color and sharing that he takes 30-mins shits.

          There was someone else in the circle that needed a place nearby since he was going to school, so the cop offered him a room in his house for an affordable rate with no lease. Once the guy moved in and gave up his previous residence, the guy jacked up rent, imposed ridiculous rules like an overbearing curfew, monitored him with cameras and sensors throughout the house, and belittled him every chance he got in front of others. I am not exaggerating at all. That’s who this guy was.

          Come the protests, we saw this dude out there. He was purposely instigating unrest so that he could use force. That’s what he wanted. He was open about it. He even came out in the news doing it on video and it became a thing in the city.

          All he wanted to do was demonstrate power over others to overcome his deep-seated inferiority complex. He was a complete sack of shit.

  • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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    5 months ago

    I would have liked some more info on how the brain injury is slowly killing her. My perception of what a brain injury could be is clearly wrong because I have been under the impression that the brain is pretty sturdy as long as the initial injury doesn’t kill you.