Oakland Trump protest

[pluton]

Good shots.  Thanks for showing them. 

[MFloyd]

For me, not close enough to the action. Remember what Robert Capa said. 😉

[Tristin]

There wasn't any action to be had.  It was basically people standing around taking pictures of bonfires in the streets, which is what made it a strange protest.  People here are used to tear gas and riot cops so things were pretty low key, as strange as that may sound

[David H. Hartman]

Tristin,

May I suggest that next time you stand in one of the bonfires, then surely you will be close enough.

Dave Hartman

...but please don't get burned!

[Mongo]

Mongo likes the photo journal you have made of the protest event. Nice work and glad you were not injured in the process.

Mongo is much like Frank in this. He too does not understand the point of the protest in this instance. Most protest take place BEFORE the happening of something with the intention of influencing the outcome. In this case, it just makes no sense - it is not as if the election result would be changed by the protest. It seems to Mongo to be what we call "bloody mindedness" and mindless destruction. Mongo has read and appreciates your earlier reply  to Frank by way of trying to explain the reason behind it.

[Akira]

Tristin, your images convey the atmosphere of the demonstration and the feelings of the people really nicely.

[Jakov Minić]

If you take the images out of context, I am not sure whether I would characterize them as a protest, but a celebration, spectacle, concert, alternative art display, or similar.

[Erik Lund]

That is also how I see the images.

[Ron Scubadiver]

Great PJ, although I find this kind of lawlessness to be unacceptable.

[Lowell]

Tristin,  Great bunch of images, especially how so many are recording with still of video photography.  I really like the fellow climbing high to get a shot of the action some distance away.  Also like that you show that they are basically burning the trash bins.  I see no police presence, nor was anyone attempting to put out the fires.

By the way, interesting bokeh in image #3 showing the distant street lamps through the smoke. 

Great images. 

Lowell 

[charlie]

Mongo likes the photo journal you have made of the protest event. Nice work and glad you were not injured in the process.

Mongo is much like Frank in this. He too does not understand the point of the protest in this instance. Most protest take place BEFORE the happening of something with the intention of influencing the outcome. In this case, it just makes no sense - it is not as if the election result would be changed by the protest. It seems to Mongo to be what we call "bloody mindedness" and mindless destruction. Mongo has read and appreciates your earlier reply  to Frank by way of trying to explain the reason behind it.

I think it is important to separate rioters form protesters.

Rioters I would have to agree, mindless & unacceptable. It seems the vast majority of people protesting however are peaceful and are not protesting the election results, rather the message of hatred and disrespect towards people and our planet which Donald Trump spread through out his campaign. Protesting in hopes to prevent sexism, racism, & bigotry from becoming [more] normalized in society. It is not just people in the streets, government officials are also coming out to state that they will not back down on issues such as climate change, immigration, equal rights, etc. Focusing on only the rioters is in my opinion missing the bigger picture.   

[Andrea B.]

Thank you Charlie, that was well explained.

I will add a small comment:  Peaceful protest is a cherished freedom and tradition in the US. We have the constitutional right to gather together and present our views. Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_assembly
There will be many more such protests for a while. 10,000 are marching tonight in New York City. But eventually everyone will settle into the next four years.
Remember, people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King have altered the laws of nations by means of such peaceful protests. I only hope that things remain peaceful with the current protesters.

[Ashlandish]

America playing with fire, in many ways, and fine photographs. Agree with Charlie and Andrea, they are wise.

[Mongo]

thanks Charlie and Andrea B for your perspective on these actions. Mongo would like to think that they may have been against the various notions of sexism, racism etc rather than the election result itself. However, if that were the case, one would have to ask where were these protest/rioters when these sort of comments were originally made and why would they injure innocent people and property Mongo knows this may seem a cynical view (and may well be) so please take the questions as rhetorical only. They whys and wherefores of these sorts of actions may never really be understood or motivated by the same reason(s).

It is also straying away from the photos themselves, so, apologies to Tristin.

[Tristin]

I do not mind the conversation, it isn't very practical to separate the image from the context sometimes.