“Some Protests Against Police Brutality Take a More Confrontational Approach” (NYT):
The protests are moving into white residential neighborhoods, where activists demand that people choose a side.
Terrance Moses was watching protesters against police brutality march down his quiet residential street one recent evening when some in the group of a few hundred suddenly stopped and started yelling.
Mr. Moses was initially not sure what the protesters were upset about, but as he got closer, he saw it: His neighbors had an American flag on display.
“It went from a peaceful march, calling out the names, to all of a sudden, bang, ‘How dare you fly the American flag?’” said Mr. Moses, who is Black and runs a nonprofit group in the Portland, Ore., area. “They said take it down. They wouldn’t leave. They said they’re going to come back and burn the house down.”
Nearly four months after the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, some protesters against police brutality are taking a more confrontational — and personal — approach. The marches in Portland are increasingly moving to residential and largely white neighborhoods, where demonstrators with bullhorns shout for people to come “out of your house and into the street” and demonstrate their support.
Can investors make money by investing in companies that produce BLM and other social justice signs? And then, once every house in the U.S. has a BLM sign, how will the protesters sort out the true believers from the sham sympathizers who merely place signs as protection?
Several trade and commercial printers I know are printing BLM posters and signs for free and giving them away, esp. in big cities.
As noted in your post from February 29, the BLM banner at the church in Lexington was union-made:
https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2020/01/29/our-faith-calls-us-to-affirm-black-lives-matter/
“Note that the banner is a GCC/IBT union-made product (“Graphic Communications Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters”) so in addition to supporting Black Lives Matter, the church is supporting the Teamsters.”
The Teamsters are *not* giving away their $20 BLM t-shirts:
https://teamsterwear.com/p/7/TTM-SST-039/black-lives-matter-t-shirt/#.X2optWhKjcs
And Black Lives Matter itself is capitalizing on the movement with T-shirts, hoodies, banners, posters, signs, bumper stickers, etc., etc. All non-free.
https://www.black-livesmatter.shop/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImarD-pr96wIVpAiICR25PwkuEAAYASAAEgIM9vD_BwE
The BLM web store has very little identifying or contact information and it also doesn’t indicate where any of their products are made. I can certainly understand them not wanting to say: “Proudly Made in the U.S.A.” but I thought maybe they’d put in a plug for any Chinese companies producing their branded materials. Evidently they don’t want to talk about where they get their stuff.
Oregon doesn’t seem to have a law on the books specifically prohibiting arson threats, although they of course prohibit arson and have a variety of statutes regarding criminal mischief, and laws regarding harassment and stalking.
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/164.325
Maryland will fine you $10,000 and put you in prison for 10 years for threatening arson:
https://casetext.com/statute/code-of-maryland/article-criminal-law/title-6-crimes-against-property/subtitle-1-arson-and-burning/section-6-107-threat-of-arson#:~:text=Law%20%C2%A7%206%2D107,-Download&text=Section%206%2D107%20%2D%20Threat%20of%20arson%20(a)%20A,on%2C%20or%20under%20a%20structure.
As I understand the Castle Doctrine laws in Oregon, use of deadly force in self-defense is legal in Oregon if someone is burglarizing or attempting to burglarize your home, but it doesn’t have anything to say about someone trying to burn your home down. I guess it hasn’t been tried yet.
But the business model seems to be cyclic, after Nov they may be dormant again and might show up only after 4 years ? 😉