• zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev
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      7 days ago

      Nah, sounds like somebody thought the blacks were getting too uppity as their representation was gutted.

      Polarization is not the word you use to describe not wanting to have your voice taken away.

      From the article you cite:

      Pearson later confirmed on Facebook Live that troopers had taken his brother into custody for refusing to move after Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton ordered the Capitol gallery to be cleared out

      THP Lt. Bill Miller later confirmed that at least three individuals were taken into custody for “disrupting the session of the House of Representatives.”

      “During today’s hearing, three individuals in attendance began disrupting the session of the House of Representatives,” he wrote in a statement shared with WKRN. “After repeated warnings, three individuals were taken into custody inside the gallery of the Capitol for suspected violation of TCA 39-17-306 (Disturbing an Official Meeting). The individuals were transported to the Davidson County jail for booking.”

      Troopers reportedly escorted several demonstrators out of the House chamber while the vote passed without public input. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee officially signed the map proposal into law on Thursday, which splits the majority-Black Memphis into three separate districts, giving Republicans the means to gain an additional seat in the midterm elections and control over Tennessee’s congressional delegation.

      Lee also signed two additional bills that bar lawmakers from redistricting between censuses for over five decades and no longer require county elections officials to notify voters of changes to their designated polling places when redrawing electoral lines, according to Democracy Docket.

      “These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump," Pearson said on Thursday when protesting in the House chamber. “Memphis is the most beautiful place on the planet. It’s the place that raised me, my brothers, my parents, my grandmothers, and where my ancestors’ bones rest. And what you are doing today is eviscerating the only Black majority congressional district in our state because we are majority Black.”

      • finnadrag@lazysoci.al
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        7 days ago

        Incredibly charitable of you to pretend that the tweet or whatever accurately reflects that text. ‘two black lawmakers arrested for opposing legislation’ is a little bit different than ‘a black lawmaker and his brother arrested for interrupting the session and refusing to leave when ordered’. I think it’s based of them to do that but come on.

        *fuck facts I guess. They probably actually took them outside and lynched them. Maybe they even killed all the black residents of the district. It’s not sensationalist enough that a lawmaker and his brother got arrested for protesting something worth getting arrested in protest of. So just lie a bit, make it 2 legislators. Deliberately paint an incomplete picture so instead of making a choice now they were just passive victims who were ‘just attending a meeting’. Gotta get those reposts and upvotes in the leftist echo chambers.

          • finnadrag@lazysoci.al
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            7 days ago

            ‘Lawmakers oppose legislation and try to attend meeting’ doesn’t normally imply ‘actively disrupting the legislature in protest’. It’s lying by omission. Yeah technically they were ‘opposing the legislation’ but that’s not why they were arrested.

            Turns out they do actually arrest you when you try to get arrested to bring attention to something.

            I’m kind of baffled that you’re doubling down on refusing to acknowledge the amount of spin.

      • finnadrag@lazysoci.al
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        6 days ago

        Believe it or not you can’t just go to a state assembly and interrupt the session without consequence.

        They were there to protest. Their goal was probably to get arrested to bring attention to this vote. The arrest wasn’t “absolutely insane” it’s what you would expect. What the legislature is doing is the insane part.

        • Hestia [she/her, fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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          6 days ago

          Lmk when you have something valuable to add to the conversation. At the end of the day their goal is to silence black people and this is just another instance of it.

          • finnadrag@lazysoci.al
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            6 days ago

            Some people care about facts and if something is true or not. Making up some extra bullshit to make your bluesky/mastodon/whatever that is post more sensational just distracts from the actual outrageous part.

    • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      They did nothing illegal. So there’s no reason to be arrested. There’s no misrepresentation via the post.

    • Pollo_Jack@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Misrepresenting the truth does nobody any favours, no matter which side you’re on. You’re contributing to the problem of online social media causing polarisation and furthering hatred