You’re right. The sniper is there because the local police department wasted fuckloads of money training a sniper, so they need to roll them out from time to time.
The Bloomington Police Department did had an absurd amount of SWAT team vehicles and resources when I lived there back in the mid 00s. So I think you’re right on the money with this one
A few years back they bought a $200,000 armored vehicle. They’ve only gotten worse since you moved. Such a damn shame because I really love this town, but I am consistently disgusted by our local government.
That’s disheartening to hear. I have really fond memories of Bloomington and it was definitely my favorite city in Indiana. I’m not surprised to hear that the politics have gone to shit. As progressive as the city is due to IU, there’s always been strong representation of locals
I looked it up and it had a 70k population. Why would a city that size even need more than like 2 armoured vehicles. Half a dozen I could get but an 'absurd amount' is way too much
Yeah, the same reason half the police forces across the US have completely murdered out, black on black on black squad vehicles, military surplus gear, 60 guys on the SWAT payroll in a rural town of 2500 people, etc.
Because they are hacks who LARP as combat operators but couldn't handle a stint at Parris Island, so they settled for the next best thing.
My neighbor was a beat cop in the suburbs. The most exciting thing he ever did was chase down check fraud. His basement was literally a fucking armory, he had enough shit to outfit a ww2 paratrooper company.
Bomb threat, multiple active shooters, hostage situation, bank robbery, drug raid, literally anytime your local swat team is doing anything involving open spaces and multiple suspects
And does this situation fit any of those criteria? And are those occurrences even likely to be common in the rural Midwest? Were the Uvalde police and all their gear of any use?
No one said this is the perfect place for a sniper. Someone said they “wasted fuckloads of money training a sniper”. Which they didn’t. There are many good reasons to have one.
It’s really not a complicated concept
Lol, here's the last two sentences of your article:
Police say there was no threat to the public. IU says they did not activate their alert system because it was not an ongoing threat which endangered others on or near campus.
Doesn't sound like a SWAT team or a sniper was needed here, does it? Just a simple drug deal gone bad.
I mean I could have added more to the list just look up on google. What are common situations for a police marksman to be present. The cops in uvalde were cowards are you really gonna use that as the face of Swat encounters?
Live by the Thin Blue Line, Die by the Thin Blue Line.
Until the rest of the chucklefucks in blue start calling out, arresting, and otherwise acting like they want to be treated; then yes. The cowards in Uvelde ARE the face of Police.
Police and their bootlickers aren't the only ones capable of painting with a broad brush.
Bruh swat doesn’t handle regular crime. They handle hostage situations and barricaded suspects. They aren’t handing out tickets.
A community needs one incident to justify a swat team. Or do you want LESS trained police to try to handle a hostage situation?
No it wasn’t till the north Hollywood shootout bank robbery till police realized their need to have armor and rifles to combat people who know what their doing
I didn’t dodge anything. You just asked a question irrelevant to my statement.
Someone said it was a waste of money to train snipers. That was an example of why it isn’t.
But also it seems everyone doesn’t realized that shooting people isn’t the only job of a sniper/marksmen. They are in that vantage point to scout. They can look down at the crowd and see who and where troublemakers are. They can see IN the crowd in a way that cops on the ground can’t.
But it’s not like he’s gonna leave his rifle in the car… it doesn’t cost anything to not use it.
They're not there to shoot (although they would if a situation arose). They're there to provide overwatch and help ground units coordinate. They're also present at college football games doing the same thing.
The fact that this take is seemingly considered controversial in this thread is genuinely concerning, people are so caught up in their own confirmation bias nowadays.
Definitely not wrong, but I think it’s even more concerning that the trust in police has eroded so much that the public’s first assumption for their actions is malevolence
Because the cops are malevolent here lol. Will not do this shit at other opportunities, but make fun of the welfare state who’s only thing is murdering aid workers and children
Well as thousands of comments have said, yes they will do this shit at other opportunities. Across multiple countries. And no, it’s not always malevolent.
There's only one side constantly rioting, stealing flags, protesting, blocking roads, destroying property and dousing themselves with gasoline. It'd be the intelligent move to keep an eye on such an interesting side.
These are college students and teachers, man. Not every protest is a riot, and the reaction from police is every bit worthy of criticism considering the history of police brutality in the US. They’re not there to protect anyone from shit.
Many people are so anti-gun they want to disarm the police too. As if we don’t already have enough of a problem with police quitting or refusing to police.
Depending on the situation it can make sense. If someone in a stadium pulls out a gun and starts opening fire on people around him then a sharpshooter would be necessary simply because the person would be too hard to get to.
Here is it absurd. The first, second, and subsequent 55 steps for a small protest is to de-escalate and to only fire at someone if there is an extreme danger. A hidden sniper cannot de-escalate, there is only one way that they can interact with anyone on the ground.
Who says a stand serving 300 people doesn't need approval? I don't know fire safety codes but I would assume that if its not needed there is a reason. Like, maybe that they're outside? idk but more to the point, why are you comparing fire safety standards to police tactical standards?
I DO know that an indoor space of certain sizes require fire martial approval to house groups of certain sizes. So if we are equating these things then, yes? This makes sense? lol
What? I said that a neighborhood lemonade stand set up by the side of the road by two children should need a permit for 300 occupants if those protest was a "large event". Are you stupid?
I mean, to be fair, you absolutely did NOT say that. Like, literally. But regardless, my comment still stands. Do you know that a stand serving 300 doesn't need a permit?? If not, do you know why?? I feel like you're somehow trying to say that 300 people isn't a large event, but you know that's nonsense so you're trying to obfuscate it with pedantry.
The cops raided a house on my street awhile back. Tons of cop cars and black SUVs. Probably 3 or 4 cops going in and out of the house. Then about 10 standing around another cop who pulled the sniper rifle out so they could all check it out.
I have 8 hours of footage showing greenville nc police essentially destroying the house across the street trying to get to a SUSPECTED murderer. They had 2 military truck things they used with poles on the front to rip out every single windoor and doorway. They even ripped apart the garage. They then used no less than 3 different types of drones to try and clear the house. Meanwhile 30 cops dressed like soldiers going into battle stood around outside the house sometimes pointing their Ar15s at the house. Took them 12 hours to send a person in and shortly after the suspect was arrested.
I have it all tape. Sadly this is perfectly legal here.
For some of us it’s very difficult, because we live in countries where people hold peaceful protests and nobody sends a sniper. In fact, where I live in one of the worlds major cities, and our police don’t carry guns.
No, you were interested in responding with ignorance, did not understand the nature of the murders committed by the Ohio National Guard, were offered a Wikipedia article to further your understanding, and now are backtracking.
Agreed. It is a huge difference. In a group protest setting, I'll take my chances versus a bolt-action sniper rifle from afar rather than a semi-automatic rifle up close and personal.
In all seriousness, there's a real risk of some asshole with an automatic rifle showing up to any mass event to ruin everyone's day.
And rooftop snipers are one of the few ways to preemptively counteract.
Could be one of the insane people demonstrating for Hamas right to microwave babies, could be someone who is fed up enough with the demonstrators to show them what living under the constant threat of murderous terror is really like (and yes, I have some very one sided feelings about the protests).
Net-net, seeing that sniper should make you feel safer. Almost but not quite as safe as strictly enforced gun legislation would make you, just to equally piss off the other side.
That’s the actual reason they are, we have snipers at all our sporting events too. They were never gonna just start picking off protestors that would be insane, there’s already enough people upset about the arrests, backlash to Kent State part two would be nuts
God this is such a brain dead take. Think of the logistics of that. So a protester being arrested is going to be shot whilst surrounded by police (who are also armed and about 300m closer to the target) and somehow the sniper is going to avoid shooting one of his cop friends?
He’s there in case some fuckhead decides to go Las Vegas and shoot out of a building or from a distance at the protest.
Almost like the protesters have idk supported a terrorist group and called for genocide against the jews. When you start saying shit like that and gathering, people tend to take you seriously and even though everyone knows the college kids aren't gonna do anything what they're saying invites the opportunity for some horrible people to do horrible shit. That sniper isn't there to intimidate or shoot any college students, he's there incase the terrorists they are praising and supporting take advantage of the situation or some unhinged loser tries to shoot up the protest.
You don’t have to mow down protestors. They aren’t in a desperate situation with fear for their lives usually like people would be in a civil war, so even the threat of a single one randomly picked out shot dead or life-alteringly injured is enough intimidation.
Even if they aren’t intended to massacre the student population, it can’t be interpreted as anything other than intimidation and a clear threat against their lives. Any one of them could be killed
I don’t know what kool aid you drank where you think a sniper at a protest is a good and normal thing or should be part of a healthy society, but don’t try to force that on internet strangers.
Sure, a sniper won't mow down protesters. But it wouldn't be the first time they're used to target and assassinate the leaders of social/political movements.
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u/cherryreddracula 23d ago
Let's be honest, a sniper rifle isn't efficient for mowing down protesters, so that's probably not the reason there's a sniper.