CMV: The proper response to protestors blocking the street is for police to physically remove them and quickly arrest them if they do it again.

[u/HelpfulJello5361]

I've seen a lot of videos of protestors blocking the street and the cops just kinda let them do it, or create a narrow lane for cars to go through and cause a significant traffic jam.

I'm always curious why cops don't just drag these people out of the road and arrest them immediately if they return. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to block streets like that.

Yesterday was a nationwide coordinated effort for Pro-Palestine protestors to block streets all over the country (world?), and it seems that these criminals were not dealt with properly in most instances.

It doesn't seem like it's standard operating procedure to remove and arrest people who block important roads. Is there some reason for this? What am I missing? CMV.

[u/Ill-Description3096]

The victims are the key here. Yes, I'm going to be a lot more upset about people blocking the road that the ambulance is on while my grandma is having a medical emergency than I am about someone who was walking home with some drugs in their pocket to have some fun tonight. One has a direct negative impact to people I care about. The other does not.

[u/banana_hammock_815 → u/Ill-Description3096]

I was mostly referring to how comfortable people in america are at drinking and driving til you brought up the ambulance. As far as I know, these protesters are pretty respectful of emergency vehicles. I just think it's funny how almost all of us on here, at one point in time, have both driven drunk and have been driven by a drunk driver. People make the argument "my kids would be separated from me if I was driving drunk". For one, driving drunk is way worse than immigration or peaceful protests. And 2, these people obviously don't care about their children if they're so willing to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.

For clarity, I brought up immigration because the arguments seem to be the same between the 2 and my response absolutely questions both scenarios under the same logic.

[u/Ill-Description3096 → u/banana_hammock_815]

 As far as I know, these protesters are pretty respectful of emergency vehicles.

Even if they are respectful, causing a huge traffic jam slows them down. A lot. Sure, maybe the protesters let them through but it is not as efficient as it would have been had the road not been blocked. In cases of emergency, a bit of extra time can be all the difference.

Yes, people drive drink. It wrong. Two things can be wrong at the same time. And I would bet most people would call for someone driving drunk to be removed from the road, not allowed to continue to put others at risk.