Disturbing Parallels in Crackdowns on Protesters in the U.S. and Hong Kong – brennancenter.org

The protests that erupted in opposition to police brutality against Black Americans this year have been met with disquieting, militarized responses by law enforcement agencies across the country. One of the most egregious examples occurred in Portland, Oregon, where the Department of Homeland Securitydeployedofficers to restore order over the objections of local authorities.

The grim scenes led tocomparisonsbetween the United States and authoritarian regimes throughout history. The most conspicuous analogue may be last summers protests over Hong Kongs independence from China. But despite clear tactical similarities between the anti-police brutality demonstrations in Portland and the widely celebrated pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, the U.S. government opted to meet the Portland protesters with the same degree of force it denounced when perpetrated by the Chinese government, the First Amendment notwithstanding.

Both Hong Kong and the United States saw historically large outpourings of dissenters in response to moments that typify longstanding problems. In Hong Kong, a bill permitting the extradition of fugitives to mainland China stirred concern among citizens that the China-friendly government wascedingthe territorys semiautonomous status, whereas in the United States, the police killing of George Floyd served as the latest chapter in the countrysignoble historyof state-sanctioned anti-Blackness.

Hong Kong demonstratorsdefacedbuildings that displayed signs of Chinese sovereignty, and in Portland protesterstoppled statuesof historical American figures who owned slaves. In response to the paramilitary tactics utilized by police in both cities, protesters employed sometimes makeshift protective gear: tear gas was dispersed withleaf blowers, filtered viagas masks, and blocked withumbrellas. The demonstrators also used shields to defend themselves againstbatons, and they used lasers to thwartfacial recognition softwareand other forms ofpolice surveillance.

Law enforcement crackdowns on the demonstrations were similar too, made especially striking given the contrast between Chinas single-party regime and American democracy. In Hong Kong,security forces from the mainlandjoined efforts to repel protesters, while DHS sent camouflaged and maskedofficerswithout ID badges to Oregon. Law enforcement in both jurisdictions used minor infractions likejaywalkingto police the protests, andundercover officersandunmarked vehiclesroamed the streets. Predictably, the number of arrests in areas around the protests rocketed up while thenumber of protestersarrested in Portland is much smaller thanin Hong Kong, the percentage by population is nearly identical. Andparamilitary unitssuppressedthe press in both cities, blocking cameras, shoving and shooting journalists with nonlethal munitions, and pepper spraying news crews.

Both governments also employed invasive surveillance technology to gather information on the demonstrations. Authorities used social media monitoring toidentifyandarrestprotesters. Hong Kong policeseizedmore than 3,700 cell phones from protesters, precipitating the worry among activists that the phones were being implanted with spyware. TheNationrecently revealed that DHSusedcell phone cloning technology to intercept communications, leading to demands for an investigation from members of Congress.

But the same U.S. officials who criticized Americans demonstrating against racial injustice heaped unreserved praise upon the mass movement in Hong Kong. Less than two months after President Trumpdescribedthe Chinese governments intervention in Hong Kong as smothering Hong Kongs freedom, hethreatenedthat if Oregon Gov. Kate Brown did not arrest the Portland demonstrators, he would have the Federal Government do it for her. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnelldecriedBeijing as seeking to snuff out dissent in Hong Kong six months before hecalledthe Portland protesters an alliance of convenience between angry criminals. Attorney General Bill Barrcondemnedthe Chinese government for its values antitheticalto those we share in Western liberal democracies. Three months later, hecharacterizedthe marches in Portland as an assault on the government of the United States.

There are many other examples of violent government suppression of peaceful demonstrators around the United States, from the New York City Police Department assaulting peaceful protesters onnumerousoccasionsto the use oftear gasoutside the White House to clear the way for a presidential photo-op. Police misconductescalatedviolence at more than 180 protests nationwide.

We should be wary of the normalization of authoritarian suppression of dissent in the United States. We know too that Trump hasrefused to acceptthe premise of a peaceful transfer of power and advocated forvoter intimidation, again echoingauthoritarian rhetoric.

In the aftermath of Hong Kongs protests, Chinapassed legislationundermining the citys status as a democratic entity. American democracy has the benefit of being more mature, but we must still push back against the forces working to undermine it.

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Disturbing Parallels in Crackdowns on Protesters in the U.S. and Hong Kong - brennancenter.org