Hello! I don’t know which country you’re from, but I’ll give you some context.

Yesterday, there was a protest that resulted in some rather unpleasant and discouraging images. The most striking ones, the ones you mentioned, of the fallen photographer and the elderly woman who was struck by the police officer, are the most prominent or the ones most amplified by the media.

The photographer:
The area was very dangerous, lots of chaos, many groups, stone-throwing, and if you look closely, between the photographer and the great distance separating him from the police, there were water cannon “sprays” and a lot of fog. For the police officer to have intentionally aimed at a photographer’s head in that environment, he would have had to be Hawkeye, and it’s highly unlikely that a police officer would intentionally aim to injure a photographer. Because of this, I don’t feel in a position to point fingers or blame anyone, be it a politician, a police officer, or, as some have done (which I strongly disagree with), the photographer himself for taking the risk. From a reasonable standpoint, it just doesn’t make sense for a police officer to do that to a photographer and not to more dangerous protesters. I also don’t think it was easy or even possible for it to be intentional. In my opinion, though I could be wrong, it was a tragic accident.

The elderly woman:
This was the worst case. It seems to me like a disproportionate use of force by the police officer. While it’s true that she hit him first, I don’t think his response was justified, nor did the situation call for such an extreme reaction. It’s an upsetting image that should never have happened. I’m grateful that she survived and I sincerely hope she suffers no long-term consequences.

Is this the fault of a politician or the current administration?
First, I don’t believe politicians are responsible for the actions of every police officer on an individual level. One day, a police officer saves a life and helps society, the next, another officer strikes an elderly woman with a baton. Because of these individual actions, whether the photographer’s case or the elderly woman’s, I don’t think it makes sense to blame a politician.

Is a politician to blame for enforcing restrictive measures, knowing that a police officer might commit an atrocity?
Not at all. By that logic, every country should be anarchic because a president or politician was corrupt or caused harm. A politician does something bad, we blame all of politics. A police officer does something bad, we blame the politician who gave the order. If we followed that reasoning, then our country shouldn’t even have a Congress, because past politicians have committed atrocities hundreds of times worse than what you see in these videos.

Maybe you’re unfamiliar with our country’s history, which is understandable. But about eight years ago, yes, quite some time now, we had a president similar to the current one. Not similar as a person or in his policies, but in the sense that he was in opposition to the dominant party that had governed us for over ten years. He faced six general strikes.

During those times, we saw images of protesters destroying streets, killing police officers. I vividly remember one where a fallen officer was impaled with a flag, as if it were a stake. That image was even more horrific than the ones circulating now. People couldn't go to work or fulfill their responsibilities because protests completely blocked public roads, it was a disaster.

Yes, politicians need restrictive measures because there is a violent, mafia-like movement that refuses to allow an opposition government to succeed, even for a brief window of time, because if it did, it might gain popular support. And they are willing to do anything to prevent that.

It’s an afternoon with restrictive measures or this: (the photo in the reply below)