Black Lives Matter protesters march on Capitol, 7D police station

In the wake of yet more police shootings of young African-American men, Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets of DC in two locations. One march began at the White House and went to the Capitol, breaking through the first of two police lines set by US Capitol Police in the process. The other march began at the Congress Heights Metro station and was called "Roll Up on 7D" for their ending location at the 7D police station in Anacostia. Some mainstream media outlets reported only on the march in NW.

One twitter post from the Anacostia march reported a furious mother saying "same white hood, same blue uniform," and another a few days ago referred to the two white killer cops in Baton Rouge, LA as "race soldiers." Yet another reported "We're under siege here in SE from jump out squads." Despite all this, both of the July 7 protests in DC were entirely peaceful. The Anacostia march was said to be for "#alonzosmith #raphaelbriscoe #altonsterling #PhilandoCastile."

After the march in NW, protesters lingered near Capitol Hill as late as 11PM, with hundreds of Capitol Police also hanging around. There is an unconfirmed report that some members of Congress joined a march away from the Capitol.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media have been having a field day with an incident in Dallas, Texas where someone opened fire on police during a Black Lives Matter march. Early reports said two were hit,then some said 4 police hit and one killed, and by midnignt the mainstream press was reporting 4 killed out of 11 hit. Some reports say 50-70 shots fired, unknown how many of these were return gunshots from police. Some reports claimed 2-4 snipers but in the end, a single sniper was found to have fired from an elevated position. He was an Afghanistan War veteran, and police killed him using some kind of explosive device or IED attached to a robot normally used for defusing bombs.

Under these circumstances no conclusions can be drawn about this particular shooting, other than that it was probably provoked by the brutal execution-style shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge that was shown on TV in graphic detail the previous day. A second incident occured in Georgia, where a cop was ambushed and shot after an apparent fake 911 call. Meanwhile, the KKK distributed fliers in Piedmon Park in Atlanta, GA. The next day an African-American man was found hanged from a tree in the same park. Officials are claiming this was a suicide but many suspect otherwise.

If police continue to kill African-American young people with impunity, both more Baltimore/Ferguson style riots and the possibility that something like the Black Liberation Army may rise again cannot be ruled out.

Actions have consequences, this could be like Newton's 3ed law: for every action there is a reaction. One thing seems likely though: this is going to be a long hot summer. Another is that the Black Lives Matter protests at the GOP Convention to nominate known racist Donald Trump may be more intense than anyone has expected. Some years ago, Miami nearly lost hosting the Super Bowl when a police shooting triggered the Overtown Riots that threatened the stadium area. Now when police shoot someone in the back or execute someone they have on the ground, the consequences are national. That includes Trump's racist convention.

Video from march on 7D cut from clip originally uploaded to Twitter by E.J. Thribb

Video of march at US Capitol after dark, originally posted to Twitter by Christine Kim