Videos circulating today of folks in #Anderlecht (Brussels) smashing police vans this afternoon following an incident last night when a 19-year-old boy on a scooter crashed and died. The boy was apparently fleeing police stopping folks to check for compliance w lockdown measures.

Here's the @RTBF article on today's "unrest": https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_anderlecht-tension-autour-de-la-station-clemenceau-suite-au-deces-d-un-jeune-homme-lors-d-une-course-poursuite?id=10480525

Via the Anderlecht mayor (as reported by @RTBF), the 19-year-old's family apparently distanced themselves from neighborhood calls for anti-police action and asked for calm following the death of their son.

These days, the MO after these after awful incidents like this: There's some - tho rarely enough - reckoning and reflection re the drastic diffs in how particular parts neighborhoods and (in Europe and N America) populations of color are policed and experience law enforcement...

But how to navigate the all-too-familiar "police incident followed by neighborhood unrest" practical response, (irrelevant?) TW convo, general reflection process... amidst such a precarious public health moment, where we legit need EVERYONE to respect lockdown measures?

For those who know Brussels more as a symbol than an actual city: A lot of the Anderlecht commune (a Bxl commune = kinda like a neighborhood, but we won't go down that road) is lower-income, and it's among the areas with a higher immigrant population in Brussels.

Riding a scooter (unless to work) is indeed a violation of the lockdown regulations. On the other hand, I *regularly* see kids and adults on scooters during my runs through all parts of Brussels...

There's a reason the crowds (yes, crowds!) basking in gorgeous Parc Josephat don't panic and scatter when mounted police clop-a-clop down the park's pathways. I witnessed exactly this, horses and all, yesterday. And then booked it out of the park bc TOO CROWDED.

Picnickers and frisbee players in Brussels' (admittedly fantastic) toniest parks can expect a police warning at worst.
Presumably, a kid on a scooter who panics & flees approaching police is harboring some pretty profound feelings re consequences of police interaction...

So yes. Nuances of cities, police relations and the uniqueness of humans aside, the narrative feels all too familiar... except that it's not.
Because we're in a lockdown, nothing is certain, ppl are sick and dying, cities are grasping for emotional solidarity among strangers...

Not making my way toward a final BAM! point here. I can barely thread the needle for my DIY face mask, much less a string of punchy tweets. Sorrryyy.

Maybe I'll broadcast my Profound Insight into this awful event and unfolding violence -- in THE AGE OF CORONOVIRUS -- tomorrow.

For tonight, I guess I just hope that... this doesn't escalate.
No one else gets hurt. Anderlecht's residents feel (and are) respected and protected. Overworked police on lockdown patrol duty feel same. We emerge from this crisis w/ momentum for a more equitable world philosophy