the other thing that keeps hitting me when people -- ESPECIALLY nonblack people -- talk about the fascist killed in portland is how very heavily so many of y'all are leaning into lionizing the black medic who tried to help him and was pushed away by the cops.

it's disgusting, to be frank. black people do not owe fascists a shred of consideration or aid, and are not more noble for bestowing it. it isn't a moral failing for a black person to let a nazi bleed out in the street.

if that medic had stepped over his body to go help someone who was not a fucking nazi, that isn't a reflection on literally anything, what so ever, except for that nazis don't deserve shit.

i get asked in every single medic training that i have ever given, "what about if we come across a fascist who needs medical aid? what do we do then?"

i don't have some kind of blanket answer for this that will suit everyone, at all times, in all situations, with their own personal consideration of what they feel is right to do.

what i do have is the fact that above all, i, personally, hold "do no harm" as the foundation for my decisions as a medic.

a fascist who has shown up to do violence, who broadcasts their fascist beliefs, who i know is there with the explicit purpose of furthering their genocidal agenda --

-- helping that person get back to their violence isn't doing no harm, to me.

SUPPORTING fascists as they attempt to further their goals is not doing no harm.

and, as a personal consideration, it's certainly not SAFE for me as a black trans jew; i'm not going to deliberately choose to interact with and materially support people who want me dead.

i understand that other people make different decisions about this issue.

i would also, personally, never run with someone who thinks that rendering aid to fascists is within their own personal "do no harm" metric.

that person isn't safe, to me. that decision isn't safe, to me.

that's not a moral judgment on other people's choices. that's my own boundary, to keep myself safe.

anyone who looks at a situation where on one side you have a genocidal fascist and on the other you have someone saying, no, i can't support that and don't feel safe doing so, and comes away thinking "clearly YOU'RE just as bad as the nazis then" has some soul searching to do.

anyone who looks at a situation where a black person tries to render aid to someone who wants them dead and thinks, gosh, that's so much more noble and pure than people who would not do that, kindly go fuck yourself.

(this is about the point where some smug dipshit pops in to be like, what, so everyone has to take some ideological test before you give them medical help? because smug dipshits always have smug dipshit things to say.)

i have never asked someone about their politics before giving them medical help and don't intend to start. i, also, am extremely aware that in these situations, the nazis make it damn clear who tf they are plenty of times.

i'm not looking into people's super secret hearts to find out if they're nazis. if you have made that clear, showing up with the fash opposition, displaying your fash symbols, broadcasting your ideology... why tf should i go out of my way to help you continue doing that.

i have literally never stopped to do an IDEOLOGY CHECK on a patient, i don't give a crap if they are "with" the movement or some random bystander who needs help, i'm gonna help them.

there's a huge gulf between "idk if you're my comrade" and "you're waving a swastika".

other things i don't care about in this discussion BY the way: your concern trolling about how Some People Have Medical Licenses as if i have never myself worked as a street medic while also holding a license and have no idea what considerations are involved.

in the first place, it may come as a shock to everyone here that i don't consider What Some Agency Says to be an arbiter of morality; in the second place, people are OFTEN pulling shit out of their ass when they say you're legally obligated to help nazis in these situations.

(i'm not here to dispense legal advice about being a medic. nothing i say is going to cover all your situations everywhere. but if someone is not your lawyer and is trying to tell you they know for a fact your legal obligations in all various permutations of this, they're lying.)