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After new law, McConnell warns CEOs: ‘Stay out of politics’on April 5, 2021 at 7:39 pm

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says it’s a “big lie” to call the new voting law in Georgia racist and he warned big business to “stay out of politics” after major corporations and even Major League Baseball distanced themselves from the state amid vast public pressure.

McConnell particularly slammed President Joe Biden’s criticism that the Georgia bill was restrictive and a return to Jim Crow-era restrictions in the Southern states aimed limiting ballot access for Black Americans.

“It’s simply not true,” McConnell told reporters Monday.

The choice by the GOP leader to dive into voting politics lends heft to efforts nationwide to install strict new voting laws after Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud that cost him the election to Biden. The new laws are aimed at scaling back early vote and other options that became wildly popular during the pandemic.

Even more, McConnell’s warning to big business not to get involved shows the scramble Republicans face as progressive groups are shining a spotlight on corporate America to live up to its brands and values as Congress takes on voting rights, gun violence and other issues.

The Republican leader has been among the most outspoken champions of the role of big money in elections, promoting the free-flow of undisclosed dollars to campaigns as a form of Constitution-protected free speech.

But companies temporarily halted giving to many Republicans after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege, when the former president urged like supporters to fight for him and hundreds stormed the Capitol.

Speaking in Kentucky, McConnell said Monday it’s simply “not accurate” to say the Georgia law is making it more difficult to vote.

McConnell also criticized Biden for criticizing the law, saying the president’s claims had been fact-checked as false.

“The President has claimed repeatedly that state-level debates over voting procedures are worse than Jim Crow or ‘Jim Crow on steroids.’ Nobody actually believes this,” McConnell said in a lengthy statement earlier Monday.

“Nobody really thinks this current dispute comes anywhere near the horrific racist brutality of segregation.”

The new law shortens the time frame between primary and general elections, which also narrows the options for early voting. To counter the popular “souls to the polls” events at Black churches on Sundays, the law now requires two Saturdays for voting. It makes it a misdemeanor to hand out food, drink or other benefits to voters waiting in long lines at polling stations.

McConnell more pointedly warned the big business that have been responding to public pressure on their corporate actions not to give in to the advocacy campaigns.

“It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves,” he said.

Last week, Delta, Coca-Cola and other companies spoke critically of the new law in Georgia and baseball announced it was moving the all-star game from the state.

McConnell warned companies not to get involved in voting issues or other upcoming debates on environmental policy or gun violence heading to Congress.

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After new law, McConnell warns CEOs: ‘Stay out of politics’on April 5, 2021 at 7:39 pm Read More »

ER doc theorized that lack of oxygen stopped George Floyd’s hearton April 5, 2021 at 7:41 pm

MINNEAPOLIS — The emergency room doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead testified Monday that he theorized at the time that Floyd’s heart most likely stopped because of a lack of oxygen.

Dr. Bradford Langenfeld, who was a senior resident on duty that night at Hennepin County Medical Center and tried to resuscitate Floyd, took the stand at the beginning of Week Two at former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, as prosecutors sought to establish that it was Chauvin’s knee on the Black man’s neck that killed him.

Langenfeld said Floyd’s heart had stopped by the time he arrived at the hospital. The doctor said that he was not told of any efforts at the scene by bystanders or police to resuscitate Floyd but that paramedics told him they had tried for about 30 minutes.

Under questioning by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, Langenfeld said that based on the information he had, it was “more likely than the other possibilities” that Floyd’s cardiac arrest — the stopping of his heart — was caused by asphyxia, or insufficient oxygen.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. The white officer is accused of pinning his knee on the 46-year-old man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside a corner market, where had been accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes.

The defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s use of illegal drugs and his underlying health conditions caused his death.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson questioned Langenfeld about whether some drugs can cause hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen. The doctor acknowledged that fentanyl and methamphetamine, both of which were found in Floyd’s body, can do so.

The county medical examiner’s office ultimately classified Floyd’s death a homicide — that is, a death at the hands of someone else.

The full report said Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” A summary report listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under “other significant conditions” but not under “cause of death.”

Under cross-examination from Nelson, Langenfeld said Floyd’s carbon dioxide levels were more than twice as high as levels in a healthy person, and he agreed that that could be attributed to a respiratory problem. But on questioning from the prosecutor, the doctor said the high levels were also consistent with cardiac arrest.

Langenfeld also testified that neither he nor paramedics administered a drug that would reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The doctor said giving Narcan once a patient is in cardiac arrest would provide no benefit.

Floyd’s treatment by police was captured on widely seen bystander video that sparked protests that rocked Minneapolis and quickly spread to other U.S. cities and beyond and descended into violence in some cases.

Langenfeld said that “any amount of time” a patient spends in cardiac arrest without immediate CPR decreases the chance of a good outcome. He said there is an approximately 10% to 15% decrease in survival for every minute that CPR is not administered.

Prosecutors in the second week of the trial are also expected to zero in on Chauvin’s training in the use of force.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo took the stand Monday, testifying about police policy that dictates that whenever it is reasonable to do so, officers must use tactics to deescalate a situation so as to avoid or minimize the use of force.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher noted that while some people may become more dangerous under the influence of drugs or alcohol, some may actually be “more vulnerable.” Arradondo agreed and acknowledged that this must also be taken into consideration when officers decide to use force.

“It’s recognizing that when we get the call from our communities, it may not often be their best day, and they may be experiencing something that’s very traumatic,” the chief said.

Before he was pinned to the ground, a handcuffed and frantic Floyd struggled with police who were trying to put him in a squad car, saying he was claustrophobic.

Arradondo said officers are trained in basic first aid, including chest compressions, and department policy requires them to request medical assistance and provide necessary aid as soon as possible before paramedics arrive.

Officers’ first aid training is “very vital because those seconds are vital,” Arradondo said, adding: “And so we absolutely have a duty to render that.”

Officers kept restraining Floyd — with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Floyd’s back and a third holding his feet — until the ambulance arrived, even after he became unresponsive, according to testimony and video footage.

One officer asked twice if they should roll Floyd on his side to aid his breathing, and later said calmly that he thought Floyd was passing out. Another checked Floyd’s wrist for a pulse and said he couldn’t find one.

The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.

Arradondo, the city’s first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd’s death, and in June called it “murder.”

“Mr. George Floyd’s tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there,” Arradondo said then. “Chauvin knew what he was doing.”

On Monday he said that he believes “that the one singular incident we will be judged forever on will be our use of force.”

The city moved soon after Floyd’s death to ban police chokeholds and neck restraints. Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey also made several policy changes, including expanding requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents and documenting attempts to de-escalate situations.

Prosecutors have already called supervisory officers to build the case that Chauvin improperly restrained Floyd. A duty sergeant and a lieutenant who leads the homicide division both questioned Chauvin’s actions in pinning Floyd to the ground.

“Totally unnecessary,” Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-tenured officer on the force, testified Friday.

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ER doc theorized that lack of oxygen stopped George Floyd’s hearton April 5, 2021 at 7:41 pm Read More »

It’s the game every college basketball fan has been waiting to see: Gonzaga vs Baylor for the title. Who ya got?on April 5, 2021 at 4:57 pm

I’ve Got The Hippy Shakes

It’s the game every college basketball fan has been waiting to see: Gonzaga vs Baylor for the title. Who ya got?

©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

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It’s the game every college basketball fan has been waiting to see: Gonzaga vs Baylor for the title. Who ya got?on April 5, 2021 at 4:57 pm Read More »

Coming off unscheduled bye week, SIU jumps two spots in national FCS pollon April 5, 2021 at 5:59 pm

Prairie State Pigskin

Coming off unscheduled bye week, SIU jumps two spots in national FCS poll

©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

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Coming off unscheduled bye week, SIU jumps two spots in national FCS pollon April 5, 2021 at 5:59 pm Read More »

Washington Post gives Biden four Pinocchios for Georgia voting law blarneyon April 5, 2021 at 6:07 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

Washington Post gives Biden four Pinocchios for Georgia voting law blarney

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Washington Post gives Biden four Pinocchios for Georgia voting law blarneyon April 5, 2021 at 6:07 pm Read More »

Lightfoot vows to hunt down adult who put gun in Adam Toledo’s handon April 5, 2021 at 5:54 pm

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed Monday to hunt down and hold accountable adults responsible for “putting a gun into the hands” of a 13-year-old shot and killed by Chicago police last week.

In promising to hold adults accountable for the circumstances surrounding Adam Toledo’s death, Lightfoot went further than the Chicago Police Department has been willing to go.

CPD has said only that a gun was found near Toledo’s body. Neither police nor the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which is investigating the shooting, has said Toledo was holding the gun or aiming it at police when he was chased, shot and killed.

“Let’s be clear. An adult put a gun in a child’s hand. A young and impressionable child. And one who should not have been provided with lethal force. A weapon that could and did irreparably change the course of his life,” the mayor said.

“This happens way too often in our city. And it’s way past time for us to say, ‘No more.’ I have directed the superintendent and the chief of detectives to use every resource to track down the origins of this gun — through tracing, fingerprinting and DNA and any other means — and to find the person responsible for giving it to Adam. I want to bring that person or persons responsible for putting that gun in Adam’s hands to justice.”

Elizabeth Toledo and son Adam are pictured in this family photo.
Family photo of Elizabeth Toledo and her son Adam.
Provided

Lightfoot did not accuse Chicago street gangs of putting the gun in Adam Toledo’s hands. But she came close.

“Gangs are preying on our most vulnerable, corrupting these young minds with promises of familia and lucre. Like good shepherds, we have to better tend to our flocks to keep the wolves at bay. And when the wolves dare try to take one of ours, we must hit them hard with the staff of a community united against the evils that threaten our youth,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot urged the news media to give Elizabeth Toledo, Adam’s mother, the “respect and space” she needs to grieve the loss of her son and make sense of what happened.

Having lost her own brother “to the streets,” Lightfoot said the Toledo family “needs our support … not our withering judgment.”

“Let us not forget that a mother’s child is dead. … None of us have walked in Ms. Toledo’s shoes … and none of us will,” the mayor said.

“This is a complicated story. But, it is not my story to tell.”

Ald. George Cardenas (12th) speaks to reporters at New Life Church in Little Village on Monday, April 5, 2021 about the shooting of Adam Toledo by Chicago police.
Ald. George Cardenas (12th) speaks to reporters at New Life Church in Little Village on Monday about the shooting of Adam Toledo by Chicago police.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Local Ald. George Cardenas (12th) promptly ignored that admonition.

Cardenas said his community is “torn,” asking, “How is it possible that this 13-year-old is in an alley at 2:30 in the morning” when he should have been at home sleeping.

“There’s no passing judgment on this family, on this mom. I can only imagine what she went through. Maybe she didn’t have the tools and the resources,” Cardenas said.

“Maybe the school probably knew something about this young man — or the teachers, or the counselor. Somebody in the neighborhood knew something that this young man was going through, but couldn’t say anything,” he added.

“This young man had nobody. It’s sad to say. Nobody that could help him, except a gang. So, shame on us. I own that,” the alderman said.

Also on Monday, Lightfoot said she has directed CPD Supt. David Brown to draft and implement a new foot pursuit policy in time for the traditional summer surge of violence. Noting that Adam Toledo was shot and killed during a foot pursuit, the mayor said foot pursuits present a “significant safety issue” — for police, those pursued and for innocent bystanders.

“It is one of the most dangerous things that they engage in. They often get separated from their partners. Communication is difficult. You’re running through a dense, urban environment. An alley, a street, a backyard,” Lightfoot said. “It’s way past time that we reckon with this reality that happens literally multiple times every day across many neighborhoods in our city hundreds of times a year.”

The city, in fact, has been reforming its foot-pursuit policy for several years — since the Department of Justice in 2017 issued a damning report about “poor police practices” in Chicago, including “tactically unsound foot pursuits.”

The approximate location where Chicago police killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, in an alley near 24th Street and South Sawyer Avenue.
The approximate location where Chicago police killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, in an alley near 24th Street and South Sawyer Avenue.
Tyler LaRiviere / Sun-Times

The report said such pursuits sometimes ended in police shooting people being chased just because they ran away — and not because they were suspected of a serious crime. Adrenaline and fatigue were listed as factors in cops shooting people in foot chases, the report said.

That Justice Department report led to a court-ordered consent decree requiring hundreds of reforms to police practices, including foot chases. The latest report from an independent monitor for the consent decree said the police were close to complying with those requirements for foot chases, including better training and tracking foot pursuits that end in the use of force.

Between March 2020 and the end of the year, there were more than 1,300 such pursuits, 382 of which involved the use of force by a police officer, the monitor’s report said.

Also Monday, Brown was asked about the “officer safety alert” warning officers that the narcotics unit has learned that factions of the Latin Kings were “instructed by raking members to shoot at unmarked police vehicles.”

The alert, sent out Thursday, said factions of the street gang planned to retaliate following the fatal police shooting of Adam Toledo at about 2 a.m. March 29 in an alley in the 2400 block of South Sawyer.

“We’re in agreement with the Toledo family in calling for peace. That they would not be representing Adam’s death in the most appropriate way if anyone is calling for violence,” Brown said.

“I want to answer that question specifically by holding up the family’s concern that no one retaliate, no one metes out any type of violence.”

Lightfoot was asked how concerned she is about the threat to police officers’ safety. She pointed to the “unprecedented number” of 79 officers shot at last year. She can’t remember it being that high in the last 20 years.

“My hope is that these gang members aren’t foolish enough to do something. But, I am determined. We will find the person who put this gun in Adam’s hand. We will not be deterred by threats from gang members,” she said.

“An adult must be [held] responsible for putting a gun in a child’s hand. We have an obligation to his family, to this community and all over our city to say to gang members and others, ‘We will not tolerate you using our children as pawns and setting them up for a life of misery.’ That’s what’s happening in way too many communities. And here’s where we must, must draw the line.”

Protesters gathered Monday, April 5, 2021 outside New Life Church in Little Village, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPD Supt. David Brown held a news conference to discuss the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo.
Protesters gathered Monday outside New Life Church in Little Village, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPD Supt. David Brown held a news conference to discuss the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo.

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Lightfoot vows to hunt down adult who put gun in Adam Toledo’s handon April 5, 2021 at 5:54 pm Read More »

Man found dead at Chicago Red Line stationon April 5, 2021 at 6:38 pm

A man was found dead Monday at the Chicago Red Line station on the Near North Side.

Chicago fire officials said the man was found dead in a “vent shaft” at the Chicago station, 800 N. State St.

The man is believed to be in his 30s, and he was found in a restricted area, Chicago police said. There were no visible signs of trauma to his body.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t released details on the death.

CTA service was disrupted for nearly two hours Monday afternoon as crews investigated. Normal service resumed about 1:30 p.m, the transit authority said.

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Man found dead at Chicago Red Line stationon April 5, 2021 at 6:38 pm Read More »

MLB suspends Reds’ Nick Castellanos for two gameson April 5, 2021 at 6:39 pm

NEW YORK — Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos was suspended for two games and fined Monday for his role in an on-field brawl during the season’s opening weekend, the first discipline given by Michael Hill in his new role as Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations.

Castellanos appealed the penalty to special assistant John McHale Jr. and will not serve the suspension while the appeal is pending.

Castellanos was disciplined for his actions in Saturday’s game against St. Louis and was cited for “his aggressive actions and for instigating a benches-clearing incident.” Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was hit by a pitch from Cardinals pitcher Jake Woodford in the fourth inning Saturday. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play.

A wild pitch sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead, bumping into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate.

As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene. Castellanos was ejected.

Molina was fined Monday along with St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado and pitcher Jordan Hicks, and Cincinnati infielder Eugenio Suarez and outfielder Jesse Winker.

Hill, the former Miami Marlins’ president of baseball operations, took over from Chris Young, who stayed just one season in the role of Joe Torre’s replacement as MLB’s disciplinarian. Young left to become general manager of the Texas Rangers.

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MLB suspends Reds’ Nick Castellanos for two gameson April 5, 2021 at 6:39 pm Read More »

Chicago police officer pleads guilty in sports gambling case that involved Casey Urlacheron April 5, 2021 at 5:10 pm

A Chicago police officer pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a multi-million dollar gambling ring in the case that led to January’s pardon of Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher by then-President Donald Trump.

Nicholas Stella, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct an illegal gambling business. He is the fifth defendant in the case to plead guilty, and the fourth since Trump pardoned Urlacher, the brother of Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher. A CPD spokesperson said Monday that Stella’s status with the department was “inactive.”

Back in January, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ordered Stella into the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center after prosecutors alleged that he “violently assaulted his girlfriend” during an incident at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Rosemont.

Kendall set Stella’s sentencing hearing for June 22.

A February 2020 indictment filed against Stella, Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice, Casey Urlacher and seven others alleged that Stella was among the agents recruited by DelGiudice, who has since admitted running a gambling ring around Chicago from 2016 until 2019.

The indictment alleged that Stella spoke to DelGiudice by phone in December 2018 to complain that a Costa Rican company paid by DelGiudice for the use of a gambling website had taken down a game. It also alleged that Stella texted DelGiudice on Jan. 22, 2019, asking him to send a message telling gamblers to “settle up” after the Super Bowl.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava also told the judge Monday that Stella shared winnings and losses with DelGiudice on a 50% basis.

In January, prosecutors also alleged that, after a judge issued a search warrant for Stella’s phone, Stella destroyed it “before we were able to execute the search warrant.”

“He was the only [defendant] who destroyed his phone and did not surrender it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney told Kendall at the time.

Kinney revealed that detail as he argued that Stella should remain behind bars following the alleged assault on Stella’s girlfriend. During that hearing, Kinney also played a recording of a 911 call placed by the girlfriend after the alleged attack.

During the call, the woman sounded distraught and out of breath. She said her boyfriend had tried or threatened to kill her, choked her, stole her phone and ripped her clothes. She told the 911 operator, “he’s a cop,” and she identified Stella by name.

Kinney said that Stella had “committed repeated domestic batteries,” including one in which he allegedly pulled out his gun in his girlfriend’s presence. After the alleged assault in Rosemont, Kinney said Stella took his girlfriend’s phone, accessed her text messages and posted them online so people could read them.

Though a defense attorney argued in January that Stella’s girlfriend had been drinking and was on medication at the time of the alleged attack, Kendall pushed back. She called the allegations against Stella “illegal,” “horrible” and “inappropriate,” and she said authorities had laid out to her “a pattern of three incidents of violence over a very short period of time by someone who has power and control over a vulnerable woman.”

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Chicago police officer pleads guilty in sports gambling case that involved Casey Urlacheron April 5, 2021 at 5:10 pm Read More »

How social media turns online arguments between teenagers into real-world violenceon April 5, 2021 at 5:21 pm

The deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 exposed the power of social media to influence real-world behavior and incite violence. But many adolescents, who spend more time on social media than all other age groups, have known this for years.

“On social media, when you argue, something so small can turn into something so big so fast,” said Justin, a 17-year-old living in Hartford, Connecticut, during one of my research focus groups. (The participants’ names have been changed in this article to protect their identities.)

For the last three years, I have studied how and why social media triggers and accelerates offline violence. In my research, conducted in partnership with Hartford-based peace initiative COMPASS Youth Collaborative, we interviewed dozens of young people aged 12 to 19 in 2018. Their responses made clear that social media is not a neutral communication platform.

In other words, social media isn’t just mirroring conflicts happening in schools and on streets — it’s intensifying and triggering new conflicts. And for young people who live in disenfranchised urban neighborhoods, where firearms can be readily available, this dynamic can be deadly.

Internet banging

It can result in a phenomenon that researchers at Columbia University have coined “internet banging.” Distinct from cyberbullying, internet banging involves taunts, disses and arguments on social media between people in rival crews, cliques or gangs. These exchanges can include comments, images and videos that lead to physical fights, shootings and, in the worst cases, death.

It is estimated that the typical U.S. teen uses screen media more than seven hours daily, with the average teenager daily using three different forms of social media. Films such as “The Social Dilemma” underscore that social media companies create addictive platforms by design, using features such as unlimited scrolling and push notifications to keep users endlessly engaged.

According to the young people we interviewed, four social media features in particular escalate conflicts: comments, livestreaming, picture/video sharing and tagging.

Comments and livestreams

The feature most frequently implicated in social media conflicts, according to our research with adolescents, was comments. Roughly 80% of the incidents they described involved comments, which allow social media users to respond publicly to content posted by others.

Taylor, 17, described how comments allow people outside her friend group to “hype up” online conflicts: “On Facebook if I have an argument, it would be mostly the outsiders that’ll be hypin’ us up … ‘Cause the argument could have been done, but you got outsiders being like, ‘Oh, she gonna beat you up.'”

Meanwhile, livestreaming can quickly attract a large audience to watch conflict unfold in real time. Nearly a quarter of focus group participants implicated Facebook Live, for example, as a feature that escalates conflict.

Brianna, 17, shared an example in which her cousin told another girl to come to her house to fight on Facebook Live. “But mind you, if you got like 5,000 friends on Facebook, half of them watching … And most of them live probably in the area you live in. You got some people that’ll be like, ‘Oh, don’t fight.’ But in the majority, everybody would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, fight.'”

She went on to describe how three Facebook “friends” who were watching the livestream pulled up in cars in front of the house with cameras, ready to record and then post any fight.

Strategies to stop violence

Adolescents tend to define themselves through peer groups and are highly attuned to slights to their reputation. This makes it difficult to resolve social media conflicts peacefully. But the young people we spoke with are highly aware of how social media shapes the nature and intensity of conflicts.

A key finding of our work is that young people often try to avoid violence resulting from social media. Those in our study discussed four approaches to do so: avoidance, deescalation, reaching out for help and bystander intervention.

Avoidance involves exercising self-control to avoid conflict in the first place. As 17-year-old Diamond explained, “If I’m scrolling and I see something and I feel like I got to comment, I’ll go [to] comment and I’ll be like, ‘Hold up, wait, no.’ And I just start deleting it and tell myself … ‘No, mind my business.'”

Reaching out for support involves turning to peers, family or teachers for help. “When I see conflict, I screenshot it and send it to my friends in our group chat and laugh about it,” said Brianna, 16. But there’s a risk in this strategy, Brianna noted: “You could screenshot something on Snapchat, and it’ll tell the person that you screenshot it and they’ll be like, ‘Why are you screenshotting my stuff?'”

The deescalation strategy involves attempts by those involved to slow down a social media conflict as it happens. However, participants could not recount an example of this strategy working, given the intense pressure they experience from social media comments to protect one’s reputation.

They emphasized the bystander intervention strategy was most effective offline, away from the presence of an online audience. A friend might start a conversation offline with an involved friend to help strategize how to avoid future violence. Intervening online is often risky, according to participants, because the intervener can become a new target, ultimately making the conflict even bigger.

Peer pressure goes viral

Young people are all too aware that the number of comments a post garners, or how many people are watching a livestream, can make it extremely difficult to pull out of a conflict once it starts.

Jasmine, a 15-year-old, shared, “On Facebook, there be so many comments, so many shares and I feel like the other person would feel like they would be a punk if they didn’t step, so they step even though they probably, deep down, really don’t want to step.”

There is a growing consensus across both major U.S. political parties that the large technology companies behind social media apps need to be more tightly regulated. Much of the concern has focused on the dangers of unregulated free speech.

But from the vantage point of the adolescents we spoke with in Hartford, conflict that occurs on social media is also a public health threat. They described multiple experiences of going online without the intention to fight, and getting pulled into an online conflict that ended up in gun violence. Many young people are improvising strategies to avoid social media conflict. I believe parents, teachers, policymakers and social media engineers ought to listen closely to what they are saying.

Caitlin Elsaesser is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Connecticut.

This article originally was published on The Conversation.

Send letters to [email protected].

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How social media turns online arguments between teenagers into real-world violenceon April 5, 2021 at 5:21 pm Read More »