Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/22/mob-rule.html
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Mob strike-breakers, right outta the Henry Ford playbook. I’m guessing they’ll dredge up some Pinkerton detectives next.
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Cops nowhere to be found. Are these people cops?
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The local Muscle are scabs, dam shame if ya ask me.
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The tender relationship that exists between authoritarian politicians and organized crime is a global phenomenon: in Japan, the yakuza and the extreme-right are like that, in Russia the mob and the government are so entangled that it’s hard to say which is which, and so on.
Luckily, in the US, we still have a vibrant democracy, and it’s inconceivable that we’d ever elect an authoritarian populist with a documented history of deep links to organized crime figures.
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It’s a damned shame his ass wasn’t beaten by mistake. Collateral damage.
They changed their clothes as fast as they could. Strike busting is a nuanced activity.
The vibrantest.
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Odd move by the Triad. You would think they would actually have more power in Hong Kong if mainland China had less power. Unless, of course, they are already in bed with/controlling elements of the Chinese government.
Interesting times…
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This bunch of sunken chests and string bean arms are what passes for hired goons? Christ, 20% of them couldn’t be bothered to put their phones down during the display of force.
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Reporters on the scene think most of them are just organized crime paid off by a government (not clear witch) for some good old fashioned shakedowns. The cops were paid to be busy elsewhere. The government statement was that no police took part in the beatings, so if someone spots a cop in the many many photos of the event then it’s a further hit to the credibility of the HK government.
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Good job the goons wore masks, then.
Dusk masks are far from perfect at anonymizing someone. Plus, there’s always that asshole that brought his phone and is outed by cell tower records.
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I came into the comments thinking the same thing, until I read @angusm 's comment and it made sense to me.
If their profits are maximized through turmoil, then they will stir the pot. They aren’t intentionally working toward a day when they are out of power. They capitalize on the chaos, move what they can offshore, then get before the final curtain falls and live like royalty somewhere else. Works super until there’s no place else to go.
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So which organized crime figures is he involved with? I mean, he doesn’t even hire Union most of the time. You’d think he’d be making more money if he was involved in that much.
I hate that guy.
Related–My wife and I were talking this morning about how hard it has gotten just to dispose of a body, what with 4K doorbell cameras and cellphone tracking and GPS-enabled cars. And don’t even get me started on the stupid DNA getting all over everything like it was coming out of a firehose.
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Civil-rights being violated, mobs encouraged by a politician to attack violently, and the number 45 right in there. Are you sure this wasn’t somewhere in midwest?
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My perception is that he hasn’t made as much money as he should due to constantly disrupting his own business, and also the high cost of perpetual litigation. If he had put his father’s $300 million nest egg into an index fund, he would be much farther along than he has gotten by constantly second-guessing and changing course and not paying the people he owes money to so that they sue him and he counter-sues them. The result is a continually shrinking pool of investors willing to do business with him, and a credit shortage that means Deutsche Bank (the money launderers) are the only ones who will provide financing for him.
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Russian mob; they’re anti-union.
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Wong said that in the early 1980s, at Beijing’s behest, he “befriended” Hong Kong’s triad bosses and made them an offer they could not refuse: China would turn a blind eye to their illegal activities if they would promise to keep peace after the handover. “I told them that, if they did not disrupt Hong Kong’s stability, we would not stop them from making money,” Wong said.
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Maybe that’s the point. They only need to go through the motions of beating people up, because what matters is not that they are attacking protestors but that the cops are not stopping them.
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That’s why you have to work on cutting it up and putting it into separate luggage.
The word you’re looking for is 'wiry".
Also, brute physical strength isn’t the only requirement for being a goon. Often times it’s just the will to do violence that is enough. I mean, you can find a lot of atrocities performed by string bean armed people.
I guess I was thinking New York. But still, I’ve heard rumors, but not a lot of evidence on this.
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