May 26, 1637, the Puritans and their allies surround the Pequot Indian stronghold called Mystic Fort near what is now Stonington, Connecticut. They set it ablaze, then shoot those who flee the flames. By dawn, over 400 are dead—mostly women and children.
And yet, we still call Puritans the “peaceful” settlers.
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#blackmastodon #iran #photography #history #war #histodons
Image: The Puritans’ massacre of the Pequots. A 19th-century wood engraving. Source: The Granger Collection, NYC.
Tamir Rice is 12 years old. He is playing in a Cleveland park with a toy pellet gun. A caller tells police the gun is “probably fake.” They pull up in a cruiser, don’t stop, don’t speak. Two seconds after arriving, they shoot him dead.
His sister, Tajai, runs to him. They tackle her to the ground.
No charges. No justice.
A child is gone, and the system that killed him still patrols the streets—still armored, still unaccountable.
Image: Tamir Rice, Source: Instagram.
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Downtown L.A., June 2025. Protesters fill the streets after mass ICE raids tear through immigrant neighborhoods. LAPD fire over 600 rounds—rubber bullets, tear gas, bean bags. Marines patrol the city. And still, they call it peacekeeping. Still, they call it order.
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Image: Protesters clash with police downtown near a VA outpatient clinic. (Luke Johnson / LA Times).
A road cuts through what used to be a neighborhood. Concrete spills from gutted apartments. Wires hang loose like veins. A single building leans like it’s trying to stand. Three small figures walk down the middle—no destination.
Entire families buried beneath what was once home. Walls turned to dust. Lives turned to statistics.
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Image: Aerial view of Palestinians walking past destroyed houses in the Gaza Strip’s Jabalia refugee camp, February 2024/Reuters.
And still, they say: this is defense. Still, they say: they seek peace. And those who bury their children are named the enemy.
Image: Protester lays prostrate surrounded by heavily armed LAPD. (Luke Johnson / LA Times).
Primary Sources:
Mason, John. A Brief History of the Pequot War: Especially of the Memorable Taking of Their Fort at Mistick in Connecticut in 1637. Boston: S.G. Drake, 1869. Originally written in 1677. Source: https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofpe00maso/page/n8/mode/1up
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More Primary Sources
PBS NewsHour. “Cleveland Police Forced Tamir Rice’s Sister to the Ground, Footage Reveals.” PBS NewsHour, January 8 2015.. Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/cleveland-police-forced-tamir-rices-sister-ground-footage-reveals
LA Times Staff, “How L.A. Law Enforcement Got Pulled into Trump’s Immigration Fight,” LA Times, Source:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-10/lapd-sheriffs-department-immigration-protests
Nidal Al‑Mughrabi, “Israeli Strikes Kill 33 People in Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza, Medics Say,” Reuters, October 18, 2024, accessed June 22, 2025, Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-sends-more-troops-into-north-gaza-deepens-raid-2024-10-18/
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According to new security footage released Thursday, Cleveland police handcuffed the 14-year-old sister of Tamir Rice and kept her nearby in a patrol car after a police officer shot the boy within seconds of arriving to the scene.
Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco
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