I'm an ER Nurse in Seattle. Last night @SeattlePD officers came to the ER to obtain a statement from an assault patient. One officer, Eric Whitehead, blatantly refused to put a mask on while standing in a high-traffic hallway. There were covid positive pts in nearby rooms. 1/

Multiple nurses handed him masks. When I saw he threw them away I asked if there was a problem. Whitehead put his hand in my face and said "Miss, I'm here to do my job and you interrupting me is keeping me from that. If you need to have a conversation about masks it can wait." 2/

(He was not responding to a crime. There were multiple other officers present. He wasn't even speaking with the patient, he was standing in the hallway.) I told him There is no conversation, I just need you to wear a mask. You're putting patients and staff at risk by refusing. 3/

Whitehead ignored me point blank. I escalated to my Charge Nurse. He condescendingly refused her too. Nursing Supervisor got involved and he finally put on mask but stated he would be taking it off in the patient room. 4/

Throughout all this, at least 3 other officers were standing right there. None of them thought to say "Hey man maybe you should just put the mask on." 5/

The president of the United States addressed the rally on January 6th which was not a mob at the time. He did not call for violence. He exhorted them to “Stop the Steal” telling them” We will never give up. We will never concede.” This is called “Direction by Indirection” in law.

This is a situation paralleled by Henry II in his struggle with Thomas Beckett. “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” is not a call for violence in a direct sense.

A short time ago we talked of “putting people to the sword” or “heads will roll” meaning to fire people.

If one were not addressing a massive rally, such language might be seen as colloquial hyperbole. But when you exhort people to the Capitol to “stop the steal” of a US election, context matters. The courts did not support the challenge. This was’t hyperbole. Context is all here.

In this context, the President yet again used the technique of plausible deniability via the principle of “Direction by Indirection”. He as addressing a massive rally near the Capitol. For some reason the partisan BS, colloquial speech and the context are obscuring what happened.

To see what happened:

A) Subtract the abysmal behavior of the Democratic Party in the modern era. They are horrible. So what?

B) Place the President in the context of a real life massive rally Context is everything.

C) See the colloquial as layering indirection over direction.