Listen, I respect you enough to believe that you saw some fucked up things. Seeing those kinds of things can really do a number on your head and memory, and it’s easy to conflate memories of trauma. Especially when it’s consumed as it seem like you have, via (social) media. And I do not at all disagree with your assertion that US policing needs fundamental change (approaching complete tear down, ideally).

However I, too, have been around on the internet for quite a while, and frequented bad parts of it. I didn’t see what you describe. I have a professional interest in watching such events, and I have worked very closely with police for quite a long time (albeit in just a few municipalities in a single US state).

Your “trust me” just doesn’t cut it, so my point stands: unless you have specific proof or ability to refer to evidence, don’t be hyperbolic. You simply can’t compare US policing to Iran, it’s apples and oranges of terrible, awful, horrifying shit.

And I have also met and studied with folks who have fled from Iran. I have had conversations with them and heard first hand stories. Please, use caution when you compare such dramatically different settings and circumstances of brutality. It really serves to undercut the complexity and uniqueness of these circumstances. Since different forms of resistance are necessary to combat them, it does nobody any good to try and compare them.

Finally, please don’t seek out things you don’t want to seek out for the sake of “winning” an internet argument with somebody who genuinely agrees with the spirit of your statements. It’s not worth it, I think.