site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

2
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Note that document 1 is only the initial complaint. The document on which the jury actually made convictions is, not document 1, but document 127, the second superseding indictment.

Alarmed at the presence of unauthorized persons on Prarieland property late at night, unarmed DHS correctional officers inside the facility went outside to investigate. Other DHS personnel called local police for assistance. Within minutes, an officer from the Alvarado Police Department arrived on scene, stepped out of his police cruiser, and began issuing commands to a rioter who had been vandalizing government property. The rioter, who was dressed in black bloc, continued to run towards Benjamin Song. Song yelled, "Get to the rifles!" and then, moments later, opened fire on the officers, striking the Alvarado police officer in the neck area as the unarmed DHS correctional officers ducked and ran for cover. The wounded officer fell to the ground but was able to return a few shots. Song fired additional rounds at the wounded officer and the DHS correctional officers until his rifle jammed. The Antifa Cell then fled the scene.

On that basis, Song was convicted (in document 367) of attempted murder of the police officer (but not of the two ICE officers).