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Dueling Losers in Charlottesville
My most recent contribution over at PJ Media concerns, as you might expect, the recent events in Charlottesville, specifically the apparent failure of the police to prepare for and respond to the violence they should have known was coming. In that piece I recount a memory of my youth (it was in or about 1970) in which I witnessed the LAPD deal very effectively with a group of neo-Nazis who appeared intent on disrupting a large demonstration against the Vietnam war. A sample:
After an awkward standoff of a few minutes, the Nazis began marching east on Wilshire, with the cops marching right alongside. Upon reaching the east end of the park, at Alvarado Street, the Nazis turned around and marched back to Park View, again matched step for step by the same 50 cops.
This was repeated a few times, with the effect being that of a rehearsal for some sort of bizarre parade. Through it all the leader of the Nazis was shouting through a bullhorn, and the entire rabble was free to carry on as they wished, but they weren’t going to be allowed into the park and stir things up.
The analogy between that long-ago event in Los Angeles and the debacle in Charlottesville is, while instructive, not entirely apt. In Los Angeles, the Nazis arrived at an anti-war demonstration that had been sanctioned by the local authorities and facilitated by the LAPD, to the extent that one of the city’s busiest streets was shut down for hours. In other words, it was the Nazis who attempted to disrupt a lawful protest.
In Charlottesville, it was the Nazis and their fellow travelers who had secured all the necessary permissions for their rally, and it was the AntiFa/BLM/SJW crowd who massed to disrupt it. From a police perspective, the avowed beliefs of either side is (or should be) irrelevant. The only questions to be asked are, Who is obeying the law, and who is interfering with the exercise of a constitutionally protected right? After watching abundant video on what happened, it’s apparent that one side came prepared for a fight, but the other side came looking for one.
Disinclined as I am even to appear supportive of the rabble marching under swastika flags, I must do so to defend the underlying principle that even loathsome people have the right to express loathsome opinions. It is a police officer’s duty to uphold that principle by enforcing the law, even if doing so benefits people he may find repugnant.
And, lest it be forgotten, there was abundant repugnance on both sides in Charlottesville last Saturday. Yes, as revealed by Vice News, the Nazis (or white nationalists, or white supremacists, or whatever) are some of the most cretinous people you’ll ever come across. But check out some of the leftist charmers who descended on Charlottesville to bestow their wisdom on the local rustics (relevant portion begins at about 2:00; warning: you may long be haunted by the image of one woman in particular). I’m reminded of what Henry Kissinger reportedly said of the war between Iran and Iraq: “It’s a pity they can’t both lose.”
Published in Policing
It continues to amaze me that police officers can stand there and endure being berated and somehow just…stand there and endure. “Emotional stoicism” has to be a learned skill. I am not sure I could manage it, and yet we ask it of these young men and women. Does it get easier over time?
I love the image of the Nazis being accompanied up the street…and down the street…and up the street…
Y’all are awesome.
I’m not sure that the Charlottesville police department has too much experience in crowd control. The one thing I noticed is that the more aggressive actors were at the front of the each group. My experience has been the vandals and fighters place themselves behind the peaceful protestors to make it more difficult for police officers to reach them. That may not always be the case, but based upon my experience that would have led me to believe that this was not going to end well.
I’m not questioning the courage of the beat cop, but the Officer in Charge has to understand that once the fighting begins you have to immediately use the force necessary to stop the violence.
Exactly.
Oy vey! OK I am convinced by the depth and brilliance of the people in that video. We must…I say MUST…take down all of our statues. Even that white cracker Michaelangelo’s David. Pull them all down and tear them apart. They all belong to the racist white colonizers.
Jack,
This is a crucial point and reflects the times in which we now live. The aggressiveness of the left is unprecedented. Believe me, as an Orthodox Jew I have a prejudice here and it is in extremis against the Nazis. However, I am not about to throw away the rule of law because a left wing radical group imagines itself to be a vigilante army conducting a vigilante war.
Regards,
Jim
Step 1: Ensure that wherever and whenever Nazis speak, violence follows.
Step 2: Ensure that no matter who attacks whom that the Nazis and only the Nazis get the blame.
Step 3: Ensure that the definition of the term “Nazi” expands to such a degree that it fits anyone to the right of Steven Colbert.
Step 4: Enjoy how now all conservatives can be attacked with impunity!
Step 4 was achieved at least 6 months ago.
Interesting. Could this be a matter of not-well-trained community organizers? Or really good community organizers who got people so hyped up that they pushed their way to the front. I would still really like to know who was at the rear.
I’m not so quick to accept that Charlottesville P.D. wasn’t able to handle the groups. We’ve all had a lot of training in such things. And it’s my understanding that Virginia is near the top in incident management expertise, albeit behind California and Florida, but still among the best. So just what was going on?
A nearby local P.D. recently managed two conflicting demonstrations. The potential for violence was real. The P.D. formed a line between the groups, one officer facing left, the next facing right, left, right, etc. Worked like a charm.