Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Insurrection Derangement Syndrome, Richmond
The mayor believes white supremacists infiltrated the rioters to sow violence and disorder
Mayor Stoney did not follow the path blazed by other mayors and deny the damage and insult. Pretending that rioting did not happen and sending photographers out to take pictures of areas not visited by rioters to support a false narrative that is belied frequently by videos on the Internet, honest and concerned news stations, and video screened at White House press briefings to corrupt denialists. Mayor Stoney and his police did make six arrests, two resulting in felony charges for assaulting officers. In addition, the police chief is aggressively soliciting any witnesses or video evidence that might be used to bring more charges.
But Mayor Stoney had none of that. His take was very different. It seems, in an audacious act of stone-cold psyops, white supremacists from out of town came and masqueraded as BLM while visiting a campaign of vandalism on the good people of Richmond. With assistance from Antifa and the Boogaloo Boys, a right-wing anti-government group. BLM, it seems, is to be exonerated of all wrongdoing from Mayor Stoney’s gist. Officials note that the event flyer on the Internet came from outside the Richmond area and suggest that it came from Antifa rather than BLM. They are building a firewall between their local BLM operations and the events of Saturday night to protect the movement.
Now, there are white supremacist groups in Virginia, I have run into them here and there. If I were a black mayor watching BLM operate with their protesters of pallor and their pale line bosses snapping orders at cannon fodder of color, I might develop a similar narrative to reflexively defend my local black community from retaliation. And there may have been a white supremacist contingent pursuing their own agenda. Rioting is not a very disciplined mode of communication, so no sympathy from me on that count. And maybe that local, grassroots BLM contingent is made up of idealists worth defending. But if that is the case, they may want to change their names and disassociate themselves from a wider movement seeking to destroy the nuclear family and crush free enterprise promising poverty and deprivation for all. Six arrests? Two charged? out of “hundreds?”
On the plus side, officials in Richmond are at least sensitive to the residents and business owners affected by the lawlessness and destruction, and it appears there were no deaths. I would urge the city to vigorously prosecute the crimes regardless of the professed ideology of the perpetrator, and make Richmond a discouraging target for similar acts of terrorism in the future.
Published in Politics
Antifa and the right-wing crazies making common cause? I don’t think so.
Amen.
Jake Tapper’s re-tweet of the post from the head of Portland’s NAACP sort of goes with the actions of Mayor Stoney on Saturday:
People who might have been supportive of the George Floyd riots are looking at the current situations and seeing Antifa essentially using Floyd simply as an excuse to do something they wanted to do anyway, which is riot in the name of Marxist causes.
They’re not happy about having their movement of the moment hijacked …. but if you’re the Democratic mayor of a big city, you still have to sort of pay at least some small tribute to the old “No enemies on the left” mantra. In this case it means Mayor Stoney has to make it seem as though what happened in Richmond was some sort of bi-partisan rioting by white people on the left and right, in order to avoid directly calling out the Antifa left-wing extremists. Doing that would threaten to split the coalition they hope will defeat Trump in November, while Virginia Dems have the added incentive of the state’s gubernatorial and off-year elections being only 15, and not 27 months away as with most other states. That makes taking a stand against the violence while at the same time trying to deny the left side of your own coalition is causing it more important, because people may not forget about the incidents just a little over a year down the line.
I don’t care what Stoney “believes.” I care what he can prove. They made arrests. If there is evidence of affiliation, let’s have it.
Ah, but all of the law enforcement folks were told their services were no longer needed because there was a desire to abolish the police.
Great idea though.
The narrative on the Left is now: “Secret Trump plants are inserting themselves into our peaceful protests pretending to be AntiFa for the express purpose of creating violence and destruction of property, just to make us look bad.”
It’s pretty simple:
If this guy thinks that all of the rioters in his city are white supremacists from outside, he should be happy to arrest every single one of them, charge them, hold them without bail, and send them to prison. At the same time, he should publish the booking photographs of every single one of them, with the headline “WHITE SUPREMACIST” on every single page.
…but he won’t.
So, that means we can agree that demonizing police is a dumb idea? After all, don’t want those right-wingers cross-dressing as left-wingers throwing a brick through your window, right?
Well…those are Trump’s goons so he should arrest them. But somewhere else. Wearing name tags. Or something.
The mayor isn’t wrong. The “progressive” left is just completing the work of Charles Manson in fomenting a race war.
Counterpoint (language warning):
Darn it, @arahant!
It’s okay. If you play them at the same time, out of sync, it is even more ludicrous.
Completely agree