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Tag: Riot
Joe Selvaggi talks with Martin Gurri, former CIA analyst and author of Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, about the wave of populism sparked by the disruptive force of the internet from Occupy to riots on Capitol Hill. Mr. Gurri shares his views on the connection between massive, broad information consumption and the new view toward elites.
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Weapons of War On Our Streets: A Guide to the Militarization of America’s Police
The claim often heard from those attempting to pass more gun control legislation is that all they’re trying to do is get the “weapons of war off our streets,” but it’s simply untrue that “weapons of war” are available to the general public. You’d last about three minutes in a conventional war with an AR-15, even with one of the most aggressive builds you can get your hands on (that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for guerilla uprisings to defeat powerful enemies). The truth is that the only people with “weapons of war” on America’s streets are, increasingly, the police.
Thanks primarily to the Pentagon’s 1033 program which allows law enforcement agencies to get their hands on Department of Defense technology and the Bush-era War on Terror, American police have received a startling amount of heavy-duty, military-grade hardware. Between 1998 and 2014, the dollar value of military hardware sent to police departments skyrocketed from $9.4 million to $796.8 million.
The Federalist Co-founders Mollie Hemingway and Sean Davis discuss topics concerning American culture, specifically analyzing the mainstream media’s involvement in the recent defacement of historical monuments and handling of President Trump’s Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore.
Davis said the mainstream media has proven they will take anything that is good news for the country, because it is also a positive reflection on the president, and distort or ignore the story. The statue destruction, Hemingway said, which began as a movement led by rioters about removing Confederate statues, was quickly compounded by the mainstream media’s defense of toppling prominent American figures such as the Founding Fathers.
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Author and Professor Wilfred Reilly joined host Ben Domenech to explore how Americans have felt in recent months during the lockdown and protests and how the media encourages their fears. Reilly is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Kentucky and has written multiple books, most recently “Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War,” and “Taboo: 10 Facts You Can’t Talk About.”
Reilly argued that the media often focuses on the worst and least likely of situations to gain more views and clicks on their stories, which results in a needlessly terrified public. He also blamed the media for fostering the current widespread tension between Americans. This is most clear in the the media’s handling of Covid19 and the protests and riots following the death of George Floyd.
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade joins host Ben Domenech to discuss the state of media coverage during coronavirus and recent nationwide riots. Kilmeade argued there is a difference between those who are protesting and those who are rioting and looting. The media, however, has portrayed them both as justified in their pursuit of racial justice.
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Fear and Loathing in the Queen City
This is a preview from Thursday morning’s The Daily Shot newsletter. Subscribe here free of charge.
Violent protests in Charlotte, NC, turned deadly in their second night, when a civilian was shot by another civilian. That wasn’t all. Rioters were seen trying to throw a news photographer into a fire. A CNN reporter was attacked on the air. (Basically somebody came up and body checked him to the ground.)
So what’s all this about? Tuesday afternoon, there was a police shooting in Charlotte. Around 4 pm, police were at an apartment complex in the University City section, in the northeast part of the city, near UNC Charlotte, serving an outstanding warrant.
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Baltimore Burning
In a scene that’s all too common in the Obama era, an American city is in flames. This time it’s Baltimore, where a funeral for a man killed by cops was quickly followed by mob violence carried live on cable news and social media. Every few months another Democrat stronghold is convulsed by turmoil. Hope and change involves a lot more riots and looting than I expected.
Meanwhile, our President is touring the Beltway with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. They visited the Lincoln Memorial (must have special significance to a man named Abe) and tomorrow features a state dinner replete with Wagyu beef and exceedingly rare wines. I’m curious if the PM’s security detail is alarmed by the race war occurring just down the road or if his staff is simply aghast at how the world’s leading superpower has fallen so far and so fast. The shocking footage out of Baltimore isn’t a helpful backdrop for hosting one of our closest allies, especially when his nation is facing down an increasingly belligerent China and North Korea.
Details from the riots are changing quickly. Here’s the latest update from the Baltimore Sun: