Asking The Right Question

Sundance at Conservative Treehouse raises an obvious question that nobody else has brought up:

How can a group within America openly threaten police, use violence against police, throw Molotov cocktails, bricks and explosive fireworks at police. Use batons, shields, bats and physical violence against police and federal law enforcement; destroy vehicles, set cars on fire, destroy property, trash and block the streets and create chaos…. Completely without being stopped?

. . . How does any individual or group get to do this without being arrested?

Although he's speaking in the context of Antifa and the BLM riots, I think the approach has changed under Trump 47. Beyond that, the argument has been made that federal arrests were in fact made after the 2020 riots:

The Justice Department targeted more than 300 protesters by charging them with federal crimes for their roles during the civil unrest last summer after the murder of George Floyd, according to a new report from The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of Black advocacy groups.

The report found that more than 90% of federal cases against Black Lives Matter protesters could have been charged in state court – and that in 88% of those cases, the federal charges carried more severe penalties than similar state charges.

In fact, at least accordinmg to the CNN link, BLM protesters were unfairly singled out and treated too harshly:

“This persecution resulted in hundreds of organizers and activists facing years in federal prison with no chance of parole,” the report read. It was co-authored by CUNY School of Law’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility Clinic.

But Sundance has a point. Why have we seen a renewed attempt to incite summertime violence in the cities this year if the perpetrators had been effectively prosecuted after 2020?

If the FBI did not support Antifa, quite simply Antifa would not exist. They are right there, highly visible, doing illegal things on camera, repeatedly, all over the country, and the FBI doesn’t lift a finger to stop them. Why?

The only thing that makes sense is that the FBI wants this activity to take place.

By "Antifa", I think he means a group or groups with equivalent tactics and objectives, although so far this year, they aren't specificslly calling themselves Antifa or carrying the back-and-red Antifa flags as they did in 2020. I also think despite the mistrust of Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel in some MAGA quarters, the FBI strategy has changed. The Justice Department has been making well-publicized arrests:

The U.S. Department of Justice charged 48-year-old Grzegorz Vandenberg with “transporting explosives in interstate commerce with the knowledge and intent that that [sic] they would be used to kill, injure, or intimidate individuals,” per CBS News.

Vandenberg visited a travel center in Lordsburg, New Mexico, on June 12, where he allegedly purchased various fireworks and explosive devices. During the purchase, he reportedly asked for help in choosing fireworks that could be “thrown directly at people to cause harm.”

“He told store employees that he was prior special forces military and claimed he could make pipe bombs,” the DOJ said in its press release. “Vandenberg further stated that he was traveling to Los Angeles, California, for the riots, with the intent to kill law enforcement officers or government officials.”

In Portland, OR:

Rioters in Portland on Wednesday night were seen assaulting law enforcement with fireworks and explosives.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared video of the assault from rioters opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

“Last night, Portland rioters violently targeted federal law enforcement— 250 rioters launched fireworks, shined lasers in officers’ eyes to temporarily blind them, and stormed an ICE field office,” said the DHS. “Ultimately, five individuals were arrested on various charges including assault on federal law enforcement.”

As we saw in Los Angeles, there's also increasing pressure on local law enforcement to respond to such incidents:

A 38-year-old Portland man was arrested Thursday days after police said he threw debris at passing cars and left an explosive device on Interstate 5 in Northeast Portland.

Alexander Wick is accused of felony charges of attempted arson, criminal mischief, possession of a destructive device and manufacturing a destructive device. He remains in Multnomah County custody and is scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon.

One difference since 2020 is that the response from federal departments is across-the-board:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that states that don’t cooperate with the federal government’s deportation efforts may not receive any funding to rebuild their infrastructure.

“The @USDOT will NOT fund rogue state actors who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” Duffy wrote on X on Monday. “And to cities that stand by while rioters destroy transportation infrastructure — don’t expect a red cent from DOT, either. Follow the law, or forfeit the funding.”

Another approach is either to embarrass or prosecute outright politicians who storm the barricades themselves. This happened recently with the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a confrontation outside an ICE facility, about which a judge subsequently complained, “An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool. It is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences. . . " But wasn't that the point?

This was the same effect intended in the Homeland Security and FBI takedown of Senator Alex Padilla, when he rushed Secretary Noem at a press event and was briefly handcuffed. On one hand, it was stressed that this folowed protocol in any such instance, but on the other, it sent the message that politicians wouldn't be exempted from ordinary consequences if they chose to act out. The message is apparently getting through:

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) on Wednesday addressed fears stemming from federal charges tied to her visit to a New Jersey detention facility operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The lawmaker is facing 17 years for forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers on three counts after she tussled with law enforcement while exiting the facility.

“I never thought I would be facing charges as a sitting congresswoman. . .” McIver said during a Wednesday interview on MSNBC.

What's changed is that the Trump 45 cabinet was loaded with figures who for whatever reason didn't feel beholden to Trump, in particular Attorney General Barr and FBI Director Wray, but also including a succession of defense secretaries, a succession of national security advisers, and Vice President Pence. Trump 47 has nothing like these problems. I suspect it's an indication of how thoroughly he's gained control of the Republican Party in the intervening years.

I think that with the new approach of recognizing the full nature of the problem and creating credible disincentives, there will be far less unrest this summer than in 2020.