Black Lives Matter
August 19, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Minneapolis police union president Bob Kroll and his family were the prominent targets of the Black Lives Matter mob led by prospective Minnesota DFL state representative John Thompson in front of Kroll’s home in semi-rural Hugo, Minnesota this past weekend. Our friends at Justice and Drew interviewed Kroll during the final segment of their three-hour show this morning. The subject was of course the events discussed by John here and
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August 19, 2020 — Scott Johnson
John Thompson is the DFL-endorsed candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 67A. On Saturday he led a Black Lives Matter “protest” at the home of Minneapolis police union president Bob Kroll in Hugo, Minnesota. Hugo, by the way, is a semi-rural community 20 miles north of St. Paul. Posting the Alpha News video of Thompson in action here, John Hinderaker described Thompson as “a profane, violent lunatic.”
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August 17, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Portland is a dead city, a nightmarish dystopia ruled by criminals associated with Antifa and Black Lives Matter. (Is there still a distinction between those groups? They seem effectively to have merged.) We are all indebted to Andy Ngo for documenting the depths to which Portland has descended. Here, Antifa/BLM criminals viciously assault a man who was driving a truck, finally kicking him in the head, knocking him unconscious and
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August 15, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Today’s Democratic Party is exemplified by John Thompson, who won a primary on Tuesday and is the DFL-endorsed candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 67A. Earlier today he led a BLM harassment effort at the home of Bob Kroll, President of the Minneapolis Police Department’s union. As you can see, Thompson is a profane, violent lunatic: John Thompson, who recently won his Primary for 67A in St.
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August 11, 2020 — John Hinderaker
The American press has a long history of sanitizing radical leftist movements. These days the main beneficiary of the press’s airbrush is Black Lives Matter, a racist, Marxist organization that sponsors, in reporters’ words, “mostly peaceful” riots. As with other far-left groups, BLM does not hide its true colors. It just relies on the press to misreport them. Last night’s looting in Chicago was horrific. No respectable organization could defend
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August 11, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Seattle police Chief Carmen Best announced her retirement following the city council’s decision to cut the police department budget by 14 percent. According to this report, the cuts would have had little effect on Best’s salary, but will reduce the salary of the 12 non-union sworn officers on her command staff. More importantly, the cuts will reduce the number of regular police officers in Seattle. Up to 100 jobs might
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August 10, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Rioting continues nightly in Portland. Criminals are arrested, immediately released, and return to the streets. It is hard to see how Portland has a viable future. Likewise with Seattle. A city that cannot maintain order will soon be vacated by normal people who are able to leave, leaving only criminals and those without the means to get away. Minneapolis, with its days of rioting followed by skyrocketing crime and parks
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August 6, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, the Washington Post ran an article with this headline: “Trump ordered federal forces to quell Portland protests. But the chaos ended as soon as they left.” This was a dishonest attempt to blame the rioting in Portland, including attacks aimed at federal buildings, on President Trump, rather than the Antifa/BLM rioters. The Post’s Adam Taylor surely knew that the presence of federal forces was a response to, not
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August 4, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Carmen Best, a black woman, is the chief of police in Seattle. She’s a longtime member of the police force and, as you would expect, a liberal who supports police reform and peaceful protests calling for such reform. Best has criticized vandalism, arson, and rioting — a stance that surely is no more than table stakes for a police chief even in this woke age. However, her force has done
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August 3, 2020 — John Hinderaker
I never understood why pro sports leagues thought that buying into a far-left, anti-American narrative would ingratiate them with their fans. At the moment, it looks like my skepticism (shared by many, of course) was justified. Breitbart reports: “Ratings crash for NBA, MLB after protest-filled debuts.” As the NBA and MLB return from their coronavirus-imposed hiatus, it appears TV viewers are not interested in what the increasingly woke leagues have
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August 2, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Portland, Oregon recorded 15 homicides in July. That’s the most in one month in more than three decades, according to the police. As for shootings, there were 63 in July. In July 2019, there were 28, again according to the police. Police Chief Chuck Lovell noted that the department was forced to disband its 34-member Gun Violence Reduction Team at the direction of the City Council. According to this report,
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August 2, 2020 — John Hinderaker
The Left has abandoned all norms of civilized conduct. Check out this video of a Black Lives Matter “activist” screaming at normal citizens through a bullhorn. It was filmed in Austin, Texas: BLM now harassing and threatening restaurant patrons on the street pic.twitter.com/7snbtEyFN3 — Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 2, 2020 This sort of harassment is, or should be, criminal. Given the Left’s repudiation of all norms, can anything short of
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July 31, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The NBA resumed its season Friday night with two televised games. How were the ratings? Ethan Strauss of the The Athletic reports: After a four-and-a-half month absence, tons of lead-up media coverage regarding the bubble, with little competition on the airwaves and a schedule specially constructed to deliver us the draw of Zion Williamson, Pelicans-Jazz garnered 2.1 million viewers. For context, that’s roughly 400,000 fewer viewers than the average audience
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July 31, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
Darren Wilson is the former Ferguson, Missouri police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, who assaulted him. The shooting was a wholly justified act of self defense. Yet, it triggered the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s fitting that a phony justice movement originated with a phony claim of police misconduct. Wilson has been cleared of any criminal conduct by a grand jury and by the Obama-Holder Justice Department. But
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July 30, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The NBA resumes its season tonight. Some players will be wearing BLM-related “social justice” slogans on their shirts, where their names normally appear. In addition, “Black Lives Matter” is printed on all three courts where games will be played. On top of that, some broadcasters will likely offer their views on race in America. This article in the Washington Post strongly suggests that one or more of the Washington Wizards’
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July 19, 2020 — John Hinderaker
I suggested a week ago that Minneapolis might have surpassed Portland in the race for the title of America’s Worst-Governed City. That apparently spurred Portland residents to redouble their efforts, and today that city stands unchallenged as America’s worst. Consider that Portland has now experienced 51 consecutive days of violent riots. Minneapolis had, what? Six? Last night violent mobs under the banners of Antifa and Black Lives Matter attacked the
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July 14, 2020 — John Hinderaker
We’ve seen it over and over: when activists make war on the police, and politicians sell them down the river, police officers respond as one would expect. They pull back. They respond to 911 calls but do as little active policing as possible. Inevitably, that is happening in Minneapolis. The Free Beacon has the numbers: Official data released by the [Minneapolis Police Department] show that cumulative stops fell 36 percent
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