Riots
April 12, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Operation Safety Net is the law enforcement initiative to protect local government infrastructure (such as the Hennepin County Government Center) following the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin. The Chauvin trial is taking place in the Government Center, which otherwise remains closed for security purposes. An officer-involved shooting in Minneapolis suburb Brooklyn Center yesterday afternoon put OSN to work overnight. The video below captures the OSN media briefing held
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March 7, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Scott has written about the trial of Derek Chauvin, in which jury selection is scheduled to start on Monday, and the fact that the Hennepin County Government Center has been turned into a bunker surrounded by barbed wire. This video shows what he was talking about: Meanwhile, the city has sent a letter to local businesses advising them on preparing for the trial: The City of Minneapolis is working with
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February 27, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Derek Chauvin goes on trial for murder in the death of George Floyd on March 8. His trial has been separated from that of the other three officers who have been charged; theirs will begin in August. Chauvin is the principal defendant. Of the four policemen involved, two were on something like their fourth day on the job. The third was a tiny guy, also not very experienced. Chauvin was
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February 15, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I’ve been wondering whatever happened to Umbrella Man. According to the officer who swore out the affidavit supporting the search warrant issued on the Umbrella Man suspect’s cell phone this past July, Umbrella Man was responsible for the vast harm inflicted on the Twin Cities in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. As I noted yesterday, Libor Jany’s page-one Star Tribune story of July 28
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February 14, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Who can take a city, burn it to the ground? The Umbrella Man can, at least according to the search warrant application/affidavit filed by Minneapolis police officer Erika Christensen this past summer. Star Tribune reporter Libor Jany told me he came across Christensen’s affidavit in a routine review of court filings. Libor reported on the allegations of Christensen’s affidavit in his July 28 story “Minneapolis police say ‘Umbrella Man’ was
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February 11, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Following the January 6 riot at the Capitol, Joe Biden had this to say about the police force that, at a great personal cost, prevented the rioters from completely overrunning the building and injuring members of Congress, as well as the U.S. Vice President: Not only did we see the failure to protect one of the three branches of our government, we also saw a clear failure to carry out
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January 25, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Victor Davis Hanson takes up the theme of this series in the American Greatness column “River of forgetfulness.” Among other things, he observes: Serious Big Brother was never coming to America kicking and screaming in a suit and in a mile-long tie, but rather eagerly welcomed in with jeans and sneakers without socks. The First Amendment could always survive a crude, inebriated Joe McCarthy, but not so easily a social
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January 23, 2021 — Scott Johnson
If you read the New York Post, you may be aware that Antifa/BLM rioters continue their assault on Portland. Andy Ngo, for example, brings the news in the New York Post column “Biden won’t stop them, and neither will cops, until Portland is burned down.” Ngo reports: In Portland, Black Lives Matter-Antifa made good on their pre-announced “J20” (January 20) riot. Around 150 Antifa dressed in black shut down traffic
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January 19, 2021 — Scott Johnson
While the Twin Cities were torched by BLM and other rioters following the death of George Floyd this past Memorial Day, Governor Tim Walz wrung his hands and bloviated in sympathy with the rioters. When things got hot he shifted the blame to others including the Minneapolis mayor (partly true) and alleged outsiders (mostly false). I posted videos of two of his press conferences here on June 1 while we
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January 12, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s incompetent response to the riots last summer that devastated Minneapolis, and to a lesser extent St. Paul, will never be forgotten. He waited four long days before he finally called out the National Guard in numbers adequate to end the reign of terror that had settled over the Twin Cities. Why was Walz so slow to defend public order? He openly expressed support for the aims
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January 7, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Like pretty much all conservatives, I have consistently criticized riots and other forms of political violence for many years. That includes yesterday’s Washington, D.C. riot. You can’t say the same about liberals, however. Until yesterday, one might have thought that liberals consider rioting and other forms of political violence to be as American as apple pie. You could write a book in support of that proposition, but for now let’s
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January 6, 2021 — John Hinderaker
I woke up not expecting a good day, but it turned out to be much worse. First we lost both Georgia Senate races, putting us at the mercy of the Democrats (or, more specifically, Joe Manchin) for the next two years. For an interesting analysis of why those races went South–and specifically, why fraud wasn’t the main problem–see this piece by Liam Bissainthe at Liberty Unyielding. Then, of course, we
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October 27, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday a man with a knife charged two police officers in Philadelphia. They retreated while yelling at the man to drop his knife. He continued chasing them, and they shot him. This is the video: There would be no story here if the man with the knife had been white, Asian or Hispanic, but because he was black, the city has exploded in violence. The Free Beacon headlines: “30 Officers
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October 2, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Attorney Thomas Plunkett represents former Minneapolis police officer Alexander Kueng in the Floyd murder case. Kueng is one of the four former officers charged in the case. The case is pending before Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill. The courthouse sits in downtown Minneapolis and the case is proceeding in an atmosphere of mob justice. All four defendants have moved for a change of venue. I discussed the venue issue
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October 1, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Today the Associated Press updated its Stylebook to tell reporters how they should describe riots. Basically, the AP doesn’t want readers to get the right impression: Focusing on rioting and property destruction rather than underlying grievance has been used in the past to stigmatize broad swaths of people protesting against lynching, police brutality or for racial justice, going back to the urban uprisings of the 1960s. (2/5) — APStylebook (@APStylebook)
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September 25, 2020 — John Hinderaker
Poll data, including data generated by my own organization, show that Americans draw a clear distinction between demonstrating and rioting. Large majorities have no problem with demonstrations, but strongly disapprove of riots, looting and arson. The problem is how to define what is going on around us. Democrats insist that protests are “mostly peaceful,” even as looting is rife and buildings are going up in flames. “Demonstrators” shut down highways,
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September 23, 2020 — Scott Johnson
We have previously drawn attention to Professor Gary Saul Morson’s New Criterion essay “How the great truth dawned,” Professor Morson’s New Criterion lecture “Leninthink,” Professor Morson’s New York Review of Books review “The horror, the horror,” and Professor Morson’s book Narrative and Freedom: The Shadows of Time (Steve wrote about it here). To these I now want to add Professor Morson’s First Things essay “Suicide of the liberals.” Drawing on
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