Social media videos went viral as they displayed violent clashes between police and demonstrators trying to create a “Black House Autonomous Zone” and topple the statue of former U.S President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square.
This is just the latest in a series of violent protests and shootings, in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Protestors were attaching ropes and chains to the statue to force it down when U.S Park Police formed a protective barrier around the statue to protect it. Protestors were coughing after police sprayed them with a chemical agent to move demonstrators back from Lafayette Square Park. Of course, the scuffles and fights breaking out between police and protestors have been showing one-sided videos of police pepper spraying DC protestors but no context behind the videos posted. The videos have not been reporting that protestors were trying to tear down the statue and build an autonomous zone. It’s just another “police brutality” video blowing up on the internet.
At this point police should be using lethal force to protect themselves from the criminals at hand. If they loot, riot, and disobey law enforcement, they are no longer protestors. They are terrorists. Destroying federal property and assaulting the police? A little pepper spray won’t hurt anybody.
Eventually calm returned to the area and no officers were seriously hurt even as protestors threw numerous objects at them. “Numerous people arrested in D.C for the disgraceful vandalism, in Lafayette Park, of the magnificent Statue of Andrew Jackson, in addition to the exterior defacing of St. John’s Church across the street. 10 years in prison under the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act. Beware,” President Trump tweeted about the clashes outside the White House.
CNN’s Kaitlann Collins reported that the Secret Service removed all media off White House Grounds as protests nearby flared up. BHAZ – Black House Autonomous Zone – had been spray painted on the columns of the historic St. John’s church outside the White House. Vandalizing a church to get justice for…whatever his name was. I’m sure they’ve all forgotten by this point.
There will be more fingers pointing and blaming President Trump for all of this even when these are all being played out in Democrat-run cities. The movement has gained enough momentum and allies, so enough with the vandalism. They will end up alienating those around them. What was the famous line? Don’t give a madman room to rabblerouse.
