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May 28, 2020

In Minneapolis, a political attack aimed at conservatives turns on Democrats

By Andrea Widburg

One of the most enjoyable things about the #MeToo movement has been the way that a political movement the left obviously intended to take out Trump and other prominent Republicans instead ended up exposing the gross sexism and outright misogyny of prominent Democrats in the political and media worlds.  One would think there would be the same pleasure in watching how leftists have tried to hurt conservatives in the wake of police shootings, since that effort, too, has looped back to hurt leftists.  There is no joy with this political theater, though, because the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement weaponizes tragic deaths and destroys communities, as is happening now in Minneapolis. 

For the most part, police shootings, especially of black men, are statistically rare.  When those shootings do occur, they can arise from corrupt or ineffective law enforcement, self-destructive crime within the black community, or racism — or a combination of the three.  The hard-left BLM, however, has politicized all police activities that result in a minority's death, claiming that these deaths occurred solely because of rampant racism.

As I noted yesterday, there's a problem for the BLM movement and its enablers in the Democrat party (both the political class and the media).  Much as they would like to point the finger of blame at Republicans, conservatives and especially Trump, all these terrible things usually happen in Democrat-run communities.

The latest outbreak of BLMism is occurring in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Minneapolis last had a Republican mayor in 1973.  The region is a bastion of leftist virtue-signaling.  I was in St. Paul last year, which is the twin city to Minneapolis, and took a few photos of that non-stop leftier-than-thou attitude:

Virtue-signaling, however, is not enough when it comes to a police department that has been embroiled in two high-profile deaths.  In 2017, a Somali-American police officer shot Justine Damond to death for no good reason.  BLM didn't care.

On Monday, though, either because of deliberate or grossly negligent behavior, Minneapolis police killed 46-year-old George Floyd when an officer kneeled heavily on Floyd's neck while Floyd's desperately fought for air.  Mayor Jacob Frey (a Democrat) instantly demanded criminal charges against the police, and police chief Medaria Arradonda (a black and Mexican-American man) fired the officers involved without any further inquiry.  President Trump got involved, too:

Even though officialdom instantly acted against the culprits, that did not stop BLM from moving into Minneapolis to organize protests, nor did that stop the protests from transforming into looting:

Protesters in Minneapolis took to the streets for a second night after the death of George Floyd and also began looting Target, making away with groceries, clothes, large electronics like flatscreen televisions, numerous sources reported.

Looters were seen loading up carts and running in and out of a Target located steps away from Minneapolis police's 3rd precinct Wednesday, the center of the protests over Floyd's death, Fox 9 reported.

So far as we know, no one has accused Target of being involved with police brutality.  Instead, there's an irony attached to the fact that Target is being (pardon the pun) targeted.  The retailer is headquartered in Minneapolis and is an institution with strong leftist sympathies.  We all remember how it instantly climbed on board the transgender bandwagon, by opening its women's restrooms to anyone. It also makes sure every June to promote its LGBT Pride.

In his show on Wednesday night, Tucker Carlson rightly said that rioting (as opposed to genuine political protest) is a complete societal breakdown.

What Tucker didn't say, but could have, is that these riots don't happen just anywhere.  The left routinely attacks conservatives for oppressing poor and minority people and being responsible for "systemic racism."  However, it's the leftist, Democrat-run enclaves, the ones that set up their systems to fight these supposed ills, that are the first to collapse into medieval squalor and anarchic violence.

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