And yet Mrs. Obama looks you in eye and claims with a straight face that this is “an overwhelmingly peaceful movement.” “It’s true!” she dissembles brazenly, “research backs it up: only a tiny fraction of the demonstrations have had any violence at all.”
What research? Whose research?
On October 7 Michelle Obama released a video statement which was pitched as her “closing message to Americans” before the upcoming November election. One of the subjects she discussed were the so-called protests which have been pummeling this country for more than four months now. Amazingly, Michelle Obama described these protests as “an overwhelmingly peaceful movement for racial solidarity.”
Looking straight into the camera, the former first lady claims:
“It’s true! Research backs it up: only a tiny fraction of the demonstrations have had any violence at all.”
Michelle Obama’s statement constitutes a complete denial of reality. The riots she describes as “overwhelmingly peaceful” have been anything but. Here are some facts: Thousands upon thousands of businesses have been destroyed and dozens of inner cities turned into virtual war zones. Anarchy prevailed in a number of places across the land. In Minnesota alone three hundred and sixty businesses were wrecked in the first week of the riots. By the end of the second week, the damage across the United States would reach nearly two billion dollars, dwarfing the previous record set by the Los Angeles riots in 1994 ($1.42 billion in 2020 dollars). The destruction has been so extensive and widespread that the insurance industry has declared it a “property catastrophe” in multiple states.
Violence erupted in most urban areas in the United States and in nearly every large city. According to a Princeton University study, riots took place in forty eight out of the fifty largest US cities. In an effort to counter lawlessness, more than thirty states had to activate the national guard. More than 200 cities had to impose curfews to curb the spreading violence. There have been over fifteen thousand arrests, but this number comprises only a tiny fraction of the vandals, looters and beaters who have been terrorizing our communities. The vast majority of these delinquents will never be apprehended or persecuted for their crimes.
The reality is that the George Floyd riots have led to the most costly and destructive civil unrest in US history. In fact, our country has not seen this level of violence and devastation since the days of the Civil War.
“Overwhelmingly” peaceful protestors in action
Below we present some news items to give you a flavor of this “overwhelmingly peaceful movement.”
From Daily Mail:
“Widespread vandalism and looting during BLM protests will cost the insurance $2 billion after violence erupted in 140 cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death”
From Fox Business News:
“The damage from unrest between May 26 and June 8 will be the most expensive in the nation’s history, surmounting the Rodney King riots of 1992 in Los Angeles. The price tag could be as much as $2 billion and possibly more, according to Triple I. But the protests related to Floyd differ from others the database has tracked – never before have they been so widespread. ‘It’s not just happening in one city or state – it’s all over the country,’ Loretta L. Worters of the Triple-I told Axios. ‘And this is still happening, so the losses could be significantly more.’”
“If you add up the insurance cost in 2020 dollars for all six major American riots during the turbulent 1960s, the total is a little shy of $1.2 billion — which means the terrorists in Antifa and Black Lives Matter caused more mayhem and property damage in a little over a week than this country saw throughout all of the 1960s.”
From Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“More than 500 shops and restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul have reported damage when protests on five nights turned violent over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Dozens of properties burned to the ground. Owners and insurance experts estimate the costs of the damage could exceed $500 million.”
From Wikipedia:
“At least 200 cities in the U.S. had imposed curfews by early June, while more than 30 states and Washington, D.C. activated over 62,000 National Guard personnel due to the mass unrest. By the end of June, at least 14,000 people had been arrested.”
From the Claims Journal:
“The civil disturbance that started in Minneapolis after the killing by police of George Floyd spread to 20 other states — an unprecedented property insurance catastrophe that will likely impact policy renewals and could even persuade some insurers to exclude coverage for damage caused by riots, executives for Verisk’s Property Claim Services said. ‘In the U.S., there has been no precedent for a riot catastrophe like this,’ Tom Johansmeyer, head of PCS, said during a telephone interview with the Claims Journal on Thursday.”
“Protests over the death of George Floyd raged from coast to coast – with crowds breaking curfew in major cities on another night of fury and frustrations. Fires burned and tear gas canisters flew in Minneapolis as people threw objects at officers. In Seattle, smoke filled the air as police in riot gear lined up outside stores. And in Philadelphia, firefighters doused blazes and officers chased a group of protesters down the streets for violating curfew… Looters ransacked stores on the famous Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, leaving shelves bare and setting some buildings ablaze. The National Guard dispatched to Washington, DC, to assist police handling protests around the White House, authorities said. At least 25 cities have imposed curfews and numerous states activated National Guard forces.”
From the New York Times:
“All Sunday night, the scene repeated itself as protesters moved through Lower Manhattan. After the main marchers would advance, fringe groups would hang back, and then the shattering glass would begin. By morning, the devastation in Manhattan was unlike anything New York had seen since the blackout of 1977. Block after block of boutiques in the Flatiron district had their windows shattered and their goods looted. All down Broadway and through the side streets of SoHo, the destruction was widespread and indiscriminate, from chain drugstores to the Chanel boutique, from the Adidas outlet to Dolce & Gabbana. Looters moved from storefront to storefront, picking through the rubble to fill garbage bags with shoes, clothes, electronics and other goods. The SoHo outpost of Bloomingdale’s was ransacked.”
From the Washington Post:
“Rioters and looters smash windows, set fires and ransack stores from Shaw to Tenleytown. … Night of destruction across D.C. after protesters clash with police outside White House.”
From the Star Tribune:
“In the first few days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, rioters tore through dense stretches of Minneapolis, St. Paul and other metro communities in retaliation, causing millions in property damage to more than 1,500 locations. In their wake, vandals left a trail of smashed doors and windows, covered hundreds of boarded-up businesses with graffiti and set fire to nearly 150 buildings, with dozens burned to the ground. Pharmacies, groceries, liquor stores, tobacco shops and cell phone stores were ransacked, losing thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Many were looted repeatedly over consecutive nights. Other property — like gas stations, restaurants and even parked cars — was set on fire, with much of it completely destroyed. The full extent of damage to Twin Cities buildings — including residences, churches, non-profits and minority-owned businesses — could take weeks or months to calculate.”
The costs will be far higher and damage far more extensive than indicated by the above accounts, because the current figures are not yet available or have not been reported. All of the data on which these reports are based comes from months ago.
And yet Mrs. Obama looks you in eye and claims with a straight face that this is “an overwhelmingly peaceful movement.” “It’s true!” she dissembles brazenly, “research backs it up: only a tiny fraction of the demonstrations have had any violence at all.”
What research? Whose research?
Even though the national media have done their best cover up the damage and destruction caused by the riots, it takes about five minutes of your research to expose Mrs. Obama’s lies. Just go to duckduckgo.com and type in: “estimated cost of 2020 riots,” “riots 2020 destruction,” “2020 riots photos” or “videos of riots 2020.”
The left’s claims that the riots have been “overwhelmingly” peaceful is based on the fact that only a portion of the protestors physically engaged in criminal acts. But for every actual looter there have been thirty others who incited and cheered their criminal acts. The looters and vandals do not act singly or on their own. They draw encouragement and cover from the swelling mobs around them. It is these mobs that create the energy and environment conducive for the looters and vandals to do their job. Those present in the enabling crowds are their accomplices and are guilty of criminal incitement and abetment. By engaging with and blocking the police, they also create a buffer and shield of protection for those carrying out the illicit deeds.
What Mrs. Obama calls “an overwhelmingly peaceful movement” has, in fact, been one massive juggernaut of crime, arson, assault and destruction involving hundreds of thousands of active participants and their abettors. To suggest that these louts do what they do because they aspire to “racial solidarity” or any higher ideal is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Without any skills or prospects in life and driven to hopelessness by their undisciplined and self-indulgent lifestyles, these hooligans are there for only one purpose: destruction.
See the rest here
Vasko Kohlmayer [send him mail] is a naturalized citizen.
Be seeing you
MCViewPoint 