Previously, I reported on the Supreme Court's possible examination of a case around the January 6th events; that led to a bit more reading, during which I stumbled on a piece by City Journal's Christopher F. Rufo on the possibility of another summer riot season in 2024. I have to admit the possibility seems more likely to me than not.
The resurgence of public protests in support of Hamas has revealed a disturbing truth: the left-wing rioting following George Floyd’s death in 2020 was not an anomaly, but a tactic that activists can repurpose for any cause. Whether by coincidence or design, these recent outbursts could be a dress rehearsal for possible violence during next year’s election campaign.
Conservative leaders must prepare for that prospect. To prevent 2020 from repeating itself in 2024, conservatives need to consider what might spark a riot, how it can be prevented, and how to understand and manage the politics of rioting.
First, allow me to make a distinction, even if the dividing line is somewhat fuzzy at times; the socialist left, for this discussion, is the activist class, the street protestors, the rioters, the Antifa/Black Lives Matter (BLM)/Hamas supporter wing of the left. The political left is elected Democrats, their staffs, campaign funders, and their handlers, and much of the legacy media, who do not directly participate in civil unrest. I'd also point out that there is a considerable amount of overlap between the two.
I'm not sure it's possible to ascertain all of the things that might start a riot, much less a summer of rioting. And here's the problem: Increasingly, those on the socialist left see civil unrest, violence, and arson as just another arrow in their quivers, to be used or not, as events might warrant; they may loose one arrow or a thousand. The right, on the other hand, goes to great lengths to avoid violence; even the January 6th protests were extremely mild in comparison to the BLM/Antifa riots of 2020. Remember the summer of 2020, when COVID lockdowns went out the window so people could riot, loot, and burn to protest the death of a misogynistic drug addict? Over a billion, maybe close to two billion, in property damage due to vandalism, arson, rioting, and looting. Oh, the Left will say, “But it was insured,” as though that justifies burning people’s small businesses that they spent lifetimes building. At least twenty-five people were killed, and over sixty thousand police officers were assaulted. But the left points at the January 6th, 2021 event, which caused around $1.5 million in damage, and among the few fatalities, only one was due to a direct conflict between a law officer and a protestor, that being an unarmed Air Force veteran shot in the neck by a panicked Capitol Police officer, who never faced any consequences for the act. This was not a riot; it was, at most, hooliganism. There’s just no comparison.
Mr. Rufo has some suggestions for city and state officials:
Red-state governors should start preparing now. They should instruct state law enforcement to establish interagency task forces to monitor, infiltrate, and disrupt violent left-wing activist networks to the fullest extent permitted by law. If they uncover illegal activity, they should make arrests and prosecute offenders.
The problem is this: Most law enforcement and criminal justice issues are handled at the municipal or, at most, county level, and in many of the country's major cities, that's not working out so well, as those committing acts of violence are all too often getting off easy. Governors, short of calling out the National Guard, can only do so much.
Make no mistake, though, the mayors and DAs in these cities, who are overwhelmingly Democrats, know who the usual suspects are. Antifa and BLM have been responsible for much of the violence until recently, when the mantle of public discord was taken up by those advocating for Hamas, although one suspects there is a great deal of overlap between the two groups. (It is tempting here to refer to VP Harris's adored Venn Diagram.) Just wait until next year and watch the reaction if Donald Trump should win the GOP Presidential primaries or if any Republican looks likely to win the presidential election. That, if nothing else, would be the trigger for another Summer of Love.
One of the few legitimate purposes of government is to protect the liberty and property of the citizenry. In this, during the summer of 2020 unrest and since, many of our major cities have utterly failed to carry out this fundamental responsibility. In some cases, they have even tacitly promoted violence or even instigated it. Stein's Law is a principle of economics, not civil order, but it nevertheless applies: What can't continue, won't. To protect liberty and property, the government, at any level, must be prepared, in extremis, to use force to secure public order. It's an unpleasant but necessary reality; that's why cops carry guns.
What might the endgame be? People can only be pushed so far. There was a time when riots were met with a mayor reading the Riot Act, facing the rioters with armed cops — or in some cases, soldiers — and ordering "Disperse or you will be fired upon," and following through. I would hate to see things in the U.S. come to that. I'm afraid it might. Worse, people may start to take matters into their own hands, which we are already seeing the beginnings of. It’s an uncomfortable notion, but I can see how the idea of “You made these rules; see how you like it now” may appeal to some in our cities who are tired of arson and beatings.
When worn on the other foot, after all, the shoe pinches.