The Chinese communist coronavirus is not the only epidemic in this country.
The American news media is suffering from mass amnesia, plugging a memory hole about the extent of destruction caused by the ongoing Black Lives Matter/Antifa race riots.
Aside from the many content stories of an entire country kneeling to BLM’s anti-white, Marxist demands, you won’t learn much about the actual costs.
It got so bad that on July 28, Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan released an eight-minute video during a House committee hearing questioning Attorney General William Barr.
The video opens with a mix of a dozen reporters and politicians repeating the phrases “peaceful protests” or “peaceful demonstrators”, followed by footage of the riots. The next part introduces the widow of a murdered retired police captain from St. Louis, David Dorn, father of five, who died while responding to an alarm at a pawn shop. As he speaks, scenes of mob violence unfold.
The effect is stunning. That’s why the video was targeted. CNN’s Jake Tapper drew some blood, showing that two CNN reporters using the phrase “peaceful protests” were taken out of context. He’s right. Both reporters note that while the daytime protests they covered were peaceful, they were followed by violence at night. This part has been omitted. Welcome to what happens to conservatives when they are interviewed by Mr. Tapper’s network.
But two wrongs don’t make a right, and we’ll give you this one, Jake. You had the courage to report how a similar montage created the colossal lie that President Trump praised white supremacists in Charlottesville even though he unequivocally condemned them.
However, Mr. Tapper does not dispute the powerful message of Jordan’s film. Extreme media bias pervades coverage of the riots and political stories. Just type “Trump” into Google. The media is really good at hiding what they don’t want to reveal. For decades, they have sugarcoated abortion while maintaining the party line on “choice.” They downplayed the horrific black-on-black urban violence, focusing instead on several incidents of police brutality. They are doing the same thing with the current riots.
“If it bleeds, it leads” no longer applies. If Americans really saw the scale of lawlessness in Democrat-ruled cities, they might realize who is responsible.
Given the Democrats’ wink and nod to the rioters while accusing the police of funding the police, it is inappropriate to characterize BLM/antifa as the militant wing of the Democratic Party. These are not Young Republicans smashing windows, looting stores, burning buildings, beating people and overturning police cars.
I searched in vain for news of the total cost of the riots. The media seems deeply indifferent. How many people died? How many policemen were injured or killed? How many companies were destroyed? How much will it cost to repair everything that’s broken?
There is anecdotal evidence. Between May 25 and June 8, at least 17 people died in what the media called “unrest.” In early June, over 700 officers were injured.
Property damage amounted to billions, and this is not the end. Portland is still boiling and cities are exploding every night like Richmond did last week.
Nationwide, looters attacked at least 250 CVS pharmacies and 350 Walgreens stores, according to the insurance website. Crime is out of control in several major cities, and murders in Chicago remain in double digits on weekends. In Los Angeles, Democrats plan to cut the police budget by more than $100 million, despite a 250 percent escalate in homicides in early June.
Since we don’t have reliable, comprehensive data, let’s go to the country’s largest city to take a snapshot.
New York City Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio cut the NYPD’s 2021 budget by $1 billion and disbanded the 600-member plainclothes police unit, even as shootings increased 130% between June 1 and June 30 compared to June 2019 The number of murders increased by more than the number of burglaries increased by 30 percent, the number of burglaries increased by 118 percent, and the number of car thefts increased by by 52 percent.
As for the best New Yorkers – you know, the guys in blue who burst into the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks and most of whom never came out – here are some of their costs.
According to spokesman Sgt. since May 28, “a total of 458 officers of all ranks have been injured.” Mary Frances O’Donnell. “Seven officers were admitted to hospital, 303 were treated and released from hospital, five were treated by the ambulance service and 150 were refused medical attention. Forty-seven officers remain on sick leave due to their injuries.”
From May 28 to July 22, “303 NYPD vehicles were vandalized during protests,” she said in an email, adding that “14 vehicles were completely destroyed by arson and were convicted.”
Damage so far is estimated at $996,700. It’s just for the faculty.
“The NYPD has seen a sharp increase in the number of officers seeking retirement,” said Sgt. O’Donnell.
Well, why not? When you work for a mayor who hates your courage and the media treats you like bad people, why risk your life?
As for the rest of us, just because the media has amnesia, we shouldn’t forget the real costs of the Democrats’ street justice experiment.
Or the constant sacrifices of the slim blue line.
