On May 25th, 2020, a store clerk in Minneapolis, Minnesota reported that a man by the name of George Floyd had made a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill in his convenience store. Officer Derek Chauvin arrived on the scene to arrest Floyd who had previously served eight jail terms on various charges including drug possession, theft, trespass, and threatening to kill a pregnant woman. Floyd was placed in the back of the squad car, but began to exhibit signs of anxiety, complaining about having claustrophobia and being unable to breathe. Officer Chauvin felt compelled to remove Floyd from the vehicle and place him on the ground where he placed his knee on the back of his neck in order to restrain him. Despite concerns from bystanders, Chauvin ignored their pleas to lift his knee from Floyd's neck. It ultimately resulted in Floyd’s death.
This event was prematurely deemed a homicide and led to the media stoking the flames of so-called racism in America, causing at least 140 riots in cities across America in at least 21 states. One of two contradictory autopsies would later conclude that Floyed’s death was caused by a fentanyl overdose. However, it was not ruled out that Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck contributed to his death. Despite this, Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for second-degree manslaughter simply because of the fears of what repercussions might happen in continued riots if Chauvin was not convicted.
Riots continued over the summer becoming increasingly more violent and destructive as members of Antifa and BLM, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, riled up crowds and began to loot stores and burn down police stations and other government buildings. The damage had been so bad in Minnesota that the National Guard had to be brought in to help control the situation. However, acting governor Tim Walz had declined the Army’s offer to deploy military police units.
On on May 29th, President Trump responded by delivering an ultimatum to Minneapolis protesters suggesting that the military would use armed forces to suppress riots, calling the protesters “thugs” on social media saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump criticized the city’s Democratic mayor saying, “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”
After four nights of chaos in Minneapolis, Mayor Frey called on people to stay home. “What started as largely peaceful protests for George Floyd have turned to outright looting and domestic terrorism in our region,” Those who broke the 8 p.m. curfew would be considered helping the crowds to prey on Minneapolis. Frey then decided to spin the narrative adding, “We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out-of-state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region.”
The National Guard was deployed in over two dozen states to assist overwhelmed police departments as mayors across the country extended curfews. The riots resulted in at least 19 deaths and up to $2 billion in property damage.
On May 25th of 2020, George Floyd’s brother Terrence Floyd visited the place where George had died in Minneapolis. Terrence said that he was troubled by what he had seen in recent days, “If I’m not over here wilding out, if I’m not over here blowing up stuff, if I’m not over here messing up my community, then what are y’all doing? What are y’all doing? Do this peacefully, please.”
As the riots continued across the country, President Trump repeated his concerns about the unrest in several cities across the United States, “If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
In Seattle on May 30th, 2020, local community activists organized a “March for Justice” from Westlake Center to the Federal Courthouse. Chants began with “Black Lives Matter," "No Justice, No Peace,” and “I Can’t Breathe.” The latter being the final words that Goerge Floyd muttered before his death.
After the march had ended that afternoon, a large crowd remained in the downtown area of Seattle and began to become unruly. It quickly escalated as glass bottles began to be thrown and fires were set in the streets. By nightfall, it was chaos. Businesses were looted and vandalized. The Seattle Police Department arrived and used tear gas, pepper spray, and flash-bang grenades to disperse the unruly crowd. 27 arrests were made. Governor Jay Inslee activated the Washington National Guard to handle the escalating violence. A 5 p.m. curfew was declared by Mayor Jenny Durkan, but did little to calm the situation.
On June 1st Seattle Police in the East Precinct set up a barricade that would soon become the central gathering place for all subsequent demonstrations. That night the city officially declared this a riot. The following day Mayor Durkan spoke directly to thousands of protesters from the steps of the downtown Emergency Operations Center, “We want you to continue on the path of justice, but we need you to please do it peacefully.”
On June 7th, when a man drove his vehicle toward a large crowd gathered near the Pine Street barricade and shot a protester who tried to stop him. The driver of the vehicle was taken into police custody, though the incident aggravated an already volatile situation, causing things to quickly escalate. Protesters once again began fighting with the police, leading to a chaotic night. The following day, in a desperate effort to calm things down, the police would remove all barricades surrounding the east precinct, board up all its windows, and withdraw all officers working there, essentially abandoning the building.
A few hours after protesters moved in and began claiming the area as their own. Initially, it was known as “Free Capitol Hill,” but renamed the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or simply “CHAZ,” later that day. This autonomous zone encompassed six city blocks. The police barricades were reused by protestors to set up a perimeter. A large sign was posted, "This space is now the property of the Seattle People.”
Within a couple of days, all of the major network news outlets paid visits to CHAZ, though much of the coverage seemed to highlight the more sensational aspects of things. President Trump took to Twitter on June 10th saying, “Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”
Teresa Mosqueda, a Seattle City councilmember, called for a reduction of the police budget, "I am committed to defunding the police and using most of that money, ideally 50 percent, to invest back into communities that we've failed." Councilmember Kshama Sawant led a group of protestors on a march from CHAZ to Seattle City Hall where the group then occupied the building and protested the mayor, as well as the city’s response to the protests.
Stories of residents being harassed by demonstrators and businesses being asked to pay extortion fees if they wanted to continue operating inside the zone began to surface. The safety and welfare of the local community came into question. Trash and tents across the city increased, causing CHAZ to become a homeless encampment.
On June 13, demonstrators took a vote and renamed their autonomous zone as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or “CHOP.” They were trying to attempt to de-emphasize the idea of occupation, making political correctness claims on themselves that Seattle itself is an occupation of Native land.
An auto repair shop located inside CHOP was broken into and set on fire two days after the name change. Witnesses called 911, but there was no response from the police or fire departments. The suspect managed to steal some cash before being detained by a makeshift security team. The incident was widely reported by local news outlets, raising further concerns about the safety of residents and businesses inside the occupied zone. If fires could not be put out, the rest of the city was in jeopardy.
As concerns grew, city officials met with CHOP representatives to discuss the issue of public safety. An agreement was reached to allow the Department of Transportation to install new concrete barriers that allowed for minimal traffic to move through the zone. Businesses could now receive deliveries and emergency vehicles could now access the area.
On June 18th through the 21st, a report of sexual assault took place and three people were shot in separate incidents inside CHOP. The shootings would prompt a public outcry where the Capitol Hill residents began to loudly express concerns to local media over personal safety issues. Mayor Durkan and Chief Best held a news conference on June 22nd saying that the recent violence was distracting from the protest movement’s original message. It was time to wind things down. Protestors would be asked to leave the zone voluntarily. Plans were put into place for the police to reclaim the East Precinct. “It’s time for people to go home, it is time for us to restore Cal Anderson and Capitol Hill so it can be a vibrant part of the community... The impacts on the businesses and residents and the community are now too much.”
Over the next couple of days, the number of protestors began to decline. On June 24th, more than a dozen Capitol Hill businesses filed a class-action lawsuit against the City of Seattle over its handling of this insurrection. The suit alleged that the neighborhood immediately surrounding the zone suffered “irreparable harm” after the city decided to remove all police officers from the east precinct, leaving residents feeling unsafe and businesses experiencing significant financial losses.
The circus-like atmosphere within CHOP had significantly hurt the image of the Black Lives Matter movement as this event detracted from the group’s original goals. As locals watched the media mischaracterize what was actually happening, frustration and anger grew.
A fifth shooting took place near 12th Avenue and Pike Street on June 29th, leaving two teen boys in critical condition. That same day, Best met with protesters and informed them that police would soon be returning to the precinct. This situation was "dangerous and unacceptable… Enough is enough. We need to be able to get back into the area”
On June 30th, police and other city employees began removing a number of concrete barricades, posting notices announcing the closure of Cal Anderson Park for cleaning and repairs. Durkan issued an executive order that evening declaring any gathering in the occupied area was now considered an unlawful assembly that required immediate action from city agencies.
The following morning, more than 100 police officers moved in with tactical vehicles to issue dispersal orders and clear the area. 44 people were subsequently arrested. CHOP had been cleared of occupants and the police department began the process of moving back into its building by the end of the day. Over the next few days there would be more arrests as clashes between protesters and police continued.
Three weeks of occupation had officially come to an end by July 3rd. City workers began the task of cleaning up trash and pressure washing the area clean of graffiti. Streets were reopened to traffic, though city leaders promised they would do everything possible to preserve the Black Lives Matter mural on Pine Street.
The city was facing a $400 million budget shortfall due to the financial impact of the pandemic, and in light of continuing public calls to defund the police, the majority of the city council members remained committed to cutting the Seattle police budget.
Mayor Durkan publicly opposed any severe cuts to the police department and instead proposed a hiring freeze and a reallocation of funds of 5 percent budget cuts. The city council sidestepped the mayor’s proposal and voted instead to reduce the Seattle Police Department by up to 100 officers through layoffs and attrition. They also reduced the salary of Chief Best and other command staff by as much as 40 percent. A a great way to thank them for getting their city back. While it did not defund the police budget to the level demanded by protestors, it still represented a substantive budget cut.
As Seattle was beginning to regain control of its city, riots continued elsewhere across the country. On August 23rd, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, police were called to a residence for a restraining order on Jacob Blake for a sexual assault charge. When they arrived, the girlfriend was yelling, “He’s got my keys; he’s got my child!” They tried to restrain Blake, who resisted arrest and even withstood being tasered. After circling the car to the driver’s side, he reached for a knife and was shot by the officer multiple times because the officer felt that his life was in danger.
That night, riots broke out in Kenosha and continued for several days. On August 25th, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse entered Kenosha with a medical kit on his hips and an AR15 rifle in his hands. The rifle had been kept at a friend’s father’s house, used for hunting with them, so he did not need to go back to Illinois, only a few miles away, to get it. His intention was to protect businesses and help those who needed medical assistance. He started by joining a group scrubbing graffiti off the wall at a local school that had been vandalized.
After administering first aid to a woman and putting out a dumpster fire, Kyle was verbally assaulted by a man named Joseph D. Rosenbaum. He is on camera calling Kyle a N****r and telling him that he was going to kill everyone in the group and “cut your hearts out.” That sounds like a psychopath to me, but I am no psychologist. That he had just been released from a psychiatric ward in a Milwaukee hospital after a suicide attempt makes my point.
After Kyle was separated from his group later in the night, Rosenbaum found him and aggressively approached him. He lunged at Kyle, grabbing the barrel of the rifle and attempting to pull the gun from his hands. Kyle fired, killing Rosenbaum.
Freaking out, Kyle made a few calls trying to figure out what to do. He decided to find the nearest police station and turn himself in. Blockades by the rioters made this difficult, and Kyle found himself in a second lethal situation in which Gaige Grosskreutz questioned Kyle. “Where are you going? Did you shoot someone?” Kyle responded that he was going to the police. Gaige chased after Kyle and screamed, “Get him!” Kyle was then struck in the back of the head by a rock. As he stumbled disoriented to the ground, an unidentified man stomp kicked him in the face. Then Kyle was hit in the back of the head with a skateboard by Anthony Huber, who then tried to pry the rifle from Kyle’s hands. Kyle turned and fired at Anthony in defense. Gaige then walked up to Kyle, pulling out a pistol to execute Kyle point-blank. Kyle quickly turned. Gaige stopped and acted like he was going to back up. Kyle lowered his gun. Gaige then charged Kyle bringing up his pistol, giving Kyle but a moment to raise his rifle back up. Kyle fired into Gaige’s arm, making it unusable. Kyle escaped and turned himself in at his local police station.
The conservative crowd loves to call Kyle a hero for two reasons. The first is that anyone who uses their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves is considered a hero, and the 2nd amendment community supports that individual. The second reason is that it turned out Rosenbaum was a multi-convicted child sex offender. Obviously, Kyle did not know this, but the rest of us praise him for cleaning up this world by taking this pedophile off of it. Not something that can be used in a trial, but definitely seen as positive by the rest of us, especially among a large number of fathers who would have done the same thing unprovoked, had they actually known who Rosenbaum was in that scenario, unlike Kyle who was only defending himself. Of course, the media tried to paint a picture that Rosenbaum’s family must be mourning him and what right did Kyle have to kill him. Even if that were true, any family member of his with an understanding of a moral compass must have probably agreed that Rosenbaum had it coming. The irony that a minor killed a pedophile attacking him is not lost on us either.
One of the things that the media tried to claim is that Kyle had no business being there because he was from Antioch, across state lines in Illinois. Of course, to those unfamiliar with the area, this looks bad. But what the media is not telling you is where the events took place. Antioch is only 30 minutes away from Kenosha, closer depending on where in the city you are coming from and where you are going. More importantly, the other bit of misleading information is that Kyle’s father lived in Kenosha, as did his grandmother, aunt, cousins, and best friend. He also worked there as a lifeguard. Kenosha was a second home for him. So, he certainly had more right to be there than those against whom he defended himself. But of course, the media wants to paint the picture that he was from out of town, even from another state.
Our own President Joe Biden branded Rittenhouse a “white supremacist” during the election in conjunction with the media’s big push to paint this false picture of Kyle, putting aside the obvious fact that all the men Kyle shot were as white as he is.
All the cards were stacked against Kyle for defending himself. Why? The Left does not believe you have a right to self-defense. According to them, if you are assaulted by someone and they do not appear to be armed, you have no right to shoot. It does not matter if they can overpower you with their size. The Left hates firearms and will demonize anyone who uses them. Some even believe the police should not carry firearms.
One of the most astounding lies in Kyle’s case came from CNN’s Don Lemon as he discussed the case prior to the closing statements. He began by claiming that Kyle was praised as a hero for what he did. Perhaps he was by Conservatives who actually took the time to watch the videos from that night and knew what really happened, but Kyle was demonized by everyone else. The media, the President of the United States, and online platforms attacked this young man. Even GoFundMe shut down his campaign to raise money for his bail and trial. The cards were stacked against him. But that was just the beginning of Don Lemon’s rant.
Don went on to talk about how this case had a double standard and said, “Imagine if you called for black men or just black folks to be armed and go out in the streets and do what they think justice. Take it back. Remember what they did to you and slavery, or whatever. Go and take things.”
Imagine? We do not have to imagine. That is precisely what happened in at least 16 major cities across the United States within the three months leading up to this event! Obviously, it made sense for Kyle Rittenhouse to carry a firearm for self-defense. He would have been a moron not to. Unless, of course, you happened to be one of the viewers who believed the media when they claimed these were “mostly peaceful protests’’ with a fire blazing behind the reporter as he said it. I do not think any Leftist media covered the man who was shot point-blank in Portland after being called a Trumper because he was wearing a MAGA hat.
As it turns out, Kyle would have been the one murdered had he not defended himself. But I guess whatever makes the Left happy, right? Don Lemon is a disgrace to the journalism community, and his colleagues at CNN are no better.
At the end of the trial, MSNBC cut away after the prosecution’s closing statement to the jury and completely skipped the defense’s closing statement. The prosecution’s closing statement was full of lies and omitted information that caused a delay in the verdict. We can expect this from lawyers, but for the press to condone this and push for the lie is just irresponsible for any journalist. It is almost like they were trying to incite another violent riot in the streets.
To make matters worse, an MSNBC journalist was caught trying to trial the jury bus and was pulled over for running a red light in the process. The network was banned from the courtroom for the remainder of the trial for attempted jury tampering or doxing. By this point, a cell phone had already been confiscated from someone for trying to film the jury as they stepped onto the jury bus and identified them for possible jury intimidation. The number of lies and intimidation attempts that went into defaming Kyle’s name is just disgraceful. They would rather support the child rapist in their war on firearms.
After Kyle was acquitted with a not guilty verdict on every count, the media kept to their story. Host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, responded by saying, “Cards on the table, I am not a legal expert so I cannot tell you whether or not Kyle Rittenhouse broke the law. But I can tell you this, if he did not break the law, we should change the law.” He said, “change the law.” To what? No self-defense? Senator Ted Cruz responded on social media, “Rich Democrats believe you have no right to defend yourself from an angry mob. He was being violently attacked by three dangerous felons; a jury of his peers found that Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. What Colbert is arguing is to outlaw the ability to defend oneself.”
During all of this chaos, the media widely reported that Trump told governors to dominate protestors during these 2020 George Floyd riots. CNN’s Anderson Cooper said, “ The President seems to think that dominating black people, dominating peaceful protestors is law and order.” He also described Floyd’s arrest and eventual death as “stopping and frisking a young black man simply because he’s a young black man, that’s not law in order.” In reality, Trump said he is an ally of all peaceful protesters and that governors have a duty to protect innocent people from professional anarchists, violent mobs, and arsonist looters. “Today I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled. If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residence then I will deploy the United States Military and quickly solve the problem for them.” What should also be noted is that CNN paired Trump’s speech alongside police pushing back protestors and ended his video as the sound of a smoke bomb went off giving the sound of an explosion as the finishing period to Trump’s statement. This is deliberate manipulation of his words for their propaganda.
Now there were those who did add to the violence with their words during these riots. Kamala Harris fundraised bail money for rioters and murderers, saying on on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on June 17th that protestors “should not let up… They're not gonna stop, and everyone beware, because they're not gonna stop." She would later add a distinction between rioting and protesting in response to criticism.
Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference on June 14th in relation to the claim that asylum seekers were being separated from their children, ‘I just don’t know why there are not uprisings all over the country. Maybe there should be.” While it was not directly related to the current riots, it was a continued lie adding tension to the already tense situation in the streets.
Representative Ayanna Pressley said on the AM Joy show on MSNBC on August 15th that, “There needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there is unrest in our lives.” Even the media jumped in when CNN’s former leading journalist Chris Cuomo said, “Who says protests have to be peaceful?”
On June 24th the president of the Greater New York Black Lives Matter Chapter, Hawk Newsome, made it clear to Fox News host Martha MacCallum, “If this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” Make no mistake, an insurrection did happen. It was just 6 months prior to when they say it did.
Sources
[A3]The entire story of CHOP/CHAZ
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