As Minneapolis continues to be burned, looted and generally destroyed by “protesters” who are filling the streets, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a note of caution to the rioters yesterday. He wanted everyone to show some kindness to the National Guard units and other military personnel who they may encounter. That was rather thoughtful of him, assuming anyone actually listens. It’s the sort of message one might hope the AG would be sending.
Sadly, he didn’t stop there. In order to ensure the rioters knew what he meant, Ellison went on to draw a distinction between the National Guard and the police. You see, it’s okay to direct your anger (and presumably your violence) against the cops. But it’s not the National Guard’s fault. (Free Beacon)
Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison (D.) told Minneapolis residents protesting the death of George Floyd to direct their ire at local police, rather than the National Guard that has been called into the city to help restore order…
“I’d like everyone to recognize the fact that the National Guard just a week ago was administering COVID-19 tests to help people,” Ellison said. “The presence you see on the street, don’t react to them the way you might react to the Minneapolis Police Department. It’s not the same group. They have different leadership, different authority, and their job is to try to bring peace and calm back again. Please remember that this is not the group that you associate with unfair conduct.”
If Ellison had even managed to stop there, you might find room to forgive his poor wording. He’s just drawing a distinction between civilian and military law enforcement. I mean, it’s not as if he’s actually excusing the rioting, arson and violence, right?
Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s exactly what he’s doing. He went on to quote MLK, saying a riot is how “the unheard get heard.”
Both the Governor and the Mayor of Minneapolis are at least mouthing some of the right words and giving the appearance of trying to discourage the rioting. The Governor was even talking about taking up President Trump on his offer to send in some military police. Granted, the Mayor’s response has been a bit more muted and lacks decisiveness, but he’s not completely ordering his cops to stand down and surrendering control of the streets like Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake did during the Freddie Gray riots.
But at the same time as they are trying to calm the city down, they’ve got the Attorney General going out in public and saying that it’s basically okay to attack the cops as long as you leave the nice National Guardsmen alone. In this regard, Ellison is standing in for the role that Rawlings-Blake played in Baltimore in 2015. And as I was discussing with some friends on social media this week, after Baltimore burned down, it never really recovered. While other large cities were seeing significant decreases in their murder rates, Charm City was setting new records for the most killings. The police lost faith in City Hall and started doing less policing, It’s a nasty downward spiral that becomes difficult to pump the brakes on once it begins.
What a total Doofus Ellison is Maybe they need a better job like cleaning up after this all and fining all the rioters $2000 each
May 30, 2020 – Gov. Walz: We’re ‘under assault’ from outside agitators
I’m guessing “both”. When far-right extremists and far-left extremists feel emboldened enough to creep out of the woodwork in numbers and openly act out, there’s not a damn bit of difference in the results. You’ve got legitimate protesters, and then you’ve got the organized lunatics ready to exploit any opportunity to advance their insanity.
Attorney General Barr: Peaceful protests over George Floyd ‘hijacked’ by ‘far left extremist groups’
The man is a lying political tool. There’s no evidence that the far left had any more to do with inciting riots than the far right. He didn’t bother to cite any, did he? He’s just parroting Trump.
Do you think the guy who set this all off was a leftist?
@Greg:
Why is Ilhan Omar’s daughter tweeting out a list of supplies for her “comrades” protesting in Minneapolis? Go ahead, Comrade Geggie, tell me Antifa is not there and creating havoc. Go ahead.
Why is William Barr claiming it’s all the work of far-left extremist groups, without providing a shred of evidence?
Things are going to hell in a handbag since Trump took office, and that’s a fact.
@Greg:
You really think the FBI doesn’t know by now who, and what organizations, are behind these riots? Why do you feel the need to prove you’re an idiot?
Guess you have forgotten Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, idiot? Why don’t you tell us all how Obama improved race relations in the U.S. in his 8 year reign of disaster?
I guess Ellison thinks a riot is OK as long as you attack the police like beating up a woman is OK as long as it’s your girlfriend.
@Greg: EVERY riot generated by false accusations of racism have been instigated, funded and organized by the left.
How do you know he has no evidence?
Because he hasn’t mentioned any. He hasn’t even hinted at any. He’ll just follow the boss’s lead.
The only response Trump will have to any of this will be to blame it all on his political enemies. I guarantee that’s what you’ll find if you check his Twitter posts. All he’s got is blame placing and reactionary words and behavior. He has no frickin’ clue how to rise to the occasion like a leader of all of the people and speak conciliatory words.
@Greg:
Only because the headlines have already blamed it on him.
There are no “far-right” extremists, at least not in any real numbers. To avoid facing that their party has become the party of bigotry and violence, the Dems cling to saying “both sides” are too blame.
It’s simple denial.
There’s only one side causing violence these days, and it’s the Left. The out of state “extremists” are all Leftist thugs.
Why don’t you join them, greg? It’s what you really want…for the Right to burn.
When it comes to criminal justice prosecutors refrain from commenting on cases between the time of the arrest until after the verdict.
That way they cannot be accused of tainting the jury pool.
In the case of AG Barr saying Left-wingers were the instigators instead of both left & right wingers, he might be basing that on background checks of those id’ed in videos of these riots.
@Greg:
Why does he have to “mention” it? Isn’t it assumed he has it? Usually when someone “mentions” it… like Schiff swearing he has a mountain of “evidence” right on hand that proves Trump colluded with Russians, they are LYING PIECES OF SHIT trying to hide the fact they have NOTHING. When someone has evidence, they can hold onto it until the trials.