Lowering the Temperature

In his speech to the NAACP on Tuesday, FAUXTUS said, “We all have a responsibility to lower the tempergee — temperature and condemn violence in any form. … We must fully and firmly reject not only political violence but violence of any kind.  Period.  No exceptions.”

Then he proceeded to savage Trump with lies like this one: “Donald Trump’s presidency was hell for Black America. … you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder; Donald Trump called for the National Guard to go after you.  What in the hell is the matter with this man?”

In October 2020, the Major Cities Chiefs Association’s Intelligence Commanders Group published its “REPORT ON THE 2020 PROTESTS AND CIVIL UNREST.” It tells us that, between May 25th and July 31st, 2020, 8,700 protests took place in most major cities. Of these, 574 protests (7%) involved acts of violence, some of which were severe.

The Left told us then and continue to tell us now that these were “mostly peaceful.” And if you go by the 7%, then “mostly” applies. But when you look at that 7%, the term becomes painfully absurd. In total,

1. 97 police cars were burned,
2. 2,037 police officers were injured, and
3. 624 incidences of arson were committed.

The percentages of major city law enforcement agencies that experienced violent protests reported having officers attacked with:

1. Molotov cocktails = 78%
2. Rocks, bricks, bottles = 78%
3. Fireworks = 73%
4. Bats or poles = 59%
5. Firearms = 51%

The people involved in the violence were often not local. Sixty-one of the 68 agencies found violent protesters were from out-of-state, while 20 of the 68 found protesters who had been paid to participate.

They were also not entirely motivated by far left politics.

1. 53 of 68 agencies identified violent protesters with far left ideologies, while
2. 35 of the 68 agencies identified violent protesters with far right ideologies.

On September 16, 2020, Brad Palumbo wrote at the Foundation for Economic Education, “Dozens of people were killed or injured in the violent protests, while thousands of businesses and properties, many minority-owned, were looted, torched, or otherwise vandalized. Only now are we beginning to realize the full cost of the destruction.”

Just the insured property losses amounted to a record-breaking two billion dollars. But, Palumbo notes, this figure “vastly underestimates the true damage wrought.” He points out that 75% of US businesses are under-insured, while about 40% of small businesses have no insurance at all. Their true losses don’t show up in that $2B figure.

Nor do insurance payouts tell the tales of personal pain and suffering. At least fifteen people died; many more were injured. Insurance payouts also don’t speak to future costs, such as higher insurance rates, lower property values, higher prices, reduced tax revenue, and decreased economic opportunity, much of it affecting minority communities.

It sickens me that Democrat leaders promoted and cheered on the violence as it was happening and continue to lie about the damage it did, all in the name of smearing their arch-enemy, Donald J. Trump.

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/16/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-115th-naacp-national-convention-las-vegas-nv/
• https://majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCCA-Report-on-the-2020-Protest-and-Civil-Unrest.pdf
• https://majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCCA-Report-on-the-2020-Protest-and-Civil-Unrest.pdf
• https://www.policemag.com/patrol/article/15310543/after-action-reports-on-the-riots-of-2020
• https://fee.org/articles/george-floyd-riots-caused-record-setting-2-billion-in-damage-new-report-says-here-s-why-the-true-cost-is-even-higher/
• https://www.axios.com/2020/09/16/riots-cost-property-damage
• https://fee.org/articles/does-insurance-cover-rioting-and-looting-damage-either-way-its-disastrous/
• https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/05/15-people-died-protests-riots-george-floyd-death/