Trump is right: Forces are needed to quash the rioting
Police sirens wailed up and down 8th Avenue in Manhattan, and New York Police Department helicopters hovered overhead Monday night. The rioters, according to my social media feeds, were several blocks away from my home, pillaging a clothing outlet. A family member sent me a photo he took, from his window, of a jewelry store being ransacked, with no cops in sight.
New York City, like so many others across the country, is under siege.
The police here are not in control of the streets. Anyone can turn on the television or open up social media and see rioters chanting profanely, destroying public and private property, or even attacking women shop owners.
President Donald Trump has realized that these riots have become a nationallevel threat to the safety and security of the American people. They are kicking at the load-bearing walls of our society. Trump knows it’s time for action.
With that in mind, on Monday evening he announced in the White House Rose Garden:
“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 an 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 residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
Trump then walked across Lafayette Square in front of the White House to the graffiti-covered, boarded up St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was attacked by arsonists Sunday night, another sign of the increasing violence.
The riots are not solely in New York and Washington. Across the country, communities are reeling. On Monday night alone:
❚ Four officers were shot and wounded in St. Louis and one in Las Vegas was critically wounded.
❚ Fires tore through a looted strip mall in a Los Angeles neighborhood.
❚ Two people were killed, reportedly by “outside agitators,” in Illinois.
The president’s remarks led to speculation that Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. It’s a rarely used law, but the White House could decide it’s the least bad option given the widespread mayhem.
Someone needs to step in and crack down on the lawlessness. Either it will be local and state police – or military forces. If the unrest continues, there will be no third option left.
For days, rioters have been on a spree of looting, arson and attacks on law enforcement and innocent bystanders. They are emboldened, and increasingly lawless.
The brazen robberies of high-end stores from Santa Monica to Boston send the signal to criminal elements that there is profit in the cynical exploitation of George Floyd’s death. And the destruction of smaller establishments with lower-profit margins and lower-income customers proves that rioters aren’t interested in improving communities.
The videos circulating online showing vicious beatings at the hands of rioters raise public fear and enhance the possibility of lethal confrontations ahead. All it takes is for one angry mob to try to loot a store with an armed and determined civilian inside engaged in self-defense, and many Americans could end up dead. If that were to happen, we would wake up the next day in an even more volatile country.
We must end the riots now. That means a willingness for police to use force against those who break the law and refuse to comply with lawful arrests.
To be clear: Trump is not advocating for peaceful protesters to be harassed or harmed. But there’s a clear distinction – morally and legally – between “protester” and looter or rioter.
Law and order in America is under siege. If either state governments or the federal government don’t take action to keep the peace now, circumstances could get worse, and our major cities risk collapsing under anarchy and rage.