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Let’s be clear. These violent nihilists have nothing to do with justice for George Floyd. They just want to see the world burn. Horseshoe theory is relevant here. At the fringes, far left and far right begin to resemble each other. They may not like each other however are ideological fanatics committed to a cause and are convinced of their own infallibility. They also don’t much care for democracy and rule of law. And really like to create false narratives. Facts get in the way of their ideological and authoritarian stances.
Happily, many of these nihilists are astonishingly stupid, because of course everything at protests like this gets videoed. Some of them face federal charges, where the probability of conviction is 90%.
They are trying to jack the George Floyd protests for their own murky political goals. And make fine and useful idiots (at the very least) for outside players like Russia to influence and manipulate to cause mistrust and chaos. The Mueller indictments of Russia’s Internet Research Agency shows Russia routinely does this.
PS Not only do participants video everything, police do too. You might not see their cameras, but they are there. And, of course, public spaces generally have video surveillance. Plus, cell phone traffic in the area is tracked. Knowing who someone is texting and calling can be as important as what information was transmitted. And cell phones, even when turned off, ping the towers, so location can be known.
And here are just some of those arrested, left and right.
Samantha Shader
Threw molotov at NYPD van with four cops inside. Was videoed doing it. Far leftie. Is 27 and faces decades in federal prison.
Wesley Somers
Arrested for felony arson for setting fire to Nashville’s Historic Courthouse. Has three percenter tattoo. Far right. Was videoed starting the fire shirtless, no mask, which made identifying him by his tattoos easy.
Brian Jordan Bartels
ALF on scarf. Animal Liberation Front. Wanted for starting Pittsburg riots by smashing cop car window. Yup, was videoed.
Bogdan Vechirko
Drove his semi past barriers onto a closed road with protesters on it. Being held for probable cause assault. he did not appear to be aiming at anyone however was driving fast, and not sure how this could have been accidental.
Deranged rightie at Salt Lake protest
Aimed bow and arrow at protesters, chased them with machete, got disarmed and stomped, detained by police, and his car was torched. Street justice.
Matthew Rupert
It’s unclear what his politics are, except to burn things. Thoughtfully livestreamed himself committing serious felonies. Which is just astonishingly dumb.