Those who followed President Trump’s tweets on Sunday may have seen an astounding video of nine or ten police cars, mostly SUVs, most of them in a single-file, convoy arrangement, abandoned on a wide street in what looks to be a low-rise, “hip” shopping and microbrewery-oriented section of Los Angeles county. The cars were all spray-painted; most had their windows broken and tires slashed. There was no evidence of a fight—no discarded police equipment, and little trash or debris other than broken car-window glass. The strong impression is that the vehicle occupants had left peaceably on foot before the vandals even showed up. A reasonable conclusion is that the police—sensing an absence of a clear mandate to truly deal with the problem at hand, and a dearth of support from their elected civilian leadership—simply gave up the ghost, like the dejected German tankers running out of fuel and commencing a long walk back to their homeland in the classic 1965 film, “The Battle of the Bulge.”
Another shock was seeing scores of Austin, Texas police formed up in a big, tight heap on the balcony platform at the entrance to their headquarters, with those in the rear having their backs literally to the wall of the building, while one of their number in the front sprayed pepper juice out of a canister at some punk on the sidewalk who had come too close. Their entire mass gave the impression of huddling as if in fear, though, judging by what little was shown of the mob in the photo, the cops likely outnumbered the unarmed, unorganized youth in the street. One could be forgiven for shouting into one’s laptop screen, “You’re the police! This is your castle! Clear the damn street!”
How can this be happening? Thanks to donations from the Department of Defense, the police across America are now better-armed and more prepared for “war” than they have ever been. There are likely thousands of armored Humvees sitting in police garages across the country. There is riot gear galore. There are mountains of rubber bullets. Building on the experience of the 1991 Los Angeles riots, the LAPD and most other major urban police departments have had extensive training in riot control. Remember all that smarmy, lefty and libertarian griping about “the militarization of the police?” Where is that militarization today?
We are not seeing it, because the current crop of “progressive” Democrat mayors and governors are afraid of their own shadows.
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See Also:
(2) Random piles of bricks reported at George Floyd protests
(3) George Floyd protest: Policeman shoots Louisville protestor dead attempting to clear crowd
(4) Police Station and Courthouse in Portland Looted and Set Afire
(5) Mayhem: Rioters Set Historic Church Ablaze Near the White House
