Mainstream media seems determined to ignore the often violent actions and outrageous threats of the radical left, focused instead on turning nationalist messages into supposed evidence of the explosive growth of “white supremacy.”
By John Friend
Antifa and other radical leftist activist groups continue to show their true colors as yet another publicly displayed monument commemorating Confederate soldiers who honorably fought and died in the Civil War has been illegally toppled, this time on the campus of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
In August of last year, protesters illegally toppled a Confederate monument in Durham, N.C., just days after the Unite the Right rally was held in Charlottesville, Va. Although several suspects involved in the vandalism and destruction of the statue were arrested in Durham, local prosecutors dropped all charges against all of the suspects involved, once again demonstrating that the radical left all too often operates with impunity, violating the law, committing acts of violence, vandalism, and terrorism without legal consequences.
This year in August the radical left struck again, ripping down the Silent Sam Confederate statue on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. According to The News & Observer, a regional daily newspaper, the statue was toppled shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 20. Prior to the statue being ripped down, protesters vandalized the monument in an attempt to erect an alternative that stood “for a world without white supremacy,” according to reports.
University officials released a statement calling the action by protesters “dangerous” and vowed to investigate the vandalism and assess “the full extent of the damage.” Chancellor Carol Folt went a step further in a statement released the day after the statue was illegally removed. Folt described the illegal toppling as “unlawful and dangerous” before acknowledging that the monument “has been divisive for years.” Time will tell if local authorities decide to pursue criminal charges against those responsible for the vandalism and destruction of the Confederate monument.
In related news, radical leftist activists violently confronted and clashed with police and members of the media in both Washington, D.C. and Charlottesville, Va. during the Unite the Right 2 rally, which took place in Lafayette Park in the nation’s capital on Sunday, Aug. 12. Leftist activists took to the streets to protest the one-year anniversary of the first Unite the Right rally, and to counter-protest the second event, organized by activist Jason Kessler.
In Charlottesville, antifa protesters not only clashed with police but also heckled and harassed members of the media. At one point, a protester violently struck the camera of an NBC reporter. Amazingly, NBC actually downplayed the assault in later reporting.
Other radical leftist protesters in Washington, D.C., who were interviewed by independent journalists during their counter-protest of the Unite the Right 2 rally, openly admitted to supporting violence against their political opponents, including President Donald Trump. When asked what they would do to Trump if he were in their presence, many of the leftist protesters stated they would use violence against the president.
“We’d have to do him like Qaddafi,” one protester stated, referring to the violent death of the hysterically demonized former Libyan leader. Others were more specific. “I would murder him, for the people,” one young man declared.
The radical left, which is often portrayed as a righteous, non-violent, tolerant movement opposed to oppression and fighting for equality and peace, has become increasingly more explicit in their justification for violence. In case after case, radical leftist activists justify pre-emptive violence against their political opponents or destruction of private property as morally sanctioned in the broader struggle against “white supremacy” and “racism.” For the most part, the mainstream media not only downplays the calls for violence but actually enables them by not pressing charges when their own reporters are attacked.
Will Trump and other political leaders finally have the courage and conviction to confront the radical left and their open use of political violence, terrorism, and criminal acts of vandalism?
John Friend is a freelance author based in California.
