I understand what Tom Ridge is saying. To a degree, I won’t argue with his sentiments. As a street cop, I know there are some things that Feds do well. Street level policing isn’t one of them. Old cops will remember the Miami FBI shootout. The moral of the story is don’t let the FBI teach courses on how to do felony traffic stops.
The Feds haven’t got much choice when local politicians and law enforcement abdicate their responsibilities and fail to protect Federal facilities. Such inaction is a democrat tradition carried over from Reconstruction. The Freedmen riot in New Orleans was wrong in 1866. What is happening in Portland, Minneapolis, and Seattle is wrong today. If anything, it shows that democrats haven’t changed. Democrats were traitors in 1861 and they are still traitors today.
Federal strength isn’t in placing agents on the ground in riot gear. Where the Feds shine is in their nationwide reach. ANTIFA/BLM or any other radical group has a guiding intelligence. A relatively small core travels the country, recruits “useful idiots” and then whips up a frenzy, where ever they go.
Read between the lines and ask. How do these idiots have the ability to travel?
I would suspect that many of those arrested at demonstrations are a well traveled bunch. It is likely they have previous arrests in other cities. The common link it is likely that these cities had demonstrations. The arrests of these individuals are tied to these demonstrations. Most of the charges are misdemeanors or low grade felonies. There may even be arrest warrants active for some of them.
The reality is that the warrants will never be served. Here is how the system works. Scumbag “A” is arrested in New York. The arrest is entered into NCIC. “A” subsequently misses a court appearance and a warrant is issued. The warrant can only be entered into NCIC if the issuing jurisdiction will extradite. That isn’t going to happen with a misdemeanor warrant. So “A” is free to roam the country racking up arrests with no subsequent consequences.
The reality is that each time a local police agency arrests one of these guys they treat it like an isolated incident. In reality, these crooks are engaged in an ongoing criminal conspiracy and they are crossing state lines to do it. Interstate flight used to be bread and butter to the FBI. No longer, the bureau has FISA warrants to falsify.
The nature of Federal conspiracy law is that if you have ever had an impure thought and shared it with friends, you may be guilty of entering into a conspiracy. Members do not have to be aware of every facet of the conspiracy. A noncriminal act becomes criminal when it is in furtherance of the conspiracy. Paying for motels, transportation, throwaway cell phones and meals to accommodate those committing illegal acts are but a few examples.
As a local cop, if I want information from another jurisdiction I can ask. Maybe the other agency will honor the request, maybe they won’t. All I can do is rely on their good graces.
It is different with the FBI. For example, say a FBI agent in San Antonio wants to know if a suspect is at home in Westby, North Dakota. The San Antonio agent calls FBI, Minot. It’s two in the morning, there is a raging blizzard, the closest FBI office is Minot. It’s a two and half hour drive under ideal conditions. He wants the answer by dawn. He will have his answer, guaranteed.
Here’s the other thing about Federal conspiracies. Thy can be prosecuted in any Federal jurisdiction where the conspiracy took place. “A” and company travel from New York and go west. They stop overnight in Bug Tussle, Alabama. While there the group debates, Seattle or Portland? They decide on Portland. All it takes is one snitch and motel records or cell tower pings. “A” and company could find themselves on trial in Bug Tussle for events that happened in Portland. That is the nature of a conspiracy. The locals can’t do that.
During the riots of the sixties cops and National Guard shot at looters fleeing the scene of the theft. Eventually the powers that be decided it wasn’t a good idea to shoot at thieves. That was a policy decision. In 1985 the Supreme Court made that policy law in Tenn V Gardner https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/471/1/.
What is happening in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis does not fit the Tenn V Gardner mold. The rioters in those cities are using explosive devices and firebombs to target people. They are armed with clubs, lasers, rocks and bottles. The rioters are using deadly weapons with the intent to injure or kill police officers. Arson is a crime of violence. These are all acts that are clearly dangerous to human life. These acts have happened on a nightly basis for seventy days in a row. Police use of deadly force is legitimate. The fact that the cops haven’t resorted to deadly force shows bravery and discipline in the face of adversity.
What would happen if a neo-Nazi made ready to throw a Molotov cocktail at a black church? I suspect that the Portland bomb throwers would demand that the police shoot the neo-Nazi. Same act, different players. The neo-Nazi is engaged in oppression, while the ANTIFA bomb thrower is engaged in legitimate protest. Bullshit. The law doesn’t make that distinction. Both are legitimate targets.
Remember what George Orwell said regarding political speech.
Nathaniel Grigsby has the Final Word
