You might have noticed the Preznit's hugely selective approach to cities where demonstrations have included isolated violence. He has declared Portland, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Seattle "anarchist jurisdictions." For one thing, that phrase is an oxymoron, just like the preznit himself. For another, some of the worst violence in D.C. arguably involved Trump's own security detail gassing peaceful protesters and clearing them out of the way so he could walk down a park path to a church and wave a Bible around for the teevee cameras.
Anyway, Trump claimed the four "Democrat-run" cities didn't curtail violence on their own and -- worse! -- declined his offers of federal policing "help." Therefore, he announced he would seek to cut off federal aid to the cities, ironically including aid for local police. As usual, that's a threat which for numerous reasons is not going to happen, but it made for a splashy campaign-season headline, didn't it?
Then there are Louisville and Kenosha.
In Louisville this week, two police officers were shot amid protests following a Kentucky grand jury's decision not to indict three other officers for fatally shooting Breonna Taylor. Despite that, Trump has made no similar "anarchist" declaration nor any threat of pulling federal funds, even though Louisville is a Democratic city, politically.
So what accounts for his silence? That U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell represents Kentucky, maybe? Or that the state's attorney general is a Republican? Or perhaps Trump is flinching a bit after previous negative reaction to his earlier approach, although that seems unlikely.
Trump did also offer Louisville federal assistance. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, both Democrats, declined that offer.
But instead of sending the feds anyway and threatening to cut federal funding to the city, as before, Trump reacted by expressing sympathy to the family of Breonna Taylor. Which was uncharacteristic, but the hands of a broken clock do show the right time twice a day. Also, Trump really, really wants McConnell to win re-election.
Taylor, who was black, was shot to death in a hail of bullets from plain-clothes Louisville cops who made an unannounced raid with a no-knock warrant.
Police later insisted they did announce themselves before breaking in with a battering ram, causing Taylor's boyfriend to fire a shot from inside the apartment, thinking robbers were at the door. The officers responded with a fusillade.
While none of the cops were charged with Taylor's murder, one of them was indicted because some of his shots penetrated a wall into a neighboring apartment, threatening bystanders inside. To sum up: Louisville cops can with impunity break into her apartment and fatally shoot a black woman whose boyfriend feared a home invasion but they don't dare let their bullets penetrate wall plaster.
Kentucky is a state with both a no-knock-warrant law and a citizen stand-your-ground gun law. What could possibly go wrong? Now we know.
And finally there's Kenosha. We're also waiting to see if Trump might declare Wisconsin's fourth largest city an "anarchist jurisdiction." Trump has claimed Kenosha was destroyed in violent protests. Actually, Kenosha encompasses 28 square miles, while arson fires set by unknown individuals were limited to a few city blocks. Look at all the damage to downtown Kenosha in the photo above. Total destruction! Oh, wait…
Trump pretzelated himself, offering Kenosha federal law enforcement help, sending federal law officers anyway when the city declined his offer, and then just for fun claiming credit for ordering in National Guard troops that in fact already had been deployed by Wisconsin' Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The protests did recede, although as is true in many cities, the Black Lives Matter movement persists.
All that didn't stop Trump and his wingnut backers from claiming the Democratic Party had allowed the city to be destroyed. Except it wasn't. But, apparently, once Trump declares a city no longer in existence, there's no need for him to threaten withholding future federal funding to it. Well, unless he continues to lag in Wisconsin election polling.
Friday, Sep 25, 2020 · 3:51:23 PM +00:00
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rlegro
Full disclosure: The Kenosha lakefront photo I used in this entry was taken before the protests and even before the pandemic, as you might discern by noticing the temporary white festival tents seen in the image. Nevertheless I thought this image appropriate because the lakefront still looks just like this, except for the tents. Also, this is a public-domain image that’s largely representative. I can assure you the arson fires that were set did not affect more than several blocks across the city. Several buildings were destroyed. The city estimated total damage at about $2 million. Not insignificant, but neither a city totally destroyed. Not even close.