Hours after Joe Biden was inaugurated, ANTIFA celebrated by trashing the headquarters of the Democrat Party in Portland. ANTIFA smashed windows, kicked in a door, and wrote graffiti like “f*** Biden” on the building. All of this was done after clashes with the hapless police in Portland, who have been prevented by the government there from taking stronger steps to deal with rioters.
After gathering, the rioters blocked traffic at will.
Inauguration Day in Portland. A group of about 100 people dressed in black march thru Southeast Portland pic.twitter.com/cGhVhdTwGW
— Mike Benner (@MikeBennerKGW) January 20, 2021
They shined a spotlight into people’s homes.
Seattle: “Out of your home, into the streets!”
Antifa shine lights into people’s homes again.pic.twitter.com/9y63yc94i0
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
They set American flags on fire.
Seattle: #Antifa have shut down traffic on a road and are setting US flags on fire. pic.twitter.com/IObO1mcbXZ
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
They smashed up a Starbucks.
Seattle: #Antifa smashed up the first and original @Starbucks location in Pike Place Market. The store is an extremely popular tourist attraction. #SeattleRiots pic.twitter.com/3SegA0gW1U
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
They smashed up a courthouse.
Multiple windows shattered at the William Kenzo Nakamura Courthouse at 6th Ave and Spring Street. pic.twitter.com/uwtZAycyVT
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) January 21, 2021
They also smashed up the Democratic Party headquarters.
The protesters also carried a sign calling for “revenge” and called themselves “ungovernable.”
Given all we've heard about the threat of insurgency, a healthy media would inform the national populace of coordinated riots that occurred across major American cities, particularly when it resulted in the destruction of the state headquarters of a governing political party. pic.twitter.com/CTZAR5zKsr
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
Of course, the prisons are full of “ungovernable” people. That’s where we put ungovernable people who can’t act like civilized human beings. This is how ANTIFA should be handled as well. Ultimately, the police did finally arrest 8 people, but since the prosecutor in Portland is pro-ANTIFA, it seems unlikely that they’ll be held on bail or even prosecuted. Given the events of the last couple of weeks, this raises some obvious questions. Like, when do we send thousands of National Guard members to Portland to stop the insurrection? When does the FBI start asking for the public’s help to identify these insurrectionists? When do we dole out some serious prison time to these criminals? These people deserve EXACTLY the same treatment as the people that rioted in the Capitol. By the way, that’s not a call to give leniency to the rioters in the Capitol Building, it’s a call to crack down on people doing the same thing on the other side of the aisle. The 14th Amendment guarantees us “Equal Treatment Under the Law,” not one set of laws for liberals and another set of laws for conservatives. Either one set of rioters should face serious consequences for the actions or neither should.
It would be better for the country if it were the former, but either way, everyone should be equal under the law.
John Hawkins is the author of 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know.
