WASHINGTON DC –United States Attorney General William Barr testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, in part, regarding the riots and protests in Portland, Oregon.
Barr announced that he believed the riots that are occurring there are an “assault on the government of the United States.”
The riots, according to him, caused federal police to be dispatched in order to protect the government’s building. He said the rioters have “hijacked legitimate demonstrations against police brutality.”
The Attorney General pointed out the amount of weapons, “Knives, rifles, and explosives” that have been located and seized in and around federal property.
In his testimony, Barr said:
“Every night for the past two months a mob of hundreds of rioters have laid siege to the federal courthouse and other nearby federal property. The rioters have come equipped for fighting. Armed with powerful slingshots, tasers, sledgehammers, saws, knives, rifles and explosive devices.”
Barr continues:
“Largely absent from these scenes of destruction are even superficial attempts by the rioters to connect their actions to George Floyd’s death or any legitimate call for reform. Nor could such brazen acts of lawlessness plausibly be justified by a concern that police officers in Minnesota or elsewhere defied the law.”
Portland rioters use lasers to assault federal agents
“Violent extremists are ramping up the use of these & other weapons that are causing severe bodily harm to our Agents,” CBP Chief Rodney Scott said.. pic.twitter.com/GopS6HGYkr
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 27, 2020
Barr spoke on the racial tension that is being felt after Floyd’s murder, acknowledging discrimination that was rampant in laws many years ago.
He believes that, regardless of the laws becoming where they need to be and not racially biased, that it is normal for black Americans to feel a “deeper, lingering concern that, in encounters with police…they will be treated with greater suspicion that a white person would be in the same circumstances.”
He believes this feeling and belief is something that will be overcome with time when people of color can slowly begin to move away from their beliefs that the system in and of itself is racist.
Barr said it would be an “oversimplification to treat the problem as rooted in some deep-seated racism generally infecting our police departments.”
Barr also spoke on black on black violent crime which is occurring everywhere in the United States. He believes that this type of crime is far greater a concern than any real or perceived police misconduct.
Barr points out that the leading cause of death for young black males is homicide, typically 90%, are killed by other black people. His belief, “Each of those lives matter.”
Barr states situations like this is why it is so important to send federal police to the major cities in which are seeing spikes in gun violence.
He said the police are “experienced investigators, firearms and ballistics analysts, and experts at apprehending violent fugitives” which are being sent to “bolster the activities of our joint anti-crime task forces.”
They are not being sent to take over major cities and hand over control to President Trump.
To his point, for several nights, police have located weapons being stowed away in the area of the federal courthouse, presumably for rioters to use against federal police officers.
On the night a black conservative reporter was stabbed, allegedly by a member of Antifa, police located load rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails in a duffle bag.
Thankfully, these items were located prior to them being used, but other weapons have been utilized against federal police.
Barr believes, that instead of denying what is happening in Portland, as Democrat Jerry Nadler does when he refers to the violence from Antifa as a “myth that’s being spread only in Washington DC,” that people come together and deploy a united front to stop the violence.
Police investigate weapons and explosives left behind in a van during July 25th riot in Seattle
SEATTLE, WA – The city of Seattle recently played host to a riot on July 25th, and now police are looking into some of the items recovered from said riot during the course of the investigation into crimes committed during the chaos.
Image of large fireworks modified to function as large explosive, retrieved from van in Seattle riot – Seattle Police press release video screen shot
Chief Carmen Best from the Seattle Police Department was joined alongside Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on July 29th to announce the investigation into some of the items used by rioters on July 25th.
Apparently, these items came from a van that was driven to the East Precinct on July 25th, and seemingly abandoned.
Bear mace seized from van – Seattle Police
The contents inside were described as fireworks, bear mace, improvised spike strips, body armor, homemade shields and other items.
It just so happens that after that van was dropped off at around 4:25 p.m. out front of the precinct on July 25th, that was around the same time fireworks and other explosives were levied at the police precinct. One explosive was said to have caused a hole in the northside wall of the precinct.
Gas masks recovered from van – Seattle Police
Police made the discovery of the contents of the van after securing a warrant to search the abandoned vehicle, after investigators suspected that the positioning of the van and the fact it was abandoned made police believe that there were incendiary devices inside.
Obviously, that was case – along with weapons, shields, and a means to disable tires on vehicles.
Baton seized from van – Seattle Police
Mayor Durkan, who once coined the antics of these kinds of rioters in June as engaging in the “summer of love”, has certainly changed her tune on these folks:
“Our police department has an obligation to disperse a crowd when dangers to public safety like explosives, fires, individuals intent on causing harm.”
Tazer and OC Spray recovered from van – Seattle Police
After the contents retrieved from the van, Mayor Durkan is finally starting to realize that this isn’t the “summer of love”, but rather violence stemming from malefactors:
“I think what we saw in our city last week in 3 separate protests that there were individuals who were intent on causing harm. And the items seized from this van show exactly what they were planning, saw the results on our street.”
[embedded content]Officials are still investigating all the incidents that took place from the riot on July 25th.
The Seattle Police Department is asking that anyone who may have additional information about the riot to contact Seattle Police Violent Crimes tip-line at (206) 233-5000.
As mentioned earlier, Mayor Durkan is singing a whole new tune compared to the “summer of love” she spoke of in June.
Then again – when vandals call for you to be executed – just about anyone would have a change of heart.
Remember when various officials warned that with all the madness ongoing, we’d eventually see protests leak into residential neighborhoods and the same style of vandalism strike the suburbs instead of just the commercial districts?
Welp – looks like those notions aren’t so crazy anymore these days. And Seattle’s own mayor, as well as two city council members, were the recipients of some not-so-friendly graffiti outside of their homes recently.
Compassionate liberals… This is what appeasement gets you…https://t.co/g8LDOcsP9N
— Ken Smith (@klsmithjr) July 28, 2020
Mayor Jenny Durkan and Councilmembers Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez were said to have been paid a visit by some malefactors recently, the very kind that fancy the idea of the Seattle Police being defunded.
Outside of Mayor Durkan’s home, the phrases “Guillotine Jenny,” and “Resign Bitch,” were spray painted on the roadside. Because nothing says “peacefully” protesting quite like calling for someone’s head to be lopped off 18th century style.
As for Pedersen’s home, some scoundrels apparently thought his windows could use some redecorating on his home – so they adorned they with such phrases as “Fuck You,” and “Don’t be racist trash.”
When it came to the home of Councilmember Juarez, hoodlums decided to employ a bullhorn to likely scream incoherent nonsense – which was then followed up by someone spraying “corporate bootlicker,” on the street outsider her home.
The harassment that Juarez suffered did not sit well with local Native Americans in Seattle, as the councilmember is also a member of the Blackfeet Nation tribe. Leonard Forsman, chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, stated the following about the incident:
“The Suquamish Tribe supports (Juarez) and her right, as an elected official, to do her job without verbal harassment and vandalism at her home.”
So, while it’s become painfully obvious that protesters have voiced a disdain for Mayor Durkan over the past several weeks, what was all the hubbub regarding the City Council members? Well, it turns out that while both Juarez and Pedersen support some reductions on the Seattle Police budget – they’re not on board with a 50% reduction that has been called for by rioters.
Apparently, another council member was paid a visit as well, namely Tammy Morales. However, she proclaimed to have engaged in a “brief conversation” with the malefactors that arrived at her home and that she appreciated “the opportunity to listen” to them.
“I appreciate the opportunity to listen to what they had to say, and that they didn’t beat me senseless or burn down my house. We accomplished something together”.
— Noah Zark (@NoahZark6) July 28, 2020
Some online are calling that a load of nonsense – noting that whatever Morales conveyed or exchanged verbally with the mob that came to her home was an effort to avoid the extortion-like tactics of these vandals and troublemakers.
While City Council President Lorena Gonzalez is used to herself and her colleagues getting crude messages online via email and the ilk, she was in no way supportive toward protesters going to people’s homes to instill fear:
“Demonstrations are a protest tool, but using that tool to create an environment by which people and their family members feel unsafe in their own home is not something I can support.”
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