Giving Thanks in the New Age of Vigilantism

We’re all now living in a punk’s paradise.

Three years ago I wrote, “Give Thanks for Peaceful Protesters.” This Thanksgiving we have unjust cause to be a lot less thankful. Not for the protesters, but because of the people who would do us harm.

USA citizens now live in a country where vigilantism is celebrated, if not rewarded, in many quarters. We’re in a nation where a punk with a gun has more rights than anyone else. It’s a place where protesters are deprived of life and their murderer walks away with zero consequences. 

Convince me there’s anything just about that.

No Justice in Vigilantism

It would be difficult to live in this country and not be aware of the basic details.

The punk took an illegally obtained AR-15 to a protest of police brutality. He shot three people, killing two of them, Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum. Gaige Grosskreutz survived. They were the only people shot at the protest.

At trial the punk’s attorneys argued self-defense, and last week he was cleared of all charges by a punk-like judge who made sure he wasn’t going to be convicted of anything, let alone murder.

The verdict was as much biased bullshit as the “First Thanksgiving” story we were force-fed as schoolchildren.

As for self-defense… Yeah. No.

In the words of the prosecutor, “When the defendant provokes this incident, he loses the right to self-defense. You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create.”

We can only guess that Huber would wholeheartedly agree. 

That night in Kenosha, Wis., he “…spotted the armed man in the crowded street and he ran toward danger.” Certainly he acted aggressively when, in attempting to disarm what he saw as an active shooter, he took a swing at the punk. Who wouldn’t? How many of us would like to think that, had we been there and had the courage Huber had, we would have acted aggressively, too, using whatever force we could to disarm the gunman?

Dude’s a hero.

Unfortunately, he’s also a victim, despite the judge’s absurd ruling that he, Grosskreutz and Rosenbaum could not be referred to as such during the trial. And thanks to the punk, they forever shall be.

Finally, Huber is also the smasher of 2^nd Amendment twisters’ claims that “a good guy with a gun” is the answer to the gun violence epidemic in the USA. No one at the protest could have known whether the punk was a good guy with a gun or a bad guy with a gun. And what if other armed people in the crowd had started exchanging gunfire with the punk? The Kenosha streets would have been bloodier still.

Remain Thankful. But Watch Your Ass.

“Peaceful protest takes guts,” I wrote three years ago.

The sentiment has never been more poignant. 

While the threats of violence and unlawful incarceration have always been part of protesting, now state-sanctioned vigilantism needs to be added to the list.

The next time I or anyone else considers participating in a protest, we’ll need to think more than twice.

• Will some punk who disagrees with us bring a gun and open fire?
• Do we need to wear Kevlar vests? 
• Should we buy and carry guns, too? 
• Do we need to “get our affairs in order” in advance?

These are not questions reasonable people should have to ask in a “free society,” but here we are.

I remain deeply thankful for peaceful protesters, now moreso than ever. I also plan to continue protesting injustices, despite the heightened threat.

Guess I better make a habit of keeping my affairs in order.

Thoughts? Please leave a comment below.

Please support independent analysis, opinions and pointed protestations.
Spring for a cuppa joe!

Featured image from CNN