When far-left Antifa protestors were holding a Portland federal courthouse under siege, former Attorney General William Barr sent federal reinforcements to secure the property. Democrats were outraged.
“The president wants footage for his campaign ads and you appear to be serving it up to him as ordered,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York barked at the attorney general before Congress. “Now you are projecting fear and violence nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives. Shame on you Mr. Barr. Shame on you.”
Far-left Portland anarchists had targeted the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse and demonstrations by the time of that testimony had reached nearly 60 consecutive days. The militant social justice warriors were deploying mortar-style fireworks and permanently eye-blinding lasers on law enforcement.
“It’s scary. You open those doors out, when the crowd is shaking the fence, and … on the other side of that fence are people that want to kill you because of the job we chose to do and what we represent,” a deputy U.S. marshall told the Associated Press in July. “I can’t walk outside without being in fear for my life.”
Rather than aim outrage at the left-wing insurgents in Portland threatening to destroy federal property and harming federal officers in the process, Democrats and their allies in the media directed their ire towards the Trump administration for its attempts to restore law and order.
“The aggressive incursion of federal officers in Portland has been stretching the legal limits of federal law enforcement,” The New York Times reported.
“I think it’s absolutely improper,” Oregon Democratic Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum admonished the administration to the paper. “It’s absolutely beyond their authority.”
Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown derided the troops’ presence as an “occupying force.”
Acting Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf told Senate lawmakers in August 277 injuries of federal officers and agents had been documented between July 4 and July 31 at the site. Two days prior to Barr’s testimony, Homeland Security reported 14 officers were injured by the far-left demonstrators.
Yet Nadler, who called Antifa violence a “myth” last summer and once lobbied to grant clemency to left-wing terrorists who bombed the Capitol building, railed against the Trump administration’s commitment to public safety.
Can someone please explain to me how this works? We are willing to spend all credibility to defend what can be INSTANTLY invalidated. Who came up with this policy, why does it exist, and how is anyone able to maintain it without deviating from the script?pic.twitter.com/K4RFozkQde
— Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) July 27, 2020
“The message these actions send clear: In this Justice Department, the president’s enemies will be punished and his friends will be protected, no matter the cost,” Nadler said.
The left’s reaction to last year’s waves of violent demonstrations targeting federal property and law enforcement throughout summer and fall stands in stark contrast to the all-out hysteria provoked by the chaos at the Capitol Wednesday, triggering a second round of impeachment and accelerating a purge of dissenters of the dystopian thought police ruling in Silicon Valley.
Legacy outlets such as CNN, which quickly erased “violent protests” from its chyron to describe a violent protest last summer, have now taken the liberty to employ the term “insurrection” to describe the far-right assault on the Capitol building.
CNN airs chyron reading "violent protests" for 15 seconds before changing to remove "violent" when reporting on Kenosha pic.twitter.com/GpDA0NmQVh
— Tristan Justice (@JusticeTristan) August 25, 2020
Nadler has become a leading voice demanding Trump’s removal by Congress.
I am once again urging that President Trump be impeached and removed from office. We have a limited period of time in which to act. The nation cannot afford a drawn out process and I support bringing articles of impeachment directly to the House floor.https://t.co/xpuFwaLTC0
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) January 7, 2021
Now that the violence conveniently fits their preferred political narrative, Democrats and their media allies have seized on the moment to describe riots as what they are. Conservatives have meanwhile remained consistent in their opposition to violent anarchy no matter the political leanings of those perpetrating it. Democrats, however, have a long history of dismissing, excusing, or even endorsing political violence when it comes from the left.
