Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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Powder keg

The fuse was ready to be lit.

Months of lockdown; economic contraction; uncertainty about the future. As evidenced by earlier anti-lockdown protests and Capitol takeovers, many Americans have been ready to blow.

So it’s not surprising that when a true cause for protest arose, havoc followed. The tragedy is that the havoc is not about that true cause.

If anything deserves to be protested it is the apparent murder of George Floyd. Yes, the Minneapolis police officer charged with murder deserves due process — the same due process he denied George Floyd. But unless some entirely new piece of evidence emerges it appears clear cut that Floyd’s life was stolen by police brutality.

I have zero qualms about this being protested loudly, repeatedly and even angrily.

What I am deeply disturbed by, like countless — including, incidentally, many of those protesting the murder of Floyd — is the violence, looting and hate unleashed by frankly those who have hijacked Lloyd’s cause.

This class of protesters, many of them members of Antifa, emanate from anarchist circles and ultimately support one thing: destruction. What other justification can there be for causing further damage to businesses already suffering exponentially from the coronavirus pandemic?

There is no good here. That they would manipulate a just cause for their destructive purposes is all the evidence needed.

Seeing many in the black community respond to this takeover has been inspiring. Locally, Denver Public School Board member Tay Anderson, who has emerged as a leader of anti-police brutality protests, made clear that he would continue to protest while encouraging all those who despise police brutality to desist from violent, senseless behavior.

Addendum: An unintended consequence of these protests is that they are providing a test group for observing where we are in the coronavirus pandemic. Whether or not we experience new COVID-19 peaks in two weeks’ time, after thousands have crowded all major American cities, with no social distancing in place, should tell us a lot.

Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected].

Copyright © 2020 by the Intermountain Jewish News



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