Anna Giaritelli of the Washington Examiner considers Democratic leaders’ disturbing approach to recent acts of clearly criminal activity.
Democrats are moving a step beyond national debate over defunding the police, questioning whether crime is a bad thing at all. During the past month, three leading Democrats have all issued statements blessing criminal acts.
As some Seattle residents illegally seized several city blocks in June and christened the area the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, the Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan did not initially intervene. Instead, Durkan said CHAZ was “patriotic” and that it could turn into “a summer of love.”
“Burning, rioting, and looting are criminal acts and should never be justified or excused,” said Heritage Foundation President Kay James. “It is an absolute scandal that political and corporate elites would not only excuse this behavior, but cheerlead the destruction of communities, the ransacking of local family businesses, and the skyrocketing rates of violence against the most vulnerable citizens.” …
… In early July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about the destruction of statues nationwide when a reporter pressed her on one such toppling in Baltimore.
“Shouldn’t that be done by a commission or the City Council, not a mob in the middle of the night throwing it into the harbor?” the reporter asked.
“People will do what they do,” Pelosi said. …
… When asked this week about the rise in homicides in New York City, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seemed to justify crime, saying people were facing a level of “economic desperation” that had not been seen since the recession. …
… Democratic tolerance of criminal behavior is becoming more routine, but it is not entirely new. Following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, who had been detained by police, riots erupted in Baltimore. Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told police to stand down and let people destroy things.
