15 October 2018

Very Fine People

Friday night in New York City, roving bands of far-right supporters and members of the "Proud Boys" hate group -- some wearing red hats supporting Donald Trump -- beat, kicked, and punched protestors and passersby with police standing nearby but neither stopping nor arresting the attackers (details here).

While a group of them stomped on a fallen person near Third Avenue and 83rd Street on Manhattan's east side, one of the attackers can be heard repeatedly screaming "faggot" on a video made during the violent attack (details and video links here).

Police did arrest three people protesting the Proud Boys appearance for allegedly stealing one of the hate group supporter's backpack.

This rolling incident has now sparked an angry backlash in New York, with elected officials and prominent citizens calling for an investigation into police inaction in response to the attacks.

For his part, notwithstanding he has been ranting and raving on Twitter and at his rallies over the past several weeks about nonexistent "extremist Democrat mobs," Trump made no public statement about the attacks in his hometown. In the past, he has called far-right hate group supporters "very fine people."

Attacks like these and resulting police inaction are the sorts of things you see in dictatorships and autocracies. The fact that authoritarian wannabe Trump is President and things like this are now happening in the United States are symptomatic of a serious problem.

How long with Trump and his supporters on Capitol Hill remain silent about this weekend's attacks. I'm suspecting indefinitely.

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