Trump vs. Reality: Who Are the REAL Victims of Violence at Protests?
| revcom.us
Trump proclaimed at the Republican National Convention, “Your vote will decide whether we protect law abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators, and criminals who threaten our citizens.” He trotted out two white racist “heroes,” Mark and Priscilla McCloskey who had threatened protesters outside their house—WITH GUNS DRAWN. Mark McCloskey said, “a mob of protesters descended on our neighborhood....”
Trump proclaimed that “the Second Amendment” people could “solve” protests in Portland in a day. Five days later hundreds of pro-Trump fascist thugs drove through Portland, running people over, beating, macing, and shooting protesters with paintball guns. Toward the end of the night, someone—who may have been part of a fascist organization—was shot and killed.
If you listen to Trump, the Republi-fascists, and the vengeful howls for a violent crackdown, you would think there is an epidemic of protesters murdering cops and Trump supporters. But what’s the reality?
The actual reality is: In most cases where people have been killed at protests, it has been cops, racist vigilantes, and reactionary storeowners murdering protesters.
The latest example happened in Kenosha. 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, a pro-Trump, white vigilante, who was greeted and encouraged by the cops, is accused of shooting and killing two protesters, 26-year-old Anthony Huber and 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum.
In recent months as many as 20 protesters have been killed. People have been shot by cops and others in uniform. Reactionary storeowners have killed people to “protect private property.” And a number of protesters have died after being hit by vehicles.
These are only a few examples:
* May 31 in Omaha, Nebraska: James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black activist, was shot and killed by Jacob Gardner, a bar owner. Gardner’s father told protesters to leave the bar and then started shoving them. A witness said Gardner and his father were confronting protesters and using racist taunts. At least four other people have been killed by people “protecting their private property.”
* June 2 in Vallejo, California: Cops, who said they were responding to reports of looting, killed 22-year-old Latino Sean Monterrosa—who was on his knees. When Monterrosa lifted up his hands, cops said they saw a gun—which turned out to be a hammer in Monterrosa’s pocket. A cop then fired at Sean five times through the windshield of his unmarked pig car. At least three other people have been killed by an armed state-sponsored pig at a demonstration.
* July 4 in Seattle: 24-year-old Summer Taylor was part of a protest on a closed highway. She was struck and killed by a car driven by Dawit Kelete, who drove the wrong way up an exit ramp, made a sharp U-turn and then directly hit Taylor and another protester. At least two other protesters have died after being hit by vehicles.
* July 25 in Austin, Texas: Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant who had posted tweets about retaliating against demonstrators, killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster. Foster had been out protesting every day since the murder of George Floyd, pushing the wheelchair of his fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, a quadruple amputee. At least five other protesters have been killed by reactionary shooters, including the murders in Kenosha.
This IS fascism. As revcom.us has said: “Fascism is the exercise of blatant dictatorship by the bourgeois (capitalist-imperialist) class, ruling through reliance on open terror and violence, trampling on what are supposed to be civil and legal rights, wielding the power of the state, and mobilizing organized groups of fanatical thugs, to commit atrocities against masses of people, particularly groups of people identified as ‘enemies,’ ‘undesirables,’ or ‘dangers to society.’”
Sources:
“Few of the deaths linked to recent protests are known to have been caused by demonstrators,” by Philip Bump, Washington Post, August 26, 2020.
“Fact check: More Black people died in 2019 police shootings than in George Floyd protests,” by Adrienne Dunn, USA Today, June 28, 2020.
“Deadly unrest: Here are the people who have died amid George Floyd protests across US,” FOX News, June 8, 2020.
“14 Days of Protests, 19 Dead,” by Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, June 8, 2020.
Hundreds of MAGA fascist thugs invade Portland; one person was killed.
— The Revcoms (@therevcoms) August 30, 2020
Look at what these people are doing now. What do u think they'll do to keep Trump in power?
Everyone, Everywhere, PROTEST 9/5: Trump/Pence Out Now!
Find protest: https://t.co/HqlMGOj37N pic.twitter.com/wDwIXDDe47
Hundreds of MAGA fascist thugs invade Portland; one person was killed.
Members of the Revolution Club in Chicago protest the fascist murder of two protesters and the wounding of another person.
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