And by "protesters," I mean "rioters." You relinquish the right to claim the former mantle -- with its honorable connotations -- when you decide to express your disapproval by
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A crowd of several hundred people flooded into the streets outside the Pacific Amphitheater Thursday night where Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump kicked off his California campaign with a huge rally in Costa Mesa...At one point, a protester began jumping up and down on the roof of a Costa Mesa patrol car and broke out the rear window, aerial video showed. The front window of the patrol car was also smashed. Several others then began to try to overturn the vehicle before officers finally moved in. Aerial video showed several people being handcuffed when members of the crowd refused to disperse. The Sheriff's Department later tweeted that approximately 20 arrests were made by Costa Mesa police officers. At least one Trump supporter was hurt during the protest. He was seen being placed into an ambulance with his face bloodied and his head wrapped with bandages.
Here is a Los Angeles Times reporter's video of "protesters" screaming profanities and throwing objects at passing motorists:
#Trump protesters getting violent. Throwing debris at cars driving by pic.twitter.com/sLqrI1n6Zp
— Gina Ferazzi (@GinaFerazzi) April 29, 2016
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This is despicable behavior. Remember the collective media freakout over violent skirmishes that broke out at Trump rallies? The press played the video of a white Trump backer punching a black protester in the face on a constant loop. That coverage was entirely defensible, given Trump's decision to egg on violent acts from his podium, and his subsequent lies about it. He's also warned that riots might ensue if he loses the nomination at a contested convention, and his supporters and allies have menaced delegates and threatened to publish the location of their Cleveland hotel rooms. Serious questions and criticisms regarding the tone and methods of Trump's campaign are fair game. But what explains the comparative MSM blackout when anti-Trump hooligans throw rocks, stomp police cruisers, and send a Trump supporter to the hospital with blood running down his face? Sure, you'll see a report or two here and there, but nothing near the narrative-building, wall-to-wall coverage we witnessed a few months back. Will reporters demand that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders denounce these actions, which were perpetrated by their ideological allies? Or does the outrage and handwringing only flow in one direction? Incidentally, Trump's infamous internet mob isn't exactly covering itself in glory this week either, to put it lightly. The
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Unconscionable. Whatever your political views, this treatment of @juliaioffe is completely unacceptable. https://t.co/eHq4YcQCZA
— Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky) April 29, 2016
This breathtaking antisemitism has shocked its target, who says it reminds her of how dissident journalists are treated in Putin's Russia. How appropriate. There's a good chance that some of the vitriol is, in fact, emanating from Russia, financed by the Kremlin. Before you go, read this remarkable piece on how Moscow's bought-and-paid-for propaganda network, RT, is boosting Trump -- including co-opting the contemptible conservative-turned-left-winger-turned-pro-Putin-Trump-Admirer Ed Schultz.
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