Tipsheet

The Left's Standard for Incitement Means Maxine Waters Must Face Accountability

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  April 19, 2021 2:00 PM

On Saturday night, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters surfaced in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. She told a crowd of demonstrators "we've got to stay in the streets" and urged the crowd—which had already turned violent on multiple nights last week—to "get more active, more confrontational."

As a card-carrying member of the Safety For Me But Not For Thee club, Waters' appearance to call for more confrontation was safeguarded by an armed police escort, as Katie reported earlier on Monday.

If the Left's standard for incitement remains as they applied it to then-President Trump during his second impeachment following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, Maxine Waters, too, must be held accountable.

For comparison, Trump was impeached for saying things like "show strength" and "fight like hell." Waters told a crowd of demonstrators on the scene of what had become days of looting, violence, and assaults on police officers that they should "get more active, more confrontational."

These words aimed at provoking Americans are apparently fine when the violent means may help the Democrats' achieve their desired ends. 

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Rep. Waters has stoked unrest for most of her career. As Larry Elder recounted, she is known for making excuses for rioters pillaging Los Angeles in 1992, writing letters to apparent pen pal Fidel Castro urging him not to extradite a convicted cop killer in the 70s, and more recently calling for Trump Administration officials to be mobbed whenever they dare to show their faces in public.

Townhall's own Kurt Schlichter, a legal expert who himself was on the ground during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, told Townhall Waters' rhetoric doesn't meet the threshold for incitement established by the Brandenburg test. 

While her call may not have crossed the line into "inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and being "likely to incite or produce such action," Schlichter didn't let Waters off the hook. 

"Politically and morally, this is a disaster for the Democrats," he told Townhall. 

The effect of Waters' latest call to confrontation and further unrest has not yet been fully seen, but just a day after she showed up in Brooklyn Center, members of the Minnesota National Guard were targeted in a drive-by shooting. 

When it comes to potential accountability, the Democrats' hypocrisy is made evident by the lack of condemnation from those in Waters' party, including from the White House. Across the aisle, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) has promised action if Speaker Pelosi tries to sweep Rep. Waters' most recent incident under the rug.

UPDATE: On Monday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) did exactly the opposite of calling for accountability, instead defending Rep. Waters' words and attempting to minimize their impact: