RICHMOND, VA — The story of riots under the pretext of “peaceful protest” continues to play out in America’s cities. The past few days in Richmond, Virgina, is a case in point. As one “protest” after another predictably devolved into one violent and destructive riot after another, the establishment in both government and media continue to spin the facts to condemn white conservatives with a smear campaign that has not even a passing acquaintance with reality.
Fresh on the heels of last weekend’s riots in the capitol of the Old Dominion, Monday night saw a fresh slate of violence, vandalism, looting, and destruction. And while both the size of the crowd and the amount of damage done were smaller, it was right out of the same old playbook.
As this writer reported Monday, the weekend saw riots that were advertised ahead of time. But rather than prevent the unlawful gathering that was pre-planned as an event where rioters were instructed in a flyer widely circulated on social media to “DO WHAT YOU WANT” and “F**K SH*T UP,” local authorities not only allowed the riot, but then acted surprised by it and blamed the violence on white supremacists. In reality, it was — as the facts show — BLM and Antifa rioters who were arrested and held up as examples of “white supremacists.”
In fact, only after the riot had accomplished a sufficient amount of damage to fit the narrative, did police come in to play their role in a too little, too late pretense of action. Part of that role included arresting roughly 20 people. In the midst of those arrests, two journalists were detained briefly by police. Once their press credentials were confirmed, they were released.
That action set the stage for Act Two of this ugly play: Monday saw a new riot — again advertised ahead of time. The flyer for this riot claimed that authorities were guilty of “arresting journalists” during the previous weekend’s riots. The implication was that the voice of the people was being silenced. The flyer said, “They want to be the only ones telling the story” and “F**k that fascist sh*t.”
And so, on Monday night, “protesters” gathered at Sacred Heart Cathedral to decry the arrest of journalists who had never actually been arrested. In fact, those journalists were able to file reports of the weekend’s riots after they were released.
The crowd — about 50 people — marched down the street, “protesting” by smashing windows, painting graffiti, and firing at least one shot. Police broke up the riot (again, after the fact) and arrested 17 people.
And while — as this writer reported in the previous article linked above — Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and his puppet Police Chief Gerald Smith claimed that the weekend’s riots were the work of “white supremacists disguised as Black Lives Matter” the arrests records tell a very different story. As Andy Ngô of Canada’s The Post Millennial asked in a tweet showing pictures of some arrestees:
@RichmondPolice, can you clarify what you meant when you said those at the riots over the weekend are white supremacists pretending to be BLM? Based on people you arrested, the known political views are extreme far-left, e.g., communist activist @socialistdogmom. #antifa
That photo collage of 11 arrestees shows at least three people who appear to be either Hispanic or middle-eastern and two who appear to be black. But perhaps this writer’s “white privilege” has made him color-blind. But as the man on the late-night infomercial says, “Wait, there’s more!”
In a demonstration of journalistic integrity and skill that is way beyond anything showing any signs of life in the local MSM media in Richmond, Virginia, Ngô took the time to drill down into the people arrested. Here is what he found and tweeted:
@RichmondPolice say the violence at the Richmond, Va. antifa/BLM riot was instigated by “white supremacists.”
While not all of the arrestees Ngô tweeted about can be shown to have Antifa or otherwise leftist leanings/connections, it is interesting that the Richmond police offered exactly zero evidence of any “white supremacist” connections, either.
What is known is that the riot itself was not billed in its pre-event advertising as a “right-wing” or “white supremacist” rally. It was billed as a “Stand with Portland” event — clearly leftist. The idea that it was infiltrated by “white supremacists” appears to have been created in the fertile imaginations of the Richmond officials who allowed the planned riot to happen. And it appears that it was allowed to provide a backdrop of violence against which to cry, “Whitey did this!”
And those officials had an assist in their mendacity. That assist came from local MSM organs such as the Richmond NBC affiliate, which reported:
Riots in downtown Richmond over the weekend were instigated by white supremacists under the guise of Black Lives Matter, according to law enforcement officials.
Protesters tore down police tape and pushed forward toward Richmond police headquarters, where they set a city dump truck on fire.
Police declared the event an “unlawful assembly” and ordered people to leave, later deploying tear gas.
Six people were arrested. The mayor of Richmond thanked the Black Lives Matter protesters he said tried to stop the white supremacists from spearheading the violence.
“Their mission is simple, not the Richmond we know,” said Mayor Levar Stoney.
This much is clear: Officials are working overtime to deceive the public about who is behind the violence tearing America’s cities apart, and the MSM simply regurgitates the pablum with so much as bothering to check the facts.
The end game appears to be to allow BLM and Antifa to burn and pillage with impunity and use the damage and chaos to smear white conservatives with the taint of white supremacy.
Image of riot: Screenshot of video by WSLS Channel 10, Richmond
