Happy holiday! Let the violence begin

(Editor's note: Colin Flaherty has done more reporting than any other journalist on what appears to be a nationwide trend of skyrocketing black-on-white crime, violence and abuse. WND features these reports to counterbalance the virtual blackout by the rest of the media due to their concerns that reporting such incidents would be inflammatory or even racist. WND considers it racist not to report racial abuse solely because of the skin color of the perpetrators or victims.) Videos linked or embedded may contain foul language and violence.

While locals fled in anticipation of the annual celebration of violence and chaos during Black Beach Week over the Memorial Day holiday in Miami Beach, large-scale black mob violence erupted in Jacksonville, Rochester, West Bloomfield, and Baltimore.

A lot of it on video.

The Jacksonville Beach riot started much like the other examples black mob violence documented in "White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence and how the media ignore it."

When initial reports came in that police closed a section of the shore at Jacksonville Beach, police assured the media that it wasn't much: Just a few fights and, after all, no one was arrested.

And no one said anything about black mob violence.

Then came the videos and eyewitness reports: Hundreds of black people were fighting, destroying property and creating mayhem on an epic scale. Both at the beach and in surrounding neighborhoods. The videos show the violence and people screaming and fleeing, while the people making the video laughed.

The day after the riot, anchors at the local Fox News affiliate said residents were demanding answers, but police were "still investigating."

They should have read the comments on their own website: Their viewers had no trouble describing what police and reporters could not. Or would not.

"Kinda hard not to be racist when it was all black people. 30 plus black people !!! Looks like the northside invaded jax beach to me," said BeachGirl25.

"The local rag paper & website, reported on ONE intersection being closed for a vegetable oil spill, but did NOT cover this event, which closed MANY streets in the Jax Bch area," said one resident self-identified as TheTruth. "Very sad how they...the media...is afraid to report the truth, lest the NAACP and Jesse Jackson start yelling & wailing 'racism.'"

One resident told a local news site the rolling riot made a stop at his house near the beach. "A couple of these animals tried to break into some cars in front of my house in Neptune Beach after the fight was broken up," said CubsFanJoe. "They nearly shat their pants when I walked out onto my porch with my AR-15."

A popular talk show host said residents are used to the fact that the local newspaper ignores and downplays the violence.

"During the three-day holiday weekends, residents and business owners know that racial violence is a regular and unwelcome occurrence," said Chuck White, of AM1600 WZNZ. "Business owners are asking for help from police before their businesses are ruined."

One of the competing news outlets, WOKV, shut down the comments on its website rather than have people who were there describe what really happened: "We have disabled the ability to comment on this story. Some of the commentary posted to the comments section were determined by WOKV management to be inappropriate."

Jacksonville is no stranger to racial violence and lawlessness. Last year, a video of 300 black people rampaging through a Wal-Mart went viral. The violence started at a party, and moved to the Wal-Mart parking lot. At least one gunshot was fired before the crowd moved inside, destroying property, assaulting people and creating mayhem.

In a wealthy suburb of Detroit, Orchard Lake, the St. Mary's Polish Country Fair has grown into two things: One, the largest fair in Michigan. Two, the site of large-scale black mob violence that this year even featured an arrest for terrorist threatening on Twitter and Instagram.

Kristy Gursky describes the action to ClickonDetroit.com: "It was like mayhem. Everywhere we looked there were fights breaking out and mobs of 100 or 200 people would go running to witness the fights."

The video adds the flavor: Fighting. Screaming. Panic. Fear.

But it could have been worse. Much worse: The FBI arrested a black man for allegedly posting violent threats on Twitter and Instagram; featuring pictures of handguns, rifles, several fully loaded high capacity magazines, and promises to show up at the fair, said The Oakland Press.

"We not playin wit nobody at the fair #StMarysFair I swear," the man allegedly said in the week prior to the Fair on Instagram, said the Press. "We can't wait till St. Mary's Fair," read another caption beneath a man holding a gun.

Here's the twist: The threats were made a week before the fair. But police did not release news of the arrest or threats until the day after. At least one local resident thinks police put people in danger by not telling them of the danger:

"What make me unhappy is the quote from the sheriff saying the threat wasn't made public because this one person from Detroit was arrested and extra security was put in place," said Detroit resident and fair-goer Rory Kasel. "This wasn't even the only person making threats either. That sheriff is responsible for all the attacks there on unsuspecting people. I guarantee many would have avoided the place altogether had they been warned that Detroit gangs were threatening violence. And why didn't the extra security involve vans to transport prisoners rather than just kindly sending the criminals on their way?"

After the initial night of violence on Saturday, fair officials tamped down on the mayhem, said ClickOnDetroit.com: "Headmaster Jim Glowacki said he had to make a tough security decision about a curfew. 'In the evenings, you can't even get onto the midway unless you have ID, you are over 18 or you have a parent or guardian,' he said."

In Kansas City, a similar kind of frequent and large-scale black mob violence has plagued The Plaza, an upscale shopping area, for at least three years. They have been talking about – and rejecting – a similar policy there for as long.

Congressman and former mayor Emanuel Cleaver said curfews don't work: "All we are going to do is make a lot of black kids angry and they are going to take out their anger somewhere else."

Over in Rochester, N.Y., the annual Lilac Festival the week before Memorial Day was also the site of black mob violence. By the time it was over, 200 people were arrested and four people were stabbed. A man with a shotgun escaped and two police officers were hurt.

Two months prior to the festival, the police chief sent potential criminals a letter, saying he was watching them and they'd better start behaving.

"W care about you as individuals, as well as all citizens in the City of Rochester, who deserve to live freely without the threat of gun violence," said Chief James Sheppard. "This is our new way of doing business and I thought it was important to let you know. Please go tell your friends."

Six weeks later, prior to the fair, local media was reporting "increased violence in the city over the past 10 days."

At first city officials downplayed the chaos, saying there was no violence inside the fair itself. That fiction did not last long as person after person came forward to tell their story in the comments section of the Democrat and Chronicle.

Rob Sands was just one of several to contradict official attempts to downplay the violence: "The Monroe County parks director said no fights occurred within the festival site itself. That is a straight up lie."

Local reporters do not – or will not – report what many readers know: "Let's face it, this is a racial problem," said Ann Marie Cummings in the comment section of the Democrat and Chronicle. "Whether it is the Puerto Rican fest, last year at the rib fest, or problems at sea breeze with gangs. It's obvious these street thugs pick arenas ... large amount of people attending.”

Joe Baxton took to the comments to report another episode of black mob violence earlier that day:

"About a half hour ago, I was on my way home from lunch. I was stopped at a light in front of the county jail where the prisoner release door is. And there erupted a huge fight between 50 black (people). They ran across the street, stopped traffic dead and continued to fight on the side walk across from the jail. I betting this is a continuation of the nonsense which occurred at the Lilac Festival. The ones arrested must have been released and this group of black (people) was waiting for them to continue the fight. What on earth is going on in my city? I have never seen anything like this in my entire life."

Wendy Seldin, a vendor at the festival, said she has been coming to Lilac Fest for 11 years and had never seen anything like this before. "I wouldn't bring my kids here," she told the Democrat and Chronicle.

According to local ABC affiliate WHAM 13, this has been going on in Rochester for a long time in several different parts of the city. In 2011, at a city-sponsored Rib Festival one week after the Lilac Festival, more than 20 black people showed up, ate, rioted, and then left. Thirteen people were arrested, all black. One for assaulting a police officer.

The newspapers tell one story, and the video tells another.

That wasn't the first time a local venue has shut down because of fights on Memorial Day. Says WHAM:

Seabreeze made it a policy to close on Memorial Day starting last year after rumors of violence. The city has an ongoing issue with crowds of youth at the Liberty Pole downtown.

A member of the Rochester city council says the violence is not new. It's just that only recently are white people starting to see it. Speaking of previous racial violence:

"I think what you saw at the beach is what we've been seeing in many of our neighborhoods for two decades," said Councilman Adam McFadden. "It's just that you had a lot of people there who are not used to that culture and got to witness it personally."

Councilman McFadden did not respond to a request for an answer to the question: "Whatever do you mean by 'that culture'?"

In Baltimore, two weeks ago, a large group of black people were fighting in the downtown. One cop was hurt. "Several" people arrested. The Baltimore Sun did make a grudging acknowledgement this was part of a pattern of violence in the upscale tourist area. Even if it kept to a long standing practice of not identifying the violent mob as black.

"Large fights between teenagers in the heart of the city's business district have drawn negative attention and various redeployment strategies in the past. In one incident last year, hundreds of teens converged on downtown the night of St. Patrick's Day, with multiple brawls that ended in two stabbings and the beating of a tourist from Northern Virginia."

In May 2012, state legislator Pat McDonough created a firestorm when asked the governor to declare the Inner Harbor a "no-travel zone" because "black youth mobs terrorize Baltimore on holidays."

No one quarreled with McDonough's identification of who was responsible for dozens of cases of black mob violence at the Inner Harbor. But they did call him names and question his motives for speaking out about it. And the attacks continued.

Today, McDonough says nothing has changed: "As I predicted the violence will continue, unreported in most cases, as the mayor and her cronies sit on the sidelines."

Back to Miami Beach: What city officials called a "war zone" two years ago turned into what the Miami Herald said was a "police state" this year. After four days and more than 200,000 people, police pronounced Black Beach Week a resounding success because they only arrested 413 people, including 71 for felonies.

That is down from 1,000 people arrested during earlier celebrations there.

Some people insist that anyone who notices – let along objects to – this outbreak of black mob violence and mayhem is a racist. Among them Daniel Rivero, a writer at the NPR affiliate in Miami. Rivero says Black Beach Week is a lot of fun and no one is ever in danger. At least that is what he learned this year.

"If you find yourself up in arms over a predominantly black weekend that comes once a year, you will need to come to terms with the fact that the problem might not be with the crowd."

Meanwhile, more than 300,000 racing fans gathered over the holiday weekend for the Indianapolis 500. According to the local Fox news station, 23 were arrested: 15 for drunk in public; one for disorderly conduct; two for a minor in possession of alcohol; one for drunk driving; one for invasion of privacy; two for theft. And one for an outstanding warrant.

See the Big List of black mob violence.