All three left-wing activists who admitted to plotting a butyric acid attack against the pro-Trump “Deploraball” at his inauguration have received light sentences.
Scott Ryan Charney, a member of the D.C. Antifascist Coalition/Disrupt J20 Movement, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense of “conspiracy to commit assault” on Tuesday and was sentenced to 48 hours of community service. When he completes the service, his record will be expunged.
Paul “Luke” Kuhn and Colin Dunn received similar punishment and no jail time last week. Their conspiracy against the Deploraball was exposed by an undercover video investigation by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas.
“We are very happy that our undercover videos were used to protect Americans,” O’Keefe said in a statement. “It is a shame, however, that they were let off with such a light sentence.”
Paul Nehlen, who challenged Speaker Paul Ryan in a contentious primary and was a guest at the Deploraball, called the light punishment a “travesty.”
“We see time and again the left is charged with lesser crimes,” he said. “They should have been prosecuted under federal law. The U.S. Constitution guarantees in the First Amendment ‘the right of the people peaceably to assemble,’ and USC 241 codifies ‘conspiracy against rights.’ My rights as an attendee of the Deploraball were trampled by their actions.”
Scott Greer, a Daily Caller editor and the author of “No Campus for White Men,” also slammed the sentence as a de facto encouragement of further violence.
“These were people who intentionally plotted to harm people because of their political opinions,” he told WND. “The message sent is that you can attack anyone you think are ‘Nazis’ and we’ll just make you pick up trash off the highway for two weekends. It’s pathetic and only encourages more political violence.”
Matthew Vadum, senior vice president at the Capital Research Center and the author of “Subversion, Inc,” argues the left-wing radicals are usually treated with kid gloves by law enforcement.
“Under orders from permissive city fathers, police agencies across the country walk on eggshells to avoid doing anything that might make left-wingers feel inhibited when protesting and throwing Molotov cocktails at police lines,” he said.
“Left-wing politicians give rioters permission to hurt people and destroy property. Police habitually sit back and watch as left-wingers burn neighborhoods to the ground. Look at what the cops, under the control of Democrats, allowed to happen in Ferguson, Missouri; and Baltimore during Black Lives Matter riots.”
As Vadum observed, though the plot to use acid against the Deploraball was exposed, there was still widespread violence outside the event. Vadum also referenced Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s infamous statement that her police officers gave protesters “space” to destroy property during the April 2015 riots.
“Often the police don’t even get around to making arrests,” said Vadum. “Police coddle radicals and far too often let them run wild, as happened when violent demonstrators prevented Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at UC Berkeley on February 1.”
So-called “anti-fascist” or “Antifa” groups successfully shut down a speaking appearance by Yiannopoulos after violent protests last month. The left-wing extremists promised a repeat performance to disrupt last Saturday’s pro-Trump “Spirit of America” rally in the city.
The resulting confrontation between pro-Trump demonstrators and Antifa led to several injuries last Saturday, including the reported pepper spraying of an elderly man by left-wing protesters.
However, unlike before, some Trump supporters were prepared for trouble. One was Kyle Chapman, who was armed with a helmet, shield and stick. In the melee, Chapman managed to strike several blows against the protesters, leading to him being called “Based Stick Man” or the “Alt-Knight” online.
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Ten people were arrested during the melee, including Chapman. At their arraignment Tuesday, all were told they were not yet being charged. However, Chapman is still reportedly facing multiple felony charges at a later date, including one for assault with a deadly weapon (other than a firearm).
He has claimed his actions were in self-defense and supporters have raised close to $70,000 for bail money and legal expenses.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Chapman was free pending future actions by the district attorney.
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Nehlen suggested Chapman’s case should be closely examined by conservatives.
“The law is more harshly enforced against conservatives than against leftists,” he said. “Watch the video of the fighting that was going on. Those Trump supporters didn’t assemble to fight. They assembled to ‘march forth’ on March 4th, in support of our president. The reality is that the Berkeley police waited until the fighting engulfed both supporters and Antifa agitators.”
Berkeley police have defended their relatively passive approach as necessary to prevent escalation. But Nehlen argues law enforcement around the country needs to be more aggressive in preventing attempts by Antifa to attack conservatives.
“Honestly, I think the law enforcement community, which I support, needs to swiftly act against the Antifa,” he said. “Zero tolerance for physical disrupters at rallies and marches is the only way to stop this violence. Otherwise, retaliatory violence can be expected. It’s only a matter of time before the first Antifa terrorist gets shot. Why? Because defending one’s life is a God given right enshrined in the Second Amendment. Kyle’s stick and shield were defensive weapons, no different than a pistol in your waistband. If the Antifa hadn’t shown up to incite violence, no violence would have occurred.”
Greer also decried what he believes is a double standard of how the law is applied against conservatives and leftists.
“The Trump supporter who was arrested over the weekend for hitting an anarchist may be facing several years in jail if he is charged, while not a single person has been arrested for beating innocent people at the Berkeley riot in February,” he said. “There probably will never be any charges against the Antifa who rioted against Milo. As we saw in the Deploraball case, leftists know they can get away with violence towards right-wingers and walk away with community service. Meanwhile, conservatives who defend themselves face years in jail.”
Nonetheless, Greer urged Trump supporters and conservatives to prepare to defend themselves and not count on the police.
“Conservatives are going to have to consider self-defense measures at public protests,” he said. “Police, in certain areas, are not going to protect them and anarchists are going to attack them no matter what. A night in jail is a better alternative than a lengthy stay in a hospital, and there would probably be fewer attacks on them if Antifa knew their intended victims were going to get hit back.”
And Vadum argued police need to crack down on Antifa attempts to disrupt peaceful gatherings or else people will have no choice but to organize for self-defense.
“Conservatives have to be prepared to defend themselves from these left-wing terrorists who are using violence in an effort to overturn the results of the presidential election,” Vadum told WND.
“What form that preparation should take is up to individual conservatives who shouldn’t be afraid to express themselves politically in public. In addition to assault charges, these leftists should be investigated under racketeering statutes. This is America – political speech is protected and rightfully so. The assaults on Trump supporters need to be vigorously prosecuted by the authorities.”
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