August 14, 2022 — John Hinderaker
The Demographics of Crime
Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released its report on the state's 2021 crime statistics late Friday afternoon. My colleague Bill Glahn was one of the few who noticed. The BCA's numbers indicate that in 2021, homicides were up 72% over 2019, the state's last "normal" year. Aggravated assaults were up 63% over 2019, and robberies up 30%. Minnesota's crime wave continues to worsen. What I really want to focus on »
July 4, 2022 — John Hinderaker
A Shooting In Akron
Riots have been taking place in Akron, Ohio, following the shooting by police of Jayland Walker. The incident occurred in June, but release of police bodycam footage has sparked the riots. The case has made international news. The London Times, for example, headlined Jayland Walker: Plea for calm after Ohio police kill unarmed black man. The other fact that has gotten much publicity is that officers–I believe there were eight »
The Verdict Is In: BLM Is a Fraud
We have written several times about the fraud that has been perpetrated by the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, e.g. here, here, here and here. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation raised a reported $90 million, mostly from large corporations. In truth, however, no one knows how much money the operation pulled in, since it hasn't filed its legally required reports. The whole thing has turned out to »
April 19, 2022 — John Hinderaker
BLM Was Always a Fraud
I wrote here about the fact that the umbrella Black Lives Matter organization, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, is a fraud. It collected $90 million, largely from panicked corporations, and no one knows what happened to the money, except that a lot of it was spent on luxury real estate purchases and other perks for the organization's leaders. But the truth turns out to be even worse than »
April 4, 2022 — John Hinderaker
The Black Lives Matter Scam [Updated]
I referred to the Black Lives Matter organization as a scam in a post yesterday. Those who don't follow the news closely may not have understood that characterization. This New York Magazine piece is a good place to start. It focuses mainly on a $6 million house in California that Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the BLM umbrella organization, bought with donated funds in October 2020. BLM has plenty »
It's Open Season On Cops
The National Fraternal Order of Police reports that in the first quarter of 2022, 101 police officers were shot in the line of duty, 17 fatally. That represents a 43% increase over the same time period in 2021, and a 63% increase over 2020. I think it is fair to infer that the [Only] Black Lives Matter scam and associated anti-police sentiment is responsible for increased violence against law enforcement, »
Tom Cotton hangs tough
Although it was noted in the news on February 1, I first heard on the grapevine a few weeks later that Senator Tom Cotton has put a hold on every pending United States Attorney nomination. He has placed the hold over his objection to the Justice Department's refusal to undertake the defense of four federal marshals being sued for their work defending the Portland federal courthouse in the George Floyd »
There's something about Quintez
Quintez Brown is charged with the attempted assassination of Democratic Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg and four others in the office. Brown failed, but you can't say he didn't make a good faith effort. One of the bullets pierced Greenberg's sweater. Breitbart News reports the story here. The judge set bail at $100,000, which seems a little light to me. Breaking: @LouCommBailFund has paid the $100,000 to bail out @BLMLouisville »
December 22, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Democratic congresswoman carjacked in Philadelphia
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon represents Pennsylvania's fifth congressional district. She was elected in 2018, as part of the wave that voter dissatisfaction with Donald Trump produced. The district encompasses part of South Philadelphia and a chunk of the city's suburbs including all of Delaware County. Today, Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint at a park in Philadelphia. The crime occurred around 2:45 p.m. — thus in broad daylight. Scanlon complied with »
December 9, 2021 — Steven Hayward
A Smollett Postscript
Paul has commented below on the unsurprising Smollett verdict. Here I merely want to contrast two perspectives among blacks about the whole Smollett Affair. First, Black Lives Matter, which issued a statement a couple days ago, while the trial was still under way, that includes this passage: In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett, a Black man who »
November 28, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Time to Ban Self-Driving Cars?
Earlier this afternoon CNN tweeted about the mass murder carried out by Darrell Brooks in Waukesha, Wisconsin, one week ago: Waukesha will hold a moment of silence today, marking one week since a car drove through a city Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring scores of others.https://t.co/QMNccpBI0y — CNN (@CNN) November 28, 2021 The car evidently had a mind of its own, which spares CNN having to talk about »
Who Is Darrell Brooks?
Darrell Brooks is the career criminal who drove his vehicle into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing at least five and injuring many more. As Paul has noted, Brooks was a vicious criminal who never should have been on the street. Already, Milwaukee County's left-wing District Attorney is backtracking, saying that his own office didn't make a proper bail recommendation during Brooks's latest encounter with the criminal justice system. »
November 21, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Facing rise in violent crime, D.C.'s mayor rejects BLM mantras
Last week, Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington, D.C., issued a letter advising residents of the steps her administration is taking to address the rise in violent crime in the city. The letter begins this way: Your safety is my number one priority. I want you to know that we will curb the number of guns in our community; arrest people using guns in our community; and work with all our »
Kyle Rittenhouse's offense
To leftists and the prosecutors who did their bidding, Kyle Rittenhouse's offense wasn't any of the things he was charged with. He clearly had an unassailable defense to all of the charges against him. But that didn't matter because Rittenhouse was guilty of something else — showing up armed at a leftist riot or, as the left called it, "vigilantism." As the left and the prosecution see it, Rittenhouse never »
Through the looking glass at the Rittenhouse trial
John has written about Kyle Rittenhouse's decision to take the witness stand today, and about the cross-examination of Rittenhouse. Andy McCarthy's column on the same subjects is also worth reading. McCarthy offers several reasons why Rittenhouse, with the advice of his lawyers, could reasonably have decided to testify even though the burden of proof is with the prosecution and the prosecution doesn't seem to have made its case. One of »
November 8, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
At the Rittenhouse trial
Over the weekend, John wrote about the prosecution of Kyle Rittenhouse. The prosecution's case didn't seem to be going well, in part because one of its witnesses gave important testimony that favored the defendant. That trend continued today with the testimony of Gaige Grosskreutz, one of the people Rittenhouse shot. On cross-examination, Grosskreutz admitted that Rittenhouse shot him only after he (Grosskreutz) pointed a gun at the defendant in close »
September 28, 2021 — John Hinderaker
2020 FBI Crime Data Released
The FBI has fallen into disrepute, especially with conservatives. But its annual report on crime in America is a treasure trove of information, compiled from thousands of local sources. The data are not perfect: not all agencies report, and information is sometimes incomplete. But the data are solid enough to permit many conclusions. The FBI's report on crime in 2020 was released yesterday. The Bureau's press release recites the basic »