“Say her name.” From Portland to Philadelphia, the mantra is being used by politicians to stoke anger over the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. While many of us have noted that the shooting appears to fall within the Supreme Court’s guidelines for the justifiable use of deadly force, there is an attempt to make Good the personification of a so-called “resistance movement.”
Across the country, Democrats are holding “I am Spartacus” moments that resemble a low-budget casting call for B-grade actors — heartbreaking calls for everything from defunding ICE to arresting law enforcement. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was widely ridiculed for his own moment years ago. Yet he found that while most people found his self-aggrandizement ridiculous, others longed for such displays.
From Portland to Philadelphia, Democratic leaders are engaging in performative press conferences, trying to outdo each other by labeling the shooting of Renee Good a “murder” or announcing a “war” with the federal government over immigration enforcement.
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The tone was set almost immediately after the shooting by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who not only declared the officer a murderer, but dismissed claims of self-defense as “bullshit” and told ICE to “get out of town.”
When many of us denounced his behavior, Frey mocked the critics and apologized if his profanity had “offended their Disney princess ears.”
Frey seemed to trigger a race to the bottom. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and others rushed to the nearest camera to condemn the officer and stoke the anger. Democratic politicians appeared to compete over who could escalate the rhetoric the fastest, adding profanity or threats. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), facing a serious challenge from a Mamdani-backed socialist, has fought to infuriate the competition.
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Goldman not only called for the officer’s arrest, but also sought to strip all ICE officers of their immunity. Goldman, of course, enjoys immunity as a member of Congress and, as heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, can afford any lawsuit. Yet he wants to strip protections from law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day. Apparently no price is too high to help Goldman secure a third term.
In Portland, Mayor Keith Wilson and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek expressed outrage that ICE was in the city after a shooting. It didn’t seem to matter that the injured were two suspected Tren de Aragua gang members, allegedly shot after trying to run over ICE officers.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day later confirmed that Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras are Venezuelan criminal illegal aliens linked to TdA. He admitted that Portland police were hesitant to reveal their suspected gang affiliation because they feared accusations of the “historic injustice of victim blaming” by law enforcement.
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He then became emotional and said, “It saddens me that we even have to qualify these comments, because I understand — or at least have tried to understand — your voices, your concerns, your fear and your anger.”
In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal took the performative press conference to a new – and absurd – level.
Krasner, known for his sensational but unfulfilled promises, told ICE to stay out of town and portrayed his behavior as criminal, adding: “You will be arrested. You will stand trial. You will be convicted.”
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Sheriff Bilal then went all Spartacus and delivered an embarrassing performance more befitting an Antifa activist than a law enforcement officer. She called ICE agents “fake, wannabe” law enforcement officers and claimed they violated both the “legal law” and the “moral law.”
Bilal gave in to the crowd and warned the federal government that “you don’t want this smoke because we will bring it to you.” She added that “the criminal in the White House would not be able to” stop ICE agents from going to jail.
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These are leaders who openly play to the crowd. In my upcoming book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” I explore how elected officials often hire mobs to advance political agendas — only to be consumed by the unrest they unleash. This surrender to a “mobocracy” was among the dangers the Framers sought to prevent through safeguards against majority tyranny.
The problem with these “I am Spartacus” moments is that they require a real Spartacus. Instead we get violence without a cause.
We also get the same political actors who have been trading in anger for generations.
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In Minneapolis, a Black Lives Matter leader appeared to advocate violence as a tool for change, suggesting that the prosecution of officers in the George Floyd case only happened because protesters set part of the city on fire in 2020. [the city] on fire.”
In the film, Caesar is asked if he too had “left us for… the mafia.” Caesar replies, “I left no one behind, least of all Rome. This much I have learned… Rome is the crowd.”
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These politicians try to harness the power of the mafia and direct it against their political opponents. One Antifa activist urged people to “come up in arms and put an end to this,” adding that “this is what the Founding Fathers gave us the Second Amendment for.”
What we are witnessing is not the American Revolution, but a march toward the French Revolution. If history is any guide, these “new Jacobins” will find that they are no more immune to anger than their opponents, as today’s revolutionaries become tomorrow’s reactionaries.
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