In the aftermath of the indefensible police beating of Memphis resident Tyre Nichols, it is perfectly understandable that people are rightly upset with the five officers charged with murder in the case.
But when violence erupted at a New York City protest over the weekend, radical leftists once again showed their true colors. Amazingly, they were able to destroy any sympathy for their actions by ill-conceived confrontations with law enforcement officers simply doing their jobs.
It is difficult not to chuckle at the extent to which liberals are their own worst enemies.
These particular radicals were led by the Party of Socialism and Liberation, which used the Tennessee tragedy to spotlight their call for the nation to sharply swerve leftward. The crowd was peaceful for a while, as most demonstrations begin, but in Times Square the narrative changed quickly.
A man leapt onto a police car in the middle of the crowd and began stomping on the windshield. As he attempted to break the glass, officers naturally tried to stop and arrest him.
"Peaceful protest" in NYC last night…. pic.twitter.com/I9NB2yMOc9
— 🇺🇸 Anastasia Greene 🧌 (@ScreamedInVain) January 28, 2023
That was when the crowd sprang into action and attempted to free the violent demonstrator from the officers. Now the wheels were coming off the protest, and law enforcement tried to arrest one of the march’s organizers.
Then a woman allegedly tried to block the arrest by repeatedly striking officers. That person, identified as 25-year-old Candy Nicole, was taken into custody for allegedly punching two officers but then released on her own recognizance.
For physically attacking police officers.
This same suspect was arrested in October and charged with “forcible touching” for grabbing a person’s “sensitive area” during an argument.
As for the protestor who stomped on the police car and started the melee, his record is even more telling. The alleged attacker was identified as 33-year-old Argenis Rivera.
Coincidentally, he also had an October arrest, only his was for alleged punching and strangling a mother who was pushing her two-year-old in a stroller. In the same incident, he was accused of threatening another woman by holding keys to her throat, punching her, and pinning her down.
Two months prior to this incident, Rivera was arrested for allegedly hitting a doorman but was released without bail. His total for lifetime arrests now stands at 14.
And unlike the alleged attacker, he was hit with a $10,000 bail.
Despite all of the calls for peaceful protest, it was inevitable that radicals would hijack a legitimate gathering and use it to further their own violent aims. Unfortunately, the weekend incident is just another in a long list of examples of the “mostly peaceful” left descending into destruction.
