IN THE STREETS
GARY WENKLE SMITH
Protesting and rioting cannot occupy the same space. Black Lives Matter is fast becoming the ipso facto mother of the anti-fascist movement, Antifa. Riots in the streets will obviously require the use of force. Americans have been vocal on various sides of the issue, with some proclaiming the right to vigilantism, while others claim the federal government must intervene, regardless of the constitutionality of such conduct. There are the vast numbers who claim that there must be no peace until there is justice, that being the end of police brutality, especially against America’s minority populations.
Black Lives Matter has grown to encompass nearly every metropolitan community; is believed to have membership/affiliation in the millions and denies any ties to Antifa. One video of protests in Seattle showed a woman spray painting BLM on a wall. She was either white or Mediterranean, even Arab. She turned to the female BLM participant, who had just told her: “Hey, stop that. We don’t want you to do that,” and she replied: “You do what you do, and we’ll do what we do.”
I was reminded of an agent provocateur, just like in the sixties. They were there at the behest of fictional businesses that were run by the FBI and CIA to combat the civil rights and anti-war movements. Now, they intervene in yet another war for the right to be treated equally, and the government is likely doing a comeback with Antifa. See it, or not, but fail to understand the setting at your peril.
The mostly white so-called patriots who are flooding to the cities, armed with guns and rifles, and wholly supported by the President and a good deal of law enforcement, claim they are protecting our cities from burning. They see Black Lives Matter and Antifa as inseparable. They speak openly of armed response. We have seen it in action in Kenosha.
Roger Stone, self-proclaimed agent provocateur, whose recent felony sentencing was gifted a Presidential commutation, a sixties child, who idolized Richard Nixon, still wearing his tattooed face on his back, was just the type of guy who would organize such things as Antifa. Out of date and style, Roger Stone would not be down into the streets these days, but the agenda never changes. Give the people an enemy and destroy whatever they attach themselves to, blending as though they were there from the beginning.
The leadership of the war-like group being called Antifa is unknown, but clearly there is a sophisticated sense of direction of the group. They seem to be able to recruit large numbers of people willing to riot and initiate looting, arson and other crimes of violence. Far too many Americans equate their conduct with that of Black Lives Matter. Often, they pose as BLM, with t-shirts and signs.
Far too many Americans forget, or worse, listen to a pitch that Blue Lives Matter or All Lives Matter, ignoring what brought the renewed need to take it to the streets. Colin Kaepernick was condemned for taking a knee. More black lives were taken, senselessly, often murderously, by white cops, and too many of us resort to saying we never owned slaves. We are fed and housed by a machine that feeds off the blood of the young, and pushes us through the hoops of daily life with only their information and their acquisition of wealth, while we, once again, fight each other for the crumbs off Longshanks table.
Gary Wenkle Smith is a trial lawyer, practicing law in Southern California for the past 41-years. He has tried over 200 jury trials, including over 100 murder trials and other serious felonies.
Mr. Smith has two published novels, The Last Midnight, and Inside the Lie, as well as Long Night of the Soul, a book of poetry, verse and other writings. He has also published This Side of Too Late, which is a compilation of articles and poems on the state of America since September 11, 2001. His latest publication is Deadly Night Shadows, a true story. He is also a painter. He is an active member of the 12-Step community.
He has trained for the past twenty years at the Trial Lawyer’s College with the world-famous trial lawyer, Gerry Spence, and dozens of the best trial lawyers in America.
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