I knew that the 2016 election would be filled with black swans, events that deviate beyond what normally occurs during typical campaign seasons.
However, the disruption of Donald Trump’s rallies is not such a creature. Leftist operators have been a staple at conservative, grassroots events ever since I began organizing tea party rallies with our San Diego group in 2009.
During the first year of the Tea Party, for which we obtained all the necessary permits and arranged for top-notch security, among our most consistent attendees were progressive counter-protesters who blasted bullhorns during speeches given by our guests. When Tea Party didn’t disappear, anarchists in black coats began mingling with our crowds in search of opportunities to make trouble.
Threats of harassment cast a shadow on these events. The direction of the threats were always one way: Toward us, as a group of average citizens who were over-taxed, over-burdened by regulations, and over-tired of being dismissed by the establishment.
Perhaps the most chilling moment for me was when, after entertaining my independent conservative audience with a sprightly rendition of Sarah Palin, the progressives across the street actually thought I was the former Alaskan governor. The comments and threats from the counter-protesters were such that I was escorted to my car after the event by two dashing Marines.
Then, there was the Tax Day Tea Party of 2010. At that point, it was obvious that our events were going to be the target of event crashers and we pre-planned accordingly. We had signs printed up that would identify infiltrators, and videographers who would record their shenanigans.
In 2012, we had an encounter with a movement that seems to have evolved into “Black Lives Matter”, when Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson (founder of B.O.N.D. and the South Central LA Tea Party) was speaking at a Tea Party event. His topic was the courage in the face of false charges of “racism” bandied about by our opponents.
It was crashed by 3 young African American men, who proceeded to mock Peterson and our group.
They caused a disturbance just as Rev. Jesse was wrapping up his chat. The three dragged in bags of hoods, Confederate flags, and racist signs into our conference center room. They were trying to, as Reggie put it “distribute them because we want to give you want you need.”
Here is a look at one of the crashers, to give you a sense of the pure joy they experience at creating chaos:
Sadly, Peterson’s lecture is still applicable.
Finally, there was a citizen activist who had his finger bitten off my a member of MoveOn.org during a Tea Party Event.
As a reminder, MoveOn.org is taking partial credit for the cancellation of Trump’s event.
Flash forward to 2016, and it now Trump is being accused of being the primary cause of the disruptions at his rallies. I disagree with this assertion because the front-runner in the Republican primary race is being blamed for the tactics of leftist activists who have consistently tried to derail grassroots activism.
If the preferred target wasn’t Trump, then given the tensions and heated rhetoric of the progressive politicians (e.g., Hillary Clinton asserting that Republicans were her number one enemy), it would be another of the Republican candidates.
I suspect we will have a better gauge of the impact of this weekend’s events on the primaries this Tuesday. However, as a result of what happened in Chicago, and the fact Sanders won’t disavow the actions his declared supporters, I have changed my plans for my primary vote.
Instead of voting for Sanders in the Democratic Party primary, in protest against Hillary Clinton, I will write-in Donald Trump.
I suspect I won’t be the only “backlash voter”, either.
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