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Twitter suspends Instapundit for suggesting people not become victims of racist thug rioters (Update)

Twitter suspends Instapundit for suggesting people not become victims of racist thug rioters (Update)

If trapped would you become a victim, or drive through the mob?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LUv7x5bXV4

The rioting in Charlotte turned even uglier overnight, after the apparently false claim that a black man was shot dead by police for pointing a book.

All evidence so far shows that the “victim” was a career criminal who had a gun and turned towards police.

This appears to be another false media narrative, just like “hands up, don’t shoot” in the Michael Brown case, but it was enough to spark mobs of racist rioters and looters who attacked people and each other, including people trapped in cars.

Anyone who was old enough to remember the 1992 Los Angeles riots after the police in the Rodney King case were found not guilty is old enough to remember Reginald Denny:

I’ve always wondered what I would do if I were in Reginald Denny’s situation. Would I stop and let myself and my family become victims, or drive through the crowd to get away even if it meant running over the attackers (lacking a firearm to defend myself). I resolved at the time of the Denny incident not become a victim.

In Charlotte, the scene was as bad as in Los Angeles, with violent attacks on innocent people by the mob:

Charlotte riots try to throw photographer into fire

Rioters took over the highway:

Drivers were trapped:

https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/778480753055105024

https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/778481246879965184

https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/778642018159427584

and attacked on two separate highways:

Looking at a situation out of control with motorists trapped among the racist thug rioters, Prof. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit tweeted:

Instapundit Tweet Charlotte Riots

That got him suspended.

Glenn posts on Instapundit:

Sorry, blocking the interstate is dangerous, and trapping people in their cars is a threat. Driving on is self-preservation, especially when we’ve had mobs destroying property and injuring and killing people. But if Twitter doesn’t like me, I’m happy to stop providing them with free content.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Was just on Hugh Hewitt talking about this. Since Twitter won’t let me respond to — or even see — my critics, let me expand here.

I’ve always been a supporter of free speech and peaceful protest. I fully support people protesting police actions, and I’ve been writing in support of greater accountability for police for years.

But riots aren’t peaceful protest. And locking interstates and trapping people in their cars is not peaceful protest — it’s threatening and dangerous, especially against the background of people rioting, cops being injured, civilian-on-civilian shootings, and so on. I wouldn’t actually aim for people blocking the road, but I wouldn’t stop because I’d fear for my safety, as I think any reasonable person would.

“Run them down” perhaps didn’t capture this fully, but it’s Twitter, where character limits stand in the way of nuance.

Meanwhile, regarding Twitter: I don’t even know that this is why I was suspended, as I’ve heard nothing from Twitter at all. They tell users and investors that they don’t censor, but they seem awfully quick to suspend people on one side of the debate and, as people over at Twitchy note, awfully tolerant of outright threats on the other.

We will add the Hugh Hewitt audio when available, and will update. (Update: AUDIO is here and transcript at Hewitt’s website.) Here is an excerpt from the transcript:

HH: What happened?

GR: Well, you know, I actually tried to figure it out. I woke up and just found out my account was suspended, and didn’t know why and couldn’t find an email from them. It’s apparently a tweet I put up last night. They had a thing about how protestors were stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles on the interstate, and I said, perhaps a little too pithily, but it is Twitter, run them down. And apparently, that’s why, I don’t actually know that’s why they did it. but I assume that’s why they did it, because that’s what everybody’s talking about. I’ve heard nothing from Twitter.

HH: Now let me do what I did with Donald Trump last week, ask you to expand. I think I know what you meant. If you are threatened, you can defend yourself. Is that what you meant, Glenn Reynolds?
GR: Yeah, I’ve blogged about that before where we’ve had other interstates blocked and people surrounded by mobs. I’ve always said I would just keep driving.

HH: And so do you regret being pithy? Might you have said something along the lines of if threatened, you can run them down?

GR: I mean, I guess, although I, you know, it’s Twitter. Pithy is what you do on Twitter, and you sort of expect people to figure out what you’re saying from context….

GR: But I have to say I don’t apologize for the sentiment. I think that this tactic of blocking people on the interstate and surrounding cars is itself violent. It is threatening. It is not peaceful protest, and it should not be permitted.

In the meantime, Twitter’s political bias is showing.

UPDATE: as of 10;05 a.m. @Instapundit is back.

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/778958882198683648

You know what this means. (Warning, video may cause seizures)

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Comments

legacyrepublican | September 22, 2016 at 9:30 am

At some point, there has to be a conservative alternative to social media.

I’ll just note that it was awfully convenient for the #BlackLivesMatter crowd to escalate the situation so swiftly…removing #HillaryHealth from the headlines.

Once again proving the value in avoiding socialist media such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter. When will conservative money jump into the media world? It certainly isn’t Fox, they’ve ‘evolved’ into just another Democrat/neocon mouthpiece…

If we had a black American President, he could use his influence with black Americans to discourage them from rioting, and instead work with him to find a solution to their concerns. He could give them hope for a change.

Or, he could throw gasoline on the fire, and go play golf.

    Observer in reply to rinardman. | September 22, 2016 at 10:39 am

    One can understand the rage of the rioters and looters.

    After all, the black suspect shot by the black cop who works under a black police chief in a congressional district represented by a black congresswoman in a country with a black Attorney General and a black president was clearly the victim of institutional raaaaaaacism in a nation where black folks just can’t get any power!

I don’t tweet. I don’t use Facebook. I’ve never trusted either, though I do read their content occasionally.

Insty was right. The Prof. is right. It isn’t bloodthirsty to simply refuse to be a trapped hostage to a rioting mob. In that situation, you vehicle is both your best defense and your best means of escape. Use it.

Everyone has the right to protest peacefully, but riots are by no means “peaceful protest”.
Even if they did protest peacefully, their right to protest ends at the very nanosecond when they start infringing other people’s rights.

TWITTER HAS UNBLOCKED MY ACCOUNT ON CONDITION OF DELETING THE OFFENDING TWEET. But lest I be accused of airbrushing, it’s preserved here. Still planning on quitting Twitter, though, after making a few points.

Posted at 10:09 am by Glenn Reynolds

All of these venues are owned and operated by lefties who don’t see it as censorship. They are simply helping you to correct your thinking by giving you a time out. The Dark Web may be the way to go.

cat/cummins/mack/detroit diesel power has a lot more torque than an arm throwing something.
just saying…
thump-thump if beside trailer or thump thump-thump thump-thump of in front of tractor front bumper.

buckeyeminuteman | September 22, 2016 at 10:57 am

When faced with people who loot and burn private property and throw rocks at bystanders and passing cars; I’ll use my automobile to remove myself from the situation as quickly as possible.

Reddit has entire groups (subreddits) that ban the posting of links to Breitbart, and other subreddits where any link to Breitbart is treated with nastiness and down voted, because, …

well, because Hillary Clinton doesn’t like it. Even the Daily Kos knows this.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4/21/1518537/-Clinton-SuperPac-Admits-to-Paying-Internet-Trolls

Are we to imagine that this is the only aspect of social media with paid trolls from the Clinton Campaign?

    jack burns in reply to Valerie. | September 22, 2016 at 11:47 am

    These are the living examples of the negative impact of poor pre-natal nutrition. Mom probably lived on low alcohol red wine and brie.

as an old AFV crewman, and Lost Angels native, all i have to say is

“Rioters in the open, engage with front bumper”

it’s perfectly legal to use deadly force to defend yourself from deadly force, and there’s fewer threats more deadly than a mob. i wouldn’t want to have to do it, but i value my life, even if they don’t. i’d just GTFO of the area, contact my lawyer, and make arrangements.

Driving through the rioters is justified, but beware of the consequences. First, you face the possibility of using lethal force. Second you will likely trigger an angry response from the rioters for failing to submit. Last (and worst of all) many of the cars ahead of you will submit to the rioters trapping you among those you have angered.

Appears to me to be past time for law enforcement to begin enforcing the law rather than shrinking from confrontation. The invertebrates in charge of public safety need to be called out loud and long for their continued coddling of thuggish behavior. Sending officers out to “observe” the unrest does nothing to protect the citizenry and only endangers the officers on the street. If the threat to public safety requires an appropriate degree of paramilitary response and the capability exists, use it. The current policy of allowing the thugs to vent violently and then simply crawl home without consequence isn’t working.

In July 2016 in the state of North Carolina,a drunken,belligerent white man named William Bruce Ray was pointing his shotgun at drivers when cops were called. Deputy DR Farmer arrived on scene,the white drunken criminal Ray decided to point the shotgun at Deputy Farmer.Even though Deputy Farmer had a deadly weapon pointed at him,Deputy Farmer DID NOT remove his gun and shoot the white drunken criminal Ray, Farmer grabbed the barrel and shoved the gun out of his direction. That wasn’t enough. After Farmer got the shotgun out of harms way,the white drunken criminal Ray said this” I’ve got something for you.” Ray reaches into a pocket and pulls out a .22 cal handgun . A shot was fired. Once again Deputy Farmer DID NOT shoot a drunken white criminal who not only threatened him,but pulled another firearm at him.

Reports are conflicting on if the black suspect had a gun or a book. We do know he was killed by NC LEOs.

It’s a DEFINITE FACT that the white suspect had 2 firearms and threatened a cop. We do know he was NOT killed by NC LEOs.

What happened to If you point a gun at a cop,expect to be shot?

http://www.wral.com/man-charged-with-shooting-at-wake-deputy/15832777/

And justice for all.

If I never see that victory dance thing again, it’ll be too soon. As for the riots and the “tolerance” the left shows, I’m beyond disgusted and utterly perplexed as to how this gets fixed.

    alaskabob in reply to UJ. | September 22, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    Show that to Hillary without her blue lenses on…. even the most inane cartoon can have value.

2nd Ammendment Mother | September 22, 2016 at 3:19 pm

I drive a very large 4 wheel drive truck that says Dodge and Ram…. I think that’s called fair warning????

(At least that’s what I tell the smart car drivers who decide to cut me off on the interstate!)

Some people are more equal than others.

IOW, I wonder what Gary Britt and Voting Female think about it?

You can’t attack people, loot, and destroy property while “protesting.” Protesting is a right, these other acts are crimes. You are doing either one or the other – you can’t do both at once. The exercise of no right intentionally causes harm to an innocent person or his property. This is to say, you can’t “abuse” a right. Once actions become criminal, a right isn’t being “abused” because it’s no longer being exercised.

” That’s why I emphasize to authors it important to be careful not only with what they write, but with how what they write could be twisted by someone with bad intentions.” ”

So in a manner, free speach is curtailed with regard to Twitter’s and Facebook’s multi-culti PC ideology.
Basically, social media is controlled by the progressive/liberal side.