The Washington Examiner‘s Byron York pointed out the absurd treatment the DOJ doles out for those participating in BLM riots, even if murder or manslaughter is involved.
The absurd treatment is giving them light sentences while destroying the January 6 defendants for their riot, which didn’t hurt anyone or anything except for some feelings of sensitive politicians.
York brought up Montez Lee, a Rochester, MN, resident. On May 28, 2020, Lee and others broke into a pawn shop to “protest” the death of George Floyd. It ended in the death of a man who had five children:
Lee then poured a liquid, an accelerant, from a can all across the floor. Lee then lit the fire. More video showed him boasting shortly afterward about what he had done. “F*** this place,” Lee said. “We’re gonna burn this bitch down.” Video then showed, according to government documents, Lee and others “joking about restaurants they are going to ‘hit’ next.”The store lay in ruins. Then, a few days later, a woman reported that her son was missing. Police discovered that his car had been found near the pawn shop. They searched the rubble and found the body of Oscar Stewart, a 30-year-old man who had five children. An autopsy showed that Stewart died of burns and smoke inhalation. The death was ruled a homicide.
Lee had a lengthy rap sheet, including burglary, assault, and theft. Lee pled guilty to one count of arson, which is a felony. That’s it. But that charge alone meant 20 years in prison.
Instead, the DOJ recommended Lee get 12 years. The judge decided on 10 years.
10 years for ransacking and burning down a store, along with a man losing his life. No manslaughter charge? In cases of felony murder where the defendant did not “intentionally or knowingly” cause the death of someone, “a downward departure may be warranted.”
How does one choose a departure? The “extent of the departure should be based upon the defendant’s state of mind (e.g., recklessness or negligence), the degree of risk inherent in the conduct, and the nature of the underlying offense conduct.”
Lee was such a good boy for admitting his actions to the ATF and taking responsibility! Plus, you guys, the riots showed us “people who felt angry, frustrated, and disenfranchised, and who were attempting, in many cases in an unacceptably reckless and dangerous manner, to give voice to those feelings.”
After all, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said that “we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard.”
The authorities arrested Nathan Earl Hughes of Fayetteville, AR, last week. He faces a felony offense of civil disorder and “misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings.”
What did Hughes do? Nothing violent or deadly like Lee:
Court documents say that, at various points, Hughes pushed against the police line in the tunnel and helped other rioters physically fight police in an attempt to breach the line and enter the U.S. Capitol building. At approximately 3:15 p.m., Hughes was at the mouth of the tunnel and signaled the crowd of rioters, “C’mon! C’mon!” while waving his hand in the direction of the tunnel. After signaling to the crowd, Hughes entered the tunnel and charged toward the police line.Inside the tunnel, Hughes continued to signal others to enter and confront the police line. Hughes then stood shoulder-to-shoulder with others and began to rock back and forth in a synchronized movement with the crowd. At about 3:18 p.m., Hughes assisted the mob with forcefully removing police riot shields and passing them out of the tunnel. Hughes also personally attempted to forcefully pull away police shields and pass them out of the tunnel back to the other rioters.At approximately 3:19 p.m., as Hughes was being forced out of the tunnel by police, he was observed using his elbow to strike in the direction of police. After he was pushed out of the tunnel, Hughes remained in the vicinity of the tunnel for at least 90 minutes, encouraging other rioters to “Pull them out!” Earlier in the day, Hughes had witnessed the mob forcibly pulling police officers from the tunnel and into the crowd.
In my post, literally published a day before York’s post, I wrote this rhetorical statement: “I don’t know why the FBI keeps doing this because it just reinforces every non-leftist’s knowledge that they are treated differently than the BLM, ANTIFA, and every other leftist rioter.”
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