Sen. Tom Cotton to people stuck behind “pro-Hamas” road blockades: “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way”
The real answer, of course, is for law enforcement and judges to do their jobs. Arrest them, charge them, and don’t release them except on substantial bail with conduct conditions. That’s not going to happen in any blue state, just like it never happened with the BLM riots in 2020.
The road blockades by anti-Israel activists being done to paralyze traffic in major cities are incredibly dangerous, they are acts of terrorism that law enforcement (except in Florida) are ignoring. They block emergency vehicle routes and pathways for people in need of medical care.
It's not just "disrupting" life, it's threatening life. The bridge is closed to emergency vehicles and people in need. This is straight up terrorism, and should be treated as such, it's not protest. https://t.co/5WJplT98l2
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) April 16, 2024
Senator Tom Cotton tweeted that people need to take removing the blockades into their own hands.
“I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic: take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.
It’s time to put an end to this nonsense.”
I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic: take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.
It's time to put an end to this nonsense.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 16, 2024
He’s not backing down despite considerable blowback.
How it should be done:
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 16, 2024
The problem, of course, that given our politically corrupt justice system which favors the political viewpoint of the blockaders, the public taking things into their own hands and not the terrorists are likely to be charged.
When someone takes your advice in a blue state and gets arrested and charged with felony crimes, will you pay for their legal defense?
You are a senator. Use your power as one to pressure states and localities to fix their policies.
— Peter Henlein (@SwissWatchGuy) April 16, 2024
Are you going to protect them if they get arrested? pic.twitter.com/atnQ5d28nM
— Aimee Terese (@aimeeterese) April 16, 2024
The real answer, of course, is for law enforcement and judges to do their jobs. Arrest them, charge them, and don’t release them except on substantial bail with conduct conditions.
That’s not going to happen in any blue state, just like it never happened with the BLM riots in 2020.
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We can’t be cowards forever
Nope, not going to happen any blue jurisdiction.
In any blue jurisdiction
“The real answer, of course, is for law enforcement and judges to do their jobs…. That’s not going to happen in any blue state”
Then it’s not an “answer,” is it?
So then, the real answer to the problem we ACTUALLY have is for rational Americans to commit to exactly the kind of physical pushback that Cotton advocates What would frighten our totalitarian leadership most of all is learning that we have finally united against them. They can arrest a few hundred of us, but they cannot arrest us all.
Approved “Street justice” warriors only come in shades of blue.
Then put on a blue shirt and roll up your sleeves and do what needs to be done.
If I am driving or cycling tryong to get somewhere and some clowns stage a roadblock, they have effectively kidnapped me. This is violence upin my person. I have a God given right to defend myself against this.
If someone is being illegally detained by protesters, I don’t care if they use a baseball bat to get them off the road. If they are arrested for refusing to be a hostage to left wing activists, I’d be more than happy to vote “not guilty” as a juror.
Meanwhile, they’ve been terminated from their job and their entire net worth is gone to pay their lawyers.
The process is the punishment.
Even if you win, you’ve already lost.
then go ahead and serve them as a willing victim of their violence agianst YOU. If YOU want to become their servnt, that’s on you.
but do not whinge and cringe when THEY begin telling you what time to get up, what to eat, where you can and cannot go or how you get there. Bow down and become THEIR slave.
And “have a nice life” as you do so.
I will be spenidn tis weekend teaching about two dozen folk how to accurately and afely operate a rifle, and retelling te story of HOW America was founded as the first nation to ever stand up to the tyranny of King George Three as he sought to control every aspect of every life in “his” colony. He thought HE owned every resident of the North American continent. In 19th April 1775 he got an inkling that at least a handful of “subjects” had had a gullet full of hys tyranny. When he sent his minions to disarm his “subjects”, fourteen thousand of them showed up to say HELL NO and soundly trounced his prize general Thomas Gage along with a couple thousand of his prize British Regulars.
IANAL but I believe because they are obstructing people from getting to their destinations that kidnapping charges can be filed by those who are obstructed. Those caught in the blockades need to go up to the nearest police officer and demand that charges be filed ( and they need to record these conversations). Make it difficult to deny that criminal acts are occurring. If enough people decide to file charges the city would have to explain why these citizens allegations were ignored.
ALSO IANAL but I know it’s not legally kidnapping because they aren’t stopping you from leaving on your own on foot. They are just blocking your vehicle.
Due to overzealous and oft-abused pedestrian rights (in the modern setting) they can get their way on this in many locations. The law was written in an overly broad way to protect people from vehicles within the spirit of a simpler time that people actually didn’t want to be assholes and cause each other problems. Times have definitely changed.
Unless a jurisdiction, passes restrictions on this kind of behavior then you are not covered legally for moving through them with your vehicle.
You CANNOT just leave your car in the road, especially on a bridge.
This is unlawful imprisonment, without any question.
So it’s N counts of grand theft auto, along with the theft or destruction of whatever property is in the cars. Your groceries can go bad while you’re stuck — or your insulin.
“it’s not legally kidnapping because they aren’t stopping you from leaving on your own on foot.”
So your argument is that it’s not kidnapping, it’s carjacking?
I can work with that.
I’ve never understood how “carjacking” was not actually kidnapping.
It depends on whether they make you stay in the car or whether they make you leave it.
It may however be unlawful imprisonment.
>>That’s not going to happen in any blue state, just like it never happened with the BLM riots in 2020.
You’re right. It’s never gonna happen. Not in blue states and not in red states. So it’s fecking time the Citizens of this country take action and deal with these domestic terrorists in a manner that indicates to them that their behavior will no longer be tolerated. End of Story
And they are terrorists, though milder than some.
Blockades are considered an act of war. These are coordinated and probably paid for with foreign money, so there’s a minimum of RICO to deal with and we should treat them as agents provocateur – throw them in a dark hole in a prison, letting them know they will come into “gen pop” when we’ve identified the person or country making war on us.
It’s happening in Florida.
The police lawfully moved people off the street to the sidewalk in Florida, you jackass.
If you block a major highway on interstate in Florida, you are removed from the road and arrested. That’s how it should be done, but only Red states are doing it.
remember when the BLM riots were slowly spreading across California and other states? They’d had a pretty well unobstructed run thoughout most of So California. Then a gaggle of the mopes decided to “ranch out” and go find some more remote areas to terrorise. A coue carloads of them headed out to the small hometown called Yucaipa, out in the desert foothills in San Bernardino County, They strolled into town thinkng they’d own the place in a short while. Well, the locals took up the challange and showed up, armed and determined. They allowed them NO space to do their dirt. It only took a coupe of hours before the “brave” invaders made the wisest decision they’d made in the past few weeks.. they reloaded themselves back into their cars and left. NO ONE ever “visited” Yucaipa afTer that. Things went on as they’d gone on for he pas few decades. BLM had to chalk up a bitter defeat. WHY? Because the locals SIMPLY SAID NO WAY JOSÉ and backed up their words with ACTION.
My message to Tommy Cotton: will you help me pay my attorney’s fees and court costs? Will you visit me in jail? Please let me know.
What were you planning to do? I think all he meant was what the big French guy did. Actually heroic. He saw some snowflakes sitting helpless in the road and pulled them to safety.
Griz’s comment is valid. Cotton’s advice looks good on the surface but when it gets hot the fabric of his argument is going to shrink. I’d hate to be put in a cell for physically removing some moronic terror soy boys only to be left high and dry like a pair of tighty whiteys when a liberal judge calls me a cotton pickin idiot for taking advice from a Twitter user.
I sincerely doubt it. He was Arkansas’ Golden Boy back in the Ob@m@ administration, and was at his peak when he stood against Iran. Fast forward to 1/6 of 2020 and his comments regarding Trump lost him a lot of support here. If you recall 6 or more years ago he was the darling of the right. The last 4 years he’s been practically invisible.
I’m guessing he or a family member was inconvenienced the other day by a protest while on the way to Whole Foods. In another few days he’ll be back hiding in one of the caves dotting AR’s many riverbanks. I may be a slave to my convictions but I’m done picking Cotton.
No he won’t. Anymore than Thomas Paine would have paid for your musket, or burial (whether by death on the battlefield or by hanging). It’s just a suggestion to grow some balls.
Well, those balls better be going commando. You sure don’t want any Cotton briefs defending them. 🤭
4th generation Arkansan. Sound like you write for the Democrat-Gazette. WestRock, eh. But definitely not SouthwestRock! Maybe Maumelle.
Paul Greenberg was the last good writer at the DemGaz (and one of very few capital-C conservative Jews that I met here in Little Rock). He is sadly missed.
I had the mispleasure of meeting Walter Hussman’s daughter in-law (married his space-cadet son) as I lived in her neighborhood for a while. Hard pass. The old man stood his ground a few years ago when it came to a UNC Chapel Hill hiring Nikole Hannah-Jones. But since they jacked the price up and went digital I get all my news here from Professor J and company
Maumelle?!?! Man, I’ve been insulted before but … 🤣🤣. If only we can get rid of Mayor Scott. Oh well, Life in the city.
A pleasure meeting you, neighbor.
Yep. The deck is stacked against us, big time.
then its time to play a few trump cards., Sweetie Pie……
1) The primary job of government is to enforce the law and protect the citizens (property rights, life, etc.).
2) In our country, the citizens hold the authority, and delegate it to the gov’t.
3) If the gov’t entities will not do their job, then the citizens must claw back their authority and do it themselves.
So, yes, take care of it yourselves, if those to whom you’ve delegated the authority to handle it refuse to do so.
They already don’t try this kind of crap where I live. First of all, they’re more likely to be driven right over as trucks are more common than cars here. Second, we have constitutional carry so you cannot tell at a glance who is armed is who is not. Third, the sheriff here WILL put them in jail and possibly lose their paperwork over a long weekend.
When we’ve had protests in town, they didn’t burn stuff, they didn’t throw stuff, they didn’t harass bypassers and they didn’t try to block traffic. They stood on the sidewalk and held their signs and chanted their stupid chants and people openly mocked them for it. There was one cop assigned to keep an eye on them and if they acted up, he’d be on the radio and they’d find themselves face down on the pavement with a new set of bracelets.
It’s no fun for them here because nobody will take their shit.
As it should be.
Blocking a public right of way constitutes fighting words in Ohio.
Even if so, the legal protection afforded you by “fighting words” doctrines are less armor than negligee.
What is it that you think “fighting words” means?
“Fighting words” is a doctrine that used to exist in first amendment law, but probably no longer does. It does not give the target of such words any extra rights at all. It certainly does not justify assaulting the speaker. If someone directs fighting words at you and you fight them, you are just as guilty as if he had not done so.
The only thing the “fighting words” doctrine does, or did when it existed, is to allow the state to ban certain speech that would otherwise be protected by the first amendment. It’s (or was) an exception to the first amendment, saying that a ban on such speech doesn’t abridge the freedom of speech.
But what kind of speech is “fighting words”? It is only speech directed at a specific person, of a kind that could be expected to incite a reasonable person to lose control of himself and punch the speaker. Not that this would be justified, but that it could be expected to happen. So the state can (or could) arrest the speaker for the incitement, even if the target controlled himself and didn’t react as expected.
That is all, and even that is probably no longer good law.
I think you’ve got that one exactly backwards, Milhouse. At least when I took my 2 law classes, “fighting words” was a defense doctrine. It was the understanding that, while we shouldn’t punch people for insulting us, there was a line that even a reasonable person might find a rubicon – when crossed, they were gonna get punched.
When the judge asks why you punched that man in the nose and broke it, and you responded “He called my mama a whore!”, and the judge draws back horrified, you were the beneficiary of “fighting words”. They are words designed to provoke a reasonable person to action. I am certainly allowed to call someone’s mama a whore, but if I get punched in the schnoz over it I don’t really have a right to complain.
Nope. That’s not what it was. The entire concept of “fighting words” comes from Chaplinsky. In 1940, calling someone, to his face, “a damned racketeer” and “a damned fascist” was considered likely to cause him to punch you, so New Hampshire was entitled to treat it as a crime.
Now if you’re in Georgia, that state’s law provides “opprobrious or abusive language” as a defense to simple assault or battery. So maybe you’re confusing it with that. But “fighting words” is a term invented in Chaplinsky so it can only apply to the doctrine expressed in that case, which has never been officially overturned but is probably no longer good law.
Well, you;ll have to talk to my JAG law professor about that, then. He seemed to think otherwise.
Can you find any citation for this? A case where “fighting words” was used as a defense to a criminal charge?
“That’s not going to happen in any blue state, just like it never happened with the BLM riots in 2020”
This is false there were many arrests in 2020, they lacked evidence to prosecute so had to release them.
“The road blockades by anti-Israel activists being done to paralyze traffic in major cities are incredibly dangerous, they are acts of terrorism that law enforcement”
Protests isnt terrorism, this is absurd
Blocking traffic is not a lawful form of protest. They should be dealt with harshly and quickly. The harsher the better as it will discourage repeat performances.
LOL.
Could you, at least, try?
Protests isnt terrorism, this is absurd
Actually, it is. They are committing violence (preventing movement, depriving others of their rights, unlawful detention) in furtherance of a political cause (or a religious one). That is, by definition, terrorism.
But, of course, you’re defending those desiring to destroy civilization.
Protests without a permit are unlawful. Don’t cry when/if others react outside the law to your own lawlessness.
No, they’re not. Protesting is a constitutional right, and needs no permit. That is, so long as you’re doing it in a manner that doesn’t break any laws, i.e. you’re not blocking traffic. The first amendment is never a license to break neutral laws that apply to everyone regardless of their cause.
Permits are only necessary if you wish to hold a protest in a place that would normally be illegal, because you’d be blocking traffic, or preventing people from using it for its intended purpose. The permit isn’t to protest, it’s to occupy the space. If you want the police to block traffic for you, so you can march in the middle of the road, you need a permit. But if you want to march on the sidewalk you need no permit.
They can legally protest from space that is public easement, such as sidewalks and parks. It is illegal to protest in such away that it blocks roads, bridges, and airports. They deserve jail time. What if passenger in car on bridge was having medical emergency?
What if passenger in car on bridge was having medical emergency?
Not required to make it illegal or immoral. You are violating others’ natural rights by essentially detaining them. Period. A soccer mom whose kid misses the game is just as much “violated” by this as the guy in an ambulance, with the exception of the level of consequences.
BartE is a Soros-paid troll. To him, the ‘correct’ protests are never terrorism, whereas ‘incorrect’ words said by you or me is indeed terrorism.
“My terror is speech. Your speech is terror.”
I don’t think Soros pays him. He just makes sure his batteries are changed weekly..
This is, most decidedly, not “peaceable assembly”, this is terrorism.
There was no lack of evidence to prosecute.
There were D prosecutors that used their “discretion” to not prosecute at all.
In NY City, the DA announced in advance that no rioters would be prosecuted.
Bullshit. You are a filthy liar. There was far more than enough evidence. They were on video, plus the cops who arrested them saw them and could have testified about it. That’s more evidence than there is for most crimes. They were released because the corrupt Democrat DAs, whom you support, deliberately decided not to prosecute them because they agreed with them. It’s the exact same reason why in the Bad Old Days in some parts of the South, crimes against black people were not prosecuted.
And blocking traffic is terrorism. It’s a violent crime committed for the purpose of influencing political change; that’s the definition of terrorism. But you know that. You’re just lying about it.
Looks to me like a village in Britain lost its idiot.
Your entire post is a masterpiece of bullshit and dissembling.
Why are you here?
Why are you here?
Answer:
Your entire post is a masterpiece of bullshit and dissembling.
Bay Area counties vote overwhelming for dems. All the judges owe their positions to lefties. Police can make arrest but judges let them go.
I’ll bet there are a lot of “muzzies” there too, right?
With bay area lefties its more about old hippies looking for the next war to protest post vietnam. Bay area counties most places jews would probably outnumber muzzies.
Your post is irrelevant, Thud.
The video of that incident underscores something people shouldn’t forget: Cops in most deep blue cities are just there to collect a paycheck. It’s impossible to feel any empathy for an ‘officer of the law’ who refuses to enforce laws because the people violating the law enjoy favored status bestowed by bureaucrats & politicians.
People on Twitter have been sharing that video of Brussels police shutting down a conservative speaking event (at a PRIVATE theater) and are correctly outraged at it. While we’re not quite there yet with our police…we are very, very close. Back the Blue, but only when the Blue deserves it. The San Fransisco cops on that bridge don’t.
Every once in a while the neighbors move cattle on the roadway to get to a different pasture…we take our time moving through the herd knowing the pickup might gets smudged. C’est la vie, it’s a pickup. Now, if coming up on peole who clearly did not heed (or ever hear) their mother’s warning to “not play in road”, then moving through their asinine road blockage (similar to a sewer blockage with roughly the same content) is the best option even if you get some “smudges” on your paint job.
Tough darts moron, stay out of the road if you don’t want to win a Darwin Award or meet your Maker…because both will judge harshly, and calling home to a Lawless DA for help won’t be an option.
Elections have consequences. Stop voting for Dems/liberals/progressives/socialists/communists. If not, too bad if you are inconvenienced and miss your flight or can’t get to work.
And don’t tell me you didn’t vote for this. You absolutely did – you just didn’t foresee these unintended consequences.
Not just that. This is kidnapping/unlawful imprisonment, too. People are trapped in their cars. They cannot just leave their cars. They are forced to stay in their cars.
Also, this is an attack on commerce, which is serious stuff. This is an admitted attempt to cause the greatest financial and economic impact that these people waging war on America are able to do. They explain that, themselves.
Lastly, they are giving aid and comfort to a declared enemy of America. It wouldn’t take much to make a decent treason charge out of that.
ANyone who blocks a road with his body has forfeited his right to life. He has offered up his life for his “cause” … for his action against America. It should be fine – and encouraged – for people to just keep driving and if they run over one of these hamas irregulars then … tough titties.
Finally … there are tons of cops at all of these hamas attack sites and the cops are pretty much doing nothing, outside of actually protecting the dirtbag hamas irregulars against the AMerican citizenry. Those in power who orderded and carried out that treasonous action are complicit with the hamas irregulars and need to be arrested and hauled away with them.
Blocking the roads deprives people of their freedom of movement. If the police assist, if only by keeping the people from clearing the road themselves, are they violating civil rights under color of law?
Yes, but only the federal government gets to use that federal statute (successfully), and only against cops they don’t like (like Stacey Koons).
Since such an approach would lead to vigorous prosecution of the righteous, I recommend stealthily-delivered, curare-laden blow darts.
Safe, effective, and FDA-approved!
I noted earlier that I was considering development of a pepper spray drone to keep in the car. Very difficult to assert whose car it came from especially if it flies an indirect route to the terrorists/rioters/mob.
Also noting that this is a BLUE state problem which is inconveniencing BLUE state and BLUE city voters.
Hell even Washington cleared these goons out in under 3 hours because the WSP is under intense pressure to keep roadways open and even Seattle drivers have had enough of BLM and HAMAS antics. Since Wa roadways are becoming a Max Max movie anyway I was curious how that one would play out.
At the moment, these exist only for police, and are expensive. If a civilian version becomes available, I will buy one.
The BLM marches in my town were pretty neat. Bonfires and smashed windows in the downtown business district almost every night. When the president offered help the mayor said “stay away, you don’t understand what we are trying to do here”. Today, years later, some store windows are still boarded up, some businesses are gone forever so people have less reason to go downtown. What the mayor is now trying to do is find sources of business tax to make up what he threw away.
In my town, I knew there was going to be a riot on Saturday because the main road through town had palettes of half-bricks (convenient for throwing at police officers) delivered and strategically placed on Friday night. What I didn’t realize was the convoy of charter buses that brought the “antifa” Fascists (100% white college-aged boys) would be parked nose to tail along my street and I would be blocked in and unable to leave for the duration.
I did get some nice video of my lily-white State Assemblyman throwing bricks at police and taunting the mostly black & hispanic officers with racial insults. I sent the video to his opponent in the next election, and it got plenty of airtime in his ads (still lost though, since I live in Communist Country).
Determining who has ordered and paid for the convenient delivery of pallets of half-bricks prior to violent demonstrations is apparently an NPR-complete problem resistant to computability theory, same as the reverse-engineering of private RSA keys, or ever truly understanding the motives of a killer who was screaming, “Allahu akbar.”
a couple of tyre valve stem core removal tools would be handy to keep in your pocket for such events. Deflate all six or eight tyres on those busses. the service call to repair that would be rather dear for the bus owners. Perhaps they’d reconsider to whom they are chartering their busses for the net such event.
“When the president offered help the mayor said “stay away, you don’t understand what we are trying to do here”.
Schizophrenic delusions are often notoriously incomprehensible, even with specialized training.
If someone’s blocking the road and an ambulance needs to get through, is it reasonable to fear that the person the ambulance is going to is in danger of death or severe bodily harm?
Here again, to fix this we need to know the following —
1) who is paying the protesters? Many of them are paid.
2) who is paying their lawyers? The lawyers, even the most radical ones, definitely get paid.
3) who pays for the transportation? The bail money? The bottled water? All the professionally printed signs and banners?
4) who is organizing and where do they get their money?
Answer those questions and you know what to do next.
Dealing with these people is easy, Just walk up to them whip it out and aim the stream to make sure they are sitting in it. They will move when they realize they will have to endure sitting in peoples bodily waste.
Drag them off the road, zip-tie them to a guardrail and go about your business.
That’s a reasonable reaction to this lawlessness. The problem is, even in red states now, you’ll get arrested for that and held without bail, while the antifa thug goes free that very night.
Years ago, the NRA had a slogan: “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” The problem with the slogan was that it was ambiguous: certainly, any formerly law-abiding citizen who kept his outlawed guns would become an outlaw. But when the law is tyrannical, being an outlaw for flouting it is honorable.
Antifa gets away with stuff by being unidentifiable. Common clothes, masks, hoodies, umbrellas, and not sticking around the scene. They’ve proven that it works. Alinsky says every tactic is a two-edged sword.
Provide scars, then. Make them identifiable. Limps from broken kneecaps will work, somewhat. Entry and exit wounds, at extremis.
hopefully stevie wonder wont be driving a car on the road these mutts choose to close down
Drop the truck in 4×4 low range and run the tach up to 2000. That will put me a 4 mph. Lay on the horn. If I run over some SOB who decided not to get out of the way, I have self cleaning treads on the truck.
well if you want to play that game, there’s craftier methods.
5 gallons of gas… spilled….smoke a cigarette in the distance.
Duffle bag of hornets (best in late summer).
Second duffle bag of snakes
just spit balling.
This chest thumping banter doesn’t help anyone. Knock it off already.
Your tender mercies are noted. You may not be up to the challenge when sporky time hits.
Your memory is short.
BLM were going neighborhood to neighborhood and were armed. This was Portland. The only ones with the stones to stop it was a biker gang “Gypsy Jokers”
It’s not chest thumping. Tou are the one who doesn’t realize you are in a civil war. If you are waiting for MSM for the green light, you deserve what is coming.
And there was zero prosecution of the Gypsy Jokers. Interesting?
I was thinking that plain old junkyard dogs could cause quite a reaction.
Will the state’s easement to land acquired for a highway by eminent domain revert to the original property owners if use as a public right of way is barred?
Listening to both sides of action vs no action an easy solution arises. Our founding fathers gave us the mechanism to correct the issue. In states where removing the protesters won’t get you jailed, remove them and film it. Yes there will be fewer in the first place but use what you get. This will at least inspire the politically uncommitted in the blue states to at least vote for law and order.
Let’s see if I understand correctly. The authorities mostly are allowing this and if citizens respond as Cotton suggests, they’ll be prosecuted, so we are counseled to not respond. The obvious solution, then, is to surrender and acquiesce in the takeover of society by the left. Yes?
I carry with me (carefully sealed) a can of Liquidass, and I’m not afraid to use it. It is the most foul, disgusting thing they will ever smell.
that might be fine for running in stealth mode.
I wiuld think a far more effective tool would be a can of whoop-ass.
Ain’t gonna happen! Remember, the vast majority of these incidents are taking place in areas where the good citizens elected to forgo support for police in favor of the utopian society that has been promised to arrive any day now. Those who are inconvenienced or harmed by these antics should take pride in their martyrdom! Those that don’t, should leave. Soon! It will only get worse.
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