I’ll call it now: “The Punch Heard ‘Round the Nation’.
For near eight years, Black Lives Matter “protesters” have unlawfully taken to the streets, disrupting commuters, just because THEY demand to be heard, even though in most cases, the people who lost their lives to police committed previous crimes and attracted the attention of law enforcement.
Blocking traffic is an illegal, albeit effective method of protesting in the United States. While nearly everyone caught in a traffic jam caused by protesters becomes upset due to the delay, it is important to recognize that the inconvenience gets people’s attention, which is what protesters aim to do.
— FindLaw, 9/26/16
Although organized protests or marches can obtain permits to close streets, frequently protesters move from the permitted areas to other areas. When protesters block highways or streets that they are not permitted to be on, they are breaking the law and do risk arrest.
Such was another case last week during a “peaceful” yet illegal protest in the streets of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania….
A Wilkinsburg police officer, who Pittsburgh City Paper has identified as Seth Taylor, punched a protester to the ground during a demonstration against police brutality on April 16. The group of around 20 people gathered to demand justice for Jim Rogers, a Black man who died in October 2021 less than 24 hours after Pittsburgh Police officers tased him eight times.
— Pittsburgh City Paper, 4/16/22
Yes, this happened last week and the only reason why it’s not made national news is the race of those directly involved. The initial report of the Rogers’ death was yet another case of what should have been a routine encounter turning violent. Most normal people understand that nothing good comes from becoming physically aggressive with a police officer.
That’s common sense that’s obviously eluded Black Lives Matter and those who illegally take to the streets.
It was at the group’s second stop at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Center Street in Wilkinsburg, while Diamond Rogers, the niece of Jim Rogers, started to talk about her uncle, that police from various departments, including Wilkinsburg and Edgewood, got on the speaker system and told protesters to leave, stating that it was an ‘”unlawful assembly.”
Members of the protest immediately confronted the officer, upset that he had interrupted Diamond Rogers. It was then that the officer told protesters they were not allowed to be in the intersection while the demolition of a building was going on nearby.
Once the officer who gave the orders to disperse from the street came out of his vehicle, several other officers joined in the effort to get everyone on the sidewalk. During an altercation between two Wilkinsburg police officers, Taylor and Chris Duncan, and Toy Slaughter and another protester they referred to as their daughter another member of the march stepped in to separate them. It was then that Officer Taylor was witnessed punching the intervening protester and knocking them to the ground.
— Pittsburgh City Paper, 4/16/22
It’s obviously too early to know what will happen to Officer Taylor but some of us consider the man a hero.
The law-abiding citizens who don’t break the law have little sympathy for those who believe they have the right to do so at the expense and inconvenience of others.
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