People are going wacko at both ends of the political spectrum. Witness the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Witness the frequent violent demonstrations in the streets of Seattle and Portland. Such coordinated violence carried out by groups against people or property – especially against police officers and national guardsmen, or against government buildings, like a court house, a police station, or the nation’s Capitol – ought to be deemed unlawful not just for individual perpetrators of the violence but also for those in the crowd who aid and abet the violent actors.
We need to look past people’s politics to see their methods. It shouldn’t matter if rioters are Trump supporters or Trump haters, if they’re Proud Boys or Antifa. If they riot – if they attack police or civilians, throw rocks, set fires, break things, steal things – then arrest them, charge them, convict them, jail them! Don’t use prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the charges. Don’t just give the perpetrators warnings or probation or light fines. Incarcerate them! Make the punishment unpleasant enough and burdensome enough that it may decrease the ranks of the thugs in the street. Why? Because violence does damage – to people’s bodies, to people’s income, to people’s communities, to people’s lives, to the body politic. Because violence and the threat of violence intimidate citizens and elected officials. Because there is a profound difference between non-violence and violence, between words and blows, between marching and singing and carrying signs versus wearing gas masks, carrying shields, throwing incendiary devices, breaking windows, and beating up people.
This is not about Right versus Left. It’s about Right versus Wrong. It’s about Order versus Chaos.