The last day or so has seen the latest outbreak of Social Justice Freakout:
White Students in MAGA Hats Taunt, Harass Native American Elder and Vietnam Vet
In short, the narrative was that these evil Trumpian kids, clearly racist and probably Nazis, had surrounded a poor old man at an Indigenous People’s March on Friday, and then proceeded to “taunt and harass” him:
The smirk on the face of this white kid with a red MAGA hat, as he taunts a Native American elder singing an intertribal song, is simply unbearable.
The as-of-yet unidentified teenager was part of a group of dozens of red-hat-wearing, pro-Trump students seen on several videos at the Indigenous Peoples March on Friday allegedly harassing Nathan Phillips. Phillips is a Native American elder, Vietnam veteran, and the host of a sacred pipe ceremony in Arlington, VA, according to Indian Country Today’s Vincent Schilling.
… where the author compares the act of standing and smiling to some of the atrocities committed against minorities in generations past.
But beyond the media outlets who jumped on the story and promptly got it wrong – and all in the same ideological way – I think the reaction of regular schmoes is much more interesting *and* much more disturbing. Because this kid stood there and did not retreat, people want *violence* against him. Behold:
With opinions such as:
Miss5280
I Hope those little bastards are expelled and the school goes bankrupt.
North_Central_Positronics
F*cking sickening. The hats make them easier to hit, though.
bigfatbuddhist
That was ugly. I’m a native American and I would punched that smirk down his throat…
Znuh
Pocket Nazis. Totes OK to punch.
Diamond Joe Biden
What a bunch of coonts. This makes me want to get Lucille out from The Walking Dead’s prop closet and put it to good use.
Scanty Em
I would enjoy seeing that punk-ass kid turning the other way, sobbing, lip split wide open, one eye rapidly swelling shut.
Weng
Smarmy d-bag out front, despite being INCREDIBLY punchable and wrong, is at least operating within the bounds of civilized counterdemonstration. A well deserved face punch and some reeducation and he’ll be alright.
Awesome. Additionally, if you hold your nose and look around the internet, you’ll find a *lot* of people who want to dox all the kids and make sure their lives and futures are ruined. Because… reasons.
Keep all this in mind: there are a *lot* of people out there who are willing to set aside every last bit of critical thinking and leap onto a bandwagon. If that bandwagon promises hate and blood… so much the better. If you hold the wrong political views, there are a lot of people out there willing to lie about you, knowing full well that their lies will inspire hate and violence in others. Behold:
Lunatic Leftists Doxed a Random Kid Thinking He Was in the Covington Video — Family Now Receiving Violent Threats
Hollywood Producer Calls For the Murder of Covington Catholic Kids: ‘Go Screaming – Into the WOODCHIPPER’
Failed Actor and Comedian Offers Bounty for Punching Pro-Life Catholic Teen Trump Supporter in the Genitals
My hope is that people learn from this incident. And by “learn” I mean “learn to hire a good lawyer who will sue the bejesus out of the media outlets that ran with this crap.” And since other recent events have shown that social media platforms are more than willing to dump users for wrongthink under the excuse that the social media platforms think that they are responsible for everything said on their sites… I hope that that enterprising lawyer sues Twitter and Facebook as well. A several-billion-dollar class action lawsuit might do wonders.