Rioting erupted in major cities across the nation after a policeman murdered a black forgery suspect named George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 30. And murder is the correct term for what happened.
Rioting is also the correct term for looting, stealing, burning buildings and cars, threatening and attacking police.
I’m an ex-cop—four years in Miami, Florida, where I worked “Salt and Pepper” teams in the black ghettos, ten years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a homicide detective. Having worked the rioting in Miami, Florida, in 1968, I predicted the inevitable outcome of rioting now following years of constant “intersectionality” pitting Americans against each other along the lines of race, sex, sexual identity, income, etc. After all, I had lived it in Miami a half-century before Minneapolis erupted and metastasized into Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Denver, Phoenix… It has all happened before.
The constant barrage of Racism! Racism! from the totalitarian political Left has created a climate for rioting in predominately black communities. It is that constant mantra that drives wedges between groups of people, which can then be employed by Democratic Socialists through anger and grudge to exert greater government control over society.
We have to deal with facts to begin with—real facts. Black neighborhoods suffer more crime than other communities. More homicides, robberies, thefts, and other crimes per capita than other areas of a city. It has nothing to do with race in modern society; it has much more to do with the management of cities by Progressives and the enslavement of black people through dependency upon government. While the murder of George Floyd by a rogue cop was a tragedy, the fact remains that a policeman is 18 times more apt to be murdered by a black man than a black man is by a cop.
My “Salt and Pepper” partner in Miami, a black cop named Charles Daniels, and I often arrived at a crime scene where black victims were in tears of fear and frustration. Women rushed up and hugged Daniels and me. “Thank you! Thank you! We’re afraid to leave our houses. You have to get rid of all the thieves and gangs and druggies! Please!”
The good people in black neighborhoods were terrified of the chaos and crime. A criminal is a criminal, no matter the color of his skin.
Rioting in Miami in 1968 began at the Republican National Convention on Miami Beach that selected Richard Nixon as the Republican nominee for President. Chaos and violence quickly spread throughout the city, as it had already spread from Detroit to other cities and states.
The cry went out: “Burn, baby, burn!”
In Miami, anarchists ran the streets, breaking windows, setting cars, houses and businesses on fire, looting, attacking police. Now, in 2020, flames leap and roar in the night, smoke engulfs entire streets. Many of the businesses that suffer most are owned by black merchants, a fact rarely mentioned in mainstream news. Black communities, in fact, are the real victims of “racial riots” that are largely instigated and led by criminals, thieves, thugs, and, today, by political socialist groups like Antifa.
Five people ultimately died in Miami from gunshot wounds, many more in Detroit and other cities. No policemen were killed, but a number were severely injured from bullets and rocks and other objects hurled at us. Daniels and I and other policemen were repeatedly ambushed by gunfire from the roofs of tenements. I later counted fifteen bullet holes in my police car.
Violence increased as the rioting spread—ambushes, all out gun battles, chasing looters with shopping carts loaded with stolen liquor, TVs, guns, etc.
On the last night of rioting in Miami before we restored order, snipers from a darkened alley opened fire on my police car and another police team. I dashed across the street toward the mouth of the alley, weapon in hand. Bullets whizzed past. I returned fire at muzzle flashes.
And then, by all appearances, I simply vanished from the street.
Looters had ripped off a manhole cover with which to bust through windows. I dropped through the opening into the sewer, splintering my ankle when I hit bottom. Next stop, the hospital emergency room. My partner Daniels stood at my bedside until he was sure I was going to be okay.
The rioting ultimately ended in Miami and other cities, primarily because elected officials and police took positive action—and didn’t purposely abandon the streets to anarchy as happened in Minneapolis at the Police 3rd Precinct Station when it was attacked and city politicians ordered officers to abandon the station to fire and looting rather than “inflame” the protesters. It must have been humiliating to officers fleeing the station on foot and in cars and leaving the station to be ransacked.
It seems politicians never learn from history when their goal is to take and retain power and “never let a good crisis go to waste” in imposing further government control over society. One major way to increase such control is to allow, even encourage, society to lapse into chaos and anarchy by which government must assume greater and greater power and leave people with less and less individual freedom.
This may be a good time to begin fattening up your canaries and dogs so you’ll have something to eat when the United States follows Venezuela, Cuba, China, the USSR, Nazi Germany, and other authoritarian states into socialism, tyranny, and failure.
Charles W. Sasser’s latest book is Crushing the Collective: The Last Chance to Keep America Free and Self-Governing. He is the author of over 60 books and thousands of magazine articles.
Chuck, this all brings tears to my eyes. We can still speak out but it will be the young people who will determine the fate of our nation, fight or tail between their legs and turn into slaves. Thanks for your efforts.
Thank you, Jim. All we can do is keep trying to bring some sanity to a world gone looney. Thank you for being in on the struggle. God bless. chuck sasser
Appreciate your voice–your experience–in trying to make sense of what’s happening.
Than you, Carol. This is only the beginning. Wait until we near the November election–and see what happens then. It will be complete turmoil to bring socialism to this country. There’s a biblical phrase that begins, “May you live in interesting times.” Are we there yet. God bless, Carol. Chuck sasser
Chuck, the provocateurs behind these riots cause hundreds of more deaths and injuries than the acts they claim they are protesting. 1965 Watts-34 dead, 1967 Newark- 26 dead & 1500 injured, 1968 Memphis &125 other cities (MLK killed)-46 dead & +/- 2600 injuries, 1980 Miami-18 dead, 300 injured, 1992 Los Angeles- 59 dead, 2300 injured, 2001 Cincinnati- 70 injured. I don’t have casualty counts for 2014 in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, but there and in 2016 Charlotte, NC- troops, were called out to help police restore order. President Trump was criticised for warning that looting leads to shooting. History certainly backs up his statement.
Yep, Jim. But we haven’t seen anything yet. This is just the beginning. This is the way authoritrian governments take over, from the top by using ordinary people and inciting them to disrupt. These are more than interesting times, they are dangerous times for liberty. Ronald Reagan said it best: If freedom dies in Ameria, it dies throughout the world.” chuck sasser
I just remembered a story Howard told about when he was a policeman in Muskogee in the 60s during a race riot. Their chief told them to use their billy clubs. To bring in anyone fighting, etc., and they were all to have knots on their heads. They were then put in a huge cell together. If fighting broke out, they sprayed them with a hose. That put an end to the rioting.
Carol. This is all part of the rule–to make cops the “enemy” and the tool of the beourgeoise in order to bring about “Utopia” in the form of “socialism” where everyone is equal–but some are more equal than others. chuck
You have come up with just the right blog for what is going on right now thank you Chuck
Hey, Fan. Thank you, my frend. We must try to restore sanity–but it may be too little too late when the trend is toward government power and socialism–so never let a good crisis go to waste. Hope to see you soon back at church. God bless. chuck sasser
Thank you, Chuck for your insight. God help us!
Morning, Sally. It’s always good to hear from old friends like you. We must keep trying to restore sanity from out of chaos–or this nation is indeed doom with its current leadership of “Democratic-Socialists”. Wait, though. Things are going to get much worse round the November elections. God bless, Sally. chuck sasser
No one paints a word picture like Chuck Sasser. I hate to see our country heading down some of these same roads again. I believe this one is going to require extreme measures to quell. Soldiers that should be standing by to fight radical forces outside our land may be pressed into action to protect us from our own citizens. Very sad. Thank you, Chuck, for this trip though our own darkness.
Hey, Jim. You’re right–but, you see, this has happened again–Go back to the USSR when Lenin first took over; same thing. Go back to Stalin, Same thing. Back to Hitler, Same Thing. Mao. . . etc. It always starts this way in chaos and guess where it ends up. . . Thanks, Jim. God bless. Chuck Sasser
Hey Chuck, Last night I heard from a female cousin who lives in Hondo, Texas (Pop.880) about 40 miles west of San Antonio. I have never seen a black person in that town in the past 41 years. She said a group of about 30 people (including 2 black women) had begun protesting about 5 P.M. The police chief determined the leader was from Austin, Texas AKA East California. It speaks to how “spontaneous” many of these protests are around the country. In Downtown S.A. we had mostly peaceful protests until late Saturday night when a small mob attacked the Alamo, defaced historical monuments with graffiti, and tried to loot 39 small retail businesses. The SAPD, augmented by the Sheriff, State law officers, and Texas National Guard ellements quickly pushed the mob out of the Downtown area and disbursed it. Most folks, regardless of race, color, or creed get along well together in this city. That makes me think there is a lot of outside agitation.
I hear you, Chuck. I was a cop’s wife for 16 years before he died of a heart attack, much too young. I’m certain the stress of the job had a lot to do with his demise. This is the 60s all over again. At least they’re not throwing feces at them–yet.
It’s going to be a horrible mess when there’s no more law enforcement. God help us.