Former Navy Seal Matt Bracken at American Partisan writes Armed Citizens Must Defend Their Communities from Rioting Mobs If the Politicized Police Will Not.

In societies living under the Rule of Law, sworn Law Enforcement (LE) officers have always been considered fully justified in applying lethal force against violent mobs during arson riots, such as those which have been occurring with regularity in American cities during the terrible summer of 2020. This was the intent and meaning of police officials publicly “Reading the Riot Act,” announcing over a loudspeaker that a violent mob had been declared to be an unlawful assembly, that is to say, a riot. Rioters who lingered on the street after that final warning could be engaged by LE at any level up to and including the use of deadly force, with no further announcement.

This was, in prior more civilized times, a basic understanding of all citizens living under the Rule of Law. This is why a police officer’s standard-issue pump shotgun was traditionally referred to as a “riot gun” long before the development of modern less-than-lethal munitions. This is also why arson riots were uncommon and short-lived. Everyone understood the ground rules. There was no right to burn, loot or murder.

Thomas Sowell put it this way: “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” Note that he did not say “the government” or “the police department.” He said YOU.

ABR, my own acronym for the current working coalition of Antifa, BLM and the Revolutionary Communist Party of the U.S.,  are now routinely using Molotov cocktails (gasoline bombs) and other incendiary/explosive devices as offensive weapons in both an anti-personnel and anti-property (arson) role. As far as the BATFE is concerned, a Molotov cocktail is an illegal explosive device, and so are powerful high-altitude fireworks, when they are deployed at ground level as anti-personnel and anti-property explosive/incendiary grenades.

ABR deliberately uses the anonymity of their black-clad and face-masked mobs to conceal the identity of their individual bomb throwers, in exactly the same way that 19th Century Ku Klux Klan night riders carrying torches on arson missions concealed their identities with white robes and hoods. There is no moral or ethical requirement for either police or ordinary citizens protecting their communities from violent mobs to identify and ferret out the individual bomb throwers, when the rest of the mob is intentionally surrounding them in order to shield them from that identification. Because of the deliberately created synergy of bomb throwers utilizing the anonymity of the mob, the entire ABR mob becomes a legitimate target for police arrest or armed community self-defense.

Furthermore, at this writing in September of 2020, there is no moral or ethical requirement for a law-abiding American citizen to wait for a lit Molotov cocktail or any other incendiary or explosive device to crash through the window of their home or business, while ABR mobs are rampaging through the streets conducting arson attacks. Once the fires begin, morally and ethically, the same Rules for the Use of Force (RUF) should apply that would attach to a lynch mob, or to Ku Klux Klan night riders on their way to burn homes or businesses. Both KKK night riders bearing torches in olden times, and violent mobs of ABR terrorists with Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices today, can and should be engaged by armed citizens with any necessary level of force required to halt their terroristic depredations.

In numerous recent cases, law enforcement under Leftist political control has repeatedly abdicated its traditional and expected role in breaking up violent riots and preventing arson and other terror attacks. Week by week, the level of ABR violence has been steadily escalating, and it’s logical to assume that it will only worsen as the hotly-contested presidential election draws near.

So let me be very clear: if Democrat Party governors, mayors and DAs have hamstrung their police for political reasons, and won’t allow them to protect the lives and property of their local citizens using all required force, abandoning their primary mission in order to bow to the ABR mob, then it is time for their undefended citizens to apply the clear intent of the Second Amendment. There should be deep regret about the abandonment of the Rule of Law by the Democrat Party political ruling class, but there should be no moral quibbles or hesitation by American citizens concerning the legitimacy of armed community self defense, in the absence of expected law enforcement protection.

Therefore, it is my carefully considered opinion that black-clad and masked ABR mobs, rampaging and terrorizing innocent citizens under the cover of darkness in the style of the KKK of old, may morally and ethically be taken under preemptive fire by armed citizens at any level necessary to drive them out of their peaceful neighborhoods and away from their businesses, before the terrorists can reach their targets and throw their Molotov cocktails and other explosive and incendiary devices.

As an historical note, it should be understood that the National Rifle Association was founded after the last American Civil War by former Union Army officers, (and Republicans at that), in order to empower freed African-American former slaves to defend themselves with firearms against KKK night raids. In the 19th Century, the Democrat Party, then allied with the Klan, (as the Democrats of today are aligned with Antifa and BLM), had favored strict gun control, in the form of narrowly written laws restricting the legal ownership of firearms by free black citizens.

The more things change…the more they stay the same.

The Captain’s Journal has a few comments on Matt’s article.

…You cannot entrust your safety to an assumption.  You do not know the intent of the invaders, and maybe they don’t even know their intent.

Third, even if the rioters don’t intend to douse you with gasoline and set you on fire, there can be unintended consequences and collateral damage.  It’s extremely dangerous to have rioters and looters rampaging through neighborhoods.

Regardless of intent (which can’t be known anyway), women and children can perish.  Men cannot allow that to happen.  Men cannot allow increased danger to come to their loved ones if they can stop it.

Having said all of that, be careful.  Your enemy isn’t just Antifa/BLM.  Your enemy is the state as well, who will prosecute you for self defense.  They did with Kyle Rittenhouse, and they did with the McCloskeys.  They’ll do it to you too.

Grey Man at American Partisan adds his comments on the above two posts.

…NEVER go anywhere alone. Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself masterfully for his situation, but to my knowledge, he started out with a group of people. He found himself alone at some point. Do not find yourself alone. Don’t leave your group. AntiFa isn’t going to, so you don’t either.