We’ve got a long way to go before we start seeing any real equality under the law. (No doubt!) But this ruling takes us one big step in the right direction.
For years, ClashDaily and others like us have been calling out the ridiculous double standards on how left-wing legislators and media types when it comes to acts of political violence.
They seldom missed an opportunity to look the other way or give excuses when groups like Antifa and BLM were blamed for acts of violence, against innocent bystanders, police, churches, businesses, and government buildings. In the middle of the 2020 campaign, Kamala went so far as to help raise bail money for such groups.
But let someone connected to the political right get caught in a similar situation and prosecutors would throw the book at them again and again (and again) across the country.
Judge hits left with a serious Plot Twist
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, in California of all places, is calling BS on the whole lopsided process. If one side gets a pass, you can’t throw the book at the other side. That’s not just an opinion, it’s the law. That’s exactly where judge Carney went in a case involving some right-wing political protesters.
The same rules in effect for one side of an ideological spectrum must apply equally to the other side, whether that means leniency or severity. To do otherwise is to violate ‘viewpoint discrimination’ provisions of the law.
The case in question centered on a 2017 clash between a left-wing agitator group ‘By Any Means Necessary’, and another group our readers may not have heard of called ‘Rise Against Movement’. Their politics are described as belonging to the political right.
The photos accompanying this story are both taken from within the judge’s ruling itself.
Where did they clash? UC Berkley. If By Any Means Necessary sounds familiar to our longtime readers, they likely remember the riots at Berkley in the early months of Trump’s time in office. The names Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter featured prominently around that time.
ClashDaily writers were covering all of those stories in real time as they unfolded. You’ll find a list of related articles at the bottom of the page, even their headlines should jog your memory on some of what was going down way back in 2017 or shortly afterward. (Links are included for any of them that catch your eye)
The decision itself
At a rally in Berkeley on April 15, 2017, defendants Robert Rundo and Robert Boman attended a pro-Trump gathering described as a ‘Free Speech rally’. (The historical context would be in response to multiple conservative speaking engagements in Berkeley that had recently been shut down by mobs and violent protests.)
“No individuals associated with the left, who engaged in anti-far-right speech and violently suppressed the protected speech of Trump supporters, were charged with a federal crime for their part in starting riots at political events. That is textbook viewpoint discrimination,” he wrote. “Most telling in this case is the government’s silence as to why it never pursued a case against a single member of Antifa or related far-left groups with respect to their violent conduct at pro-Trump events.”
“Defendants have established selective prosecution. There is no doubt that the government did not prosecute similarly situated individuals. Antifa and related far-left groups attended the same Trump rallies as Defendants with the expressly stated intent of shutting down, through violence if necessary, protected political speech. At the same Trump rallies that form the basis for Defendants’ prosecution, members of Antifa and related far-left groups engaged in organized violence to stifle protected speech,” he continued.
“Of the 20 people arrested at the April 2017 Berkeley rally, the government charged only Defendants and other members of RAM under the Anti-Riot Act. The government charged no members of Antifa, BAMN, or other far-left groups under the Anti-Riot Act for their use of violence to shut down the rally,” the judge wrote.
“To put it simply, RAM and Antifa, which both appear to use violence to silence protected speech, are identical in material respects—the only difference is their speech and beliefs,” the judge wrote.
“By many accounts, members of Antifa and related far-left groups engaged in worse conduct and in fact instigated much of the violence that broke out at these otherwise constitutionally protected rallies to silence the protected speech of the supporters of President Trump. That is constitutionally impermissible. The government cannot prosecute RAM members such as Defendants while ignoring the violence of members of Antifa and related far-left groups because RAM engaged in what the government and many believe is more offensive speech,” he wrote. — DailyWire
What’s Next?
On Feb 21, 2024, Judge Carney dismissed charges against both defendants for the viewpoint discrimination reasons listed above.
The very next day, the DOJ rushed an emergency petition to the 9th Circuit requesting that the dismissal be temporarily stayed pending appeal. We’d love to see any example of such urgency in blocking an equivalent dismissal of anyone aligned with the political left for similar charges.
If the 9th Circuit holds up the dismissal, it could offer all of the right-of-center personalities that have been harassed by Biden’s DOJ, or even prosecutions from before that, a new line of defense.
It’s possible that could impact appeals ranging anywhere from J6 prosecutions, to FACE act violations, to the disparate legal treatment of one Donald J Trump.
We live in interesting times, indeed.
Related stories:
Directly mentioning eitherm BAMN or the conflict in question:
- Dear America: Leftists Claim Violence Against Trump Supporters Isn’t a CRIME
- DOMESTIC TERRORISTS? Has The Time Come To Classify The ‘Protest’ Group As Criminal?
- AltLeft Terrorists Clash With Cops At A PRAYER Rally – Look What They Did To Prayer Leader
Berkley: Riots & Other Anti-Conservative behavior
- LOVE TRUMPS HATE? Trump Supporters Smashed In Head With Skateboard At Berkely Protest
- Campus Police Chief Disciplined For ‘Liking’ Conservative Tweets?
- It’s A Miracle! Liberal ‘News’ Source FINALLY Tells The Truth About Violent AltLeft Thugs
- Hillary’s Buddy Busted For Raising Hell – Her Reason Is Pure Fascism
- ‘DARK DAY FOR FREE SPEECH’: Coulter’s BERKELEY Speech CANCELED
- BERKELY RIOTERS: Why Progressives DON’T Have To Denounce Violence
- Hey CNN: Here’s Some Of That Senseless Political Violence You’re So Desperate To Report On
Lefties defending/Promoting political violence:
- Dear America: The Democratic Party Has Officially Become The Party Of Violence
- Hey America: The Media(D) Helped Crowdfund A ‘Poor’ Antifa Radical … Check Out His Crazy Payday!
- CLASH POLL: Who’s MORE Violent – Liberals OR Conservatives?
- Hey PartisanPress: Your Buddies At Antifa Just Beat Up A Reporter — Is THAT News?
- REVEALED: Obama Gave $400K to THIS Anti-Trump Group DAYS Before Leaving Office
- PATRIOTS: This MAJOR Liberal Site Calls For Nationwide HARASSMENT of Trump Supporters [the site is Huffpo]
- DEAR CNN: Here’s 10 Quotes From Libs Calling For VIOLENCE Against Conservatives – Is That ‘NEWS?’ [June 2017]
- DOJ Just Issued Search Warrants On Anti-Trumpers – Liberals Are Spooked
