Why are some of us not surprised in the least by what has been happening in Minneapolis? Partly because we have been through such lawless rioting and senseless destruction before, many times; and history is repeating itself—albeit in a different city, and in a different time.
The nation and the world have been in "lockdowns," owing to the fact that China unleashed the deadly Coronavirus globally.[2] And the deaths, suffering and economic costs have been horrendous; and tensions are on the razor's edge. Among those hit the hardest have been Americans who could least afford it, such as minority group hourly workers. One spark and the lawless Antifa and similar groups of thugs have been more than ready and energized to repeat the violent past.
Shortly after I arrived at Berkeley for my first year in its law school, Boalt Hall—whose name has been dropped by its far-Left administrators, who engage in historical revisionism[3]—John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas as I was leaving to spend Thanksgiving in Los Angeles. Then, the Free Speech Movement hit the campus, followed by the anti-Vietnam War protests, which spread nationwide.
During my first summer break, I helped a Boalt Hall classmate interview minority group members who complained of police brutality, which is the underlying issue in Minneapolis, or ostensiby so. After my day job, he and I went into the Watts area of LA, and interviewed those who had been affected. The next summer, the Watts Riots erupted in LA, followed by other riots nationwide. I wrote a law review article that was published by Berkeley, addressing how to deal with grievances against the police so that both sides were treated fairly.[4]
From Boalt, I went to the Pentagon to work as a young Army officer assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency. While I was there, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968, and Washington was set ablaze, not unlike Watts. I have a special interest in Minneapolis because my father's family is from there. A husband and wife who had sixteen children left Rottweil, Germany in 1849, and settled in New Ulm, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Both of my parents were born in Minneapolis, where they met in grade school before moving to California and marrying there.
When my father's parents were alive, I spent parts of several summers in Minneapolis with them, their children and grandchildren; and I have been back there many times. It is a city that I came to love, so watching it burn is sad and upsetting. Simply put, nothing justifies such lawlessness, which is the lesson learned from previous riots. Needless to say, the same shrill incendiary voices have chimed in—such as Maxine Waters[5], Colin Kaepernick[6], Jesse Jackson[7] and Van Jones[8]—adding fuel to the raging fire of hatred.
To understand what has been happening, it is essential to review the facts. If police brutality has occurred, it must be dealt with severely.[9] A separate but equally important issue is dealing with the thugs who have set Minneapolis ablaze.[10] Justice must be meted out, on both sides of the equation.
© 2020, Timothy D. Naegele
[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). He and his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates, specialize in Banking and Financial Institutions Law, Internet Law, Litigation and other matters (see www.naegele.com and Timothy D. Naegele Resume-20-5-11). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/), and can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/the-coronavirus-and-similar-global-issues-how-to-address-them/ ("The Coronavirus And Similar Global Issues: How To Address Them"); see also Timothy D. Naegele, The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them, 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (Naegele June 2020) (Timothy D. Naegele) [NOTE: To download The Banking Law Journal article, please click on the link to the left of this note]
[3] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/illegal-immigration-the-solution-is-simple/#comment-10698 ("UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT NAPOLITANO IS A DISGRACE, AND MUST BE FIRED")
[4] See Timothy D. Naegele, "Civilian Complaints Against the Police in Los Angeles," Issues in Criminology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.7-34 (UC Berkeley) (Summer 1967) (http://www.naegele.com/documents/Naegele-CivilianComplaintsAgainstthePoliceInLosAngeles.pdf) [NOTE: To download the article, please click on the link to the left of this note]
[5] See https://www.the-sun.com/news/898390/george-floyd-death-maxine-waters-trump-black-cops/ ("Maxine Waters blames Trump for ‘cops killing black people’ and says cop who knelt on George Floyd ‘enjoyed doing it’"); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/29/it-is-time-for-trump-supporters-to-fight-back/#comment-15097 ("TRUE LUNATICS AND RACISTS WOULD BE RUNNING THE ASYLUM!")
[6] See https://www.wnd.com/2020/05/kaepernick-calls-revolt-response-george-floyd-death/ ("Kaepernick calls for revolt in response to George Floyd death") and https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-t-wolves-call-healing-change-police-killing-170721808--spt.html ("Kaepernick defends protesters after police killing"); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/edward-w-brooke-is-dead/#comment-10926 ("Shame On The NFL Players And Despicable Race Hustlers!") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/america-a-rich-tapestry-of-life/#comment-17949 ("American Pride Versus The Treasonous Democrats, Leftists And Their Antifa Thugs Who Are America-Haters")
[7] See https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/28/lynching-in-broad-daylight-rev-jesse-jackson-to-speak-about-george-floyds-death-in-minneapolis/ ("‘Lynching In Broad Daylight’: Rev. Jesse Jackson To Speak In Minneapolis About George Floyd’s Death")
[8] See https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-van-jones-on-george-floyd-death-i-havent-seen-black-people-this-upset-in-20-years-maybe-longer/ ("Van Jones 'Haven't Seen Black People This Upset in 20 Years'")
[9] See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8367991/Lines-cops-riot-gear-defend-house-officer-accused-killing-George-Floyd.html ("Lines of cops in riot gear defend home of the ex-officer accused of killing George Floyd and fire rubber bullets at protesters as angry crowds gather outside for the third day")
[10] See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8369619/Minneapolis-looks-like-war-zone-following-day-George-Floyd-riots.html ("Minneapolis mayor declares 8pm curfew as fourth night of carnage looms and Minnesota Gov. admits 'abject failure' in trying to control George Floyd rioters who 'set a city on fire' forcing residents to hide in their homes") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8364805/Woman-wheelchair-punched-head-George-Floyd-riots.html ("Woman in a wheelchair is sprayed with fire extinguisher by looters who accuse her of 'getting out of her chair and STABBING them while trying to stop ransacking of Target' in George Floyd riots in Minneapolis") and https://apnews.com/7013997bc5633f3113d65901ddb7e85e/gallery/e4416a15a81846c299fba92427b1c7d7 ("George Floyd protesters set Minneapolis police station afire") and https://apnews.com/7013997bc5633f3113d65901ddb7e85e ("George Floyd protesters set Minneapolis police station afire") and https://summit.news/2020/05/29/rioter-were-gonna-start-coming-to-the-suburbs/ ("Rioter: ‘We’re Gonna Start Coming to the Suburbs’") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/this-is-war-abraham-lincoln-and-ronald-reagan-understood-this-and-donald-trump-does-too/#comment-20660 ("7 In 10 Americans Say U.S. On The Edge Of Civil War")
