Yet another race riot, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rioters burn cargo stolen from trucks on the highway. Washington Post/Getty

Riots broke out after police in Charlotte, North Carolina shot an armed black man. Washington Post. Keith Lamont Scott was shot by the police. His family says he was unarmed but the police said he had a gun and posed a threat to the black officer that shot him. Protests began immediately, and then devolved into rioting as people moved to Interstate 85 and looted cargo trucks and set fire to stolen goods. Rioters also broke into a local Wal-Mart but were scared off by police. 12 police officers and 11 other people were injured in the riots. 

My Comment:

Once again, Black Lives Matter has incited a race riot after a black man was shot. I won't speculate if Keith Lamont Scott deserved to die or not. There hasn't been any kind of investigation so far. But if he was armed and pointed a gun at a police officer then there is no question in my mind that he deserved to die. If you point a gun at anyone who isn't actively trying to murder you, you are giving that person permission to kill you. The race of the people involved does not matter what bit. Period. I don't know if that is what happened in this case but given the credibility of Black Lives Matter, I would not be surprised at all if that turns out to be the case. Still, an investigation needs to be conducted before anyone makes any conclusions. 

Even if Keith Lamont Scott was an innocent man gunned down by the police, nothing justifies a riot. Nothing can ever justify a riot. Period. It's just wanton destruction and disorder and anyone that participates is simply a bad person. I would go so far to say that I can't comprehend a non-fanciful situation where rioting would ever be justified at any point in history. Armed revolution yes, but attacking innocent people and causing pointless property damage? Never ok. 

The tactics of these rioters are frightening as well. Taking over a highway is almost suicidal and beyond reckless. Simply walking onto a highway is a crime and doing so puts both yourself and any drivers unlucky enough to be around at severe risk of death. An 80,000 tractor trailer rig going 70 mph isn't going to be able to stop if people are suddenly walking around an interstate. I am honestly surprised someone, either a rioter or a driver, hasn't died in one of these "protests".

In this specific case rioters attacked tractor trailers and looted them. They then started fires in the middle of a highway. In the above photograph you can see a bullrack, used to transport cattle and other livestock, in the background. That seems ludicrously dangerous for these rioters as the animals could panic while seeing a fire and could even cause a stampede. Of course, if these people actually cared about their physical safety, they wouldn't be on a highway fighting with police. 

I am starting to worry that this is going to be the status quo from now on. Every time a black person gets killed by a cop, before any investigation can be completed, before any real facts are known, people are just going to riot. That's completely unacceptable of course, but nobody will call out these people for doing this. I'm not saying that cops are right in all of these cases, but I am saying that rioting right after a shooting has occurred without knowing any of the facts of the case is just stupid. 

I also have to think that these riots have very little to do with any actual complaints the black community has. For one thing, it's not exclusively blacks rioting. A lot of anarchists, communists and other leftists ne'er-do-wells of all races, including white people are participating in these riots. I don't know if that is the case in Charlotte, but it was true in Ferguson and Baltimore. So it is unfair to blame these riots just on black people, especially since only a minority of them are actually participating and supporting these riots. 

The rioters are also doing this because they find it fun. Looting and destruction is entertainment for them, and little else. It's an opportunity to destroy, steal and fight. People don't do these things because they are angry about someone getting shot. They do it because they think it is fun and that they deserve whatever they can get away with. 

It is also invoking prejudice. After all, if your community was sick and tired of being called criminals, what would you do?

-clean up the behavior of bad actors in your community and protest in a calm civilized manor and avoid actual violence at all costs

-confirm the prejudices of the people that don't like you right by acting like a living breathing stereotype.

If you choose the 2nd option congratulations, you are an idiot. 

I think a lot of the problem is that the black community doesn't have good leadership right now. We had race riots back in the 60's but we also had respected people like Martin Luther King showing that there were more reasonable voices to be heard. Even some racists respected King, but who is the equivalent today? It isn't hustlers like Al Sharpton and Shaun "I'm actually a white guy" King. And it's not spoiled athletes like Colin Kaepernick. And it's certainly isn't our president. More then ever, we need another Dr. King, but I just don't see one emerging. All I see is people making excuses and nobody condemning the violence as unnecessary, counterproductive and pointless. 

I also don't think the Black community understands how fearful this makes everyone else. If one of these riots were to strike where I live, I would be terrified. If for no other reason I don't want to end up like Reginald Denny. I don't want my cop friends to be attacked, and I don't want my place of work burned down. I just want peace and order, not violence and chaos. Most people want that, and by rioting, these people are completely working against their interests... 

I think the worst part of this is how much damage this is doing to normal black people. The vast majority of black people don't act like this and would never do something like riot in the streets. It's largely an inner city problem, but it' a problem that is going to effect a lot of innocent people due to the prejudice these riots will invoke...