At this point, it’s pretty clear that there are people who are above the law, you just have to be on the left side of the aisle.
As Fox News reported, Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, went after the Department of the Interior after a pro-Hamas protest that spawned outside the White House and involved the National Park Service, resulted in vandalism and destruction but ended with no arrests:
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“I am deeply troubled with last weekend’s incidents near the White House involving pro-terror, anti-Israel agitators,” Barrasso wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, saying the vandals inscribed “Long live Hamas” and other slogans on federal property.
Barrasso demanded Haaland account for the lack of arrests by describing how she is working with law enforcement to identify suspects, and he also called on the department to implement explicit measures to protect federal park rangers on-duty.
Park Rangers were harassed by these pro-Hamas protesters who shouted “f*** you, fascist” and “oink, oink” at park rangers. A statuary honoring two French figures during the American Revolution was vandalized, and an American flag was set ablaze, all within sight of the White House. None of these people who committed the crime were arrested, prompting Barrasso to wonder aloud if the lack of punishments was a result of “political sympathy.”
“I question whether political sympathy with the agitators influenced your department’s response to these acts of violence and vandalism. It is imperative that your department’s actions are guided by the principles of law and order, rather than political considerations,” Barrasso wrote to Haaland.
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Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton also reacted by introducing the Saving Treasured Artifacts Through Uniform Enforcement (STATUE) Act, which would put mandatory minimum sentencing on those who vandalize American statues and landmarks. Cotton and Tim Scott agreed with Barrasso, pointing out that Biden seems to have no interest in punishing anyone who displays pro-Hamas sympathies:
Cotton appeared to echo Barrasso’s conjecture of “political sympathy,” saying in a statement, “Joe Biden seeks to appease the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party [and] it’s clear his administration won’t do anything to punish the protestors (sic) who defaced the area around the White House recently.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., called the protests “disgusting, disgraceful behavior we’ve come to expect from terrorist sympathizers.”
It’s very hard to ignore the ongoing hypocrisy around who is and isn’t punished.
For instance, burning an American flag is “freedom of expression,” but leaving marks on an LGBT mural painted on a road is worthy of criminal charges, with some politicians pursuing it as a hate crime. Teenagers were arrested and charged with felonies recently in Washington after doing donuts on a Pride mural using scooters.
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(READ: They’re Not Leaving Marks on Pride Murals Because They Hate Gay People)
Moreover, it seems vandalism and harassment is okay if you’re a pro-Hamas demonstrator, but not if you’re a Trump supporter. You can’t even report accurately about highly protected narratives like January 6 without facing arrest, just like Blaze reporter Steve Baker who was ordered to turn himself into the FBI’s Dallas headquarters where he was led around in leg chains over what ended up being misdemeanor charges.
(READ: They Can’t Take Your Rights, but They Can Make You Afraid to Use Them)
I would argue this goes beyond “political sympathy.” This looks a lot like intentional hypocrisy.