Im-Politic: Is This 1968 All Over Again?

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1960s, 1968 election, 1972 election, African Americans, Chicago Democratic Convention riots, conservatives, D.C. riots, Democrats, Derek Chauvin, Garry Wills, George C. Wallace, George Floyd, Hubert H. Humphrey, Im-Politic, John Judis, King assassination, law and order, liberals, Martin Luther King, Minneapolis riots, Nixon Agonistes, political violence, race riots, racism, Republicans, Silent Majority, Trump, Vietnam

The short answer is “in lots of ways.” Not in all ways, though. And the differences could decisively affect the results of the upcoming presidential election. But at this point, the turmoil might still be at such an early stage those of us who aren’t completely clairvoyant can only sketch out the similarities, differences, and plausible scenarios.

First, the similarities. As with the riots that shook and burned numerous U.S. cities following the April 4 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today’s violence is both widespread and racially related. As in 1968, public opinion is deeply divided as to whether any of the violence has been warranted by past and ongoing iwrongs, and whether those responsible are mainly the victims of longstanding and widespread bigotry along with their sympathizers, or whether they’re mainly “outside agitators” who either simply want to cause and profit from trouble, or who seek to advance different or broader political agendas. As a result, as in 1968, a seeming chasm has opened up between those who would focus the initial national response on the racial injustices that have clearly contributed to the large-scale protests (if not necessarily the violence), and those who are more concerned with restoring public order.

As in 1968, the national mood has been inflamed for months by anger over issues other than race relations (then the Vietnam War, now all the political and social and cultural conflicts laid bare by President Trump’s rise to power and his policies during his first term – not to mention the pandemic!). Consequently, both in 1968 and today, worries appear to be growing that, as Garry Wills wrote (then) in is brilliant polemic Nixon Agonistes:

“There was a sense everywhere…that things were giving. That man had not only lost control of his history, but might never regain it. That palliatives would not serve, but that nothing but palliatives could be found. That we had slipped gears somewhere, and a chain of mismeshings was chewing the machinery up.”

And as mentioned, as in 1968, Americans are now in the middle of a presidential election year, and the aforementioned split concerning the initial response seems to break down pretty neatly along Left-Right, Democratic-Republican lines.

But don’t forget the differences. And let’s lead off with some badly needed good news: Specifically, so far, the deaths and the damage in 1968 far exceed today’s so far. Then, according to this review, “[I] the 10 days following King’s death, nearly 200 cities experienced looting, arson or sniper fire, and 54 of those cities saw more than $100,000 in property damage.” It continues: “Around 3,500 people were injured, 43 were killed and 27,000 arrested.”

Not that the King assassination riots were the only instances of violent upheaval in 1968. A multi-day conflict erupted outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago that August between protestors on the one hand, and Chicago cops, National Guardsmen, regular U.S. Army troops, and Secret Service agents on the other. Labeled a “police riot” by a federal commission appointed to investigate, the “Battle of Michigan Avenue” nonetheless resulted in no fatalities although 119 police and 100 protestors suffered injuries.

The current violence following the death at a white policeman’s hands of subdued African-American suspect George Floyd may not be over, but so far only about thirty cities have been hit with violence. Moreover, after several days, the toll isn’t nearly as heavy. Especially encouraging, as of this writing, only three deaths seem to have been recorded (in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in Oakland, California). I haven’t yet found a national injury count, but the Associated Press reports arrests at “at least 4,100.” It’s enough to make you wonder whether the social media- cable news-driven 24/7 news cycle in and of itself is heightening anxiety.– and worse – these days.

Moreover, for all the national divides that have opened up recently, broad consensus seems evident on the outrage perpetrated by fired and indicted Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, and a weaker but not negligible consensus that something has been unacceptably wrong between how the nation’s law enforcement system deals with racial minorities in situations ranging from traffic stops to inherently dangerous apprehensions to prison sentencing.

And despite the aforementioned apparent neatness of the Left-Right divide over initial responses, the actual political situation is thoroughly scrambled and confusing. Then, Democrats controlled the White House and both Houses of Congress. Now, a Republican (however unconventional) sits in the White House, and the House and Senate are split.

Therefore, it was readily understandable then that a critical mass of American voters would blame the incumbent President and his party for that Annus Horribilis and reject the Vice President who carried the Democrats’ tattered banner. (Nonetheless, the electoral results were much more mixed than might have been expected. The Democrats held on to the whole of Congress. And although Republican Richard M. Nixon triumphed handily in the Electoral College, his popular vote margin was narrow. Of course, it’s also possible that third party candidate George C. Wallace drew more individual votes from Nixon than from Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey.

It seems clear that President Trump is hoping to avoid the Democrats’ 1968 fate by taking the law-and-order route.that aided Nixon I strongly suspect that this choice is wise in principle. After all, as in 1968, a critical mass of the electorate is likely to value preventing perceived chaos over righting racial wrongs, at least for the foreseeable future. I’d also bet that the failure thus far of the Democrats’ national leaders to condemn the violence forthrightly will boost Mr. Trump’s chances all else equal.

But here’s the catch. They’re not equal. Most important, President Trump himself is incumbent. However legitimate his complaints that protecting public safety is first and foremost the province of mayors and governors, does anyone seriously believe he’ll dodge all blame if events keep seeming to spin out of control? Might even some of his base start asking where his avowed “take charge,” “get things done” qualities have gone in an hour of urgent national need? At the least, for all his tough talk, the longer Mr. Trump seems to dither, the blurrier the contrast he’ll be able to credibly draw with the Democrats.

And perhaps most damaging of all: How will many Trumpers view his failure to maintain order literally in his own backyard, as a church was set on fire last night just a cross Lafayette Park from his (White) house? Sure, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser screwed up royally by setting the local curfew at 11 PM. But as indicated in this key Supreme Court decision, the Constitution seems to say that the President can unilaterally call out not only the National Guard but the entire U.S. military to “protect each State…against domestic Violence.” And even if it didn’t, how much pushback would he have gotten from even moderate, swing voters from taking emergency measures?

John Judis, a left-of-center political writers whose judgments I greatly respect, has suggested, albeit obliquely, that the most important comparison politically speaking isn’t between now and 1968, but between now and 1972.  During his first term, Republican incumbent Nixon arguably presided over a country just as turbulent and violent as in 1968. Yet his “silent majority” helped him win one of the greatest landslides in the nation’s history. I’m the last person who’d dismiss this possibility altogether. But Nixon wasn’t also dealing with a pandemic and a national economy that had been flattened by shutdowns. Counting President Trump out has been one of the worst bets in recent U.S. political history. But mightn’t there be a first time for everything?

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Im-Politic: Where Blame is Due

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civil rights, Derek Chauvin, George Floyd, Hennepin County, homicide, Im-Politic, Jr., Justice Department, manslaughter, Martin Luther King, Mike Freeman, Minneapolis, Minneapolis protests, Minneapolis riots, Minnesota, murder, police killings, prosecutors, race relations, vandalism

Two sets of thoughts today about the killing of an unarmed, subdued black male crime suspect by a white Minneapolis police officer, and specifically who s to blame – for starters – for its too often violent aftermath.

>First, muddled thinking is abounding about the different categories of groups and individuals involved in this past week’s upheaval. And the problem centers on those who have acted violently.

It should be, but clearly isn’t, obvious that the arsonists and window-smashers and brick-throwers etc mustn’t simply be divided between locals and outside agitators, or between those whose anger is longstanding and genuine and those who have simply gotten caught up in mass hysteria. For if the typology used even for the violent participants isn’t valid, it’s unlikely that the country’s collective response will be constructive.

In my view, none of the violence is acceptable in the slightest – in the sense that its outbreak or continuation can be safely tolerated by any governmental authority. So I’m not completely with the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s position that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” I say “completely” because it’s crucial to look at the targets of the violence.

Specifically, rioters who attack police stations and vehicles, or government buildings, or even properties with clearly symbolic importance (e.g., a stock exchange) undoubtedly are assailing a system they consider oppressive, and that they believe prevents the peaceful attainment of their objectives (which could in principle even include bringing on anarchy).

I don’t agree with this view because I don’t accept the underlying analysis. But it’s logical. It’s coherent. And it’s principled. At the same time, it can’t be accepted, because a widespread breakdown of order would threaten essential levels of personal safety and well-being for the vast majority of Americans. Which means that these rioters (and their sympathizers) need to recognize that the authorities are justified in using any legal means needed to stop and/or prevent this violence. In other words, attack this system if you will, but don’t complain when it exercises its right to self-defense.

Rioters who attack other targets – like businesses or other sites without symbolic importance – may be motivated by genuine anger against an oppressive system. But ethically speaking, their actions are even less defensible. The best that can be said of them is that they’ve acted without the simple judgment and self-control that’s also needed for society to function satisfactorily. So that society has a legitimate interest in using any legal means necessary to stop and/or prevent their violence. And their sincerity consequently doesn’t warrant lenient treatment, either.

As for the looters – they’ve clearly lost the moral right to carry a social or racial justice warrior ID card. They’re nothing better than common thieves who deserve common thief treatment from the criminal justice system, and no sympathy whatever from their fellow citizens.

>Second, however strong my conviction that none of this week’s violence is acceptable, I can’t shake the feeling that the Minnesota state authorities made the crucial mistake by failing to indict the police officer in question, Derek Chauvin, much faster.

After all, much of violence was sparked by a belief that, despite the unmistakably incriminating video evidence, the authorities were taking much longer in arresting Chauvin than they would have taken in dealing with non-white suspects (even in more ambiguous circumstances).

And in this instance, they were absolutely right. The lion’s share of the blame here goes to Hennepin County (Minnesota) Attorney Mike Freeman, whose first instinct was to announce that “We are going to investigate it as expeditiously, as thoroughly and completely as justice demands. Sometimes that takes a little time. And we ask people to be patient.”

He continued:

“That that video [of the killing] is graphic and horrific and terrible and no person should do that. But my job in the end is to prove that he violated criminal statute. And there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge. We need to wade through all of that evidence to come to a meaningful determination and we are doing that to the best of our ability.”

But however reasonable and responsible and even necessarily fair these comments may have sounded, they were conspicuously timid to anyone with any familiarity with the criminal justice system. For there was no intrinsic need – and certainly no need in this case – for Minnesota authorities to conduct the kind of relatively protracted pre-arrest investigation of this killing that Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman described in a press conference yesterday.

After all, the video (whose authenticity no one has challenged) shows the action in question and Chauvin’s involvement undeniably. Would Freeman call for a detailed investigation if he saw a security camera recording of an unmasked thief robbing a liquor store?

Sure, there was the question of specifying the charges against Chauvin. Given the above categories of murder and manslaughter (and in some states, but not Minnesota, “negligent homicide”), that’s not a no-brainer. (On Friday, Freeman announced them to be third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.)

But not even these decisions are always or even typically based on meticulous examinations of available evidence. Prosecutors enjoy considerable discretion, and it’s common to file a more serious charge in order to create the worst-case certainty of a lesser conviction. In any event, an experienced District Attorney shouldn’t need three days to make up his or her mind. Which means that Freeman’s dithering surely, and needlessly, fed volatile, racially-tinged suspicions of the criminal justice system.

Where more careful investigation may be justified is in the second, and separate, related probe of the Floyd killing that will be conducted by the federal government. Under the U.S. Constitution, most crimes (except for those designated as federal offenses) are dealt with by the states. These include unlawful homicides like the one Chauvin allegedly committed. (Legally speaking a homicide refers to any taking of one person’s life by another person, legally permitted or not.)

The federal government’s Justice Department, however, is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights law, and on Friday, Attorney General William P. Barr ordered an investigation into whether Floyd’s killing warrants prosecution according to those statutes.

In some instances, apparently, these prosecutions can be more difficult to conduct successfully than standard criminal homicide trials. So it wasn’t completely crazy for U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald to talk about the the need to “methodically continue to gather facts” and compiling “all available information and thoroughly evaluate evidence and information obtained from witnesses.”   

At the same time, the Justice Department’s own guidelines seem to show that meeting this standard shouldn’t be especially challenging.for an indictment and even conviction in Floyd/Chauvin case given the video evidence, and in particular given the lengthy period during which Floyd clearly was in major distress at Chauvin’s hands:

“…the government must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the defendant deprived a victim of a right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, (2) that the defendant acted willfully, and (3) that the defendant was acting under color of law. A violation …is a felony if one of the following conditions is met: the defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use a dangerous weapon, explosive or fire; the victim suffered bodily injury; the defendant’s actions included attempted murder, kidnapping or attempted kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse or attempted aggravated sexual abuse, or the crime resulted in death. Otherwise, the violation is a misdemeanor.

“Establishing the intent behind a Constitutional violation requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the law enforcement officer knew what he/she was doing was wrong and against the law and decided to do it anyway. Therefore, even if the government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual’s Constitutional right was violated,[the statute] requires that the government prove that the law enforcement officer intended to engage in the unlawful conduct and that he/she did so knowing that it was wrong or unlawful. See Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 101-107 (1945). Mistake, fear, misperception, or even poor judgment does not constitute willful conduct prosecutable under the statute.”

So an argument can be made that the Feds were being too scrupulous by half, too.

Law enforcement should never be influenced by politics – much less by fear that unpopular indictments or verdicts will spark civil unrest. That’s a great recipe for mob rule. And as argued above, many of the rioters weren’t going to be appeased even by the swiftest Minneapolis indictments.

But the Justice Department has officially acknowledged the “sensitive nature of the constitutional and statutory issues involved [in dealing with civil rights crimes] and the desirability of uniform application of federal law in this field….” Which means that prosecutors need to demonstrate a little situational awareness. And that there’s a strong case that this was a test that both Minnesota and federal attorneys flunked in the Floyd/Chauvin case.