Over the weekend, thousands of pro-Hamas protesters, many of them masked and some wearing green Hamas headbands, descended on Washington, D.C., surrounding the White House amid chants calling for a victory of “jihad or martyrdom.” At one point, protesters with tents set up an encampment on the Ellipse, while others defaced and vandalized historic statues, including the Andrew Jackson and Marquis de Lafayette statues in Lafayette Square.
At one point, protesters screaming “F-ck the police!” and “Kill yourselves!” chased U.S. Park Police and Secret Service out of the square after officers tried to arrest someone, after which the square was completely controlled by the protesters. No arrests were made.
The day before, on the other side of the country, three teenagers in Spokane, Washington, were arrested on felony charges for driving their scooters over a painted “pride” crosswalk and leaving some tread marks on the mural.
Spokane, Wash. — 3 teens are each charged with a felony (first-degree malicious mischief) for leaving scooter skid marks on the pride trans BLM flag on the street. Prosecutors asked for a $15k bond & @limebike says it is taking action against the youths. pic.twitter.com/mSWwWSY1Xb
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) June 10, 2024
As tempting as it is to call out the hypocrisy here — teenagers hunted down and charged for defacing a pride mural, no punishment at all for a mob of left-wing protesters defacing national monuments — that would miss the point. This isn’t hypocrisy on display, it’s hierarchy.
When you see harsh punishments for
