Wisconsin Rioter Points Weapon in Face of Conservative Reporter During Coverage of Unrest
For an image that sums up the lawlessness gripping American cities thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, this moment is tough to beat.
Elijah Schaffer, a reporter with Blaze Media, tweeted a video of a Black Lives Matter supporter pointing a “real pistol” in Schaffer’s face and apparently pulling the trigger Monday night during “protests” in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It might not have been clear what point the gunman was making — or even certain that the weapon he pointed was a real gun — but he sure made an impression.
HOLY SH*#: while interviewing this #BLM rioter in Kinosha he pulls out a real pistol and points it at my camera while explaining what we would do to cops if they rolled up on us right now
It’s been a while since I had a gun pointed at me even if it was just to make a point pic.twitter.com/hjQqO9Ccbb
— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) August 25, 2020
It’s difficult to tell from such a small snippet of video, but there’s an audible click when the man points the weapon, indicating he might have pulled the trigger.
And if it had been a loaded gun, that might have been the last moment on earth for that reporter.
Some social media commenters questioned whether the “gun” might not have been an actual firearm — if it was fake, it could account for the man’s cavalier style.
But as others noted, pointing what appears to be a weapon at anyone is an awfully good way to get yourself shot, too — particularly if the person the weapon is pointed at is a police officer.
(WARNING: A tweet below contains graphic language some readers may find offensive.)
Two things: It sounds like he pulled the trigger. The gun looks weird to me, like it’s an Airsoft or one of those paintball guns that shoots the small paintballs pic.twitter.com/uoVE5XwY2l
— Chris Mann (@Chris_Mann_2020) August 25, 2020
While it is totally possible that is a real gun, the color of the barrel and the sound of the click does not match that of a pistol that size. While it is still wrong what was said and gestured, I think the gun is a toy.
— Tyler Webb (@tylerwebb53) August 25, 2020
yep, I noticed it wasn’t a real gun as well. Doesn’t matter though, if you point that shit at someone you’ve signed the contract to forfeit your life.
— KMccalister ?? (@KMcCalister86) August 25, 2020
Very high gloss, plastic it looks like. Color is also nothing usually seen on a gun. Square looking bore. My verdict is toy gun. But it will get him shot if he pulls it on a cop.
— WiseEllis (@russellgoodson1) August 25, 2020
That last tweet — indicating the weapon might not be real but “it will get him shot if he pulls it on a cop” — sums up the situation perfectly.
After a police-involved shooting that’s still under investigation, Kenosha and its population of about 100,000 has become the latest American city to fall victim to looters and simply destructive criminals using a violent incident as a pretext for theft and arson.
Officers on the street, dealing with total strangers, don’t have the luxury of assuming all will be well when their own lives could be in danger.
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Whether it’s an arrest of a motorist that turns violent in a major city, or a police shooting of a pedestrian who appears to be pointing a weapon at them in a rural area, police officers are forced to make split-second decisions on matters of life and death where not only their own lives but the lives of the general public they are sworn to protect could be at risk.
That doesn’t mean every shooting a police officer engages in is justified. It just means that they are human beings, but empowered by the law to wield deadly force if necessary to protect the common good.
They deserve the benefit of the doubt, but thanks to the left, exactly the opposite attitude has taken hold.
For lawless elements — apparently including the young man who pointed a weapon at a conservative reporter — the occasion where a confrontation turns deadly not only includes an implicit assumption that the police are at fault, but it has also become an opportunity to engage in wanton violence, destruction of property and looting.
It’s been clear for some months that the rioting that broke out nationwide had far more to do with greed than any thirst for justice for those killed by police officers.
The mainstream media are bent on hyping “social justice” and glorifying the so-called Black Lives Matter movement. Democrats are cynically pleased at the chaos that — with the coronavirus pandemic — is warping the last months of President Donald Trump’s first term.
If the gun in this video is fake, it’s about as counterfeit as the “outrage” behind these riots.
If the gun is real, it’s an emblem of just how cheaply the rioters really hold questions of life and death.
Neither conclusion speaks well of the rioters, but both describe the situation perfectly.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
