As we proceed though another “Summer of Rage,” 1968 style, we have the spectacle of people, black and white, protesting about perceived injustice. The young woman at left, probably a college student, is emblematic of that movement. She’s “Mad as hell, and she’s not going to take it anymore”. Ok, more information please? What are you mad about? Do you have all the facts? Or, as I suspect, are you just caught up in a mob mentality? Fact #1: A forty something African-American male, apparently with a previous criminal record, is shot and killed by an African-American police officer who stated that the man got out of his car after being stopped, holding a handgun, and then disregarded numerous commands to drop same. Fact #2: A Facebook post from a person claiming to be a family member of the slain individual says he was just reading a book, and that was what was in his hand when he exited the vehicle. Fact #3: According to Charlottes’s African-American Chief of Police there is apparently a dash-cam video of the incident, plus eyewitnesses who corroborate the officer’s account. Fact #4: there was a handgun found at the scene. News flash: If an officer of the law gives you a command, comply! You can argue about it later, in court if necessary! 

Now, because of the actions of agitators like the “Black Lives Matter” group, masses of people take to the street to protest, which quickly turn into riots and looting. The police seem powerless to stop this behavior, and we end up with another incident similar to what occurred in Baltimore, MD and Ferguson, MO earlier in the year. As in those cases, the “protesters” are given “space” to protest, and the rioting and looting commences. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, can you possibly condone this lawless behavior? Dr. Martin Luther King must be spinning in his grave like a top. Come on America! No perceived grievance allows a group of citizens to go on a violent, illegal “shopping Spree”! To quote our African-American President: “That’s not what America is all about.” On that, I agree wholeheartedly.