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2/20/21
Utah Senate Bill 138 Would Punish Antifa Rioters and Its Accomplices in Government
by Martin Scott Catino, Ph.D. Anticommunism Action Team Speakers Bureau

SUMMARY: Utah Senate Bill 138, Violence, Disorder, and Looting Enforcement Protection Act, is far more than a good idea providing relief for Utah as it suffers from escalating Left wing violence from Black Lives Matter (BLM) and ANTIFA—among other groups. The Bill is also a good idea that could benefit the security of all Americans. The proposed legislation addresses key problems that are national: the freedom to riot (not protest); impunity for rioters; government complicity by granting impunity and leniency to rioters and criminals; violence against police and military (National Guard) during civil disturbances; the destruction of private property; and the entanglement of two opposing concepts: civil liberties to peacefully protest; and civil disturbances masked as “peaceful protests.” 

As importantly, the Bill details the criminal acts of protesters and thereby censures harassment, agitation, intimidation, throwing “saliva, blood, urine, or fecal material,” and other criminal acts often not prosecuted by local, state, and national government entities. The proposal adds teeth to its measures by holding local government accountable, increasing penalties for civil disturbances, and allowing the state to deny bail and benefits to offenders. Utah SB 138 is also a testimony of the importance of community action; the United Citizen Alarm, a professed Constitutional advocacy organization, fostered the legal action.

KEY ACTIONS: While protecting the right to peacefully protest, the Bill proposes to immediately address street level violence by:
1. INCREASING PUNISHMENT OF RIOTERS. The Bill “increases penalties for the crime of rioting under certain circumstances. . . .”
2. HOLDING COMPLICIT GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE. The Bill “provides that a victim of a crime during a riot may sue a local governmental entity for damages if the local government is grossly negligent in protecting private property. . . .”
3. PENALIZING KEY TACTICS OF RIOTERS. The Bill “increases the penalty for harassment. . . .”
4. PROTECTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND MILITARY.  The Bill “enhances the penalty for assaulting a peace officer during a riot. . . .”
5. PREVENTING RELEASE OF DANGEROUS RIOTERS.  The Bill “provides that a person may be denied bail if charged with rioting. . . .”
6. PENALIZING AND PUNISHING RIOTERS.  The Bill “makes an individual convicted of rioting ineligible for certain state benefits or assistance. . . .”

CONCLUSION: Utah Senate Bill 138 addresses critical problems associated with Left Wing and other civil disturbances that are creating national unrest, public safety issues, impunity for violent protesters, and erosion of the rule of law in favor of mob rule. The stipulations of the proposed legislation highlight the importance of holding government and rioters accountable, criminalizing violent street tactics, and protecting law enforcement officers, military, businesses, and the local community. Without legal action against violent protesters and complicit government entities, and protection of law enforcement and local communities, radical violence will continue to threaten our Constitutional freedoms and public safety.
1/31/21
Teacher Turns the Tables on Antifa/BLM
An ACAT Exclusive

Samantha is not yet 15 years old, far too young to be so angry, disrespectful, and frustrated with the exciting and fresh world around her. But her embittered words against “the police who are all racists” slid out of her  mouth smoothly one morning in History class, howbeit trailing her own understanding of her intense emotions and ideas like “structural racism”— the pernicious theory giving support to the brutal images of violent police connected ever so artificially and out of context on social media, the parallel world of the young whose finger tips access phones and computers allowing easy travel between the material and cyber realms.  Her words glided across her fellow dough-faced classmates who likewise struggled to understand these complexities.  The dozen or so students in the class divided neatly during her combative dialogue on the police: a third opposed her; another third timidly doubted her; and the remainder smiled in support—and later spoke with similar invective.

But Samantha and her classmates soon had a change of heart—most but not all. As the History teacher I knew it was my responsibility to connect her and others in class to the realities of the world around her. Using Prager University videos and others, I introduced Samantha and the class to video testimonies of the police who are so vilified, the Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA “protesters” who the media lionizes, and the grieving families, friends, and communities victimized by these terrorists like ANTIFA and BLM. Stripped of  media images, propaganda slogans, and outright disinformation, these testimonies are revealing—and even startling as the facial expressions in class exposed. The student attitudes of hate, despair, and confusion soon  evaporated with one exception. Three heavy measures of truth, two handfuls of love, and one large cup of mercy is the recipe I offer for other educators facing similar situations in their classes.

Videos Show the Other Side of the Story -