Asheville – The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and ever since the George Floyd incident, that wheel has been the local anarchists, the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA), the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) of WNC, and other affiliates. Folks with an anti-American vibe have been showing up at Asheville City Council meetings to advocate for any cause that would erode a healthy, middle-class lifestyle, and council seems to be eating out of their hand. Intimidating the opposition, members of these groups burned two cop cars and vandalized the cars of proprietors who wanted a business improvement district to counter the chaos downtown.
These groups insist that they’re strictly “grassroots,” but law enforcement agencies across the United States are quite aware that they’re very organized and well-funded. They’ve seen the buses that come to town with manpower and supplies for turning protests into riots. A lot of this is detailed in the after-action report prepared for Asheville’s iteration of the George Floyd riots.
When Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground came to Asheville on a book tour in 2017, he shared what the protesters wanted: an end to endless war, white supremacy, surging inequality, and climate change. These are gret goals, but, as is common in politics, the ends are being promulgated without contemplating the means. Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, in an interview with NPR about Stop Cop City, said these activists wished to “abolish police, government, and private business… ‘by any means necessary,’ including violence.”
Stop Cop City was a series of protests that former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan described as crossing that line and turning to criminal behavior. In the first wave of 23 arrests in Atlanta, Duncan said, only two were from Atlanta. Three were from Weaverville, North Carolina. What’s more, local Marxist webpages had links to crowdsourcing sites for saving Atlanta’s forest. There was no forest fire. That was how they framed site development for a police training center to cast a broader net for fundraising.
These groups unabashedly embrace Marxism. The local DSA chapter holds monthly socials where they package Marxist books for delivery to prisoners. Communists have long practiced effective means of growing their base. They seek out the dispossessed and convince them that communism is the answer. Sometimes, they light the fire for protests; other times, they join ranks. In Asheville, they’re currently working with the nurse’s union, the Asheville Food and Beverage Union, Just Economics, needle exchanges, and pro-abortion activities. They appear to be more at the root of the local Free! Free! Palestine disruptions.
Long-time president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, Rondell Lance, has had a lot of contact with local anarchists, including various forms of intimidation for standing up to them. He’s attended riots and talked with provocateurs. Asked if the protesters were true believers, he replied, “Most of them don’t even know what they’re protesting.” When the Black Lives Matter movement came to Asheville, he said he spoke with their leader, who pointed out that there were no black people wrecking havoc. He remembers her saying, “They ain’t us!”
Lance said he has copies of some of the protesters’ how-to books. One strategy is to provoke somebody beyond the boiling point and then video the response. Lance said they don’t like the other side to video; their strategy played out as the victims in the West Asheville Library incident were singled out for videoing and then surrounded. Regardless of the high-minded intentions of the mavens, the practical consequence of their programming is chaos.
Lance said local law enforcement is well-informed and well-trained. The problem was with the DA’s office and judges. They either let off people who vandalize property and create disturbances or give them only minor sentences. He said the mischief-makers are empowered every time they face no consequences and will continue to cause commotion unless they are held accountable.
While Lance spoke of boots-on-the-ground solutions, Duncan advocated for stemming funding at higher levels. Good people donate to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations because they believe in social justice; Soros contributed $32 billion himself. The organization, however, has been criticized for supporting groups with questionable tactics for promoting controversial causes like the legalization of illicits and swaying public opinion against US support for Israel.
The prestigious MacArthur grants received in Buncombe County were billed as giving inmates with minor charges a second chance. “But when I saw who they were going to release—” began Duncan. He expected crime would increase here, like it did in Charlotte and Cook County, Illinois.