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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   26915 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026

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Let's talk about the attack in New York.

Six Arrested After Explosive Devices Tossed Near Mamdani’s Home (Bloomberg)

6 arrested after homemade explosive devices at Gracie Mansion protest send people running for cover (New York Post)

This certainly seems concerning... wait... it looks like I got the news wrong. Let's check in with the newspaper of record:

Smoking Jars of Metal and Fuses Thrown at Protest Near Mayor’s House

One of Mr. Lang’s fellow protesters sprayed mace at a group of counterprotesters, sending some doubling over in tears. Fistfights broke out among the crowd, and raw eggs flew through the air.

Then a counterprotester threw two smoking objects, one of which landed on East 87th Street in flames, prompting protesters to run for cover.

This was no bomb. It was just a smoking jar of metal and fuses. A stunning and brave counterprotestor who just happened to have a smoking jar of metal and fuses took took the righteous and antiracist action of standing up to nazism by throwing that smoking jar of metal and fuses right into the middle of a crowd. This totally clears things up.

Wait... no.. it looks like that's not quite right. It was a bomb.

The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb. It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death.

I thought the news media couldn't get worse than "firey but mostly peaceful protests." But somehow they've managed to reach a new low. At least with the "mostly peaceful" protests it's technically true. I'm sure >51% of the protests that day were peaceful and a minority set the place ablaze. But this is a clear cut case where a terrorist literally threw a bomb into a crowd, and the NYT rushes to blame the victims for causing unrest and smear them as "vile white supremacists"

Six Arrested After Explosive Devices Tossed Near Mamdani’s Home (Bloomberg)

It's funny how the article is really trying to mislead readers as to who was the target of this device and who was the perpetrator.

Authorities arrested six people connected to unrest during an anti-Muslim protest outside the residence of New York City Mayor

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said two of the individuals arrested were accused of handling and igniting improvised explosives, which appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts and screws attached and fitted with hobby fuses. Mamdani is New York’s first Muslim mayor.

Shortly before noon, tensions escalated when a protester affiliated with Lang’s group used pepper spray against the counter-protesters and was later arrested, according to police.

Then an 18-year-old man lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area, landing in a crosswalk near officers.

Note that the article is careful to identify which group the mace-sprayer belonged to. But the bomb was thrown by "an 18 year old man."

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