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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 21, 2026

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Okay, let's say I, an anarcho-socialist, organize some militant antifa group and breach the capitol, tactical gear and blunt weapons and chemical spray and all, during the counting and certification of the Electoral College votes to disrupt that. Is your contention that I would face significantly lesser prosecution?

We've moved past leftists being targetted and have been stuck on militias and "right wing extremists" for decades now.

What about Operation Backfire, or slapping domestic terror charges on Stop Cop City protestors? Or if those don't count, why not?

Leftist for a summer burned down parts of major American cities. One famous example was in Portland where they literally sieged a federal courthouse for days on end.

Compare that to a few hours of a protest that got a bit violent. You are out to lunch if you think the right is treated with kid gloves and the government attacks the left. It’s the exact opposite.

Tarrio did not breach the capitol, much less in tactical gear. The people who did were unarmed. Leftists interrupt similar events on a routine basis - it doesn't make the news because it's totally expected. They get escorted out, maybe some arrested for a few hours (just for bragging rights), and then the next group is brought in to start screaming and disrupting the proceedings.

Okay, inartfully phrased on my part, I didn't mean to imply Tarrio was there. But the seditious conspiracy charge doesn't depend on physical presence so much as on his participation in the conspiracy. The jury found that Tarrio helped create the Ministry of Self-Defense, establish its command structure, recruit participants, and coordinate the operation whose objective was to prevent the certification by force. That's why his absence from the Capitol isn't exculpatory.

The people who did were unarmed.

And that's just not true as a categorical statement. Dominic Pezzola smashed a Capitol window with a stolen police shield and used it to gain entry. Christopher Worrell was wearing a tactical vest and carrying pepper gel. Michael Sauer was wearing a ballistic vest, Kevlar gloves and a balaclava and deployed chemical spray against police.

Leftists interrupt similar events on a routine basis - it doesn't make the news because it's totally expected. They get escorted out, maybe some arrested for a few hours (just for bragging rights), and then the next group is brought in to start screaming and disrupting the proceedings.

Okay, they shouldn't do that shit and they should be arrested if and when they try and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, or any similar government proceeding. I'm not going to defend that shit.

And that's just not true as a categorical statement. Dominic Pezzola smashed a Capitol window with a stolen police shield and used it to gain entry. Christopher Worrell was wearing a tactical vest and carrying pepper gel. Michael Sauer was wearing a ballistic vest, Kevlar gloves and a balaclava and deployed chemical spray against police.

This is praising with faint damning.

Okay, they shouldn't do that shit and they should be arrested if and when they try and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, or any similar government proceeding. I'm not going to defend that shit.

The point is that they do, irl, in fact, get to do that. And even when they do much more extreme things like launch sniper ambushes on ICE officers, it's only the people actually present who get charged, so far as I am aware.