A British man who attempted to grab a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer’s gun said he wanted to “kill Donald Trump,” further demonstrating that those on the far-left are incapable of responding to speech they disagree with without violence.
The suspect, identified as 19 year-old Michael Sandford, attempted to grab the officer’s weapon from its holster after striking up a conversation with him inside the Treasure Island Casino where Trump was speaking.
When he appeared in court, Sandford said he intended to try again at Trump’s next rally in Phoenix, Arizona if he had been unsuccessful in Las Vegas.
Sandford reportedly arrived in Las Vegas last Friday, went to a local shooting range called “Battlefield Vegas,” and learned how to use a gun for the first time. According to court documents, he fired 20 rounds from a Glock 9mm.
It is no surprise, given Donald Trump’s policy views, that Sandford is an illegal immigrant, having over-stayed his visa; he has reportedly been living out of his car for the last month in California.
Threats to commit acts of violence against Trump are nothing new, as the riots outside many Trump campaign events are well-documented.
A far-left writer for the Huffington Post doubled down on comments he made in an article in which he called for “violent resistance” to derail Donald Trump’s candidacy.
In an op-ed titled “Sorry Liberals, A Violent Response To Trump Is As Logical As Any,” Jesse Benn laid blame for any violence that occurs on Republican Primary voters for “normalizing” Trump in the first place, as well as on Trump himself.
“In the face of media, politicians, and GOP primary voters normalizing Trump as a presidential candidate—whatever your personal beliefs regarding violent resistance—there’s an inherent value in forestalling Trump’s normalization. Violent resistance accomplishes this,” he said.
“Violence that takes place at Trump rallies—in support or opposition—is a reaction to the tone he’s set,” Benn claimed, “and the blame for it should land primarily on his shoulders.”
Benn went to on to regurgitate the discredited left-wing talking-point that Donald Trump’s supporters are racists and sexists.
“The rise of Donald Trump has exposed the frightening underbelly of America’s foulest tendencies. Our racism, nativism, xenophobia, misogyny, Islamophobia, ableism, and propensity towards authoritarianism have been laid bare,” he suggested.
Following an outpouring of negative comments regarding his article, Benn took to Twitter and arrogantly suggested only “right-wing lunatics” and white racists are up-in-arms over his call for violence against Trump.
It is funny I wrote that piece specifically calling out liberals but it's #AltRight fanatics/White Supremacists throwing a tantrum over it.
— Jesse Benn (@JesseBenn) June 8, 2016
White America is fine with political violence – we barely notice – except when it's employed as a tactic of resistance by oppressed peoples.
— Jesse Benn (@JesseBenn) June 10, 2016
On top of this, his rise represents an existential threat to millions of undocumented immigrants & their families, Muslims, & Sikhs alike…
— Jesse Benn (@JesseBenn) June 9, 2016
Benn’s comments came after another left-wing writer was suspended for inciting his Twitter followers to riot if Trump comes to their town.
Emmett Rensin, a deputy editor at Vox, called on his Twitter followers to “start a riot” if Trump holds a campaign event in their town. Vox’s founder Ezra Klein announced Rensin’s suspension, saying, “we do not condone writing that could put others in danger.”
Rensin’s suspension is particularly interesting (and hypocritical) given Vox’s past history of seeking to justify riots in Baltimore and Ferguson following officer-involved shootings in those respective cities.