Bernie Sanders Mural Defaced, Investigated as Hate-Crime

Please forgive me for the lack of any deep insights this time; I’m simply kvetching about yet another perversion of justice.

From TWOP News:

A mural of Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was defaced near Navy Yard in Southeast D.C., and it’s being investigated as a hate crime, police said.

Between Dec. 15 and Jan. 14, police say someone painted an image of Pepe the Frog on the Sanders mural…

The Pepe the Frog meme, which started as an innocuous cartoon online, has been repurposed by white nationalists and anti-Semites.

The Anti-Defamation League declared the frog a hate symbol five years ago.

In other words, the ADL gets to define legal terms, which authorities use to prosecute people. Had the ADL not declared Pepe the Frog a “hate symbol,” then the artist would probably not be facing charges at all, as the city wouldn’t waste its time prosecuting a mere re-rendering of public art.

Various other news sites have reported this incident, but I have not been able to ascertain whether the mural was done on public property, or privately commissioned on private property. I think this makes a big difference, because if the original mural was done on public property, then it’s graffiti in its own right; it should enjoy no special protection. If it was commissioned by private parties, on private property, then the Pepe artist is actually guilty of a crime.

Either way, this is yet another example of our rapid descent into tyranny. When private interest groups are allowed to “declare” symbols they don’t like as “hate symbols,” and the government acts on it, we’re in trouble.

Furthermore, if somebody had similarly defaced a mural of Trump, with an icon of the Left (MLK for example), would hate-crime charges also be pursued? Of course not. So this is probably a case of selective enforcement.

Is the communist millionaire Sanders considered “protected” because he’s a Jew, or is it because he’s communist? We’re not told. If somebody painted a mural of Pepe the Frog on a blank wall, in the same way that Sanders’ portrait was done, then would it also be considered a hate-crime? We’re not told.

For a while now, I’ve been uncomfortable wearing my MAGA hat, because it’s an invitation for cries of “You LOST! Get over it!.” Funnily enough, Amazon has Pepe the Frog hats but, after shopping around, I’ve decided to try to make my own. They can’t steal the election from Pepe.

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