With L.A. near rioting, A.G. Holder inflames America

Surely, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder remembers the 1992 Los Angeles riots, in which 53 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured. They occurred after the cops in the Rodney King beating were found innocent. (In a double jeopardy travesty of justice, they later were tried a second time by the federal government and two were found guilty.)

After George Zimmerman was found not guilty of killing Trayvon Martin, officials should be calling for calm. Already, the Los Angeles Times reported, “About 350 Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the Crenshaw district after groups of youths broke away from a peaceful protest in Leimert Park and stomped on cars, broke windows, set fires and attacked several people. Among those attacked were a television reporter and his cameraman, according to law enforcement authorities.”

But in addressing the national convention in Florida today of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, instead he inflamed the country. Reported the WSJ:

“Attorney General Eric Holder attacked ‘stand-your-ground laws’ three days after the acquittal of a man in last year’s shooting of an unarmed Florida teen, saying in a speech that such laws encourage more violence than they prevent….

“Mr. Holder denounced laws that permit a person to use force in self-defense without first attempting to retreat from the situation.

“‘Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods,’ Mr. Holder said. It was the first time the attorney general criticized such laws publicly, and by raising the issue in a speech largely about Mr. Martin’s death, he suggested a connection between the shooting and the enactment of such laws.

“Mr. Holder drew sustained applause when he declared, ‘We must stand our ground to ensure that our laws reduce violence and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent.'”

He said “separate and apart from the case” because Zimmerman and his defense team didn’t use the “stand your ground” defense because they didn’t have to. Martin punched Zimmerman in the nose, then jumped on him and smashed his head into the concrete until Zimmerman shot Martin.

Yet Holder obviously was using the Martin-Zimmerman tragedy to advance the Obama-Holder agenda of attacking our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms — and to defend ourselves. They want us naked before attackers.

Yet Holder himself is surrounded by armed guards. And when he leaves office, the former corporate attorney quickly will become a multimillionaire — through book deals, speechs and sitting on corporate boards — who will be able to hire private, armed guards. And Obama, of course, will have Secret Service protection for the rest of his life.

The rest of us don’t have such a privileged and protected life. We’re on our own to defend ourselves.

I hope the L.A. situation calms down. But if another deadly riot ensues, we’ll know who incited it.