Self-Defense Is Off the Table—If You Are White

Self-defense used to be a universally accepted principle in American jurisprudence until the woke crowd got their hands on it. The laws on the books allowed you to use force in order to protect yourself. Sadly, the existing laws are being ignored in favor of “social justice.” Soros-backed prosecutors are zealously going after anyone who tries to defend himself from assault—if he happens to be white.

Seventeen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse killed one man and wounded another as they chased and assaulted him during a violent protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Videos filmed at the scene proved it was a case of self-defense. Rittenhouse, wrote Leon Wolf in The Blaze, was “someone who was in legitimate and reasonable fear for their life and trying to survive in a chaotic situation.” Nevertheless, Rittenhouse was arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence in Wisconsin. He was ultimately vindicated, but only after his personal life was torn to shreds.

In my new book, The War on Whites: How Hating White People Became the New National Sport, I describe what happened to a white couple in St. Louis when they attempted to defend their lives and their home against a Black Lives Matter mob that threatened to kill them. Mark and Patricia McCloskey pointed weapons at the mob but no shots were fired. Police did not show up to protect the McCloskeys. In spite of a video taken at the scene, the McCloskeys were charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony carrying a possible four-year prison sentence. No charges were brought against members of the mob either for trespassing, destruction of private property, or threatening physical harm.

When Jordan Neely, a large black man with a long rap sheet, terrorized a New York City subway car full of frightened passengers, he was taken down in a choke hold by Daniel Penny, a former Marine who happened to be white. Although Neely died as a result, it was clear that Penny acted in defense of his fellow passengers. Instead of receiving a medal for heroism, Penny was arrested and indicted on a charge of manslaughter. This is an example of how the legal system supports black criminality.

The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, has a record of releasing violent felons and charging citizens like Daniel Penny for lawful acts of self-defense. One of the worst cases involved a bodega owner who killed an armed robber when the robber assaulted him. Bragg charged the owner with second-degree murder and locked him up in notorious Rikers Island prison before the case was finally dropped. In another incident, a parking valet shot an armed car thief when the thief pulled a gun. Bragg charged the valet with attempted murder.

When white people are assaulted by blacks, the legal system bends over backwards to coddle the black perpetrators. If there is a confrontation between a white person and a black person, said author Ben Shapiro, the Left deems that the white person must be at fault. Referring to the case of Jordan Neely, Shapiro said, “Neely apparently had a right to threaten people on the subway.” Penny, on the other hand, did not have the right of self-defense.

A very different sort of case occurred in San Bernardino, California, where a 21-year-old black man assaulted a white police officer as she was trying to prevent a violent crime. He wrestled the female officer to the ground, punched her in the face, and seized her firearm. He attempted to shoot her in the face but failed only because the gun jammed.

In what should have been an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, the lawyer for the assailant claimed that his client was acting in self-defense because the initial detention by the officer was illegal. “He could punch her 100 times,” said the lawyer, “and it wouldn’t matter.” The jury agreed, finding the defendant not guilty of attempted murder and other charges. Had the defendant been white and the officer black, the verdict would have been different. The self-defense argument was allowed for this black defendant even though a video proved he had attempted to kill a police officer.

Social justice is totally unjust when the right to self-defense depends on skin color. In our woke society, social justice is interfering with traditional notions of right and wrong. A white person can be denied the right of self-defense. A violent black felon can get away with it. This is the current state of our legal system.

Ed Brodow (www.edbrodowpolitics.com) is a conservative political commentator and author of THE WAR ON WHITES: How Hating White People Became the New National Sport.