Things in the streets of our major cities aren't getting any better. Overnight Friday into Saturday morning, things in Minneapolis in particular have descended into raw rebellion against established authority - you know, insurrection. Things aren't good; mobs have stormed hotels, and municipal law enforcement has abandoned the streets to the mobs.
Meanwhile, in Iran, tens of thousands are in the streets, protesting, taking over entire districts, demanding the end of that country's theocracy.
Two countries. Two rebellions. The rebels in the United States would like to compare themselves to the rebels in Iran, but that's a canard; the two sides couldn't be more different. Here's why.
First, Iran. Since 1979, Iran has been in the hands of a vicious theocracy. The "Supreme Leader," Ali Khamenei, is a Bronze Age ideologue. Iran's government has, since 1979, been the world's foremost proponent of radical Islam and the number one state sponsor of terrorism. Iran's government pours money into Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State and other violent groups, while being unable to even ensure clean water to its residents. One focal point of the rebellion in Iran is the son of the former, deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi, who is calling for a democratic Iran.
Supporters of Reza Pahlavi say he is emerging as a focal point for opposition mobilization amid escalating unrest. On January 8, Pahlavi publicly called on Iranians to chant at 8 p.m. from their homes or in the streets and his aides said large crowds responded across multiple cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Ahvaz and Tabriz.
Those close to Pahlavi describe him as advocating a secular, democratic Iran committed to human rights, while rejecting claims that he is seeking to restore the monarchy. Pahlavi has repeatedly said the form of Iran’s future system should be decided by the people through a free constitutional process.
"My role is not to tip the scales in favor of either monarchy or republic," Pahlavi said. "I will remain entirely impartial in the process to help ensure that Iranians finally have the right to choose freely."
Second, Minneapolis. Mobs in the streets are protesting Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents carrying out their legal duty. ICE and the Border Patrol are enforcing federal law, voted on and passed in accordance with our Constitution, by democratically elected representatives. If they disapprove of the laws, they are free to vote and advocate to have them changed; instead, they are taking to the streets and demanding that the Trump administration ignore those laws.
Kind of like the Biden administration did.
Now, those mobs, in what is starting to look like a re-creation of the summer of 2020, are barricading roads and storming hotels, some of which have nothing to do with the federal operation.
The Minneapolis Police Department was absent from the block where Wednesday’s ICE shooting unfolded, allowing agitators to seize control of the street and erect makeshift barricades that kept others out of the area.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the shooting happened during an ICE enforcement operation in south Minneapolis on Wednesday. DHS said agents were trying to make arrests when Renee Good allegedly used her vehicle as a weapon, which the agency said prompted a federal agent to fire shots in self-defense.
Following the shooting, agitators took control of the street where the shooting took place and used makeshift barricades with chairs, trash cans, wood shipping pallets, bicycles and more.
Earlier on Saturday, my colleague Nick Arama reported on the storming of several hotels in the Minneapolis area. Nick writes:
The radical mob hit Minneapolis hotels on Friday night, looking for ICE agents.
They stormed The Depot Hotel. You can see someone carrying a flag for the Communist Party of the USA.
They overturned things in front of the building and toppled things inside the building. They also graffitied "F**k ICE" on the windows/doors.
Both of these are instances of open rebellion. But here's the thing: Not all rebellions are created equal.
Read More: Is It 'Go Time' in Iran?
Anti-ICE Mob Storms Hotels in Minneapolis Looking for ICE, Even Chases and Attacks Police
Nick Arama notes that one of the Minneapolis rebels was carrying the flag of the Communist Party of the USA, and that says a lot. Minneapolis, Portland, and several other cities where anti-ICE protests and riots are taking place have far more in common with the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, or the takeover of Cuba by the Castro regime, than they do with Iranian nationals looking to throw off the theocracy.
The Iranian rebels are trying to throw off a regime that endorses and finds mass murder. The Minneapolis mobs are trying to overthrow a constitutional republic that has done more for the cause of freedom and liberty than any nation in the history of the world.
The Iranian rebels are trying to drag Iran forward, into the modern world, to make their country a nation ruled, not by a theocrat, not by terrorists, but by law. The Minneapolis mobs are trying to establish an order where laws may be enforced or ignored in accordance with the whim of the moment; a rule by mob, not a rule of law.
The Iranian rebels are trying to preserve their nation's integrity. The Minneapolis mobs are trying to destroy our nation's integrity.
What happens in Iran is a planet away from us here, in the United States. We can hope for the best for the Iranian people; we can hope that the mullahs are driven from power, ideally even driven from the country altogether, and President Trump seems determined to do what the United States can to forward that goal short of putting American boots on the ground. But here, right here in the cities of our own nation, there is an open insurrection going on - not a bunch of hooligans strolling around the Capitol taking selfies, but an actual rebellion. It happened in 2020. It looks like it's happening again. And this time, they must not be allowed to succeed in imposing a nationwide heckler's veto.
After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, John Adams wrote:
The die is cast. The people have passed the river and cut away the bridge.
That's where we are, now, again. Only this time the rebellion is against liberty, against the rule of law, against the Constitution and its defined order. This rebellion cannot succeed. The continuation of our republic is at stake.
