AG Report 4.13.2023

Against Mob Rule

The use of mobs and raw political power to override checks in our system and impose the will of a minority is a growing and dangerous trend in our country. That’s exactly what we saw on January 6, 2021. The violence that day was deplorable, but it was nowhere near the most violent riot in recent years.

What made that day uniquely terrible was that a small mob was trying to undermine America’s electoral process because they didn’t get the outcome they wanted. Most people understand why this behavior is unacceptable and must be countered. But as we’ve seen over the last few weeks, these mobs and the mentality that drives them are prevalent across party lines.

Last week’s newsletter highlighted how the press attempted to deflect the focus of the Nashville mass shooting from the actual victims to a discussion about the hypothetical targeting of the trans community, and later, gun control. Tennessee is a state with a Republican supermajority in the legislature and gun control was not going to be a likely response.

To pressure for a different outcome, a mob ambushed the Tennessee Capitol to intimidate legislators into passing their preferred policy solutions. While the mob was not nearly as violent as the one on Jan. 6, with the help of three Democrat representatives, it did clash with police and interrupt a legislative session. If this was a few hundred pro-life activists shutting down a California legislative session in the assembly with the help of a few Republicans, most people defending it would easily recognize it as wrong and condemnable.

People can disagree…