US moves to clamp down on rioting

It struggles to overcome it’s long history of racial violence

Trump threatens cut in federal aid to New York City, Portland and Seattle for failing to control rioting. Democrats cry foul, while Republican Congressman Jim Banks moved legislation calling for peaceful protests.

@prashanthamine

Mumbai: As rioting over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 continued to spread to other cities in the United States of America (USA) and November elections drawing closer, acting on the US President Donald J Trump September 2 memorandum, US Department of Justice (DoJ) on September 21 labeled Portland, Seattle and New York City as jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence and property destruction. Predictably, the Democrats ruled states and local governments have cried foul.

On September 2, President Trump signed a memorandum (marked to DoJ) ordering review of federal funds to certain state and local governments that are permitting anarchy, violence and destruction in American cities.

The Federal government in the US allocates funds to state and local governments meant for providing civic, state or federal amenities and other facilities to US citizens. Most significantly the unemployment allowances to unemployed youths.

The Presidential action comes days after Republican Congressman Jim Banks from Indiana moved legislation in the Congress on August 21 called the “Peaceful Protest Act”. The bill seeks to ensure that those rioters convicted of violence, vandalism or looting pay restitution to cover the cost of federal law enforcement policing of the riot at which they were arrested.

Following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 after policemen using force pinned him down to the ground, riots broke out in several American cities of Milwaukee, Seattle (Washington), Portland (Oregon), Kenosha (Wisconsin), Minneapolis, New York City and other cities in America, turning cities into war zones.

As Milind Pohnerkar from San Francisco revealed to thenews21 arson, looting and rioting witnessed in some American cities was unprecedented. “The standard ploy of the unemployed youths indulging in rioting was that they used to hang out outside the mall or shopping centre and once the policemen and the police patrol car passed by for the day, they would smash open the shops, loot and set the place on fire”, he added.

Moving his legislation, Jim Banks remarked “due to enhanced federal benefits, tax payers are giving wages to jobless rioters that are destroying communities. We need to cut them off from their funding and make them feel the full financial consequences of their actions”. 

As the November US Presidential elections are drawing closer, stand-offs and protests have become quite common in the US. Protestors began targeting monuments and memorials which prompted US President Donald J Trump to sign an executive order on June 27 protecting American monuments, memorials, statues and combating criminal violence.

Since the first major riot also called the Draft Riots of Manhattan that lasted for four days on July 13, 1863, there have been many major riots and racial riots in the US over the past 157 years.

The other infamous riots and racial riots that took place in the US include – Memphis , May 1, 1866; New Orleans, July 30, 1866; Haymarket riots, Chicago, May 4, 1886; Manhattan, Orange riots, July 12, 1870 & 1871; Atlanta, race riots, September 22, 1906; Red Summer riots – 1919; Tulsa, Oklahoma, May-June 1921; Detroit, June 20, 1943;

Los Angeles, Watts riots, August 11, 1965; Detroit, July 23, 1967; Newark, New Jersey, 1967; Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr killing.

Tampa, Florida riots, December 1979; Miami City riots, May 17, 1980; Los Angeles, April-May 1992 riots, Rodney King beating; Cincinnati, Ohio riots, 2001; Ferguson, Missouri, August 9, 2014; Baltimore, April 19, 2015; Charlotte, North Carolina, 2016.

Also Read: US Presidential pardon after 100 years for a lady who fought for American woman’s right to vote, too little, too late?

In comparison the worst riots in India include – Noakhali, West Bengal, 1946, Amritsar, Punjab, 1947, Ahmedabad 1969, Muradabad 1980, Nellie, Assam, 1983, New Delhi 1984, Ahmedabad 1985, Bhagalpur 1989, Hyderabad 1990, Kanpur 1992, Mumbai 1992-1993 and Gujarat 2002.

According to a Ministry of Home Affairs reply to a un-starred question in the Lok Sabha on February 6, 2018, between 2015-2017, out of the total 2,276 incidents of riots recorded from – Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for 1,258, whereas 1,018 incidents were reported from rest of the country.

Even before Republican Congressman Jim Banks moved legislation to penalise rioters, Parliament did enact The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act of 1984. The law provides for a jail term ranging from 6 months to 10 years for destruction of property belonging to – central, state, local authorities, companies or institutions and for indulging in looting and arson.

While, Jim Banks legislation seeks to impose financial costs on those indulging in rioting, the Bombay High Court in its judgment of June 23, 2005 had imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh each on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena for the July 30, 2003 Mumbai bandh called in protest of the July 28, 2003 Ghatkopar bomb blast. The judgment was later upheld by the Supreme Court as well.

There are six Supreme Court and High Court judgments on bandh’s as form of protest – P D Shyamdaani – vs – Central Bank of India, 1952; Vidya Varma – vs – Shaila Narayan, 1956; Kameshwar Prasad – vs – State of Bihar, 1962; Bandhuwa Mukti Morcha – vs – Union of India, 1984; Bharat Kumar K Palicha – vs – State of Kerala, 1997 and CPI-M – vs – Bharat Kumar case, 1998.