[Exclusive OP-ED] NC Congressman Ted Budd: Joe Biden is Enabling Political Violence

(Congressman Ted Budd is a Republican that represents North Carolina’s 13th District, and since heading to Washington, D.C. the Davie County native has racked up multiple ‘100%’ ratings from conservative watchdogs. He serves on the Financial Services Committee and its Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee.)

Joe Biden’s failure to condemn, or even acknowledge the political violence taking place all over the country shows how far today’s Democrat Party has gone to the extreme left.

Biden has described the violent riots in Portland and other Democrat-run cities as “peaceful protests,” cavalierly excusing the vandalism, property damage, physical attacks, and other decidedly un-peaceful acts perpetrated nightly for the past two months.

“We’re gonna disturb the peace every night,” one activist jubilantly proclaimed during a recent riot in Portland, while others began tossing garbage over the fence of the federal courthouse. The situation quickly escalated, as protesters started throwing fireworks over the courthouse fence, then lighting fires behind the courthouse that eventually spread to the building itself.

The rioters have clearly been emboldened by the studious inaction of local officials — particularly Mayor Ted Wheeler, who was booed and jeered when he tried to stage a photo-op amidst the rioters. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf stated Thursday that the “mob” was enabled by Portland politicians, who “refuse to restore order” despite the fact that the City of Portland was “under siege” for weeks. Wolf pointed out that the federal courthouse was specifically targeted because it is “a symbol of justice,” noting that “to attack it is to attack America.”

Instead of working with federal officials to stop the needless violence and destruction taking place in his city — which had resulted in at least $23 million in property damage by the beginning of July — Mayor Wheeler recently declared that his “biggest immediate concern” was “the violence federal law enforcement officers brought to our streets,” petulantly insisting that he “did not want or need their help” in containing the violent mob — presumably because he never had any intention of doing so.

Even Wheeler’s counterpart in Seattle, far-left Mayor Jenny Durkan, has grudgingly bowed to the reality that coddling and appeasing violent protesters only leads to more violence. After initially gushing that the lawless “autonomous zone” established in downtown Seattle would be like a new “summer of love,” Durkan eventually had to shut the insurrectionist gathering down after numerous shootings and preventable deaths.

That’s why I’ve introduced legislation to allow any individual who is the victim of murder, rape, or any felony in a so-called “autonomous zone” to sue the state or jurisdiction for compensatory damages. The legislation also allows business owners to sue the state or jurisdiction for damages to their business within a lawless autonomous zone.

Lawless autonomous zones have no place in America. Any city or state that tolerates one should be legally on the hook for any tragedies that happen.

Joe Biden was studiously silent about the Seattle “autonomous zone,” but the violent anarchists made it abundantly clear that he’s their preferred candidate for president. In a farewell statement, organizers urged their supporters to “continue supporting the kind of revolutionary change we just created by voting for Joe Biden as president of the United States.”

Biden’s refusal to condemn political violence perpetrated by the left is a strong indication that the anarchists are correct: With Biden in the White House, there would be precious little to stop them from subjecting cities across the nation to the sort of politically-motivated violence and destruction we’ve seen recently in Portland and Seattle.