Riots and the extortion arrests
were its own refutation of ‘Defund the Police.’

This is what ‘de-escalation’ looks like!

Funny (in a bitter kind of way) how Devonere A. Johnson was Madison’s George Floyd for 24 hours starting Tuesday noon with his epic arrest on Capitol Square.

Amazing (even in a short-attention span kind of way) how quickly that all evaporated: first with the destructive and violent riots that night (06-23-2020), then Friday’s (06-26-2020) announcement of federal extortion charges against “Yeshua Musa” (his alias) for using black lives matter to shake down local businesses for money, beer, and eats.

“Give me money or we’ll break windows. … We got [another business] shut down and we’ll do the same to you,” he threatens, according to the federal indictment.

Infuriating (in a “forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown kind of way) how the mayor of Madison and several alders sided with “Yeshua” against the police. Wednesday — even after the carnage — Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway demanded that the man be put back on the streets of Madison. 

I have asked for Devonere Johnson, also known as Yeshua Musa’s, initial appearance before a judge to be expedited so he can be released on bail. I recognize that we need better options to de-escalate situations and offer restorative justice in our community.”— Posted on Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2020 at 7:59 pm on the Mayor’s official city website.

The day before, D. Johnson had targeted Coopers Tavern on Capitol Square with his bullhorn and baseball bat, terrorizing staff and patrons and calling every white person in sight a racist and klansman. Finally, a merchant did something courageous. He risked more broken glass by calling police!

Social justice warriors had their viral video! A black man being subdued by five police officers. “Yeshua” thinks to shout (his lungs quite full of air) “I can’t breathe!” as he kicks and punchesA cynical expropriation of the George Floyd tragedy. (We’ve got the video here.)

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There is credible evidence that Mayor Satya ordered police to stand down. The Left calls it “de-escalation.” The mob calls it “open season, no bag limit!”

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Extortion as ‘free speech’

A sympathetic white liberal recorded the takedown with his smart phone with running commentary. He can heard admonishing the police for their brutal treatment of a man whose “only crime” was exercising his free speech (with a bullhorn and a baseball bat!) while black. 

Immediately, Madison’s network of social justice warriors had another reason to take to the streets. And smash windows. And pull down statues of a) an abolition leader who gave his life fighting slavery and b) the embodiment of women’s rights. And fire bomb the downtown police HDQ in city hall. And beat up a gay, liberal state legislator.

How is it possible for vandals to wreck two statues, one on the SE side of the Capitol grounds and the other on the complete opposite end — without interruption? Except that Satya Rhodes Conway (Progressive Dane) was on Devonere A. Johnson’s side.

⇒ Is this mayor so out of touch with downtown merchants who had been subjected to this guys’ predations for, by some accounts, many months? Had she not read their pleas for help?

Instead, she sided with the poster boy for the riots. With Satya, it is instinctual. Thank gawd for the Trump appointee as U.S. Attorney. This is a mayor whose signature policy initiative is to second-guess the police via a $200,000/year “monitor” that she appoints, aided and abetted by a citizen review board whose mandated membership includes ex-convicts, drug abusers, and social justice warriors (in addition to the usual identity groups). 

⇒ BTW: the Werkes predicted the U.S. Atty’s involvement Thursday before the indictments. 

‘If police had only explained’!

Satya Rhodes Conway is not an outlier on Madison’s political scene. Here is Ald. Tag Evers (Progressive Dane):   

Stepping back and reviewing what precipitated Tuesday’s chaos, the arrest of Devonere Johnson, aka Yeshua Musa, was arguably mishandled.  As a local attorney emailed me, it all could have been avoided:

“As to the situation at Cooper’s Tavern, the police should have just explained to Devonere Johnson that there is no First Amendment in a private restaurant, and told him no more bats and bullhorn use in Cooper’s. 

“They shouldn’t have even given him a ticket. 

“The police need to step back and use better judgment to de-escalate. Yes, he  technically broke the law, but it has to be judged in the current context and what the impact of arresting him would be for the safety of the overall community.”

Blaska’s Bottom Line: We had it coming! Again, Ald. Tag Evers: “There are consequences for being the worst state in the nation for blacks. There’s a price to be paid for Madison being one of the worst cities in the nation for blacks. Structual racism is a form of violence. And violence begets violence. The prophetic warning stands — “they who have sown the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.”

Did you have it coming?