Ramming

Life in the USofA:

Right-wing extremists are turning cars into weapons, with reports of at least 50 vehicle-ramming incidents since protests against police violence erupted nationwide in late May.

At least 18 are categorized as deliberate attacks; another two dozen are unclear as to motivation or are still under investigation, according to a count released Friday by Ari Weil, a terrorism researcher at the University of Chicago’s Chicago Project on Security and Threats. Weil has tracked vehicle-ramming attacks, or VRAs, since protests began.

The 20 people facing prosecution in the rammings include a state leader of the Virginia Ku Klux Klan, as well as a California man who was charged with attempted murder after antagonizing protesters and then driving into them, striking a teenage girl. Video footage of some attacks shows drivers yelling at or threatening Black Lives Matter protesters before hitting the gas.

On the one hand protests, on the other hand people trying to kill the protesters. There’s a certain disproportion there.

“The use of car attacks against peaceful protesters is increasingly a deliberate terror tactic for white supremacists,” said Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America, a civil rights nonprofit that’s leading a civil suit on behalf of Charlottesville ramming victims. The goal of the suit is to bankrupt and dismantle several hate groups that helped organize the rally.

“As detailed in our lawsuit, the Charlottesville violence was planned months in advance online — including discussions of hitting protesters with cars,” Spitalnick said.

It’s very American, isn’t it. Cars keep you from every having to walk anywhere and you can kill pesky libbruls with them.

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