This morning in the San Diego Union-Tribune there is a front-page article titled Roots of Extremism Securely Planted in San Diego, which talks about some of the people involved in the Capitol Riots of January 6, 2021, including Ashli Babbitt, the Ocean Beach woman who was shot dead. Here is an excerpt from page 4:

Many of the same themes emerged in a civil defense movement that arose following the riot in La Mesa on May 30. Vigilante groups such as Defend East County (DEC) have characterized themselves as pro-police, pro-law and order and anti-Black Lives Matter. Some members have posted racist comments and advocated for violence on the group’s social media accounts.

While a small contingent from DEC – made up mostly of White men – has patrolled numerous peaceful racial justice protests from afar, its members have also intimidated and threatened protesters, including teenagers, and incited violence at events that were otherwise calm.

DEC’s founder, Justin Haskins, was among those who traveled to Washington for the vote certification.

According to Haskins’ statement, he did not enter the Capitol and was conflicted about what was going on. Then he said:

It’s our constitutional duty to overthrow a tyrannical government. At what point do you stop waving your dumbass flags and yelling your stupid chants and start taking this country back just like the patriots of 1776 did?

I have a lot of problems with some of the statements here.

First, I don’t know a single person in this country who is not “pro-police.” What’s the big deal about being pro-police?

Second, I don’t know a single person in this country who is not “pro-law and order.” Our current president has called himself the law and order president and I just happen to think that he has been governing opposite to that ideal, as opposite as you can get. How then can you be pro-law and order and at the same time support Trump?

Third, how can you be pro-law and order and anti-Black Lives Matter? BLM is about bringing change to a system to reduce the killings of unarmed, innocent Black men by police. I would lump that under law and order.

Fourth, Haskins compares himself to the patriots of 1776. No, Mr. Haskins, you are no Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The situation in 1776 was entirely different from what is going on right now, and the comparison is as dumbass as the Trump flag-waving and as stupid as his chants.

Then, Haskins says it’s his duty to overthrow a tyrannical government? Huh, the government has been Trump for the last four years. This current situation of chaos and mayhem is the result of four years of governing by a man who proclaims to be the law and order president. We are currently living in Trump’s America that is great again.

Yes, many people wanted to overthrow it. I did too. And we did it by the means given to us by the Constitution, by voting. And we voted using voting systems and processes in 50 different states based on the local laws, as dictated in the Constitution. And we did it in an electoral environment where the Trump administration had four years to make sure that elections can be secure and legal. And we did it while being monitored and watched by our law enforcement agencies, under Trump, as stated by Trump’s CISA Director Christopher Krebs. Our 2020 elections were the most secure in modern history. And we did it so well that 70 different law suits by the Trump campaign after the election resulted in zero cases won.

In the United States of America, we “overthrow” our government by the will of the people – by voting. We voted.

I urge Haskins to go out and mobilize his constituents, convince us with cogent arguments, and we’ll vote for his candidates in 2022. If he needs guidance on how this is done, he can always call a woman in Georgia by the name of Stacey Abrams. She knows a thing or two about how to mobilize voters.