Free Fire Zone
By Mitch Berg
It’s rapidly becoming a Berg’s Law: if the media doesn’t give any demographic details about a violent criminal (say, a white Hell’s Angel with an umbrella), you can infer the rest.
When I saw the initial coverage of Saturday morning’s bloodbath in the Warehouse District, I treated it as a test.
Up until noonish yesterday (Sunday)? Even after the arrest was made? Not a word about the shooter.
So – was I right?
What do you think?
Carroll was arrested in 2016 for a variety of felonies egregious enough for Mike Freeman to put down his bottle for a moment at try to make an example of.
Carroll ended up getting all charges dismissed, in exchange for pleading guilty to “disorderly condcut”.
Remember – public safety is a privilege.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:14 am
Chances are the guy is not vaccinated. I can tell just by his skin color.
It’s science!
May 24th, 2021 at 11:22 am
But, but, mUh inSeRekksHun, muh wyte sapremasy.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:35 am
Well, yeah, of course the charges were dismissed. He’s can’t go to jail: he’s got to be a work at the Tre Tre Machine Shop.
Jawan runs a computer controlled milling machine turning billet aluminum into partially completed lower receivers for AR-15s, which he then runs through an industrial threader for the buffer tube and a high performance end mill to bore out the magazine well. Took a nine-month course in Vo-Tech to learn to operate it.
His buddy “Pop Pop” runs the barrel operation – everything from the initial lathe to drilling the bore to cutting 1:7 rifling – while other gang members stamp out trigger sears and assemble upper receiver forward assists and all the endless tedious tasks that go into making parts that are ‘readily convertible’ into a firearm. It’s a huge warehouse in a North Minneapolis industrial zone – you’ll know it by all the Black Tahoes wearing Spreewells parked outside.
Final assembly is handled by the wives/girlfriends/sisters/drug slaves working long hours on long assembly tables using Real Avid tools, the best and locally made, besides. They don’t get paid in money but are ‘friends with benefits’ who get room and board, drugs for recreation and knife fights for culturally appropriate entertainment.
But being everyone involved is a felon, none of the Kra Kra Krew can pass the background checks to become licensed federal firearms manufacturers so the entire operation is illegal. This is why the Susan Rice administration is so intent on changing ATF rules on ghost guns – to eliminate gang firearms factories so there will be fewer guns on the streets and thereby less violent crime.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
A perfect example of why the Justice Deprtment must do more to keep guns out of the hands of middle aged white guys. It’s just common sense.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Can infer “the rest”, Mitch? You are soooo dog whistling.
If you want to talk about crime and race, own it.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
“The rest?” That’s a weasel words plausible deniability dog whistle.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
testing moderation – “the rest”
May 24th, 2021 at 12:20 pm
To be fair to the DA, the indictment appears to be because somebody saw some videos on YouTube or TikTok, and that’s going to be a little more tough to prove to a court.
That said, I have to wonder how much better we would do at dealing with crime if these characteristics–yes, race, ethnicity, and personal affiliations–were mentioned in news reports. If the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, obscuring the problem would seem to be a rather bad practice.
May 24th, 2021 at 1:17 pm
There are a lot of the left wing defund the police ilk, advocating the removal of Qualified Immunity for law enforcement officers. Well, fine. Let’s remove it for all elected and/or appointed bureaucrats, like Freeman. When they give a thug a get out of jail free card and said thug commits a worse crime, then it’s only fair. I guarantee that factor alone would put leashes on the likes of Hakim Ellison, Ryan Winkler and Melissa Hortman.
May 24th, 2021 at 1:49 pm
I wonder what would happen to the rate of violence if we did contract tracing for gang members and those they affiliate with, and demand that they quarantine for two weeks if shown to be “exposed”?
May 24th, 2021 at 3:05 pm
JRock sounds like a regular capital fellow. Sad that the posse of pro bono prosecutors couldn’t have been assembled to get him more than a wrist slap. Slightly off topic, but here goes anyway: I see Governor Walz has proclaimed all subjects are to remain silent for nine minutes thirty something seconds tomorrow. I man I know plans on playing his guitar accompanied by the Who performing “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which lasts nine minutes and change. Volume set at eleven.
May 24th, 2021 at 3:28 pm
The dream would be to have your ethnicity considered when it gives you an advantage, and not considered when it would disadvantage you.
So, for example, you might get affirmitive action points in hiring or college admission, but be treated in colorblind fashion when the police were looking for a suspect of your appearance.
The way we are going, if a crime victim describes her assailant as “black,” the police will have to pick up seven white people for questioning for every black person.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:28 pm
Can infer “the rest”, Mitch? You are soooo dog whistling.
When all you have is a hammer, all the world is a nail, I guess.
Nothing “dog whistle” about it. The Twin Cities has a violent gang problem.
Oh, because he’s black?
That’s stupid.
When you hear dog whistles, it’s because you’re a dog. .
May 24th, 2021 at 11:38 pm
[…] First In The Nation – DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Big Tech Deplatforming Shot In The Dark: Free Fire Zone, also, The Strongly Worded Memo STUMP: Mortality With Meep The Political Hat: Rhode Island Vs. […]
May 25th, 2021 at 5:00 am
Oh right, it’s that you and Glahn and John Gilmour and the SiTDers and the rest of the righty misfit fringe have been obsessed for 20 years that the paper doesn’t call crime perps “gang members”.
Stop being coy and work up the courage to express whatever it is you have in mind for all the internet and perpetuity as a Berg’s law, Mitch. I mean, why wouldn’t you make a canonical observation about black crime and the media? What’s stopping you?
Put it all on the line for truth, Mitch.
May 25th, 2021 at 5:36 am
Mitch Berg: I’m not going to fully articulate this thought about race and crime and the media in writing cuz it’s a bad look for me… but this is SiTD and I want to say it… What I’ll do is make this transparent instruction to my readers to ‘infer the rest’ based on the blog’s 20 years of vibing on race and crime and the media. But it’s not a dhog whhistle.
May 25th, 2021 at 5:59 am
Which Kraephammer is on duty today?
Kraephammer the mind reader, who is not a dog, but hears dog whisrles.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:19 am
Stop being coy and work up the courage to express whatever it is you have in mind
OK.
You’re a gaslighting douchebag who doesn’t have an argument, so you’re deflecting to “Dog Whistles”, which is what every “prog” does when they’re stumped on the facts.
The point is, our media will never acknowledge that the crime problem in the Metro is related to gangs – a tiny percentage of the metro population
Is this perp affiliated with a criminal enterprise?
Care to wager a shiny new quarter?
May 25th, 2021 at 6:21 am
John Gilmour
Wow. Speaking of dog whistles.
vibing on race
It’s not vibing. Its saying it out loud. The media won’t touch gangs any sooner than you will.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:25 am
And dog-whistle this: community activists in the metro agree. Do something about the gangs, especially the legions of little wannabees that are jacking the cars and randomly blasting away at each other.
We’ll be talking with some of them on the show in the near future.
Which will give people like you a chance to switch from the whistles only you can hear to expounding your expertise on how they’re not really black and aren’t really members of the community.
As usual.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:38 am
Ooooh. Mitch is pulling his “Care to wager a shiny new quarter” verbal club out of the bag on whether the guy is a gang member. IALTO where Mitch lays down the gauntlet on a non controversial point as if it’s a controversial point.
Mitch, you said: “It’s rapidly becoming a Berg’s Law: if the media doesn’t give any demographic details about a violent criminal (say, a white Hell’s Angel with an umbrella), you can infer the rest.”
The demographic detail you’re calling to is not merely that the guy is a gang member.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:43 am
as if it’s a controversial point
It’s not controversial, which is why it’s so curious you’re trying to hard to deflect away from it.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:45 am
I’d ask if you think the point – that the TC media is hands-off on gangs – doesn’t resonate with “POC” from the neighborhood.
But then you’d have to actually meet some.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:49 am
The demographic detail you’re calling to is not merely that the guy is a gang member.
Well, to you it certainly isn’t.
But then us honkies all look alike to you.
Must be all that listening to dog whistles you do.
May 25th, 2021 at 6:51 am
Fascinating as this is, work calls. Someone’s gotta pay the taxes for all this betterbackbuilding.
May 25th, 2021 at 7:12 am
Speaking of free fire. Looks like TX will be a constitutional carry state by the end of the week. Still need to read the new law whether permitless conceal carry will be allowed.I think it will be.
And you lucky bastards in MN don’t know how good you have it! I am in T.O. right now and Canadian Police State makes Waltz look like DeSantis.
May 25th, 2021 at 7:13 am
Oh, and sorry for threadjacking, carry on.
May 25th, 2021 at 7:15 am
I don’t think it’s persuasively observed and argued that the people who are quoted on an ongoing basis…. Frey, the Police Chief, the council members, the activists… are in denial of gang problems. So I don’t know what you don’t think you’re rightfully getting such that there’s not an expose on Contrail the Gang member’s gang life on the front page the Monday morning after a Friday night shooting. The progs of MPLS do express the root cause and course of action in terms of guns, which you (and I..) disagree with. They are not in denial of the gang problem though. You’re projecting that (IMHO).
I asked this a week ago in a thread, what’s your point in demanding an acknowledgement of minority crime in say the key you demand it in? What do you think are you going to get out of that? Cuz, really it’s pointless axe grinding that speaks more to the right’s misanthropy.
Thing about Trib crime stories that’s complete garbage is not them not calling out Contrail as a gang member the Monday morning after a Friday night shooting. It’s rather, Matt Mackinnee going out and doing the hardscrabble fallen angel treatment on Darren Evanovich. Which you properly called out.
May 25th, 2021 at 7:45 am
Wow, Mitch. You really got schooled. And not merely with unsupported opinions pulled out of the air: look at all those facts and figures, links and citations, look at the exhaustive research proving the Twin Cities media is all over the gang problem.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
May 25th, 2021 at 8:06 am
Kraephammer is way, way behind the times.
These days, if you aren’t “color conscious,” you are a racist.
May 25th, 2021 at 9:04 am
I can hear a Dog Krap Whistle.
May 25th, 2021 at 9:18 am
Old racism that is banned: “I can tell you everything that you need to know about a person if I know his race.”
New racism that is mandatory: “I can tell you everything that you need to know about a person if I know his race.”
May 25th, 2021 at 9:48 am
Performative bullshit is what MBerg’s flock wants, and by God, MBerg is going to give it to them.
May 25th, 2021 at 10:01 am
Since you speak with such authority on the topic (and spend enough time here yourself to be part of the flock), I’d like to know what this “[p]erformative bullshit” means.
May 25th, 2021 at 10:28 am
Merg: “The point is, our media will never acknowledge that the crime problem in the Metro is related to gangs – a tiny percentage of the metro population.
Me: “I don’t think it’s persuasively observed and argued that the people who are quoted on an ongoing basis…. Frey, the Police Chief, the council members, the activists… are in denial of gang problems. ”
so I went and checked…
Strib, 5/22: “Reeling from overnight bloodshed downtown and in other parts of Minneapolis that killed three people and wounded 12, community leaders vowed Saturday to take back the streets from gangs and guns.”
https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-community-leaders-vow-to-take-back-the-block-from-guns-and-gangs/600060250/
May 25th, 2021 at 10:30 am
Merg: “The point is, our media will never acknowledge that the crime problem in the Metro is related to gangs – a tiny percentage of the metro population.
https://www.startribune.com/as-twin-cities-street-gangs-evolve-traditional-hierarchies-vanish/567512932/
May 25th, 2021 at 10:39 am
Here’s a search
site:www.startribune.com gangs
Libor Jany and Liz Sawyer obviously have beats that cover crime, and they write about gang crimes all the time.
What’s not being said that you want them to say? Where am I gaslighting Mitch?
I’m going to take your quarter bet actually, and we can make this adult money of some amount actually. The Strib hasn’t published a story yet where they identify JAWAN CONTRAIL CARROLL as the charged suspect in the UST kid shooting. They will soon, and I will take the side of the bet where we say the the Strib, in their story, does mention he’s a gang member.
May 25th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
*looks at your search results*
Ahahahaha!
We have different definitions of “all the time” apparently.
And the most recent article basically acknowledges that “community leaders” think they have a gang problem, but the article is decisively focused on “the guns”. So many quotes from gun control adherents.
Minnesota media is super focused on gangs in your mind only.
May 25th, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Troy, it’s the old scam where they mention something like say “gangs” a couple times here and there so then they can respond, “what do you mean we never covered it? Look!”
I agree with you about “the guns” being the real focus.
May 25th, 2021 at 12:44 pm
Mitch stated his beef as “our media will never acknowledge that the crime problem in the Metro is related to gangs – a tiny percentage of the metro population.”
It’s acknowledged frequently, and its easy to find said examples. So he’s wrong on that, and “that is all”.
Yeah, there are other places in the discussion where Mitch can and does make true / correct observations.
May 25th, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Oh, and I want to know why “John Gilmour” is a dog whistle. What’s he and his rep mean to you Mitch? What’s his category definition to you?
May 25th, 2021 at 1:08 pm
Oh, and I want to know why “John Gilmour” is a dhog whhistle. What’s he and his rep mean to you Mitch? What’s his category definition to you?
FYI – dhog whhistle is a moderated term. That’s been established.
May 25th, 2021 at 1:28 pm
Allen, is the after party at your place for this?
https://twitter.com/jlcauvin/status/1397230513102938112?s=21
Obviously, it would be a timely moment and place to get the SiTD gang together
May 25th, 2021 at 1:32 pm
John Hugh Gilmore’s name triggers Liberals, like bell triggers dogs to salivate. Liberals drag his name into conversations he’s not part of, then attribute opinions to Gilmore so they can shame other people by association.
Sane people don’t know why Liberals do that.
John Gilmour is a hockey player. Nobody is triggered by his name.
May 26th, 2021 at 5:41 am
Oh, and I want to know why “John Gilmour” is a dhog whhistle,
Pump the brakes, sport.
You dropped a “Glahn and Gilmore” reference on me – and now you’re asking me to explain it?
You can’t possibly be that obtuse, can yoiu?
. What’s he and his rep mean to you Mitch? What’s his category definition to you?
No, JK. You brought him up. You tell us what John Gilmore and Bill Glahn mean to you.
Casting giggly, gaslight-y aspersions that impose my personal templates on others not being my style, I’ll leave it to you.
Go ahead. What does John Gilmore mean to you.
Go.
May 26th, 2021 at 6:54 am
Apropos nothing and nobody in particular.
I always get a kick when the “opposition” commenters I welcome to this space try to ding on the collective intelligence of the SITD commenter crowd. Which includes:
Against this?
My favorite was the late, unlamented “Dog Gone” whose fprmal training was as – I can say this without violating the confidentiality I give people who ask for it – a dog groomer.
Not to appeal to authority – one of the smartest people I ever knew, with a knowledge of British literature rivaling any MA in English and dwarfing mine, dropped out of 10th grade. America – at least, the part of it that works – doesn’t obsess about credentials.
But if we did, this comment section has ’em.
Which is why that particular “slur” is such a howler.
May 26th, 2021 at 7:35 am
Yeah, I know Mitch. They’re educated, some greatly.
Gilmour’s category definition is local gadfly / righty creep / racist internet troll. And he wears this rep as a badge of honor, so this is not actually in dispute. What would be in dispute, here, would be who thinks it’s charming and that he’s a great guy, and who doesn’t. We’ve covered this before, you all think those types are great guys. He’s a lawyer I understand.
Such that I have snarked, it’s about this island of misfit toys quality to the collection of people who are friends of the blog or activists on the right at the local gadfly level. It’s not really about their education. It’s about temperament. That can be related to general intelligence and / or have an effect on it to the point that I don’t think the claim that your audience is a bunch of brainiacs is reality. They are diminished by their righty misanthropy. If your friends of the blog lawyer count includes “Joe Doakes”, for instance, the category definition for the lawyer types around here is, I’m properly thinking, “Michelle McDonalds”. Those are not impressive lawyers and ones whose fandom of the blog you should be impressed by.
May 26th, 2021 at 7:57 am
All they have really got is smears and snark.
Maybe it could be a Berg’s law — all lefty critique of the right devolves into smears and snark.
May 26th, 2021 at 8:00 am
The gadfly is John Gilmore. Here’s his website:
https://conservativeminnesotans.blogspot.com/
It’s not John Gilmour. He’s a hockey player.
May 26th, 2021 at 8:03 am
One can say what I just said without snarking at all.
Go ahead and argue that “John Gilmour is a local gadfly / righty creep / racist internet troll” is merely snark.