How many people died in the Black Lives Matter Riots, January 6, and the Afghanistan Withdrawal?

Black Lives Matter protest, Austin, May 20, 2020 (Photo by Lynn Woolley for WBDaily)

Democrats would just as soon two of these events fade from memory. Republicans charge Democrats with using the other one for political purposes.

There are even disputes over which of these events was the deadliest. 

One figure given for the Black Lives Matter riots is 19.  But PolitiFact says, wait a minute. You can’t blame BLM for all them.

On January 6, just one person was killed by a Capitol policeman.  But the Left says within 36 hours, 5 people who were there had died.

In Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal, we know that 13 American servicemen and woman died.  How many Afghans died is impossible to know.

Random Samplings is brought to you by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

These three events are perhaps the most consequential in recent American history. 

Each of these events ought to be considered when deciding which of the two major political parties ought to be running the United States.  Consider:

“Cuomo Prime Time” 6-1-20 on CNN promoting “peaceful protestors.” Photo by Lynn Woolley for WBDaily.

The Black Lives Matter riots, joined in by Antifa and who knows who else, were in response to the death-by-cop of a street thug who was drugged up and who was trying to pass a counterfeit bill.  Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was wrong to put his knee to George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, but that doesn’t make him a murderer.  The death didn’t make Floyd a saint either, but that’s what the Left wanted, and that’s how the media played it.

Wikipedia claims that up to 96 percent of the protests were peaceful, and CNN will never live down the screenshot showing Kenosha, Wisconsin burning while the graphic says “Fiery but mostly peaceful protests…”

The January Six Capitol Breach was in response to an election, hugely affected by the Pandemic, that many on the Right saw as fixed.  They had been told that 81,000,000 people voted for Joe Biden which remains hard to believe.  If the Left used the Pandemic to change state laws (illegally), and collude with the media to suppress stories such as the Hunter Biden Laptop, the protesters had a point.

Storming the Capitol was over the top.  This is what violent Democrats typically do, while violent Republicans typically do not exist.  It never should have happened.  But then again, the United States was formed out of an insurrection.  That’s not what this was, but it was still not a good thing.

The Afghanistan Withdrawal is in a class by itself, fueled by a weak president’s hatred of Donald Trump and his desire to get out, regardless of the consequences.  From what we’re seeing from Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R-TX) House Foreign Affairs Committee, it’s not so much that the Biden administration had a weak plan; they had no plan at all.

An honorable president would have resigned in shame.  Biden, however, took a Hillary-esqe attitude of what difference does it make?  We got out, didn’t we?  Goal accomplished, and so what if people died?  After all, Biden lost his son, so he can relate.

Of the three events under discussion, this is the one you ought to take into consideration the most when you vote.  After all, following this show of weakness, we’ve seen two wars break out, and I think there’s a definite case and effect.

Video:  This is a live Facebook feed I did from downtown Austin at a Black Lives Matter rally on May 20, 2020.

So, how many people died?

In trying to research this, it’s obvious that the Black Lives Matter riots are quite easy to spin.  It depends on the source, and which side is writing the account.

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Wikipedia quotes Forbes in saying that 19 people were killed in the riots.  That includes a 77-year-old retired police officer, David Dorn, who happened to be black – and a BLM protester in Austin, Garrett Foster, who was shot and killed by a ride-share driver, Daniel Perry, who felt threatened by Foster’s AK-47.  On the other hand, PolitiFact says you can’t blame BLM for all the deaths because lots of people participated in the riots.

Screenshot: CNN’s most famous graphic from Kenosha, Wisconsin

Januarysixthmas, as we call the left-wing holiday here at WBDaily, involves a much smaller number than the other two events.  In fact, strictly speaking, just one person was killed during the breach.  That occurred when Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd shot protester Ashli Babbitt (an Air Force veteran).  Note that Byrd did not get charged, convicted, and sent to prison as Derek Chauvin did.

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If you want the full number of deaths that might be attributed to the breach, then the number moves to five – including a drug overdose, two from heart failure, and Officer Brian Sicknick.  You’ll recall false reports that he had been struck with a fire extinguisher, but later we learned that he suffered two strokes following the breach, and that the events of the day likely played a role in the stokes.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put the number of dead at “almost ten,” including some officers who were at the scene but died later.  Four officers are reported to have died of suicide in the months following.  So, pick your number.

Deaths resulting from the Afghanistan Withdrawal are much harder to document.  We know that 13 American servicemen and women died in Kabul.  During a hearing, Kelly Barnett told U.S. House members about her son, Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, who was killed in the suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.  You’ll remember the tragic footage of hundreds of Afghans trying to get on planes to flee the country.  Barnett testified that military officials lied to her about her son’s death.

The number of dead Afghans extends far beyond that day.  Al Jazeera, the best source we could find, claims up to 1,000 have been murdered by the Taliban – and that’s not a current number.  If you believe, as I do, that the Afghanistan Withdrawal disaster led to wars in Ukraine and Israel, then the number of deaths shoots into the stratosphere.

These three events are all worthy of your consideration when you vote.

None of these three events is anything to be proud of.

One concerns an extended nationwide riot over race relations, which has been downplayed by both government and media because of political considerations.  One comes out of a dispute between political factions over whether an election was stolen, and has become a virtual holiday for one side.  One amounts to the biggest political and military blunder of our time – and perhaps of all time – committed by a president of the United States.

I will be keeping these three events in mind when I enter the voting booth.  I hope you will as well.

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter.  Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us.  Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.  Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site.  Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.

“Stitches in Time” will be available for order soon.  It’s my third and final book of fiction – unless I go crazy and write more.