What Should Happen Now

It is time to get serious about the increasingly violent, anti-Semitic, anti-Western left, and the universities that incubate them.

Concerning last night’s heinous murder of two Jews in Washington DC by an increasingly typical, college-generated hater of civilization, a few observations:

• Because this crime took place in Washington DC, I hope the Trump Justice Department will assert jurisdiction to prosecute Elias Rodriguez, rather than letting DC law enforcement handle it. Further, they should seek a timely trial, and seek the death penalty.

But there’s more that can be done. Andy McCarthy points out the statutory basis for bringing more criminal complaints:

First, the Trump Justice Department and the FBI should and presumably will investigate these murders as an act of international terrorism. That term is defined in Section 2331 of the federal penal code. It applies to actions that:

1. (a) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

2. (b) that appear intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population, (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or (iii) affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

3. (c) transcend national boundaries in terms of (i) the means by which they are accomplished, (ii) the persons they appear intended to intimidate of coerce, or (iii) the locale in which the perpetrators operate or seek asylum. [Emphasis added throughout.]

It is possible that anyone who aided Rodriguez in any way might be vulnerable to a charge of conspiracy. The FBI should investigate Rodriguez’s associates, especially his ties with radical groups in Chicago in the past:

• Where could Rodriguez have learned his virulent anti-semitism? I don’t think we need to look far:

In his particular case, he studied English at the University of Illinois/Chicago:

I wonder if the English Department at the U of Illinois/Chicago is as bad as most other college English departments these days, but the website for UI/Chicago is so spare that no faculty members are listed, and the curriculum in the department is described in the most minimal way, so there’s no clear way to tell.

But I’ll go out on a limb and say the Trump Administration hasn’t cut enough federal funds from universities if this is the kind of trash they “educate.”

• Of course, a lot of people like Rodriguez turn up to colleges already Howard Zinnified in high school. A lot of universities want to admit “activist-minded” students like him. Is there a way of screening them out?

Last week the Wall Street Journal had a good idea. Let’s include the following questions in college applications, with Yes or No answers required:

• Is it ever justified to spit on another human being?

• Is it ever justified to pull a fire alarm in a crowded auditorium to protest a speaker some find offensive?

• Is it ever justified to mar public spaces with hard-to-remove graffiti? Should perpetrators pay to clean it up?

• Is it ever justified for a private individual to assassinate another private individual?

• Is it ever justified to burn a Quran? What about destroying a mezuza on someone’s door?

• Is it ever justified to restrain custodians or other bystanders as part of a protest?

• Is it ever justified to set fire to the homes of authority figures?

Suggestion for Trump’s Dept of Education: condition all future federal grants, and student loan eligibility, on universities adding these questions to their applications, and require that they release statistics on how many students they admit who answer “Yes” to any of these questions. Commence howling now from every college in the country. Of course, there’s an easy remedy for them if they don’t want to go along. . .

• I doubt Kash Patel’s FBI is actually this clueless, but our media certainly isn’t:

Gosh, what could his motive be? It’s a total mystery. . .

• After this, it is anti-climactic to pass along this week’s academic absurdity, from—where else?—The Journal of Lesbian Studies (a Taylor & Francis publication):

In other words, climate change is just the Earth having hot flashes. The article can be yours for a mere $56!

Hat tip: Colin Wright.