Get ready for the 2025 version of “mostly peaceful protest.” 

It’s “a small part of the city.”

Even liberal media knows it looks bad when Mexican flag-waving punks are wearing skull masks and setting fire to cars. It’s hard to paint President Trump as a fascist when protesters from another country are inciting violence and looting. They’re desperate to minimize what’s going on, to suggest that it’s Trump who is inflaming the situation and not the rioters themselves.

When the George Floyd riots descended into mayhem, the constant refrain on CNN was “a mostly peaceful protest.” A few bad apples burned that police station, yes, but that’s not the full story. 

This time around, they’re going geographic.

“Federal agents clashed with protesters in the Los Angeles area for a third day, and hundreds of National Guard troops were deployed,” The New York Times wrote. “But much of the sprawling city operated as usual.”

The Times even wrote a story, “Life goes on in the city,”  remarking on all the parades and events happening in the 18 million person Los Angeles area at the same time as the clashes, as if that was even relevant. 

The framing is spreading, as these things usually do. Monday morning’s Axios report said, “The clashes between police and protesters were centered in several blocks of downtown — a small slice of the city.”

Ah, a small slice. Guess shutting down the 101 Freeway and burning Waymo cars isn’t that big a deal — everything’s fine in Santa Monica! 

Imagine if all news was treated this way. Murder in Queens, but in Brooklyn, life goes on. Hurricanes in Florida, but that’s just a small slice of the United States.

The motives are so transparent they are laughable. The media wants to diminish and distract, but for the rest of us, reality goes on.