NBC News reports that frightened minorities are arming up following Donald Trump’s November 8 presidential victory.
The outlet provides no substantive proof for this claim. Rather, they cite an anecdotal account from a black woman who is trading “her crowbar for a small-caliber pistol” in the wake of Trump’s victory. They also cite anonymous “gun store owners,” who say the number of “black and minority customers” is up four-fold since the election.
NBC News reports that blacks are “afraid Trump’s victory will incite more hate crimes.” They quote an anonymous gun store owner who said, “You feel that racists now feel like they can attack us just because the president is doing it.”
They then shifted to officer-involved shootings, highlighting instances where a black suspect was shot as proof that “racial tension” was high long before November 8. And they suggest Trump’s victory may only exasperate the situation: “Donald J. Trump’s surprise victory in November has done nothing to abate the racial violence — it even seems to have encouraged more open displays of hatred.”
They claim more than “700 instances have already been reported to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) just since November 8,” but they provide no link to the SPLC report.
NBC News also reports that “Swastikas have been found spray-painted on churches, playgrounds, and college walls” and that “White Texas high school students chanted ‘Build that wall’ during a volleyball game with a predominantly Hispanic rival school.”
Toward the end of its report, NBC News quotes National African American Gun Association founder Philip Smith, who stated that “twice the usual attendees have RSVP’d for the next meeting of the Georgia chapter.” Smith, who heads that chapter, said, “Most folks are pretty nervous about what kind of America we’re going to see over the next 5-10 years,” but he made clear that the “nervous” folks include those who are worried “about protests against Trump becoming unruly.”
Breitbart News spoke to Black Guns Matter founder Maj Toure about the suggestion that black Americans are buying up guns due to fear of a Trump administration. Toure said, “I say more urban people are becoming informed about their human rights via the Second Amendment. Nobody in the ‘hood is scared of Trump, just like any other president. And if any supporters – Hillary, Trump, whoever – attacks another citizen, they are well within their rights to defend their lives, and they should have firearms education and training.”
Toure continued, stressing his belief that the increased gun ownership among blacks and other urban community members is the result of a greater understanding of freedom, rather than of fear. He said, “The work we’re doing at Black Guns Matter and how it’s spreading via social media and outlets like Breitbart News has more to do with the sales increases from urban demographics than fear.” Elaborating, he added, “It’s more people from the ‘hood that we are making aware of their natural rights, which is giving them more confidence in their rights to bear arms. I knew this is all we needed for Americans to take their power back.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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