Three teenage boys from Swansea, Wales, were sentenced to detention and training centers Monday for their roles in a May 2021 riot.
The three 17-year-olds were joined by fifteen adults sentenced on Monday for their roles in a violent riot that took place in the Mayhill neighborhood during a vigil for a local teenager who had recently died, according to BBC. The riot was described as a two-hour “warzone” as rioters torched cars, vandalized homes and attacked law enforcement officers, causing local residents to fear for their lives.
A local judge called the sentencing of the three boys a “last resort,” but clearly one he was willing to take to protect his city (which is also my city). “I would be failing in my public duty to the people of Swansea if you did not go immediately into custody,” Judge Paul Thomas said, according to BBC.
Can you imagine if elected Democrats felt the same way about their constituents in the wake of the George Floyd riots and the ongoing violence throughout America’s cities?
#JAILED| Eighteen people have been jailed for a combined total of 83 years and five months for their part in the #Mayhill riot.
All were convicted of rioting following the disorder in Mayhill, #Swansea on the 20th May last year.
Full details ➡️ https://t.co/5akVMqXyLr pic.twitter.com/0pZANNNKwD
— South Wales Police (@swpolice) December 19, 2022
You’d be forgiven for having no idea what or where Swansea is, or even Wales, the country of my birth. It’s a tiny place adjoining the western half of England in the British isles. Swansea’s nickname is “the pretty shitty city,” thanks to its close proximity to the glorious Gower Peninsula national park and enormous steel works. It was the birthplace great artists like Dylan Thomas, who understood the deep mysticism of the Welsh landscape.
It’s a town of juxtaposition, where blue collar kids grow up amongst the nouveau riche, all of whom descend on the city center throughout the weekend to party like they’re in Ibiza or Miami. I used to work taking door payments on the bars frequented by locals, and saw more random violence leading to premature death in my few years than anyone should ever have to.
Swansea is not a violent town by nature, but the undercurrent of aggression has always been prevalent in the Welsh mindset (I think it’s why we’ve survived as a culture for millennia while literally anyone who wanted to invade England would win and become the dominant demographic).
The sentencing of these young rioters sets a precedent, that law and order should always come before political ideology and a few people’s mindless, thoughtless behaviors. If an individual commits a crime, they should be tried for it, and if necessary, sentenced appropriately.
God bless Judge Thomas for doing what pretty much no Democratic politician in the U.S. will do to the thousands of people who tried to burn down major U.S. cities during the 2020 George Floyd riots. These rioters — not the protestors — caused upwards of $1 billion in damage and more than two dozen people were killed as a result of escalating violence, prompting a mass exodus from predominantly Democrat-run cities. (RELATED: 31 Suspected White Nationalists Booked For Conspiracy To Riot Near Pride Event)
More than 300 people across 29 states were facing federal charges for crimes committed during the 2020 riots, but still the left perpetuates policies that make it easier and easier to commit violent offences across the country. A handful of people were arrested and given jail sentences, but there was seemingly no public outcry, like the riots and ongoing violence are now forms of acceptable behavior. I couldn’t even tell you if there was an investigation.
Many of the individuals who burned down your businesses, who made American cities unsafe and who started the process of normalizing random attacks are still walking the streets. As a nation that is barely into its third century of existence, America could do with taking a leaf out of Swansea’s book if it wants to survive for as long as Wales.