Acton Institute on the Derek Chauvin trial verdict: Black Lives Matter riots are the real problem

On the day of the Derek Chauvin trial verdict, the Grand Rapids-based Acton Institute once again shows us what they really stand for.

In an article posted just after the verdict was read, the Rev. Ben Johnson, who is the Executive Editor of the Acton Institute’s main journal Religion & Liberty, wrote, Derek Chauvin guilty, but riots will hurt Minneapolis for generations.

Like the article that Rev. Johnson wrote last June, where he condemned the Movement for Black Lives, this most recent piece demonstrates his commitment to White Supremacy.

In Rev. Johnson’s article, he begins by attacking Black clergy and Black politicians, then makes the claim that they spent weeks bullying the jurors into finding Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd. 

The Action Institute editor then goes on to claim that several mainstream news sources were doxxing jury members, which caused them to bring the guilty verdict upon Derek Chauvin.

Much of the rest of the article by Rev. Johnson then condemns both BLM and Antifa for the riots that broke out after Chauvin murdered George Floyd. In addition to blaming BLM for the riots, Rev. Johnson then claims that the riots primarily hurt the poor and Black neighborhoods. Of course, Johnson offers no real evidence to support such claims.

Rev. Johnson, who is a Catholic priest, then says that BLM-inspired protestors have been burning churches.

What is instructive about the article by Rev. Johnson, is that George Floyd’s name isn’t mentioned once, nor are the number of cases where police officers have killed Black people in the past year. It is obvious to most people, that the riots/rebellions that have taken place since last year are the direct result of cops killing Black and Brown residents in Minneapolis and other cities across the country. 

This most recent article by the Acton Institute simply demonstrates their ideologically driven commitment to White Supremacy. Maybe it’s time we start holding protests outside of the Acton Institute headquarters, which is right on the corner of E. Fulton and Sheldon in Grand Rapids, just one block away from the GRPD headquarters.