The latest from the riots - fireworks converted into bombs and embedded with shrapnel

The extremists behind the riots in many of our cities are now escalating matters.  They haven't succeeded so far in taking control of the streets, so they're using more powerful weapons.

Seattle PD confiscated a van earlier this week that proved to be filled with improvised stop strips, large fireworks bundled together to form improvised explosive devices, and other munitions.  One example from the many photographs taken of the van's contents:

Yes, bundles of large fireworks like that are highly explosive.  It's accurate to describe them as IED's, in the same sense as those our armed forces have encountered in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Hold one when it explodes and you're likely to lose your hand.  If one goes off next to a policeman, serious injury is not unlikely.

In Atlanta, extremists went even further.

... approximately 100 to 200 people dressed in dark clothing, backpacks, goggles, and helmets approached the ICE office in Atlanta. The subjects reportedly carried shields, bats, and large sticks.

Following the attack that left 20 broken windows, “bomb technicians discovered commercial grade fireworks with nails embedded in the mortar shell,” the document reads.

Images of the modified fireworks show multiple large nails embedded in the devices.

There's more at the link.

Improvised IED's?  Improvised shrapnel?  Things have gone far beyond demonstrations now.  This is urban terrorism, as Matt Bracken notes.

Harden your homes against attack by Molotov cocktails, or bricks followed by commercial-grade fireworks used as explosive/incendiary devices. If your home is attacked in the front by a mob, you will want to plan an egress route that does not use your front door, that will enable your family to move to safety and enable you to move unseen to a flanking position where you can engage the ABR terrorists. And yes, attacking people at home with the intention of burning them out or terrorizing them in the middle of the night is pure definitional terrorism. Plan accordingly.

So what are the rules of engagement in this new urban reality?  Another blogger takes a hard line.

What are the rules of engagement? Some might say shoot first and ask questions later. Then get out of Dodge and don’t stop for a flashing light, or anybody with a badge. The kid gloves have to come off eventually.

We didn’t orchestrate this. We didn’t want it. We didn’t push for it. We didn’t ask for it.  We didn’t start it. But, at their insistence, we’re gonna give it to them.

Avoid large population centers if at all possible. Bear arms. Travel with people you trust to have your back. Take careful note of your surroundings at all times. Position yourself according to potential threats. If you can escape a dangerous encounter without exposing yourself or loved ones to greater risk by retreating, do it. However, there comes a point in a confrontation when everybody involved knows that violence is inevitable. If you reach such a point, don’t hesitate and don’t execute half-assed measures.

Again, more at the link.

Those of us not living in the midst of urban terrorism like that aren't (yet) at the "point of no return".  We don't (yet) have to face that reality.  However, if you live in Portland, or Seattle, or Atlanta . . . you do.  Consider your options, and choose wisely.

We may be facing a return to the years of urban terrorism in America in the 1970's.

It may be hard to recall now, but there was a time when most Americans were decidedly more blasé about bombing attacks. This was during the 1970s, when protest bombings in America were commonplace, especially in hard-hit cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Nearly a dozen radical underground groups, dimly remembered outfits such as the Weather Underground, the New World Liberation Front and the Symbionese Liberation Army, set off hundreds of bombs during that tumultuous decade—so many, in fact, that many people all but accepted them as a part of daily life. As one woman sniffed to a New York Post reporter after an attack by a Puerto Rican independence group in 1977: “Oh, another bombing? Who is it this time?’ ”

I hope and pray we're not regressing to that . . . but the signs don't look very encouraging right now.  Certainly, if the extremists have their way, we will.

Peter