There’s a reason that people leave large cities. Invariably, it’s because the lure of easy access to stores and events get outweighed by the need for breathing room, better schools, and Antifa not rioting near where your children sleep.

However, in this run of recent riots and looting, the anarchists and Antifa are moving their way into the suburbs. Right now, they are focused on looting and smashing. But while local governments seem okay with giving them “space to express themselves” by committing theft and arson, the odds of that happening in the suburbs are very low. As Brandon Morse on Red State put it, the suburbs are a completely different world.

Rioting in a city is, for all intents and purposes, safe for the rioter. Even if you do have a confrontation with police, you’re more than likely going to get a few bumps and bruises. At worst, some blood might be drawn from superficial wounds. The worst that may befall you is if your fellow rioters turn on you for any reason. Then you’ll really face serious injury, though more than likely, you’re just going to riot, loot, destroy, and go home.”

The rules change in the suburbs. You’re not robbing a private store and destroying public property anymore. Now you’re in home territory. The house is full of valuable possessions and luxuries, yes, but more than that, this location has family members in it. Wives, children, and even beloved pets.”

You’re in a different playing field now. Here the stakes are a lot higher for the victims of rioters, and as such, the stakes will rise for you. You’re no longer just facing an arrest charge or a few bumps and bruises. You’re now playing with your life.”

In the greater Puget Sound area, where I live, the rioting and looting has spread from the downtown core of Seattle (where Antifa has flourished under the rule inept and woke city government) to the highly racially diverse suburb of Bellevue. Lake Washington separates the two places, so Antifa and the anarchists had to actually make the effort to go to Bellevue.

There was plenty of smashing and looting, but there was also a very different reaction from store owners and police. The police chief engaged in a dialogue with the peaceful protestors.

The looters – who look to be college-aged, if not younger, and of all races – were not allowed to get nearly as violent as they had in Seattle, even though they did cause plenty of destruction. And the downtown Bellevue area is not that far from actual residential homes. Those neighborhoods, once they got word of what was happening, took matters into their own hands.

Citizens in Bellevue (Seattle suburb) are protecting their neighborhoods from rioters & looters. pic.twitter.com/s6UpMtdXfM

— Digital Forests (@DigitalForests) June 1, 2020

THAT is what Antifa, gangs, anarchist groups, and other random opportunists will face should they start rioting and looting in the suburbs. If there was one thing that the suburbs came away from during the COVID-19 lockdown, it was that when seconds counted, the police were minutes away. THAT is why so many people who had never thought about owning a gun were suddenly stunned that they had to wait to walk out the door with one, and why gun stores defied lockdown orders to stay open.

Suburbia has been watching these riots with growing horror, knowing that as Antifa grows bolder, they will move out to where they are – and Antifa might be organized, but it wants to be armed. (Click on image to see full tweet.)

This is an Antifa group that promotes “active resistance” and is vaguely threatening to kill cops. @jack and @twitter haven’t removed the tweet yet. pic.twitter.com/aLMq9Mxici

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 1, 2020

Until the local authorities can pull themselves together, and legitimate protestors start casting out the rioters, the average American citizen has to know that they are on their own.

And if Antifa thinks the suburbs are a soft target, they are wrong. Don’t try it. It will not end the way you think it will. Remember why you never mess with a mama bear with cubs. It’s the same principle.

Featured image via Kelly Lacy on Pexels, Pexels license