Immigrant riots and the Rodriguez film, "Machete"

In a previous article, I discussed the new Robert Rodriguez movie, “Machete”, that was released in theaters this month, and the concerns many people (including myself) had based upon the information we had obtained about the film. Claiming to have received a script from the movie, Infowars’ Alex Jones and Aaron Dykes warned the public that Rodriguez had created a script that was contaminated with an anti-white, racist theme and encouraged Hispanics—especially illegal immigrants—to rise up against their perceived oppressors (white Americans) and fight them to the death.

In their September 5th article, “’Machete’ producers lied about racist bloodbath”, Jones and Dykes explain that, after having viewed the film, they concluded that their analysis was correct. When Rodriguez had been confronted about the reports of a racist and violent “call to arms” against whites, he admitted in an interview with Ain’t it Cool News that he had “had too much tequila” and that the script would be changed. However, after viewing the screen, Jones and Dykes claim that everything they had warned about from the pre-release script was still within the film “in one form or another”. In conclusion, Jones and Dykes stated that the most offensive and dangerous aspect of the film “was the one-sided approval of Hispanic revenge killings while uniformly demonizing the actions of the white groups involved.”

As Jones warned, Rodriquez’s irresponsible screenplay risked flaming tensions and inspiring waves of violence in the country as it spread the false impression that all whites—and especially the authorities—are racist murderers who gleefully kill Hispanics out of hate. Liberals, and especially Rodriguez, deny this and either can’t imagine how their propaganda films will have any impact on society, or (and more cynically) they do in fact know how their films may inspire a violent reaction, and actually hope it does.

As if to prove their point, riots have broken out in Los Angeles this week after LAPD officers fatally shot a drunk “immigrant” with a knife who allegedly attacked officers. Without getting too deeply into the details, reports on the incident indicate that officers on bicycles responded to a citizen report that “a man was threatening people with a knife.” Three officers responded and, as they approached the subject with the knife, he refused to put down orders issued in Spanish and English to drop the knife. Instead, the officers report that the suspect raised the knife over his head and lunged at an officer. The officer fired his weapon and killed the Guatemalan “day-laborer”.

In response to the shooting, the mostly Hispanic neighborhood has erupted in violence. Local Hispanics interviewed by the AP were quoted as saying “Killing a drunk isn’t right”, claiming that the man was “a drunk” but was “not violent”. Others are infuriated and demand that “the officer who did this should be subject to discipline”.

At least four individuals have now been arrested for the misdemeanor crime of “inciting a riot”. Hundreds of others have engaged in protests, at times turning violent. Police have arrested a total of 22 people, as of Tuesday night.

It would be a reach to presume that “Machete” had any influence in these events, but it is worth investigating. After all, the drunk Hispanic immigrant engaged in his threatening behavior on the same weekend “Machete” was released, as did the subsequent violence. Were any of these “immigrants” influenced by the message in “Machete”?

Whether or not “Machete” had any influence on these events is questionable. But one must ask the reasonable question: if a Guatemalan illegally entered Mexico and, in a drunken rage, threatened the lives of Mexican police, would locals riot and demand that the officers be punished for defending their own lives while restoring order?

The answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?