What mainstream media outlets have dubbed as "mostly peaceful protests" caused up to $2 billion in property damage in the first two weeks of protests alone, Axios reported Wednesday.
The report found that the damage caused by demonstrations from May 28 to June 8 cost insurance agencies anywhere from $1 to $2 billion—more than any other event of civil unrest in United States history. The total cost of damage throughout the summer "far outstrip[s]" the millions in damages caused by the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, told Axios that part of the reason the costs are so high is that the demonstrations following the death of George Floyd were not concentrated in one city.
"It's not just happening in one city or state—it's all over the country," Worters said. "And this is still happening, so the losses could be significantly more."
Anti-cop rhetoric from Democrats and the media is having an effect on life in cities across the country, said former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy.
The ex-congressman from South Carolina and Fox News contributor said Wednesday night on told "Hannity" that it has been unthinkable to see more than $2 billion nationwide in property damage done by left-wing rioters, while activists in Compton, Calif., chanted "we hope you die" after ambushed police officers were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Host Sean Hannity pointed to a remark made by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in which he dismissed the need for local police to have military-type equipment, in that "the last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood ... They become the enemy. They’re supposed to be protecting these people."
In response, Gowdy said the Democrats and the media want people to believe Republican rhetoric leads to violence, while much of the leftist activity is "peaceful protest."
"We've had 10,000 arrests this year connected with the rioters, and $2 billion in property damage, we've got mobs chanting 'we hope you die' to two police officers who are almost executed in the line of work, while you got other folks blocking access to emergency medical care for those deputies — and yet The New York Times and The Washington Post and those on the left want us to believe that these protests are mostly peaceful."
"If $2 billion and 10,000 arrests and chanting 'we hope you die' is mostly peaceful, I hope it doesn't ever get violent."
