FOX Christmas Tree Fire a Symbol of Bigger Problem

The clocks in Times Square had just struck midnight. The lights and decorations of New York City were a welcome distraction from our daily dose of news about our troubled land. The Christmas lights signify the season and remind us of the meaning and traditions of this most festive time of the year. The biggest and brightest Christmas tree on the Avenue of America stood in its red, white, and blue glory just up the street. It is a tribute to Christmas and America. Two things we all should celebrate.

But on this night, the FOX All American Christmas Tree was not immune to the hate and violence in one person’s heart. On Tuesday night, a man, later identified as Craig Tamanaha, 49, climbed the lit tree armed with newspaper and a lighter. He was determined to destroy this symbol of peace. Tamanaha, a homeless man, was arrested early Wednesday and accused of setting the Fox News Christmas tree on fire. His motive is yet unknown.

This incident is not a simple case of vandalism. This act by an unstable individual with a rap sheet is indicative of the crime and violence on the rise and plaguing our larger cities. It must be noted that the towns experiencing this uptick in crime are run by progressive liberals. Though his actions resulted in over $500,000 in damages to the tree and property at the FOX World Headquarters, Tamanaha was arraigned and released on no bail. No bail for a repeat offender and no known address, and he is free and walking the streets of New York City today. Tamanaha is to report back to court in January, but what are the chances of appearing? Slim to none and with no known address, he may never have to answer for his crime.

This scenario of crime repeats daily across this country. Last year, we saw it too often with protests, destruction, and occupation of some of our once proud cities. This year, the epidemic has turned to organized looting events of vulnerable retailers. In some cases, such as in San Francisco and New York, entire inventories have been robbed during these orchestrated unlawful raids. Store employees and security personnel are helpless to defend themselves from these large crowds of thugs, and few, if any, are arrested.

Foolish politicians like Lori Lightfoot, the inept Mayor of Chicago, claim the shopowners are asking to be hit by not beefing up their security and cameras. AOC, the human sound bite, claims these looting attacks do not even exist. She says that reports of such events do not pan out. WHAT????? How do you disavow the video footage that has been shot during these looting parties? Are these staged videos shot on some undisclosed stage in a movie lot? How does she explain the boarded-up and often closed businesses left in the wake of these looters? She cannot.

Surprisingly, Jen Psaki and the White House do not agree with Lightfoot or AOC but then blame these crimes on the Pandemic. Of course, they do because that is far easier than solving the issue. Solving would mean bolstering depleted police forces and insisting that the justice system in these affected towns enforce the laws and incarcerate the people committing these mindless acts.

FOX is quickly rebuilding their tree, and it will be lit on Thursday afternoon. They can build back that which was destroyed. Many families do not have the resources to build back, or they may have lost loved ones that can never be replaced. We need these cities and towns to wake up to reality. We need the police ranks restored. We need to replace feckless prosecutors, district attorneys, and judges that do not protect the people they serve and release these criminals back to the streets. We need these “blue” cities to start enforcing the rule of law and break the cycle of this crime and violence. Tomorrow is too late. We need this done today.