Locomotives are trading freight for hate
A threat ignored too long, is finally being seen for the menace it is. The rise of Rail-Based Extremists hasn’t gone unnoticed in the national security community, but on December 17th the nation was forced to reckon with something Law Enforcement has understood for years. There is war on cops, and trains are at the vanguard.
It wasn’t always like this. There was a time that trust between law enforcement and the train community wasn’t so strained. Humble locomotives carried the freight that powered industry, and ferried our most august personages in the utmost luxury. They were hard working, humble, and had respect for our heroes in blue. After all, who protected them from layabout strikers or thieves intent on stealing from the captains of industry who made their work possible? In the halcyon days, trains and heroes went hand in hand. Ayn Rand, in her masterwork Atlas Shrugged, saw the pinnacle of humanity embodied in the noble train, and its benevolent master. In history, one only need look back to the the herculean efforts of 1877 to see the fruitful collaboration of trains and order.
But those days are past.
Now, hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about another heinous assault in this quiet war. No federal, state, or local governments keep statistics on train violence against law enforcement, but the work I’ve done aggregating the innumerable incidents points to some shocking conclusions.
In an age of political correctness run amok, it’s hard not to conclude that powerful forces seek to obscure the role of rail in terrorizing our men and women in blue. Liberals may be uncomfortable with the truth, but we can’t let them continue to put us all in danger. In a collaboration with lead statisticians from the Rothbard Institute for Police Dignity, Zero Balance has compiled definitive statistics on extremist train violence.
Statistics aggregated from 2000 to 2016 show that 44% of all LEO fatalities in that period were at the hands of merciless metros.
93% of the 104,396 LEO surveyed reported being menaced by a locomotive in the past 6 months. 82% of those reported being forced to discharge their weapons in encounters with the charnal choo-choos. The brave officers cut down by the terrorist transit in Chicago reportedly fired 117 rounds at the delinquent coach in a valiant attempt to defend themselves and the public.
One former officer, Randal Swineson, took time away from moderating his online LEO support group (painedpunishers.com), to share the story that ended his career as an officer of the law:
“It was right around the holidays, when it happened. I’d been helping some particular individuals at the winter fair. The department had spent weeks fortifying the city’s key strategic Christmas assets, and we were confident both ISIS and Antifa were on their back foot. I’ve always prided myself on situational awareness and tactical efficiency, but I’d never imagined the attack would come from inside of my own community…”
“… when you first start out in the hero business, everyone tells you it’s a thankless job, but no one ever told me how hateful transit could be. You’re walking down the street as a civilian, and it just looks like another train taking people to work or moving freight. You pass on by without a thought, but once you have a badge, there’s a target on your back. Next thing you know, an EMD-SD70 is trying to take your head off, I was just providing my community structured supervision for their play-time, give them enough independence to have fun. That’s when it struck. Like some kind of runaway train the coward hit me in the back.
Last week, I was passing an Amtrak station, and I … I don’t even remember drawing my concealed carry, but the judge says if it happens again… how can I live a normal life when they’re still out there?”
Stories like Ofc. Swineson’s are becoming more common with every passing year. It’s no coincidence the rise of the radical far left mirrors that of train-extremism. The world over, radical leftists have elevated trains to a nearly mythological status. They’ve become a symbol of collective tyranny, political correctness, and Stalinist power fantasies. From Jeremy Corbyn’s genocidal devotion to collectivized locomotives in the UK to China’s weaponized “Bullet” trains, it’s clear that the cultural marxists both at home and abroad have a hand in radicalizing our rails.
We’ve coddled railways for far too, long, and it’s time to take a stand. Antiquated notions of collective transit and government subsidized freight welfare must end. Railways are nothing more than the last twinges of a marxist fever dream the world awoke from in the 90s. Their outbursts of random and brutal violence, their targeting of the best amongst us, their insistence on destroying the individual and those who guarantee our freedoms are anathema to all that America stands for.
So I implore you, my readers, to stand up. Fight back. Write you Senators. We won’t stand for extremism in our communities. Just like it did in the war on terror, New York City is a shining example in this fight against the chugging menace. They haven’t let the subway conquer them. For all our sakes, I hope you won’t let the rails conquer you.
Jean Krill is is the co-editor and co-founder of Zero Balance. His writing navigates the many disparate visions of a radically better future.