Stacks of bricks left seemingly unattended in riot hotspots across the US – as if begging to be snatched and thrown by unruly mobs – have protesters and journalists wondering whether the violent street clashes are orchestrated.
It’s not every day one sees a stack of bricks just lying around unattended, especially when there’s no construction to be seen – but a rash of reports of pallets of bricks turning up as if by magic in over half a dozen cities over the weekend has investigators trying to get to the bottom of who’s seemingly giving would-be rioters the tools they need to turn what began as peaceful protests violent.
https://twitter.com/theangiestanton/status/1266632882862403585
A group of protesters in Dallas called attention to the unexpected bounty of construction materials near the city’s courthouse on Saturday. “Ain’t no damn construction around here!” a savvy demonstrator says in the clip, while another urges his fellow protesters to “do better.”
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https://twitter.com/angeldemonTV/status/1267502583117217795
Brick sightings soon mushroomed across the Dallas area, complete with humorous comments about a “patio virus” infecting the neighborhood. Commentators had plenty of theories, claiming the rioters’ fairy godmother was “white supremacists” or Antifa, but none delivered conclusive proof.
BREAKING: tonight’s Dallas riot was pre-planned
Organizers were directing the crowd where to go
They had pallets of 100 bricks ready for rioters
They were yelling to the crowd “go left, there are 100 bricks on the corner over there”
This wasn’t random chaos
More info to come
— EYELIJAH (@ElijahSchaffer) May 30, 2020
A Texas journalist called around to local government and found that the city of Dallas was claiming ownership of the bricks, thus triggering a whole new round of speculation – smoking gun, or official incompetence?
So, pallets of bricks are showing up in suburbs of Dallas today in places where they typically would not be placed. Right outside of subdivisions. I’m going to check my city due to photos popping up and rumors of protests.
Don’t mess with Texans.
— Kambree (@KamVTV) June 1, 2020
The oddly-situated piles of construction materials have been cited by podcaster Tim Pool, conservative organizer Charlie Kirk, and others commenting on the rioting to support claims that outside interests are fueling the most destructive elements.
While the unrest began last Monday in Minneapolis, triggered by the death of a black security guard, George Floyd, who died after a white police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck for seven minutes, protests and riots have since spread across the country, fueled by longstanding racial and class tensions as much as outrage over police brutality.
Another “researcher” has even claimed to have uncovered a connection between the bricks sprouting from sidewalks in Frisco, Texas and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. The bricks were said to be delivered by a corporation called AcmeBrick, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, a massive holding company on whose board Gates sat until recently.
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https://twitter.com/BDesigns6/status/1267494340777127936
But the Frisco Police Department declared the offending bricks were part of a “planned HOA construction project,” explaining they’d been removed “with permission” to be “returned at a later time.”
So, pallets of bricks are showing up in suburbs of Dallas today in places where they typically would not be placed. Right outside of subdivisions. I’m going to check my city due to photos popping up and rumors of protests.
Don’t mess with Texans.
— Kambree (@KamVTV) June 1, 2020
And the Kansas City Police Department alerted citizens on Sunday to be on the lookout for rogue brick stashes, warning they were lurking all over the city to be “used during a riot.”
We have learned of & discovered stashes of bricks and rocks in & around the Plaza and Westport to be used during a riot. If you see anything like this, you can text 911 and let us know so we can remove them. This keeps everyone safe and allows your voice to continue to be heard.
— kcpolice (@kcpolice) May 31, 2020
New York City had its own mysterious brick eruptions in the East Village neighborhood on Saturday night, a vanishingly rare event in a city under constant construction in which unattended building materials tend to vanish in seconds.
"Yo, we got bricks. We got bricks!"—#Rioters in Manhattan chanced upon a cache in the street equipped with bricks and a shovel at 10:01 p.m. on Second Ave between St. Marks Pl. and Seventh St. pic.twitter.com/dYB7vHdYqL
— Kevin R Hogan (@KRHogan_NTD) May 31, 2020
Other images appeared to show police vehicles maneuvering the bricks into place.
https://twitter.com/SonOfAssata/status/1267444649729368064
The building this guy is standing next to is the Earl Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas. There are surveillance cameras all over the place and there is zero chance they can't see who dropped of the bricks and when. pic.twitter.com/38jjbgDLym
— Donald Trump's FUPA (@no_more_nazis) May 30, 2020
Certainly, the sudden appearance of heavy piles of masonry takes logistics most protesters are incapable of organizing on the fly. It would seem to be a simple matter for cities – especially in places like New York where every inch of space is watched over by surveillance cameras – to catch the brick bandits in the act. Of course, leaving piles of bricks around in case a riot happens to occur is hardly a crime… yet.
Featured image: © REUTERS/Sam Wolfe; REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo
