This is going to be a long, hot summer, and if today's riots in Washington, D.C. are any indication, it's going to be a violent one too. 

Protesters who were bussed in clashed with police, tearing down the U.S. flag and raising the Palestinian one. Hamas flags and imagery were everywhere to be seen and "Black Bloc" tactics such as overwhelming police to free arrested protesters were deployed. 

Pro-Palestinian protesters getting bussed into Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/UIglydB6JQ

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 24, 2024

The police, in turn, used pepper spray and stun grenades against the protesters, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn once the smoke clears that a number of people were injured. 

The mob continued to chase police officers to try to free protesters who had been arrested at Union Station. Pepper spray was eventually used to push the crowd back. pic.twitter.com/ztBvpxAVrU

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 24, 2024

The scene was chaotic, infuriating, and a sign that all the chaos in the presidential race will soon be eclipsed by chaos in the streets. I suspect that there will be bloodshed and that the protests will turn out to be an as-yet underappreciated political threat to the Harris campaign. 

Gaza protesters have removed the American flags from Union Station, lit then on fire with a Netanyahu effigy and replaced them with Palestine flags. pic.twitter.com/c8hz90phqL

— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) July 24, 2024

Everybody has been focused on the insane events of the past two weeks, but violence in the streets could turn out to be a sleeper issue in the campaign as Americans recoil at the wide range of political violence we are being subjected to. 

Harris has chosen sides in this battle--the side of Hamas and the protesters--and I suspect that most Americans are not going to be impressed with her judgment. 

Pro-Palestinian protestor flying a Hamas Flag in DC

pic.twitter.com/QvOHc88wwu

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 24, 2024

At this stage it is impossible to predict how this race will shape up. Harris is getting a reset, the Regime Media is lined up behind her, but they can't ignore the protests because "if it bleeds, it leads." They will be drawn like moths to a flame by the actual flames burning in the streets. 

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: “It is outrageous to me and inexcusable that Kamala Harris is boycotting [PM Netanyahu’s speech]. Kamala Harris will abandon her seat. She will not be there because she refuses to attend. She needs to be held accountable for that.”pic.twitter.com/wkWhNja6Rr

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) July 23, 2024

If you are paying attention to polls at this stage you are wasting your time, although I admit that political junkies are addicted to them. The problem is simple: Harris just got into the race, the chaos is crazy, and people are getting bombarded by competing information. In that environment it takes a while to settle on opinions, so what people say today may not be repeated two weeks from now. 

Democrats are relieved that Biden is out of the race, donors have opened their pocketbooks both legally and illegally (all the money from "grassroots" donors is fake--big donors use a technique called "smurfing" to launder money through straw donors, and ActBlue doesn't verify credit cards on their website.)

It's a hoax, but as we saw in the past few years hoaxes can work. 

Just going through some old Harris tweets. Reminded of when she helped raise money for the Minnesota Bail Fund, which then used that money to bail out criminals who were awaiting trial for violent felonies. pic.twitter.com/XFaMt1uBnk

— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 22, 2024

But the protests are not easily spun by a narrative. The fires, the Hamas chants, the political violence can't be ignored, and while Harris may "denounce" it weakly, everybody knows she approves of these tactics. She helped bail out protesters in Minneapolis after the George Floyd riots. 

The masks are finally slipping
It was never about Palestine pic.twitter.com/c3VvmOsnrf

— Tamer Masudin (@TMasudin) July 24, 2024

It's impossible to predict anything right now, but Harris may get this wrapped around her neck during the campaign. It is a sleeper issue right now, but it may turn out to be a powerful one over the next few months. 

Keep an eye on it.