The LA Incident: A "Disturbingly Ordinary Part of the American Scene"?

In a discussion on Conlawprof about an alleged attack on Jews in Los Angeles by a Somali immigrant, I wrote:

To say, as Professor BBB does, that the Los Angeles incident is a “disturbingly ordinary part[] of the American scene” might be true in the sense of American territory—where it happened. Whether it is true in the broader cultural sense might depend on how long the alleged immigrant-wrongdoer was in the country, and to what extent (if at all) he integrated with wider American cultural norms. If he was only here a short time, and if he was not meaningfully integrated into the wider American community, then I do not see why we should call this incident “part of the American scene.”

Professor BBB asks“what more follows”? One might say that we do not pick and choose or get to pick and choose, in ordinary times, who our fellow citizens are (naturalization excepted). We do get to pick and choose who we let into the country, [who we prosecute], and also who we deport for wrongdoing. See, e.g., Seth Barrett Tillman, The Tale of the Swedish Prosecutor, the Citizen, and the Human Being, New Reform Club (Dec. 3, 2015, 8:52 AM) <http://reformclub.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-tale-of-swedish-prosecutor-citizen.html>.

Seth

Welcome Instapundit readers. Feel free to look around New Reform Club—my co-bloggers do good work!

Seth Barrett Tillman, The LA Incident: A “Disturbingly Ordinary Part of the American Scene”?, New Reform Club (Nov. 28, 2018, 1:24 AM) <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-la-incident-disturbingly-ordinary.html>. 

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