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Portland police say some rioters carried “pepper ball guns, electronic crowd control weapons similar to Tasers, large fireworks, shields and rocks” and that “weapons were seized including Molotov Cocktails, knives, batons, chemical spray and a crowbar.” No doubt mostly peaceful protesters, as CNN likes to describe this sort of thing.

In Seattle, protesters burned an American flag outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, and rioters shattered windows at the federal William Kenzo Nakamura courthouse, an AmazonGo store, and the Pike Place

Starbucks.

Some chanted at the police, “We protect people, you protect property,” according to the Seattle Times. Law enforcement arrested three people for property damage, burglary and felony assault.

The rioters in both cities identified themselves as anarchists or Antifa members who claimed to be protesting racism, fascism and police brutality. Yet in damaging a federal courthouse and Democratic headquarters, they attacked the judiciary and democratic institutions.

A spokesperson for Seattle Mayor

Jenny Durkan

told us she “has consistently denounced individuals who are targeting small businesses and government facilities,” adding that property destruction was “unacceptable.” Portland Mayor

Ted Wheeler’s

spokesman said he “condemns all forms of violence, intimidation and criminal destruction.” Yet both had blamed Mr. Trump as the cause of their urban violence, and both cities have imposed restrictions that hamper the ability of police to respond to violent protests and have emboldened rioters.

Prosecutors are rightly throwing the book at those on the right who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. The same should apply to those on the left who wreaked havoc Wednesday. When political violence is tolerated, it inevitably spreads.