After a Maryland married couple were arrested on charges related to nuclear espionage over the weekend, a “Black Lives Matter” sign displayed outside their house raised questions online.
SO WHAT
Is being woke anti-American?
WHAT HAPPENED
Jonathan Toebbe, 42, a Navy nuclear engineer, and his wife, Diana Toebbe, 45, a teacher, were arrested in West Virginia Saturday and faced federal charges of violating the Atomic Energy Act.
Last April, Jonathan Toebbe, who had top-secret security clearance, offered to sell information about the design of U.S. nuclear-powered submarines to a foreign power, which later informed the United States, according to the Justice Department’s criminal complaint.
- In December, the FBI launched a sting operation in which the agency paid Toebbe about $70,000 in cryptocurrency in exchange for military secrets he thought he was handing over to the foreign country, which has not been identified, per the complaint.
- On June 26, in one of a series of “dead drops” over the past year, Toebbe allegedly handed over sensitive details about U.S. nuclear submarines via a memory card hidden in a peanut butter sandwich while his wife appeared to serve as a lookout.
WHAT THEIR ‘BLM’ SIGN SAYS ABOUT THEM
Following the Toebbes’ arrest Sunday, Associated Press photographer Brian Witte snapped a photo of the couple’s Annapolis home — and “new right” personality Mike Cernovich and other Twitter users highlighted the “Black Lives Matter” placard near the front door.
- Yet other Twitter users highlighted Facebook posts by Diana Toebbe expressing anger at former President Donald Trump and support for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and various progressive causes.
- Some spelled out the apparent implication: Black Lives Matter is anti-American movement or at least gives cover to antisocial behavior.
THE KICKER
Critics of wokeness have argued it serves as an ideological weapon of the liberal elite, empowering “social justice warriors” to “cancel” their rivals and deflect accountability for their mistakes and misdeeds.
- “The great ‘awokening’ of America’s elites is also something of a great unburdening — an unburdening from the responsibilities, accountability, and scrutiny that comes with power,” dissident left-wing journalist Shant Mesrobian recently wrote on his Substack.
- “Ultimately, it’s an unburdening of a leadership class from a country and its people. The question is: Can any country survive that?”
