Has the fantasy world of virtue signalers been dented?

Violent crime comes to previously peaceful and safe Martha’s Vineyard. And guess why?

By Peter Barry Chowka

The previously unimaginable has happened: The storybook island of Martha’s Vineyard, the seasonal home of billionaires and hundreds of elite cultural and political movers and shakers, not to mention one of three year-round homes of the Obamas, has finally experienced that rarity previously limited to the mainland: violent gun crime. And surprise: The alleged perpetrators are not MAGA white nationalists. Rather, evidence so far points to migrants, possibly of the illegal kind.

This is a bitter pill for most Vineyard residents to swallow. The island’s six towns have all declared themselves to be sanctuary communities. Last September, the island rallied (a.k.a. virtue signaled) around fifty illegal migrants who were flown there at the direction of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – before they were bussed and ferried off the island less than two days later.

A violent wake-up call

Last Thursday, November 17, minutes after it opened for the day, a small bank in the island town of Vineyard Haven was invaded by three armed masked men. They threatened, subdued and duct taped the employees and proceeded to make off in a stolen car with an undetermined amount of cash – after brandishing semiautomatic handguns to intimidate the bank personnel.

Nothing like this crime has ever been seen on Martha’s Vineyard. Previously, the crime rate on the small island off the southern coast of Massachusetts was almost non-existent, confined to things like DUIs and the occasional passing of a bad check. But now, like many other blue communities that have declared themselves to be sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, things are changing