The Unmanly Lynching of Andrew Tate
Justice for all? Or Justice for some? Maybe you too are part of the mob.
I happened upon a Facebook conversation about a lynching in the City of Port Jervis, New York. A black man named Robert Lewis was hanged by a mob on June 2, 1892. His alleged crime: the rape of Lena McMahon.
In the conversation, I mentioned that a similar lynching occurred in Newburgh, New York where I served as city historian for ten years.
In 1863, Robert Mulliner, a black man, was captured and charged with raping an Irish immigrant girl named Ellen Clark. A mob of 50 or more Irish men pulled Mulliner from a basement window of the jail and hung him in front of the Newburgh Courthouse on Grand Street.
In both cases, authorities tried to stop the lynchings but were outnumbered by the massive number of vigilantes. Both lynchings occurred in Orange County; Port Jervis borders the Delaware River while Newburgh borders the Hudson River. And both of these lynchings were memorialized last year by Governor Kathy Hochul during Black History Month.
All the local community organizers, politicos and social justice advocates turned out to recount these horrible moments in Orange County history. The mock up of the historical marker to be placed at the site of the lynchings proclaimed, “A Great Injustice Is Recognised.”
We can all recognize injustice. We all know the feelings of anger and frustration when something occurs that seems terribly unfair and unjustified. The injustice to both Lewis and Mulliner is they never got a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. But there is also a clear injustice to Ellen Clark and Lena MacMahon, if their allegations are true.
The lynch mob believed wholeheartedly that they were justified as the lifeless bodies of both men were left dead and dangling from a tree. The collective mob mentality prevailed.
Today, our mental states are guided and groomed by what we hear and witness on the news, internet and social media. We determine who is good or bad, guilty or innocent based on a news report which could possibly skew vital information or lie by omission. Conviction and cancellation in a trial by media is commonplace.
If the news says the U.S. government did not blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, we believe. If we are told climate change will destroy the earth and billions need to be allocated to stop it, we rarely question.
Let’s try this one… Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are misogynists, rapists, and human traffickers so whatever happens to them is justified.
The Tate brothers are either devils incarnate or the last defenders of manhood, depending on news reports or whichever echo chamber you choose to inhabit. But the fate of these two black American citizens is of great concern to those who maintain a balanced moral compass and look beyond their personal biases and prejudices.
Love them or hate them, their circumstances at this moment is a litmus test for those who claim to believe in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he wrote while sitting in a jail himself that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Enemies of the Tate
Andrew Tate is a former kickboxing champion who has “conquered the internet” to become one of the top five most Googled names in the world. His social media presence, especially on YOUTUBE, is astounding. He has even produced a globally-recognized theme song entitled Tourner dans le vide as well as his 41 tenets of Tate.
Andrew Tate is the lead purveyor of a growing industry of personal development geared towards young men in the realm of social media. He has been given the moniker “King of Toxic Masculinity” by his multitude of enemies. While his tens of millions of global followers, mostly men, call him “Top G.” He preaches that men should be self-reliant, go to the gym daily and use the internet and cryptosphere to build wealth through focus, hard work and sacrifice. They should honor their ancestors by becoming successful, independent, God-fearing and “perspicacious,” a word which he uses quite often.
Sneako, Hamza, Jordan Peterson and Kevin Samuels are only a few of the most popular names addressing what they claim is a crisis amongst young men. They have tapped into a growing audience of men seeking a higher meaning and purpose of life outside of drinking, drugging, watching porn and playing video games. Men commit suicide four times more than women and nearly 80 percent of suicides last year were white middle-aged men, according to the CDC.
“Feeling depressed is real, but the idea that depression is going to strike you in your mind and there is nothing you can do about it … I think that is promoting helplessness,” said Andrew. He once advised a young man to join a gym, get a six-pack (ab muscles) and his depression would go away. Tate claims that for many of the men who seek his counseling, his advice works.
The Tate brothers appear shirtless and six-packed on millions of Youtube videos at their home smoking cigars and showing off their collection of fine watches, Lamborghinis, Bugattis, and private jets while sitting around the pool with scantily-clad babes.
“My unmatched perspicacity coupled with my indefatigability makes me a feared opponent in every realm of human endeavor.” – Andrew Tate’s mantra
Both men are cocky and controversial. Their comments have been considered by many to be offensive, hateful, and misogynistic.
Andrew doesn’t help his case with the modern feminist movement by openly shaming women “with high body counts” and speaking of them as simple enjoyments and rewards for a man’s hard work. He has also admitted to using two girlfriends to build what he called his ”webcam pimping” business. Andrew increased the number to 75 women, working in four countries, and grossing $600,000 a month. He no longer maintains this business but now earns millions monthly through social media accounts and his Real World platform and Hustler’s University.
In December 2022, Andrew sent an unsolicited and unprovoked comment to climate change activist Greta Thunberg bragging about the “enormous emissions” of his luxury car collection. Greta responds accusing Andrew of having “small dick energy.” On December 29, within days of the Twitter feud, both Tates and two female associates were locked up in a Romanian prison during an ongoing investigation of rape and sex trafficking. Greta took credit for their demise. They would spend three months in this “dungeon,” according to Tate, until their release on house arrest on March 31 of this year.
Social Media Lynching?
Inasmuch as the internet and social media has given Andrew Tate wealth, pelf and fame, it has also been the source for millions to justify his lynching based on rumors, unseen evidence and his sometimes provocative statements.
Andrew even predicted his fate.
“First you get canceled, then they make up a reason to put you in jail. And if that fails, they kill you,” said Tate during an interview.
The Tate brothers have already been canceled and jailed. Only death awaits them.
They sit now under house arrest in their home in Romania while authorities continue their year-long investigation into unseen allegations of rape and human trafficking. There are no formal charges nor indictments nor evidence of wrongdoing openly shared with the public.
Their arrest is a violation of the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees that a criminal defendant has the right to a timely and fair public trial, the names of all accusers, and notification of charges and evidence. These are the rights that victims of lynchings are denied.
Sadly, it seems that Americans are okay with this clear violation of a constitutional right. Based on the Tate’s social media persona, whatever befalls them, whether true or not, is justified. The court of social media opinion has already convicted them without charges, witnesses, evidence or women filing complaints.
Robert Mulliner was a known petty thief when that mob lynched him in Newburgh. Many did not see any evidence but believed a rumor. Others may have seen young Ellen Clark, most likely a virgin, now stained in her own blood after being beaten and raped. Was Lena McMahon a liar? Did she bear false witness? Are not women to be believed?
The subject of my senior term paper in high school was the lynching of 17-year-old Jesse Washington in Waco, Texas who was convicted of raping and murdering his boss’ wife. The crowd beat him, castrated him, hung him, burned his body, and dragged it through town behind a truck. They took pictures with the smouldering corpse and even pulled his teeth to give to children as souvenirs after the celebratory picnic. All present or distant justifiers were compliant with this dark act of retribution.
Both rapes and lynchings are serious violent offences to both individuals and society.
I would posit that if it was announced today that Andrew Tate was hung from a tree in the village square by a mob of women, there would be a groundswell of support for a heinous act of lynching. Those same supporters may even take credit for this injustice out of hatred for what Andrew Tate defines and promotes as his beliefs on manliness.
If you are prone to this sentiment and run with the ignorant mob then you respect neither the U. S. Constitution nor the rule of law, and hence are no different than the Waco picnickers or those who lynched Mulliner, Lewis, Emmet Till and hundreds of others over the centuries.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.