The images are more than a quarter-century old, but the lessons are timeless.

While the United States goes through one of its periodic, liberal-led spasms of gun control “controversy,” a veteran Army commander with a record of Second Amendment advocacy is offering a reminder of what is actually possible in America when an unarmed man is confronted by the mob.

And it’s not a pretty sight.

When Los Angeles erupted in rioting in 1992 after a jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King, one of the most memorable clips came from a helicopter news crew that captured the near-murder of an innocent trucker who got caught up in the mayhem.

On Tuesday night, retired Army Col. Kurt Schlichter, veteran of the first Gulf War, trial lawyer and writer for the conservative website Townhall, published a video of the attack on his Twitter account with one mocking caption:

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“Let’s disarm because the police can protect you.”

Just about every American who remembers the Los Angeles riots will remember the name of Reginald Denny — the white trucker who was nearly beaten to death solely because of his race – but the video has probably faded from memory.

Schlichter’s Twitter posting – a retweet from another Twitter user — brought it back. And for those who haven’t seen it before, it’s horrifying.

Let’s disarm because the police can protect you https://t.co/cvrm5HcNGd — Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) May 2, 2018

It was savagery in motion, and liberal Democrats like California Rep. Maxine Waters — then in only her second year of a long, corrupt congressional career — proved that she was just as radical then as she is today.

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“I am angry and I have a right to that anger and the people out there have a right to that anger,” she told reporters as South-Central Los Angeles descended into violent anarchy, according to a Huffington Post anniversary piece from last year.

“There are some angry people in America and young, black males in my district are feeling, at this moment, if they could not get a conviction with the Rodney King video available to the jurors, that there can be no justice in America.”

Essentially, she was justifying the behavior of savage “young, black males” who attacked a man simply because he was white, so that’s the kind of justice Americans can expect if Democrats like Waters ever obtain lasting power.

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But there’s another part to the story, which is what Schlichter was getting at. Had Denny been armed when his truck was set upon by the rioters at the intersection of Normandie and Florence avenues, the interaction would have turned out a good deal differently.

With a gun, Denny and his vehicle might have made it out of there safely (and if they hadn’t, some of the attackers might have paid with their lives).

It’s worth remembering, too, that the Korean merchants who were attacked by rioters – merchants who had nothing to do with the King case – only managed to defend themselves by forming an ad hoc militia of armed men who took up rooftop positions in images that became iconic.

Korean merchants protecting their businesses from looters during the LA riots, 1992. pic.twitter.com/XV4tr4Vhhg — Old School (@oldschoolvid) April 29, 2018

The merchants of L.A.’s Koreatown found out during the King riots that police protection wasn’t something they could count on.

Denny was almost beaten to death on national television because he didn’t have a weapon to defend himself when savagery struck.

But Democrats want Americans to surrender rights — granted by God, but guaranteed by the Second Amendment — to defend themselves and their families from the forces of chaos?

Thanks to reminders like this video, it’s not going to happen any time soon.

Even though the images of Denny might be old, the lessons are timeless.

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