Roger Pohlman is the new Police Chief for Red Wing.

In an amazing feat of legislative maneuvering, Police Chief Roger Pohlman of Red Wing, Minnesota managed to talk the Red Wing city council into passing a resolution labeling “crimes against law enforcement” as “hate crimes.”  The reason for this was pointed out by the police chief to the city council as “openly voicing negative rhetoric toward law enforcement professionals” by protesters at the State Fair.  The chief was upset about recent Black Lives Matter protests who criticized police for brutality and abuse.

When the police chief approached the city for a show of support, the City Council’s response was swift and unanimous.

The Red Wing City Council passed the resolution last week calling for crimes against law enforcement to be prosecutable as hate crimes.

The picturesque town on the banks of the Mississippi River is believed to be the second place in the country — and the first city — to pass such a resolution.

“It seems that anyone wearing a blue uniform has become a target in the minds of a lot of people — a target not because of what they’re doing, but a target because of who they are, which for me really kind of moves it into the hate crimes area,” said Council Vice President Peggy Rehder. “In this case, it’s not the color of their skin, but the color of their uniform.”

The National Fraternal Order of Police early this year urged Congress to expand the federal law that makes it a crime to injure someone based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability and other protected groups.

Red Wing Police Chief Roger Pohlman presented the resolution to the city, reminding council members of Minnesota State Fair protesters openly voicing “negative rhetoric toward law enforcement professionals.”

The vote disturbed Rashad Turner, leader of Black Lives Matter St. Paul and one of the organizers of the State Fair protest. The protests, he said, are meant to draw public attention to the men and women who have been killed by police across the country, he said. The chants that rang out during the State Fair protest — including some marchers who chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon!” — are an expression of people’s anger and frustration over those deaths, he said.

“Law enforcement wants to make themselves out to be the victim,” he said. “We just want to stop being killed.”

Minnesota does not have a hate crimes law. The idea of extending more protection to police than to the people they serve is “disgusting,” Turner said.

Attacking a police officer already carries serious consequences in Minnesota. Under state law, an assault on a law enforcement officer can mean increased fines and jail time. If the officer is injured, a misdemeanor assault can bump up to a felony. State law also carries enhanced penalties for attacks on many professions, including firefighters, judges, prosecutors, teachers and postal workers, among others.

“If you commit violence against a police officer, your penalty will be enhanced. That already exists,” said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

“The police are well-protected, and one of the problems that police have currently is that they have lost the support of big chunks of the community, particularly in the inner city, but also among young people,” Samuelson said.

Following the ambush murders of two New York City police officers last December, the Fraternal Order of Police issued a renewed call for support from communities. Police are “not just feeling under attack, we are under attack,” said Executive Director Jim Pasco.

A copy of the city’s resolution was posted on the police department’s Facebook page.

Some communities have responded. Coon Rapids plans a Police Lives Matter rally later this month.

The federal hate crimes law was “not meant to protect various occupations that are particularly dangerous,” said Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University in Boston. “Of course, the police have always been in the line of attack. It’s part of the job. And they’re not the only occupational group in that situation, although theirs is extreme.”

Adding more and more groups would dilute the law, he said. While the ambush-style violence against police officers is serious, such trends are typically short-lived, he said.

“If, however, we see a long-term increase in the number of police officers who are ambushed because they are police officers, then they might have a legitimate reason for having their group added to the list of protected categories by the federal government,” Levin said.

Until that is established, he pointed out, federal prosecutors can throw the book at people who commit violence against law enforcement, including introducing hate as an aggravating factor during sentencing.

But Red Wing’s police chief said law enforcement needs local government support. Through Sept. 23, 96 law enforcement officers died nationwide this year, Pohlman said, up from 83 in the same time period last year.

However, that figure includes deaths from traffic accidents and natural causes. The FBI maintains a separate database of so-called felonious killings of law enforcement — officers shot, attacked, deliberately struck by vehicles or otherwise fatally injured during the commission of a felony. Those figures jumped in 2014 after two years of declines, but have declined this year.

During the first half of 2015, 23 officers were feloniously killed nationwide, a 28 percent decrease from the 32 officers killed in the first half of 2014, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Over time, the number of officers killed has remained “relatively static,” Pasco said, but the numbers don’t take into account the better equipment, training and medical care benefiting police in recent years. “The overwhelming anecdotal evidence that comes to us: There’s an increased hostility,” Pasco said.

Red Wing’s resolution followed a similar measure passed last month in Warren County, Ohio.

Pohlman said his 29 officers in Red Wing do their best to enforce the laws. “To hear all the negative publicity kind of wears on you over time.”

Published with sections from startribune.com

-By Jordan Freshour

A Cop Blocker in Kettering warns drivers of an OVI checkpoint

“Southwestern Ohio is the center for civil disobedience activism in the world right now.” – Mark Edge, Free Talk Live, April 1st, 2015.

Wait, what? Not New Hampshire with the Free State Project? Not in the Middle East, where protests and civil war are still erupting years after the Arab Spring? Not in DC, a Mecca for civil demonstrations and home to hundreds of national and global non-profit headquarters? Not in places like Los Angeles or Texas, where a new era of technological innovation is bursting forth?

While it’s difficult to accurately compare the efficacy of various methods used by groups to promote social change, Mark Edge did not speak out of context in lauding this specific region of the United States. In the radio segment mentioned above, he was interviewing Virgil Văduva about his own acts of civil disobedience. In particular, Văduva’s intentional violation of an anti-panhandling ordinance in the nearby city of Xenia. When asked if he agreed with Mark’s assessment, he said:

“I do agree. I have friends who live in California who complain that they are the lone activist in their large town and are unable to grow the liberty community. In essence they are alone in the middle of a crowd. I’m not sure what is causing this phenomenon here in SW Ohio, but I remember just a few years ago being the only Cop Blocker within 100 mile radius. Since then the number of activists and libertarians has exploded. While I would love to take credit for some of the growth, the reality is that there have been quite a few events in the area that served as catalysts for the message of freedom. Ohio Open Carry, the shooting of John Crawford and Tamir Rice have been huge factors in bringing new activists on board, and the recent shooting at the University of Cincinnati was another reminder of a growing police brutality problem. The police alone are responsible for the growth in the numbers of local activists. In essence they are the largest creators responsible for building our community.”

Văduva isn’t the only Ohio activist who believes the police have directly contributed to the local growth in activism. Micah David of Yellow Springs, Ohio – writer, editor, and designer for Counter Current News – shares similar thoughts:

“Yes, I think Ohio is ground zero in terms of police abuse, brutality and racism. A lot of times people will assume coastal cities, or a large midwestern city like Chicago would be the focal point of such police abuses. But Ohio has a unique history with regards to racism and injustice, as law enforcement and government reacted in very deliberate ways to the influx of freed-men and women who came across the Kentucky border. As such, many so-called minority communities know Ohio to be little more than an extension of the south, with some of the most segregated communities in the nation. On top of that, the middle-American nature of Ohio suburbs has lent to a particular flavor of Ohio activism, and reaction by law enforcement and the government, even going back to the Kent State Massacre during the Vietnam War.

So in a sense, activists come after the situation that is created sociologically in Ohio – they are borne from it. And at the same time, the law enforcement response to activism in Ohio is borne out of the sociological “Northern South” vibe that is Ohio. It is that vibe, or climate that leads to incidences such as the shooting of John Crawford, Tamir Rice and Sam Dubose, or even earlier, Timothy Thomas.”

To get closer to the target of racial police abuse, I spoke with Talis Gage (also from Yellow Springs), an activist and organizer with Black Lives Matter Miami Valley and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. He said everything “jumped off” after the murder of John Crawford III in Beavercreek, Ohio. Talis echoed Micah’s assessment when answering if police targeting has been a catalyst for uniting the black community:

“In Yellow Springs it definitely has, because there really isn’t a black community here. So we are now all working together collectively in different ways – on the radio, on HRC [Human Relations Commission], and I was running for village council. I would say [the shooting] made different organizations more active and much more aggressive in the black communities. The Ohio Student Association was very active in getting the Beavercreek police to release the tapes from the Wal-Mart shooting. They were also outside of the Beavercreek police station for days protesting. We tag teamed with them to shut down Wal-Mart, and then the Beavercreek Mall.”

Outcry over the murder of Crawford isn’t the only response from leaders in the nearby black community. Talis went on to explain how BLM Miami Valley has quickly become a group which works with others to feed the poor and homeless, provide clothes to those in need, clean up the neighborhood, educate their neighbors, and host potlucks for the public.  “Everyone is doing all they can within their organization to wake up the black community to stand strong as the Kings and Queens they originally were,” said Talis.

“Waking up” individuals to the reality of the classist warfare waged by the government is a major challenge for activists of all stripes. Constant mobile connectivity to one another has been the single greatest tool for the nonconformist in infiltrating the minds of others with new ideas. Heather Lucas – an Awakened Cincinnatian, and council member for Unite Ohio – has worked with more than a dozen Ohio groups, linking them to each other. The Militia, Ohio Patriot Bikers, libertarian chapters, Pin Ups for Patriots, NORML, 3% Militia, and Columbus Anonymous are but a few allies. She credited social media for the success of networking and growth among like-minded people, saying:

“Activism in my opinion has become much easier for everyone due to social media. I think for one the instant access to stories, info, and causes have caused “normal” people to have to look at things they wouldn’t have normally. So they join a group, or start their own.”

Having instant access to information is vital to spreading the word about events and ideas, but social giants such as Facebook are only one element in the Buckeye dissenter’s tool kit. The effectiveness of Heather’s endeavors to unite various Ohio efforts increases with the availability of new technology designed to facilitate counter culture. Apps such as Bambuser, Wickr, and Cell 411 can be found on the smartphones of revolutionaries statewide, the latter having been developed by Văduva specifically for the use of activism. Virgil (a cryptology professional) believes advances of this kind are precisely the silver bullet for government tyranny:

“As a crypto-anarchist, it’s evident to me that technology is making the ideas of liberty virtually impregnable to government tyrants, and that’s an empowering realization. This is why I am focusing on building even more tools to empower people to subvert the state, whether it’s through adopting currencies like Bitcoin, embracing free markets, or subverting State surveillance. We are barely toddlers in this world and we are just now learning how to use technology to be truly free.”

It should be noted these kinds of technology are available across the world, but southwest Ohio has a unique environment. It is a place where innovators are focusing their implements on freedom, and the principles of the people living there are predisposed to take advantage of inventions which empower the individual. Where similar movements in other areas fragment due to infighting between egos, those in Ohio have learned how to use ego to their advantage. Justin King, journalist, and editor for The Fifth Column opines:

“Ohio’s activists seem to have adopted an informal cellular structure. There are hundreds of small groups that are self contained. Each of these groups does a great job of making the other groups aware of their actions. This means everybody supports each other. The small group sizes allow more people to have egos. If there is one large group there are only so many top positions. People of influence end up arguing. Small groups allow people of influence to abstain from an event they don’t agree with without destroying the overall movement. It cuts down on infighting because the “cells” are free to do as they choose. Nobody is jockeying for position.”

Justin has a fitting resume for a gonzo journalist, having been a military contractor, bodyguard, a “smuggler,” a federal inmate, and so on. He offers a unique set of skills for other activists. “I’ve been waterboarded, I’ve conducted counter-surveillance for activists, I’ve investigated dirty politicians for groups, and basically anything that requires a bit of playing dirty. I [..] bring tactical experience to the movement.” Justin knows to maximize his own impact, strategically aligning with specific people and events is important. “…it boils down to choosing your battles carefully,” he said. “Let’s say somebody is done wrong by a police department, but they have a massive criminal record. Ideologically it’s still an offense, tactically don’t waste the resources on a person that isn’t relatable to the rest of America.”

That last statement might be controversial in other circles of activism. But it’s not in Ohio. When activists there see a cause they like, they support it. When activists disagree about a cause, they don’t support it. And when activists think there is a better way of doing something, instead of criticizing others, they form the solutions themselves. Such is the story of Awakened Cincinnatians. Richard Brewster, an AC member, touched on this when I inquired to how the group had formed:

“Actually I started it. I loved the idea of Anonymous: How everyone can be one. I went to a few Occupy Cincinnati events and saw how they couldn’t get along – the left stayed to the left, the right stayed to the right. There was really nothing for us Awakened People, who don’t fall for the left/right nonsense. After arguing and being kicked out of the local Occupy [Cincinnati], and all the Patriot groups, I decided we needed our own. I made the group on Facebook. […] Once numbers were decent we [began holding meetings]. Ever since we have kept the ball rolling picking up new people with every event we do.”

Events arranged and promoted by the Awakened Cincinnatians have taken the Queen City by storm, attracting mainstream media attention, and the support of the most widely-known organization to focus on police accountability: Cop Block. At a recent September 19th protest – organized by AC to call attention to the murder of Sam DuBose – several Cop Block journalists were in attendance, including Ademo Freeman, CB’s co-founder. As one of the most influential anarcho-activists in the country, I was curious to his take on the Ohio brand of activism. When asked what surprised him the most from his time spent there, Ademo articulated the volume of hard-working individuals:

“Whether it be CopBlocking a checkpoint, running websites, creating videos or smartphone apps, someone in Ohio is doing it. I would say that they’ve all energized, inspired and provided hope to me in some form. From their energy, tactics and the diversity of such, it has been most beneficial to myself – and hopefully to those who view our/their work/efforts.”

Freeman is no stranger to the work being done in Ohio. Upon leaving New Hampshire a year ago to spread the message of police accountability nationwide, he made a temporary base in Cleveland in preparation for the rest of his journey. “I’ve been lucky enough to work with and meet many, some I knew before arriving – like Valerie and DEO; while others like Virgil, Micah and some of the CB offshoots (Dayton CB, Greater Cleveland folks and so on) I’ve gotten to know while CopBlocking,” he said. During his time visiting the state, new chapters were formed in Dayton and Beavercreek. Other chapters, such as Ohio Valley, Columbus, and Zanesville were strengthened by his collaboration with Columbus activist, Valerie Petrichor, whom with I also spoke.

Valerie has been involved with Cop Block since it’s inception, forming multiple chapters in and near her suburban Columbus home. Working for police accountability before Cop Block had evened formed, her efforts are reflected (in part) by a hometown which suffers far less police misconduct than cities of comparable size. I asked her a similar question as I did the others, “Is there anything you believe makes Ohioans more receptive to the message of freedom?”

“Individual thought. People who think on any level other than unique individual thought will typically not understand the need for freedom or accountability. The exception being those who believe they are part of some “movement”. Finding like-minded individuals who want to work toward shared goals is great – necessary, even. However, believing in a “movement” is just a way to continue groupthink passively and avoid truly unique thought. In Ohio we have what is probably one of the strongest, if not the strongest, [group of] activists in the US.”

Being one of the few women planted in the trenches of the fight against police brutality, I wondered if Valerie thought her femininity was a trait she considered a strength. Oddly enough, she didn’t. “It’s just a circumstance,” She said, playing down the question. “If anything, it makes what I do easier than it would be for a man. People tend to respect me and my gender is probably part of the reason. I think being female causes me to be perceived as less of a threat.” 

Though it may be true the police underestimate the strength of a principled woman, fellow Ohio activists do not. Individuals such as Heather and Valerie are not only freedom fighters in the public arena, but also in the home raising the next generation of world-changers. In wrapping up my case for Ohio being ground zero for activists, I wished to unearth that lesser-seen side of activism. Knowing where to look, I asked Jamie Văduva (married to Virgil), if she would round out my story. She obliged.

Jamie is a member of Libertarians of Southwest Ohio, artist, caretaker of her family’s farm, mother of four, and a homeschooler. Though not as visible as other activists, her efforts to promote freedom are the most selfless of type. As principled and hard-working as any liberty-minded person, she labors to raise her children as lovers of freedom and humanity, while spreading a message of love and kindness to those around. She offered the story of Christopher McCandless as one inspiring tale which shaped her values as teacher, Mom, and wife:

“I just started reading books about survival and people living simpler lives: Christopher McCandless, Henry David Thoreau, Everett Ruess and many others. Extreme stories that challenged my thinking. We gave away most of our furniture, and sold our new cars and 5-year-old house to get an old house in the country. All because God and family were what mattered. Not things, not money and mortgages, but our time together. And to be able to experience having animals and grow food, have bees, et cetera – that lifestyle goes with living a liberty or Voluntaryist life very much.”

Referencing Thoreau’s message of simplicity, only what’s truly important matters in her home. She proudly sees herself as an activist for “the little things in every day life.”  She added, “[Our kids] get to see first hand voluntary interactions between friends and acquaintances. Helping others and they help us…we have each other’s backs or do things to help because we care. Each person has something different to offer.”

Activists are stereotyped in many ways, often in a cold manner. However, those in southwest Ohio come off as the most devoted  – and caring – humans I have encountered. This may be the secret to the robust and diverse community of liberty-lovers in the Buckeye State. In closing, Jamie speaks directly to what I believe is the essence of these people:

 “I can only be myself which is someone who is drawn toward the positive. I don’t pretend everything is perfect. But my place here is to keep reminding everyone to have good hearts, and to try to bring out the softer side in people. To make them smile, and see it’s all about being free and happy with the people you love and care about. Live…just be yourself and do the things you love. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in. And remember to be a nice person. Sometimes something as simple as a smile can change someone’s world and you don’t even realize it.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Two men shot and killed, one a fleeing man in South Carolina, one a Texas sheriff: No connection, no equivalence

Over 1,500 miles separate Harris County, Texas and Harrison Township, New Jersey yet public officials in those two jurisdictions seemingly share a similar posture on persons who protest against abuse by police.

Recently Ron Hickman, the Sheriff of Harris County, Texas, blasted the Black Lives Matters movement blaming that surging anti-abuse entity for being an impetus for the brutal murder of a Harris County deputy.

Hickman readily acknowledged that he didn’t have all of the facts surrounding the murder of Deputy Darren Goforth, particularly the motive for that murder. However, that lack of facts didn’t stop Hickman from his hair-trigger blast at Black Lives Matters for that murder committed by a man known to have a long history of mental illness who had no involvement with Black Lives Matter.

Earlier this year, the governing committee of Harrison Township, NJ approved a resolution “Recognizing and Honoring” the service of law enforcement officers. But that resolution contained flawed assertions like most critics of police brutality are “career criminals and agitators who seek to divide our nation…”

Curiously overlooked by many critics of those who criticize police brutality is the fact that the overwhelming majority of persons who participate in anti-brutality protests are law-abiding citizens opposed to unnecessary use of excessive force by law enforcers. Persons that have led anti-brutality protests in South Jersey communities near Harrison Township have been respected members of the clergy and prominent community leaders, not the “career criminals” referenced in that resolution approved in February.

Although the Black Lives Matters movement certainly is not beyond criticism, it is disingenuous to bash that social justice protest as an initiator of attacks on police.

‘Calling Out’ police abuse is not the same as issuance of calls to attack police. Black Lives Matter does ‘assail repeated failures across America to corral police brutality but it does not ask people to attack police.

That township resolution pointedly condemned the news media for having “perpetuated false narratives” that made law enforcement targets of reprisals inclusive of “the assassination of a number of law enforcement officers throughout the country in recent weeks.”

The Officer Down Memorial Page website listed only one death of a police officer due to gunfire during the ‘recent weeks’ that covered the entire month of January 2015. And, the Memorial listed that one death as “accidental.”

That website did list four police officers killed by gunfire in December 2014.

A man with a history of mental illness who claimed he was reacting to the fatal shooting of a black teen in Ferguson, Missouri by a white policeman murdered two policemen in New York City. The cop killers in the two other December 2014 fatal shootings were a fugitive seeking to escape a return to prison and a man involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend.

None of the three men responsible for those fatal shootings of police last December had any involvement with Black Lives Matter or any history of engagement with social justice protests. However, New York City police union officials along with their confederates in political office and the press immediately tarred the Black Lives Matters movement and other civil rights leaders as having blood-on-their-hands for backing anti-brutality protests.

Many see hypocrisy in that fact that many of those currently castigating anti-brutality initiatives, like Black Lives Matters, rarely condemn the abuses by police that produce protests.

Police brutality is a long-standing scourge that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. criticized twice during his seminal “I Have A Dream” speech delivered in August 1963. One of the police departments detailed for excessive brutality in the October 1981 “Who Is Guarding The Guardians?” report issued by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission was Houston, the largest city in Harris County, Texas.

Ron Hickman, the Sheriff of Harris County, Texas, proclaimed “dangerous rhetoric” against police has “gotten out of control.”

Hickman said the “general climate” of the rhetoric generated by the Black Lives Matters “can be influential on people” to kill police.

Hickman had a different stance on cause-&-effect earlier this year. A cellphone video captured two of Hickman’s deputies cursing and abusing their authority during a traffic stop. But Hickman made no comments about abusive police culture comparable to his attack on Black Lives Matter.

If “all lives matter [and] cops’ lives matter, too,” as Hickman and others contend, then there would be no impetus for Black Lives Matters. That movement sprang up because the police killing of non-whites, particularly blacks, historically has received short shrift across American society.

A report on abusive misconduct by police issued by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in November 2000 stated, “People of color, women and the poor are groups of Americans that seem to bear the brunt of the [police] abuse which compounds the other injustices that they may suffer as a result of discrimination…”

That 2000 report, following up on the Civil Rights Commission’s 1981 police brutality report, noted that reports of police brutality, harassment and misconduct “continue to spread throughout the country.”

In 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a report on widespread human rights violations in the United States that included criticism of racial profiling and “excessive use of force” by law enforcement personnel. America’s body politic brushed off that UN Human Rights report as it has reports by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

That 2000 Civil Rights Commission report declared, “Police brutality tears violently at the fabric of our nation, leaving in its aftermath a distrustful and divided community.”

That U.S. Civil Rights Commission declaration is a reality that those who castigate critics of police abuse rarely recognize.

Written by Linn Washington Jr. for thiscantbehappening.net

by Virgil Vaduva

Update (August 6, 2015):

Representatives from Ohio Students Association have contacted me and have denied any association with the individuals behind the e-mails sent to Jim Anderson. As of right now, nobody has taken any responsibility for the statements made in the e-mails sent to Jim.

Original story: 

A clear pattern of discrimination and exclusion has been emerging within the last few days regarding the organization Black Lives Matter. It started with the organization attempting to schedule an event at the same time and location as other organizations and immediately attempting to put in place rules limiting attendance, excluding members of Anonymous, members of Cop Block and members of Ohio Open Carry, all organizations which oppose police brutality and work hard to further liberty.

These actions and attempts to control the narrative and attendance to the one year anniversary demonstration of John Crawford’s shooting by Ohio police have stirred up quite a debate in various circles, prompting individuals that would otherwise work together to further the cause of liberty to take sides based on political views and other opinions.

Black Lives Matter, the George Soros funded organization, is now on full attack against Anonymous, a de-centralized organization which has been attempting to participate in exposing police brutality throughout the world for years.  The attempt on the part of BLM to limit speech and control the message at public events is not new and I have documented a number of instances where bigotry is on display by members and leader in Black Lives Matter.

Just today an activist and journalist named Jim Anderson based out of Columbus, Ohio contacted me to inform me that he was told by members of BLM that he was “too white to attend a police brutality protest.”

As early as November 2014 the leaders of Black Lives Matter Columbus have contacted Jim and demanded that he cancels his event against police brutality due to conflict (as they scheduled it after he did) and informed him that no members of Anonymous are welcome to any of their public events.  Furthermore Guy Fawkes masks were banned and white people were told not to attend and were not welcome at any planning meetings. These tactics are identical to the tactics BLM is attempting to use to intimidate white attendees in Beavercreek, Ohio planning to attend the one year anniversary protest of the John Crawford shooting on August 5, 2015.

Screenshots of e-mail exchanges between Jim and representatives from BLM and Ohio Student Association show what appear to be outright and unapologetically bigoted attitudes towards police brutality supporters simply because of their association with Anonymous or simple due to their skin color.

When Jim inquired about the confusion generated by the exclusion of Anonymous members, he was told that Anonymous members lack “revolutionary-ness” (sic) and can be threatening to people of color. The insensitivity of the language used to describe Anonymous is astounding. The BLM leaders are attempting to describe Anonymous members as violent, unaccountable individuals who show up at protests in order to intimidate people of color.

This is not the first time members of Black Lives Matter have excluded whites from their events. In an event scheduled in Dayton, Ohio early in 2015 several messages went out indicating in essence that “no whites are allowed” at their events and that white people are not welcome to participate or take part in police brutality protests. When an outraged community pointed out the bigotry of these demands the request made on Facebook were deleted and BLM leadership pretended they never happened.

In a recent video allegedly recorded in Cleveland, Ohio, another white journalist who attended a BLM meeting to support their cause was assaulted, pushed, cursed at and grabbed before he had a chance to leave the public property he was on.

When asked about the bigoted remarks, the organizers defended the behavior by claiming this was a “private” meeting, however the meeting is clearly out in public on what appears to be public property.  Not only that, but the journalist was clearly in the process of leaving, as he was asked to do, when he was assaulted and threatened. You can watch the video here.

Talis Gage, a leader in Black Lives Matter compares Anonymous members with the KKK in a Facebook post

In a more recent event, a Black Lives Matter leader did not mince words when he outright stated that “the mask is the new sheet” when criticizing Anonymous for attending some BLM events.  He stated:

“Sometimes I wonder if the mask is the new sheet and are they in cahoots with each other I know I know there is some black mask anon members but like the old days you had house negros and field negros and we are not that far from those times. I have associated in all these diff groups but I can’t say I trust them.”

Additional BLM members followed with more inflammatory comments against Anonymous:

“Both anonymous masks and guns endanger people of color…”

All these comments were removed when I warned them that I was taking screenshots, as the story would be hard to believe otherwise.

I am aghast at the idea that Anonymous is being compared with one of the most despicable and racists groups in the world, the KKK, which has lynched, burned and executed people simply because of the color of their skin. Furthermore, Anonymous has shown incredible support for the black community on the issue of police brutality. Several prominent investigations by Anonymous have led to exposing internal e-mails and comments from NYPD and Baltimore PD showing extensive racism among police officers.

When members of Anonymous contacted the BLM leaderships to inquire about the public event scheduled in Dayton Ohio in April, they were told in very clear terms, “It’s an event that’s not for anonymous members.”

The ingratitude shown by Black Lives Matter and the outright disregard for any desire to cooperate with people and groups which have supported them for the past year is very disturbing, to say the least. Exclusion, discrimination and bigotry appears to be alive and well throughout the BLM organization, and is dishonorable to police brutality causes where black Americans have been targeted by police throughout the country.

I am unsure how to encourage BLM leadership to resolve this problem, or even if they are willing to solve the problem or eliminate bigotry from their midsts, but if you want to contact BLM, you can do so by going to their website and writing them a message about the serious problem they are creating by attacking groups of people which have been supportive of the cause of police brutality well before BLM even came into existence.

Words don’t break bones, but they should certainly prompt someone to step back and reconsider their support for such organizations.

Virgil Vaduva is a Libertarian security professional, journalist, photographer and overall liberty freak. He spent most of his life in Communist Romania and participated in the 1989 street protests which led to the collapse of the Ceausescu regime. He can be reached at vvaduva at truthvoice.com.