A crowd of anti-racism protesters surrounded a woman sitting at a table in an outdoor restaurant in Washington DC and demanded to raise her fist to show solidarity with the movement.
“White silence is violence!” Protesters shouted as they intimidated the woman, later identified as Lauren Victor.
1) In a scene that played out several times Monday, a Black Lives Matter protest that began in Columbia Heights confronted White diners outside D.C. restaurants, chanting “White silence is violence!” and demanding White diners show their solidarity. #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/fJbPM76vb0
— Fredrick Kunkle (@KunkleFredrick) August 25, 2020
Victor refused to raise her hand, even after her partner with whom she shared the table obeyed.
In a later interview with The Washington Post, Victor affirmed that she is in favour of the Black Lives Matter movement and that she had even marched in previous demonstrations.
This bullying is 1) pathetic; 2) dangerous; and 3) utterly destructive and counterproductive to the protesters' professed aims — unless confrontation is the only purpose. https://t.co/T8R4YFpkcX
— David French (@DavidAFrench) August 25, 2020
However, the 49-year-old woman found it wrong for hundreds of people to surround a small group of diners, approach them with raised hands and try to intimidate them into showing their support.
6) Given many comments regarding protesters’ races, it’s worth noting that a young Black woman leading the protest Monday asked White protesters to step forward, as seen here. This direction was given more than once. pic.twitter.com/NEj7z7hdLj
— Fredrick Kunkle (@KunkleFredrick) August 25, 2020
“It just felt overwhelming to have all of those people come at you. To have a crowd — with all that energy — demand that you do this thing. In the moment it didn’t feel right,” Victor said.
The images quickly went viral on social media.
Dominic Sandbrook, a columnist for The Daily Mail, even considered that what happened is reminiscent of what happened on the streets of Germany in 1933, when the Nazis demanded that ordinary people raise their arms in tribute to Adolf Hitler.
Most netizens felt that the confrontational tactic was a bad idea and that it could undermine the message the movement was trying to convey.
