The mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, on Wednesday condemned protesters who harassed diners refusing to raise fists alongside Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors.
“What I saw in those videos was highly inappropriate,” Bowser noted, according to Washington Post reporter Fenit Nirappil. “It was likely against the law if they were on private property but more importantly, I don’t think it had anything to do with demands for social justice.”
"We would encourage any diner or restaurant to call the police immediately," the mayor stated, adding that DC residents will not be "bullied out of living their everyday lives".
Mayor Bowser continued: "We would encourage any diner or restaurant to call the police immediately."
— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) August 26, 2020
A video emerged on Tuesday, posted by Washington Post writer Frederick Kunkle, showing BLM demonstrators approaching diners eating outside of DC restaurants, shouting “white silence is violence” and demanding a show of support with raised fists.
In one video, which later went viral, people who did not respond to the demands of the protesters for solidarity resulted in a protester asking: “Are you a Christian?”.
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 WaPo (@KunkleFredrick) August 25, 2020
Another earlier video that went viral on Monday showed a man and a woman sitting in the outdoor section of a restaurant, confronted by a large crowd.3) Modiano, who had been yelling at Victor and moments later identified himself as a citizen journalist who writes for @Deadspin, told Victor he couldn’t understand why she was the only diner in the area who wouldn’t comply. “What was in you, you couldn’t do this?”
— Fredrick Kunkle WaPo (@KunkleFredrick) August 25, 2020
Protesters says people who don’t raise there fist is a white supremact #dcprotest #dcprotests #blmprotest #ACAB #blm #Blacklivesmatter #JacobBlake#KenoshaProtests #KenoshaUprising pic.twitter.com/UBGfJmb1aV
— RawsMedia™ (@rawsmedia) August 25, 2020
While nearby customers raised fists, the man and woman ignored the demands. The protesters cursed at them and demanded they make the gesture, with one participant appearing to refer to the man as a “pasty piece of sh*t".
New anti-racism protests struck the country on Sunday after white police shoot a 29-year-old black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 7 times in the back, reportedly paralyzing him from the waist down.
A video of the incident emerged, showing police attempting to arrest Blake before he turned around and headed toward the driver’s side door of his automobile. Officers then fired multiple shots into his back.
