A viral video shows a large group of mostly white people towering over a woman who was dining at an outdoor restaurant in Washington, DC, earlier this week, calling her names and demanding that she show support for Black Lives Matter by raising her fist.
But Lauren Victor, an urban planner who said she has supported and even taken part in protests, did not comply.
Victor told the Washington Post, “I felt like I was under attack.”
The Post reported that the mob was chanting, “No Justice, No Peace,” and, “Fire, fire, gentrifier — black people used to live here.”
Lauren B. Victor is my new hero.
"She felt there was something wrong about being coerced to show support."
Damn right. https://t.co/RzyERLF0zI
— Robert Tracinski (@Tracinski) August 25, 2020
The Daily Mail reported on the backlash BLM activists got for intimidating people who were trying to eat a meal:
Ironically, Victor is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and has participated in many marches, but didn’t want to be ‘coerced’ into showing support.
‘In the moment, it didn’t feel right,’ she stated. ‘I wasn’t actually frightened. I didn’t think they’d do anything to me. I’m very much with them. I’ve been marching with them for weeks and weeks and weeks.’
She said she felt that it was wrong for hundreds of people to surround a small group of diners, approach them with their hands raised, and try to cow them into making a show of support.
The video of the incident shows the mob intimidating other diners, including young children, demanding they raise their fists to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
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