The far-right militiamen who assembled fully armed at Gettysburg on July 4th mobbed a Methodist pastor in the National Cemetery there because he was wearing a Black Lives Matter T-Shirt. You can watch the video, which was recorded by the pastor about twenty minutes after the armed men began harassing him, in the player below. It is at a 90 degree angle, unfortunately.
I wrote about this armed intimidation yesterday, but I want to say a few words about what I saw in the video. I will also discuss some of the comments I have received from people supporting the armed contingent, which included the Ku Klux Klan, several Three Percenter militias, and the Boogaloo Boys. The Boogaloo Boys hope to incite armed confrontations that bring on a new civil war.
As you can hear right at the beginning of the video, the large man in the “Trump Get on Board” shirt says that the problem is “all these white people wearing these Black Lives Matter stuff. Then you got the Black people started.” This is a common white supremacist trope. Whites who call for justice for African Americans are race traitors who “stir up” otherwise docile African Americans. When the pastor responds to the man, another man chimes in “Just because your gay…” This is a common insult used by men on the far-right. In their minds, nothing could be worse than being called gay, so they use it frequently to insult their opponents. You can hear other men off camera laugh derisively.
Then the racist chant “All Lives Matter” begins. A large shirtless man adds that all lives matter “before Blacks.” The man demands that the pastor, named Trent Somes, “say something.” When Somes says calmly “Black Lives Matter,” the shirtless man angrily says “Fuck you stupid bitch,” once again, calling the pastor’s sexuality into question. Aside from being gay, a man being called a woman is considered extreme derision among the ammosexuals of the far-right.
By this time, you will have seen both assault-style rifles and pistols in the possession of the men confronting the unarmed pastor. I have received a number of messages from those defending the armed militiamen who have claimed that Somes was disruptive and threatening and that the militiamen calmly and respectfully were “keeping an eye on him.” That is clearly not true. While Somes is peacefully speaking with the men, they repeatedly invade his space.
Shirtless man next says that he will “Beat you and your dad up,” a clear threat of violence at the one minute mark. Since Somes was alone in the cemetery, it is unclear why he referred to Somes’s father. By the way, Somes’s dad was a career Air Force officer and Somes serves in the Marine Reserves.
When Somes tells the shirtless man that if he beats him up it will be felony assault, the angry man spits out “Gay motherfucker.” Another man tells Somes “You’d best walk out.” Somes answers that this is where his ancestor is buried and asks “Am I not allowed to be here.” “No” is the answer he receives. A man in a blue “Don’t Tread on Me” shirt begins to finger the trigger of his assault-style rifle. Shouts come for Somes to “Get the Fuck Out.” One man demands that he take the “terrorist organization” shirt off.
The man in the “Trump Get on Board” shirt tries a different tack. He says “Let him go.” This would allow the militiamen to claim victory without exposing themselves to felony charges.
At the 2:20 mark, the militiamen again ask why he is wearing the T-Shirt. There is a long series of monologues by the militiamen claiming that Black people don’t support Black Lives Matter.
At the 5:30 mark, a man assumes the role of peacemaker while simultaneously calling the pastor a “very immature and stupid kid.” At this point, you can see the camera scan the crowd and you realize that Somes is surrounded by scores of militia many of who openly display weapons.
At the 7:30 mark a Federal police officer appears and tells Somes, who has been calm throughout that “If you are going to cause a disturbance, I can suggest that you de-escalate.” Anyone seeing the video could tell that Somes was not causing a disturbance, that it was the armed men screaming at him that were. The officer says “obviously you’re upsetting some people.” So we now have the official snowflake standard for Federal law enforcement? If you upset armed white men by wearing a t-shirt, you need to “de-escalate”!!!!!
The cop follows up by saying he would say the same thing to the militiamen “if they were doing it to you.” Oh my God! What the Hell! We know that the cop saw what had been going on. There was even a helicopter hovering over the scene. But in the eyes of the law, it was the man in the BLM shirt who was at fault?
You can see from the officers remarks at the 7:50 mark that he buys into the idea that Somes is part of an organized plot. He tells Somes that he “might want to regroup with your partners.” A puzzled Somes asks “What partners?
The officer could not be unaware of who was causing the disturbance. Militiamen keep screaming insults even as he is talking to Somes. When the officer suggests that Somes voluntarily leave, a man shouts “get the fuck out.” As the officer “escorts” Somes away from the armed mob, those surrounding him begin to celebrate.
The officer then speaks “privately” with Somes a little way away, and refers to the armed men as “patriots.”
The officer tells Somes that he is not accusing the pastor of doing anything illegal. He said that he was protecting Somes “because you’re an American.” He told Somes that “you’re in an area where you may subject yourself to danger.”
Contrary to the claims of “ordinary citizens” who have written to condemn my article yesterday as distorting the confrontation, the militiamen were racist, homophobic, and misogynistic. If you can watch the video, and you still disagree with me, then you are also racist, homophobic, and misogynistic.
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A bunch of guys in Hawaiian shirts want to bring about another civil war, which they refer to as the Boogaloo? That seems like something The Onion would have rejected as too absurd.
That police officer handled the situation poorly and should be fired. A crowd of people harassed one man because he was wearing a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt. They couldn’t deal with the message, and they threatened him with violence and intimidation. The police officer refused to understand the situation. He failed to “protect and serve.” He doesn’t need to be a cop if that’s how he handles his job.