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The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, responsible for the burning of hundreds of businesses, the deaths of innocents, and an entire year of violent riots in the U.S., kicked off its 2021 wave of violence with a new protest in Manhattan. The protest that unfolded Friday across Midtown Manhattan ended with eleven protesters arrested, Fox News reported.
The NYPD reported that two officers suffered minor injuries during the protest, which was attended by about 100 demonstrators; officials could not immediately say how the police officers were injured.
Commotion soon ensued with BLM members. Several of those arrested were accused of attacking Daily News photographer Sam Costanza at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street. Following their classic formula of being violent before being anything else, the protesters attacked Costanza for mistakenly believing he was a police officer.
According to people who were present, the attack was unconscionable. The Daily News photographer was surrounded and beaten after one of the protesters recognized him from a BLM protest in front of the NYPD’s Sixth Precinct house in Greenwich Village last year. According to witnesses, it was a dozen or so people who surrounded the photographer, pushing and shoving him and hitting him with their fists and other objects.
BLM, which was responsible for the murder of Captain David Dorn last year during the riots, did not hesitate to escalate the situation in Midtown. The protester who mistook the photographer, began shouting, “He’s a cop!”, seeking to successfully incite many of those present at the march.
In the video shared by freelance reporter Scooter Caster, both sides, NYPD and BLM, are face to face along the street. Within seconds, the NYPD is poised to move forward to quell the already heated tempers. In the video you can see how once the protesters are cornered, they begin to struggle with the police, who reacted to neutralize the situation.
The scene continues to the vicinity of the place; police officers can be heard shouting, “Spread out, spread out!”. Caster reported that a press member also appears to have been arrested.
BLM: “Burn it all!”… Again
A week ago, BLM organized another march in Washington where they raised the possibility of a repeat of last year’s waves of violence. Protesters marched through the streets of the capital on Saturday shouting “Burn it down!” as reported by LawOfficer. As they were accustomed to in 2020, the organization marched side by side with the Antifa terrorist movement. Fox News reported that an “Antifascist Action” banner accompanied the ranks of the march.
Andy Ngo, an expert on Antifa and BLM, reported the chants of the horde as it passed through Washington neighborhoods.
The events began in the early afternoon during the “Queer and Trans Black History Month march and rally,” organized by the Total Liberation Collective and Palm Collective movements.
Protesters stopped briefly in front of a row of restaurants where some participants scuffled with police officers, freelance journalist Brendan Gutenschwager reported. In videos shared by the reporter, police can be seen forming a line to divide the protesters from the diners they were harassing.
In another video, protesters are seen besieging several restaurants, knocking over their tables, intimidating people with wooden sticks.
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017