{"id":9213,"date":"2020-07-16T15:22:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T19:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idavox.com\/?p=9213"},"modified":"2020-07-20T13:49:17","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T17:49:17","slug":"tennessee-blm-rally-met-by-nazis-making-fools-of-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idavox.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/16\/tennessee-blm-rally-met-by-nazis-making-fools-of-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee BLM Rally Met By Nazis Making Fools of Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The violence that erupted at this rally was not between anyone associated with Black Lives Matter and those opposed to them. It was between two separate factions of counter-protesters.\u00a0BLM remained peaceful!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ROGERSVILLE, TN–As the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement has been picking up steam in recent months with protests and actions nationwide in response to George Floyd\u2019s murder, white supremacists have been attempting to further spread their racist agenda.  However, these attempts backfired on them recently at a Black Lives Matter protest on July 11. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, June 26, a false rumor about a planned BLM protest in downtown Rogersville was widely circulated on social media, resulting in an organized counter-protest which assembled in front of the courthouse.  Racist behavior was observed at the first counter-protest.  In response to the racism at the counter- protest last month, organizers from the New Panthers Initiative (NPI) scheduled the July 11th<\/sup> protest as a peaceful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with confirmation of an actual Black Lives Matter protest in Rogersville, an even larger counter-protest was organized.  As the protesters marched towards the town square, they were met with verbal abuse and profanity as they chanted, \u201cWe come in peace. We\u2019re not going to hurt anybody or anything. We only want everyone in this community to know Black Lives Matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the protesters\u2019 most frequent chants was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cAll lives don\u2019t matter until what\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlack lives matter!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their chants were met by counter- protesters screaming at them, \u201cPitiful. You\u2019re an embarrassment. All lives matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the close of the event NPI co-founder Arron Rashad reportedly told the Times News he felt there were positive results from Saturday\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going great, everybody is out here peacefully, and I think a lot of people from their side are starting to open up and hear our point \u2014 what we have to say,\u201d Rashad said. \u201cAt the same time, we\u2019re able to have conversations with people and understand why they feel against what we\u2019re saying. It\u2019s just a good exchanging of ideas right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashad said, \u201cI hope that something we said or something we did is going to maybe give them something to think about when they go home. Nobody is guaranteed to change their mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of people are conditioned to believe the things they believe from birth. I just hope that us being out here and showing solidarity is showing that the community can come together and acknowledge these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cJust like earlier, there was a problem with some neo-Nazis in the crowd, and the counter-protesters are the ones who kicked them out. That\u2019s beautiful. I think that speaks to the fact we are all speaking together, and we are all coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karens Gone Wild in Rogersville pic.twitter.com\/3sEYPU9P8q<\/a><\/p>\u2014 The Tri-Cities TN Holler (@TriCitiesHoller) July 12, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>