Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – Videos have gone wildly viral of a mob of Black Lives Matter protesters surrounding a woman sitting at a dinner table outside at a DC restaurant as they screamed in her face and threatened her.
Washington Post staff writer Frederick Kunkle posted a video to social media on Tuesday after he encountered the incident on a sidewalk in Columbia Heights, FOX News reported.
In the midst of DC Summer Restaurant Week, which was still held during the pandemic specifically for the purpose of drawing diners to the restaurant that have remained open, Black Lives Matter protesters were harassing patrons who attempted to eat at the outdoor tables.
Kunkle said that crowd of protesters overtook the sidewalk café area and demanded that diners raise their right fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as they chanted “White Silence Is Violence” and “No Justice, No peace” in their faces, FOX News reported.
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
Most of the diners fell in line with the frightening protesters’ demands, but when one woman did not, videos of the confrontation showed the mob went crazy and became threatening.
White Silence is Violence': #BLM protesters harass diners in Washington DC
A Black Lives Matter mob resorted to bullying & public humiliation in Washington DC to force diners – who were trying to enjoy their meals outside restaurants
Footage from several incidents has gone viral pic.twitter.com/cJw5e2uYdU— 🌎 Sarwar 🌐 (@ferozwala) August 26, 2020
The videos showed masked restaurant patron Lauren Victor with her back pressed up against the building as she attempted to get away from the protesters who were leaning over her table and screaming in her face.
6) Given many comments regarding protesters’ races, it’s worth noting that a young Black woman leading the protest Monday asked White protesters to step forward, as seen here. This direction was given more than once. pic.twitter.com/NEj7z7hdLj
— Fredrick Kunkle WaPo (@KunkleFredrick) August 25, 2020
Not only did the protesters likely break multiple laws with their actions, they also violated all of the DC and CDC guidelines for social distancing as they trapped Victor at her seat and moved in even closer, the video showed.
“Are you a Christian?” one woman shrieked at Victor in the video.
Kunkle reported that Chuck Modiano, a writer for Deadspin, was one of the protesters who harassed the people trying to eat dinner.
“What was in you, you couldn’t do this?” Modiano asked Victor, according to a tweet.
Victor, who told protesters that she had been marching with them for weeks, said she felt it was wrong to try and coerce support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I felt I was under attack,” she said, according to Kunkle’s tweets.
“In the moment, it didn’t feel right,” Victor added. “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.”
Modiano tweeted a denial that he had been part of the mob screaming at Victor and claimed to have had a 20-minutes conversation with her afterwards, FOX News reported.
But Kunkle said that he witnessed the reporter screaming at the woman.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser slammed the Black Lives Matter protesters’ tactics after she saw videos of restaurant patrons being harassed and threatened, the New York Post reported.
But it wasn’t the first time protesters have harassed diners forced to eat outside because of pandemic restrictions on restaurants.
Multiple videos posted to social media in recent weeks have shown protesters trying to intimidate and coerce people in the nation’s capital who refused to comply with their demands.
BLM activists are harassing and attacking restaurant goers in Washington DC.pic.twitter.com/80wn8lemgV
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— Saiimon. (@VzlaUfo) August 23, 2020
BLM activists lecture restaurant patrons with “facts” in DC. pic.twitter.com/lc145iLKo5
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 23, 2020
Bowser told city residents to call the police if something like that happened to them.
“What I saw in those videos was highly inappropriate,” the mayor told reporters on Wednesday. “It was likely against the law if they were on private property.”
“There should be enforcement any time the law is broken, and we would encourage any diner or restaurant to call the police immediately,” she added, according to the New York Post.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with demands for social justice,” the mayor continued. “I also don’t think that DC residents would be bullied out of living their everyday lives.”
Holly Matkin