The protection of the Proud Boys is a metaphor for America
By: Victoria Gasper
Tags: Black Lives Mater, White Supremacy, Police Brutality

From Gayatri Malhotra on unsplash.com

Remember when protests first began following the murder of George Floyd and protesters calling for justice for him and all who have faced similar brutality were met with police hostility and tear gas? Remember the thousands of protests across the United States being thrown in jail for using their free speech to beg, plead for justice for Breonna Taylor who was murdered while sleeping in her own home? What about the thousands that took to social media to organize protests, thousands who were inevitably met with snipers on rooftops and wildly unfair curfews with no way to get home on time?

Now that that’s refreshed, let’s take a look at what happened the other night on November 14th when Trump supporters and the Proud Boys decided to protest:

Coined the “Million MAGA March,” thousands of supporters of the 45th President took to the streets of DC to challenge the projected win of President Elect Joe Biden. They were joined by the Proud Boys, a group of white supremacist nationalists whom Trump openly supported in a presidential debate in October. The right-wing group was reported wearing all black and geared up to fight with helmets and protective vests.

A fight they wanted, and a fight they got.

There were multiple reports of stabbings and other injuries being inflicted on left-wing protesters in the area celebrating Biden’s projected win. Some police officers were even injured in the fights, but regardless of a few arrests, there was no other push back from The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

Yes, that’s right- no tear gas, no rubber bullets, no curfews. It even appeared in videos surfacing on Twitter and other social media platforms that the Proud Boys and Trump supporters were being protected by the police.

I’m not here to say that the left-wing protests were always peaceful and that no one ever stepped out of line- it’s impossible to not see extreme parties on both sides. Are there radical left-wingers? Yes, of course. Are there radical right-wingers? Again, of course. The thing I take the most issue with is the treatment of the groups. How can you villainize a group who ultimately longs to find peace between all races and justice for minorities who have been wronged, but not a group whose core is rooted in white supremacy, racism, and threatening democracy as we know it?

How can you villainize a group who wants justice for 17 year-old Trayvon Martin who was killed because someone thought he had a concealed weapon when he didn’t, or even 12 year-old Tamir Rice who was murdered on the playground for playing with a toy gun, but protect a group that chants for the release of a 17 year-old white boy who killed two peaceful protesters and injured many others while open carrying an AR-15? A white boy who, by the way, is still alive and is able to come home to his family despite actually committing a crime- something Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice can’t do even though they were innocent.

Many choose to be hopeful in the face of a Biden presidency, but with actions like these by these right-wing protesters and police departments who might as well join them in protesting, I can’t foresee a comfortable America for the next four years. That comfort comes from change- real, tangible, visceral change that can only come from putting in work and being heard by the people who are supposed to protect and defend us. I guess now more than ever it’s clear that these systems were designed to uphold a lifestyle that serves a specific group of people only- an officer’s mirror.