Black Lives Matter DC Protest Video Goes Viral: ‘I Felt I Was Under Attack’

Black Lives Matter protestors who went from Columbia Heights, Maryland, into Washington D.C. on Monday created a stir when they began berating white patrons dining outdoors at restaurants when they refused to raise their fists in solidarity.

Following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the weekend, protests have picked up steam once again across the United States, including the Capitol area. However, in video captured by Washington Post reporter Frederick Kunkle and other outlets, the protests there took a less peaceful turn on Monday as protestors berated patrons who were eating outdoors at restaurants after they did not raise their fist in solidarity.

In a Twitter thread posted Tuesday, Kunkle shared two videos of a crowd gathered around a woman identified as Lauren Victor, who, unlike other patrons at the restaurant, did not raise her fist when they came by. The crowd then gathers close to Victor, shouting at her as she seems as though she tries to reason with them, but continues to refuse to comply with their demands.

Kunkle later reported that Victor said she only didn’t raise her fist because she didn’t feel it was the right moment, but that she has been a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement has also joined marches in the past.

“I felt I was under attack,” she said. “In the moment, it didn’t feel right...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 week,” she added.

Another video posted to social media appeared to also show another incident with two unidentified diners who were also confronted by the group.

However, some questioned the validity of the encounters, wondering if they were a setup intended to make the protests, which gained steam initially after George Floyd’s murder in May and mostly settled into peaceful ones afterward, look bad.

Overall, the reignited protests come after three nights of violent clashes in Kenosha after Blake’s shooting. Tuesday’s protests saw gunfire erupt, with two dead and one injured. A 17-year-old from Illinois, since identified as Kyle Rittenhouse, has since been arrested.