A recent video shows a man attacking three teenagers, attempting to stop them from putting Black Lives Matter signs along a bike trail in Maryland.
The video was originally posted to Reddit on June 1st, by a user who states he is the one filming this incident. He states that he and his two female friends are all teenagers who were putting Black Lives Matter Signs around their local bike paths to show support for the movement. The video appears to show an adult male verbally and physically assaulting two teenage girls and a cameraman. Two of the teens can be heard yelling at the man to “get off of her” and “get out of here”, as he forcibly rips paper signs and a blue bracelet out of the smaller girl’s grasp. The man then takes his bike and charges at the boy holding the camera, which causes him to drop his phone before the video ends. It is suspected the signs were a notice about the murder of George Floyd and how people can get involved in getting him justice.
Maryland Park Police released a public statement that said the biker stopped his ride to start an argument with the teenagers, where it quickly became physical. Park Police have also shared images from the video with the public, asking for their help to identify the biker. As of publishing this article, there has been no official statement on the man’s identity, but the Maryland Governor has commented on the situation and said Maryland State Police and the Attorney General are all involved in the investigation.
The video circulated Redit and Nextdoor before eventually being posted on Twitter, where it quickly went viral. It now has over 22 million views. People across the political spectrum seem to be upset about the situation. One twitter user said “I am a conservative. I support Trump – totally. The above not-withstanding this man needs to be arrested, convicted and imprisoned for his criminal actions. No defense for his conduct” and another stating “Thank you @ParkPolice, for investigating this person. What kind of man attacks a child?”
While clearly this video shows a horrible situation, several people are pointing out that this situation isn’t surprising or out of the ordinary for People of Color. One twitter user said “everyone angry at watching this video. Now you understand why POC are so angry that their sons and daughters are being brutalized and killed by cops. That anger you felt watching this? That’s why people are protesting.”
A lot of people are pointing out how awful this video is and how the biker should be jailed – but people of color are attacked by police and civilians alike and it doesn’t always cause widespread outrage. The Black Lives Matter Movement is coming about because situations of violence are swept under the rug, and some feel this video is an example of how unfairly the police choose what to investigate and where to put resources. In response to a tweet about what kind of horrible men do assault children, one user posts a collage of police officers attacking children of color. Another user says this “would have been worse if it was a black kid”
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Any violence against children is obviously difficult to watch and process, and a lot of users are pointing out the rage this man exhibited when he saw a racial justice movement in his neighborhood. One user said “Racism is real y’all. Look at the rage and hatred of this white man over a sign of #georgefloyd.” and another saying “He was so enraged, he actually felt it necessary to stop his bike ride to assault a juvenile female. This man is sick”
A lot of people are clearly angry at the video, angry at this man’s unnecessary aggression and angry that it has gotten so much attention from law enforcement while other crimes are happening around the country receive less law involvement.
