On Saturday, three Americans decided they would visit the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), or whatever Seattle’s lawless antifa/anarchist collective is calling itself these days. While the anarchists have suddenly decided that CHOP is not an “autonomous zone” and therefore not in rebellion against the United States, they still treated visitors harshly when they came carrying American flags.
The visitors faced harassment going in and coming out, according to Townhall’s Julio Rosas. While they were not prevented from walking through CHAZ/CHOP, one man stole an American flag while the crowd condemned the visitors as part of a “white supremacist” group, claiming they were part of the Proud Boys organization.
As the visitors entered CHAZ with the American flag, CHAZzies warned one another not to give them any attention. One of the visitors called CHAZ/CHOP a “communist hellhole.” Rosas reported that “one black man said it was wrong for the pro-CHAZ white people to tell them what to do.”
The crowd took offense when one of the American flag people called the CHAZ/CHOP a “communist hellhole.” Some in the crowd told the others to not give them attention. One black man said it was wrong for the pro-CHAZ white people to tell them what to do. pic.twitter.com/ex5Q4xe2B2
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 14, 2020
“I love America, but Black Lives Matter,” one CHAZzie said to a woman who both carried an American flag and wore an American flag facemask. “Absolutely,” the woman said.
“Then don’t fly the flag!” another CHAZzie chimed in. He suggested that those who truly advocate for black lives must also oppose the American flag — as if the flag itself were a symbol of oppression against black people.
Immediately after this exchange, another man came from behind and stole the flag, running away.
Someone in the CHAZ/CHOP just stole one of the American flags. pic.twitter.com/jHDpWbZOW0
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 14, 2020
The visitors attempted to leave CHAZ, but one CHAZzie threw a drink at them. Others insisted that the people carrying American flags were “white supremacists.”
As the visitors explained that they wanted to hear one of their members speak, a white CHAZzie stepped forward, saying, “White supremacists, they don’t deserve to talk.”
One black CHAZzie responded, “That black guy’s a white supremacist?”
“These two are,” the white man responded, pointing at the other two visitors, who were white. “He’s with a bunch of Proud Boys, they’re a literal white supremacist organization.”
The black CHAZzie insisted, “Everyone here’s American.”
The white man later added, “Their organization literally believes that black people shouldn’t exist.”
As the American flag people tried to leave the CHAZ, some drink was was thrown on them. The crowd called them white supremacists. One CHAZer asked how a black man simply holding an American flag makes him a white supremacist. pic.twitter.com/2DSr8uEnaY
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 14, 2020
Rosas told PJ Media that “the whole crowd” condemned the American flag-waving visitors as “white supremacist.”
He asked the visitors if they were members of the Proud Boys, and they said they were not.
Even if the visitors were Proud Boys, that would not make them white supremacists. The far-left smear factory and hate-for-pay scam the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have branded the Proud Boys a “hate group” and accused its founder, Gavin McInnes, of supporting white supremacy. Yet McInnes has filed a defamation lawsuit against the SPLC, vehemently disputing these claims.
“Mr. McInnes, an immigrant, is an avowed and vocal opponent of discrimination based on race, religion or sexual preference, and of ideologies and movements espousing extremism, nationalism and white supremacy,” the lawsuit argues.
The Proud Boys bylaws clearly prohibit racism. The lawsuit quotes them:
A person that believes in the inherent supremacy of any one race over
another, or who is a member of any organization promoting the supremacy
of any one race over another, may not become or remain a member of this
Fraternity. This includes, but is not limited to, any person who currently
identifies as white nationalist, white supremacist, or alt-right (or any
person who is a member of an organization identifying as such). Similarly,
members of terrorist organizations or cells, including but not limited to
Antifa, are prohibited from membership in the fraternity.
It seems these visitors were demonized merely for carrying American flags. One CHAZzie clearly said Black Lives Matter supporters should not carry American flags.
This demonization of the American flag falls in line with the far-left antifa narrative. Many leftists consider America to be inherently racist and they disavow any symbol of authority as fascist, despite the fact that the United States has reformed its institutions to fight racism multiple times, from the Fourteenth Amendment to multiple Civil Rights Acts to racial preferences in housing loans to President Donald Trump’s work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and his support for Opportunity Zones to provide economic opportunity in poor communities, many of which happen to be majority-minority.
The United States still has a problem with racism, but it is patently absurd to condemn the American flag as a symbol of white supremacy or a statement that black lives do not matter. As Abraham Lincoln powerfully stated in his Gettysburg Address, the United States was “conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” While the United States has struggled to achieve this glorious mission, white supremacy has always been a heresy against America’s central ideals.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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