OVER IN BROOKLYN
counter-protesters at opposing rallies
COURIER LIFE, JULY 17-23, 2020 3
racist actions of some “Back
the Blue” attendees “disgusting,”
but maintained that the
Black Lives Matter counterprotesters
instigated the confl
ict by attending the march.
“It seemed very antagonistic,”
said Mario Caggiano,
adding that some of the counter
protesters’ choice to wear
goggles and helmets felt like
an escalation of what was
planned to be a peaceful
march. “I personally feel
they were just being childish
and they were being provoked.”
A Black Lives Matter protester
told Gothamist that
the choice to begin at 11
a.m. on July 11 and march 11
blocks appears to reference
the Ku Klux Klan, whose
supporters often use the
number “11” and “33,” since
“K” is the 11th letter in the
alphabet.
Caggiano scoffed at the
claim, and said that he helped
organize the rally simply to
raise morale among police
offi cers.
“It was supposed to be
non-political. We weren’t
trying to go against Black
Lives Matter, we weren’t trying
to go against any other
organization,” claimed Caggiano,
an avowed Democrat
and Dyker Heights resident
who assembled the event
with Brooklyn Conservative
Party chairwoman Fran
Vella-Marrone and other local
leaders. Some marchers
also boasted banners promoting
President Donald
Trump.
“I was warned that a narrative
was going to be spun
that this was conservative,
that it was white supremacy,”
he said. “And they were
right.”
Yet things got worse on
Sunday.
The confl ict continued
to escalate on July 12 after
a few hundred Black Lives
Matter protesters marched
through Bay Ridge to counter
a second pro-police rally
that planned to make its way
towards the 68th precinct.
The two groups converged
most forcefully by Fourth Avenue
and 65th Street a little
after 6 pm — where several
pro-police demonstrators
punched counter-protesters,
said Weston, who also attended
the Sunday rally.
One pro-cop protester
punched a man in the head
and another nearly knocked
out a young woman who was
marching with the counterprotesters,
which was captured
on a video posted on
Twitter, Weston said.
Another counter-protester
said he was punched in
the mouth by a different propolice
attendee, who is seen
pushing another protester in
a video.
Black Lives Matter supporters
were also seen instigating
violence, burning
American fl ags, lighting
trashcans on fi re, and throwing
eggs towards cops and
pro-police protesters, witnesses
said.
After several pro-police
demonstrators had left, police
played an automated
message instructing counter
protesters to disperse, according
to Weston.
“They started issuing an
automated message that we
were unlawfully gathering
and they had to disperse, and
they started chasing people,”
he said.
Shortly after, a police offi
cer Tased and arrested
Robert Bolden, a 41-year-old
Black Lives Matter protester,
after he allegedly threw a
hard hat at authorities and
NYPD supporters. Bolden’s
violent arrest, which left him
with multiple arm fractures,
was captured in a now-viral
video.
Another attendee alleged
that local cops did little to
deescalate throughout the
course of the demonstrations
Black Lives Matter protesters
said that Sunday’s
clash might have resulted in
more violence, but that the
pro-police crowd appeared
more subdued than the rally
had the day before — perhaps
because they were nearly
outnumbered.
“On Saturday, you had
a lot more people who were
screaming at us,” Weston
said. “But on Sunday, I saw
a lot of people just standing
quietly looking at us.”
Police arrested two people
at the Sunday protests,
according to a police spokesperson.
Local Democrats, including
State Senator Gounardes,
Assemblywoman
Mathylde Frontus, and
Councilman Justin Brannan,
decried the racism and
violence on display over the
weekend, but did not attend
either event.
“What we saw and read
was deeply disturbing,”
Brannan and Gounardes
wrote in a joint statement
Sunday night about the
events earlier that evening.
“As we have done consistently
when violence has
erupted at protests across
the city, we forcefully condemn
this unacceptable behavior.
All of it. We support
everyone’s right to demonstrate
for what they believe
in, but will not stand for instigating
violence.”
The pair — who likened
much of Saturday’s pro-police
march to a Trump rally
— also called for a full investigation
into Sunday’s violent
arrest caught on video,
which Mayor Bill de Blasio
said Monday his office was
also looking into.
Additional reporting by
Paul Frangipane, Meaghan
McGoldrick, Lloyd Mitchell,
and Caroline Ourso.
Photo by Paul Frangipane