Yes. That’s black residents telling BLM to take a hike.
Chicago Neighborhood Ejects BLM Protesters At Police Station
Englewood may set the tone for dealing with rioters for the rest of the summer. After the organized pillaging this weekend on the Magnificent Mile, the city of Chicago toughened up their security stance. Black Lives Matter protesters and others set their sights on the Englewood neighborhood’s police precinct, but residents there pushed them out — literally.
“Those people were opportunist[s],” one leader of the neighborhood pushback told reporters:
A protest Tuesday started over a Chicago police-involved shooting and ended when Englewood residents pushed back. Expletives were dropped, and there was pushing and shoving, which forced the protesters to retreat.
A caravan started on 64th and Cottage Grove, and the protesters eventually ended up in front of the 7th District police station, but it didn’t last long.
“If you ain’t from Englewood, get the F*** out of here,” longtime neighborhood resident Darryl Smith told protesters….
“A lot of people saying the looting started because of Englewood. We are tired of Englewood getting a black eye, those people were opportunist,” Smith said.
He says he’s not buying it and he and other Englewood residents had wanted the protesters from Black Lives Matter Chicago, Good Kids Mad City and other groups to leave.
Three cheers for Englewood? This should make us feel conflicted, at least to some extent. There is no indication that the protest had turned violent or that laws were being broken. BLM and the other associated groups have a First Amendment right to demonstrate lawfully and peacefully. Others do not have the right to disrupt peaceful demonstrations or chase people out of neighborhoods simply because they don’t like them.
On the other hand, the Englewood neighborhood simply gave these protesters exactly what they want — mob rule. BLM Chicago practically celebrated mob rule in their statement Monday, claiming that the pillaging of the Magnificent Mile was a legitimate response to corporate exploitation. Well, this is what happens with mob rule: competing mobs. This time, the competition was peaceful, but in Fort Collins, Colorado, it wasn’t, and the “abolish the police” crowd lost that time, too.
If BLM and their associates have any complaints after Englewood, they should rethink their agenda. The people we pay to keep order, protect our civil rights, and discourage mob actions are the very people BLM and their affiliates want to abolish. The police are far from perfect, but they are by far the best option. The more they get pushed behind their walls, the more that mobs will start dealing with the mobs intimidating the police — and it won’t end well for anyone.