Courtesy of K.M.
A woman we know who was participating in the Black Lives Matter protest in Cleveland, Ohio witnessed two separate instances of white people — unaffiliated with the protesting — lighting fires in public buildings.
Our friend, we’ll call her Beth, wished to remain anonymous, but she captured on video an incident which we don’t think is isolated to Cleveland. We thought more people should see this. (see below).
Marching with those protesting police brutality and the murder of George Floyd, she witnessed a mostly peaceful demonstration on Saturday, May 30th. There were a few instances of marchers breaking windows, but she did not see any incidents of arson perpetrated by the people marching to protest in support of Black Lives Matter.
She did, however, witness two separate instances of arson being committed by white people who were not there to support the cause or mourn George Floyd — they were not a part of the movement. But they were helping to make it more dangerous.
The first incident occurred at the Courthouse Square building in downtown Cleveland. Beth came upon a white woman who appeared to be in her late 30s posing for a photo in front of a broken courthouse window. Just inside the window was a stack of newspapers that had been set on fire — the woman and her photographer denied starting the fire — but they didn’t pass up an opportunity to get a photo for Instagram!
Beth informed a nearby police officer about the flames. The officer randomly replied, “the house is on fire?” before u-turning on his motorcycle to join up with a larger group of officers.
None of the officers returned to check on the flames. Instead, a group of peaceful protestors put out the fire by pouring water on it.
Screenshot / YouTube
The second incident is the one Beth caught on camera. Later that same afternoon, Beth came upon a second group of people who appeared to be plotting arson. A middle-aged white man and a small group of younger white boys were ripping up cardboard, lighting it on fire, and throwing it through the broken window of a parking booth. Beth and her friend approached the group, recording the incident.
“Who are you? Why are you burning shit?” She asked.
The middle-aged man started to walk away, but then turned and asked aggressively, “Who the fuck are you?”
The other individuals with him claimed it was “his prerogative” to do “whatever he wants to do.” Beth and her friend pulled the burning piece of cardboard from the booth to prevent further damage.
We have the same questions that Beth had in her video. Who is Zach?
But more to the point, are the authorities going after the wrong people?
This story was updated for clarity on June 5.
