The election scenario that should terrify everyone -- especially Black America
The election scenario that should terrify everyone -- especially Black America
Analysis by John Blake, CNN Updated 4:58 AM ET, Sat September 26, 2020
(CNN)As Election Day draws closer, commentators are issuing apocalyptic warnings about potential coups, street violence and President Trump not conceding if he loses.
But there's another frightening election scenario I dread as a Black man -- and that few people seem to be talking about.
It's what happens if an armed Black person clashes with an armed White person at a protest and bullets start flying.
Images of such a confrontation could upend the presidential race, hobble Black Lives Matter and undo much of the White support for racial justice that surged during the George Floyd protests this summer.
Such a scenario may seem implausible, but it's only a camera click away because of two trends.
A number of armed, far-right White groups emboldened by Trump's "law and order" message are confronting anti-racist protesters across the nation. And there is a growing Second Amendment movement among Black Americans who are forming their own armed groups.
What happens if these two movements collide?
Why more Black people are buying guns
FBI Director Chris Wray reflected some of that concern recently when he said he's worried about violent clashes between far-left and far-right groups at racial protests this fall.
Such a confrontation almost came to pass this summer when hundreds of heavily armed members of a Black group called the "Not F**king Around Coalition" converged in Louisville, Kentucky for a protest against police brutality after the death of Breonna Taylor.
They were met by an armed, largely White extremist group called the "Three Percenters." The two groups yelled at one another but were kept apart by riot police.
Shots were fired at the event when a NFAC member dropped his weapon and accidentally injured three other NFAC members with buckshot.
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Members of the NFAC militia group march during a rally to protest the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville on July 25.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/26/us/bl...ake/index.html
The NFAC also marched on a Confederate memorial in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in July. With some members dressed in black paramilitary uniforms and carrying ammunition belts, they looked like an updated version of the Black Panthers.
One of their members grabbed a megaphone and called for a showdown with White vigilante groups.
"I don't see no White militia, the Boogie [Boogaloo] boys, the Three Percenters, and all the rest of these scared-ass rednecks," the man said as he cradled a rifle in his lap. "We here, where the f**k you at? We're in your house."
The leader of the NFAC did not respond to an interview request from CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/26/us/black-white-militias-violence-blake/index.html
