“We should take them up on it. We should add up the deaths. But which deaths is he talking about from the summer? All the Black Americans killed by police? Sounds like he’s talking about people killed by people protesting the police murders. (by Michelle Lerner)
I decided to do a google search for deaths during BLM protests. This amazing thing happened– I put in “people killed during” and the first choice that google offered was “during BLM protests.” Seems to be a commonly searched item. I wonder why. Anyway, a Wikipedia entry came up saying 19. “Really?” I thought. I am a savvy reader of news and was surprised I somehow missed or forgot BLM protesters killing 19 people last summer. I scrolled down to the chart. Wikipedia has a big post that it’s disputed. Never saw that before on a Wikipedia post. But continuing on, there is a long list of names, most with no information. I clicked on the first one that has a hyperlink to another Wiki page. James Scurlock in Omaha, NE. It says “On Saturday, May 30, 2020, James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a 38-year-old white bar owner, Jacob Gardner. The shooting took place during the George Floyd protests in Omaha, Nebraska, in the Old Marketarea of the city, where Scurlock and friends had been among the thousands of demonstrators who flooded the city’s downtown area.” Oh. Ok, yes, that was a death during BLM protests. Meaning that a White guy killed a Black BLM protester.
On to the next one with a hyperlink” “On June 1, 2020, David McAtee, a 53-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot by the Kentucky Army National Guard in Louisville during protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.” Yup. Another death during a BLM protest! Again, a Black protester was killed. By a soldier.
Ok, what does the next one with a hyperlink say? “In the early hours of June 2, 2020, David Dorn, a 77-year-old African-American retired police captain, was fatally shot after interrupting the burglary of a pawn shop in The Ville, St. Louis.[2] The incident is associated with protests in St. Louis, Missouri over the killing of George Floyd. However the protest was several miles away and had disbanded a few hours earlier near the Metropolitian Police Headquartersdowntown after clashes between police and a few remaining agitators turned violent.[3][4]”
And the next one with a hyperlink: “On June 2, 2020, Sean Monterrosa, a 22-year-old Latino American man, was fatally shot by Vallejo police officer Jarrett Tonn.[1] Monterrosa was on his knees and had his hands above his waist when Tonn shot him through the windshield of his unmarked police pickup truck. The police later said Tonn shot him because he erroneously believed a hammer in Monterrosa’s pocket was a gun.[2] Monterrosa later died at a local hospital.[3]“
If only we could discern a pattern among these deaths.
The last one with a hyperlink is different. “On August 29, 2020, Aaron Danielson, an American supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer,[1][2] was shot and killed after participating in a pro-Trump caravan which drove through Portland, Oregon, displaying banners and signs supporting President Donald Trump,[3][4] and clashing with participants in the local George Floyd protests.[3][5] On September 3, 2020, Danielson’s suspected killer, Michael Reinoehl, a far-left[6][7]anti-fascist activist[4] and antifa supporter,[3][8] was shot and killed by a federally led fugitive task force near Lacey, Washington.” An actual Antifa supporter (so he said, anyway) killing a right wing militia member. Ladies and gentleman and everyone else, we found a murder by a White anti-fascist against a right wing Trump supporter. It does exist. And, of course, the police killed him. Just like the police killed all the violent murderous people at the Capitol, including the guy who killed the police officer! Oh wait….
So, I thought, maybe not fair to only look at the ones with Wiki hyperlinks. So I googled the first name on the list, Calvin Horton Jr. Turns out he was an unarmed Black man shot by a pawn shop owner during rioting because the owner was afraid of being looted and someone else nearby reportedly was seen with a gun. Don’t know the race of the pawn shop owner, but police decided not to charge him.
I don’t really see a reason to look at the other 13 names.
This is how gaslighting works, folks. It takes two seconds to say more people were killed during the BLM protests, and a half hour to explain why that statement is problematic and actually underscores the fact that unarmed Black and Latinx Americans and the people supporting their or other progressive causes tend to get killed more– a lot more, and often by police– than White right wing militia guys. And that the people who kill unarmed Black Americans do not tend to even get prosecuted, while anyone killing a White militia member is lucky if they’re prosecuted rather than just killed outright by police.
Which, of course, just emphasizes the point Phil makes at the beginning of his post. That calling out all the bullshit is exhausting, time-consuming, and generally ignored. But, I agree with Phil, still worth doing. Now I need a nap though.”
Michelle Lerner
Connect the Dots 101 
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