Marion Black Lives Matter

On July 7th, A Black Lives Matter demonstration was held in Marion Va, my home town

Accompanying the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, a there was a cross burning in Marion. Yup, that’s right, a cross burning, an over the top, KKK relic, fully enflamed, cross burning in the yard of a young leader of the BLM protest, Trevon Brown. We were shocked. Our town quickly gained an unwanted reputation. It was picked up by the Washington Post.

Some explained it away as an act of a lone individual. I don’t buy that. Part of our community gave license for this act of intimidation and cowardice.

In response, a second BLM march was scheduled, led by the same young man. Conveniently, a Second Amendment group scheduled a protest on the same day, settling the stage for confrontation (1). How this was allowed is baffling. 100’s of law officers (unmasked) converged to keep the 2nd Amend Harley riders apart from the marchers. It got pretty nasty as the Harley boys leapfrogged around the marchers, hurling racial attacks while roaring their engines. The march ended without physical confrontation, however, the level of hatred and racial animus shown was very discouraging, casting a lasting pall over the town and causing me to question my assumptions about my neighbors. I often feel a foreigner in my own land.