A Community Organizer Takes on White Vigilantism | The New Yorker

A Community Organizer Takes on White Vigilantism

When armed men attacked Black Lives Matter protesters in Philadelphia, a local activist recognized his neighbor among the mob and decided to confront him.

via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/a-community-organizer-takes-on-white-vigilantism

Around 6:30 p.m., Jon Ehrens, a producer for WHYY, the local public-radio station, went out to document the chaos. He was nervous to record the men, but, at first, the Bat Boys didn’t seem to care. “I’m ready to fuck shit up,” one man said. “You know, I’ve been looking for a fight for the past six months.” Around eight-thirty, Haskell, the ringleader, announced that the men had made their point. As the group walked away, about two dozen men gathered to listen to Haskell speak. Ehrens began to record the speech, and Haskell shouted at him, telling him to leave. When Ehrens turned to leave, four of the men followed and jumped him, beating him and breaking his nose. Ehrens later tweeted a photograph of his bloody face. Soon after, he began to receive death threats.