The 911 emergency switchboards lit up like a Christmas tree, from private citizens calling in the destruction of their property. More police were dispatched to back up the fellow officers. Neighboring departments sent help too.
The fire department was still actively involved in extinguishing the last of the fire at the Victorious Believers church across the street.
Outnumbered hundreds to one, the riot police were forced to give ground and back up into the mosque’s parking lot while a monsoon of projectiles fell on them. Police regulars came to back them up and stand guard over the downed Muslims with shotguns, as rescue rushed in to put them on stretchers and take them back to waiting ambulances.
A large brick hit one of the police regulars in the side of the head. He hadn’t seen it coming, and it knocked him right out. The rioter that had thrown it did a happy dance like a professional football player who had just scored a touchdown, and took a couple of steps closer to throw again. The officer next to the fallen one took aim and unleashed a load of buckshot right into the would-be thrower, ripping him apart right in front of his fellow rioters. They were quick to get back to the sidewalk. That became the defacto skirmish line. Several TV camera rigs on the other street zoomed in and focused directly on him, and broadcast the sight of blood and flesh being sprayed across the rioters behind him.
Media crews nearby who had been covering the other sites, hurried over to capture some of the unbelievable action themselves, from a distance. Activists all over the country saw the story unfolding live on TV. The more dramatic, less credible reporters spun it as the police siding with the Muslims from the mosque, and going to war against the rioters. They kept rehashing the same things over and over, as they do, until the wee hours of the morning, when the scene calmed down for the night, and everyone went home to get some rest. They all had promised to gather back there the next day.
During the night perhaps a thousand more activists from Baltimore and surrounding areas poured into D.C. to support the local rioters.
Chapter 6
Dharma Bednarski: Hamtramck, MI 11:00 a.m. Monday, Jan 17th, 2016
“Dharma, check this out,” Jade calls.
I can tell by the tone of her voice that something big is happening. I spin my chair around and scoot forward a hair, so I can see the TV screen too. Marie Krantz, in the local newsroom, sits behind the anchor desk looking into the camera. As I roll closer, it changes to a split-screen; Krantz on the left half, a rock throwing mob on the right. It’s dark outside, so it must have been last night. They’re all in the street, across the parking lot from the camera, at the rear of a mosque.
* * *
Krantz is saying, “...reporters on the scene last night at the same mosque off of 4th Street, in Washington, D.C., where trouble erupted last night. The result was the Victorious Believers church across the street, behind the camera being burned to the ground. One of our affiliates captured this. Watch right here,” she says. “A man… Right there,” she draws an arrow on her computer screen, “throws a full brick directly at the nearest officer. It hits him in the head, knocking him unconscious immediately. The same man takes a couple of steps closer yet to throw again, and watch what happens.”
The video from her computer screen is displayed onto the other side of the screen. In great detail, it shows the same man drawing back to throw another brick but, before he can, the officer next to the unconscious one shoots him with his shotgun, and then moves himself in front of his colleague to shield him with his own body.
“Now, you’ll see a stunned mob retreating to the other side of the sidewalk, shouting curses at the police. Some reporters from other networks that were on site are reporting that this was police brutality and an excessive use of force. One that I saw, not mentioning any names, called this a white on black murder, on live television. That reporter is now calling for the white officer who shot the black man to be charged with murder. I’ll let you folks at home decide for yourselves; does this look like murder to you? Or does it look like one policeman defending himself and his fallen colleague from a life-threatening attack?
“We understand now, that Mayor Takisha Jackson herself has ordered the police commissioner to have that white officer suspended, and to instruct all of his other officers to use rubber bullets and less-than-lethal defense tactics only,” Marie Krantz said.
* * *
“Oh that’s such bullshit!” Jade blurts out, jumping to her feet. “What’re they supposed to do, just stand there and let the damn rioters kill them? No job, and no paycheck is worth that shit. She’d better watch herself, or all her cops are gonna quit on her!”
She plops back down on the sofa, leaving room for me now, so I get off my chair and sit next to her. “You couldn’t make me be a cop that has to work for that idiot,” I say.
“Flip it to a national channel to see what they’re saying,” I request.
“Sure.”
She flips it to my next programmed news channel, where Jermane Williams is talking about the same incident.
* * *
“... here outside our mobile command center, in the parking lot of the MPDC, (aka the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia) we have with us today the very person who acquired the permit to protest on public property, in front of the mosque off 4th Street. We will not use names today, to protect somewhat their individual privacy and safety.”
He turned slightly to his left, and the camera followed, to where a warmly dressed black woman stood smiling. “Hello madam, I understand that it was you who applied for the permit to gather peacefully at the mosque off 4th Street. Is that true?”
“Yes. Yes I did,” she answered.
“Tell me, what was the purpose of that gathering?” Williams asks.
“Our organization, BLM, has requested and obtained permits to protest publicly at all Islamic institutions in the U.S., in response to the rise in number of radicals from their midst that are committing or supporting terrorist acts here. We intend to ask each of them, on camera, specifically about their position on Salafism, and their position on bringing Sharia law and slavery to the United States,” she said. “We intend to remain at all locations, until we receive those answers.”
“Will your organization follow all of the rules laid out by each community that issues these permits?”
“Yes, of course. Our organization provides education to our leaders and our members on how to conduct a peaceful, legal protest. Your comrades that are interviewing other leaders, in other communities, are receiving the same answers as you will,” she said. “We are not a bunch of thugs. We are the new face of black Americans.”
“Interesting that you use the term ‘black Americans’ instead of ‘African Americans’ like most other groups. Why is that?”
“Ain’t none of the people with me here today ever been to Africa, let alone be citizens of both countries. We are just Americans who happen to have black skin, but we’re as proud to be Americans as anybody else in this country. Let’s get that straight!” she demanded.
“Good! I like that,” Williams said. “I personally happen to feel the same way. Now, will you watch these video clips off of Facebook and Youtube with me that were taken by individuals inside of the protest, and posted last evening by them, and respond to what you see?” he asked.
“Of course.”
Jermane’s team played a series of videos, arranged chronologically, of yesterday’s events for them to watch on a monitor. The viewers at home saw Jermane and guest on the left side of the screen, and the videos on the right side.
“That is early in the day right there. We had just arrived, parked legally somewhere close by, and walked to the protest. You can see that there aren’t very many there yet. Our permit limits the timing of our assembly from 12:00 noon, until 8:00 pm.
“There you see the signs that we registered in the permit, and our members reading them to anyone passing by. Again, completely compliant.
“Now this is l
ater in the day. There were a lot of, we assumed, local people joining us then. People of every race, not just black folks. Our organization enjoys support from many ethnic groups. It’s a little bit louder and rowdier now, because the local people have not been trained by us. See our leaders circulating and talking to them there? They trying to educate them on the spot.”
“This next video was taken directly in the center of the crowd,” Jermane said. “Watch what happens…”
The scene was of the Hispanic guy shouting at the BLM woman who tried diffusing the trouble from starting there.
“... are these two big guys BLM?” Jermane asked.
“Absolutely. They are bodyguards for the woman being verbally assaulted. She is one of our leadership team onsite,” she answered. “I recognize all three of them. See how they turn and leave, guiding her away after the confrontation?”
“I do,” Jermane agreed, “but watch what happens next.”
The Hispanic guy, who had flown into the white guy, gets taken down with an elbow, and all hell breaks loose.
“I don’t recognize any of those people as being with us,” she said.
“How can you be sure?” Jermane asks.
“I can’t,” she stated. “We have no badges or identifying tokens of any kind.”
“Do you believe that those two bodyguards started that whole mess?” Jermane asked.
“Absolutely not! They were doing their job, protecting that leader. They are not armed. That is forbidden both by the rules of the permit, and by our organization. There’s nothing saying we have to have small bodyguards though,” she said with a smirk and a wink.
“Agreed!” Jermane chuckled.
* * *
“Well, she is definitely a good speaker,” Jade says. “She seems pretty educated on the subject, too. From this point forward for the rest of the night, things went straight to shit though.”
“Keep watching,” I tell her. “That Jermane Williams is a very conservative reporter. Let’s see what they have to say about the rest of the night.”
* * *
“Joining us now, is a local woman who was a first-hand witness to events after this point. Again, no names will be used.”
The camera backed up a bit to widen the scene and another black woman stood on William’s left side. She’d been there the whole time, but camera magic just hadn’t showed her until now.
“Hello, madam,” Jermane said to her. “I understand that you witnessed in person the events that took place after the BLM protesters made their exit?”
“I did. I was really surprised. I thought BLM was on our side, but all they did was get everybody to come out there, then they started some shit, and ran away. They set us up for the white police to beat the hell out of us once again…”
“What? What you talkin ‘bout?” the first woman said, jumping in.
“You know damn well what I’m talkin’ ‘bout,” the second woman snapped, anger rising in her voice. “But you don’t know what happened next, because y’all ran off and left us there.”
“We walked away from the violence, just like we’re supposed to,” the first woman stated.
“What did happen next?” Jermane asked the second woman, changing the subject.
“After they ran off, we continued to protest peacefully, just like we had before,” the second woman said.
Williams’ team played another video of the fight expanding through the crowd from someplace higher up.
“Is this what you call peaceful protesting?” Williams asked the second woman.
“That’s just a few local boys having a little disagreement,” she answered. “That’s normal. Happens all the time.”
Next the camera turned away from the fight as shouts of ‘Fire!’ rose from the crowd. “Holy shit! Look at this, Julie,” the camera person exclaimed, a definite female voice. The crowd quieted down suddenly, as the camera showed the Victorious Believers church burning, and the flames spreading rapidly.
“We, meaning us BLM members, didn’t see that, as we had already left,” the first woman said.
“Yeah, at first we thought y’all had set the fire before ya left, but then we found out who really did,” the second woman said.
“Why the hell would you think that?” the first woman demanded, furiously. “Why would black people burn a black church? You don’t make no sense, woman!”
“Hold on, hold on,” Jermane said. “Watch this.”
Next was a short clip of the crowd kicking and stomping a couple of people on the ground, as the camera moved past.
“That’s the Muslims from that mosque that started the fire at our church, gettin’ what they deserve,” the second woman stated.
“They killed them. Did you know that?” Jermane asked. They kicked them to death!”
“Had it comin’,” she shrugged.
“Did you see them start the fire?” Jermane asked.
“No, but they come from that way, so they musta did.”
Jermane shook his head, eyes down at that remark. He was obviously searching for the right words to say, but the second woman continued.
“Now, look here. Here come the white police with their shields and their clubs. See how they pushin’ and beatin’ peaceful black folks for no reason?” she asked.
“Woman, you fulla shit,” the first woman fairly shouted. “They ain’t bein peaceful! They fightin’ with the police after they was warned to go away!”
“How you know? You weren’t there!” the second woman insisted.
“Because I’m lookin at it right there!” the first woman said, pointing her finger at the monitor.
“You don’t know. You weren’t there. That ain’t what happened!”
“I declare…” the first woman began, and then stopped.
* * *
“That’s what’s wrong with this country,” Jade says to me. “Ignorant people telling obvious lies, counting on everyone to be afraid of calling them on it, and getting it! Good for that first woman! We need more of that.”
“Yeah, and I think that Jermane Williams is on the right track too, pointing that shit out to people, right on national TV. I hope he doesn’t get fired for that!”
* * *
“We were supposed to have the Chief of Police or a spokesperson join us now, but I’m hearing in my ear that there is trouble nearby. We have been told to leave the parking lot immediately. Thank you ladies, that’s all the time we have right now,” Jermane said.
Chapter 7
Washington, DC 11:00 a.m. Monday, Jan 17th, 2016
At the same time that Jermane Williams had been setting up for his interview at the police station, protesters were showing up at all five Islamic locations again to continue their protest, but this time there were out-of-town activists in the crowd at each.
At the Islamic Society of North America Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, right across the parking lot from the US Capitol visitors center, and right next door to the Supreme Court of the United States, a news conference was scheduled for noon outside the front doors. Spokespersons assured the protesters there, and especially the throngs of reporters, that Muslims are a peaceful people and had nothing to do with burning the Victorious Believers church the night before.
“Yeah, just like they had nothing to do with burning that gun shop in Hamtramck?” yelled a white guy.
“Our church was burned exactly the same way, you can’t tell us your people had nothing to do with it!” shouted a black guy.
* * *
At the same time, there was a similar scenario taking place at the CAIR headquarters just south of the Capitol building on New Jersey Ave., only it was the spokesperson for the protesters that had the microphone, speaking to the reporters and the mob of three to four hundred protesters that had shown up already for the day.
“This organization, CAIR, sees themselves as the equivalent of what the NAACP is to people of color in this country, only for Muslims. They call anyone who speaks agains
t their way of thinking a racist, but Islam is not a race, it is a religion! They claim that Islam is peace-loving, yet one out of fifty practice jihad of some form! Not all of the Muslims at the mosque across the street from the Victorious Believers church fire bombed the church as an act of jihad, but two of them did!
“Most of us here at this protest represent the Black Lives Matter movement and are peaceful, but not everyone is. Look around you. Which is which? Who is who? Can’t tell? That’s right! If we can’t tell which of us is which, how the hell are we supposed to tell which of them are which?
“None of us here want any of them in this country because we can’t tell which is which. Most of us will protest peacefully and follow the laws of the land, and the moral code of the land, but not all of us will…”
As if that was a signal, and it very well may have been, who can tell, a dozen fire bombs arched through the air at the building. Some went onto the roof, some through the glass windows. There were three vehicles in the parking lot with the CAIR insignia on the side; windows were broken and fire bombs tossed in. Then the crowd backed up, and began marching quickly north up the street in a solid mass chanting, “Black Lives Matter”, “Down With Slavery”, and “Islam Has To Go”.
* * *
At the same time, back at the ISNA building next to the Supreme Court, a similar speech was being given. “Brothers and sisters, in many countries of the Middle East, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, aka CAIR, is considered a terrorist organization. The United Arab Emirates declared them a terrorist organization. Here, they have the support of our own President, and are surrounding our nation’s capital with buildings of their own. They say that 90% of Muslims are peace-loving people. I have to ask, then, why concentrate leadership in our capitol? 90% of those here at this event represent Black Lives Matter, and are peace-loving people, but not all of us are!”
D.C. RIOTS (Anonymous Justice Book 3) Page 4
