House lawmaker: Black Lives Matter is a ‘domestic terror group’
In the wake of the tragic events in Baton Rouge, Minnesota and Dallas, local activists and politicians on both sides of the ideological divide have generally toned down the inflammatory rhetoric and adopted a tone of reconciliation and restraint.
And then there is state House Rep. James Spillane, who took to social media to repeat a trope being voiced by right-wing talk radio hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh that labels the Black Lives Movement a domestic terrorist group.
“It is high time that we recognize the BLM movement for what it is, a domestic terror group,” Spillane wrote in a public Facebook message. “We need to take seriously the immediate threat to national stability being orchestrated by this movement, and smaller affiliated movements around the country.”
The Deerfield Republican went on to repeat a debunked conspiracy theory that Black Lives Matter activists are planning a “summer of chaos” involving protests, riots and martial law. “We need to believe the ‘Summer of Chaos’ long rumored about throughout the various undercurrents of the internet is a reality,” he wrote, “whether or not its ultimate goal is to cause declarations of martial law and suspension of elections.”
“Make no mistake,” Spillane continued, “that if someone started a ‘White Lives Matter’ movement it would immediately be classified as a domestic terror group.”
Spillane explicitly equated Black Lives Matter with ISIS, calling on law enforcement to “to take the threats of these groups seriously and work together to bring the battle to the terrorists.”
“It is time to acknowledge these groups AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS,” he wrote, “some with ties to ISIS, and to start using the words that reflect the true state of this nation. Domestic Terror. ISIS. Radical Islam. Black Racists.”
‘A movement for justice, equality and community’
In an interview with New Hampshire Public Radio, Reena Goldthree, a Dartmouth College professor of African and African-American studies who has organized Black Lives Matter protests, provided another perspective.
“The Black Lives Matter movement is a movement for justice, equality and community,” she said. “It is not a movement that in any way celebrates or promotes the murder of anyone—police officer, civilian, black, or white. What we are all working for is a world that is less violent, less unequal, and less unjust.”