Bob CollinsA couple of weeks ago the National Rifle Association issued an amped-up video that some people say was a call to violence.
“The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom is to fight this violence of lies with a clenched fist of truth,” NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch says in its video, referring to the American left.
“The NRA is feeding an us vs them narrative of the kind that fuels all extremist movements,” ex-CIA intelligence analyst Cynthia Storer said last week.
Now, Black Lives Matter has responded in kind.
The transcript:
“They use their guns to assassinate black people, they use their schools to funnel black students through a school to prison pipeline. They use their state institutions, bought politicians, business conglomerates, and white supremacist domestic terrorist, to incite violence over and over again. and then they use their new president to enact a “law and order administration,” all to make them shoot first, to make them ask questions later, to make them scream, “I thought he had a gun in his hand!” And “I feared for my life.” And “he matched the description of a suspect.” And “she was threatening us.” To shoot and kill Philando Castile, Charleena Lyles, Kisha Michael, Keith Bursey, and Wakeisha Wilson. Until the only option left is for black people to disrupt the systems that keep us oppressed and build the kinds of communities in which we want to live. And when that happens they’ll use it as an excuse to kill more of us. The only way we stop this — the only way we save our communities and our struggle for freedom, is to fight this violence with the raged clenched black fist of resistance. We are Black Lives Matter, and we are freedom’s future’s place.
Wait, hold up. What’s with the aggressive fear mongering video tactics? Someone cut the music and bring up the lights. Better. We’re talking about our lives here. When the NRA issues a public call to their constituents inciting violence against people who are constitutionally fighting for their lives — we don’t take that lightly. We know that we are not safe, but we are not scared either. We will continue to produce media, teach students, march and protest to not only protect the First Amendment as fiercely as the NRA protects the Second, but to protect our lives from gun-toting racists. We demand that the NRA immediately remove their dangerous propaganda videos narrated by conservative radio hosts Dana Loesch and Grant Stinchfield.”
