NBC affiliate KDSK is reporting that Ferguson Committeewoman Patricia Bynes claims she was targeted for physical intimidation by protestors while attending the protests herself. Bynes specifies “Lost Voices” as the group that sought to intimidate her, one of many protest-related organizations currently in Ferguson.
Democrat Committeewoman Bynes (pictured above) is black, as are the leaders of Lost Voices interviewed for the KDSK story.
Bynes described being surrounded and intimidated by Lost Voices members, and says they demanded that she stop speaking to the media about their group.
“They wanted me to stop talking to the media about them, and it was basically done to try and bully me. But it didn’t work.”
It sure didn’t:
Asked for comment, Lost Voices leader Melissa McKinnies essentially responded, “It wasn’t me.”
“A lot of other protestors went around her that was not members of the Lost Voices. Then some of the Lost Voices went, you know, over to speak with her.”
And I’m stickin’ to it:
In the interests of helping the reader evaluate the relative credibility of Committeewoman Bynes and Lost Voices, I present for your viewing pleasure a bit of video from Lost Voices’ own Facebook page, which they indicate represents the nature of their activities while protesting. This video is most definitely NSFW, if only for the repetitive shouted curses (e.g., “FTP: F$#k The Police!” ad infinitum). At about the 4:15 mark you can enjoy the sight of water bottles being hurled at police standing quietly across the street:
I’m inclined to credit Committeewoman Bynes with the greater share of credibility. Like 100% of the share.
And thus the Ferguson protests have entered the terminal phase of all Progressive movements: eating itself.
Before that final inglorious end, of course, the general expectation is for one last great burst of protest violence in response to the anticipated decision of the Grand Jury to not indict Police Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Mike Brown. Local residents are making appropriate arrangements, ranging from boarding up their businesses to achieving record sales of defensive firearms.
It should be quite the show.
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Andrew F. Branca is an MA lawyer and the author of the seminal book “The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition,” available at the Law of Self Defense blog (autographed copies available) and Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle). He also holds Law of Self Defense Seminars around the country, and provides free online self-defense law video lectures at the Law of Self Defense Institute and podcasts through iTunes, Stitcher, and elsewhere.
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