Black Lives Matter militants charged after viral video shows them harassing elderly diners: 'F*** the white people'
Three Black Lives Matter militants were charged after a viral video showed them harassing elderly diners outside a Pittsburgh restaurant over Labor Day weekend.
What are the details?
Monique Craft, 35, Kenneth McDowell, 33, and Shawn Green, 24 — who also goes by Lorenzo Rulli — were charged by summons with multiple misdemeanors Monday in connection with the Sept. 5 incident outside the Sienna Mercato restaurant, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Craft is charged with theft, conspiracy, and simple trespass; McDowell is charged with possessing instruments of crime, conspiracy, harassment, and two counts of disorderly conduct; and Green faces charges of disorderly conduct, conspiracy, criminal mischief, and simple trespass, the paper said.
According to a criminal complaint, McDowell used a megaphone to scream obscenities at diners sitting outside the restaurant, WPXI-TV reported.
The complaint added that Green swore at diners, specifically an elderly couple, and gave them the middle finger, the station said. Video shows Green telling the couple, "F*** the white people that built the system set against mine — you old dick!" He then issues a theatrical laugh at them as others join in.
The complaint also said Green walked up to the front of the restaurant and screamed into an open window, WPXI reported.
Police said Craft approached a table and drank a diner's beverage, the Post-Gazette said. Video shows it's the same table occupied by the elderly couple Green was harassing, and they simply watch Craft drink the beer, after which she sets the glass back on the table.
Another protester swipes a glass off a table, causing it to shatter on the ground, the paper said.
In a separate video at the scene, it appears McDowell shoves his megaphone into the head of a man holding a bicycle in the street:
The man holding the bike swats back at McDowell:
And then a third man bashes a skateboard over the head of the man holding the bike:
Here are the clips. (Content warning: Language):
But Craft told the Post-Gazette there's much more to what happened that day.
More from the paper:
Craft said the videos show only one side of the story and that there were three men from outside the protest who were screaming "blue lives matter" — in support of police — at the protesters. When some protesters began to confront them, one man began swinging a bike at people.
According to Craft's account, a man began grabbing Craft's hair and placed his hand on Craft's chest, saying he was trying to stop her from engaging with another man.
When the confrontation ended, Craft said, a man in the restaurant began condemning the protesters' actions. The woman who was with him offered Craft to come over, have a beer and talk about the situation.
Green noted in an earlier Post-Gazette story that "we were talking to people that were talking to us. The beer that was consumed was an offer. The glass that fell was a mistake."
He added to the paper that people in the restaurant were cheering on the protesters and that "the reason I engaged the individual man and his wife is because ... her husband called me 'an embarrassment' and 'disgusting.'"
Related incident at a McDonald's
McDowell also was identified as the individual caught on video getting aggressive with a McDonald's manager that same day, WPXI reported.
The video shows a man with a bullhorn harassing the manager and others chanting with him. The manager appears frustrated and tries to get them to leave, but they continue to pester him. At one point the man with the bullhorn challenges the manager to a fight.
The video was circulated on social media by a Twitter user who tried to frame the heated incident as the fault of the manager. (Content warning: Language):
The manager(Ed) @ this McD’s was upset that the protest was in front of the store. The crowd agreed to go in and gi… https://t.co/T5ncNyrmdI— Ed Thompson (@Ed Thompson)1599370860.0
Trump calls militants 'thugs!'
Several days after the incidents, President Donald Trump called the militants "thugs."
....And because of weak and pathetic Democrat leadership, this thuggery is happening in other Democrat run cities a… https://t.co/yObH7uCypB— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1599564028.0
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