What a horrifying ordeal
The mother of the woman who was targeted earlier this week by Black Lives Matter protesters has spoken about about her daughter's resolve in not raising her fist despite opposition.
According to the Daily Mail, video of Lauren Victor facing off with rowdy Black Lives Matter protesters went viral earlier this week after she refused to put her fist in the air in support of the movement.
What's a brief history here?
A horde of demonstrators converged on a Washington, D.C., restaurant this week, demanding outdoor patrons raise their fists in solidarity with the movement.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser condemned the move following the video's emergence, saying, "What I saw in those videos was highly inappropriate. It was likely against the law if they were on private property, but more importantly, I don't think it had anything to do with demands for social justice."
Bowser added, "We would encourage any diner or restaurant to call the police immediately. I would venture to say that the vast majority of those experiences have been 100 percent positive. I also don't think that D.C. residents would be bullied out of living their everyday lives."
What are the details?
Merna Victor, 77, told the outlet that her 49-year-old daughter — an urban planner in Washington, D.C. — said she refused to be intimidated by protesters.
"She is a supporter and has marched in support of Black Lives Matter on several occasions, but she wasn't going to be intimidated by them," Merna said. "She was sitting with a friend outside a cafe just around the corner from her home, drinking her tea, when this large crowd appeared with their fists in the air."
The elderly woman continued, "They had been going from cafe to cafe trying to get people to join them and calling for everyone to raise a clenched fist."
Merna said that her daughter calmly told demonstrators that she does, indeed, support the movement, but that she wouldn't be pressured to participate in their activities.
Merna recalled that at least one female protester demanded of her daughter, "Are you a Christian?"
"What did that have to do with anything?" Merna asked. "Lauren says she wasn't afraid at any point that they would harm her. It was only a couple in the crowd who were aggressively confronting her."
"The easy thing for her to do would be to raise her first and it would be over," she added. "But she was a little taken aback by their anger and vehemence and would not be intimidated. It's one of those things that shouldn't have happened. She wishes the whole group had just passed her by."
Anything else?
At the time, Lauren admitted, "I felt I was under attack."
She later added that while she supports the movement, the raucous demands of the crowd "didn't feel right."
"To have a crowd — with all that energy — demand that you do this thing," Lauren added. "On one level my best guess was no one was going to hurt me but those things turn on a dime."
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