Pride Supporters Drown Out Proud Boys At Texas Library Event

New Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/OsmaniTheOttoman/

“It was clear that they were there to intimidate, to scare,” said Jesse Ringness, a documentary journalist in nearby Frisco who is running for state office as a Democrat.

Sisters Josie and Mallie, who asked that their last names not be published out of fear they might be targeted, said the militia members soon began making crude and hateful comments in attempts to agitate the counterprotesters.

“They started kind of saying different things, calling us groomers, pedophiles. They were fat-shaming people, they were calling other women whores and just horrible things,” Josie said. “You could tell that they wanted to incite some type of violence. They just wanted to make us get angry so they could have something to use against us.”

“I was just thinking about how scared little tiny kids would be seeing masked people with big vests on wearing black,” Mallie said. “Like, that would be scary, just walking out in the library.”

Four counterprotesters who spoke with BuzzFeed News said they purposefully tried not to pay any heed to the rhetoric, for fear of inflaming the situation. Instead, their goal was to try to counteract the hate with love.

“​​When the kids started walking out from Pride storytime, they were booing them and kind of yelling different comments at them. So we just kind of cheered louder,” Josie said. “And people walked in front of the kids so they wouldn’t see them.”

“It wasn’t about fighting the other side. It wasn’t about getting some viral clip. It was 100% about supporting those that were there for a free public event,” Ringness said. “And it’s really disheartening to see a public library youth event for families drawing out armed militiamen. What did those armed militiamen expect to do with guns and pepper spray? I don’t understand.”

Given the expected protesters, officers were on hand to supervise, said McKinney Police Department spokesperson Carla Marion Reeves: “We were not called to the scene, but were nearby, monitoring and keeping an eye on things to make sure the event was peaceful.”

There were no arrests, but police issued one citation for assault by contact to someone who pushed another person — an incident that appeared to be caught on camera and shared by Steven Monacelli, who first reported on the protests on Twitter.

Vargas, the mom who took her sons to the event, said she had felt uneasy by the right-wing protesters. Her oldest son had wanted to explore the library during the storytime event, but she insisted that he stay close in case LGBTQ opponents crashed the event.

“There’s nothing that can quite prepare you for just a deeply unsettling feeling of seeing armed hate groups close to your small brown children,” Vargas said.

But when her family exited the event, any hateful chants were drowned out by cheers from LGBTQ supporters. One person even walked them to their car while blocking out hateful signs using an umbrella. Vargas said she felt extremely grateful, but also heartbroken that LGBTQ people had to protect an event that was designed to celebrate them.

“There were protesters there that held up signs about protecting kids, but it was members of the LGBTQ community and allies that shielded my brown boys from these hate groups,” Vargas said. “They were the actual targets on Saturday. And yet, they absolutely would not flinch when hatred stared at them.”

Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/pride-month-story-time-event-mckinney-texas-proud-boys

New Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/OsmaniTheOttoman/