Bix dot Blog

Here’s tonight’s pet peeve: freelance journalist Mike Bivins complaining about some of the Wall of Moms “leaving the line at the federal courthouse as protesters started pulling the boards off of the windows” toward the end of last night’s protest. My understanding of the Wall of Moms—reinforced tonight—is that they view themselves as a deescalating force, meant to help shield protesters from police abuses. I’m going to get my antifa membership card revoked here, but I’m neither crying nor gnashing my teeth if once certain protesters were actively prying the plywood barriers off the Federal courthouse, many of the moms left. It’s one thing for a unit of protestors to offer themselves up as a barrier against abuse. It’s another thing altogether if protesters via their actions say to them, “I’m going to go actively destroy the barricades around a federal courthouse; can I use you as a shield?” The latter isn’t merely “breaking a few eggs”, it’s actually its own form of abuse.