Dramatic video has emerged from the latest incident involving Black Lives Matter protesters entering a residential neighborhood — a trend which is increasingly resulting in worried and anxious homeowners brandishing guns, as happened with the most famous such incident of the gun-toting McCloskey’s defending their mansion in St. Louis over a month ago. Rarely have such tense encounters resulted in shootings, but that appears to have changed.
Late Monday night a homeowner in a suburban neighborhood of the small rural town of Schellsburg in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, reportedly fired upon Black Lives Matter marchers as they entered a residential area.
Social media video appeared to show at least two or possibly three local men confronting the marchers, telling them to exit the neighborhood, after which shots ring out. Local media confirmed a person from among the BLM activists was indeed wounded by gunshot, and transported to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday.
The group of marchers were engaged in a cross-country protest to walk (and drive, it appears, from the videos) all the way from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C. when apparently they entered the wrong neighborhood:
In an incident that was documented on social media this Monday, Black Lives Matter protesters on a cross-country protest walk from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C. were fired upon in Pennsylvania.
The shot apparently came from a homeowner in the neighborhood. At one point in the video, three men can be seen staring down protesters, one of them seemingly carrying a rifle.
After the shots ring out, some marchers can be heard trying to reason with the men.
Police are said to be investigating the shooting, many of the details of which remain unclear and murky. It appears one victim was shot in the face but is expected to survive.
The Pittsburg Post-Gazette, meanwhile, later said the person was admitted to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. “In the live-streamed video, at least two gunshots can be heard. One of the marchers is seen bleeding from his face and he said he was shot before other marchers rush him to the hospital,” the report describes.
Pennsylvania State Trooper Brent Miller also confirmed in a statement that:
“Gunfire was exchanged between the activists and the residents, and one activist was struck.”
This strongly suggests some among the BLM activists entering the neighborhood were armed or had firearms in their vehicles. The footage captures the activists telling each other “don’t shoot back” at one point.
TMZ also obtained video from BLM protest leader Frank “Nitty” Sensabaugh, who was live-streaming some of the events:
TMZ describes of the separate video:
You hear one other gunshot and then you hear screaming and chaos. One of the marches can be heard telling the men they’re leaving and that there’s no need to get violent. Frank and the rest of his group jump into vehicles that were accompanying them and race to the hospital. In a separate video, you can see him holding somebody in the car who appears to have a bloodied shirt. They arrive to the hospital and end up talking to cops about it.
“This dude is shooting at us,” Nitty can be heard yelling, while leaving the scene in a vehicle.
The shaky and chaotic footage shows a white man holding a long rifle.
FRANK NITTY II and protesters were marching when white man with gun comes out and start shooting at them shooting one protester in the face. On day 21 walking from Milwaukee to DC 30 miles a day. Police have made no arrest and seen video evidence. pic.twitter.com/pP3bVb3GTv
— Philly (@divahustle) August 25, 2020
Below video shows the group days prior marching through a separate residential neighborhood while on their way to Pennsylvania and ultimately on to Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration events scheduled later in D.C.:
#MarMar rocks the beat to the movement while marching to Washington D.C by foot from Milwaukee with #Franknitty pic.twitter.com/RUAGPYUToe
— Darchel (@just2classy2002) August 17, 2020
Schellsburg has a population of a little over 330 and lies in the southern part of Pennsylvania. Like with many countryside areas and farm and ranch communities, it’s more than likely that significant numbers of the residents are gun owners.
With the increasing lawlessness in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police that resulted in riots, looting, and mayhem across multiple major US cities, it appears more and more Americans especially in rural areas are interpreting any level of BLM or Antifa activity as a direct threat to their property and lives in a dangerous situation which only looks to escalate.