MADISON — In the militant Black Lives Matter movement, group think isn’t a request; it’s a demand.
The movement, often confused with tolerance, will not tolerate dissent. Say, “All lives matter,” and you’ll be shouted down. “Like” the “wrong” comment on Facebook, and they’ll shut you down.
The “peaceful” Milwaukee BLM activist Frank Nitty (his real name is Frank Sensabaugh) and his band of radicals have been descending on Port Washington and other small towns in Milwaukee’s collar counties.
Port Washington became a flashpoint in June after a man verbally assaulted three women demonstrators from the Black Lives Matter movement. The man’s hate-filled rant was caught on video and quickly became the top story in the Milwaukee media market.
The news outlets, however, have not picked up on what has been happening in the wake of the high-profile incident — at least not the full story, sources tell Empower Wisconsin.
“Since that incident we’ve had numerous protests in our small, quiet town, some of which have been led by Frank Nitty and his cohorts,” a Port Washington business owner, who asked not to be identified, wrote in an email.
They’re not merely demonstrating.
He said a woman in neighboring Saukville recently was targeted and protesters presented themselves in front of her home into the late hours of the evening. They were chanting and threatening her husband.
“Her husband went outside with a firearm to defend their home, the police were called, and the protestors remained in the street, blocking traffic, harassing the residence and her neighbors for hours,” the source said.
Now, sources say, members of the movement are threatening to silence anyone who doesn’t support their idea of “social justice.”
This week, a commenter on a Facebook group knowns as “Port Washington Voice” wrote that The Patio Bar & Grill was “liking” certain comments deemed “anti-BLM.” Apparently the folks at the Patio liked this comment: “Am I missing something, that the police of Port Washington (mistreated) someone? Last I checked that never happen. Don’t get me wrong, black lives matter, Mexican lives matter, white lives.”
Members of a group known as Break the Silence in the Burbs, which has been leading the demonstrations in Port Washington and elsewhere, took to their Facebook page and plotted protests to shut down the bar and other community businesses.
“If you going to do it, do it Friday,” wrote page member Michael Sadorf. He urges his fellow “peaceful protesters” to allow the folks at the Patio a chance to “make their stance clear.” Threatening actions, he said, comes across as intimidation.
But the end game is clear.
“…(A)t this point, there’s no need to tell anyone that they’ll get shut down. It’s almost a known fact that if you’re a racist, you’ll be held accountable for your hate,” Sadorf writes.
Again, the “racist” is being targeted for liking a pro-police comment on Facebook.
“If they don’t have a apology before Friday imma make a event,” wrote Zay Otw on the page.
The owner of the Patio Bar & Grill did not return a message seeking comment on Tuesday. A defender of the bar wasn’t keen on the group’s intimidation game.
“You will not suppress my opinions and use bullying as a form of control,” the poster wrote. “You will NEVER INTIMIDATE ME!”
Nitty has been leading the “no justice, no peace charge” in the suburbs as in Milwaukee, where he and his fellow demonstrators have been less than peaceful. He talks about shutting down businesses and institutions as nonchalantly as most people talk about the weather. Nitty was arrested after leading disorderly protest in Milwaukee. Police ultimately used tear gas to break up the BLM demonstration. He is caught on video warning Mayor Tom Barrett and police chief Alfonso Morales, “You’re not going f*ck with us without causing some motherf*cking retaliation...I know how to be peaceful and cause a whole lot of mother*ucking chaos.”
Now he’s bringing those threats to suburban Wisconsin.
“I am seriously worried about the escalation that is happening recently in major cities like Portland and Seattle, but also now we are starting to see this as well in small, once-quiet towns like Port Washington,” one source said. “I can tell you there is an underlying tension in the community that is getting ready to boil over and with the presence of weapons and out of the area people coming into town targeting people and businesses I am sincerely afraid someone is going to get hurt.”