Warning: Story contains graphic language.
A small group of "Back the Blue" college activists were harassed by Black Lives Matter protesters outside the Omaha police headquarters on Sunday. BLM protests have been sparked after the death of a black man, Kenneth Jones, in a police-involved shooting.
After two nights of protests outside the police headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, where one was declared to be an unlawful assembly, Kelsey McDonald and a few of her friends decided to show support for the Omaha Police Department and held signs next to the protesters.
In a livestream video, BLM protesters were angry at the sight of the support for OPD. They started to get in McDonald's face and follow her around as she tried to move away.
"You're not walking away anywhere. F**k that sign! B**th, you're not going anywhere!" one agitator can be heard screaming at McDonald.
Nebraska: BLM-antifa confronted & hurled insults at a 19 year-old woman (Kelsey McDonald) last night who was holding a pro-@OmahaPolice sign outside the police headquarters. They also robbed a mobile phone from one of her friends. #BLM pic.twitter.com/TBvcEbSlXb
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 23, 2020
A bit longer video, same as above (Omaha, NE) pic.twitter.com/vvWvMSjqCi
— Kitty Shackleford (@KittyLists) November 23, 2020
BLM is outraged bc I stood silently and smiled while they screamed and assaulted me... @N1ckSandmann this sound familiar? https://t.co/q9fcGfrZMt
— Kelsey McDonald (@kkelseymcd) November 22, 2020
Jacob McNeill, who was accompanying McDonald, said his phone was knocked out of his hands and was later stolen by the same person who attacked him.
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I am the man on the left. You can see my phone being knocked out of my hand in the video. It was later stolen by the same person who knocked it out. Protesters appeared to be led by Kara Eastman staffer @real_jperkins @CBakerShow @ScottyVKFAB @WOWT6News @KETV @3NewsNowOmaha https://t.co/WoFnVmIy9Y
— Jacob M. McNeill (@Jacob_M_McNeill) November 23, 2020
"Two friends of mine and I decided we would like to peacefully counter-protest to show the officers that they have support in the community. Upon our arrival, we were surrounded. Protesters pushed and shoved us, repeatedly threatened to beat us up and come to our homes to cause us harm," McNeill told Townhall. "Of particular note, one of the leaders of the protest, Jaden Perkins, a former staffer on the Kara Eastman's Congressional Campaign in NE-02, ran up to the protestors threatening and assaulting us and began telling them our names."
"Thanks to Democrat party operative Jaden Perkins giving out our names, the protestors surrounded exits to police headquarters and were calling out our names and issuing threats. After being hidden inside for a while, the police escorted my two friends and me to safety in a cop car. We had to hide in the back seats so as to not be seen by the protesters through the back windows," McNeill added.
OPD says Jones was a passenger in the back seat of a car that was pulled over by officers during a traffic stop. Of the four people in the car, Jones was the only one who was not complying with police orders. They smashed the car window to pull Jones out of the car after he refused to open the door, police say.
When they pulled out of the car, police say body camera footage shows officers yelling "keep your hands where I can see them" and then "watch his right hand! He's digging! He's digging! He's got a gun! He's got a gun!..."Gun! Gun! Gun!" OPD said four shots were then fired. Police added officers found a loaded handgun with Jones after the shooting, according to KETV.
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