Capitol rallies: BLM protests racism in Connecticut, ‘Freedom’ crowd speaks against Biden administration and vaccine mandates

With only a few moments of fairly mild tension, Black Lives Matter and Connecticut Freedom held overlapping rallies Saturday at the state Capitol.

There were unmistakable undertones of contention between the two small groups, but no fights and several harmonious situations — including about three minutes where Connecticut Freedom protestors took up the BLM chant of “end hate across the state.”

Concerns that a KKK-affiliated group would show up slowly dissolved when the Connecticut Freedom protestors’ impromptu parade around the Capitol grounds featured only Donald Trump banners, Thin Blue Line flags and numerous placards profanely condemning President Joe Biden and coronavirus health mandates.

Despite sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, neither group managed to get much of a crowd. Neither BLM nor the Connecticut Freedom group had more than 75 people at any time.

The Capitol was closed to the public because state lawmakers decided against holding a session Saturday, which drew angry complaints from both groups. But Capitol and city police, who stood nearby throughout the rallies, happily announced afterward that there had been no violence or reports of related trouble.

When the BLM rally started at noon, PowerUp CT founder Keren Prescott warned the crowd to keep alert for neo-Nazis and stay calm even if they were verbally baited by counter-protestors.

“They can exercise their First Amendment right. They have every right to do that. We are not engaging,” she said. “If you try to go toe-to-toe with one of these people in the Freedom Convoy, you’re putting Black and Brown lives at risk.

Rev. Cornell Lewis emphasized that several armed members of the John Brown Gun Club were providing security for the rally. When three men carrying flags took up positions on the lawn behind the rally, Lewis and several of the John Brown members approached them. The two sides held a terse conversation as Capitol police officers slowly walked toward them, but the moment passed without incident.

Two of the men with flags told The Courant they were protesting against the policies of the Biden administration. One said he was from Bristol and the other from Ellington, but neither would give a name and referred to themselves only as “patriots.”

Later, several dozen Connecticut Freedom supporters approached the Capitol’s locked front doors, then yelled insults about lawmakers who took the day off.

“They should close it permanently,” one man yelled into a megaphone.

The group marched around to the back of the building and shouted chants.

One man on the Connecticut Freedom side wore a cap emblazoned with a profane insult to Biden. He declined to give his name, but said he was protesting mandatory sex education in public schools along with any remaining mask or vaccine mandates.

“We don’t hate the people up there,” he said, gesturing toward the BLM rally on the Capitol steps.

Carrying a flag and wearing a flag-decorated sweatshirt, Brian Williamson of Sarasota, Fla., said he has been part of the Freedom Convoy since March. He said he blames federal COVID-19 restrictions for hindering his father’s access to doctors.

“On May 28 of 2020 my dad killed himself. He had stomach cancer. He couldn’t be seen, so he shot himself,” Williamson said.

Prescott and several BLM speakers said Connecticut has to do more against racism and specifically called on public school systems to treat racist chants and race-driven bullying more seriously.

Shortly before the Freedom Convoy walked past, Prescott said BLM’s issues aren’t restricted to people of color.

“If there are any poor white people listening, you and I have more in common than anybody who supports Trump,” she said. “Poor white people are using SNAP more than people of color. You’re hurting more than we are.”