BROTHERS IN ARMED
Gun-wielding female Black Panther leads protesters on march through Atlanta to ‘protect Black Lives Matter rally’
ARMED members of the New Black Panther Party were seen marching alongside peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators on Friday.
Video has surfaced showing the militants clad in all-black, marching arm-in-arm as they formed a line to protect the protesters during a march in Atlanta, Georgia.
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They were seen wearing what appeared to be tactical-style vests.
Assault-style rifles were slung across their chests as they marched in the video posted by .
Earlier in the week, members of the militant group were spotted carrying guns at a protest in Decatur, Georgia.
They also marched arm-in-arm alongside protesters and addressed the crowd as part of their efforts to safeguard the rights of the demonstrators, according to .
The organization — founded in 1989 but distinct from the original 1960s era Black Panthers — has engaged in armed protests against police brutality.
But its Atlanta chapter did not organize the grassroots protest, which was put together by a Georgia State University student.
Decaturish reported some protesters at the march were unnerved about the New Black Panther’s presence.
They were demonstrating their First Amendment rights and Second Amendment rights
Anti-Racist Coalition for Decatur activist Clare Schexnyder
The Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League (SPLC) have both categorized the New Black Panthers as a hate group.
The SPLC says they are "a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers".
But the New Black Panthers members who appeared at the June 3 protest "were peaceful and talked about love and respect," Anti-Racist Coalition for Decatur activist Clare Schexnyder told Decaturish.
She said: "They were demonstrating their First Amendment rights and Second Amendment rights.
"And it’s hypocrisy for white people to call it out when white people with guns have been storming capitols and hanging governors in effigy."
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The original Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, as a socialist political organization.
It involved the core practice of open-carrying, armed citizens' patrols meant to monitor the behavior of the local police department and challenge police brutality in the city.
The group emerged as one of the most influential black movement organizations of the late 1960s.
At its height in 1970 it had 68 offices and thousands of members across America.
The New Black Panther Party was founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1989.
But members of the original Black Panthers have distanced their group from the New Black Panthers, claiming that it is not a successor to the original group.
According to the SPLC, the New Black Panthers are a "black separatist group that believes black Americans should have their own nation".
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