A small group of “White Lives Matter” activists held a protest outside the Houston NAACP office on Sunday, bearing assault rifles, Confederate flags, and signs referencing white supremacist slogans.
The protesters said that they were speaking out against Black Lives Matter for focusing on black victims of police violence.
“We came out here to protest against the NAACP and their failure in speaking out against the atrocities that organizations like Black Lives Matter and other pro-black organizations have caused the attack and killing of white police officers, the burning down of cities and things of that nature,” White Lives Matter member Ken Reed told the Houston Chronicle. “If they’re going to be a civil rights organization and defend their people, they also need to hold their people accountable.”
Reed insisted that the group wasn’t there to “instigate” and only carried firearms to “defend” themselves.
While he told the Chronicle that the flags were just meant to represent Southern pride, one of his fellow protesters held a sign reading “14 words,” a reference to the white supremacist slogan coined by David Lane, member of the white nationalist terror organization known as The Order.
“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” the slogan reads.
At least one protester wore a hat expressing support for the presidential ticket of Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R).
According to the Chronicle, counter-protesters gathered at the NAACP office in the heart of Houston’s black community to pray and speak out against the White Lives Matter group’s message.
White supremacists protest @naacp_houston and Black Lives Matter.Is this a part of what some call the “Trump effect? pic.twitter.com/lfHnA98za8
— Jose Grinan (@JoseGrinanFOX26) August 21, 2016
