Proud Boys showed up to a Pride story time in North Carolina. Why were they allowed in?
“We shouldn’t welcome Proud Boys into our public spaces” should not be a controversial statement. We have seen the role individual chapters have played in the January 6 storming of the Capitol, the ways they’ve shown up in droves to school board meetings, and how their modes of protest in North Carolina and beyond are meant to intimidate.
Intimidation is exactly the reason that they and other protesters showed up to a Wilmington library on Tuesday to protest an LGBTQ-themed story hour for kids — no drag queens involved, just books about children with two parents. The “Official Cape Fear Proud Boys” later posted about the protest on the messaging app Telegram, suggesting others do this to “let them know you’re watching.”
The mother of a 17-month-old recounted her feelings to The Wilmington Star-News, saying that “I certainly felt like I was in danger when they entered the building,” and saying that library officials asked the families to stay in the locked room after the stories were over. The event was geared toward children seven and under.
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office was called to the event and said that the protesters were allowed in, per library bylaws, because the library is “open to the public.” They said that the “participants left the library with no incident,” something that witnesses and video footage and photos from the day say is untrue. The county’s Office of Diversity and Equity also said that the families “were not in danger at any time.”
Emily Jones, the mother who spoke with the local paper, said the group looked into the room through a window and “marched” in the outside hallway, so that families could see. WECT has received reports that an altercation took place. Port City Daily reported that the Proud Boys were yelling in the library, one of the most basic “don’ts” of library etiquette. Angie Kahney of NHC Educational Justice recalled what the protesters were chanting to Port City Daily. “It’s going to pornography and drag queens and grooming children, they said. They said the event was teaching little kids about sex.”
The outlet also confirmed with a sheriff’s lieutenant that an argument between a protester and counter-protester resulted in the use of pepper spray, some of which hit a library staff member. Kahney also said that the Proud Boys appeared to be escorted in by the sheriff’s office, something that the office’s spokesperson said was “100% incorrect.”
When thinking about spaces open to the public, intent is important. These men in black and yellow shirts and face coverings were not there to use the computers, check out books, or work on a research paper. They were there because they wanted to scare children and parents and confront the “groomers” that they believe are infiltrating schools and other public settings. That is not peaceful: it may be on paper, but their presence and insistence on finding “groomers” is an intimidation to children and parents.
The county’s failure to recognize that as law enforcement and diversity officers is a failure to take the threat of a legitimate hate group seriously. Would the outcomes have been different if they were in white robes, instead of t-shirts? Would they be given the same opportunity to go into the library?
Hate looks different than it did 100 years ago, but don’t be mistaken: it’s still hate, and hate does not belong in the public sphere.
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 11:47 AM.
