BucketBack
07-07-2020, 02:11 PM
11784
It’s hard to stand out when you are in a sea of thousands of frustrated, sign-waving protesters. But in marches and demonstrations over the past week in Atlanta, Decatur and even Cumming, a small knot of charismatic young people kept getting photographed.
They said they were Black Panthers, and they looked the part with all-black attire and black berets adorned with a cat-head patch. Their leader was a tall, thin black woman armed with an assault rifle and a determined look. Photos of the group popped up in local news outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but also in the British tabloid press.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AP_20155851809078-1536x1038.jpg
“Armed female Black Panther leads her comrades including a white recruit on a march through Georgia,” The Daily Mail wrote in an online story about the June 3 demonstration Decatur. The story featured several dramatic photos and embedded Instagram posts.
It is easy to see why the group attracted attention. In a moment of fury over police shootings of black people, the group was perfectly cast. Maybe too perfect.
The AJC reached out to members of the group, including Whitney Oni, the striking woman who drew so much attention. Oni, an Atlanta-based graphic designer and model, said the recent protests were not her first time taking to the streets.
“I started back with the Trayvon Martin case,” she said, referring to the 2012 shooting death of the Florida teenager by a neighborhood watch coordinator in a gated community.
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/dressed-the-part-panther-group-came-straight-from-central-casting/OvNstDxfbzV9MbAtOW8mzO/
It’s hard to stand out when you are in a sea of thousands of frustrated, sign-waving protesters. But in marches and demonstrations over the past week in Atlanta, Decatur and even Cumming, a small knot of charismatic young people kept getting photographed.
They said they were Black Panthers, and they looked the part with all-black attire and black berets adorned with a cat-head patch. Their leader was a tall, thin black woman armed with an assault rifle and a determined look. Photos of the group popped up in local news outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but also in the British tabloid press.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AP_20155851809078-1536x1038.jpg
“Armed female Black Panther leads her comrades including a white recruit on a march through Georgia,” The Daily Mail wrote in an online story about the June 3 demonstration Decatur. The story featured several dramatic photos and embedded Instagram posts.
It is easy to see why the group attracted attention. In a moment of fury over police shootings of black people, the group was perfectly cast. Maybe too perfect.
The AJC reached out to members of the group, including Whitney Oni, the striking woman who drew so much attention. Oni, an Atlanta-based graphic designer and model, said the recent protests were not her first time taking to the streets.
“I started back with the Trayvon Martin case,” she said, referring to the 2012 shooting death of the Florida teenager by a neighborhood watch coordinator in a gated community.
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/dressed-the-part-panther-group-came-straight-from-central-casting/OvNstDxfbzV9MbAtOW8mzO/