A small group of white protestors holding ‘White Lives Matter’ signs staged a demonstration outside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People building in Houston on Sunday. Holding Confederate flags and assault rifles, the group of about 20 white people gathered in Houston to protest against the NAACP for failing to condemn the perceived role of Black Lives Matter in relation to the deaths of white police officers.
“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,” group member Ken Reed.
“If they’re going to be a civil rights organization and defend their people, they also need to hold their people accountable.”
Reed said the group wasn’t there to cause problems.
Sunday’s demonstration in Houston’s predominantly black Third Ward quickly spurred a counterprotest, which soon dwarfed the White Lives Matter gathering. As police arrived and set up barricades around the White Lives Matter protesters, locals stood across the street.
Some shouted, while others shook their heads in disbelief that Confederate flags were flying in front of an NAACP office in a black neighborhood. Police cleared out the crowd around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.