Marchers with guns return to downtown Raleigh streets, draw counter-protests
Armed men in military garb marched around downtown Raleigh for a third week Saturday, drawing sharp confrontation from counter-protesters and scrutiny from police.
The group has organized under the name Blue Igloo, likely a play on the word “Boogaloo,” which the Anti-Defamation League describes as a slang term for a coming civil war. Several marchers wore Hawaiian shirts, which Boogaloo groups often sport to symbolize the “big luau,” according to the Associated Press.
They’ve also embraced the name “Meal Team Six” after making national news last week for an armed march that included a stop at Subway for sandwiches.
On Saturday, their numbers ranged between four and eight with only a few carrying weapons, and the group separated after Raleigh police told them they could not carry both flags and guns. Armed demonstrations are illegal under state law, but North Carolina is an open-carry state.
Officers in masks lined their route and kept counter-protesters, who followed and peppered them with questions, at a distance
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“They actually are trying to incite a Civil War,” said Lindsey Ayling, a counter-demonstrator who has also been active in protests related to the Confederate statue Silent Sam that used to stand on UNC’s campus. “They say it’s between them and the government, but everybody knows it’s between them and the left.”
The group insisted it did not come to protest or march but only to get exercise. It did not specifically cite Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order or any coronavirus-related restrictions. But armed marchers included Adam Smith, who is active in the weekly ReOpenNC protests and is married to Ashley Smith, that group’s leader.
Ryan Teeter, who is also a leader with the Cape Fear Libertarian Party, said, “We’re just out here showing them that even if they’re persecuting people, we’re out here living our lives the way we want.”
Last week, the group drew national attention and much criticism when a marcher clashed with Wake County public defender Deonte Thomas, who was pushing his two kids in a stroller as Perry Whitlock approached him carrying what appeared to be a large pipe wrench. Thomas, who is black, interpreted a gesture as a Nazi salute, which Blue Igloo disputed.
On Saturday, Teeter told Whitlock, who has run unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress and the North Carolina state House, that he could not join them.
“You were going up and intimidating people,” Teeter told him in the parking lot. “We can’t have you in our group.”
As the marchers assembled, several cars circled them in the parking lot across from the state Archives, displaying signs that read “A Boogaloo is better as a dance” and “White Privilege on Parade.”
Spirited but peaceful exchanges between the group and counter-protesters persisted for roughly 30 minutes.
“I am tired of the citizens of Raleigh being harassed by a militia,” said Kerwin Pittman, a Raleigh social justice activist. “We will not be intimidated as a city, we will not be intimidated as citizens, regardless of how well they are armed.”
The marchers drew mixed reactions on the nearly empty downtown streets. They got a few handshakes and honks of support, but one couple crossed the street to avoid them and a woman on roller skates passed and said, “(Expletive) all of you.”
Randall Moore, who attended a previous gathering at Oakwood Cemetery, said, “I don’t think we’re harassing anybody. We’re just getting some exercise. ... Can people open-carry in North Carolina? It’s not a protest.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2020 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Marchers with guns return to downtown Raleigh streets, draw counter-protests."