Archive for the ‘Natalie Ringsmuth’ Category

Stephanie Dickrell’s St. Cloud Times article about a #UniteCloud event puts in play the question of whether #UniteCloud’s message is compromised.

Ms. Dickrell’s article quotes Natalie Ringsmuth, the executive director and founder of UniteCloud, as saying “At midnight last night, we decided to do something. We felt like we didn’t want to wait a whole week. … We wanted to give space for people to be able to gather in the name of peace.” To their credit, their gathering was peaceful, with an asterisk.

Though there wasn’t any acts of physical violence at #UniteCloud’s gathering, #UniteCloud’s credibility is questioned because one of the organizations participating in the gathering was Black Lives Matter. Their history isn’t filled with inspirational moments. It’s filled with questionable activities. The article includes a paragraph that reads “BLM leaders are under a new kind of scrutiny because of a whiplash of unexpected events: cell phone videos of two black men who died from police gunfire followed by the ambush and killings of five police officers in Dallas at a Black Lives Matter protest, and three police officers targeted and killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

The Twin Cities chapter of Black Lives Matter has its own checkered history:

Rumors about the man’s death started with a Facebook post by a user of the name Davion Gatlin, who initially claimed the man was black, the Pioneer Press reported. “[W]e ride pass the park around 6am and witness a brother hanging dead from a tree!” he wrote, attaching photos of the body that he took from afar. “They still killing us and we still killing each other! #MakeGoViral”

The verified Facebook account of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis has since picked up on Mr. Gatlin’s semi-viral post, also sharing the graphic photos and claiming that the man was “lynched.”

“A man was found lynched in St. Paul, MN this morning,” the group posted. “St. Paul PD was quick to call this a suicide while witnesses on the scene say the man’s hands were tied behind his back. We are hurt by the tragic news and know that this despicable & disgusting act of cowardice will not be erased.”

Here’s a question for Ms. Ringsmuth. If the march was for peace, why would you let Black Lives Matter, a group with a sometimes violent history, participate in the march?

Here’s the ugly truth. #UniteCloud is a DFL front group that’s more into stirring up political trouble than they’re about providing solutions. If #UniteCloud wants credibility, they need to get rid of organizations like Black Lives Matter because of their sordid history.

Technorati: Charlottesville, Black Lives Matter, #UniteCloud, Natalie Ringsmuth, DFL