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In a fiery Fourth of July Facebook post, Utahs Black Lives Matter Chapter declared the American flag "a symbol of hatred."

"When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around," the post reads. "When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist. When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America than we do. When we see this flag, we question your intelligence. We know to avoid you. It is a symbol of hatred."

Chapter founder Lex Scott confirmed to Fox News Wednesday that her group had made the post to highlight how hate groups can allegedly "co-opt" the American flag without prompting similar blowback.

"Ever since we put up the post, our page has been flooded with hatred from people who fly the flag," she said. "And we want to thank those people for proving our point."

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When asked how she would respond to people who say the American flag is for all Americans, she said that those who are offended by her groups statement should take it up with hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which she said proudly wave Old Glory at their rallies.

Chapter founder Lex Scott confirmed to Fox News Wednesday that her group had made the post. (FOX)

"I would ask those people if they ever showed outrage when the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street holding that flag, if they ever showed outrage last week when Patriot Front, a White supremacist group, was marching through Philadelphia holding that flag, if they feel outraged that the Three Percenters have co-opted their flag, that the Proud Boys have co-opted their flag," she said. "If they have never shown outrage when hate groups use their symbol for hatred, then they need to not come to us they need to go directly to those groups. When you allow a hate group to fly that flag in the name of hatred, and you say nothing, and you do nothing, you send a message to us that you agree with their messaging. You agree with that hate, and you condone it."

Philadelphia media reported Monday that the Patriot Front marchers, none of whom were from the city, retreated from their demonstration after clashes with local residents.

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"They started engaging with citizens of Philadelphia, who were none too happy about what they were saying," Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Crum told the citys ABC affiliate WPVI. "These males felt threatened, and, at one point, somebody in their crowd threw a type of smoke bomb to cover their retreat, and they literally ran away from the people of Philadelphia."

A lengthy follow-up post on the BLM Utah chapters Facebook page, which Scott said she had written, goes into the groups argument in greater detail.

People who care about the flag should defend it not just from her criticism, but also from hate groups that try to take advantage of it, she argued.

"I want you to walk in my shoes for a second," she wrote. "I want you to picture this. You show up for a protest, and hundreds of armed White men show up. They have guns, they yell racial slurs at you, they are carrying and wearing American flags."

She said she receives hate messages via Facebook on a daily basis and many of the senders have American flags on their profiles.

"If you see that every person that hates you is carrying an American flag how would you feel about that flag?" she continued. "I feel fear. That is not up for debate. I feel like the person flying it is racist, because every racist that I have come in contact with is either wearing that flag or flying that flag. I feel as if I should avoid that person because they may be dangerous."

Scott has said in the past that Black Lives Matter Utah is an independent chapter and is not affiliated with the national BLM organization, and the group has promoted a pragmatic approach to criminal justice reform in the past.

"In our chapter, we work with Republicans and Democrats for police reforms," she said last summer. She had also appeared on "Fox News @ Night" to discuss such issues with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

The groups proposals have included officer de-escalation training rather than defunding the police.

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The BLM Utah post echoes controversial remarks from New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay, who said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" last month that she was "disturbed" to see pickup trucks carrying the flag in a New York City suburb.

"I was on Long Island this weekend visiting a really dear friend, and I was really disturbed" she said. "I saw dozens and dozens of pickup trucks with expletives against Joe Biden on the back of them, Trump flags, and in some cases just dozens of American flags, which is also just disturbing. Essentially the message was clear: This is my country. This is not your country. I own this."

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Black Lives Matter Utah chapter calls American flag ...

In a Facebook post published on the Fourth of July, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Utah chapter declared the American flag a hate symbol.

When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around. When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist. When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America than we do. When we see this flag, we question your intelligence. We know to avoid you. It is a symbol of hatred, the statement read.

Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, said the intention of the inflammatory post was to generate a reaction and show how the flag is being co-opted by extremist groups, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The point of the post was to make everyone uncomfortable, Scott said. The American flag is taught to us from birth to represent freedom, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Scott noted that her sentiments were triggered by the sight of photos depicting members of far-right organization Patriot Front marching through Philadelphia carrying the American flag on the eve of the Fourth of July.

Theyre flying American flags. The Ku Klux Klan is flying American flags. The Proud Boys are flying American flags. They climbed the Capitol for their failed insurrection and were beating police officers with American flags. I have not heard any outrage from Republicans or the right about the use of the American flag as a hate symbol, Scott said.

We are seeing that symbol used in every racist hate groups messaging across this nation. The problem that I have is no one is addressing the people who are using it for hate. I am telling you when I see an American flag, I begin to feel fear for the simple fact that every time I am faced with hatred, it is at the hands of someone carrying an American flag, she continued.

The BLM post echoes the comments made by New York Times Editorial Board member Mara Gray during an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe, when she said was disturbed to see American flags displayed on the back of Trump supporters pick-up trucks during a weekend trip to Long Island.

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As the Fourth of July drew to a close, Ziggi Tyler, 23, of Chicago, decided to use his holiday downtime to update his bio on TikToks Creator Marketplace, a new part of the app where influencers like Tyler connect with brands to strike sponsorship deals. Tyler is a Black influencer who uses TikTok and other platforms to post comedy vlogs, and he wanted to highlight his background to marketers who might want to launch racial justice campaigns or ads featuring more diverse talent. But when he went to include words and phrases like Black, Black Lives Matter and Black support, he made an uncomfortable discovery: The app wouldnt allow him to include them, flagging the words as inappropriate content and making it impossible for him to publish the new bio.

Its very odd, its very strangeits very frustrating, says Tyler.

"If we take a step back and consider, it seems a little phony to me," says Ziggi Tyler, mulling over ... [+] TikTok's explanation for why "Black" was banned from bios on its Creator Marketplace.

TikTok doesnt deny that this happened to Tyler. It says the content moderation algorithm within the Creator Marketplace, launched in mid-2020, is a work in progress. The problem stretched into Wednesday afternoonat that time, TikTok placed a block on anyone updating their marketplace bios. The company says it has since corrected the faulty AI, though any changes to the bios still cannot go through.

TikTok says the algorithm flagged the phrases because Tyler had also written the word audience in his bio, and the AI had been taught to flag bios that included the word die, which is contained within the word audience, and words like Black and Black Lives Matter as possible hate speech. The algorithm wouldve drawn attention to any combination of the words die and black. For instance, if the phrase die blackberries had been there, the AI wouldve barred it.

Our TikTok Creator Marketplace protections, which flag phrases typically associated with hate speech, were erroneously set to flag phrases without respect to word order, a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. We recognize and apologize for how frustrating this was to experience, and our team has fixed this significant error. To be clear, Black Lives Matter does not violate our policies and currently has over 27 billion views on our platform."

For his part, Tyler finds TikToks explanation specious. I could write out neo nazi and white supremacyno problem, and thats cool, he says. But I just went in 30 minutes ago and tried to add Black Lives Matter again, and it wasnt allowed. While TikTok had an explanation for why Tyler couldnt fill out his bio with those phrases, the company didnt offer one for something else: Tylers videos for now cant be as easily shared on TikTok as videos from most other influencers. The Stitch and Duet functions, two common features that allow users to republish another persons TikToks, have been disabled on Tylers account, making it harder for his videos to go viral. (TikTok denies turning off these features, saying only a user can do so. Tyler, in turn, says he didnt mute them either.) Nonetheless, his videos talking about his experience over the past few days have gotten nearly 2.5 million views.

Theres been a growing tension between TikTok and the Black community on its app. During last years Black Lives Matter protests, several Black creators alleged that TikTok was suppressing content about the protests and George Floyds murder, something the company has denied doing. TikTok did admit that a technical glitch affected the view counts around hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd, making it seem that they had received zero or very few views when in fact theyd been watched millions of times. Most recently, some Black influencers staged what they called a virtual strike, going silent on the app to protest an unfair bias among advertisers on the app that favors white creators.

Moreover, TikTok has struggled at points to grow from an app featuring dances and stunts into a social network where politics and other weighty issues are discussedeven as its user base has ballooned to more than 700 million users worldwide, complicating that calculus. As recently as late 2019, the companys top executives were actively weighing whether they should find ways to tamp down content about politics, going as far as to consider turning off its key algorithmic feed during elections, including the 2020 presidential contest in America.

Tyler, bearded and habitually clad in a knit cap, joined TikTok back in February 2020 and established a niche for himself with humorous videos, talking about topics like his appearance, sex and white influencers. He has since accumulated 368,000 followers, and in October, he joined TikToks Creator Fund, which pays out to creators who create sufficiently popular videos. Tyler, a recent Southern Illinois University graduate, joined the Creator Marketplace the following January. He hasnt struck any brand deals yetrejecting a few overtures from companies he found less than reputablebut hopes to in the coming months.

Im genuinely just here to make people laugh, feel good about themselves, feel confident, feel sexy, Tyler says. I just want people to love themselves and have a good time. Because theres so much hate in the world.

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TikTok Influencer Of Color Faced `Frustrating Obstacle Trying To Add The Word Black To His Creator Marketplace Bio - Forbes

A 34-year-old infantryman from Dallas, Texas, and stationed at Fort Wainwright for the last 10 months is facing a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of a Black Lives Matter demonstrator in downtown Austin last summer.

Sgt. Daniel Perry, who joined the U.S. Army in 2012 and served in Afghanistan that same year, says it was self-defense after 29-year-old Garrett Foster pointed a weapon at him while other protesters beat on his car, damaging it. Perry was moonlighting as a driver for a ridesharing company and was unaware of the demonstration until he drove up on it, according to a written account on a GoFundMe page aimed at raising money for his legal defense. Both Perry and Foster are white.

Sgt. Perry had acted in self-defense when a masked Boogaloo Boi raised an AK-47 at him during an allegedly peaceful protest, reads a news release provided by Perrys attorney, Clint Broden.

Witnesses say he barreled into the crowd of demonstrators. Perry threatened one of the pedestrians and drove toward that person, according to media reports. Prior to the incident, he had reportedly made hostile statements about protesters in social media posts.

The incident unfolded around the time last year when people in multiple cities were taking to the streets to decry police brutality in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

The case is getting a lot of media attention in the Lone Star State, and Broden is accusing the Travis County District Attorney of misconduct saying in a July 7 news release that the district attorney's office coerced Austin police to remove a significant amount of evidence which supported Sgt. Perrys self-defense claim from their grand jury presentation.

According to a city of Austin news release dated July 27, 2020, police officers heard two separate volleys of gunfire during a protest march two days earlier around 10 p.m., and several people called 911, including Perry.

The caller stated they had shot someone who had approached their drivers window and pointed a rifle at them. The caller was instructed to pull over and officers would be dispatched. Officers located and brought the caller to the homicide office to be interviewed. The handgun and vehicle were secured as evidence, reads the news release.

Witnesses offered multiple versions of events, according to Austin police.

Witnesses reported that a disturbance began when a vehicle started honking its horn as it turned southbound onto Congress from 4th St. The vehicle stopped as there were a large number of people in the roadway. Foster, who was holding an AK-47 type assault rifle, approached the drivers side window as others in the crowd began striking the vehicle. Gunshots were fired from inside the vehicle at Foster, reads the news release.

Another person watching the soldier drive away from the crowd pulled out a handgun and fired shots at the vehicle. That person was also interviewed and that weapon seized.

Perry was released pending further investigation. A grand jury indicted him 11 months later. The soldier surrendered to Texas authorities on July 1, according to online court records.

He turned himself in and made bond ($300,000) and was out within about 10 or 15 minutes, said Travis County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark.

Foster died of multiple gunshot wounds after efforts to resuscitate him failed. He was attending the march with his wheelchair-bound girlfriend, according to media reports. One report said that Foster was a veteran. He was carrying the AK-47, which is allowed under Texas open-carry laws, using a sling.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Perry was doxed and online sleuths revealed that he had made comments about using firearms to protect himself from violent protesters.

According to a U.S. Army spokesman, the incident happened while Perry was stationed at Fort Hood. Since October, he has been attached to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright. He is a former Eagle Scout who earned five Army Achievement Medals, according to the GoFundMe page. More than 200 people have donated $18,635 to the Sgt. Daniel Perry Defense Fund as of Monday.

Broden pointed out that the standard of proof required for an indictment is significantly less than the standard of proof required for a conviction. He said the case is important as it pertains to the Texas Stand Your Ground Law.

Perry reportedly passed a lie detector test.

When this case is presented to a jury at trial and the jury gets to hear all the evidence instead of a one-sided presentation, we have every confidence that Sgt. Perry will be acquitted, reads a news release provided by Perrys attorney.

Sgt. Perry again simply asks that anybody who might want to engage in a hindsight review of this incident picture themselves trapped in a car as a masked stranger raises an AK-47 in their direction and reflect upon what they might have done if faced with the split-second decision he faced that evening, the news release reads.

Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 459-7545. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/FDNMborough.

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Fort Wainwright soldier indicted in death of Black Lives Matter protester - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

(John Minchillo | AP) Trump supporters participate in a rally in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.

| July 6, 2021, 6:19 p.m.

| Updated: 10:11 p.m.

Black Lives Matter Utah on the Fourth of July called the American flag a symbol of hate on social media, setting off a robust response.

When we Black Americans see this flag, the post read, we know the person flying it is not safe to be around. When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist.

Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, says she knew the posts would cause a reaction.

The point of the post was to make everyone uncomfortable, Scott said. The American flag is taught to us from birth to represent freedom, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Scott says she was angered by photos of the far-right group Patriot Front marching through Philadelphia on Saturday carrying the American flag. The march was disrupted by counterprotesters, who chased them away.

Patriot Front is a white nationalist hate group that formed in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

Theyre flying American flags. The Ku Klux Klan is flying American flags. The Proud Boys are flying American flags. They climbed the Capitol for their failed insurrection and were beating police officers with American flags. I have not heard any outrage from Republicans or the right about the use of the American flag as a hate symbol, Scott said, adding, We are seeing that symbol used in every racist hate groups messaging across this nation. The problem that I have is no one is addressing the people who are using it for hate. I am telling you when I see an American flag, I begin to feel fear for the simple fact that every time I am faced with hatred, it is at the hands of someone carrying an American flag.

The Utah groups posts were widely circulated on social media over the holiday weekend.

Utah Republican Chairman Carson Jorgensen says hes no Pollyanna when it comes to American history, which he acknowledges is less than perfect. But he does not see the flag as a symbol of hate.

The American flag is a symbol of freedom and opportunity to the world, Jorgensen wrote in an email. We are the shining city on the hill. We are not perfect, but we will never cease to improve.

He says support for the flag is not a partisan issue, as both Republicans and Democrats are supportive. He also says Scotts broad-brush condemnation of the flag because fringe groups are using it is unfair.

This banner has been flown for the liberation of millions and millions who have given their lives in honor of what the flag represents, Jorgensen added. We are stalwart in our support and love for the American flag and all of the good that it stands for.

Sen. Todd Weiler says he disagrees with Scotts message, but its her right as an American to say it.

The vast majority of Utahns, regardless of their race or politics, continue to look to the U.S. flag as a symbol of unity and perseverance for our nations past and hope for our nations future, Weiler said. There have always been those who try to divide us. I am grateful to live in a county that allows dissenting voices to be expressed.

Scott says those who accuse her of being anti-American miss her point.

People are going to say that Black Lives Matter hates America. We dont hate America. We hate the system of white supremacy. Our ancestors built this country. We have every right to criticize, Scott said. Its not hatred to call out hatred.

Scott says its not all venom on the page and that theyve received dozens of messages of support, too.

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'Person flying it is a racist,' Utah Black Lives Matter says of those who fly American flag - Salt Lake Tribune