The founder of Black Lives Matter Utah has denied left-wing activist John Sullivan, who was arrested in connection with the January 6 riot in the Capitol in Washington.
“We do not want to be associated with John Sullivan,” founder Lex Scott told Fox News on Friday.
Sullivan founded his own organization, Insurgence USA, and never joined the local BLM chapter, attended a meeting or participated in his mission to pursue racial justice and police reform, she said.
John Earle Sullivan (Sheriff of Toeele County)
(Sheriff at Toeele County)
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“It looks like he’s a loose cannon,” she said. “So we just distanced ourselves from him – but he’s like this thorn in my side that will not disappear.”
“It looks like he’s a loose cannon. So we just distanced ourselves from him – but he’s like this thorn in my side that will not disappear.”
Both Scott and Sullivan say his involvement in protests began in June 2020 when he said he founded Insurgence USA to resist police brutality following the death of George Floyd on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis. . (Four former police officers charged in Floyd’s death are awaiting trial.)
Lex Scott appeared on “Fox News @ Night” in July to discuss police reform legislation with U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, and host Shannon Bream.
(FOX)
The video of Floyd’s arrest led to nationwide protests and the officers’ dismissals – as well as the criminal charges.
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“John is a new activist,” Scott said. “He came here in June because a lot of trendy people came.”
But Sullivan has never joined or participated in Black Lives Matter Utah, which has been peacefully campaigning for reforms for seven years without ever arresting a member, she said.
“In our chapter, we work with Republicans and Democrats for police reforms,” she said, noting that she appeared on Fox News in July to discuss the matter with U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Black Lives Matter organizations across the country have different structures and are not directly related, Scott explained by telephone on Friday. She said her group requires members to sign a contract pledging not to engage in incitement to violence or destruction of property.
However, almost immediately after declaring himself an activist, Sullivan organized a protest in which he was arrested for rioting and a motorist was shot after trying to move through a blocked intersection. These charges are still pending in a court in Utah.
“I personally do not know what his intentions are,” Scott said. “I do not know what his motivations are.”
Sullivan, on his personal website and the website for Insurgence USA, describes himself as an activist for ‘racial justice and police reform’. On his websites and social media accounts, he shared articles describing him as a Black Lives Matter activist. In an interview with Fox News last week, he did not reject the label.
And recently chatting with other stores, he also invoked the phrase.
“I was worried about people recognizing me and thinking I was Antifa, or like BLM or whatever,” he said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine about his experience in the Capitol riot. ‘All the time they’re shouting,’ F— Antifa! F—, BLM. ‘I’m not saying I’m Antifa at all. But I definitely believe that Black Lives is Matter. ‘
But Scott said other social justice groups have also severed ties with Sullivan because of his behavior.
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“He must stop pretending to be part of this movement here,” she said. “We do not want to be associated with him when he storms outside the Capitol. I do not know what this man is doing – I do not want any part of it. ‘
Attempts to reach Sullivan, who was released from custody by a federal judge in Utah on Friday, were not immediately successful.