EDMONDS, Wash. — The daily Black Lives Matter protest in Edmonds took on an even more urgent tone Thursday, after a student representative called the movement a "lie."
"Oh, I was just disgusted," said protester Christie Morris. "I had to turn it off initially."
The incident came at Tuesday's Edmonds City Council meeting.
In what would be his final act as student representative to the council, Zach Bauder launched into a diatribe about "lies" he feels are being perpetuated about race in America.
"I hope you all can take this with the assumed best intent. You may not have the same thoughts as I do, but I hope you can find it in your heart to listen to me and hopefully start to seek out the truth," he said, in a prepared speech. "And there's just one main lie and that lie as a whole goes by the slogan 'Black Lives Matter.'"
The 2020 high school graduate went on to claim White people are also victims of racism, no one protests when White people are killed by police, and police brutality against Black people isn't as much of an issue as it's made out to be in the media.
"When you account for the fact that Black people, while accounting for only 13% of the population commit over 50% of the crime in the United States, we see there is no great tragedy of anti-Black violence at the hands of police," said Bauder, claiming to cite an article from the Washington Post.
The speech was live-streamed on the city council's web page and caused an immediate uproar.
KING 5 was not successful Thursday in contacting Bauder, who was appointed to his advisory position by the city council last year. But City Council President Adrienne Fraley-Monillas said she talked to him.
"It was clear I wasn't going to influence him and he wasn't going to influence me, but I did encourage him to learn a little bit about both sides," she said. "I was surprised. He's a very conscientious young man. When you're 17 and 18 years old you're very impressionable. My message to him would be to learn from your mistakes."
Christie Morris wasn't as forgiving.
"I don't accept it," she said. "Those are his feelings, but I believe he's probably an adult if he graduated high school. I don't give him too much grace."
The comments prompted Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson to issue a statement.
"The Black Lives Matter movement and its slogans are a rallying cry for the inherent value of Black lives, not a statement that other lives don't matter," he said in the prepared statement. "'[T]he work to create an anti-racist climate in Edmonds must be ongoing."
The incident followed vandalism, earlier this week, of a Black Lives Matter art display in town.
The "t" in "I Can't Breathe" was blacked out with spray paint.
"I think every community has small, certain groups within it that are, perhaps, racist," Fraley-Monillas said. "I prefer to think our folks need a little bit more education."
Which is why Christie Morris and about two dozen more Edmonds residents took to the street in protest on Thursday. They wanted to educate people about the scourge of racism in their community.
"They're welcome to have those personal views but they don't represent the city and what we stand for here in Edmonds."
Council President Fraley-Monillas said Bauder is "no longer on the city council," but would not elaborate.