Government & Politics
Three months after peaceful protest in Kansas town, Marshall revives rumors of violence
Republicans are hoping that images of destruction in Portland, Oregon, Kenosha, Wisconsin and other cities will be on voters’ minds when they head to polls in November.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched an ad this week seeking to link Democrat Barbara Bollier to the scenes in other states as the Johnson County legislator pursues Kansas’ open Senate seat.
The footage isn’t from Kansas and Bollier condemned violence at protests in June.
Rep. Roger Marshall, her Republican opponent, said Friday he hadn’t seen the ad, but he contended the issue was relevant to Kansas voters.
“When I’m knocking doors, the No. 1 concern I’m hearing, especially from suburban women, is fear for their family,” Marshall said during a wide-ranging interview Friday.
As evidence for this claim, Marshall pointed to phone calls he received from constituents months earlier, ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest in Hutchinson.
In fact, the demonstration took place without incident.
“You know, in Hutchinson, Kansas, a month or two ago, I got phone calls from concerned citizens that one of these terrorist groups were organized – were going to be in downtown Hutchinson breaking up windows and tearing up Main Street, and I think indeed there probably was some truth to that,” Marshall said.
“They must have got scared,” Marshall said, acknowledging that the destruction of downtown Hutchinson never actually happened.
Pressed for evidence of the alleged threat, Marshall’s campaign provided links to news coverage of a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest that took place in Hutchinson in June. Marshall didn’t refer to BLM by name during the interview.
Teresa Delgado, the 28-year-old Black Lives Matter activist who organized the protest, called Marshall’s description of the Hutchinson event “wild” and said the congressman was engaging in the same scare tactics that had been used by opponents in the lead-up to the protest.
“Everything in Kansas has been peaceful. I just don’t get why they would try to bring it up and put a negative twist on it here. This is Kansas. We didn’t have anything crazy,” she said. “I think they just use it more for the votes than anything else.”
In the lead-up to the event, rumors of potential violence circulated wildly on social media.
Delgado said she had meetings with the police and city council ahead of the event, where they unsuccessfully sought to persuade her to call it off based on the social media threats.
“I was called into several meetings and told if anything bad happens, this is on you, and I told them we’re not going to let that scare us,” she said.
The peaceful event took place on June 6 without any violence or damage to property.
Video from The Wichita Eagle shows that demonstrators marched through the city and lay down in an intersection to protest the killing of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis who asphyxiated when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Hutchinson Chief of Police Jeffrey Hooper said his department had been in contact with the FBI office in Wichita ahead of the event about potential threats of civil unrest.
“I think it was somewhat exaggerated in social media, but I certainly think that the threats were credible,” Hooper said, contending that the attention the event received in local media may have caused outside agitators to back off.
He said the department was preparing for the presence of the New Black Panther Party and a counterprotest by white supremacists. The police had readied riot gear in case of violence.
“We did have several businesses around the planned route board up windows in anticipation of rioting and looting and that ultimately didn’t happen,” Hooper said.
“All of our protests that we have had here — and there’s been a few — all of them have been peaceful,” he added, noting that following the June event the police department has developed a working relationship with the local Black Lives Matter group.
Delgado said that after the flood of social media rumors and pressure to cancel, she felt vindicated when the demonstration took place without any problems.
“I was in tears at the end of the protest, a lot of us were, because not only did we get our message out here but Hutchinson is a very racially torn town so it was nice to show we’re not these bad people, we’re not out here to cause destruction or chaos or anything,” she said.
Bollier, a state senator from Mission Hills, did not directly respond to Marshall’s comments about Hutchinson, but in a statement on Facebook Friday she weighed in on the larger issue of the protests that have taken place across the nation since May.
“Instead of stoking division and fear — as my opponent is doing — I will focus on bringing people of all backgrounds, and all political parties, together to address these critical issues and heal our country. As I stated back in June, I always condemn violence and the destruction of property of any kind,” Bollier said. “To solve these serious problems, we need leaders who will bring people to the table for challenging and meaningful conversations.”
State Rep. Jason Probst, a Democrat who represents Hutchinson, said Marshall’s comments about the June protest are “completely irresponsible.”
He said there had been concerns about the event because it was an unsanctioned protest, but the rumors proved to be overblown.
“With the exception of a handful of people who were trying to stoke fears, most people handled it really well. In fact, people who lived on Main Street handed out water bottles (to the protesters),” Probst said.
Probst said based on his discussion with police at the time, most of the concern was about a potential counterprotest by white supremacists, which did not happen.
The city of 40,000 is located in Marshall’s congressional district. Probst questioned whether Marshall engaged with local authorities on the topic in June.
Hooper said the police department was not in contact with Marshall in the lead-up to the event.
“I think it’s very evident in national politics we have a group of people who don’t want to calm fears,” Probst said, referring to Marshall and other Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who have sought to make fear of civil unrest a key issue in the campaign.
During a Fox News interview this week, Trump floated several conspiracy theories about recent protests, including claiming without evidence that a plane “completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear” had traveled to Washington and elsewhere to cause disruptions.
Marshall’s campaign said Marshall’s reference to “one of these terrorist groups” was not aimed at the peaceful demonstrators.
“Our team, and Dr. Marshall personally, got dozens of calls in June fearing violence in Hutchinson. Officials and businesses were concerned about threats of violence coming in from out of town, which is why they boarded up businesses and closed the courthouse for part of the day,” said Eric Pahls, Marshall’s campaign manager.
“Whether it’s Antifa or white supremacists, any time violence is used to further a political agenda, it fits the literal and legal definition of terrorism. I don’t know if these threats had a name behind them, but we’re glad the Hutchinson authorities and demonstrators took it seriously.”
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