Washington DC—A grassroots citizens collective calling themselves the Parasol Patrol decisively sidelined a hate group’s attempt to disrupt another Drag Queen Story Hour held in Southeast Washington DC on Saturday morning. Citizens who were fed up with the violent hate group’s attacks in local communities showed up by the hundreds and formed a block-long array of rainbow colored umbrellas, rainbow flags, and grassroots community solidarity to shield children and their parents from the hate group’s rhetoric, taunts, and oppression. But only one supremest was seen showing up, although it is supected that hate group scouts came but left the venue early because of the massive show of concerned citizen solidarity.
Harriet’s Wildest Dreams sponsored the Drag Story Hour which was an all-seats-taken venue with parents and their children enjoying a continuing educational series of children’s book readings about self-empowerment and self-expression. Queen Tara Hoot read to the children and their parents.
After the children’s reading was over Queen Tara Hoot came out into the street to thank the many neighbors who formed a line with their umbrellas and to tell them a story from memory. The story ‘Be Brave Little One,’ was about how to be brave in unsettling times, how to remain calm, and how to remain focused and stay on task in challenging circumstances. After telling the story the Queen told the gathered neighbors of spreading legislative efforts in other States to erase Drag Queen existence, cancel Transgender healthcare, and make Drag Queen art and culture a felony. They warned the neighbors of troubling times ahead if the legislation is not stopped, urged them to become knowledgeable of its effects on civil society, and informed them about aspects of the legislation and its impingement on minority rights.
The Proud Boy hate group has latched onto certain conspiracy information being propagated over right-wing social media channels about Drag Queen Story Hour events. Proud Boy hate groups have been showning up to harass and shut down dozens of the Drag Story Hour events in States across the country.
Today’s event coincided with the hate group self professed ‘Day of Rage’ in which Proud Boys came out on social media threatening Jewish venues.
Last Saturday about 30 members of the local chapter Old Line Proud Boy hate group based in Maryland assaulted multiple citizens who had formed a human wall with rainbow umbrellas to keep the hate group out of Loyalty bookstore in Silver Spring. Store management which sponsored last week’s reading hour, thanked the citizens of the Parasol Patrol for protecting the children while condemning the extremists for attacking citizens.
Last Saturday’s incident at Loyalty Bookstore in Silver Spring may have been a tipping point, however. Over the last week civil rights and grassroots groups connected across several States to buckle down and organize against hate groups and hate legislation. No one expected the turnout of citizen supporters to be so successful as it was today.
One Hate Group Antagonist Showed Up
DC Metropolitan Police were at today’s event and only one person showed up in opposition to the story hour Saturday. Online sleuths used several close-up photos taken of the lone antagonist today to identify him as Bryan Betancur, also known as Bryan Clooney and also known as Maximo Clooney. Betancur was among the 1000s at the January 6, 2020 U.S. Capitol insurrection who tried to stop certification of States’ votes confirming President Joe Biden’s election win. Betancur was arrested on January 18, 2020 for involvement in the insurrection. At the time of his arrest he was on parole for an earlier conviction and was wearing a GPS location device as part of his parole agreement. The device tracked him to the U.S. Capitol grounds on January 6.
For his part in the insurrection he pled guilty to charges of trespassing onto a secure Federal facility and was sentenced to 4 months detention and a $500.00 fine. A U.S. Department of Justice plea agreement Betancur and his attorney signed shows he understood that additional convictions after the plea agreement could nullify the agreement.
It is not clear that his appearance at today’s Drag Story Hour was a violation of the terms of his plea agreement or a violation of his previous parole. But one of the citizens in the Parasol Patrol witnessed Betancur approaching the Parasol Patrol and making a white supremacist gestures with his hands.
The witness, who identified themselves as Bubbles, said of Betancur “We first spotted him coming from the metro. He looked over at us at [name redacted], which is very obviously a queer space with pride flags everywhere, and immediately crossed the street to come toward us. He got close to us and flashed the white power hand sign at the owners, and then crossed the street again and tried to head to story hour.”
Bubbles said also that when Betancur tried to go into the story hour intersection police eventually removed him. Police were insensitive to escort him past the parasol patrol.
DC Police were video taped by @DCHomos escorting Betancur away from the Drag Story Hour on Saturday after citizens told police he was there. Police escorted him him up 8th Strret leave to the Eastern Market metro station. Police may have blundered any goodwill they had earned by showing up to protect the community, as officer Riley, who was being videotaped escorting Betancur, closed the entrance for a short time so he could get onto a train. Police officer Riley, who escorted Betancur looked backwards towards @DCHomo a videographer, he and said, “I feel threatened!”
Incidentally this latest story hour took place just across from the U.S. Marine Barracks at 8th & I Streets Southeast. Thursday was the 78th anniversary of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, an epic island battle in the South Pacific during WWII—a World War fought against fascist ideology during which 50 million died worldwide. Nearly 7000 Marines died fighting that island battle alone. The Marines were not involved in today’s incident.
