Protesters Hang Effigy Of Kentucky Governor Outside Governor’s Mansion
A group of protesters collected for a “Patriot Day 2nd Amendment Rally” near the Kentucky State Capitol concluded Sunday’s event by hanging an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear in a tree outside the governor’s mansion.
Video and images from the event in Frankfort, caught by Carrier Journal press reporter Sarah Ladd, show 2 men raising the effigy with a sign reading “Sic Semper Tyrannis” as the song “God Bless the U.S.A.” plays in the background.
“Sic semper tyrannis” loosely equates from Latin to “thus always to tyrants.” John Wilkes Cubicle presumably screamed the expression after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln.
The demonstrators were apparently opposing constraints that the Democratic governor executed to assist suppress the COVID-19 pandemic.
The video: pic.twitter.com/twsNAKscLV
— Sarah Ladd (@ladd_sarah) May 25,2020
Gerry Seavo, a self-employed professional photographer who was covering the event, informed HuffPost that the event’s organizer, Ben Kennedy, drew out the effigy at the end.
“As we were leaving, one of the guys said, ‘Hey, stick around. We’re gonna hang an effigy,’ and it didn’t strike me at the time what it was,” Seavo stated. “I didn’t think they would hang Gov. Beshear. I just stuck around.”
Then he understood what was occurring.
“It was eerie to me because as an African American, there’s these intergenerational trauma triggers,” Seavo stated. “It’s a lynching. It’s a lynching. That popped into my mind and I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’”
Seavo stated the effigy was hung by men who seemed Kentucky 3 Percenters, an anti-government, pro-gun group that the Southern Hardship Law Center recognizes as part of the conservative militia motion.
Protesters hang an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear throughout a Patriot Day second Change Rally in Frankfort,Kentucky
The effigy was lowered by Tony Wheatley of Constitutional Kentucky, the leader of a various group in participation. Seavo stated Wheatley was “very upset” about the act which a few of the 3 Percenters attempted to distance themselves from it later. (A Facebook page declaring to represent the Sons of Liberty 3 Percenters released a declaration disavowing duty after the event.)
“After that happened, no one would talk about it,” Seavo stated. “Who made it and stuff. Now they’re trying to push this off as a media hoax.”
The act was roundly condemned by Kentucky political leaders.
Kentucky state House Democrats launched a declaration calling the act “beyond reprehensible” and charged the state’s Republican management with excusing comparable “hateful rhetoric” in the past, efficiently making it possible for Sunday’sevent
“Doing this in front of our Capitol, just a short walk from where the Governor, First Lady, and their two young children live, is an act that reeks of hate and intimidation and does nothing but undermine our leading work to battle this deadly disease and restore our economy safely,” the declaration concluded.
The state Republican politician Party likewise released a declaration decrying the function as “unacceptable.”
“What occurred at today’s rally was unacceptable and has no place in Kentucky’s political discourse,” the declaration checked out. “The Republican Party of Kentucky strongly condemns the violent imagery against the Governor in today’s protest.”
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