The official Instagram account of Black Lives Matter posted a brief video clip that seemingly justified violence on Wednesday in the wake of the horrifying aftermath of the murder of a Ukrainian refugee.
On August 22, Iryna Zarutska, who worked at a local pizzeria, was commuting back home from work. On the light rail train in Charlotte, she was stabbed by a man named DeCarlos Brown, who is believed to have a known history of criminal activity.
The Black Lives Matter account posted a reel from the moviesofcolor Instagram account that consisted of a 15-second-long clip from Born in Flames, which is a movie from 1983. This was shared on their Instagram Stories, and those videos are known to stay there for 24 hours before getting deleted.
‘We have a right to violence’- the character named Zella mentioned in the clip. ‘All oppressed people have the right to violence.
And I want to tell you something, it’s like the right to pee. You’ve got to have the right place. You’ve got to have the right time. You’ve got to have the appropriate situation. And I am absolutely convinced that this is it!’- the statement mentioned.
The video’s creators claim they were in no way trying to link this to the death of Iryna Zarutska and therefore have taken this down immediately as backlash began to grow after a few minutes of its posting.
Black Lives Matter released a statement soon after, where they mentioned that they don’t condone political violence and apologize for any suggestions to the contrary.