Bridgette Craighead, a Black woman and salon owner from Rocky Mountain, Virginia, caused a stir in her small town of 5,000 people.
A few months ago, Craighead organized a protest for Black Lives Matter. During which, on duty Officers Thomas "T.J." Robertson and Jacob Fracker supported the protester and held signs reading "Silence is Violence" and "No Justice. No Peace." From Craighead's perspective, Robertson and Fracker had befriended her.
The truth became clear to Craighead when she saw a selfie of the two officers from the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol where many were donning White Supremacy, Nazi and racist symbols and slogans.
Only a few days after the Capitol riot and the photo became public, Bridgette Craighead decided to share it to her own social media.
Craighead wrote:
"I can't believe someone I trusted was a part of that animalistic behavior at the CAPITOL!!"
But her neighbor Jeff Bailey, a White man and owner of an auto-detailing shop across from Craighead, had a different take on the officers' trip to the Capitol.
In a post sharing the photo, Bailey wrote:
"Glad to see someone with a backbone in our town of Rocky Mount! Keep standing up for yourselves and us and we stand with and for you!!!"
Apparently, Bailey isn't the only one that agrees in Rocky Mountain.
Craighead created a protest outside of a city council meeting, calling for the termination of Robertson and Fracker, but was met with counter-protesters.
However, Bailey did not attend the counter-protest. Instead, Bailey hung flags outside his auto-detailing shop where Craighead would surely see.
He had this to say about the officers:
"They are ex-military. They were taught to fight for their country against any enemy, foreign or domestic."
"The election was stolen. They did what they were taught to do.
"Bridgette shouldn't stick her nose in other people's business. These are family men."
Bailey also said:
"She's a troublemaker."
"If people like her would stop talking about racism, there wouldn't be any racism."
Bailey had this to say in an interview with The Washington Post:
"They think I'm stirring things up, that there weren't any issues until I brought them up. They are there. They don't want to see them."
Bridgette Craighead seems to be remaining optimistic after the support from people all over her county came out for Black Lives Matter. With some folks honking their car horns in support and some rolling their windows down to glare, she still called the scene "epic."
Craighead said:
"I know protesting wasn't going to cut it. In order to really create change, I have to be in there, inside the walls where all the laws are being written."
"I want to make sure that the laws are for everyone. Not for the benefit of some people and the suppression of others."
"I want to make sure they are fair for my son."
Twitter is still holding out for accountability for Officers Robertson and Fracker, and showing there support of Bridgette Craighead.
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
