Man Threatens To Kill Black Lives Matter Protesters In Whitestone

WHITESTONE, QUEENS — A man with several knives strapped to his arm threatened to kill a group of Black Lives Matters protesters in Whitestone on Tuesday in a confrontation caught on video.

The man drove up to the protest on Clintonville Street by the Cross Island Parkway service road and threatened to kill the protesters. He spat out of his window, then told the protesters they "were in the wrong neighborhood," according to video footage shared with Patch by one protester.

He then made a U-turn and got out of his car, brandished four knives taped to his arm and started chasing one of the protesters.

(Warning: This video contains explicit language.)

right now this man in Whitestone New York was threatening people with a sword/multiple blades and then drove right through them ..... someone find out who he is right now pic.twitter.com/BrHcZGRWMr
— moo (@lambomursy) June 2, 2020

Gabe, a Whitestone resident who was among the protesters, said it wasn't the man's first time targeting their demonstration. The man had walked by on Monday and screamed at them, though at the time they tried to laugh it off.

"Everyone was really, really shook up," Gabe, who asked to be identified only be his first name for fear of retaliation, said in a phone interview.

The NYPD is investigating the incident, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.

The threats aren't the first time the Whitestone protesters have been harassed since they started posting signs on the Clintonville overpass this week as part of the nationwide movement demanding justice for George Floyd, who was killed on Memorial Day at the hands of Minnesota police.

Earlier in the week, a Queens man was caught on video ripping down the protesters' Black Lives Matter signs and calling the neighborhood a "white town." A Snapchat video that subsequently surfaced on social media showed the man using racial and homophobic slurs.

Gabe said drivers passing by on Monday had also honked at them and gave them the middle finger. At that time, there were only half a dozen protesters on the overpass, he said.

"When there's so little people there, this neighborhood, their true colors really come out," he said.

(Videos and image courtesy of @notamusedband/Instagram)

[UPDATE: The man has since been arrested.]