‘I’m Black, I’m Proud’: National Guard Responds To Viral Video Caught Amid DC Protest
KEY POINTS
- National Guardsman caught on camera chanting “I’m black and I’m proud” amid D.C. protest
- He responded he’d always say it and he was a black man first before anything
- Netizens warned uploader of ramifications of viral video
- Meanwhile, President Trump orders National Guard to pull out from D.C.
The DC National Guard, who was caught on camera chanting the words, “I’m black and I’m proud” along with the protesters during the demonstration at Washington responded to the video, which went viral online.
In a short video uploaded by Twitter user @heedygreedy on Friday, protesters can be heard chanting the words “I’m black and I’m proud” followed by “George Floyd.” Amid the united chant, the camera caught a glimpse of a black man wearing the National Guard uniform silently chanting the words.
After the clip was posted on Twitter with hashtags Black Lives Matter, George Floyd and DC Protest, it received overwhelming responses from Netizens.
That is a fearful sight for the military. You can make him your soldier but you can’t take his soul.
— Xay (@TribeEyezLow44) June 5, 2020
Brother we don’t share a name or a colour but we share a uniform across an ocean, keep fighting and don’t ever let someone who won’t sign away there life and put on they uniform tell you that you are any less for doing so. A life of service to country is a life well lived
— Michael old (@michael_old) June 5, 2020
Air Force Vet here, many people will never understand what taking that oath means nor the sacrifice that comes with it. There is no walking away. I am so proud of you, I see you, I hear you & I stand with you. #blacklivesmatter
— MixedByLove (@MixedByLove) June 5, 2020
Khaled Abdelghany, in response to the clip, said that he would always say it. He proudly said that he was a black man first before anything.
I will always say it. I am a black man first before anything! #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/E8a5ZmiIDR
— Khaled Abdelghany (@__Sowle__) June 5, 2020
Some Netizens, however, cautioned the uploader about the ramification of the video and asked him to take down the clip because it may endanger the National Guardsman.
Delete this before he loses his rank. Soldiers are not allowed to protest in uniform. Secondly, we are not the enemy.
— Brii Baby 💕 (@BriiSweatshirt) June 5, 2020
Please delete this this man can get in trouble. I’m a service member and there’s certain things that we can and can’t do in uniform
— 🤴🏾 (@KingKalem_) June 5, 2020
Please take this down. He can get into some serious trouble.
— maybe: aliyah j. (@excusemelee_) June 5, 2020
Amid the protests, 1,200 D.C.-based and around 3,900 out-of-state National Guards from 11 states were called in to patrol the nation’s capital, CNN reported. However, President Donald Trump reportedly tweeted on Sunday morning that he ordered them to start the “process of withdrawing from Washington, D.C.”
The U.S. Park Police and the National Guard troops were called in to disperse the demonstrators who were reportedly peacefully protesting outside the White House. Amid the military force’s involvement, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser asked President Trump to withdraw “extraordinary law enforcement and military presence from Washington, D.C.”

Meanwhile, Bowser said that President Trump used the U.S. military forces for a political stunt and they were like toy soldiers used to intimidate Americans, NBC News reported. Mayor Bowser has made the headlines, stirring the social media after she decided to paint the street leading to the White House with “Black Lives Matter.”
Mayor Bowser reportedly joined the protesters on the streets of Washington on Saturday. She called for people to watch what was happening in the nation’s capital because they didn’t want the federal government to do this to any other American.
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