The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was among those who sent notes criticizing a Virginia town’s “Black Lives Matter” banner, telling city officials in an email that protesters responding to the death of Black Americans in police custody “hate America.”
An email signed by Thomas, who is white, and shared with The Washington Post on Thursday accuses Black Lives Matter protesters of desiring a “cultural revolution” and “mob rule.” Her comments come as cities across the nation have been the sites of protests against police brutality and racism following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed in Minneapolis police custody.
“BLM is a bit of a dangerous Trojan Horse and they are catching well-meaning people into dangerous posturing that can invite mob rule and property looting,” Thomas reportedly wrote in late June. “Let’s not be tricked into joining cause with radical extremists seeking to foment a cultural revolution because they hate America.”
Thomas did not respond to the Post’s request for comment, but reportedly shared similar sentiments on a private Facebook page.
Her email came in response to a banner reading, “Welcome to Clifton where Black Lives Matter,” which hangs across Main Street in downtown Clifton, Va., in response to the recent protests. Though some residents have expressed opposition to the banner, most attendees at a recent town meeting over the banner expressed support for the message, according to the Post.
Thomas, a conservative activist, previously faced criticism for a 2018 post attacking students for protesting gun violence using imagery from the Holocaust in the days following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Fla.