A Drag Event In Roanoke Provokes Clash Between Armed Protesters

A drag brunch at Anderson Distillery & Grill in Roanoke provoked a clash between protesters and counterprotesters, some of them armed, outside the event last Sunday. The video of the incident was recorded by Dallas reporter Steven Monacelli and uploaded to Reddit. 

The viral video shows an armed group of people “protecting” the event from a group of mostly male protesters who wanted to boycott the brunch. According to the Reddit post, the armed individuals were part of Antifa and they were there to prevent far-right protesters from going inside the brunch. But this information is unclear because none of the armed individuals had the well-known Antifa iconography and none of them identified themselves or even talked. On the other hand, the male protesters did talk to the camera and said that they were there to support people who are against the indoctrination of children. 

Last week the distillery’s owner, Jay Anderson, said on Facebook that the event would include no sexual content or erotic behavior. Anderson pointed out that his intentions were to include all types of people and not to generate hate or dispute. Roanoke police Sgt. Ryan Otero said he knew of no arrests or police reports stemming from the event.