Brookfields Fight Fear group counters Trump supporters

Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA)

WEST BROOKFIELD – The weekly presence of supporters of President Donald Trump's reelection bid was maintained this weekend as dozens of local residents, young and old, lined East Main Street, waving at mostly approving motorists.

But what was different Saturday was the presence of dozens of backers of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket, a group called Brookfields Fight Fear. It provided a counterbalance to the politic sphere as the new outspoken group consumed an area of the Town Common.

Police in SUVs monitored the groups, which were a safe distance away from one another amid the threat of co-mingling and any verbal barbs.

A woman who would only identify herself as Lisa coordinated the Trump group. She described the turnout of supporters as "regular American citizens young and old. There are babies. There are children. There are senior citizens here. We have Purple Heart veterans that are here with a cane in one hand and an American flag in the other."

Lisa accused the Biden supporters of prior intimidation antics. She alleged that in a recent week, an anti-Trump demonstrator brought a bullhorn to get in the ear of unsuspecting Trump supporters.

"They literally come up to the most vulnerable person and scream with the bullhorn," Lisa said, adding she spoke to law enforcement about it, to ask that they ensure peace is maintained going forward.

"I said, I'm all for them being here. They enjoy the same rights. But I don't want them to harass and intimidate anybody, never mind a 90-year-old senior citizen," Lisa said.

Despite the opposition's name, Lisa said, that group brought an element of nastiness to the political fray.

"They literally flip people off when they go by," Lisa said. "There are little girls that will flip people off and scream F-you."

Over at the Brookfields Fight Fear group, when told of Lisa's allegation, Fitzgerald Pucci of Warren said, "She's probably referring to when I brought out the bullhorn when it was just me (meaning when he previously demonstrated by himself). I very firmly disrupted the Trump event. That one falls squarely on my shoe.

"The thing with Trump, the thing with the group of protesters that I've seen so far, is they're willing to spit some very vile stuff, and immediately retreat to the role of victim when they have the opportunity to."

He went on to describe Lisa as "the kind of woman" who uses vulgarity, but when she feels she's losing an argument, turns to law enforcement.

"She called the police on me over a Facebook argument," said Pucci, who wasn't finished with his verbal attack of the Trump organizer.

"One of the things about patriarchy is that it affects all of us," said Pucci, who's been involved in protests and standouts through the Rural Justice Network. "The way that it affects white women, particularly white women, is it gives them a sense of this second-hand power, where that acts as a tool that can be brandished. Lisa uses that as a weapon.

"Whenever she's in a place where she can weaponize the privilege she has as a white woman, to incite somebody else to do a violent act, or a suppressive act on her behalf, she'll do it. And I think that speaks very deeply to a systemic toxicity within white women that are also perhaps Trump supporters. I think there's a lot to be said about the psychology of that particular person."

The BFF group was organized by Eric von Bleicken of West Brookfield. The demonstration was titled "Soul of America," which he explained was a play on the Biden idea of taking back the soul of the nation.

"We have tenets," von Bleicken said. "Science is real. Love is love. Women's rights are human rights. Black Lives Matter. No human being is illegal."

Explaining that it was a hybrid event, to get the Democratic ticket and progressives elected, von Bleicken said, "We have a tapestry of human beings here to represent for the soul of America. It's what we believe. We felt like enough is enough and a lot of us were sad to see what was happening with our town."

Dozens of motorists honked in agreement at Trump supporters, and to a lesser extent, the Brookfields Fight Fear group.

Lisa suggested 97% of the honking was in favor of Trump.

Pucci said, "The biggest political difference they make is it gets some honks. We're in the game of registering people to vote. We've got a booth. We've got technology that we're passing around."

Von Bleicken said that in a matter of about 10 days, the Brookfield group had grown to about 175 members.

Pucci said that they have kept the group private online for strategic purposes.

"You'd be amazed how many people go into people's Facebook accounts, public Instagram accounts, and start taking all of this information and spreading it to their circles, places like the Spencer Bulletin Board, the West Brookfield town page, the North Brookfield town page," he said. "There are a couple of real toxic people that are instigating a lot of this, making it really necessary for us to be private."

Von Bleicken said his group had raised more than $200 toward a local woman's effort to raise money for a local nursing home to buy noisemakers, to drown out noise made by demonstrators that he said were mostly affiliated with the Trump supporters, although Pucci said he contributed to some of the noise.

A member of the Quaboag Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center community launched a GoFundMe effort to raise $250 for the noisemakers.

She said its dementia and Alzheimer's patients had become considerably confused and upset when confronted by loud noises from the groups, such as honking and chanting.

"The nursing home was very upset about the fact that people kept moving down, and it was mostly the Trump voters," von Bleicken said.

The Trump organizer was asked if she would be interested in speaking with members of the BFF group.

"He's filled with hate and he wants to just stand there and say you're a racist and a bigot," Lisa said of the oft-repeated allegation toward Trump supporters. "We're not going to have a conversation."

Trump supporter Cindy Baxter of Warren said she was demonstrating for the first time here. Asked about hostility and polarization at just the mention of Trump's name in some circles, Baxter said, "What bothers me about that is we're supposed to accept diversity. And I don't think that you have that issue with Trump supporters. I think we believe that people have a freedom to say what they think and feel the way they feel. We don't try to force anyone to change your mind.

"On the other hand, those that preach diversity and preach tolerance are the least tolerant of all, in my estimation, from what I've seen and what I've gotten for feedback. It's unfortunate that there isn't a freedom of speech like there used to be in this country."

Fellow Trump supporter Rene Mathieson of West Brookfield said she was attending her third pro-Trump event in the area. She said she wasn't necessarily the biggest Trump supporter, but she said she was put off by Hillary Clinton's message that people were deplorable if they didn't vote for Clinton in 2016.

Mathieson also spoke to the notion that Trump supporters are bigots.

"Black lives do matter," she said. "I'm not racist. But when I ask people in the Democratic Party, why Trump's racist, they can't answer my question."

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