BLACK LIVES MATTER TOOK OVER ‘YELLOW ROCK’ BRIEFLY
Some in Eagle River are saying that when their “Yellow Rock” was painted all in black with a “Black Lives Matter in white letters this week, it was an affront to the community, which uses the rock to congratulate people on their birthdays and graduations.
Yellow Rock has never been a political rock — until this week. Black Lives Matter is a controversial group that wants to defund the police and has been prominent in national protests and riots over the past 10 days.
It’s painted all silver now. Someone from the neighborhood went in and covered up what felt to many as an angry act of vandalism in this suburb of Anchorage.
The fact that during the same 24-hour period, glass was shattered at two Eagle River businesses seemed oddly coincidental to some residents who commented on Facebook that it may have been part of the nationwide unrest. Others said it was just regular vandalism, not politically motivated.
At Focus, a nonprofit that helps disabled children, at least seven windows were smashed, while the glass door of the U.S. Post Office was also destroyed by a large rock that was thrown through the glass.
Assemblywoman Jamie Allard was to attend an Assembly work session on Friday, but said instead she would be meeting with people in the community and assessing and discussing the damage. Allard has been subjected to online harassment by activists associated with a recent Black Lives Matter protest in Anchorage, and she removed her official page from Facebook because of the acceleration of the attacks on her by the activists.
There’s no certainty that the Black Lives Matter group painted the celebration rock with the #BLM; and there’s no law saying that Black Lives Matter can’t paint its initials on the rock. The use of the Yellow Rock for art projects and well-wishes is more of a friendly understanding in the community; there are no hard-and-fast rules.
But the community wasted no time in erasing the politically charged message. By Friday morning, the entire rock was plain silver and looked remarkably like a silver hog resting at the corner of Eagle River Road and Wren Lane.
