WATCH: BLM and Proud Boys Leaders Hold Joint Press Conference

The leader of a northern Utah Black Lives Matter chapter held a press conference with local Proud Boys leaders in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, defending the group which has been labeled by critics as white supremacists.

But the leaders from both activist organizations — who have been meeting together to find common ground — called on Americans to come together in unity after months of unrest and divisiveness in the country. . .

In video taken by KUTV-TV, Jacarri Kelley, the leader of Black Lives Matter, Northern Utah, told the press that she called the conference because she wanted to set the record straight after the Proud Boys were mentioned during the first presidential debate and accused of being “white supremacists.” . . .

“I will go out and say that the #ProudBoys as a whole, I will say this on behalf of the entire national organization, denounce white supremacy." – Thad, Chief of the Proud Boys Salt Lake Utah Chapter pic.twitter.com/WGlUEx3jeF

— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐞 (@brian_schnee) October 1, 2020

The BLM leader explained that she has been meeting with Seth and Thad for the past several weeks to learn more about their views, after she spoke with a few Proud Boys members during a protest who reassured her that they were just there “to make sure nothing goes down.”

“We sat down and had a conversation about each others’ myths that we heard about the Black Lives Matter movement and about the Proud Boys,” Kelley said about her first meeting with the leaders. “And we came to realize we had more in common than not. And in order to combat evil and racism and hatred in this country, we do need to be able to reach across the aisle and have these tough conversations.”

(Read more from “BLM and Proud Boys Leaders Hold Joint Press Conference” HERE)

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