Confederate group camps out at Beauvoir after false ‘threat’ of antifa or BLM attack
The Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans have been camping out at Beauvoir, expecting an attack by Black Lives Matter activists or loosely organized anti-fascists known as antifa.
But police aren’t aware of any threats against the historic property, and Biloxi appears to be another in a long line of U.S. cities where online misinformation has led to unfounded fears of violence.
As early as June 1, the Sons and supporters were sharing information in a public Facebook group about “watching the old house,” where Confederate president Jefferson Davis spent his final years.
On June 14, Billy Bryant, sergeant at arms in the Mississippi division, posted he had received “numerous messages about antifa’s plan of attacking Beauvoir.”
“We received what I considered a legitimate threat for Saturday after the BLM protest they were planning in Gulfport Saturday,” Bryant wrote. “I put out the call for men to ride with me to stand our ground and protect what is ours. I was blown away by how many of our camp members and friends showed up. Thirty-four of us total made the trip and most everyone of us stayed the night only getting a nap here and there.”
But neither Beauvoir Chief Operating Officer Dylan Mears nor the Biloxi Police Department say they have evidence anyone has threatened the property. Mears said he hasn’t “heard the word ‘antifa.’”
While Mears runs Beauvoir’s daily operations, it has been owned since 1903 by the Mississippi Division of the SCV.
“If they’re a member, they’re allowed to be here whenever they like,” Mears said. “So I could say, yes, Mississippi division members have volunteered their time to help secure the property.”
Although Mears said the Sons’ security efforts were undertaken independently from Beauvoir’s board and staff, another Facebook post indicates the camp-out has the support of the board.
Owen McDowell commented on one post: “... on behalf of Beauvoir, I would like to express my appreciation for your dedication and the sacrifices you made in being away from work and family.”
He signed it, “J. Owen McDowell, Vice President, Beauvoir Board of Directors.”
‘All hands on deck’
Typically, Mears said, Beauvoir has two overnight security guards who patrol the site.
That changed a few weeks ago when the Sons became concerned about potential threats. Charlie Schmitz, a Beauvoir board member listed as 5th Brigade Councilman on the Sons’ website, began calling for members from around the state to camp at Beauvoir in case of an attack.
The issue briefly flashed into public view last week when a Gulfport pastor’s Facebook post went viral locally.
Joey Bennett, of Handsboro Baptist Church, posted: “BEAUVOIR needs volunteers Friday evening thru Sunday night! Fri evening: Gulfport monument protest. Sat. All day: Juneteenth activities in Biloxi… Call/text Charlie Schmitz… to schedule. Intel report: Could be spin off groups come to Beauvoir. Need to have all hands on deck all weekend… Can camp overnight.”
Local activists began sharing screenshots of the post and warning people that were attending racial justice events to be cautious. As critical comments poured in, Bennett deleted the post and posted two clarifications.
Bennett had gotten the information from a friend, Mike Longo. Reached for comment, Longo said he had also simply seen the post on Facebook. He then called Schmitz, whom he doesn’t know but whose phone number was included in the post, and found him “begging for help” protecting Beauvoir. Longo reshared the post to get the word out, but did not go to Beauvoir himself.
That kind of information flow is common on social media, said Colleen Sinclair, an associate professor of psychology at Mississippi State University who studies misinformation online. Sinclair said when people see information from people they trust, they aren’t likely to question its accuracy, and tend to re-share it themselves.
“It’s kind of like a really screwed-up game of telephone,” Sinclair said.
Antifa fears
Anxiety about antifa has surged nationwide in recent weeks in response to demonstrations against racism and police brutality. Earlier in June, the New York Times documented 41 cities and towns where residents circulated social media posts claiming antifa was headed their way. In each case, antifa never showed up.
On Monday, the mayor of Tupelo addressed antifa fears there, as well as other rumors, and asked people to take COVID-19 seriously.
“ANTIFA is not coming to Tupelo, Elvis statues are not being removed, you are not the target of some type of global conspiracy, it is impossible to erase history and no one has attempted to do so, covid is not a hoax, you shouldn’t believe and share posts that are obviously false or used as political propaganda, and there is nothing ‘liberal’ about any of the actions that have been taken by our administration regarding these matters,” Mayor Jason Shelton wrote on Facebook.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans appear to be acting on similar misinformation.
Sinclair said the combination of the coronavirus pandemic, mass protests and skyrocketing unemployment has contributed to a sense of chaos, making people likelier to accept information they read online.
“Whenever you’ve already got elevated levels of fear, more things to be afraid of doesn’t seem out of the norm,” she said.
But the Sons’ concern for Beauvoir’s security is not new. In 2004, someone set a fire on the home’s front porch. The damage took a month to repair.
“There is a great degree of apprehension about somebody burning that house down by the owners,” said Bertram Hayes-Davis, the great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis and a former executive director of Beauvoir. “It stems a lot from that initial one.”
Hayes-Davis resigned from his position in 2014 after about two years, citing a disagreement over the mission and purpose of the property.
“This is their place,” Hayes-Davis said, referring to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. “They look at it as that, and they own it and they can do what they want to do with it because it’s theirs.”
‘You’ve walked by here a couple of times’
While the Sons rely on donations and ticket sales for most of their expenses, the property also receives significant public funding.
It gets $100,000 annually from the state Legislature for preservation, and after Hurricane Katrina received nearly $20 million in federal and state aid. It also welcomes local school children to events each year.
To Howard Graves, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center and an expert on neo-Confederate groups, the public funding means Mississippians have a stake in what happens there.
On a recent Saturday night, the Sun Herald observed several trucks parked just inside Beauvoir’s gates. As three staffers of the media outlet walked by on the sidewalk, a man inside the gates flashed what appeared to be a short-range taser in warning and said, “You’ve walked by here a couple of times.”
According to the Harrison County Tax Assessor, the sidewalk is on land maintained with public money and intended for public use.
Graves said the idea of people carrying weapons and acting on bad information is troubling.
“They’re so anxious about something that they believe is coming,” Graves said. “There’s a good chance someone could get hurt, based on a false notion.”
Biloxi police say the only call they’ve received from Beauvoir in recent weeks came on Saturday night, when someone reported seeing a person jump the fence. The police, who were already out in force on U.S. 90 for Scrapin’ the Coast, didn’t find anyone.
Propaganda?
While members of the Sons, including Schmitz and Bryant, did not respond to requests for comment, their supporters explained why they believed the threat from antifa to be credible.
Larry Roberts, a 56-year-old from Columbia, Mississippi, whose membership application to join the Sons is pending, said he had seen the calls to defend Beauvoir online. He commented on the Facebook posts that he would be happy to join the protection effort if needed.
He said he had heard the Sons “have armed guards to defend it from protesters who would like to tear it down or deface it.”
To Roberts, it makes sense that police and the public have seen little sign of antifa on the Coast.
“They’re not just going to come out and say, ‘I am antifa,’” Roberts said. “They’re not gonna proclaim it. Their mission is to overthrow our government and make this a communist and socialist government.”
On June 19, members of the Sons joined other groups to counter a demonstration against the Confederate monument at the Harrison County courthouse. Members said they had heard protesters were planning to destroy the monument.
One counter-demonstrator, who did not want to be identified out of fear of losing employment, told the Sun Herald he heard from a friend that antifa was coming “to shoot up all the rednecks and attack the Beauvoir.” He said he is not a member of the Sons but considers himself a supporter.
He believed many of the protesters at the monument, most of whom were Black, were members of antifa. One person he suspected was D’Laun C. Ball, the founder of Protest for Peace, which coordinated two demonstrations in Gulfport in June. Ball said he found that claim “comical and funny.”
The suggestion that local organizers and antifa were threatening Beauvoir — or doing anything other than peacefully protesting — was disturbing, Ball said.
“If there is rhetoric going around that antifa is doing this, this and this, and they’re not even willing to use our real names — Mississippi Rising, Black Lives Matter, Protest for Peace — we’re just all labeled antifa, that in itself is propaganda,” he said. “That in itself is spreading, I won’t call it segregation, but I would call it ignorance for sure.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
