BLM Activist Destroyed Virginia Student’s Life With False Racism Accusations

One BLM activist at the University of Virginia proved the power of accusations against the right people in modern America.

Reason published a lengthy investigation into the actions of UVA student Zyahna Bryant, who weaponized her standing to ruin the life of another student.

Bryant, a prominent BLM activist, accused another UVA student of racism during protests in summer 2020 in Charlottesville in a Twitter post that quickly went viral.

"The woman in this truck approached protesters in #Charlottesville, and told us that we would make 'good speedbumps,'" Bryant wrote.

Except the woman, Morgan Alyse Bettinger, never spoke to the BLM protestors and repeatedly denied making threats of any kind.

Instead, she claimed she spoke to a truck driver who had stopped, blocking the road. Bettinger explained that her remarks were far from threats of violence, but expressing thanks that he’d prevented an accident.

Essentially, she told the trucker, "It's a good thing that you are here, because otherwise these people would have been speed bumps.”

She repeatedly asserted her remarks weren’t threats against the assembled BLM protestors.

Nonetheless, the university’s student organization launched an investigation. Which found that Bettinger was telling the truth about the incident. Despite those findings, they, naturally, punished Bettinger anyway.

BLM Activism Wins Over Reality

The accuser, Zy Bryant, never produced any proof that the incident occurred as described.

In fact, despite over 30 witnesses, none were able to corroborate her story, and many presented contradictory versions of events.

The truck driver also confirmed Bettinger’s story, that she had spoken to him that day.

But Bettinger’s life was ruined, regardless.

She faced threats, demands for her immediate expulsion, and was doxxed by angry online mobs. The school disciplined her, with the strongest punishment being forced into a form of expulsion.

Bryant, meanwhile, was rewarded with a Washington Post profile in 2021 and was named to Ebony's "Power 100" list, according to Reason.

This incident highlights a disturbing reality about how modern America functions.

Accusations often carry the weight of unassailable proof, depending on who makes them. Someone associated with BLM, especially after the summer of 2020, accusing a fellow student of racism, carried an enormous amount of power.

And so Bettinger, whose father was a police officer and had pro-police messages on social media, had little chance of receiving a fair examination of evidence at far left UVA.

Bryant’s status as an activist and the power and rapid mobilization of internet mobs decided Bettinger was guilty. She must be a racist “Karen,” because that’s what the internet claimed.

What actually happened was irrelevant, UVA students could now claim Bettinger would create an “unsafe” environment on campus.

As happens all too frequently, unchecked activism was rewarded, and reality lost.

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Ian Miller is a former award watching high school actor, author, and long suffering Dodgers fan. He spends most of his time golfing, traveling, reading about World War I history, and trying to get the remote back from his dog. Follow him on Twitter @ianmSC