Susan Young found herself surrounded by a raucous mob spewing threats and profanities outside the White House, but she says that harrowing experience didn’t shake her support for President Trump.
“I actually feel more empowered than ever to support our president,” said Ms. Young, who is better known these days as “the woman in the red dress.”
Her run-in with a mob after attending the final day of the Republican National Convention became a viral video, circulated by both Trump supporters as a cautionary tale and by Black Lives Matter supporters as a protest scalp.
“I’ve seen it on TV but when it happens to you — and I do nothing to provoke anything — this is not in the name of protesting. This is like a mob, a progressive, evil-minded mob and it is very scary,” Ms. Young, a member of the D.C. GOP Council, told The Washington Times.
She remains deeply disturbed that Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden did not immediately disavow the demonstrators and issue a demand for civility for these types of attacks throughout the country.
“This is a part of the Democratic Party that is radical. It has become radical. It is an extreme element,” she said. “It is not the Democratic Party of a decade or 12 years ago.”
The mob, led by a woman in a black ski mask, accosted and pursued Ms. Young and Republican National Committeeman Chris Ager as they left the White House, where they had attended the final night of the Republican National Convention and President Trump’s speech accepting the reelection nomination.
They were accosted just blocks away from where another mob attacked Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, and his wife.
Ms. Young said that she expected Mr. Biden to a more quickly and forcefully come out against mob violence.
“I think he’s disengaged.”
Mr. Biden recently condemned political violence “across the board,” including the left-wing extremists of Antifa.
Critics note that Mr. Biden did not take a stand against the protest violence until his poll numbers sagged amid the ongoing unrest in cities such as Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
The video, shot by Black Lives Matter demonstrators surrounding Mr. Ager and Ms. Young, captured the final minutes of the mobbing as they attempt to enter the W Hotel but find the door is locked.
The female in the black ski mask repeatedly asks: “How do you feel about the killing of black individuals?”
She then screams profanity at them over and voter again as Mr. Ager and Ms. Young.
“You’re blocked now,” screams the woman when Mr. Ager and Ms. Young encounter the locked door. After they brush passed her to continue toward the safety of a hotel parking garage, the woman repeatedly shouts: “Hands on me again and I will f—- you up.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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