White supremacist rhetoric banners wave over Wayzata's Highway 12
A small group of people gathered over the weekend in Wayzata, Minn., on a pedestrian bridge over Highway 12, displaying banners and signs with white supremacist rhetoric on them.
The incident on Sept. 16 was captured and posted to the social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — by Minneapolis resident Josiah Kibira. Kibira, 21, grew up in Wayzata and was driving home when he saw the banners on the bridge.
“I’m a person that like, records everything when I see like, something is messed up. Like this needs to be put out,” Kibira told MPR News. He said the banners include language such as “Diversity means anti-white" and “White Lives Matter.”
“When I first got a glimpse of it, it was like, blood boiling, like, my heart kind of dropped,” he said.
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While Kibira said that the sight of white supremacists in Minnesota isn’t anything new, he also said he’s never seen it in Wayzata before.
“I know there are people that align with their views in Wayzata, because I went to school with their children. But I’m not going to say the whole the city of Wayzata is, you know, white supremacist,” he said.
Wayzata police responded to the scene to ensure the activities on the Highway 12 pedestrian bridge west of Broadway Avenue remained “peaceful and law-abiding,” according to a statement. The department also said it will continue to monitor for any related activities, though did not speak to the nature of the incident.
Wayzata’s mayor was unavailable for comment in time for publication. The city council has yet to respond to a request for comment
Since posting his video online, Kibira has had a number of accounts baselessly accuse him of staging the incident for the government and alleging the individuals on the bridge are paid actors.
“It’s hilarious to me,” Kibira said in response. “Especially saying that I’m a federal agent. I’m a 21-year-old college student.”