On Friday night, Bev Barnum said he was watching videos on social media of the protest showing people detained by federal agents.
“It didn’t take long for me to find a wide variety of videos showing obvious human rights violations,” Barnum told CNN.
Barnum said she told her husband that she wanted to help and he suggested a fundraiser.
“But I thought I needed to do more, so I asked the Portland working mothers group to protest with me, to protect the protesters from harm with our ‘mombods,'” she said.
Barnum, founder of the Wall of Moms, and 70 other mothers gathered at the protest in downtown Portland, where protesters gathered outside federal court. The women stood in front of the protest line and closed their arms to form a human shield. Sometimes they sang “Moms are here! The feds are staying away!”
Join forces
“We are just amplifying her message,” Rebecca, another mother who joined Barnum, told CNN. “Fathers have always been protesting. Black mothers have been doing this forever trying to do justice for their children.”
Rebecca, who did not want her last name printed for fear of retaliation, told CNN that she has joined the peaceful marches for five weeks. The mother of five joined forces with Barnum to help provide protection for protesters in downtown Portland.
“I was concerned that the youth were being used up by tear gas and beaten by the police,” said Rebecca. “It’s like a war zone down there.”
The group of peaceful mothers grew every night as word spread on their social media groups. By Sunday night, about 200 women joined the Moms’ Wall movement, according to Barnum.
Torn by the police
While they were preparing to keep the peace, Barnum said, they were sometimes caught in the crossfire and police gave them tear gas. On Saturday night, protesters began dismantling the fence around the court, Barnum said.
“The feds left the building, walked slowly, gathered together, and started shooting,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it happened. Traumatic doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
This did not deter the Wall of Moms from meeting again on Sunday. With 200 force, Barnum said, he felt stronger with his numbers and hoped for peace.
“We blocked the fence in hopes that the children would not tear it down and the feds stay in their building,” he said.
“We will stop when there are no protesters who need our protection,” he said. “We receive thanks anyway. But we don’t do it for thanks. We are doing it to protect human rights.”
CNN’s Hollie Silverman contributed to this report.
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