Reason magazine recently reported that Black Lives Matter activist Zyahna Bryant ruined the reputation of a fellow University of Virginia student, Morgan Bettinger, with claims of racism.

This incident occurred in July 2020, during the George Floyd riots.  UVA student Zyahna Bryant, then 19, was a high-profile activist and was a prominent member of the "protests."

Bettinger was driving home from work when she saw a dump truck blocking the road ahead such that she had no room to turn around.  When she stepped out, the dump truck driver informed her that he was protecting the demonstrators.

"It's a good thing that you are here, because otherwise, these people would have been speed bumps" replied Bettinger.  Bettinger said, her "speed bumps" remark emanated from gratitude to the driver for guarding the demonstrators.  The truck driver corroborated Bettinger's remark to local law enforcement.

But Zyahna Bryant, perhaps purposefully, misinterpreted Bettinger's comments.  Bryant claimed that Bettinger threatened demonstrators calling them "good f------ speed bumps."  Bryant posted the following tweet:

The woman in this truck approached protesters in #Charlottesville, and told us that we would make 'good speed bumps'

She then called the police and started crying saying we were attacking her.

The post was retweeted more than 1,000 times.

Bryant also posted videos — not of the alleged "speed bump" remark, but of its aftermath, where Bettinger returns to her car while Bryant and other "protesters" follow and begin taunting her and attacking her car.

The story was reported by local media and spread like wildfire.

Bettinger was identified online and was barraged with vicious insults from fellow UVA students; she was called a Nazi and a White supremacist.

Emboldened by the impact of her post, Bryant began a campaign to send mass complaints to school administrators demanding Bettinger's expulsion.  She tweeted the following:

EMAIL these UVA deans now to demand that Morgan face consequences for her actions and that UVA stop graduating racists

Bryant also filed a complaint with the University Judiciary Committee, a student-run disciplinary system, alleging that Bettinger had threatened students' health and safety.  A student disciplinary hearing concluded that Bettinger was guilty of making a legal threat against the protesters. 

It is important to state that Bryant's accusation against Bettinger remained uncorroborated, despite the fact that there were over 30 people around.

Yet Bettinger was the subject of numerous investigations in the subsequent months.

Bryant also complained to the school's Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR), claiming that Bettinger had used racial slurs five times and had treated Bryant unfairly. 

The EOCR could not substantiate three of the five charges. 

Bryant later acknowledged that she might have misheard Bettinger's "speed bumps" assertion.

So who is Zyahna Bryant?

Bryant received national attention after writing a 2016 petition demanding that Charlottesville take down its statue of Robert E. Lee.

By the summer of 2020, she was on Teen Vogue’s "21 under 21" list.

Zyahna Bryant, 22, claimed in 2020 she heard fellow University of Virginia student Morgan Bettinger threaten protesters by saying they'd 'make good speed bumps,' finally admitted to ‘exaggerating’. AKA, lying! https://t.co/hQpHT38sc2 pic.twitter.com/Sx6O541736

— Tickle (@TickleTexts) April 29, 2023

She even shared a platform alongside Bernie Sanders and was profiled by various liberal mouthpieces such as the New Yorker and the New York Times.

The UVA incident and Bryant's accusations against Bettinger bolstered Bryant's profile.  She was the subject of a glowing Washington Post profile in 2021 and was named to Ebony magazine's "Power 100" list.  She was also featured in a Juneteenth-themed post on Instagram's official page.

What about Morgan Bettinger?

Bettinger is a first-generation college student; her father was a police officer who died of cancer six years before the incident. 

Bettinger told Reason magazine that she "was completely consumed" by the ordeal.  She said her phone did not stop "blowing up," perhaps due to calls and social media alerts.  She said it ruined her peace and affected her sleep for a long time.  She also said the stress of the experience cause her to fall sick and constantly vomit.

Bettinger eventually graduated from UVA, but her reputation has been permanently sullied.

With such a severe mark on her disciplinary record, her academic and professional prospects have been reduced.  She still lives and works in the Charlottesville area, but she lives in fear of being stalked and harassed.

"This whole situation has had a huge impact on my life," Bettinger says.  "The university has never had to answer for what their actions have done."

She said she is planning a lawsuit against the school, Reason reported.

To sum it up: Bryant will thrive, while Bettinger will struggle, perhaps all her life.

So what do we make of all this?

BLM is following a business model where victimhood is the product, while outrage is the marketing strategy.  This was pioneered by veteran race-hustler Al Sharpton.

During his heyday, Sharpton made appearances following an incident where there were racial implications to make inflammatory speeches.  Once they poured gas on the fire, he just flew out of the place and used it to raise funds for "charity."

Sharpton seems to have mostly used his charity to enrich himself and his family.  Sharpton was also a tax-dodger; in 2016, he personally owed over $3 million in federal taxes. 

BLM and its protégées such as Bryant have taken the business model to a different level.

They used George Floyd's death to create a climate of fear.  They implicitly urged celebrities, corporate houses, and politicians to donate.  These donations were actually protection money and a guarantee to be regarded as among the good ones.

Their con was lucrative.

In February 2021, BLM published an "impact report," which states that it closed out 2020 with $60 million in its bank accounts.  The outfit failed to file taxes for 2020.  Floyd's family is unlikely to have received even a penny of those funds.

In April 2021, the N.Y. Post reported that BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, then its executive director, had spent $3.2 million on various real estate purchases across the U.S.

New York Magazine reported that in October 2020, BLM bought a 6,500-square-foot Southern California mansion worth $6 million using donation funds.  BLM principals were also filmed dining in luxury and sipping champagne at the luxury home.

BLM "activist" Bryant probably realized that she may not receive prominence because everyone was protesting against Floyd's death.  Hence, she shifted from protesting against Floyd's death to fabricating claims about Bettinger so she could claim personal victimhood.

It didn't matter to her that her scurrilous and spurious allegations will ruin Bettinger's life; her goal was publicity, power, and lucrative opportunities to make easy money.

BLM "activists" care for only one cause, and it isn't the upliftment or welfare of African-Americans.  It is the upliftment and welfare of themselves. 

But unlike in the case of frauds such as Elizabeth Holmes, their product isn't tangible.  Holmes's product was tested and found to be a fraud.  This will never happen with BLM because it doesn't make any concrete promises that can be measured.  The activists just use a climate of fear and hysteria and raise funds and disappear 'til the next outrage.

The result of the likes of BLM is despondency, divisiveness, and cynicism spread in society, especially among African-Americans.

Perhaps some of these disillusioned youths could have been the next great inventors, writers, teachers, and leaders, but now their lives are wasted.

This truly is tragic.

Photo credit: Twitter.