Police are investigating a burning cross found at a teenage Black Lives Matter protestor's home in Virginia.
Marion police said on Monday that an "intense fire" was seen on Sunday coming from a barrel in front of a Marion home. However, when officers responded to put out the blaze, they found wood that "appeared to be in the shape of a cross."
According to the Bristol Herald Courier reports, the cross was found outside the home of 17-year-old Travon Brown, who had helped organize a Black Lives Matter protest.
Brown's mother, Bridgette Thomas, said she thought her home was on fire at first.
This was the locals' reaction to the cross-burning incident:"It was so scary, my daughter was in there," Thomas said of her 16-year-old.
According to Thomas, the cross was made from two large sticks.
"It was scary, though, and then to find out it was a cross," she told the newspaper. "It made me feel some type of way because it was so close to my house. My house could have caught on fire."
Police Chief John Clair said that Marion police are now coordinating with federal authorities and the Smyth County Sheriff's Office to conduct a "full and thorough" investigation into the incident.
"The town of Marion Police Department is absolutely committed to ensuring that people of color in our community are safe," Clair said in a statement.
Brown told WJHL that he believes the cross was set alight in his yard in an attempt to scare him.
"It didn't work," Brown said. "The scaring tactic didn't work. It only made me stronger."
Brown had attended and helped organize a Black Lives Matter protest in Johnson City, Tennessee, prior to discovering the burning cross outside his home.
This comes as unrest continues to unfold across the US, as protests - some peaceful, some violent - are calling out the systemic injustices carried out against black people, not least seen by the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.
As well as a call for justice, these ongoing protests are also demanding an end to police brutality and the racism that is so deeply entrenched in America and the western world.
The message is simple: Black lives matter.
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