What a picture. What a statement.
It is the photograph that has captured a hopeful, valiant, precise moment in a divided Britain — a powerfully built Black Lives Matter protester, a personal trainer and a grandfather, hoisting an injured far-right demonstrator onto his shoulder to rescue him from a violent scrum near Waterloo Bridge.
From Saturday’s melee in central London emerged Patrick Hutchinson, a black Briton, hailed as savior, carrying a white man, with shaved head and cut-off jeans, onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift.
The British tabloids, even the right-wing ones, called Hutchinson a “hero,” and accolades from politicians and ordinary folk poured forth on social media. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said, “Patrick Hutchinson’s instincts in that moment represent the best of us.”
On his Instagram account, Hutchinson wrote, “We saved a life today.”
It’s a beautiful thing. This man makes every one of those sniveling white supremacists look like the small men they are. And I’m not talking about their physical countenance. I’m talking about their characters.
He’s a hero because he respects human life — even the lives of those who have no respect for his.
Update:
Ain’t it the truth … damn.