At a Black Lives Matter protest in last month, a major downtown Los Angeles highway was shut down by the group, but that wasn’t the media’s focus.

Instead, the attention was on a photograph that was captured of two Latina women who were alleged standing in formation with members of the Fruit Of Islam. The women, who were dressed in paramilitary style uniforms, are reportedly members of East LA’s arm of the Brown Berets, a group, which in their program asserts “is in solidarity with all oppressed people of color who struggle for a better tomorrow.”

The caption of the original photograph reads “In solidarity with BLM Los Angeles Womyn of the East Los Angeles Brown Berets standing in formation with the Nation Of Islam.”


The Brown Berets’ national leadership says their movement supports Black Lives Matters.

“We are fully supportive of the Black Lives Matter Movement. It is extremely important that the world understands that we are in a fight for human dignity and basic human rights,” said Commander Chimalli Cuetlachtli, the outgoing National Commander of the National Brown Berets.

The photo has been shared on Facebook more than 6,000 times since in three weeks. But its reach has been far greater across different social media platforms.