Left-wing activist Derek Summers was arrested last Friday and charged with a class five felony for “making threat of arson” against the historic Oatlands property, which is located in Leesburg, Virginia, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
In a statement he gave to The Daily Wire, Summers stated his reason for threatening the historic property in a Facebook post was fueled by his rage at seeing people visiting the site and enjoying themselves, when its original owners participated in owning slaves.
“I actually like to go there to connect with my roots and see I don’t know, kind of bear witnesses,” Summers said. “If the place is going to be there, if they’re going to make it historical, then that’s what it’s there for. I don’t think it should be for people to sit and have a good time. There were people there enjoying themselves and that bothered me.”
The Oatlands Plantation, a National Trust Historic Site, sits a few moments from the historical portion of Leesburg. The property has been open to the public since the Eustis family donated it in 1965. They offer garden walks, home tours, and educational materials.
The site also provides wonderful resources for those desiring to reclaim the stories of the slaves who once worked at the location through a database, as well as continual storytelling and historically accurate documents and photos.
Summers has denied that he made any threats and said his reference in the video to “burning it down” was not to be taken literally. However, Summers is no stranger to making threatening remarks and associating with those who do the same: he maintains close ties to Democratic politicians in the northern Virginia suburbs and was a member of the leftist Loudoun Love Warriors activist group which was recently investigated by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for continual threats against conservative citizens who spoke out at school board meetings.
The Loudoun Love Warriors group on Facebook was known for using incendiary rhetoric, including encouraging physical action such as “curbstomping” adults in the county with whom they disagree politically. Summers was active in that leftist online community and also maintains close relationships to Loudoun County prosecutor Buta Biberaj and county board of supervisors chair Phyllis Randall, who once extended him an invitation to the White House.
In secret communications with a staffer for Biberaj in May, it was uncovered that Summers quipped “someone gonna get hurt on their side and I hope I get to do it” and “I’m sooo ready to show up with guns lol” when referencing his political counterparts.
Rather than prosecute criminals in accordance to the law, Biberaj continually advocates for the progressive community that employs threatening rhetoric. At the beginning of June, Biberaj instructed Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman to investigate a group called Accuracy in Media, which stands in opposition to Loudoun Love Warriors. She has not yet indicated whether she will be prosecuting Summers for his violent threat but for his part, Summers is already touting his lawyer’s ability to keep the law away from him: “I spent about 3.5 hours in custody yesterday, I’m out on PR bond right now. My lawyer’s about to go 3-0 this year.”
The comment, made in a Facebook video, is in reference to two other encounters he has recently had with law enforcement this year, once for making a threatening racial slur toward a woman and another for instigating a fight.
What is known, however, is that Summers has a track record of associating with individuals who think that threatening language and tactics are completely acceptable, and that suffering the consequences of said actions is not at all guaranteed or necessary. It’s no wonder that leftist groups back powerful politicians who share their same dangerous ideology: it’s almost a guarantee they won’t have to pay the price for their actions.
