Teenage 'liberal lesbian of the family' turns in mother, aunt, uncle for Capitol rioting
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — An 18-year-old Massachusetts girl who was forbidden by her parents from going to Black Lives Matter protests because they "could get violent" -- has outed her own mother, aunt, and uncle for their alleged participation in last week's storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob incited by President Donald J. Trump.
The self-described "liberal lesbian of the family" took to Twitter to identify her family members from Capitol riot videos circulating online.
On Jan. 7, the morning after the Capitol violence, Helena Duke retweeted a video of what appears to show her mother, Therese Duke, swinging or grabbing at a Black woman, who then violently punches her in the face. In the tweet Helena Duke said:
Hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn’t go to BLM protests [because] they could get violent... this you?"
Duke also tweeted photos of her mother saying: "For those that don't believe it's my mother."
Duke then decided to out three of her family members by name; her mother, Therese Duke, her uncle Richard Lorenz, and her aunt Annie Lorenz.
Helena tweeted:
Hi this is the liberal lesbian of the family who has been kicked out multiple times for her views and for going to BLM protests to care what happens to me so:
Mom: Therese Duke
Uncle: Richard Lorenz
Aunt: Annie Lorenz"
According to an interview Helena Duke did with Teen Vogue, she found out about her mother's alleged participation in the Capitol riot after her cousin sent her a video of the altercation.
When asked why she tweeted about her family, Helena said:
Definitely it was the fact that during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, I was told by my mother that I wasn’t allowed to go because she believed BLM was a violent organizationand the fact that she ended up going to [what became a] violent storming of the Capitol, harassing a woman and getting punched in the face, but when I went to peaceful protests, nothing happened to me."
Helena is even helping raise funds for the Black woman she says her mother was harassing in the video. A GoFundMe for the woman "Ashanti" has already raised more than $178,000.
Helena claims that her beliefs have put a serious strain on the relationship she has with her family.
She created a GoFundMe for herself entitled: "Help Helena Duke pay for college," saying:
As you may know from recent Twitter and news sources I have called out my mother for her actions. At the moment I have no idea how I will be paying for college as I have little financial support. I have a dream of one day becoming a lawyer but I need help to get there. I hope to attend college and then go into the Peace Corps. Eventually I hope to enter into law school. I want to make the world a better place I just need some help."
