When she attended a counter-demonstration at a far-right rally, Lucie Myslíková thought there would be a little bit of publicity from the local press.
Now a photograph of the 16-year-old Scout squaring up to a neo-Nazi has been seen by people all over the world.
Lucie’s viral moment came after she attended the May Day rally in Brno, Czech Republic, with fellow Scouts. Counter-protesters aimed to disrupt the rally with peaceful protest and colourful banners.
She said: “The organisers [of the counter-protest] invited participants to invent their own way of celebrating the first of May and at the same time to show that the nationalism is not an alternative. The thing I liked most was the fact there was a lot of people with different opinions, but we all shared the idea of fighting against the hate.”
It made sense to Lucie and her friends in the Czech Scouts to attend in their uniforms. “It’s consistent with Scout ideology and history to fight against neo-Nazism,” she said.
The moment captured in the photo came when one man attending the demonstration, who Lucie said she did not know personally, began arguing with her and her friends.
“At first they began to talk with my friend about the concept of the nation itself. The man seemed to be really angry, but he didn’t do anything to us,” she said.
“We started arguing about migration and refugees. He ended up warning me the refugees will rape me. I told him, I’m not afraid of refugees, because a white or a Czech guy could do the same, it’s not a question of race or nation.”
She added: “He was telling me he is afraid for his daughter. I think fear and xenophobia can be the reason of his opinions. There is a lot of misinformation in the world and it brings a lot of uncertainty and fear. That’s the reason I don’t judge anyone.”
Vladimir Cicmanec, who took the photo, told CNN: “She was standing tall and she’s 16 years old and she stood proud and made some profound arguments.”
The image was shared widely after it was featured on the World Organisation of the Scout Movement’s Facebook page. From there, it was posted to Reddit and then migrated to Twitter. One tweet was retweeted more than 5,000 times.
Lamhfada (@Lamhfada)
This picture of Girl Scout protesting a Nazi in Czech is just pure art. pic.twitter.com/nRwahwjOFG
May 2, 2017
It was not until media organisations began contacting Lucie that she realised the image was spreading across the world. As with any viral fame, it came with its pitfalls. “It has [come] with things I have never experienced before, which are not so pleasant,” she said.
“It’s lot of pressure from media, my phone is ringing all the time, my mailbox is overflowing, and some people are looking for anything I did wrong.”
But at the same time, she is pleased she could highlight something she cares about. “This huge worldwide interest can bring attention to an important issue: the threat of neo-Nazism,” she said.
Her unexpected political viral fame has not attracted her to politics – currently studying video and animation, she hopes to get into performance or directing.
“I’m satisfied with being ‘just’ an activist,” she said. “It’s not so formal as politics, because when I’m an activist I can be creative and find my own way how to change things or show my opinions.
“I will continue fighting against hate for sure.”
Translation provided by Iveta Zieglova.
