LETTER: Protests an important part of American history
I reached the age of legal adulthood in the 1960s on the West Coast. I witnessed protest after protest, which often included building occupation. The purpose was to make the administration listen to the issues of those protesting. Sometimes the message got through, but usually the response was to “shoot the messenger” by arresting and prosecuting the protesters for trespassing. This occurred regularly until they literally shot and killed the messengers at Kent State.
If more people had paid attention to the issues Colin Kaepernick protested against — instead of castigating him for the way he protested — George Floyd might be alive today.
Now we have those who, on Jan. 6, took their protest into the Capitol. They are being witch-hunted by Nancy Pelosi and her congressional cohorts. Once again, they are attempting to prosecute the protesters instead of looking at the issues they brought to the Capitol.
The arrogance of “what we are doing can’t be wrong, because we are right” is the standard response of those in office.