One of the most iconic protest photos ever captured shows a blond hipster stuffing a carnation into the muzzle of an M14 rifle during a 1967 antiwar protest in Washington.
This week, people across the nation are erupting to protest questionable immigration policies and the nation’s troubling rightist tilt toward autocracy. Americans unhappy with their government should resist violence and turn to their First Amendment constitutional protection to assemble in peace:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
More than 1,800 peaceful protests are planned across the nation Saturday, including one for 9 a.m. at Hampton Park in Charleston. They will challenge President Donald Trump and his administration’s spiral down into anti-democratic actions and policies, including a planned Soviet-style military parade in Washington that will cost millions of taxpayer dollars. This comes at a time when Trump has set the dangerous precedent of deploying Marines to Los Angeles, Calif., as part of an over-the-top federal response to protests of heavy-handed federal immigration raids.
Indivisible Charleston’s No Kings National Day of Action demonstration, like others planned in 13 South Carolina communities from Seneca to Myrtle Beach to Bluffton, will highlight how the Trump administration is trampling the U.S. Constitution, which was enacted after a bloody war to throw off a king. “They’ve defied our courts,” the No Kings website says, “deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.”
More than 700 people have registered to show up Saturday morning in Hampton Park, but more are expected. Another similar demonstration by a different group is planned for 9 a.m. Sunday in Brittlebank Park.
If you plan to attend Saturday, be prepared for a strong law enforcement presence. And be peaceful.
We urge you to take bunches of flowers to the park as a way to recall that day in October 1967 when peaceful protesters stared down a military police unit, stuffing flowers into barrels.
Where to put flowers? Near picnic tables at the park pond where speakers will address the crowd.
It is a crying shame the country is being steered by Trump and his minions away from the righteous path of democracy. Now is the summer of our discontent. Protest Saturday or Sunday, but in peace – with flowers – to illustrate your voice.
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