The many messages found in 'No Kings' protest

The recent No Kings protest in Sandpoint demonstrated not only the passion that local residents have for our country, but also how social media can distort reality. I know of at least two people who didn’t attend the protest because they were afraid of gun-toting counter-protestors. This fear was amplified by chatter on social media from those who apparently feared that the protests would be riots and urged defensive action. A small contingent of “militia” members — or at least individuals who dressed the part and carried weapons — attended the protest. (They were not legally militia because Idaho’s governor didn’t mobilize them.) They found themselves surrounded by unarmed local citizens, mostly older, carrying signs, flags and a commitment to our nation’s ideals — ideals we all likely share.

No militia was needed at the protest — nor any other protest that day. Police handily addressed the one or two unlawful incidents — coal-rolling by counter protesters, for one. I hope no one fears local protests in the future and we all feel free to express our First Amendment rights; that our police continue to defend the American tradition of peaceful dissent; and that those who felt compelled to pick up arms to rescue our community, will lay down their arms, and join their fellow citizens in either civil conversation or in rescuing our crumbling democratic republic.

SUSAN DRUMHELLER

Sagle