Peaceful protesters serve political purpose
Political speech isn’t always pretty, as six Lancaster men proved. But neither is it illegal. The men in July stripped down to thong underwear and formed a human pyramid to protest the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal along the motorcade route set up for a visit by President Bush. Like many anti-Bush protesters before them, the Smoketown Six, as they call themselves, were arrested for disorderly conduct.
Last week the Lancaster County district attorney’s office came to its senses and dropped the complaints. In order to prove the charges, prosecutors would need to show that the men’s actions served no legitimate purpose. Which would be impossible to do, given the whole point of the exercise was to serve the purpose of peaceful protest.
Unfortunately, arrests have been far too common of protesters meaning no harm to the president other than to voice opposition to the administration’s policies. Beware when the power of government clamps down on the political speech of the little guy from Smoketown, Pa. Rarely is political speech pleasing to the opposition’s ear. It is often offensive. But criminal? Hardly.