Make Sure Your Protest Doesn’t Offend Anybody
“It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else and then I come home to find it right here at my front door.”
That quote is from Vito Congine Jr of Wisconsin, an ex-Marine who served in Iraq. To protest the Crivitz Village Board’s refusal to grant a liquor license for the Italian supper club he has already invested $200,000 in, buying and renovating a building, Congine had been flying the flag upside down since some time in mid-June. This is an accepted way to signal distress, but apparently some of the local “patriots” don’t know that and became upset.
Ahead of the village’s Fourth of July parade, four police officers, with the approval of the Marinette County District Attorney and Sheriff, came onto Congine’s property and stole the flag. There justification for this was “It is illegal to cause a disruption.” But trespass and theft are legal if done by police officers?
Village President John Deschane said, “If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it.” You mean, one that doesn’t get any attention? One that doesn’t get anyone asking any questions about what the protest is about?
The upside down flag itself was not a disruption. Any disruption would have been caused by someone who got upset by it. Anyone who thinks that protesting against a particular government decision is unpatriotic should, first, get a history lesson on how this country was founded, and second, pack up and move to Iran or China. You’ll like how they deal with protestors.
