From the moment I got an e-mail earlier this week about a rally in East Cobb against President Trump, I dreaded Saturday.
The “No Kings” events across the country coincided with a military parade in Washington Saturday night to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, Trump’s birthday and Flag Day.
Those plans were in the works before violent protests broke out in Los Angeles over immigration raids conducted by the Trump administration.
And before California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla interrupted a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to protest the raids, and was pushed to the floor and handcuffed by Secret Service for refusing to leave.
Along the way, East Cobb News readers were complaining that our report simply informing the community about the event was “promoting” it, and somehow proved our bias.
Given the location, I was simply trying to give a traffic heads-up to motorists in an always-congested area. It’s also a news story, which should have been fairly obvious even to low-information readers.
All week this ignorant nonsense persisted. I got this cordial, erudite e-mail from a reader on Friday:
“U have proven to be a left leaning news source. Tomorrow I will be at 120 and Johnson ferry to counter the BS rally you left, want to protest ICE arresting rapists, pedofiles and illegals that are in our country illegally overwhelming our schools, hospitals and killing* our citizens, and I will have an American flag, a TRUMP FLAG and will be armed.”
When I woke up this morning, I heard the news about a Minnesota state legislator and her husband being shot to death at their home in what’s suspected as a political assassination.
Another lawmaker and his wife were also shot, and are recovering. The suspect is believed to have compiled a long list of elected officials and might have been making plans to go to “No Kings” events in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
As I write this, there is a manhunt underway for him.
The gunman’s motives aren’t clear, but the murdered legislator, a former Speaker of Minnesota House, recently voted for a bill to end free health care for illegal immigrants.
As I prepared to go to the rally here, I saw a social media post by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who’s now our Congressman, noting that Saturday also was the eighth anniversary of the shooting of the House Majority Leader at a Congressional softball practice.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise was seriously injured and had a long recovery, but his Secret Service detail shot and killed the assailant, or more casualties would have been likely. Loudermilk, who was on the scene, was not hurt.
Reading this, however, I was more than unnerved, and weary of complaints about our coverage about an event that hadn’t happened.
A couple readers yakked at me that they had gone to the Roswell-Johnson Ferry intersection Saturday morning and didn’t see any protesters.
The same cordial, erudite reader sent this to me around 1:20 p.m.:
“There is nothing, why would you do that unless you are a left leaning, democrat run site”
If he had bothered to read the story, it said the rally was on Saturday afternoon from 2-3:30 p.m. Click the links, folks, that’s why we provide them.
I fired off this post on our Facebook page before I went over there about the need to take it easy.
This is not something I do, but we’re living in overheated times fraught with ridiculous political grandstanding and performative theater designed to curry attention (and campaign donations) but not much more.
But there was a good crowd of several hundred or so people, perhaps more than I anticipated, staving off some raindrops.
Thankfully, they were doing nothing more than holding signs and asking motorists to honk their horns. Many vehicles blasted away, with some waving at the protestors.
It was all rather uneventful, and that was a blessed relief.
Whatever you think about their political positions, and however contrived you think the “No Kings” rallies may be, they symbolized what peaceful protest should be about.
(At some point those who dislike the president are going to have to do more than protest; they don’t seem to have an alternative vision to Make America Great Again. And quite a few not only don’t know the meaning of fascism, they don’t care.)
With nearly 2,000 protests planned around the country, it’s possible some of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies may have gotten out of hand. But in East Cobb, that wasn’t the case.
I talked to Cobb Police Maj. Brian Batterton, the Precinct 4 commander, who was standing near the Five Guys with several of his officers and patrol cars, and he said there hadn’t been any reported incidents.
He said a couple people stepped out into the roads, and there was a medical emergency that prompted an ambulance, but there wasn’t any sign of counterprotests (if you know otherwise, please let me know).
At one point, an organizer kindly asked me to step out of a shopping center exit, in keeping with orderly protocols set up for the event.
Free speech is the bedrock principle of what it means to be an American, and the right to dissent should be sacrosanct. In recent years, it has been coming under fire from all sides of the political divide.
That’s nothing new, as the late, great civil libertarian Nat Hentoff noted in his 1992 book “Free Speech For Me—But Not For Thee.”
Now he truly was cordial and erudite during a long and distinguished career, and is one of my journalistic heroes. He died shortly before Trump’s first inauguration, and I wonder what he would make of the times we’re in now.
He’s who I thought of when I wrote my Facebook post, and as I’m finishing this now.
But he’s almost forgotten today, in a troubling era of unhinged social media rants, cringeworthy behavior by elected officials and escalating political violence that is proving to be deadly.
Hentoff’s gentle voice and deep passion for the best values of America are in such short supply. I’m grateful we had a protest that embodied some of those qualities, and I hope they’ll be making a comeback very soon everywhere in this country.
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First of all, giving information about an event happening in East Cobb is what you do. It is reporting an event, not promoting it. Thank you for the work you do to keep us all up to date on what’s happening in our community.
That said, it was a great turnout. More than I expected, not just at the corners, but along the sidewalks down the streets. We got lots of love from many of the cars passing buy. I did see an elderly gentleman carrying a Trump flag and an American flag. I did not notice if he was armed or not. It wouldnt have mattered. He walked around the protest and was largely ignored buy those participating. Overall it was a very positive event. The only negative feedback was from people in a few cars showing off their middle finger.
I don’t know why someone would dread a day when people are coming out to express themselves and their patriotisim. There was not threat of violence coming from the protesters or the organizers. Quite the opposite, the messages before the event were clear that any violence would not be tolerated. Also, the crowd was not the violent type. These were east cobbers, many of whom were older than me (and I’m an old guy myself) who probably had never before felt the need to raise their voice about what they see going on in our country and specifically with the current administration.
Saturday we saw good people expressing themselves, advocating for themselves and others, and expressing their concerns. That is what makes America great, here in East Cobb and across the country.
I was one of the protesters out there exercising my right to free speech. I was there to represent my kids. Overall everyone was very respectful with lots of positive honking. I did have an angry 80 year old lady give me the bird for an entire light cycle though. Stay classy!
There is so much said that is not true but political conversations in this newspaper will change no one’s mind and are inherently pointless.
1. I was glad to see that the protestors on Saturday were not wearing masks. There is an integrity to protesting without hiding behind a mask.
2. We have the rights of freedom of assembly, speech and association, not protest per se. I didn’t go on Saturday but the accounts only show people exercising their three constitutional rights I just mentioned.
3. I don’t see a point in counter protests except to provoke or to intimidate. I am glad that the people on the side of the road in East Cobb were not met with counter protests.
4. In the US, citizens get to say their piece, unhindered and regulated only to the degree needed to protect the free exercise of other’s rights. It seems that happened on Saturday afternoon.
“ The act of a peaceful protest is extremely American and needs to be respected AND protected.”
I’m sorry, but the Left lost the right to sing the praises of “peaceful protests” after January 6th, when even those who did not engage in violence that day still got locked up for 2-3 years before their court date and then got sent to prison for 5-10+ years. But I guess a protest should only be praised when you agree with the message.
Amen.
Donald Trump pardoned those who were engaged in violent behavior and attacked police.
Wendy, the old adage of You can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time, applies here. As one of your loyal readers, I appreciate your journalistic talent as always presenting the news in an unbiased fashion. I didn’t interpret your first story as one sided, only informative. You are correct, everyone who claim to support the Constitution should realize that we all have the right to PEACEFULLY protest and when that occurs, like the subject matter or not, true Democracy prevails.
Peaceful assembly is as American as apple pie. Heck it says so, right there in the First Amendment.
Fascism isn’t!
Well now I know why you didn’t want my ‘volunteer’ help when I offered it a few years back. Peek on my social media did you?
Anyone that states they are attending a peaceful protest as “armed” is pre-meditating violence. I hope you reported the identity to police.
Make their hate known to authorities, to be on a watch list.
Local news often includes local events. That doesn’t make the publisher leaning in any direction at all, any more than announcing school graduation dates and times or a new restaurant opening.
Keep up the work.
Some of your readers know how to act like responsible people and see the good in hearing from different viewpoints as we make our individual choices. It is a bit sad that people of varying political views don’t still sit at their local pub, have a few drinks, as they listen and speak about the issues of the day, in a casual, respectful manner. I miss those days.
Whether I agree or disagree with any protest or govt action, doesn’t matter. The act of a peaceful protest is extremely American and needs to be respected AND protected.
Thanks for covering the event. Not sure when you stopped by, but our official headcount was 1,800 a nice increase over the 1,200 people who registered.
It was a great event. Thank you.
Those who use violence expect others to do the same.
Kudos to the nice citizens who…as you noted…protested peacefully.
The name calling, hateful, spiteful, protests come from the MAGA crowd…who are led by a hateful, spiteful wanna-be king.
We saw the few Trump people walking around. Know what we did? We ignored them. We didn’t laugh, or yell, or call them names. We weren’t there for that.
We were there to say no kings, no dictators, no non-Constitutional leaders for us.
I’m more surprised that you were surprised there wasn’t any “incidents”.
Funniest thing I’ve read all week: “The name calling, hateful, spiteful, protests come from the MAGA crowd…who are led by a hateful, spiteful wanna-be king.”
In case you don’t get it, you’re being hateful and spiteful while literally calling president Trump names. Hypocritical, no?
Ironically, you say “We were there to say no kings, no dictators, no non-Constitutional leaders for us.”
Do you realize that Kamala Harris literally received zero votes during the Democratic primary? She was forced upon you by unelected, shadowy, puppet-masters after they forcefully removed Biden (the guy you actually voted for during the primaries). These same unelected people were also using the autopen to sign orders and run this country into the ground during the previous four years.
On the other hand, Trump received 77 million votes – more than any other president in history. And he is doing exactly what he said he would do during his campaign.
No matter how much you disagree with president Trump, he said he was going to do things, 77 million people elected him, and now he’s doing those things. That is not how kings, dictators, and non-constitutional leaders work.
He’s not wrong.
Trump is a hateful, spiteful, wanna-be king.
He’s also a convicted tax cheat and sex offender.
If you had paid attention in high school civics class, you might know that
1. Habeas Corpus is defined by Amendment 5 and has been trampled by this administration. Deportation without due process is illegal.
2. The “Posse Comitatus” act basically says that the armed forces cannot be brought against the civil population except in extreme circumstances. The use of the USMC against civilians in California is illegal.
3. The “federalization” of California National Guard troops without the consent of the governor of California is also illegal under title 10.
Trump’s disregard for the law is exactly how non-constitutional leaders work. It’s called authoritarianism, and I’m sure that many people who voted for him are having buyer’s remorse.
Yes, the use of federal troops to conduct law enforcement against civilians would be illegal.
Do you have any examples of Marines conducting law enforcement against civilians? Not even one?
In reality, the USMC is protecting federal property, like they do every day across the country, which they have the legal authority to do. They’re not out there policing the LA streets, doing traffic stops, searches, etc. against civilians.
Regarding activating the CA National Guard – the courts have ruled that Trump can activate the CANG (it was actually the far left, activist 9th circuit – imagine that!).
But for arguments sake, let’s just say he did illegally activate the National Guard to protect citizens and property in California…
Are you on the side of the “law breaker” that is trying to protect you with the National Guard, or are you on the side of the “law breakers” that are setting cars on fire, destroying property, blocking roads, and causing chaos across the city?
Your statement, “On the other hand, Trump received 77 million votes – more than any other president in history.” When you crawl from under that rock, I think you will acknowledge that Biden received 81.2 million votes in 2020. That’s considerable more than 77 million. Also, Kamala Harris received zero votes in the Democratic Primary because she was not a candidate, so she was not on the Primary Ballot.
Those don’t count – I was referring to real votes cast by citizens, not the rigged votes manufactured for Biden through the COVID-19 hysteria loopholes that were injected into our voting system during the 2020 election 🙂
Serious question: Biden could barely get more than 10 people to show up to one of his rallies, and you think 81 million people voted for him?
LMAO! So you only believe the votes count if trump won? I now understand how you have given control of your mind to your king. As he said, “Just remember, What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” In other words, he told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. And I see that you are following that to a T.
The craziest thing is that conservatives think they’re in on it. Like the rest of us see a guy who has no compass, no conservative principles, or any for that matter- constantly flip flopping and making them look more and more ridiculous as they try to sew all of his random shit together into a cohesive system of beliefs. They act like it’s a big scheme and they’re in on it- he’s secretly a genius and they’re all doing this to “own the libs”. When in reality they’ve sold any legitimacy they had, morality, talking points and the rest of the country and world is laughing at them. I wonder when they see him flopping for the 15th time if there is even an internal voice that asks them “am I looking silly by continuing to rationalize this?”-