Hollywood gangster tactics demean valid protests - California first, now Puget Sound
Uncertainty seems to lurk around every corner in these strange times, and one question has gnawed at me during America’s summer of fear and loathing and discontent.
At what point do legitimate challenges to public institutions become thinly veiled attempts to intimidate public officials? When does activism cross the line from constructive to destructive, from galvanizing to terrorizing?
For some Puget Sounders it might’ve happened last month when protesters marched from the since-dismantled Capitol Hill Organized Protest Zone (aka, CHOP) to the home of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. It wasn’t just a political stunt; it delivered an implicit warning (“we know where you live,”) and exposed the private residence of a mayor and former U.S. attorney who’s faced death threats over the years.
But the real wake-up call should’ve been a few weeks earlier, when protesters vandalized the home of Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby. What started as a march up Capitol Way ended up in Selby’s neighborhood, where the black-clad group chanted “abolish the police” and someone spray painted “BLM” on her front porch and door.
For a mayor who had openly supported Black Lives Matter activists, it was stunning.
“I’m really trying to process this,” Selby told The Olympian the next day. “It’s like domestic terrorism. It’s unfair.”
That’s for sure. It also was a sign that a tactic of intimidation, popularized in California and other states, was gaining a foothold in Washington.
Carried to the extreme, it puts a new twist on that old idiom from Hollywood gangster movies: “Real nice place you’ve got here. It’d be a shame if anything happened to it.”
To be clear, taking one’s anger to the streets or to a seat of government power is a time-honored tradition.
Peaceful protest in the public square is a constitutional right for any American stirred up by a sense of government-sponsored injustice, be it nuclear submarines at Bangor, COVID-19 shutdown orders in Olympia or the deaths of Black men in police custody in Tacoma, to name a few.
It is an irrevocable gift that can’t be stolen by anyone, not even uninvited federal officers on the streets of Portland.
But what about taking one’s anger to the private doorsteps of public officials? Is that an acceptable variation on the theme?
This is where First and Fourth Amendment values collide, where the right of public assembly clashes with the right of a person to be secure in their private residence. In English common law, the latter principle is known as domus suq cuique est tutissimum refugium. Translation: “Each man’s home is his safest refuge.” (Apologies for going all Latin on you.)
When people sign up for public service, they don’t sign away all their privacy rights — though admittedly things are complicated during COVID-19, when officials are working from home.
The past two weekends, protesters have targeted Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington’s 6th Congressional District. They organized a caravan to his Gig Harbor home and rallied for progressive priorities including Medicare for All. They honked, chanted, even advanced onto Kilmer’s driveway and front porch.
Private property rights? Apparently some folks don’t think elected leaders have them. Either that or they decided to celebrate Halloween early this year, without costumes.
Kilmer wasn’t home either time, but neighbors saw it unfold.
When I contacted Kilmer’s office this week, they declined comment, except to say he’s accessible via phone calls, telephone town halls and frequent community events. They pointed to statistics on his website that show it.
Rebecca Parson, Kilmer’s Democratic challenger in the Aug. 4 primary election, said in a statement that she wasn’t “in any way” involved in the protests, adding: “I’m focused on defeating Rep. Kilmer by campaigning in the district and letting voters know the substantial differences between us.”
The Gig Harbor protest appears to be the work of the People’s Party, an organization that disavows both major political parties and dispatches car caravans and rallies to Congress members’ homes.
While the tempo of local ambushes is increasing, so far they seem fairly mild compared to what’s happening in California.
In Los Angeles, the atmosphere is charged with bullhorns, cursing, restraining orders, 7 a.m. protests and police stretched thin having to patrol the neighborhoods of city politicians.
There and elsewhere across America, a nasty practice known as “doxing” is becoming common, as activists circulate officials’ addresses, phone numbers and other personal information on the internet.
I have an uneasy feeling somebody’s going to get hurt before all this ends. Whenever people’s children, families and homes are involved, things can spiral out of control.
Public officials have a role to play in preventing that; they must redouble efforts to be responsive to constituents, not use the pandemic as an excuse to hunker down.
And members of the activist community, most of whom are peaceful and responsible, ought to send a clear message to the outliers:
Cries of legitimate protest are best broadcast in the public square. Intimidation tactics? They’re best left to Hollywood gangsters.
Reach TNT editorial page editor Matt Misterek at matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com