A conservative friend told me she’s upset about violence at the protest. She heard someone brought their dog to the protest and its rib was broken by a protester’s kick, and she described seeing violence on the news. This dismayed me, because I’ve never seen anything remotely like that happen at the protest.
I hear Fox News has portrayed us as a hoard of rioters, which we aren’t. I’ve seen many protesters shake hands with police who are there. We are teachers, nurses, ecologists, firefighters, tradespeople, students, and—it should be pointed out—taxpayers. We feel strongly about the issues, but the protest is overwhelmingly peaceful, as this beautiful video shows:
(If the video doesn’t play in your browser, you can check it out here.)
The Tea Party organized a counter rally on Saturday, recruiting Tea Partiers from around the state to support Governor Walker and the bill. Word spread rapidly on Facebook and email among protesters that this would be our chance to make a national statement of our own peacefulness and refute the misinformation being spread about us.
Here’s one message I saw circulating:
Wisconsin: Home of the nicest people and the kindest protesters in the world!
We will be kind as long as we protest. And we will protest as long as it takes for Gov. Walker to come to his senses. This event isn’t about faking niceness at our adversaries, or misrepresenting ourselves as more kind than we actually are. Instead, it’s a place for us to affirm our Wisconsin niceness, and confirm that kindness can kill the bill. So we will keep being nice – to people on our side, to people on other sides, and to people with no sides. Please continue to post stories of protester kindness on the wall below, and develop new ways to positively engage others as we protest. Let’s show the world that we’re not rioters; we’re just friendly Wisconsinites. Continue to invite every nice person you know.
Ron and I did just that. We were working Saturday, to make up for some lost hours we’d spent at the protest, but we spent two more hours at the Capitol midday. We made a point of shaking the hands of as many Tea Partiers as possible—probably around 20. We got into lots of conversations, all of them friendly or at least civil.
It was interesting and sometimes thought-provoking to hear what the Tea Partiers had to say. To me, they came across as just as intelligent and well-intentioned as the anti-Budget Repair Bill protesters. I sincerely admired their bravery for coming. I’ll write more about our conversations with them in a future post.
Although Saturday’s protest was overwhelmingly peaceful, not everyone was friendly. We had encounters with people from both sides who seemed only interested in winning shouting matches, not in being respectful. We saw one liberal fifty-something man instigate a shouting match with some very articulate young conservative students. (We joined about five other liberals in jumping in and helping dissipate the tension.)
Additionally, a conservative friend points out that it’s easy for me to say the protest felt “peaceful” and “friendly” since I was with the majority. He pointed me to this video (below, or here) showing nasty, even occasionally violent rhetoric coming from the liberal protesters, albeit a very small percent.
Nevertheless, it is a very small percent.
Even the Madison police appeared to be working to dispel myths about Saturday’s protest. Here’s a statement they posted on their website that evening:
For Immediate Release: Feb 19, 2011
SATURDAY’S CAPITOL SQUARE DEMONSTRATIONS
Law Enforcement Praises Protesters’ Conduct
On behalf of all the law enforcement agencies that helped keep the peace on the Capitol Square Saturday, a very sincere thank you to all of those who showed up to exercise their First Amendment rights. You conducted yourselves with great decorum and civility, and if the eyes of the nation were upon Wisconsin, then you have shown how democracy can flourish even amongst those who passionately disagree. As of 5:00 p.m., no major incidents had been reported. There have been no arrests. However, discourse and discussion was at times – loud and heated. That was to be expected. As previously indicated, the goal of law enforcement has been to provide a safe environment for democracy to take place. That goal has been realized for yet another day.
