This is the lead paragraph from a Sept. 27 Associated Press story regarding the police in Portland, Ore., shutting down a recent protest: “Law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly late Saturday, forcing protesters from downtown Portland, Oregon, and making several arrests, just hours after demonstrations earlier in the day ended without many reports of violence” (emphasis mine).

If the police shut down a protest after earlier protests ended without any violence, then I would say that the police action was heavy-handed and unneeded.

But “many”? How many “fews” in a many? Is a “many” more or less than a “some”?

Here’s a question: Why do many in the media today appear to want to provoke unrest rather than report unrest?

Andrew N. Mewbourn

Hempfield

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