Letter to the editor: Protests should never inflict harm

To Bruce Braden (“Jefferson wouldn’t have approved of Jan. 6,” Aug. 9, TribLIVE) and Ed Collins (“Jefferson may have OK’d Jan. 6 insurrection,” July 31, TribLIVE): Your letters were interesting reads. You both took the words of Thomas Jefferson and created an argument suited to your point.

However, I believe one major part of the argument is being overlooked: The state of the nation in which our founders had to endure is significantly different than the state we have today. The colonists’ rights were limited (for many, they did not exist). They could not speak, write, conduct business or trade. They were taxed on goods and services that they did not agree upon. Their leader was roughly 1,000 miles away and did not work with them directly.

In our nation today, we are able to express our views, speak with our elected leaders without the fear of imprisonment and help enact change to have move our nation forward. Is the system perfect? No. Do Americans have the right to protest policies and ideas that they do not agree with? Absolutely. But the protest should never inflict harm on others, nor should the safety of others be infringed upon to help further an agenda.

As George Washington said, “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”

Ashton Caldwell

Cheswick