No Kings Protest Was Peaceful, Not Holy

The Gazette published a guest column by Rodney Noel Saunders praising the “amazingly stunning world of democracy defenders,” centered on the reported 15,000 to 17,000 demonstrators at a March 28 “No Kings” protest in Colorado Springs with no violence. The column also claims 15 million to 17 million demonstrators participated at 3,300 sites across the country that day without violence, then uses that peaceful turnout to make a broader argument about ethics, morality, religion, government, and the First Amendment.

Good. Peaceful protest is protected speech, and when thousands of people march in Colorado Springs without breaking windows, torching cars, or treating police officers like piñatas, that is exactly how civilized politics is supposed to work. But let’s not confuse “nobody committed violence” with “behold, the saints have descended upon Nevada Avenue with reusable water bottles.”

The Bullet Point Brief

• The column says the March 28 “No Kings” protest in Colorado Springs reportedly drew 15,000 to 17,000 people and had no violence. Fine. Good. That is the bare-minimum entry fee for civic life, not automatic canonization.
• Saunders expands that to reportedly 15 million to 17 million demonstrators nationwide at 3,300 sites, also with no protester violence. “Reportedly” is doing some Olympic lifting here, but even taking it at face value, peaceful protest is good behavior, not proof that one faction owns America.
• The column treats the peaceful crowd as evidence of “exceptionally good ethical and moral values.” That is moral inflation. Not punching people at a protest is not the Sermon on the Mount. It is Tuesday-level decency.
• The piece moves into religion, government, the First Amendment, and warnings against mixing religion and power. Those are fair topics. But the column’s real magic trick is slapping a halo on the approved protest crowd and calling it democracy itself.
• Democracy is not a private club with a Boulder tote bag and a Colorado Springs permit. It includes people inside the chant circle, outside the chant circle, and even those unfashionable citizens who do not need a sign-making party to prove they love the Constitution.

My Bottom Line

Look, I fully support peaceful protest. Full stop. If you want to march, chant, hold signs, make your case, petition government, and go home without turning the city into a police report, God bless America. That is the First Amendment doing its job.

But the activist self-coronation routine is exhausting.

Normal Coloradans are tired of being lectured by people who attend the approved protest, pronounce themselves “democracy defenders,” and then look at everyone else like a threat to the republic. Democracy is not owned by the loudest crowd, the most flattering guest column, or whichever faction gets the best aerial photo.

Peaceful protest is good civic behavior. It is not sainthood. It is not moral supremacy. It is not proof that your side is America and everyone else is some suspicious barbarian wandering outside the rope line.

Colorado Springs can handle disagreement. What gets old is the smug branding machine that turns every protest into a virtue pageant and every critic into a danger to democracy. If your movement needs that much self-applause for not breaking things, maybe save a little room in the parade for humility.

Source: The Gazette