WASHINGTON — Once again, with his encouragement, President Donald Trump’s far-right and Proud Boy supporters have come to our city, bringing with them the same promises of violence we saw the last two times they were here.
We’ve already seen assaults on our police officers and arrests on gun-related charges, and this is before the rally scheduled for Wednesday at the Ellipse, where the president plans to address them, amping them up with his nonsensical talk about stolen elections before they march on the Capitol.
There is no telling how long we can expect this nonsense to last. I say nonsense purposefully because that’s what it is. Not one of today’s actions, neither a conniption fit of a speech, nor a rally of disgruntled “patriots” with destructive tendencies will change anything. What we are seeing play out is a violent temper tantrum from groups of people who think they can hold back progress.
Some of our streets and hotels have closed. Businesses forced to shutter up. The National Guard has been activated, and Mayor Muriel Bowser has asked that counter-protestors not engage with them, and I agree. If you do decide to counter-protest, be careful, and mindful. Remember what happened after dark the last time.
The attacks on our community, our people and churches. Nothing and no one would seem to be off limits or out of bounds. We should expect the same Wednesday night, and probably the next few nights, and I would hope that our mayor and police have planned accordingly and will be there to defend and protect our people, city, and themselves. Actions that some would say have been sorely lacking in the past.
To many, Washington is an idea, a symbol. But this is also our home, and we deserve no less.