Preparations for Candlelight Vigil in Maspeth, Queens
How violent protest threatens free expression
By Charles Vavruska
This past Friday night I was putting up fliers in Maspeth, Queens for a candlelight vigil at our local police precinct in observance of National Police Week. I went into a pizzeria that was always willing to hang up fliers or make donations to schools events I have run in the past. I was a little taken aback when the owner hesitated about putting it in his window. He explained he was worried someone may break his window and it costs about one thousand dollars to replace. He agreed to place the flier in the window but said he was only doing it as a favor to me. Leaving the pizzeria I was struck with thoughts of how rioting and vandalism on the part of anti-police protests have affected the freedom of speech of those who support the police. When our leaders give a wink and a nod by not immediately and forcefully condemning these violent protest, as both President Obama and Mayor de Blasio have failed to do, they are not only put at risk the safety and property of those in the vicinity of the protests but abetting in suppressing free expression for us all. The media who claim to vigorously defend free expression are complicit in this by giving wall to wall and sympathetic coverage to violent protest while ignoring peaceful protest that does not fit their agenda.
Welcome to National Police Week. It is the annual week commemorating police officers who have given their lives in the line of duty throughout our nation. Yesterday, Mother’s Day was the beginning of National Police Week and it lasts until May 16th. But National Police Week needs to be every day of the year.
