Editorial: People must be free to speak up safely

On Saturday, Americans exercised their right to gather and their right to speak up.

Across the country, No Kings protests blossomed, timed to coincide with the Washington military parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Donald Trump’s birthday. Organizers put the number of protests at more than 2,000. The total number of participants was in the millions.

These were not like the protests happening in Los Angeles, across the country and amid immigration crackdowns in an area heavily targeted for its undocumented population. They spanned a range of reasons people are unhappy with the Trump administration and the government in general.

And they did not just happen in Democrat-heavy blue states. In swing-state Pennsylvania, which went for Trump in November by a 1.7% margin, there were more than a dozen protests in areas as densely urban as Philadelphia and as rural as Ridgway. In the southwestern region alone, there were events in Downtown Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Mt. Lebanon, Cranberry, Indiana, Punxsutawney, Beaver County and Washington County.

They were not the first protests in the area. There have been others, like the April gathering in front of the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Two months later, however, the numbers have grown.

Is this a commentary on right and wrong? Does it go to deficiencies on one side of the political spectrum or advances on the other? Maybe. Maybe not.

What it does address is an increasing willingness for people to take a stand on the web of complex issues facing the country right now.

What is important is that everyone who speaks up be able to do so safely.

Another major event took place Saturday. In Minnesota, the former state speaker of the House, Rep. Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home. State Rep. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, also were gunned down at their home but were stable after surgery.

Both politicians were Democrats. Political violence is not confined to a single party or ideology, however.

In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence was firebombed with his family inside. Trump was the target of two assassination attempts last year, including one in Butler that claimed the life of Corey Comperatore of Buffalo Township. In May, two Israeli diplomats were murdered in Washington, and this month, a Molotov cocktail attack targeted a demonstration in Colorado supporting Israeli hostages.

In Minnesota, the shootings did not just silence Hortman and Hoffman. No Kings protests planned in the state were canceled out of concern they could be targeted.

The right of the people “peaceably to assemble” is protected by the First Amendment. It is incumbent on the people to live up to that.

But it is just as important for the people to be free to raise their voices safely.