The 2nd Amendment Doesn’t Give You the Right to Assemble a Militia and Disturb the Peace

Step 1: Spread misinformation and stoke fear.

Step 1: Spread misinformation and stoke fear.

Step 2: Encourage people to arm themselves and “protect” property and/or the community.

Step 3: When the imaginary enemy never shows up claim victory and celebrate. You just mobilized a militia!

The monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force is a core concept of modern public law, and it goes back to Thomas Hobbes’ 1651 book “Leviathan,” as well as other earlier works by Jean Bodin. If vigilantes are allowed and encouraged to take up arms, patrol our streets, and even dispense justice as they see fit it undermines the legitimacy of local, state, and national government. (Pssst: that’s the point. Google “boogaloo movement.”)

I wrote this op-ed that The Wenatchee World published this month not because I don’t like guns. I grew up in the country around guns and they can be a lot of fun. I wrote this because someone needed to say what I find to be completely obvious — just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD.

But it shouldn’t be a single citizen who pens a column speaking out about the alarming series of events that took place last weekend in Wenatchee. It should be the editorial board of healthy paper that writes something like this. Furthermore, local religious leaders should be seeking to calm and soothe tensions, rather than fanning flames. And it should be our elected leaders who provide moral leadership and speak out, but they are either unwilling (because they tacitly agree with this behavior) or lack the spine to speak up about armed vigilantes who obviously feel like they can stalk our streets, loaded for bear, with impunity.

I interviewed about 10 people when writing this piece, and it’s the remarks of one successful local entrepreneur who has lived and worked in cities like Baltimore and Boston that I thought summed up well what an outsider sees when they look at this kind of hysterical behavior from heavily-armed grown adults. He said, “Definitely makes it hard to live here — you wonder how people can think this is normal or acceptable behavior.”

This isn’t about politics, it’s about decency and public safety. These people want us to see them as sheepdogs, but they are wolves.

On June 6, we here in Wenatchee, Washington saw the second wave of thousands of local people protesting for equal justice under the law in Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and Chelan. Many of our friends and neighbors decided to leave the safety and comfort of their homes and to make their voices heard in support of justice for all. Yet Saturday in Wenatchee these peaceful protestors, some of whom were parents with children, were met with armed vigilantes. Many of them were wearing tactical gear and pistols on their hips, carrying semiautomatic long guns in their hands, or strapped to their chests.

They said they were there to protect businesses from rioters and looting. They even claimed they were there to protect the protestors themselves. Hogwash, I say.

On June 8 I spoke with Wenatchee Police Captain Edgar Reinfeld and he confirmed to me that there have been no crimes or property damage reported in association with these protests. He said protestors have not displayed any threatening behavior and said they have a point.

“At the crux of this is the violation of George Floyd’s rights,” Reinfeld said.

You don’t have to dig too far on social media to link this back to internet rumors about “busloads of ANTIFA” coming into town to wreak havoc. Although these rumors have been completely debunked, it is still the justification these armed people are giving for their actions. They claim they were there at the behest of local business owners. Yet I spoke with two people who own businesses on Wenatchee Avenue where the protest passed by and both told me they did not ask for or want armed vigilantes in front of their businesses.

“It was terrifying to discover an armed man in front of my business. I considered his presence to be provocative and threatening to myself and to the protestors,” Chris Raine, owner of Sage Hills Bakery said. “Nobody told me that there would be heavily-armed civilians on the streets, and I certainly did not ask for, want, or need their presence. If I am in fear for my safety or for the safety of my business, I will call on trained law enforcement professionals.”

I also spoke with two of the protestors who said they were followed by menacing-looking people. Steve Maher, a Wenatchee resident and non-profit leader who was given a major award by the Chamber of Commerce this year, reports in a letter to the City of Wenatchee that he was followed by two men in a black vehicle.

“As things became increasingly tense, I left the march before it ended, as I was concerned something very bad was going to happen. I subsequently noticed I was being followed by two guys in a black car. This continued for three or four blocks. They drove slowly right next to me, watching me and kind of laughing to themselves, as I walked on the sidewalk,” he wrote.

Maher said the following day he saw a social media post about two guys threatening marchers at Walla Walla Point Park. A photo was attached to the post. It’s the same car and the same two men.

Another Wenatchee resident named Samantha Belanger described watching a little girl break down in tears because she was afraid of the people with guns.

“We had just passed Lifeline (Ambulance) and there were ‘militia’ or whoever they were in a parking lot across the street with very visible semiautomatic weapons. A little girl was right behind us with what appeared to be her mom (in a wheelchair), grandma, and younger sister,” she said. “She looked like she was maybe seven or eight. She started to say that she was scared of the men with the guns and she wanted them to go home. They tried to calm her down but she became inconsolable and they ended up dropping out of the March.”

There’s a lot of talk about how these armed people were not breaking the law, but I would say that there’s a fair case to make that they were. Let’s look at this relevant section of Washington state code 9.41.270, specifically where it says: “It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, exhibit, display, or draw any firearm, dagger, sword, knife or other cutting or stabbing instrument, club, or any other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily harm, in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons.”

There was at least one report on social media of a person raising a gun toward a group demonstrators. You don’t need a law degree to understand that’s illegal.

There have been no looters and rioters on our streets. There is no reasonable justification for armed vigilantes to “patrol” or police fellow citizens. We have a professional police force that is responsible and capable of maintaining peace. It’s threatening behavior like what we saw from these armed vigilantes that in actuality disturbs the peace.

Vigilantism is antithetical to law and order, and what we saw this past weekend in Wenatchee was vigilantism unchecked. Individuals who take (what they conceive to be) the law into their own hands undermine the actual rule of law.

These are not heroes, although they desperately want to be seen that way. Some may have had good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Many are nothing more than thugs, cowards, and bullies who want to intimidate fellow citizens.

The real heroes in this story are those who refuse to be intimidated in order to stand up for equality for all under the law — regardless of the color of your skin.

This piece originally ran in The Wenatchee World Weekend Edition on June 13–14, without the preamble that appears here above the first break. I am writing a follow-up piece with accounts from protestors who were harassed and threatened during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in June and will post it here when it’s finished. – DB