I strongly support the First Amendment right to protest. People should have the right to protest as long as they don’t break the law.
At the end of October, protesters at the ICE facility in Bodo were pepper-sprayed and dragged across the street – but why? I think I know why, but I was anxiously awaiting the official word from the Durango Police Department.
On Friday, Jan. 9, The Durango Herald printed “Police department issues guidelines on how to safely protest.” The article didn’t answer the most important question: What did the protesters do wrong? Is that the reporter’s fault, or maybe he didn’t get specific information from DPD?
I hope this letter gets fact-checked by the police, but I’d like to say what I think the article should have reported.
The protesters broke the law when they chained and blocked the gate at the ICE facility. They tried to prevent the ICE agents from leaving with the immigrant and his two children. The goal of the protesters was to prevent the ICE agents from doing their job.
If protesters prevent federal agents from doing their job, they are breaking the law. At that point, ICE agents are allowed to use pepper spray and force. The agents were within their right to drag protesters across the street.
Protesters may have looked at the unconstitutional acts of ICE and thought it was worth it to break the law. If you break the law, you should expect the consequences.
David Norman
Durango
