A few years ago I wrote a diary called “Don’t Use Violence,” arguing against our protesters being the first to engage in violent acts. Many agreed with this concept, but there was some pushback from those who believe it’s okay to use violence against others on the basis of their speech (the “It’s okay to punch a Nazi” crowd), and those who would excuse certain violent acts, such as property destruction, as being in furtherance of protest goals.
Since then I’ve only become more convinced that our side should not be the first to engage in any violent act. This is because of three separate but related trends that have only been accelerating:
1. The legal trend toward allowing almost anyone to carry a gun with no training, or so-called “constitutional carry.”
2. The legal trend toward strengthening self-defense laws, including so-called “stand your ground” laws as well as the newer trend of shifting the burden of proof of self-defense from defendant to prosecutor.
3. The increasing number of right-wingers whose efforts and activity are highly focused on gun ownership and use and, for the more extreme ones, anticipation of a coming civil war.
It’s important to realize that none of these trends is likely to recede or reverse any time soon. The reason is simple: many on the right are effectively single-issue voters, with the single issue being gun ownership and its related sidekick of self-defense rights. Our side doesn’t have this. While there are many on the left who advocate for stronger gun control, very few consider this to be their single, or even most important, issue. Many on the left would say that while controlling gun violence is important, it is eclipsed by issues that are even more important such as climate change, income and healthcare inequality, or voting rights. I’ve included a poll below to evaluate whether this is true for our readers.
The Rittenhouse verdict demonstrated these trends in action. The jury was effectively not concerned that Rittenhouse possessed a military rifle at age 17, or that he chose to bring that rifle to a volatile situation. The jury also effectively adopted the position that any type of attack, such as chasing Rittenhouse or attempting to hit him with a skateboard, justifies the use of deadly force in self-defense. I don’t believe that the Rittenhouse verdict is a one-off aberration — it is the new norm.
When someone is shot, and the shooter is judged to have acted in self-defense, the embedded policy issues surrounding the shooting are effectively self-limited. One may argue strenuously on the Internet about why the shooting was unjustified or why gun control laws should be expanded, but none of these arguments is relevant to the facts that a person is dead and the shooter will not be held criminally liable. Once the jury rules, those facts become beyond debate. For those that are shot and killed, it is also the end of their participation in public discourse. They will never again express an opinion, carry a sign or cast a vote.
The goal for protesters, then, is to operate in the current gun and self-defense environment without being killed. To live to protest another day. The way to do this is simple: Don’t use violence. Protest peacefully. Don’t destroy private property. Don’t attack right wingers. Don’t surround and block cars driving down the street. In short, get the message out but don’t do anything that would give someone an excuse to start shooting.
And certainly, the answer is not for the left to arm itself and meet bullet with bullet. Doing so would be intentionally choosing to play on a field defined by the right wing. On that field, the left would be outnumbered and outgunned by a group of people that has spent the last couple of decades preparing for such an eventuality, and buying up all the ammo.
MLK, Gandhi and other leaders who advocated for non-violent resistance had the right idea. I can recall only one instance in recent years in which a right winger killed a protester who was simply protesting peacefully: the killing of Heather Heyer by James Fields during the Charlottesville protest. Fields is currently serving a life sentence.