Keep the protests peaceful, Arizona

by

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has asked the “Great White Hope” Donad Trump not to bring his racist circus act to Phoenix. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton: Now is not the time for Trump to visit my city. The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson has editorialized against Trump’s campaign rally as well. Star Opinion: President Trump, stay home.

And yet the darkness will descend on Phoenix like the shadow of  Monday’s total eclipse of the sun.

As Trump heads to Arizona, GOP leaders want him out of Jeff Flake’s Senate race. The Washington Post editorializes today that “If Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, America’s foremost racial profiler, it would further discredit his presidency.” This would be a travesty of justice.

The media is reporting on Trump’s visit as if they are anticipating, if not encouraging, violent protests like the one we saw in Charlottesville, Virgina. Oh, they will deny any such purpose, but a violent protest sells newspapers and fills hours of cable TV with chattering talking heads. Large Protests Are Planned Near Trump Rally in Arizona (New York Times). Our View: Donald Trump’s Phoenix rally will test him — and us (The Arizona Republic). The Republic also editorializes not to pardon Joe Arpaio. The Republic’s Elvia Diaz cautions, Be careful, Latinos. Trump is in Phoenix to provoke us.

UPDATE: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday said President Donald Trump will not discuss or act “today” on the possibility of pardoning former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. White House: Trump Won’t Pardon Arpaio At Arizona Rally Tuesday. “There will be no discussion of that today at any point, and no action will be taken on that front at any point today,” Sanders told pool reporters on Air Force One.

Don’t take the bait, Arizona. Remember the teachings of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. (1946)

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. (1958)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction … The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. (1963)

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. – Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, 1964

The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa Democratic Party issued the following statement about Trump’s campaign rally in Phoenix:

The Arizona Democratic Party and the Maricopa County Democratic Party want to jointly inform you of  [Tuesday’s] events around President Trump’s rally at the Phoenix Convention Center.

First and foremost, we echo Mayor Stanton’s request that President Trump cancel his visit to Arizona. His racially inflamed rhetoric is not welcome in Arizona and is not what this country needs  at this time.

The Parties encourage those that want to participate in peaceful protest and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so.We will be joining our allied organizations at the “Free Speech Zone” that the City of Phoenix will designate near the Convention Center. The city will announce street closures and this zone location today. Please bear in mind that the Secret Service, FBI and other law enforcement agencies are involved in plans for Tuesday night. Safety is our main priority.

We are suggesting that those who want to join in the protest gather at Civic Space Park located at Central and Van Buren at 4 p.m. Those who want to can then proceed together to the Free Speech Zone.

Both of our organizations will be delivering water and snacks to the peaceful counter demonstrators on Tuesday afternoon. If you would like to donate water, Gatorade or snacks we will be accepting those items at the ADP/MCDP headquarters, 2910 N Central Ave. Phoenix, until Tuesday at noon.

We stand in solidarity with all who are speaking out against Trump’s hateful visit.

Thank you,

Alexis Tameron
Chair
Arizona Democratic Party

Steven Slugocki
Chair
Maricopa County Democratic Party

Herschel Fink
Executive Director
Arizona Democratic Party

Miguel Medrano
Executive Director
Arizona Democratic Party

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24 thoughts on “Keep the protests peaceful, Arizona”

  1. azbm demand protestors such as myself to be peaceful. we were peaceful. this was a police riot like chicago in 1968! the trump gun nuts were waving their guns around and the police did nothing. the police were clearly favoring the trump supporters. (so much for having a liberal mayor) at the end of trumps speech the police began moving towards the protestors ordering the demonstrators to disperse or face arrest. some woman throw a water bottle the protestors wanted to continue to protest and the police open upen up with paint balls concussion grenade teargas and smoke bombs. the police were clearly pro trump. people thought the bangs were gunshots and ran for their lives to avoid another kent state. most of the crowd didn’t here the cops yelling at them. after the continual tear gasing and pepper spray many in the crowd were angry at what the police were pulling. earlier on this blog I was threatened for not being sufficiently pacifistic just as the black community was told by white elitist liberals after ferguson to be peaceful. someone forgot to tell the cops to be peaceful and to stop running interference for the trumpkins.

    • “…the police were clearly favoring the trump supporters…”

      I have no trouble believing that.

      But, good for you Captain, for protesting.

    • “This was a police riot like chicago in 1968!” This was no comparison to Chicago in 1968. I remember. This was a minor police action by comparison. I’m sure you will embelish the facts when you recount this story for your grandkids.

  4. Edan Clay‏ @EdanClay 1h1 hour ago

    Remember, @realDonaldTrump wants violence from #TheResistance
    That’s the point of the #PhoenixRally
    Don’t give him a win
    Stay PEACEFUL ✌️☮️

  5. Klan rally to start soon.

    Thousands of protesters descend on Phoenix ahead of President Trump’s rally
    August 22, 2017, 4:15 PM

    Thousands of people descended on downtown Phoenix Tuesday ahead of President Trump’s visit to the city for a campaign-style rally, with protesters and his supporters shouting at each other as controversy continued over the his assessment that “both sides” were to blame for the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month.

    Several marches in opposition to Trump were mapped out, with all scheduled to converge on the Phoenix Convention Center, where the president is set to take the stage at 7 p.m. local time.

    As supporters lined up in the 100-plus-degree heat to wait for Trump, counter-protesters lined up across from the convention center. Police placed metal barricades so the two sides would be separated.

    “Build that wall! Build that wall!” Trump supporters shouted as the barricades went up.
    …
    http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-protesters-20170822-story.html

  6. usual liberal squeamishness. when they go low we go high. yeah HIGH in the air like in charlottesville. in 1969 during the stonewall riots the gay establishment called for calm. that is until the realized the riots had accomplished more for gay rights in a weekend then all of their peaceful efforts had accomplished in many years. look it up. just because you lack the guts to confront nazi’s kkk’ers and trump who you hate don’t foist your cowardice on others. kavenaugh and huppenthal and the republican party are laughing at you snowflakes for backing down.

    • So you are proposing violence at this rally? How would you like a visit from the Secret Service or local law enforcement?

      • Please say you would not like that, Captain, the Secret Service is running out of money from all of Trump’s golf trips.

      • confrontation is not advocating violence. the kids who sat down and blocked the highway to trump’s fountain hills rally were not violent. the boston anti fascist. rally was not violent. by the way you are the ones that hate trump. as I have said here many times when I voted for jill stein I accepted the consequences of trump and unlike you I am willing to pay that price to rid the democratic party of clinton corporate donor class influence. things have turned out about as expected. unlike you I don’t want trump replaced with pence. I know pointing out that kavenaugh and huppenthal laughing at you upsets you but it is what it is. the secret service will be visting people who hate trump which I don’t. I consider him a bafoon who will help get democrats elected in 2018. we can confront them with out violence but we do have the right for self defense. are you saying you can’t demonstrate against trump without threading him or committing violence? may the secret service will be visting you! I guess that is why you won’t be there?

  7. Stock market is still up 3.779 Trillion
    3.779 – .1T for presidential protection = 3.679 T

    • I’m not sure what that has to do with protesting hate, but it is good news, that the stock market is doing almost as well under Trump as it did under Obama!

      FYI, while there is no obvious “pin” to burst the current bubble, stock markets do not go up forever.

      We all look forward to you blaming Obama when the bubble bursts.

      Also, for about the millionth time, Wall Street is not Main Street, and Wall Street gains do not help the bottom 150 million people.

    • Since you’re such a stock market devotee why don’t you sell everything you own, invest the proceeds in the stock market & keep them there for the entirety of the current Republican Presidency?

    • I’ve read that, but I’m not sure how much of that can be attributed to the fact that Trump just has a large family through many (failed) marriages, and how much of that is because he takes far more vacations than his immediate predecessors (you know, despite now-hypocritically whining about Obama’s vacationing). To the extent that it’s just because he’s got a large family, that seems an issue with Congress’s budgetary priorities being insufficient for the job, whereas to the extent that he’s taking too many vacations to Mar-a-Lago, etc., then it is a public issue.

      But on the topic of the article presented, the Neo-Nazis very much want to incite Antifa and others to violence so they can take pictures to paint themselves as the victims of violent, special-snowflake (alt-)leftists. It should be incumbent on all of us who are (or, perhaps in my case, try to be) decent lefties, to deny Neo-Nazis any opportunity to try to claim any sort of moral high ground. I can understand at least in part why Antifa believes physical alterations may be necessary here. But that doesn’t mean I condone it or think it’s the best way forward.

    • The Secret Service runs out of money in September. DC and the White House are set up to protect the POTUS, Mar a Lago and Trump Tower are not.

      And Trump travels a lot. He’s on course to take more vacation and golf days in 2017 than Obama did in eight years.

      So much for his “golfer in chief” tweets about Obama and promises to never leave the WH.

      And remember that Melania and Barron stayed in New York for the first few months of Trump’s administration, and his kids fly around the world making money off their name, I mean, running the family business. Not cheap.

      He’s cost the people of New York City tens of millions for police. The “quiet money” people in Palm Beach are not happy about Mar a Lago these days, either.

      There are also stories coming out that the Secret Service is sick of Trump treating them like his personal servants.

      He’s here for a campaign event, for 2020. For 2020.

      I know of a lot businesses in downtown Phoenix are closing at 2PM today for their employees safety.

      That includes family members of mine.

      I hope the protestors are safe on both sides.

      This POTUS is a trainwreck.

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