Protest to be held tomorrow

“Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dozens of concerned citizens are expected to converge on Main Street in Mooresville tomorrow for a peaceful, unified protest against the local government’s handling of Police Chief John Crone and his Cops for Kids program.

Crone has been suspended with pay since July 8.

The coalition of various community activist groups plans to participate in Monday’s demonstration, which - as far as anyone can tell - will go down in Mooresville’s history books as the first-ever march on Town Hall. The demonstrators plan to rally in the Moore Room of the Citizens Center from 3-5 p.m. then march to Town Hall, where the board of commissioners meets at 6 p.m.

What’s the purpose of the protest?

“We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is unacceptable that certain people in this community apparently operate outside of the law with full immunity,” wrote a recent Report commenter. “There cannot be two sets of rules, laws and standards. Wherever such double standard exists, corruption breeds and thrives.”

Rev. Larry Green, who organized Monday’s protest, said: “As citizens, we have witnessed an assortment of actions and decisions which have brought us to this point. Despite repeated requests for explanations and actions, along with repeated attempts to communicate with the town leadership, we have arrived at a moment in time where we are compelled to exercise our duties as citizens to police the government, to redress our grievances, to instruct our elected officials; all of which are the rights of citizens as outlined in the state's bill of rights.”

Green said he hopes the event provides “a public forum in which we, as a people, can force our collective voices and ideas to be heard.

“Mooresville is a great community, as a whole, and we want to make it even better,” he said. “The only way to do that at this point is to unite into one common voice in order to visually represent our outrage at what has been allowed to happen.

“All taxpayers and voters have a right to expect equal representation and equal protection from the government,” Green concluded. “We have a right to expect ethical practices, legal activities, and responsible government. Within the past few weeks we have seen none of those. Instead we receive interference by elected officials, failure to equally enact personnel policies by the interim Town Manager, and a total failure by our elected officials to demand responsibility.”

Another Report reader said the purpose of Monday’s protest is “to demonstrate to the town board that the citizens of Mooresville demand accountability from public officials; to express unhappiness with the actions of Erskine Smith … not suspending Crone without pay or firing him … and Frank Rader … abusing his office by encouraging police officers to write letters of support for Crone, their suspended boss; to demonstrate the lack of public trust in town government because of the manner in which this situation has been handled.

“That’s it, as I see it: accountability and lack of public trust,” the commenter continued. “We need accountability to restore public trust. We’re protesting the absence of both in town government.”

Yet another poster said: “We need to demand change and we need to demand it now.”

Citing the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, another commenter stated: “The right to peaceable assembly provides the opportunity for all citizens, whether they are employed by the federal or state government, by private businesses, or by a non-profit organization, to participate in America’s political life and in the electoral process.”

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

But when citizens choose to exercise their Constitutional right to assemble and voice grievances against the government, it doesn’t always sit well with others, as evidenced by one recent Report commenter who stated, “If you stupid sheep think you’re gonna actually do something your (sic) crazy! It’ll be the day when this bunch of mealy-mouthed dummies actually speak up.”

And then, about a week later, this comment was posted: “I bet the only people that show up Monday will be the less than 20 people that make up this idiot blog. Your (sic) not the majority. If you think you are show it in the polls.”

But “turn out is not the issue,” say some protestors who plan to attend tomorrow’s demonstration.

“This is not a situation that should require the effort of a mass protest nor should the number of people in attendance have any bearing on the government's simple obligations to deal with clear violations of law and policy,” one commenter wrote.

Another commenter told potential protestors not to be disdainful of small beginnings: “Whether two people show up or twenty at the appointed time and day, you have begun something.”

Added Green: “Our movement will not be deterred, despite the desires of a few to maintain the ‘image’ of Mooresville. The image is tarnished already, and we need to polish it up and give it new and fresh appearance.”