A few years ago, a pickup sat at the intersection of Highways 145 and 184 south of Dolores for months. The pickup was covered with signs criticizing a federal public lands official. The signs were impolite, to say the least, and the protester was warned not to cause a traffic hazard, but the First Amendment protected his right to express his opinion.
Last week, a San Juan County, Utah, county commissioner was convicted of knowingly breaking the law for leading ATV riders on a parade down a closed Bureau of Land Management road, through a canyon filled with ancestral Pueblo Indian ruins. Although illegal and confrontational, the demonstration was nonviolent.
Last month, a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to leaving a profanity-laced death threat on a BLM ranger’s office voicemail. He reportedly was not acquainted with anyone involved in the Cliven Bundy protest in Nevada; he was offended by something he saw on television: the ranger physically moving a protester out of the way of BLM vehicles.
Anyone watching the protests also would have seen Bundy supporters pointing weapons at federal law-enforcement personnel. Charges have not been filed in those cases, although some are expected.
Although the subject of the protests was the same — utilization of public lands — was the same, the degree was markedly different.
In Baltimore last week, demonstrators responded to the death of a young man in police custody with varying activities, from holding signs and chanting or singing to throwing rocks and looting stores. The protests varied in degree or legality; public reaction to the protesters varied as well. The police did a good job of maintaining public safety while allowing non-violent demonstrations.
It’s a safe bet, though, that if anyone in Baltimore had pointed a firearm at a police officer, restraint would not have been the most likely response.
Hardly anyone believes that looting and burning is a justified response to frustration. Even those who commit such crimes in the heat of the moment often later realize that they have lashed out at the wrong targets. Citizens who feel disenfranchised by their government and who believe their voices are not being heard often do not act logically. People looking in from the outside can only shake their heads and hope for calm leadership.
Still, the urban/rural divide is a deep one, and a vast gulf separates the rural West from cities. Just as residents of Southwest Colorado wonder how things could have gone so wrong in places like Baltimore and Ferguson — starting long before the most recent blow-ups — urbanites may well wonder why it is acceptable for a cattle rancher to make money grazing on public land he does not pay to lease, and certainly how anyone can get away with sighting in on a federal employee who is doing his or her job. Urban police officials may be wondering how it is possible for law enforcement to back away from such a confrontation without completely losing control. The slow grind of justice in Nevada may be helping to keep the peace there, while a few days seems like far too long in Baltimore.
Facile comparisons do not benefit anyone, because the situations are very different and extremely complex. It is worthwhile, though, to spend a little time considering the similarities that also exist, analyzing what works and what does not, and pondering how to stay on the right side of the fine line between tense standoffs and deadly violence.
