A California Highway Patrol officer helps protester Mark Herbert down from a tree he had been inhabiting along Highway 101 south of Willits, Tuesday April 2, 2013 in protest of the Willits bypass. Herbert came down voluntarily with a help from the CHP. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013

Letter of the Day: Unsanitary protest

Unsanitary protest

EDITOR: It appears that someone gave the order for the CHP to remove the tree sitters near Willits ("Tree sitters forced down," Wednesday). The officers did their job. Unfortunately, two of the tree sitters thought it appropriate to pelt the officers with human feces and urine.

Protests are well and good; throwing human waste is not. State Sen. Noreen Evans was furious, shocked and upset. I was also upset when I read that protestors committed the acts of violence against the officers. Would Evans be upset if one or more of them were injured or killed attempting to remove the protestors?

It seems that you can talk, negotiate, provide food, bedding, etc. and the protestors (who all must have had the day off from work) will still not give an inch until all their demands are met. Civil disobedience and protests, to a point, are OK. When it gets to the level of endangering the lives of people ordered to do their job, it is not OK. Thankfully, no officers were injured.

ART HACKWORTH

Petaluma

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor