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"7' L hsn,cabana from page As
One take on marches
Editor, the Journal,
I purposely did not participate in either of the
dueling demonstrations in Shelton on Sunday. My
absence was driven by support for both sides. I do sup-
port Black Lives Matter and the police. However, I
think One has more current legitimacy than the other.
I ll leave it to the reader to decide which is which.
My takeaway from the Shelton-Mason County Jour-
nal s coverage of the events and the subsequent letters
to the editor is that beauty is in the eye of the be-
holder. However, there is no excuse for Obscenities to
be loudly voiced, especially in public and with children
in attendance. Also, I question the presence of loaded
guns in the hands of participants or spectators when
there was ample police presence to deter any violence.
What were the guns for if not intimidation, surely not
for self-protection.
And the use of the American ag for personal ag-
grandizement? I have too much respect for the sym-
bol of my country to use it in such a baseless way. It
should be own and handled with all the respect it
deserves not as an adornment on a vehicle or sewn
into a piece of personal attire. I am too much of a
conservative to disparage the ag so profoundly and
publicly.
After reading all the letters to the editor and their
disparate takes on both demonstrations, I wonder if
I am in an alternate universe where up is down and
black is white and 2+2=5. I do have to say that they
are examples of the human folly we call society. There
is no need for a comic section in the paper. It s right
there on the letters to the editor page.
Bill Pfender
Shelton g
BLM marcher says thanks
Editor, the Journal,
As a participant in the Black Lives Matter gath-
ering last Sunday, I wanted to take a moment to
thank all the peaceful protesters on both sides
BLM and Blue Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter
participants had one goal: to show support-for Black
and Indigenous folks and other people of color in
Shelton peacefully and without incident, and we
succeeded in doing this.
At no time was our intention to do harm to any
people or'property, but there seemed to be an im
pression among some Shelton residents that we
were something other than a peaceful rally that
included Shelton residents and neighbors. The truly A
unfortunate thing about this misunderstanding was
that there were among the Shelton crowd individu-
als who were genuinely threatening, following our
peaceful march while shouting racial slurs and even
some threats, indirect and direct.
I hope very much that the people of Shelton who
were present and spoke kindly to me on my way
to and from the rally know how much they are ap-
preciated. And I hope that those in Shelton who feel
threatened by or afraid of the Movement for Black
Lives can understand that we, too, believe all lives
matter we simply want everyone to act like it.
Until Black and Indigenous people and all people of
color can feel safe in this country, we won t truly be
the country we claim to be.
Anna Mumaw
Olympia
Keeping the peace
Editor, the Journal,
I did not envy the Shelton Police Department s job
on Sunday.
It was over 80 degrees, and two very different
groups were loudly exercising their First Amendment
Rights under the US. Constitution, and doing it in the
usually sleepy lumber town of Shelton, Washington.
One group was very angry. They must have also
been very afraid, because this group was unusually
well-armed for a Sunday afternoon in Shelton. Almost
like they had come to hunt in our streets, or come to
do battle. With that many weapons bristling in this
group, it was hard to imagine their intentions were
peaceful. They were also predominately mask-free,
proving their superiority over COVID-19 remains in-
tact.
The other group was seeking understanding, recon-
ciliation and justice. This group marched together to
share their deep grief, their frustration and, yes, their
anger, over the many senseless executions of Black
citizens by law enforcement caught on video; angry
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal . Page A-7
' over the senseless death of Breonna Taylor, executed
while she lay asleep in her bed. This group carried no
weapons. This group wore masks, as required during
this timeof COVID-19. Many of these marchers were
long in the tooth. There were canes and wheelchairs in
this group of local citizen activists.
And then there were the police (thankfully).
The Shelton Police Department was tasked with
keeping these disparate groups apart.
There were a few minutes when the Black Lives
Matter marchers were cornered, and nearly surround-
ed in the parking lot at the corner of Seventh and
Railroad, where they had gone to seek shade before
returning to the post of ce. It looked like there was
no way out for the marchers as the angry agitators
moved in on them. In this moment, I literally began to
fear for my safety, if not for my life.
Enter the Shelton Police Department, who worked
with the organizers to get the marchers safely out of
there. A r
I know those deputies would have rather been at
a picnic on that Sunday of Labor Day weekend, than
having to play nanny in the streets of Shelton to a
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bunch of gun-waving outside agitators.
I am sure the deputies did not want to be in down-
town Shelton, but I did not get the feeling from the
ones I spoke with that they were there for any reason
but to keep the peace, which they did.
. On their way back to the post of ce many of the
marchers thanked every deputy who lined the street
from Safeway to the post of ce. They kept us old activ-
ists from harm and I am most sincerely grateful for
them being there.
If this is how Police Chief Moody leads, we are go-
ing to miss him like crazy.
. No one was hurt, no property was damaged, and
our march was over, and we were out of town by 3:30
pm. .
My gratitude to the organizers, to the marchers,
and to the Shelton Police Department. Another peace-
ful march is in the books.
Katherine Price
Shelton
seer LETTERS, page A S
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