'Peaceful persuation' best way to change hearts and minds

Whether you call it the “Capitol protest,” the “insurrection” or the “riot,” it seems those who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are deservedly and appropriately being punished for their actions.

Most of those charged are being sentenced to probation, fines or a few weeks in jail. About two dozen have been sentenced so far.

Former Clovis physician Leonard Gruppo, for example, expressed remorse and received 24 months probation and a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty to charges that he illegally entered the Capitol during the melee.

That sounds about right given that no one accused him of directly hurting anyone or breaking anything.

A New Jersey man last week received a 41-month prison sentence — the most severe of anyone so far — but Scott Fairlamb was caught on video punching a police officer in the face.

At least four deaths have been attributed to the protest, with dozens of law enforcement officers injured. Federal authorities have said rioters caused more than $1 million in property damage.

But most of those involved did little more than shout angry words or encourage violence, such as the Texas real estate agent who later tweeted about her blonde hair and white skin as if that somehow was a factor in her shouting “Hang Mike Pence.” Jenna Ryan received just a 60-day jail sentence for entering the Capitol.

That sounds about right, too. Words are not the same as actions, but those who encourage others to commit violence — with a poorly constructed gallows, complete with hangman’s noose nearby — should be held accountable.

There is some logic in the position that the U.S. Capitol is a publicly owned building and taxpayers should have been permitted to protest inside without repercussions. The problem is the mob did more than carry signs and yap. Windows were broken. Doors were busted. People suffered. Politics aside, we might not feel forgiving if a taxpayer broke into the publicly funded Clovis zoo and freed the animals, no matter the justification offered for the actions.

From an editorial by the libertarian Cato Institute, whose president and CEO Peter Goettler rejected “the violence and the lies that stoked it” surrounding Jan. 6:

“Mob rule is no path to liberty,” Goettler stated. “Attempting to forcibly keep a defeated president in power strikes at the core of the Constitution’s provisions for protecting the rights and liberties of the American people.”

The libertarians among us — those who champion smaller government and individual responsibility — are eager to debate public policies and the “moral principles” the Democrats and Republicans talk so much about. But as the Cato editorial stated, we remain “firmly committed to doing so through peaceful persuasion and public discourse.”

A few weeks in jail and some fines for those involved in the violence of Jan. 6 just might help us all remember that’s the best way to change hearts and minds.

— David Stevens

Publisher