Opinion: Counterprotesters among cowards of the worst kind – The Cincinnati Enquirer

Counterprotesters watch a Black Lives Matter march as curfew approaches June 15 in Bethel, Ohio. Protesters took to the streets after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck, ignoring Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe.(Photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer)

Thirty-three years ago, I departed small-town America to become a cadet at West Point. Both places have been in the news lately, West Point for its unique, but not unprecedented, graduation on the plain and my hometown for all the wrong reasons.

At the end of four years at West Point, the Class of 1991 swore to defend the Constitution and President George H.W. Bush handed each of us our commissions. The Cold War was over. We watched Desert Storm on CNN, but were rewarded with assignments in Mogadishu, Srebrenicaand Port-au-Prince. For those who served beyond our five-year service obligation, Iraq and Afghanistan have consumed the balance of nearly 20 years.

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I have done nothing remotely heroic, but it has been my honor to serve in the company of brave men and women. Not the kind of folks who write tell-all books, rather professionals who quietly go about their business leading other Americans and our partners in pursuit of shared national interests.

The officer in Afghanistan sporting nothing but a conservative headscarf and a 9mm tucked neatly into her fashionable clutch while she engaged with local women.

My classmate who scooped a wounded child out of harms way as if she were one of his own.

The special forces officers who bear no resemblance to what Hollywood might have you believe and nothing like the posers seen in state capitols enjoying their rights under the Second Amendment.

The heroes I know wouldnt need a gun to make their point in small-town America, nor would they feel threatened by someone holding a sign. America isnt "battlespace"any more than it is Fallujah, Ramadi, Kandaharor Kabul.

Two weeks ago, my daughter sent me text messages with articles about an incident in Bethel, Ohio, associated with a small Black Lives Matter demonstration and the larger counter-protest it incited. Im not proud of my initial "glad I dont live there anymore" reaction. My mother, no longer a resident, heard gossip that one of my teachers children had been involved in the Black Lives Matter demonstration that led to the, at times, violent counter-protest.

Why trade in gossip? I called my second-grade teacher.

Yes, her daughter had been there. Yes, the Black Lives Matter demonstrators had sought and gained permission from the local authorities to hold their signs, socially distanced in front of the Grant Memorial Building a building named for Ulysses S. Grant and fellow West Point graduate, who would look on in horror with me, were he alive, at the ubiquity of stars and bars that have, in recent years, appeared in the Land of Grant. And yes, the woman who taught me in the second grade that being an American citizen was a privilege had attended the demonstration.

Black Lives Matter protesters and a counter protesters talk, Monday, June 15, 2020, along East Plane Street in Bethel, Ohio. Protesters took to the streets following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck, ignoring Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe.(Photo: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer)

Sadly, the counter-protestors, some of whom were armed, tore her sign from her hands. Before long, she and her daughter left the demonstration fearing that physical harm might come to them if they stayed. But she didnt slink off; no, she communicated to local institutions of civil society, the most important fabric of our nation she stood before the Bethel Historical Society to explain her perspective, emailed the Catholic parish council in the same veinand spoke with media outlets whose very existence the First Amendment enshrines.

I probably know a few of the counter-protestors, though Im told many of them were from out of town. I would like to ask them this:"What about my retired, second-grade teacher holding a sign is so scary that it compels you to bring a gun to a peaceful demonstration? What about my second-grade teachers sign threatened you so much that you trampled her First Amendment rights while celebrating yours under the Second Amendment?" I dont have the luxury of picking and choosing which parts of the Constitution are worthy of defending.

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Since leaving Bethel for West Point, I have had the privilege of serving in and leading diverse organizations around the world. My leaders, peers, and subordinates have come in every color, been gay and straight, spoken a variety of languages other than English, and worshiped in ways never imagined back in Bethel. There are bad people in this world and with my teammates, I have done some small part in trying to defend our way of life from them. But to be clear, my second-grade teacher isnt an enemy.

The bullies with guns and baseball bats that showed up in Bethel probably arent either, but they can no longer be good people in my mind. They are cowards of the worst kind, people afraid of ideas who resort to the law of the jungle, not the rule of law, to make their inarticulate points. There can be no "good people on both sides"when one side is trampling on the Constitution.

Counter protesters scream at Black Lives Matter protesters, Monday, June 15, 2020, along East Plane Street in Bethel, Ohio. Protesters took to the streets following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck, ignoring Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe.(Photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer)

In 2006, I was blessed to watch a group of service members take the oath of U.S. citizenship in Baghdad while fighting under a flag that was not formally theirs until that day. They were already putting their lives on the line for the ongoing experiment that is our democracy. I cannot know, but strongly suspect, that they were clear on the responsibilities that come with the privilege of being a citizen, not just the rights it conveys. The violent counter-protestors need not travel as far as Iraq to learn the same lesson because I know a hero in a small town whose classroom is always open for those seeking knowledge and understanding. You wont find her lurking on social media or trolling the internet because she is too busy serving her community. She is as brave as the men and women I have met under trying circumstances abroad.

Having reflected on my initial "sure glad I dont live there anymore"reaction to the news from Bethel, I now offer a refined position: I am proud to say Bethel is my hometown because heroes like Lois Dennis, not pretend patriots, have had my back for the last four decades.

Matthew Darlington Morton lived in Bethel, Ohio, for 18 years. He is currently stationed at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, home of the United States Army War College, where he is a colonel and member of the faculty. These are his views and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, United States Army, or the United States Army War College.

Matt Morton(Photo: Provided)

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Opinion: Counterprotesters among cowards of the worst kind - The Cincinnati Enquirer