During the June 14 “No Kings” protest in Portland, I stood with a sign for two hours on the corner of Congress and Franklin. Following the protest, attempts were made to instigate conflict with the police. The Portland Police Department reported, accurately, that two arrests occurred there “after the organized protest ended.” This is significant. It means that the protests in Maine were peaceful.

Attempts to co-opt peaceful protests for other purposes diminish organizers and risk inaccurate media coverage. More deeply, the irony is that those arrested relied tacitly on the very things they seemed to reject. Ultimately, we cannot despise our brothers and sisters in uniform without despising the rights they swear an oath to defend. Rather than depict an image of totalitarianism, as it seems was the intention, the arrests themselves created a conspicuous demonstration of the power of the United States Constitution.

Make no mistake. This is not a mealy-mouthed plea for goodwill on the part of those in power. This is about taking a stand together. I stood in a free country, 30 feet from a police officer who defended my right to hold a sign that said, “Get your jackboot off my country.”

On June 14, we got it right. Together, we created an open, hopeful space where the freedom of the people of this great state was displayed as a model for our country and the world. Our New England poet, Emily Dickinson, wrote that “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Today, hope is an American eagle.

Mike Allen
Mexico