In response to the June 17 letter asking “Where are the conservative letters?” I say, perhaps there are not that many that are sent in to the papers.

Regarding the violence in Los Angeles, there were a small minority of people causing chaos and destruction. No matter what their cause, violence is not the answer. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught Americans to peacefully protest. And that is what millions of Americans did on June 14 across the country and in Maine. That is our First Amendment right. There is absolutely no excuse for any violence, period.

The letter went on to minimize the protests on Jan. 6, 2021. As I said, it is your right to protest. But what happened that day was completely and totally inexcusable and a huge blot on our history as a country. Biden beat Trump fairly and in accordance to law, as did Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The huge problem with the Jan. 6 protesters is they believed the lies President Trump told them and acted violently upon them. If the left had done that, conservatives would be all over them. If Black people had behaved like that, it would have been a bloodbath.

Conservatives pride themselves on being the party of law and order, but nothing about that day was orderly or lawful. The lies, the violence and lawlessness of the protesters should never, ever be minimized, repeated or forgotten.

To maintain democracy we must have laws, truth and respect for all of the people who make up this country that we call the United States of America.

Mary C. Caliandro
Long Island

Correction (July 21, 2025): A previous version of this letter referred to the death of a number of police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. No police officers were killed at the Capitol that day.