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[From Linda Frank to the Olympian]

As the daughter of a NYC firefighter, I was raised to view the police as part of the larger family of public servants who -- like my Dad did for 33 years -- would put their lives on the line to protect the citizens of the community they worked in. The photos and videos I saw of the Olympia Police Department’s excessive use of pepper spray aimed repeatedly, prolongedly, and directly into the faces of non-threatening protesters belied that notion, and shocked and saddened me greatly.

The seeming disdain with which some officers dispensed the spray was additionally reprehensible. The officers don’t have to agree with the protesters’ views or methods, but it’s their job to respect the community members’ rights *and welfare*. Pepper spray has been reported to cause serious problems, including "ocular damage, bronchospasm, pulmonary edema, laryngospasm, respiratory arrest, and death . . ." [North Carolina Medical Journal]).

This country was founded on a rich tradition of civil disobedience. We might not have a United States if some Colonists hadn’t decided they weren’t going to blithely abide by the unjust dictates of their leadership. Would we have civil rights for all if Americans hadn’t taken to the streets to demand it?

A middle-aged friend said to me last week: "a thousand years from now, those protesters in their efforts to stop a war no one else can or will are going to look like the sanest people on the planet." I hope he’s right -- and I hope it doesn’t take a thousand years.

Linda Frank