Act of protester charging at Donald Trump must be STRONGLY CONDEMNED
It was very disturbing to see a protester vaulting over a barrier and making a charge at Mr. Donald Trump as he was making a campaign speech in Dayton, Ohio, USA. See the video titled, Attempted attack on Donald Trump at Dayton Ohio March 12, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06d4t1704N8, 1 min. 47 secs. The security staff (most of them being US Secret Service agents, I guess) did a great job in stopping the man before he could get on/climb on to the stage from where Mr. Trump was making his speech. As the video shows, the security staff immediately formed a protection ring around Mr. Trump, while the protester was tackled and taken away. This article, http://www.newsweek.com/trump-ducks-protester-ohio-436316, shows a picture of the protester being taken away (and has the same video whose link I gave above).
Here's a video where Mr. Donald Trump speaks about this incident, Donald Trump Talks About Security Scare in Dayton, Praises Secret Service, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLfxrPnfR_8, 7 min. 15 secs.
IMHO, such types of protests against Mr. Donald Trump (or any other US presidential candidate) MUST BE CONDEMNED STRONGLY (I certainly condemn it strongly).
Non-violent protests which are VISIBLY non-violent and peaceful are OK. Mr. Donald Trump's words in campaign speeches (like "I’d like to punch him in the face", https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/23/donald-trump-on-protester-id-like-to-punch-him-in-the-face/) should NOT be met with violent or potentially violent actions like vaulting over a protective fence and charging at Mr. Trump. Such actions are completely unacceptable in a democratic political campaign environment.
At the same time I think it is very appropriate for USA political leaders and leaders from other fields in the USA to ask Mr. Trump to tone down the violent rhetoric of his campaign, as such words by political leaders (Mr. Donald Trump now is a political leader who has become the hope of millions of USA citizens) tend to have the consequences of inciting violence. It would be a real tragedy if the great democracy that the USA is today in 2016 (even if money power has great influence on it and which influence needs to be reduced), gets tarnished by violence in this presidential election.
Here's a thought-provoking article, Donald Trump’s Heated Words Were Destined to Stir Violence, Opponents Say, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/donald-trumps-heated-words-were-destined-to-stir-violence-opponents-say.html, March 12th 2016.
A couple of small extracts from it:
The anger from both sides was so raw, they [Ravi: a bipartisan chorus of voices] concluded — from supporters of Donald J. Trump who are terrified they are losing their country and from protesters who fear he is leading the nation down a dark road of hate — that a dreaded moment was starting to look inevitable. “I don’t see where that anger goes,” the historian Heather Cox Richardson predicted a few weeks ago, “except into violence.”
...
Behind the showdowns is a climate of frustration and fright not seen since the 1960s, or even the 1850s when, in the words of Joanne Freeman, a Yale historian who has studied violence in American politics, “each side was convinced that the other side was about to destroy America — or what they believed to be the fundamental essence of America — and each side totally alienated the other side.”
--- end small extracts ---
=============================================
Update on 4th May 2016
I had mailed the above to Gov. Kasich's campaign team on March 13th 2016, with the following forwarding text:
Dear Gov. Kasich,
As I had recently sent you a mail titled, "Admire John Kasich for telling it like it is (was) about Tiananmen square protests (of 1989), in contrast to Donald Trump's remarks", I felt it appropriate to forward my mail below to you, sir.
Thanks & Regards
Ravi S. Iyer, Puttaparthi, India
------
I received a mail response today (4th May 2016) to my above mail, from Gov. John Kasich's campaign team, which is as follows:
Good morning Ravi,
Thank you for taking the time to share this information with our campaign. We appreciate the outreach and interest. Gov. Kasich undoubtedly supports our First Amendment providing for freedom of speech. However, inciting violence is unacceptable.
Tracy
Kasich for America
Policy Team
------
I wrote back:
Dear Tracy,
Thank you so much for your response. As an Indian who has friendship and love towards the USA, I do feel privileged to receive a response from Gov. Kasich's USA presidential campaign team.
Regards
Ravi S. Iyer, Puttaparthi, India
--------------------------------------------
Please note that I have a NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.
[I thank nytimes.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above small extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
Here's a video where Mr. Donald Trump speaks about this incident, Donald Trump Talks About Security Scare in Dayton, Praises Secret Service, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLfxrPnfR_8, 7 min. 15 secs.
IMHO, such types of protests against Mr. Donald Trump (or any other US presidential candidate) MUST BE CONDEMNED STRONGLY (I certainly condemn it strongly).
Non-violent protests which are VISIBLY non-violent and peaceful are OK. Mr. Donald Trump's words in campaign speeches (like "I’d like to punch him in the face", https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/23/donald-trump-on-protester-id-like-to-punch-him-in-the-face/) should NOT be met with violent or potentially violent actions like vaulting over a protective fence and charging at Mr. Trump. Such actions are completely unacceptable in a democratic political campaign environment.
At the same time I think it is very appropriate for USA political leaders and leaders from other fields in the USA to ask Mr. Trump to tone down the violent rhetoric of his campaign, as such words by political leaders (Mr. Donald Trump now is a political leader who has become the hope of millions of USA citizens) tend to have the consequences of inciting violence. It would be a real tragedy if the great democracy that the USA is today in 2016 (even if money power has great influence on it and which influence needs to be reduced), gets tarnished by violence in this presidential election.
Here's a thought-provoking article, Donald Trump’s Heated Words Were Destined to Stir Violence, Opponents Say, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/donald-trumps-heated-words-were-destined-to-stir-violence-opponents-say.html, March 12th 2016.
A couple of small extracts from it:
The anger from both sides was so raw, they [Ravi: a bipartisan chorus of voices] concluded — from supporters of Donald J. Trump who are terrified they are losing their country and from protesters who fear he is leading the nation down a dark road of hate — that a dreaded moment was starting to look inevitable. “I don’t see where that anger goes,” the historian Heather Cox Richardson predicted a few weeks ago, “except into violence.”
...
Behind the showdowns is a climate of frustration and fright not seen since the 1960s, or even the 1850s when, in the words of Joanne Freeman, a Yale historian who has studied violence in American politics, “each side was convinced that the other side was about to destroy America — or what they believed to be the fundamental essence of America — and each side totally alienated the other side.”
--- end small extracts ---
=============================================
Update on 4th May 2016
I had mailed the above to Gov. Kasich's campaign team on March 13th 2016, with the following forwarding text:
Dear Gov. Kasich,
As I had recently sent you a mail titled, "Admire John Kasich for telling it like it is (was) about Tiananmen square protests (of 1989), in contrast to Donald Trump's remarks", I felt it appropriate to forward my mail below to you, sir.
Thanks & Regards
Ravi S. Iyer, Puttaparthi, India
------
I received a mail response today (4th May 2016) to my above mail, from Gov. John Kasich's campaign team, which is as follows:
Good morning Ravi,
Thank you for taking the time to share this information with our campaign. We appreciate the outreach and interest. Gov. Kasich undoubtedly supports our First Amendment providing for freedom of speech. However, inciting violence is unacceptable.
Tracy
Kasich for America
Policy Team
------
I wrote back:
Dear Tracy,
Thank you so much for your response. As an Indian who has friendship and love towards the USA, I do feel privileged to receive a response from Gov. Kasich's USA presidential campaign team.
Regards
Ravi S. Iyer, Puttaparthi, India
--------------------------------------------
Please note that I have a NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.
[I thank nytimes.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above small extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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