June 24 – A more cynical fellow might wonder, given our legal system’s growing fetish for ‘extenuating circumstances’, whether the six people arrested after protesting against climate change – and the startling outflow of thousands of customers – hardly deserving of the old metaphorical slap on the wrist.
They have the right to protest, you know.
They needed a forum big enough so people could hear the message, you know.
There’s nothing wrong with being environmentally conscious, you know.
But for the rest of the cattle, who felt somewhere between uncomfortable and scared for a few frightening seconds; the rest of our cattle, who simply want consequences to be meted out to those who threaten public safety?
Perhaps someone who makes laws, enforces laws, or argues them in court is still interested in the concept of consequences?
Since, amid all the extenuating circumstances, we can hear about the six environmentally conscious and morally unaware protesters, the most important thing to remember is this:
“I was scared for my life,” PGA golfer Akshay Bhatia told reporters after the incident. Bhatia was standing on the 18th green at the time Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim.
“I didn’t even really know what happened,” he said. “But luckily the police were there and we kept safe, because that’s just weird stuff.”
Remember that and write it down: He feared for his life.
And this is a 22-year-old professional athlete. Can you imagine what others must have thought?
Look, this trumps any other extenuating circumstances the protesters can throw out. They went to a public forum and made people fear for their lives.
They ran down the hill and through the green bunkers with red and white smoke canisters. They stormed the 18th green. They sprayed white and red powder from the cans, leaving stains on the grass.
How else could anyone know what was on those canisters?
How else could anyone know they weren’t armed?
Cromwell police – mad props and bon mots to all officers – charged all six with first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree criminal trespass and breach of the peace. First-degree criminal mischief and first-degree criminal trespass can carry a prison sentence of one to five years in Connecticut.
Sounds good from this angle.
“The reason for their protest will not be released as the department does not wish to draw more attention to their case than what has already been received,” Cromwell police said.
Understood. But honestly, I’d like to know. Call it morbid curiosity. Four of the protesters wore white T-shirts that read “No Wave on a Dead Planet.”
Hard to argue that. But hey, there’s nothing on a dead planet. Example: There are no Slurpees and Slim Jims on a dead planet either. And yet they didn’t storm the nearest 7-Eleven.
No, they chose a public forum and shocked thousands of people.
All six were processed and each was released on a $5,000 cash bond. They are scheduled to appear in Middletown Superior Court on July 1.
I have no confidence that they will get jail time. Does anyone have that these days? I mean, look around. Locally, we have poor Crystal Caldwell, the local hotel clerk who was beaten on video in Mystic four years ago this Wednesday. Four years. Think about that. Four years. And its attackers still terrorize society.
Or the man who wielded a gun in Poquonnock Plains Park a few weeks ago. Witnesses said they fled in fear for their lives. Do you think he’s going to jail? Not me.
And then the granddaddy of them all: law enforcement officers telling us they can’t do anything about the dirt bikes that threaten our streets, leaving the rest of us scared and powerless. I’m not sure if the police won’t enforce the law or don’t have enough law to apply. But does anyone care?
I think I’ll throw out my entire Christmas list come December and just ask Santa for an influx of prosecutors and judges who are as annoyed as I am. And they keep showing up to work in a bad mood.
I fully appreciate that the right to protest sets us apart from (almost) everyone else. But the means and methods of Sunday’s six miscreants have no place in society. There must be an appropriate punishment. But why do I have the feeling they’ll be storming the green somewhere else next summer?
This is the opinion of Day Sports columnist Mike DiMauro
