Dear Friends:
You may have already seen the news!
Last Saturday, a man wearing a MAGA hat violently attacked protestors participating in Refuse Fascism’s #OutNow rally in Santa Monica, spraying the crowd with a potent form of pepper spray known as bear repellant. Even more shocking, he seemed to believe that he had an inalienable right to do so in his defense of the current presidential administration and its fascist agenda. (You can view a powerful video of the protest and the subsequent attack at https://youtu.be/_Yw9ti2KO9k.)
This man’s determination to intimidate and silence protestors through an unprovoked act of violence must not go unanswered. In fact, it cannot go unanswered, for it is merely one example of a much larger and more concerted effort to stop all protest whatsoever against the rising tide of fascism in this country. Not only are they going after the people who are already protesting (most notably Refuse Fascism); they are also seeking to intimidate the broader numbers of people, including a growing number of prominent individuals, who are just now beginning to call for sustained street protests to demand an end to our current nightmare. (See the Op-Eds by David Leonhardt in the October 20 edition of The New York Times and by Matthew Yglesias in the October 18 edition of Vox.)
In this context, we’d do well to remember the powerful words of lament spoken by the German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller shortly after the fall of National Socialism and the conclusion of World War II. He reflected on the fact that he had refused to speak out when the Nazis came for the communists, the socialists, the trade-unionists, and the Jews… “Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
As Niemöller so painfully discovered, history does not always grant us the luxury of time. There are occasions when we must act with boldness or abandon humanity and ourselves to suffer consequences too terrible to be conceived. One such time was 1930s Germany. I am convinced that another such time is right now. We must stand up for those who were attacked in last weekend’s march and rally! If we don’t, it will set an incredibly dangerous and negative precedent that has a very real potential to create an ever more energized and violent suppression of those who place their bodies on the line to save humanity from the threat of a fascist America.
This is not a time for any of us to stand aside from the struggle! All of us are needed to proclaim a powerful message of conscience and courage: IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY, WE REFUSE TO ACCEPT A FASCIST AMERICA!
Last Saturday’s protest in Santa Monica and a similar rally in New York City marked the beginning of Refuse Fascism’s #OutNow movement, which calls for multitudes of people to take to the streets in sustained mass protest until the current fascist regime is driven from power. Will you take your place in this movement and encourage others to do so too?
- Will you sign your name to a statement condemning the Santa Monica attack and join the call to come back stronger this coming Saturday, October 26? And will you forward this statement and call to others?
- Find October 26 national #Out Now! locations at RefuseFascism.org.
If you are in So Cal:
- Will you join a press conference in front of Santa Monica City Hall this coming Thursday, October 24, at 11:00am?
- Will you pledge to be at the rally and march at MacArthur Park at 2:00pm on Saturday, October 26?
In the name of all that is just and true, don’t stand aside!
Rev. Frank Wulf
for the Faith Initiative of Refuse Fascism
[email protected]