Last night was a proof of concept.
After work I drove over to Rep. Jan Schakowski's Town Hall meeting at Niles High School in Skokie, IL. The doors were tscheduled to open at 1700 and the event was scheduled to start at 1830. I got there at about 1730, and the place was a madhouse.
The doors weren't open yet and there were a good 300 people lined up outside to get in (later news reports had 1,500 people in the room). There were hundreds of people outside not even trying to get in, almost all of them Health Care Reform supporters, and about a third of those wearing purple SEIU shirts. Most of the pro-reform crowd—and virtually all of the grape-shirts—were carrying expensive, professionally-made signs.
Initially things were very peaceful. There were a few heated arguments out by the road, no real threat of violence. Things seemed safe enough that I relaxed and indulged in a little shouting myself. Note to the Jacks: don't do that. Our guys love it, but in addition to the flag and the Black Jack it makes you a magnet for anybody with a camera, so unless you're prepared to deliver an off-the-cuff disquisition on the mission of the Navy Jacks, you can wind up looking like a real idiot. You just can't do your job out there when you're trying to focus on a camera.
Anyway, at some point somebody ran over to tell me there was trouble by the door. I soon discovered a group of about a hundred anti-Obamacare protesters arrayed across a fire lane from a group of at least four times as many people from the other side. And things were getting nasty.
The ringleader appeared to be a stocky gentleman in a frayed suit who looked to be the very cliche of a union boss. Drunk, too, as I could easily tell when I got within a few feet of him. He faded back a bit when some folks from our side began chanting "Have another drink!"
There were a few other folks from the other side who seemed intent on whipping that crowd into a frenzy. There were a number of heated arguments on the border between the two groups, and I had to do double duty to step between them all. At some point I grabbed a few guys from the Conservative crowd and showed them how to use their bodies to keep a lane clear. Things went a bit more smoothly for a while after that.
Finally, at around 1900, something changed. The agitators in the back of the crowd moved to the front and came screaming in with loud threats of physical violence. There were four of these, two who looked like gang-bangers and a couple of clean-cut fellows.
I planted myself in front with my flag at port arms and used the staff to prevent them from entering the Conservative side of the crowd. They surged up against me for a couple of minutes, screaming curses and waving their arms at me and the older couple behind me who were apparently their target, but I kept my cool and stayed out of the argument except to create the barrier. Eventually they ran out of steam and faded back.
All this time the police were standing entirely on the sidelines. After this last near-altercation faded, an officer in a squad car finally lit off his lights and buzzer and moved in to clear the fire lane. Better late than never, though, and the local cops did well enough keeping the lane clear from this point on.
At the end of the day, there was a whole lot of shouting and some shoving, but no actual violence. The Conservative side was heavily outnumbered, and the other side was well-organized and ready for a fight. There is no doubt in my mind that my intervention—both personally, and through the fellows whom I deputized—was instrumental last night in keeping people from getting hurt.
Since I was the only Jack on the scene, I had to rely heavily on the help of civilians from the crowd. Given the intensity in the moment, it was impossible for me to keep track of their names, and so I'd like to thank those guys here for stepping up. It's a testament to the decency and gallantry of the average American citizen. Guys, you made a real difference last night, and you ought to be very proud of the way you carried yourselves. I thank you all.
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