To the editor:

I read with amusement the editorial that called for restrictions on parades downtown. To begin with, the streets are public places, and, yes, they are appropriate for demonstrations. Massachusetts Street is difficult to traverse even when there’s nobody walking on it. Anyone who wants to go somewhere can go around on several different routes. I haven’t seen any demonstrations that blocked traffic for more than a few minutes at any given spot.

I thought it quite wise of the police to allow the anarchists to peacefully block traffic wherever they wished to go. Nothing would make the cops look worse than to start hauling people to jail, and everyone knows it. If I thought that my act of peaceful civil disobedience would get me arrested, I wouldn’t think twice about doing it. In fact, that would be all the more reason to go ahead and protest more often.

Finally, just who do the editors of this paper think would be the judge of a group’s right to block traffic? I, for one, would run like a scared rabbit from that post. I’d be a lightning rod for everyone’s anger.

So, perhaps the Journal-World editorial writers would like to suggest the groups who can and can’t block traffic with a parade. And while you’re at it, how about signing your name(s) to the recommendations.

Bob Gent,

Lawrence