Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation to protect drivers who strike protesters with their automobiles.

The North Dakota bill suggested that shielding drivers who kill protesters from civil and criminal liability was a necessary anti-terrorism measure.

Then we have the statement from Justin Moore, the Grand Dragon for the Loyal White Knights of Ku Klux Klan, who said he was glad Heather Heyer died in the Charlottesville VA attack.

“I’m sorta glad that them people got hit and I’m glad that girl died,” Moore said in a voicemail to WBTV.

And then we have Trump who muddled through three different statements and press conferences without truly showing any believable sympathy or bereavement toward those who were injured or lost their lives. His final primary theme was to try to convince us that there were a lot of innocent people attending the protest: “You had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest, because you know — I don’t know if you know — they had a permit. The other group didn’t have a permit.”

Well Mr. President, the counter protest group had two permits, and the brochure I saw advertising the original protest contained the logo of the KKK along with multiple images of the Parteiadler (symbol of the Nazi party.) I do not know anyone who would want to “innocently protest” with such a group.

So if there are any white supremacist rallies in North Dakota and the Republican “protect violent drivers”  bill has become law, racists and neo-Nazis need not arm themselves with traditional weapons, they can just use the four wheels they rode into town on.

Many Republican politicians, from Trump on down, are going out of their way to promote violence and protect violent offenders.

Gretta Van Bree

Lincoln Township