The Growing Threat of Violence
He stood on the corner before me as I crossed the street. His head bobbing and nodding, making eye contact, his lips already moving before I even made it to the sidewalk. A Fox 43 camera dangled at his side. I couldn’t hear him—a live version of Folsom Prison Blues by the Dream Syndicate filled my ears—but I already knew what he was saying. I raised a finger, the universal sign for ‘hang on a second.’ I dug my phone out of my pocket and paused my music. “What’s up?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.
“I’m hoping to talk with you about an incident this past weekend with Sheriff Muller.” Of course. Everyone’s talking about the incident with Sheriff Muller. The Fox News guy went on for thirty seconds about Facebook memes, No Kings protests and public perceptions. He didn’t need to bother. I’m following the story closely. I’ve jumped into the online fray.
James Muller, the Sheriff of Adams County, Pennsylvania, my county, attracted attention by posting a meme on Facebook the same day as the Gettysburg No Kings protest. He posted a photo of a white Dodge Ram pickup splattered with gallons of blood. The caption: The All New Dodge Ram Protestor Edition. I’ve included an image of the truck, but not the caption. I don’t want to make it too easy for people to repost the meme. This is humor to a seventy-nine-year-old law enforcement officer. To me, and many other citizens of my county, it’s reprehensible.
I turned down my opportunity to be interviewed. I work in a semi-public, non-partisan position. Yes, I publish my leftist opinions weekly, but I’m not on TV. People need to seek out what I write. TV comes directly to their home. Plus, Fox News, won’t they just edit me to sound like a ranting fluffy-haired snowflake?
Unsurprisingly, the outrage against Muller isn’t universal. It falls along partisan lines. Here’s a sampling of Facebook comments associated with a neutral Pennsylvania news website that ran the story:
Melissa S: Love it. He has my vote
Wyatte E: What happen to the first amendment!?!
Christinia M: Democrats can promote assignation attempts and that is Ok. But this meme is causing such problems. Only in America.
On a side note, many of the comments echoed this sentiment: Why does any county have a SEVENTY-NINE year old sheriff??
Good question.
I couldn’t resist the urge to dive into the fray, make my opinion known. In response to a comment by John W: This outrage from the same group of people who thought it was “funny” of Kathy Griffin to post a meme of her holding the decapitated head of Donald Trump. Give me a break. #doublestandards
I responded: No, Kathy Griffin is a comedian whose job it is to shock people. Sheriff Muller’s job is to protect the very people he’s threatening. Also, if you found it abhorrent when Griffin threatened Trump, why don’t you find this abhorrent as well. Seems like you’ve got some #doublestandards of your own.
I got a couple of likes, but not the dust-up I expected.
The story seems to be growing, becoming the national news item it deserves to be. My wife and I hesitated over attending the No Kings protest fearing political violence. Since the protest, I’ve talked with a dozen people who stayed away for that very reason. As we inch ever closer to an ideological civil war, it’s not lost on me that the violent rhetoric seems to come primarily from Trump supporters, with many of the threats coming directly from the Trump administration. John W needed to reach back eight years for his Kathy Griffin example. I don’t recall any Republican politicians being handcuffed and/or arrested by the Biden administration.
Sheriff Muller’s joke about murdering citizens expressing their first amendment rights is just another step along an increasingly trodden path of citing violence as a valid method to combat dissent. When half the commentors on news websites agree with this rhetoric, how far behind can the actual violence be? I’ve heard that in discussions on Gettysburg subreddits, people are advocating against visiting our town this summer. Seems like a pretty sane idea to me.