“You are judged by the company you keep”

This is something my father told me when i was young, “you are judged by the company you keep“. It was not a statement in support of ‘judging’ people. It was not a statement in support of guilt by association. It was a common sense, reality based, piece of advice he gave me to help me make decisions that would keep me out of trouble and safe. I have used that advice in many instances in my life. It did what it was intended to do. It kept me out of trouble and safe.

The Portland protests, like others around the country, are getting press that both support and demonize the participants. Which is the true picture of these protestors? Are they peaceful citizens? Are they rioters?

The truth is they are both.

Peaceful protestors, whether you agree with them or not, are in the streets and passionate about the cause they support. That is fine. Have at it. Protesting has become an everyday occurrence in this country since the 1960s.

Joining them, however, are militant, violent groups (AntiFa, BLM, gangs, delinquents, individuals, etc) bent on disturbing the peace, destroying property, creating fear, terrorizing the citizens and harming whoever disagrees with them or gets in their way.

And, in all fairness, there are some individual protestors who try to play it both ways.

If you are a peaceful protestor in a group that turns militant, violent and are doing things you don’t like, then separate yourself. I know, you don’t want to give up your protest, but you have to. Someone else has taken it over anyway and that is not good for your cause. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting caught up in the law & order personnel designed to maintain order and protect citizens and their property.

If you are a rioter masquerading as a protestor, you will get away with it for a while. But when all the rioters are gathered up, the ones who no one wants in that net are the ‘real’ peaceful protestors. Police cannot determine who is the peaceful protestor and who is the rioter in a mass of humanity where bad things are happening.

The only way to insure that you, as a peaceful protestor, are not caught in the net is to separate yourself.

Otherwise, you, and your cause, “will be judged by the company you keep”.

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