PORT ANGELES — A military veteran and father of a sailor serving in Iraq demanded to the City Council on Monday night that war protests should be prohibited at a veterans shrine on Lincoln Street.
“If this kind of behavior must be tolerated, it certainly doesn’t need to be at a city park,” said Keith Moffett, coordinator of an organization called Support Our Troops.org.
“Certainly not at a park which is dedicated to the veterans whom they seek to denigrate.”
In comments submitted to the council, Moffett said comments on protesters’ signs, such as “America is Imperialist,” “Blood for Oil,” “American Soldiers are Baby Killers,” were “offensive to family cultures in our area.”
Veterans Park, which includes a replica of the Liberty Bell and other tributes to military veterans, is next door to the Clallam County Courthouse on Lincoln Street.
Moffett told the council, meeting Monday at City Hall, that the First Amendment did not extend to “hate crimes against any group or culture” or “statements of a potentially seditious nature against the United States government.”
He suggested that the council revoke a Veterans Park assembly permit to the group Peninsula Peace Coalition, and instead establish a “day of reflection” when people could be thankful for being citizens of the United States.
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