Letter: Plaza concert hijacked on the 4th

Letter: Plaza concert hijacked on the 4th

Donna Monroe, resident
St Johns County, FL

Dear Historic City News editor:

I was outraged that the wonderful singers and orchestra, that tried to perform in the Plaza on the afternoon of the Fourth, had practiced and invested so much time to prepare for a performance that was totally ruined.

It was ruined by approximately a dozen self-absorbed people who thought their message of hate and racism was more important than the celebration of the founding of our nation.

I asked the police sergeant and also the fire marshal, both of whom were in attendance, whether the protesters had a permit. They both told me that a permit was not required…that those folks were exercising their “freedom of speech.”

So does that mean that I could take a bullhorn and march through the huge crowd that was sitting on the lawn and scream through the bullhorn selling air conditioners, cars, abortion rights, animal rights, gun control, sea turtle rights, alligator rights, ad nauseam, without the police stopping me?

Why do the rights of 10-12 people to scream racist slogans override the rights of several hundred attendees to hear the concert? If the city government doesn’t have the intelligence to figure this out, then the city commission, city manager, and especially the city attorney need to be replaced.

Tourism will eventually be dead in St. Augustine, thanks to the city government. Who wants to put up with the horrendous traffic and parking problems to have the visit hijacked?