OPINION:
The thugs who barged into a church service in Minnesota on Sunday reminded me of a similar crowd that tried to disrupt an event in which I, as governor of Wisconsin, was taking part with the Special Olympics. That was a turning point in our efforts to win the policy debate on our reforms and, ultimately, the first successful recall election against a governor in American history.
In both cases, the mobs revealed their radical tactics and turned off the vast majority of sane voters.
Opponents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did more than protest Sunday. A group of agitators stormed into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and interrupted the church service because they thought one of the pastors was connected to ICE.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was tipped off by the protesters and aired their actions on his livestream. He even went so far as to defend their actions as being protected by the First Amendment.
Clearly, Mr. Lemon does not fully understand the U.S. Constitution, which also defends the freedom of worship. The thugs’ right to speak out does not supersede the church members’ right to worship in their sanctuary. Real protesters could have held up signs and chanted slogans on the public sidewalk outside the church. They cannot, however, barge into the church and interrupt the service.
Can you imagine the outrage from radicals if someone had targeted an Islamic mosque and interrupted their worship? The left and most media outlets would have lost their minds with hysteria.
Members of President Trump’s Cabinet are correctly talking about charges against the agitators under the Ku Klux Klan Act and the FACE Act. These radicals trampled on the constitutional rights of worshippers in Minnesota. Legal action must be taken to prevent further attacks.
We must protect religious liberty in America. We must not let these agitators win.
At the same time, we must continue to point out the radical tactics used by so many on the left.
During my first few months as governor of Wisconsin, big-government special interests and union bosses turned out more than 100,000 protesters against our reforms. Once they realized their efforts to intimidate Republican lawmakers and me wouldn’t work, they switched to organizing a recall effort against several Senate Republicans and me.
Initially, public opinion — largely driven by sympathetic media outlets — was clearly on their side. Even though I repeatedly spoke during the campaign about the need for public employees to make reasonable contributions to retirement and health care benefits, the protesters made it seem as if I was taking away all their benefits.
In reality, after our reforms, they were still better off than the average citizen. Still, the media bought into their lies.
The turning point was the day thousands of protesters came out of the state Capitol to try to interrupt an event where I was speaking. It was the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. Long before I was governor, I ran with law enforcement officers in my area to raise money and awareness for the Wisconsin Special Olympics.
Even with the protests in and around the state Capitol, I wanted to thank the athletes, their families and friends and the organizers of the games. The program was held outside in the capital square by the Law Enforcement Memorial. Special Olympics athletes were lined up with their shirts and gear. Families, friends and other supporters of the athletes were there too. They were surrounded by police officers, sheriff’s deputies, state troopers and other officers who were part of the run. It was always an exciting event.
As I walked up to the podium, protesters emerged from the state Capitol and marched between the Special Olympics athletes and me. My first reaction was to go off on the protesters. Who the hell would disturb such an event?
Thankfully, I realized the athletes were still listening to me. I kept focused on them and how proud we were of all of them, their families, coaches and supporters. We thanked the law enforcement professionals and organizers and went back inside.
The media covered the event at the top of the news that night. Instead of the stories being about my fight with the protesters, it was all about the mob interrupting a group of Special Olympics athletes.
That was the moment that prompted everyday people in my state to reexamine the press narrative. They looked at the protesters and said, “We don’t act like that in Wisconsin. Who are these people?” It was a turning point in the debate.
I hope the same is true in Minnesota. Religious liberty is paramount in America. It was certainly part of the founding of our beloved republic 250 years ago. It must be again today.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation. He served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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