Protest is an important part of who we are and what we do as Americans. The right to dissent is one of our most cherished constitutional protections. With signs and slogans, chants and calls for action, demonstrators gather outside government offices, in public squares or on downtown streets. Whatever the issue, whatever the perspective, their voices rise in peaceful protest.
Lately, some demonstrations have morphed from public to private, from civil to ugly, from appropriate to unacceptable, from bold to cowardly. When activists move from public spaces to individuals’ homes, disrupting neighborhoods and frightening families and children, a boundary has been crossed; protest becomes personal and the goal shifts from changing policy to intimidating opponents.
Most recently, those who oppose vaccination and vaccine mandates publicized the home address of Northwell Health chief executive Michael Dowling on social media and gathered there in the last several days, objecting, in particular, to the vaccine requirement for health care workers — a mandate that comes from the state. They’re planning a larger “freedom protest” Saturday at Dowling’s home.
Up to this point, health care workers and other vaccine mandate protesters gathered outside hospitals, used social media and filed lawsuits — all legitimate ways to challenge policies they firmly believe are wrong. Apparently, it wasn’t enough. But in posting Dowling’s address on Facebook and then arriving at his home, they usurped Dowling’s right to privacy and his domestic safety. It’s not a matter of what is legal, but of defining and respecting boundaries in a civil society.
Such ugliness has targeted people at all ends of the political spectrum. Earlier this month, protesters showed up outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house to speak out against the court’s procedural decision not to accelerate the review of a Texas law banning most abortions. Last year, dozens of people arrived outside the home of State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, loudly urging him to support rent relief and an eviction moratorium. In the past, thousands of demonstrators showed up at the Brooklyn apartment building of Sen. Chuck Schumer demanding he be more aggressive in fighting the Trump administration. Those opposed to confirming a justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg banged pots and flashed strobe lights into the home of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The right to protest, without disorder, is sacrosanct. But our public discourse should not descend to a place where anything goes, where there are no lines between the public and private spheres. Making it personal, encroaching on someone’s home, is no longer about demanding change. It’s about creating fear and unease. It’s about putting on a show — to get attention. The vitriol and incivility of social media is invading our physical realm.
Bad behavior shouldn’t be a tool to help anyone make the change they seek.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
