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Jason Johnson is the president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department.
There’s a line in civil society where your legitimate right to engage in the public sphere impinges on the legitimate right of others to remain in their private world. That line is crossed, unfortunately, all too often in today’s America. But the measure of our respect for our fellow citizens should be how we, as a society, react to such transgressions.
For one family, it appears we failed. Leonard Leo is a public man with public views he hopes will shape public policy. But he still has private rights — and those who oppose his views and actions should respect those rights.
Even more, Leo’s family are not public figures. But no distinction was drawn when some opponents allegedly targeted his wife and child. That would be wrong – a violation of basic norms, decency, and the law.
Political antagonists of Leo’s protested outside of his home for weeks last summer. The protesters chanted and held signs expressing their displeasure with Leo. But Leo alleges that Eli Durand-McDonnell went further last July and followed Leo and his wife and young daughter down the street, shouting invective and cursing in their faces. Durand-McDonnell and his mother even rolled down their window to tell Leo he was “a f—ing fascist,” they told the New Yorker.
Leo called the police and two officers came to the scene. After taking a report from the family, the police officers arrested Durand-McDonnell for his behavior. The charges were later dismissed.
But now those who came to the defense of Leo’s family — two unaware police officers — are the new targets. By doing their duty to protect law-abiding citizens, they have been caught in the crossfire of our increasingly crass politics.
Durand-McDonnell is suing the two officers from the towns of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert. In his federal suit, he claims that the arrest was “an illegal and retaliatory arrest” which violated his free speech rights.
The local prosecutor declined to pursue disorderly conduct charges saying his caseload had other priorities, and that the misdemeanor charges were borderline. Allies of Durand-McDonnell may point to this as proof that it was an unlawful arrest when, in fact, prosecutors frequently drop cases out of resource limitations and for their own political benefit.
Now, a report from The Maine Wire suggests that the town of Bar Harbor may settle with Durand-McDonnell for $150,000. It remains to be seen if either jurisdiction will discipline the officers as well.
If that happens, I believe this would be further evidence of a world gone mad. It would appear that you and your family could be hounded and intimidated by those whose behavior allegedly veers into the illegal. And those police officers who stand up to protect you from such harassment could be the next victims in that campaign, potentially losing their jobs for simply doing them.
I believe Bar Harbor and Mount Desert must stand their ground and stand behind the cops who were there to protect and serve. Anything less would be a disservice to their communities and those who protect and serve.