As many of you know, the borough council of Gilberton, Pennsylvania gave police chief Mark Kessler a 30-day suspension for using police department property in his now-infamous YouTube videos. What most people don't know, however, is that the atmosphere at the July 31 meeting at which he was suspended is something that should never be tolerated in this country, or any reasonably civilized country for that matter.
Those wanting to come speak at the meeting found themselves greeted by several members of the "Constitution Security Force," a militia headed by none other than Mark Kessler. According to Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, some 100 Bushmaster-packing men and women were there. And according to The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News, they were joined by several militia members from other states as well. According to Horwitz, they apparently came in response to this Facebook post from Kessler (which has apparently been deleted):
I will not stand idle while tyrants attack the constitution ... If they want to fire the first shot let it begin right here in Schuylkill county ... Every militia , every csf member who can attend please do ... So come with your flags n your firearms. MOLON LABE ... democrats are the true enemy of our country, our freedoms, our constitution, along with liberal news agency's , liberal news reporters, much like hitlers nazis , time we clean these antiamerican thugs from office.
The majority of those who got a chance to speak denounced Kessler as, in so many words, a thug with a badge. A good many more would have gotten in to speak, but several armed militia members stood in front of the doors and prevented all but a few people from getting in. Michael Morrill of Keystone Progress tried to deliver petitions calling for Kessler to be fired, and was confronted by several gun-wielding CSF members. He later wrote Horwitz to say that this was the most frightening experience he's had in a long time. And yet, Kessler was the one complaining about being the victim of Nazis? Pot, meet kettle.
In what world is this not a firing offense? I find it inconceivable that there isn't some sort of remedy for this outrageous behavior. Kessler needs to be removed from his post immediately, and maybe even brought up on charges of violating the civil rights of those who wanted to speak and felt intimidated into keeping silent. Somebody needs to intervene here, and soon.
7:33 AM PT: Zenbassoon mentions in the comments that there's a WH.gov petition asking the White House to federalize the Pennsylvania National Guard and restore some measure of law, order and civil liberties to Gilberton. Sign here.