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On January 17, during the weekly Barlett Mall rally (very well attended, as always), someone I did not recognize handed out a leaflet calling attention to the fact that Todd Lyons, the Acting Director of ICE, lived in West Newbury. This was a surprise to me and most other people that I talked to about it, and evidently to another individual, who I don’t know about either, who decided to picket the Lyons residence, all by herself. Here’s a report that surfaced on Facebook:
A friend of mine went outside Todd Lyons’ house (Acting head of ICE) in West Newbury to protest peacefully. The police showed up before she even got out to protest, but she said the police were great and totally understanding. They reminded her not to step on his property as that would be trespassing, but that she was within her rights on the public road.
She was alone with her sign standing on the side of the street. A man in a pickup truck drove by and threatened to beat her up and then left, a neighbor came out and filmed her saying it was for his safety, and another neighbor came out telling her to go home. Todd’s family smiled and waved at her and then closed the curtains/blinds.
She’s looking to make it a regular thing and I think she might be onto something. ICE is taking it to everyone else’s houses, why not take it to his? We have a unique opportunity to protest peacefully and lawfully in a way that may have a bigger impact right here down the street. Thoughts?
FYI She is planning to start Saturdays at noon. Starting next Saturday 1/31. Parking at Pentucket High School and walking over to the house. Feel free to join and spread the word.”
I have to say, I had a medley of reactions to all this, several contradictory. First off, hats off to this woman, she showed some guts going out there alone and having people come by and threaten her. My days as a youthful demonstrator are long gone, and memories of the Vietnam protests I went to or read about put me off violence awhile ago. Misery loves company, as the cliche has it, and I doubt I would have shown up solo to parade in front of Lyons’ house. If a bunch of people showed up, I might think differently.
On the other hand, this is pretty ugly. Newburyport politics are often noisy and nonsensical, but they are rarely in your face or confrontational. I guess I feel ambivalent not so much to confronting Lyons and the despicable ICE operations he supervises but subjecting his family — wife and kids – to harassment and vilification-by-association. Is that the Newbury way?
Some may say no, not traditionally, but that the circumstances we are living through today — certainly a nightmare to many of us — merits a brute and unneighborly response. I’m a bit undecided myself. What do you think?
James Charles Roy
Newburyport resident
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