Big difference between legitimate protesters and street mob

Observing a protest that turned ugly at a Saskatoon fundraising dinner for Premier Brad Wall, an activist put it well: “What the hell, people? Why would you flush away a good protest with this crap?”

As protesters clambered on car hoods, blocked traffic and intimidated dinner attendees — all to oppose the government’s recent budget — they couldn’t have made themselves look worse.

Some of the mob came from organized labour and apparently confused the rules of union picketing with political protest.

Union picket lines during strikes or lockouts have a nuanced set of rules that sometimes permit protesters to prevent others from gaining access to a property. But political protests are different.

Any of us can vigorously protest and express our views, but this right of expression is limited where it obstructs someone else’s freedom of movement or intrudes on their personal space.

Whether attending a political dinner or visiting grandma, unless you are committing an unlawful act you have an unfettered right to go about your business and no one is permitted to harass you, jump on your car, touch your property, intimidate you or impede your movement.

Some protests also suffer from the snowflake effect, where younger social justice warriors — so conditioned to never having been told anything they don’t want to hear — actually believe they have a right to stop others from expressing or even holding opinions that differ from theirs.

Sadly, Saskatoon’s police service was badly outnumbered and outsmarted by the mob, which didn’t speak well for either the perception of public safety or the actual protection of members of the community.

Within minutes of the protests turning ugly, certain activists repeated the same line used by every man who has ever beaten a woman: “You made me so angry; look what you made me do.”

This offensive justification not only blames the victim for the aggressor’s behaviour but isn’t how a civil society works.

The reality check here is that these protesters aren’t exactly fighting human slavery or genocide.

They are unhappy with a government in the most prosperous place in the world that is spending more money than it did last year but not on what the protesters want.

Many activists take inspiration from 1960s leftist radical Saul Alinsky, who wrote Rules for Radicals, a set of principles for agitating, fanning hostilities and exploiting controversy. Some of Alinsky’s rules include: “Power is not only what you

■ have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Make everyone think your cause has more people than it does.

“Never go outside the experience

■ of your own people and, whenever possible, always go outside the experience of an opponent.” When people are outside their comfort zones they experience “confusion, fear, and retreat.”

“Ridicule is man’s most potent ■ weapon.” Infuriating your opponent makes him react and is hard to counterattack.

“Keep the pressure on. Never

■ let up.” Try new things to keep opponents off balance and “develop operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. This will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.”

“The threat is more terrifying ■ than the thing itself.”

“The price of a successful

■ attack is a constructive alternative.” Don’t be trapped by the question, “OK, what would you do?”

“If you push a negative hard

■ enough, it will push through and become a positive.” For example, goading an opponent into violence wins public support and sympathy for the underdog.

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize ■ it, and polarize it.” Cut off the target’s support network and isolate the opponent from sympathy. Attack people, not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

Protest is a vital part of a healthy democracy. Attacks by a mob are not.

John Gormley is a broadcaster, lawyer, author and former Progressive Conservative MP whose radio talk show is heard weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on 650 CKOM Saskatoon and 980 CJME Regina.