One-man protest for justice
Bella Vista resident Jim Parsons protested what he calls an unequal justice system alongside U.S. Highway 71, just past the city’s southern border, last Wednesday afternoon.
Parsons was the only person to show up that warm afternoon, but he followed through and held a sign as afternoon traffic rolled by. Cars honked and occasionally people waved or shouted something that was utterly unintelligible through the cacophony of traffic sounds.
The protest was planned to highlight injustices faced by ordinary people, particularly George Floyd, who was choked to death by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25, Parsons said, stressing that the protest was intended — and managed to be — completely peaceful.
If Floyd had been a wealthy or influential person, he would not have been choked — something that doesn’t line up with the justice system’s stated practice of treating someone as innocent until proven guilty, Parsons said.
Bella Vista also sees its own share of injustice, with a POA board of directors he believes serves Cooper Communities rather than the members, documentation kept from those members, a recent assessment election that he takes issue with, the removal of board member Steve McKee and other issues, he said.
In all these cases, the courts seem to side with the elites, he said, and his sign featured the word “Justice” because he believes the justice system is broken.
“There’s just no justice for poor people,” Parsons said.
Poor attendance could be traced back to short notice for the protest or just the oddities of Bella Vista, he said. It can be extremely hard to predict how much attention a given event may get in this town, he said.