Madison’s new Capitol Police Chief, David M. Erwin, blatantly violates our Constitution. As he does so, his handlers as well as our courts look the other way. This is the same chief who, as a Marine, took an oath “to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.” Instead of defending those liberties we have, he is using heavy-handed tactics on those he swore to protect. Who truly is an enemy to the state?Why is Chief Erwin resorting to Gestapo-style tactics on unarmed non-enemy combatants? He may have left the Corps but he still took that oath, like so many others before him have. Why are the people we choose to elect who are supposed to uphold the laws of our land, choosing to ignore these obvious attacks on the very fabric of our government, our way of life? What many before them risked their life and limbs dying to defend, our Constitution.

If these attacks on our personal freedoms continue, I fear that it will set a precedent for future infringements until the day comes when we see Capitol Square, State Street and the surrounding areas closed off in a similar fashion to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Eventually we can enjoy watching Soviet style parades with formations of troops and tanks marching around the block with Leninist style flags waving in the breeze, a breeze that would be a deathblow to freedom. It will take more than peaceful protests and drum banging to defy that.