We should not fear the sheriff's lies.
No lie can live forever. The sheriff of Dane County will soon see this.
Yesterday, Sheriff Calvin Barrett condemned the “violent” protesters for breaking into Ridglan Farms “intending to hurt our deputies.” He cited no evidence for this dramatic claim, and the news segment showed images and video instead of peaceful activists being assaulted by police with tear gas, pepper spray, and guns with rubber bullets. The clip ended with video of a journalist collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. Apparently, the journalists were also dangerous.
My first thought in hearing about yesterday’s escalation — I was arrested instantly and witnessed none of it personally — was concerned for those injured. No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort. (Police and firefighters, for example, damage buildings and doors all the time on rescue missions.)
But as reports trickled into jail that immediate danger to the protesters had ended, my concern shifted to anger. The sheriff not only led a vicious assault on peaceful protesters holding flowers. (My cellmate, Aditya, tells me he was arrested with a grandmother of six who was distraught and crying in the back of a police van after being pepper sprayed and tear-gassed. “I just wanted to save a dog,” she cried.) The sheriff had the audacity to outright lie about the grandmothers, journalists, and activists who are deeply committed to nonviolence.
Being falsely accused by a powerful man is a disturbing situation to find ourselves in. You might be surprised by how I feel this morning: confident and optimistic.
The first reason for this is that the sheriff’s lies show the weakness of his decision. People lie when they know they are in the wrong. And the sheriff understands that assaulting grandmas and journalists is wrong. He will use force to fabricate violent intent to justify his own brutality. You can see the weakness of his decision in his tone — the exaggerated manliness — and jerky body language. This is a man who is beginning to realize he’s on the wrong side of history.
The second reason for my optimism is that lies, when exposed, bring even more attention to injustice. As they say, not the crime will get you in trouble, but the coverup. Before I was arrested, I was in correspondence with a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who specializes in exposing government deceit. I expect a story will be forthcoming. I’ve also heard the New York Times published a positive story just hours after the protest — the fastest from pitch to publication I’ve ever seen for an animal rights story in the Times.
Brutality and dishonesty may suppress dissent in the short term. But over the long term, they simply bring more attention to a cause. Humans have a deep desire for authenticity. Even those uncertain about our actions will not be happy to learn they are being lied to.
And that brings me to the third reason for optimism: no lie can live forever. As attention focuses on the weakness of the sheriff’s position, there will be immense pressure to change. Indeed, this is already happening. The sheriff’s bizarre and false assertion that Ridglan is exempt from the animal cruelty laws has been thoroughly debunked. Journalists no longer repeat that lie. Institutions such as the Dane County Board have rejected it. Indeed, even the sheriff himself has stopped saying it, perhaps because he realized that his lie…has died.
There is a broader principle here. For thousands of years, humanity assembled through darkness and deceit. False prophets and manipulative demagogues have had an iron grip on our species.
But for the last few hundred years, with the spread of literacy and reason, that grip has been broken. In a world where information is in all of our hands, and not just the powerful, something remarkable is happening: the world is bending towards truth.
We once lived in a world where brutal segregation was accepted as “equal protection.”
Where women were considered “property” of a man rather than “citizens.”
And where love between two people of the same gender was a “criminal act.”
Those lies have all fallen. So too will the sheriff’s. He can try with all his might to manipulate the public into believing that compassionate rescuers are “violent,” that Ridglan’s criminal abusers are just “licensed business,” or that the dogs at Ridglan are just “things.”
But he will fail. Because no lie can live forever. And the world is saying this truth:
The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse.
That's the way to go Wayne.
You know many many people are supporting you!
I wrote an email to the sheriff this morning and called as well to express how appalling I found the conduct of the sheriff and his thugs. I have posted on Facebook as well the contact numbers. Why must people repeat the bad tactics of the past--here we go again whether it's civil rights, gay rights, black lives matter. Lies and violence to protect the financial interests of animal abusers. Shame on this sheriff and praise to all who were there. Nothing is finished. It aint over til it's over!