A recent carving fork–punctuated protest by Anna Edey, 83, at the Tisbury School has caused at least one school official to condemn the behavior and to suggest light-handed treatment or “downplaying” may have occurred. On August 11, Edey went to the Tisbury School with large culinary forks in hand, and tried to stop contractors from cutting down oak trees on the Tisbury School property.
School officials claimed the trees were diseased, and also in the way of the ongoing construction project at the school. Edey has balked at those claims. During her protest, Edey didn’t injure anyone with the forks. It’s not entirely clear why she had them. Tisbury Police didn’t arrest Edey, and didn’t charge her with any offense.
Tisbury Police Chief Habekost previously told The Times that Edey was “very emotional and upset regarding the removal of the tree.”
Two trees, oaks, were ultimately cut down. A third is taped off in a manner that suggests it too will be taken down. However, Tisbury School Committee chair Amy Houghton said an effort is afoot to spare the third oak.
The fork incident comes as school officials are on tenterhooks over the steepening price tag for a renovation and addition project at the school that was first pitched as achievable for $55 million. After Tisbury voters approved $55 million in borrowing, school officials announced another $26 million is needed. Tisbury finance director Jonathan Synder previously estimated the tax implication for the two sums, plus another $5 million earmarked for paving, would increase yearly taxes by over $1,000 on a home assessed at $744,000 ($744,000 is approximately the median home valuation).
Edey has been a frequent critic of the project, particularly its energy efficiency. She has questioned many aspects of the solar panel array discussed for the school.
Houghton condemned Edey’s fork behavior in an email to school officials and school stakeholders, and suggested if somebody from the school did something similar, the ramifications would have been more severe.
A Tisbury Police report alleges Edey displayed the forks as though they would somehow be integral in halting work at the school.
“Prior to officers arriving,” a report states, “Ms. Edey reportedly parked on the edge of the detail site, walked up to Traffic Officer Sam Koohy with a red cloth, then displayed the forks, which were hidden under the cloth, and stated the construction was going to stop. Ms. Edey then reportedly moved toward the workers with the forks, and that is when Traffic Officer Koohy called us.”
In her email, Houghton relayed concern from parents and others that the incident wasn’t being taken seriously enough. “We are conscious of the need to keep students and staff safe during construction,’ Houghton wrote. “Fencing and abatement plans are in place to reduce exposure to staff and students. W.T. Rich, our construction management company, has built schools, including the Edgartown School, and has a track record for maintaining the highest safety records. Last week, Ms. Edey, a member of the town climate committee, arrived on the school grounds with what appeared to be a weapon — barbeque forks — protesting work approved by town officials. Similar action by a staff or student of the school would have resulted in suspension and, likely removal from the school community. Many parents and staff have communicated their concern about this behavior and a perceived downplaying of the actions by other residents and the police. School safety in this time cannot be understated. We continue to review the actions of Ms. Edey with town officials. Since she is an appointed member of a town committee, like other elected and appointed officials, she is considered a ‘municipal employee,’ and her actions will be reviewed in that light. The school committee will coordinate with town officials on this matter, and put additional safety precautions in place moving forward. Per school policy, specifics about safety precautions will not be publicized.”
Houghton later had a direct email exchange with Edey. In an August 18 email to Edey, Houghton underscored the level of penalty a school staffer would have faced if they’d brandished forks at the school. “In this day and age, school safety can not be underestimated,” Houghton wrote.
In a red font reply embedded into Houghton’s email, Edey wrote, “We totally agree.” Edey went on to question whether forks constituted a weapon.
“Showing up on school property with a weapon is not a joke, and should not be minimized,” Houghton continued. “If we had a student or staff member do what you did, they would have been suspended and/or fired.”
“What about freedom of expression?” Edey wrote in red after that line.
“Your continued provocation of the community to follow your lead by bringing turkey forks to meetings is dangerous and reckless,” Houghton continued.
“We will bring little forks every time something bad needs to be stopped,” Edey wrote.
“Democracy was in place when the town voted for this project,” Houghton continued.
“No, that was not valid democracy because the public had not been sufficiently informed, and therefore did not understand enough to know what they were voting for,” Edey wrote. “The public chose to just trust you officials, and you chose to just trust the ‘Professionals,’ and that’s why we are in this scandalous mess today.”
“The process we are following is guided by state law, again democracy in action. Expressing your opinion is your right; however, you are an appointed member of a town committee that holds you to a higher ethical standard,” Houghton continued.
“I hope you will all come to understand that I am the one who is acting with ‘highest ethical standards’ — remember the Boston Tea Party,” Edey wrote.
Tisbury Police Chief Chris Habekost couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the allegation by Houghton that his department downplayed the incident with Edey.
As The Times previously reported, Tisbury Police de-escalated the situation. Tisbury Police Sgt. Max Sherman was able to confer with Edey at the scene for about 30 minutes and resolve the matter without taking Edey into custody, a report shows. However, Officer Nick Sidoti did seize the forks, per a report, which were temporarily kept in a cruiser. Sgt. Sherman later returned the forks to Edey, according to a report. “I advised her to keep them in the kitchen if she could from now on, she agreed to do so and drove off,” a report states.
Houghton later clarified that in suggesting potential scrutiny of Edey through the lens of her membership on Tisbury’s climate action committee, she wasn’t advocating for Edey’s removal from the climate action committee.
“I want to be very clear that at no time have I suggested that Anna be removed from the climate action committee,” Houghton wrote. “Anna has been a valued member of that committee, based on her keen interests in the area of environmental concerns and sustainable building opportunities.”
On Monday, Houghton further clarified she wanted Edey “held accountable” for behavior that was “against the law.” What form that accountability should take, she said, was up to the town. In “no way, shape, or form” was she promoting expulsion from the committee Edey was on, she said.
If you want to write an editorial about Anna Edey, write one. A news story does not begin with a question mark. Don’t pass it off as a news. The problem with Fox is that they mix news with opinion. Don’t fall down that rabbit hole. It’s killing us.
On sept 20, I will attend the town meeting, and I will have a fork with me as a symbolic gesture of support for Ms. Eddy. I hope others do also. It is 6 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.
Many a blue claw crab has had it’s dead body dismembered with this fork. Humans need not be afraid.
I will proudly hold it high when I vote NO on this proposed waste of money.
Stop wasting money on bricks and mortar.
Give the kids of Tisbury the kind of school they deserve.
1×2 construction with OSB sheathing and painted sheet aluminum double wides.
Why not bring a wooden pasta fork instead? It’ll coordinate better with the spaghetti strainer on your head and be much safer for those around you.
I stand with Anna and the trees. Thank you, Anna, for taking a brave stand for the trees.
Because you cared, one tree was spared.
Reading this I am aghast! The school committee who won’t step up to prevent irreparable damage to the health of our island residents, including students, and our waters is complaining about forks?! Seriously?! Then that committee turns around and brings litigation against the host town of MVHRS because they were told no to a toxic field? Is this an example of “acceptable” behavior?
From reading this article not one student was endangered by Ms. Edey’s protests and concerns. It seems to me the school committee is blowing the whole thing our of proportion. If you really want to see something downplayed look at your own responses to the science presented about PFAS.
i agree with Mike. Further, it also seems to me that Ms. Houghton is making Ms. Edey’s gesture into more of a threat than it was. In a world where people with guns march around threatening or actually killing folks, an 83 year old woman “moving toward” construction workers with a barbeque fork covered with a cloth hardly seems worth all the fuss that Ms. Houghton is making. Her thirst for accountability is admirable but misplaced. Save it for the ballot box this Fall. The police seemed to have handled the matter far more sensibly. Good for them.
This is textbook white privilege. I wonder how Ms Edey would feel if I showed up to her place of work and brandished weapons in an effort to get her to cease what she was doing.
Her responses listed above demonstrate her lack of perspective on jut how unhinged her actions and ideas are.
Dear Harrison – I am working on a comment to put in as soon as it says what I intend it to say – about my point of view, what tool I actually had, what I intended to do with it, and why, and what I did do, and why I did it, and what I think about what I did.
This is such a very important topic and very important conversation. I love that we have a place where we can express our feelings, beliefs, our different points of view – let’s listen to each other and marvel at the wide differences in people’s opinions, and different ways of expressing it.
I think we all agree that we want our school to be the best it can be, at the best price, and ready as soon as possible
And I think we would all agree that all aspects of the school must cause as little harm as possible, for now and for our kids – we all know enough about the worsening disasters and so much worse to come. We all want to do the best we can to reduce the worst of what they say is coming, and we would all like to ensure that our community is well enough set up to survive and live well through the long-term total grid collaps that we all is coming, sooner or later. Right?
Yet, I am certain that if sit down and just talk respectfully about our different points of view, we would all soon agree on every detail of the issue at hand. And that’s how I feel about this school issue – I’m PRETTY sure that our Community ThinkTank would come up with a proposal that would indeed offer a far better school, at far less cost, and ready much sooner.
I am 90% done with the first episode of my new YouTube channel, racing to put it out here, where I will show what I am proposing. Stay tuned.
You could bring a sharp spoon and try to stop her from cutting all those helpless lettuce plants!
Ms Edey clearly carried her turkey forks as weapons.
Quotes from her responses to the prior MVT article:
“Dear Katie – thanks for taking the time to voice your opinion, and I trust you will come to agree with my actions and goals as more information unfolds.
Those turkey forks were for my own protection, strictly for self-defense in case someone tried to knock me down.
And it turns out they were the key ingredient that brought the police, which alerted the MV Times, and almost instantly resulted in this excellent and exceptionally accurate article by Natalie Aymond, emphasizing the mutual respect, warmth and kind words that blessed this event (thank you dear Natalie) – which was then followed by this wonderful community conversation.”
“And the 3 key elements that finally crashed through their 4-year silencing-attempt, and thus finally brought this huge issue into public awareness, was a combination of 1: Primal screaming rage and grief, 2: turkey forks for self-defense, and 3: mutual respect, love and kind words.”
Does anyone else feel that coming armed with sharp weapons on school grounds can be justified simply to protest cutting some trees? Particularly combined with “primal screaming rage and grief”? It sounds like a high risk combination to me.
Ms Edey’s strange pride in the fact that her weapons are what brought the police and got her media attention is even more disturbing. Thankfully we had a very professional response from the police, who were able to size up and defuse the situation. I hope the workers involved in the tree work were only upset enough to just sadly shake their heads. And not troubled further by her completely inappropriate display when they were simply doing their jobs.
Ms Edey deserves to be heard with regard to her thoughts on the new school. But she also needs to own her inappropriate behavior. Her protest on public school property would be much more powerful if she were to acknowledge the right to peaceful protest and the responsibility to turn against violence, actual or implied. Weaponizing her actions may have brought her some short term PR, but in the long term will cause much greater harm to her advocacy.
Why wasn’t she jailed?
I want to be Ms. Edie. She shows more muscle than slot of mouths.
It seems some people here think that the 2A right to defend themselves only applies if you have a gun.
I did notice that many supporters of the attempted insurrection on Jan 6 claimed they were unarmed because they only had clubs, spears, lead pipes and chemical weapons. ( but some did actually have guns) I wonder if Anna had showed up there with a legally acquired ar-15, would the argument be flipped?
I would like to hear from some insurrection supporters as to how they think it was ok to beat police officers with American flags and clubs, but it was not ok for an 82 year old woman to defend a tree with a fork .
I’m with you, Don, on the insurrectionists. The penalty for insurrection is clear. Seizing the US capitol by force cannot be defined as anything but insurrection, even if it is done by buffoons wearing bison heads. BUT, it didn’t happen on school grounds. Most of us know (and many love) Anna and support her causes, and bringing the forks to the protest to alert the police and thus the media was a brilliant strategic move on her part, but in this day and age is anyone really openly supporting carrying weapons to a school in a passionate and angry state of mind?
“I would like to hear from some insurrection supporters as to how they think it was ok to beat police officers with American flags and clubs, but it was not ok for an 82 year old woman to defend a tree with a fork”
So far, I’ve seen absolutely no indication that people with such conflicting ethics even exist. Why would you assume they do when no one has taken that stance?
This sounds more like “because something terrible took place elsewhere, we shouldn’t focus on a local issue” deflection. Happens a lot. If we applied that logic to every topic, nothing about the Vineyard would ever be discussed on its own merits. This is, after all, a relatively privileged place. Most things that happen here don’t stack up against the world’s ills. We still need to assess events and behaviors for what they are to maintain a strong community and make responsible decisions.
Katie,
You do know that no one was charged with insurrection right? What happened on January 6 was just as disgusting as all the other riots that happened around the country the summer prior.
I’m not the one bringing up insurrection. Don is. He’s done it twice. I objected to the comparison and came here to talk about a local story. Address your complaints to him.
My apologies, I missed those quotes. Thank you for correcting me.
No problem, Carl. I figured out after replying to you that I probably made things confusing by quoting Don. I often do that to try and make it more clear which portion of someone’s remarks I’m addressing.
I really thought that everything that needed to be said in a public forum was already said following the initial reporting on this incident.
I don’t see the need for this follow up article and agree with Michael Ditchfield’s comments about this in his reply.
This is an 83 year old passionate grandmother who had no intention of using those turkey forks on anyone. The fake horror of some posters is laughable.
“Passionate”, “Forks”, “School” is a really bad mix. If you really are able to read minds, perhaps you can stop future tragedies.
You’re a brave soul, Anna, and a person of principle whom I respect, but declaring you have an item(s) for self defense is basically declaring it to be a weapon. We live in a world of absurdities, but taking ANY weapon onto school grounds is very un-PC right now and will gain no support for your cause.
It looks to me like the School Committee is creating a new narrative to deflect attention from the real problem: They are holding taxpayers’ feet to the fire to sign a new check for another $26 million while announcing “There is no plan B.”
Really? Sounds kind of irresponsible, even feckless, to me. Much worse than Anna Edey brandishing a barbecue fork to express the seriousness of her concerns.
The School Committee must come up with a plan B, and if they don’t, the voters will do it for them.
I was ok with her civil disobedience until she felt the need to brandish 2 carving forks. Really? I’m grateful those she confronted calmly diffused the situation. There was no need for her to weaponize this situation.
Dear Bill – I felt a need to bring something to protect myself against them just grabbing me and knocking me down. I would never ever ever have used them to attack anyone. I have always been totally against violence.
However, I do believe that holding a small sharp NON-PROJECTILE tool that could hurt nobody UNLESS they chose to run into them, that, I do believe, is entirely within the realm of non-violence and passive resistance. I don’t see any slippery slope here.
And please consider this: without those turkey forks, nobody would have called the police, and there would have been no story to report, and we would not be having this community conversation, and I would still be the only one trying to stop this abominable Tappe project. Please consider these facts.
I would love to hear what you all would do to stop what you feel is a Bad Wrong being done in your community?
We’ve GOT to learn to stand up EFFECTIVELY against what we feel is deeply Wrong, otherwise the Wrong will just continue to force us to do what we know is Wrong. Right?
This is such an important issue to discuss with our kids – how to stand up against what you feel is Wrong, and insist on your right to make a proposal for a better option.
Perhaps sometimes a situation is so utterly unethical, immoral, so threatening to do intolerable and unacceptable injustice and harm to our children, that we just have to stand up and do something shocking to break through those thick walls of “business-as-usual” inertia.
That wall is now crumbling down, as evidenced by the fact that here we are, talking about the biggest issue this town has ever faced.
They will still be desperately trying to shore up that wall until Sept 20 – they are desperately hoping that the town will vote YES to that additional 26 million dollars.
AND, dear Tisbury taxpayers, please keep in mind that the original 56 million plus that 26 million ACTUALLY results in a debt burden of $132,000,000, to be paid off by our kids over the next 30 years – which comes to $360,000 every month for the next 30 years
And if they don’t get the ultra-low interest they are hoping for, 3.5%, then our kids’ debt burden would swell to $150,000,000 or more – more than $416,000 every month.
They have hardly mentioned this real actual amount that our kids will have to pay off over the next 30 years cost (could this be called deceit), and they have actually asked me not to mention that actual cost. (Sorry Amy, Tappe et al – in a real democracy, anything short of full disclosure is deceit – it’s time to lay all cards face up).
For more than 4 years, I have been asking to show them this obviously better option, but always the same response from the committee: “we will ONLY consider what Daedalus/Tappe recommend – NO other options are allowed”.
And the response from friends who disapprove of the Tappe design as much as I do, have been equally discouraging: “It’s hopeless – no way will I get involved with that hornets nest again.”
Now, thank God, it is entirely different – the topic is finally out in the open! Yes, Democracy!
And now I am 95% ready to launch my first YouTube channel, for the purpose of showing what is Bad about the Tappe option, and mostly to show what I recommend instead – and to invite you all to join the conversation.
And I invite everyone to join our Community ThinkTank to help develop the best school we can imagine, for half the cost, and ready in half the time.
This is the Plan B everyone has been hoping for, and it took a pair of turkey forks to finally remove the veil that has kept it hidden for 4 long years.
Anna, you weren’t just holding forks. You were enraged. Even if you value non-violence, how are those being confronted supposed to know it? People can only perceive what we display, not what we think. If a stranger approached you this way, what would you assume? It may feel like a defensive move from your perspective, but that’s not how it presents to an observer who is doing nothing wrong or threatening.
I believe that you didn’t intend to attack anybody, but to keep insisting you’ll do this again in groups is indefensible. Creating willful conflict that others may get dragged into isn’t okay! It makes more work for police. It adds to public tension. It teaches kids this is acceptable. It’s not. In some scenarios, it’s illegal. Yes, we want children to learn to stand up for what’s right, but that must be done smartly and safely. Some would face harsh consequences for what you did. Why isn’t that a concern?
I’m not sure that this was the only way to get publicity or a conversation going online. Did you contact this paper? Ask them beforehand to do a story about a peaceful tree protest or your plans? They’ve done investigative work before. Did you try passing alone your ignored correspondence to the Times? Granted, I don’t know what you’ve explored, but these seem like more reasonable options.
Unless I’m picturing the wrong items, and maybe that’s the case, you can’t bring these on a plane. A child can’t wave ’em at a teacher. Disgruntled employees can’t do the same at work. These wouldn’t be allowed in buildings that require security checks. Etc.
There’s a sound reason behind all of the above. One that’s obvious. I don’t know why this should be treated as an exception to everyday practices and logic. There is nothing new about the take that enraged outbursts + sharp objects = a bad idea.
Forks are not powerful in the same way that guns are. A lot of things that may cause injury don’t rise to that level. So? What possible injuries—even accidental—are okay when creating conflict for others?
In my book, none. Protesters used to stress the term peaceful because this much was understood and agreed on. If the police have to be called, and rightfully so, to de-escalate your approach, peaceful doesn’t apply.
The additional details from the traffic officer make this even more clear. No one threatened Anna Edey. When you approach unarmed people who are minding their business and you start screaming with something in hand, you are the problem. That’s offense, not defense.
Ms. Edey’s age is irrelevant. One, because she has encouraged others, who could be any age, to do the same. It’s wrong to promote this behavior after a responding officer told her not to repeat it.
Two, because anyone can get hurt or cause hurt during an emotionally charged incident. It doesn’t have to be some vicious or deadly attack, either. I get the impression that when folks hear “potential violence”, they assume a Kill Bill-style sequence is being suggested. Nope. I was talking under the last article about realistic outcomes as someone who has dealt with various conflicts.
This ended okay because the police and crew handled it well. Credit to them. But not everyone knows what to do when put in such an unfair position. Say someone shows up with a “protective” weapon. The unarmed person on the receiving end of the outburst may try to grab the fork to, in his or her mind, diffuse things. The person holding it panics at being approached. I’ve seen that end in a hand injury.
Is a hand injury too mundane to worry about? Here, I’m guessing yes.
And sometimes, the one who started the ordeal can get injured by accident. Because high emotion + pointy thing = a bad idea.
*Defuse. I need an edit button.
Ms Lane your first use of the word Diffuse was correct. Defuse means something else
I am a high school teacher. This year after the Uvalde shooting I found myself saying sadly “the day after school shootings is always hard.” Unless you are a teacher who has experienced this again and again along with lock down drills you are not in a position to discuss anyone bringing a weapon of any type to a school. Thank you Amy Houghton for your thoughtfulness toward this matter. You show you care about teachers, students and families.
Ms cotton– Let me point out that there was a group of men armed with chainsaws at the school that day. If a carving fork is a weapon, a chain saw most certainly is.
They were actually using those saws as weapons and dismembered 2 defenseless living organisms. A chainsaw massacre in plain sight.
Others showed up carrying service revolvers on their hips, and likely had heavier weapons at their disposal in their vehicles less than 50 ft away.
And may I remind you that there were no children present.
We all care about teachers, students and families.
An 82 year old activist woman who is attempting to provide a better and safer future for the aforementioned should not be demonized for her advocacy.
There was no threat to anyone at any time.
Except to her, of course.
“There was no threat to anyone at any time. Except to her, of course.”
A lie. I thought you were against lies?
No one was armed with a chainsaw. They were working. Workers follow strict safety guidelines. There is zero indication that anyone on the crew viewed those necessary and pre-approved tools as weapons. No one did anything aggressive towards Ms. Edey at all, per her own account. This was one-sided.
The police were only called in because of her actions. They treated her with a level of compassion and respect I’ve never personally seen from law enforcement. Your reference to their guns in this instance is pure theatre. She had the choice to avoid interacting with them at all. Did others? No.
When the person brandishing pointy things, plural, admits they’re for protection and carries them into a chaotic scenario of her creation, of course they should be considered weapons. She wasn’t hosting Thanksgiving, and there’s a reason she didn’t bring marshmallows or a stuffed animal.
I don’t know if Don’s comment was intended as sarcasm or a genuine attempt at countering serious concerns. Can’t tell anymore. Either way, I think it’s highly disrespectful to reply to someone who is opening up about school violence with distractions that are not based on the facts. You’re describing the “massacre” of two trees to someone discussing a true massacre in Uvalde? Where is your sense of decency?
In the end, a simple discussion is what made the difference here. There would be no need for “protection” if Anna Edey talked this out from the start with those in charge. The forks are being given all the credit, but I’m guessing the tree could’ve been spared for now without them. Everyone was sympathetic towards her mission, which is great. It’s her methods that are unacceptable.
No one here, far as I’ve read, wants to see trees cut down without cause. We want everyone to stay calm and civil. To balance activism with responsibility. To show respect for people who are just doing their jobs. To consider how this looks in the eyes of kids. Most of all, to stop saying she’ll do it again and bring others along.
These used to be standard expectations on our kindness-lives-here Vineyard. Now they’re up for debate depending on whether we agree with someone’s reasons or politics. Great. What could possibly go wrong?
Katie– my comment was not sarcasm.
Let’s get one thing straight– when Anna went over there with her forks, she went to a construction site. The fact that the building used to be a school is irrelevant to the situation. The building is currently unoccupied, there will not be a single child or teacher that will use it as a school for at least a year. The current “school” which is also unoccupied is surrounded by a secure fence that Ms. Eddy was incapable of breeching. All the children that you are concerned about were no where the place.
While we are all concerned about school shootings, to equate the Uvalde massacre or any shooting in any school to the actions of Ms. Eddy that day borders on hysteria.
As far as who was actually in danger– The reality is that no one was-especially the non existent children who we all want to be in a safe environment. But– Ms Eddy was the one who was “outgunned” so to say. She was going up against at least 4 strong men ( and maybe some women) who could break her in half before they dismembered her if they wanted to. Yes, that’s a ridiculous statement. I know some of those guys, and I am sure the idea of doing any kind of harm to Ms. Eddy never crossed their minds for a second, but it is certainly more true than your ridiculous statement.
If nothing else, she could have fallen and accidently impaled herself
And then we have the police— We are very fortunate to have the local police force we do. They are professional, courteous and always approach a situation with the intent of de-escalation.
But there are multiple stories of passionate people being caught in a situation that escalates into someone getting shot.
Your comment that “you can’t bring these on a plane. A child can’t wave ’em at a teacher. Disgruntled employees can’t do the same at work. These wouldn’t be allowed in buildings that require security checks. Etc.” is accurate but does not pertain to the event we are talking about. You make it sound like these things are so dangerous that one should not be able to have one in your shopping cart while you are in a store.
As for calling my statement that Ms. Eddy was the one who was most at risk, a lie, I am quite offended.
Clearly no one was at any kind of real risk, including the imaginary children at their school that you are so concerned about. For you to compare this trivial incident with not a child in sight to the Uvalde massacre is my opinion equally disrespectful to the lives and suffering the families of that tragedy are experiencing. Have you no decency?
If you are worried , as we all are, about horrific school shootings, vote for elected officials who will at least try to keep military grade weapons out of the hands of mentally ill people.
I’m familiar with the Tisbury school’s current state. I never claimed that any child was in direct physical danger from Ms. Edey’s actions, nor that children were on site. That’s a fabrication. I stated that some are paying attention to this project. They care. They are impressionable. They are learning about democracy.
Meanwhile, adults cheer on the erratic actions of a respected community member. Set a better example. I want children to grow up with an understanding of where uncontrolled displays of anger could land them. It doesn’t always end this well off-Island.
You claim to value facts. It is not my opinion that Ms. Edey posed a risk. It’s a statement that you can find in the initial article, a write-up that she praised. An officer relayed that they had to ensure the safety of everyone there, including Ms. Edey. Commenters glossed over this.
We have an Island of people with liberal beliefs who loudly supported BLM and now can’t even see or admit—I don’t know which—that planning to create public conflict is socially irresponsible on many levels. That this behavior may once again require a police presence and can drag innocent people into the mix. It’s unfair to those who want to avoid such heated situations. To those who may not be treated as delicately as Ms. Edey. It’s also unfair to the police who have enough to deal with. They told her to leave the forks at home going forward.
I didn’t respond to this story because of this lone event. Had it been a one-time lapse in her judgment, I would’ve opted out of the discussion. What concerns me is that she said she will do it again with others by her side. The more times you pull a stunt, the more people you involve, the better the chances that it will end badly for someone. Be it the police, those being confronted, those simply in the wrong place, or Ms. Edey herself.
I was trying to impress that physical risks do, on a factual basis, come up during this type of conflict, even if you won’t acknowledge them. I’ve lived it. Also, that hard-working folks are owed more respect. Never in my life would I feel entitled to scream at strangers and walk away saying, “I approve of what I did, and I’ll do it again. With friends.”
“If nothing else, she could have fallen and accidently impaled herself”
I’ve stated at least three times, probably more, that I was concerned about that exact thing. Accidents. That SHE could get injured. Had I said it once, missing it may be an oversight, but it’s been one of my main talking points. You’re proving that you do not read to understand and consider. You read to reply. Thank you for finally tuning into the idea that raw emotion plus any sharp object is a dangerous combo. Why didn’t I think of that?
“You make it sound like these things are so dangerous that one should not be able to have one in your shopping cart.”
I didn’t. These are common objects with a specific purpose. If you’re cooking, have at them. Hence my crack about Thanksgiving. When you try to use them for an alternative purpose, like holding them up while raging and making demands, you’ve now got a weapon on your hands. It’s about intent and circumstance.
“For you to compare this trivial incident with not a child in sight to the Uvalde massacre…”
I said absolutely no such thing. I mentioned Uvalde once. To point out that another commenter, a teacher, is pained over what happened there and that you were insensitive to tell her about our local “massacre” in direct response.
When I said “school violence”, I was referring, again, to her remarks about national shootings. Not what happened in Tisbury. It’s a huge stretch to read it any other way.
I’m aware that the two massacres, one real and one your graphic creation, should never be compared. I don’t confuse the importance of trees with that of children.
I stand for Anne and the trees, of course always non violence at all times, Cleary she was no threat, she cares about mother earth, I hope she also supports mother ocean, obviously the police and workers felt no threat, this is a women with compassion and empathy, she would never hurt anyone, she cares about our island, trees are carbon capture, just as the ocean and why not solar, she has good ideas and wants to keep costs down.