9/11 10.0 in Amherst: Lone Sign of Dissent

As noted, the official commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks were dignified and austere. An interesting contrast (or: complementarity) was created by the nearby presence of the traditional weekly Peace Vigil, a few yards away. Each group marked the day and expressed its values separately and simultaneously, at once close together and far apart.

There was, however, one lone protester, whose aim was more to confront and provoke.  Carrying large placards, she paced back and forth behind the speakers in an attempt to capture the audience's attention. The passer-by here was clearly doing all she could to ignore her.

The reverse of the placards, displayed in alternation with these sides, was even more densely covered with writing. Although I was unable to get a photo, I recall that it included a denunciation of President Obama.

Not sure why she thinks removing Gadhafi from power is a bad thing. Spelling was not her strong suit, either.

In any case, the message seems to be that she is angry at people whom she holds responsible for killing, and thinks they should be . . . er . . . killed. Something like that.

Eventually, she walked across the street and just sat down on a bench in front of the bank, still glowering, still desperately hoping that someone was paying attention.