Second Term - A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 1) (15 page)

THIRTY
FOUR

Rural
America

Human beings
generally prefer to lead a peaceful, quiet existence. Get up, go to work, come
home, spend time with the spouse and the kids, go to bed. Repeat. Thus, it
requires something extraordinary to make a normal human being protest some
action or another of the government. The McAlister Bill was an incentive to
protest. Once it became known soon after the Presidential election what the bill
would do if it became law, rank and file members of gun rights organizations
increasingly besieged the leaders of their national organizations, asking what
they could do to help stop McAlister.

The national leaders,
though, were limited in how far they could go to oppose the McAlister Bill.
They could coordinate protest and lobbying efforts, which they did frequently
and effectively. But, they couldn’t, nor would they, call for any level of
violence. The nation was under martial law, which limited Americans from
exercising their rights of free speech and assembly. Everything changed when
the President declared martial law. The Department of Homeland Security issued
an order to the nation’s Governors finding that public demonstrations and
protest marches were “inherently illegal” and were to be banned by officials in
each of the fifty states.

National gun rights leaders
were careful that almost every member letter, news release and press conference
included an obligatory warning to avoid any form of violence. They warned their
members that any act of violence would immediately be used by the backers of
the anti-gun bill to persuade Congress of the increased need to rid the nation
of what the Administration labeled in every news conference as ‘hate weapons’.
One national leader, Harry Flatt, warned his members,
“Even one bullet fired
in anger over this evil anti-gun bill will be used against us, and used to
justify taking away our firearms. Don’t help the White House pass their bill by
using your defensive firearm in an offensive way. We are peaceful Americans who
just want to be able to obey the law and defend ourselves.”

In spite of DHS’s
order, sporadic protests broke out across the country, usually in rural areas,
where the protests were further away from law enforcement officials who were
willing to forcefully terminate the public gatherings. The protests initially took
the form of marches and rallies, usually held on Saturdays, and including large
numbers of people carrying protest signs. Most involved speeches by gun owners
opposed to the pending anti-gun bill and by free speech advocates, generally
conservatives and Christians and Jews, worried about the Bill’s effect on
religious rights. Most included chants, such as:

KEEP YOUR HANDS
OFF
MY GUNS, KEEP YOUR HANDS
OFF
MY GUNS

I SPEAK, YOU SPEAK,
WE ALL SPEAK FOR
FREE SPEECH

Some were throw-backs
to the anti-Vietnam war protest of the 60s:

ALL WE ARE SAYING IS
-
GIVE GUN RIGHTS A CHANCE!

Some sang
We Shall
Overcome
, with revised lyrics:

Gun rights shall overcome,

Gun rights shall overcome,

Gun rights shall overcome some day.

Freedom of speech shall overcome,

Freedom of speech shall overcome,

Freedom of speech shall overcome some
day.

Most of the scattered
protests were cut short by local law enforcement officials who were ordered to
terminate the gatherings by DHS. Media coverage of the protests and their
forced termination was sparse. The Nation’s mainstream media chose not to
report what Americans were saying with their feet, their signs and their voices
about the McAlister Bill’s sponsors’ plan to define away their rights enshrined
in the Constitution.

As the vote on the
bill neared, and as the debate that was being covered on a limited basis
intensified, the nature of the protests began to change. In a nation with as
many firearms as Americans, and still smarting from what they saw as a ‘stolen
election’, it was inevitable that the anti-gun debate would eventually turn
violent. Bullets were fired at several federal installations, usually at night,
with no recorded arrests. When windows were blown out of federal offices, the
national media was there to show the nation’s viewers, and to interview
distraught federal employees. Since no one was ever apprehended for the late-at-night
shootings, there was no real assurance as to whether the bullets were fired in
anger by out of control opponents of the McAlister Bill, or instead, by
supporters of the Bill, trying to demonstrate to Members of Congress the urgent
need for passage of the Bill.

One tactic used by
the opponents of the Bill was borrowed from American teenagers who used what
they called ‘flash mob messages’ to call out hundreds, even thousands, of
supporters on a moment’s notice, using Twitter, cell phone texts and instant
messaging. With no advance warning, entire plazas or office parking lots full
of opponents of the McAlister Bill were called out, when it was learned that a
Congress person was expected to be at a specific location in his or her
Congressional District. Nothing got their attention like thousands of their
constituents showing up at their District office or outside of a Lincoln-Reagan
or Jefferson-Jackson political dinner. But, true to form, the only media who bothered
to cover these demonstrations of public opposition were local.

Since most owners of
firearms, as Flatt had said, were peaceful, and since they understood that
using their weapons would help them lose their weapons, the number of confirmed
and organized acts of gun violence decreased. It seemed as if American gun
owners were holding their breath, hoping against hope that the Bill would fail.
They wrote letters and made calls to their own Members of Congress. They
protested, peacefully. They contributed funds for lobbying. They prayed.
But….they were scared. Scared that America would become like Australia. Scared
that they would be like the Brits in the 2011 riots who could only buy baseball
bats to protect their homes and families. Scared that they would soon lose the
weapons that they owned to protect their families. Scared that they would be
unarmed in the face of criminals who would rob, hurt, rape or kill. Scared. 

Likewise, religious
leaders were worried that the seemingly innocent language of the McAlister Bill
punishing speech deemed to be hate speech would be used against them,
restricting the contents of sermons and religious writings. Conservatives of
all stripes and from organizations across the country saw the Federal Hate
Speech Review Panel as a direct violation of the First Amendment and an attempt
to censor their religious views, if they conflicted with prevailing government
policy. Most were scared that if the McAlister Bill became law, it would be
used to punish them, including imprisonment, if the courts ruled that their
words were illegal, in violation of McAlister’s definition of the phrase ‘hate
speech’. Since the Bill categorized hate speech as written or verbal speech
that
unfairly
or illegally attacked a federal public official, or which unlawfully denigrated
or negatively criticized any public official, they were scared that any
critical comments about public officials could land the speaker or the preacher
or the writer in prison. Scared that any sermon, speech or book dealing with
gender, race or sexual orientation could have the same result. Scared that the
federal government would become the federal censor. Scared.

THIRTY
FIVE

Omaha,
Nebraska

The law of unintended
consequences may have been meant for just such an occasion as this – the Omaha
Gun Supporters Parade. The idea behind forming the
Omaha Gun Owners Against Seizing
our Guns
organization was simple. The organizers announced that the
February 17th “Parade was to demonstrate to the people of Omaha, and of
Nebraska, and to that Crazy as a Loon Congress, that the people of mid-America aren’t
about to voluntarily give up our firearms, even if the anti-gun law passes”. At
least that was the underlying concept. The leaders of the group, as they
planned the Gun Supporters Parade, were put on notice by the Department of Homeland
Security in DC that the protest would be a violation of its order, and contrary
to the President’s declaration of martial law. Thus the march would not be
allowed and would be banned, by law.

The Mayor of Omaha,
though, ignored the DHS order. He was more than happy to have his offices help
the parade organizers obtain a parade permit. On first application, they had
been turned down by a city hall bureaucrat who supported the McAlister Bill
pending before Congress. Once the Mayor found out about the denial, though, the
permit was swiftly granted. In return, the Mayor was invited to march in the front
ranks of the Saturday noon event, an invitation he was pleased to accept.
“Let’s send a message to DC,” he told anyone who would listen, including local
media, “we aren’t going give up our guns, no, not under any circumstances, nor
any threat, nor any federal government pressure. Not in Nebraska. Nor will we
give up our rights of public assembly and free speech.”

Once officials at the
DHS realized that their order banning the march was being flaunted by the Mayor
of Omaha, they notified the Governor of Nebraska, demanding that he over-rule
the Mayor and cancel the permit for the parade. This the Governor of Nebraska
was unwilling to do. He responded to the DHS that he would handle it, though he
had no intention to do so. He instructed his Chief of Staff to draw up the
necessary order to the Mayor of Omaha, but privately advised his employee that
he should “bumble” the service of the order on the Mayor, only finally
delivering it to the Mayor late on the Friday before the Saturday march. He
sent word to the Mayor that the order wouldn’t arrive until after hours Friday,
and in any case, that the State of Nebraska would take no action to stop the
protest, nor to seek to punish the Mayor for dis-obeying the late delivered
order.

On Thursday before
the march a suspicious DHS, not having received any verification that the march
was being cancelled by the Governor, sent in the US Army General assigned to
Nebraska as a part of the President’s order of martial law. The General and the
Governor had known each other, as it turned out, since their days at the
University of Nebraska, a fact unknown at DHS. After a brief private talk the
two officials arrived at two decisions. The Governor and his wife left the
state for a previously unannounced weekend vacation, asking his staff not to
reveal his destination. The state’s Lieutenant Governor was on a trade mission
to the Orient. The General informed the DHS and the Pentagon that he had
exercised his authority to demand that the Governor prohibit the parade, but
that he refused to do so. His report, though, was delayed in transmission, for
unexplained reasons, until after close of business Friday evening. Thus the
parade organizers had no legal impediment to their Saturday noon event.

In the planning for
any public event, event organizers reach a point where the early decisions made
for how the event will be conducted are either affirmed, or changed at the last
minute. In the very first meeting of the parade organizers one member of the
group casually said, “Won’t it look great when they show on TV all the
thousands of Nebraskans carrying our firearms? Just seeing all those guns and
all of us carrying them will make quite an impression, won’t it?” Many in the
group nodded their assent, and the meeting moved on to picking a date for their
parade. No one at that meeting, nor at any subsequent meeting, ever thought to re-examine
their initial decision to openly carry their guns in the Omaha Gun Supporters
Parade.

The chosen Saturday for
the Parade was sunny and crisp, but not too cold, as tens of thousands gathered
in Omaha, as planned, and without any legal impediment that organizers
recognized, to assemble for marching down Farnam Street to Heartland of America
Park on the Missouri River for speeches. Many marchers brought their children
to make it a family event. All were there to demonstrate their opposition to
federal gun control. The Mayor had his first inkling of personal doubt when his
driver let him off at the Park. As the Mayor looked across the Park at the
large crowd, he heard an organizer on a bullhorn say “Show us your guns”. As
the marcher/demonstrators responded, the Mayor saw the sun glinting off of what
at first appeared to be hundreds, but then reflecting off of thousands of
rifles, shotguns and raised pistols and revolvers. The Mayor was one of the
State’s highest profile supporters of gun rights, but it occurred to him as he
walked across the Park to greet the marchers that
maybe
this wasn’t the
best
way to gain support from the general public. Seeing an individual defend
themselves against a mugger or rapist, he thought as he walked, was fine for
the cause, but this looked like an armed mob. This will feed into the White
House’s propaganda machine. Oh well, maybe, they won’t be watching, he hoped.
But, of course, at the same time, he knew that wasn’t at all likely. Why didn’t
they just march, and carry signs, not guns? This will give the nation’s
anti-gun President, who was from the Mayor’s own political party, he was sorry
to say, ammunition for several speeches in support of the McAlister Bill.
Ammunition indeed.

What the Mayor did
not know, nor did anyone in authority in Omaha, was what the President’s Chief
of Staff did once he learned from DHS a little after 8 PM on Friday night that
the Mayor and Governor would not cancel the march through Omaha and planned to
violate the President’s imposition of martial law. The President was located in
the family quarters watching basketball, his favorite non speech giving
activity. Once he was advised of the situation in Nebraska, the President
speedily authorized his Chief of Staff to do whatever was necessary to enforce
martial law. His Chief of Staff confirmed that the President literally meant
whatever was necessary. Once assured of his authority, he went into action.

Soon after noon, on
schedule, the marchers filled Farnam Street, on their trek to the Heartland of
America Park, and some hoped-for ‘whooping up the crowd’ speeches. Within half an
hour, the entire length of the east-west thoroughfare was full of people and
their uplifted guns. It was quite a sight, and one that many observers thought
had never been seen before, not like this. Most large numbers of people who carry
weapons in public are dressed alike, in military uniforms. These gun carriers
wore the full variety of what everyday people wear when they are in public, but
they certainly didn’t look like an army. Historically, people who showed their
guns and who weren’t in military uniforms, didn’t usually march or pose for
photographs.

Once the marchers had
reached Heartland of America Park, overflowing the Park down each street that
fed into the large open area, the program began with a prayer and greetings by
the Mayor. The Mayor was almost finished with his brief welcoming comments when
he heard what sounded like a distant bull horn shouted voice. Neither he nor
most of the people in the large crowd could make out what was being said.
Later, federal officials claimed that the shouted words were what were called a
“final warning” to the protestors to “lay down your guns, now, or be fired
upon”.

Within seconds of the
unintelligible words, shots rang out. At first sporadic shots, then extended
volleys of gunshots were heard across the Park. Analysis of audio recordings
later indicated that over three hundred shots, possibly more, with some
overlapping shots, were fired in a 75 second period. The result, the immediate
result, was pure panic. The gun owners were, for the most part, trained and
quite knowledgeable about what the shots they were hearing meant, though all
marchers had been told not to load or bring any ammunition. Most immediately
knew that they were being fired on. When hundreds tried to escape, but
couldn’t, and hundreds of others tried to fall to the ground to avoid being
shot, chaos and panic ensued. In the ensuing melee, many marchers were trampled
and severely injured. Some who fell to the ground were trampled by others who
meant to do no harm, but who feared for their lives and for those of their
family members. The death toll from gunshot wounds came to one hundred and
seven, including eight children. The number injured who were treated for their
injuries at local hospitals was not released to the media.

Later, in depth
reports confirmed that none of the weapons carried in the Parade appeared to
have been fired, either intentionally in self-defense, nor inadvertently, as
marchers fled, fell or were trampled. Those reports, though, took several months
to be completed.

What the mainstream
media reported immediately after the Parade panic, though, was a completely
different story:

New York Times

GUNNERS DEATH MARCH IN OMAHA

Five Die as Thousands Brandish Guns

NBC

OMAHA GUN OWNERS VIOLATE MARTIAL LAW

CBS

SECOND AMENDMENT REBELLION IN
HEARTLAND

MSNBC

OMAHA INSURRECTION BACKFIRES

Polls Show 7% Increase in Support for
Anti-Gun Bill

FOX

FREEDOM MARCHERS AMBUSHED BY FEDERAL
TROOPS