Protests Should NOT Be Held Near KCS Campuses

***Update***After reviewing social media footage, protesters were actively using the Dobyns-Bennett parking lots. They were actively using the Palmer Center lot and grounds. KCS property was part of the protest. I doubt that was part of the agreement up front, but the facts remain. This needs to get nipped in the bud. We can’t have 2000 protestors using two KCS campuses regardless of the cause. Many, many of these protestors were not from Kingsport. We have no idea who was in that crowd – too many unknowns for a protest to be allowed that close to KCS campuses, one of which had students actively taking the ACT and who walked or drove directly into the protest upon exiting the campus. Please read the rest of the article for more information……..

Yesterday, the No Kings Kingsport protest was demonstrating on the street(Fort Henry Drive) outside of Dobyns-Bennett High School while Kingsport students were inside taking the ACT. Who allowed that to happen? One of my kiddos walked out after taking the ACT into that mess, and said, “Get me out of here. I don’t want to be in the middle of a bunch of protesters.” I had to drive to the backside of the school in order to stay out of that.

If you were part of that protest, please rethink where u need to have that type of gathering. Adjoining property to a school campus cannot become a lighting rod for political movements.

Further, the City of Kingsport and Kingsport City Schools need to ensure that our students are not subjected to protest movements from either side. Protests should not be allowed near our public schools whether in session or not. I am a conservative, and I don’t want conservative protests near any KCS public schools either.

To be clear, I don’t think KCS approved of that protest, but the city/school system for dang sure need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. That is a recipe for disaster. I am sure the excuse will be made that protestors were in the right of way, in a park, and behaving peacefully. It should be noted the D-B parking lot was used for parking by protesters.

And what happens when a protest isn’t peaceful? Anyone accessing the D-B campus on Saturday had to go through that mess whether they agree with the protest or not. Having 2,000 protestors within 10 yards of a school campus is not safe. We don’t know who is in that crowd. We don’t know who will show up to confront that crowd.

I have heard multiple negative reactions to the location of this protest. There are plenty of other places in Kingsport to hold a protest. Just from a safety aspect alone, protests don’t need to be anywhere near a public school whether in session or not. I certainly support the right of Americans to peacefully protest. The location of yesterday’s protest is of great concern. I thought the folks at the protest were behaving appropriately – behavior yesterday is not the issue. The precedent of having protestors near a KCS campus is the concern, weekend or not.

As a point of reference, NYC’s Columbia University is now restricting access to their campus in order to prevent protesters from accessing their campus or protesting near it. KCS needs to enact similar measures. School campuses and adjoining grounds are not appropriate locations for protests of any kind. There needs to be a buffer where protests are not allowed anywhere near a KCS campus.

ProTip: So many questions…Can you imagine the response from Democrat families if their children had to walk or drive through a Conservative protest in order to access their campus? Can you imagine if that protest had turned violent? Can you imagine if a conservative teenager student had confronted a protestor? What happened yesterday sets a dangerous precedent. And it is worth repeating, students’ access the D-B campus 7 days a week for many reasons – ACT testing, sports practices, band practices, and on and on.

Either way, having protestors outside of Dobyns-Bennett while the ACT is being administered is not appropriate. I don’t think anyone could have seen that problem in advance. But now that we see the issue, it is time to keep protests well away from any KCS campuses regardless of the time of week.