As Deadly as a Guillotine

Every American who wants to be proud of their country should be sickened by the untimely, unfair, uncalled for, passing of Matthew Perna. A young patriot in the prime of his life, literally hounded to death by his own government. Driven to suicide by an administration who used the judicial system as a weapon as deadly as if they’d used a guillotine. And who was this young man they hounded to what to him was the ultimate solution? Matthew went on a mission to Haiti to help the people. He travelled Asia, Europe and South America to try and understand how the rest of the world lived. He taught English to school children in Thailand and South Korea. He was a runner, who preferred running in God’s, his country’s, wilderness than on a paved track seeking a pat on the head from an admiring throng. Maybe seeing despotic countries was why he was so angry with his own country and how a minority was treated—not blacks or browns. But a minority, those who took the trouble to travel miles to have their complaints observed, who gathered at their country’s capital to peacefully protest an election they felt (and I agree) was not representative of the promise of our republic, free and fair elections.?

While a small fraction of a percent, a few of the many thousands who protested that day, were destructive and broke a few windows and pounded on doors of the capitol building, Matthew merely wandered—staying inside velvet ropes—and watched for twenty minutes, as was proven by video. He wandered the people’s house, inside restraints. For that he was charged with four criminal charges. Matthew broke nothing, tossed nothing, was not sprayed by capitol police, did not enter private offices or the Senate Chambers. He didn’t put his butt in the holy chair of one of those who obviously thinks themselves (herself) so superior to We The People or put his feet up on her desk. He finally pled guilty as he faced years in prison for his wandering, watching, observing, taking photos, and leaving peacefully after twenty minutes. The last time his mother had a telecom with Matthew he was sobbing, crushed by the unfairness of a country he loved. And it would be their last conversation, literally.?

The government—read here slimeballs who get their check at the end of each month no matter their accomplishment—continued to change their mode of attack, frustrating and confusing a young man who joined in a protest as honorable in my opinion, and far less destructive, than the Boston Tea Party. He was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding (the occupants had long fled the building): aiding and abetting (wandering and observing): entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds (Through an open door. I saw videos of capitol cops standing, nodding, not restricting those entering): disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds (again, wandering and watching): and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building (I’ve seen those elected and invited far more disorderly in that building).?

Only one of those charges is a felony. His attorney, as happens far too often in this country, advised Matthew to plead guilty. Why does this happen far too often in America? Because the accused doesn’t have deep pockets to continue paying that attorney for his self-serving advice. It doesn’t matter if the charges are bogus, or that the Senate had adjourned thirty minutes before Matthew entered the building.?

I’m sickened by the cowardice of those in D.C., of their treatment of protestors, of the bias of those in power. Had Trump been in office and the protestors been BLM or Antifa the results, as we’ve seen time and time again, would have been far different. And a peaceful young patriot wouldn’t have been so aggrieved, so disappointed in his country, to sentence himself to a death deserving of a traitor. Not of a young man who loved his country.?

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