ASHLAND — About 80 people gathered Saturday around 11:30 a.m. in Ashland’s Corner Park, at the intersection of Claremont Ave. and Main St., for a “Freedom March for the First and Second Amendments.”
Protestors came from Ashland and surrounding areas, including Lorain, Medina and Wayne counties. Many carried flags and signs with messages about “cancel culture,” presidential candidates and the U.S. Constitution.
Before the event began, people mingled and talked about why they were there.
At least two men brought AR-15 style rifles to the event, including Larry Cunningham, whose young daughter stood beside him.
“I feel like it’s something little that I can do to stand up, show my daughter, the younger generation, this is what we have to do as Americans — love our freedoms,” Cunningham said.
Gesturing to his gun, Cunningham continued, “Not that toting this around is probably what I need to do, but I just feel that it’s a freedom that I have, and I want to show that it’s here.
“It’s not going to hurt anybody.”
Ashland High School teacher Ken Hammontree said he was there because he believes in the U.S. Constitution.
“We’re sick and tired of being censored,” Hammontree said. “I never thought I’d ever see that some of our cartoons and some of our books are being censored, like you know what the latest was, it’d be Dr. Seuss.
‘”Who would ever think Dr. Seuss would be censored? Dr. Seuss, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.”
“Mark Twain is one of the greatest American authors. You can’t even get any of his books … Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn … That’s wrong. Something needs to be done.”
This month, Dr. Seuss’s estate announced it has discontinued the sales of six of his books due to “hurtful and wrong depictions.” Hasbro announced last month it would sell a Potato Head toy without the “Mr.” or “Mrs.” titles but later clarified it will continue selling the original Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head in stores also.
Former Ashland County Prosecutor Bob DeSanto welcomed participants and asked them to gather close around the American flag for a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. A man from the crowd prayed briefly.
“How many are here because they want to help and save America?” DeSanto said, eliciting loud cheers.
DeSanto urged protestors to remain peaceful and not to argue with anybody they would encounter along the route, comparing this approach to the 1960s civil rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“There was one man that I saw that really changed the hearts and minds of the people, and he changed the world. That was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, and he did it just like you’re doing it right now, gathering, expressing your views. And his freedom marches were peaceful as best they could make,” DeSanto said.
Ohio State Senator Mark Romanchuk spoke briefly and introduced Ashland County Sheriff Wayne Risner.
“The people have a right to bear arms for their defense and security. Article one, section four of the Ohio Constitution,” Romanchuk said. “Don’t ever forget that our right to bear arms is enshrined in both the U.S. Constitution and the Ohio constitution.”
Risner highlighted the number of people who obtained new concealed-carry licenses in Ohio last year.
“Nearly 100,000 people got a first-time concealed-carry permit. And what’s really ironic is, I guess I’m kind of surprised but I’m kind of proud about it too, (out of) the top four counties in Ohio that issued concealed carry permits last year, Ashland is number four,” Risner said, bringing loud cheers from his audience.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s 2020 Annual Report, there was a 78-percent increase in Ohio’s new concealed-carry licenses compared to 2019. For Ashland County, this increased to 468 percent, from 758 in 2019 to 3,552 in 2020.
“Have you heard of anybody with a concealed carry who’s done anything bad, really?” Risner asked.
Several people shook their heads “no,” and one person said, “I haven’t.”
A young woman named Cheyanne Baker spoke next, saying she hopes more young people will get involved in these kinds of events.
“We have to stand up for our rights because the moment we back down, the moment we get complacent, is the moment that it’s going to be taken,” Baker said of why she feels strongly about advocating for the right to bear arms.
Jim Dowdell of Lorain County spoke next. He began by saying he gave each of his daughters guns when they turned 10 years old and again when they turned 21.
“Forty-five years ago, I could walk into a gun shop, lay my license down, fill out a 4473, and I could buy a gun. Today, if I want to buy a gun, I go, I fill out that form, but because my government presumes I am guilty until I am proven innocent, I have to wait for an approval on that,” Dowdell said.
DeSanto handed out extra signs to protestors as they headed down Main Street toward the Ashland Times-Gazette building on Second Street. The crowd gathered in front of the Ashland Times-Gazette building, and DeSanto stood across the street facing them.
In his second speech, DeSanto talked about freedom of speech.
“The reason we’re marching here is we’re in front of a once-great newspaper, a paper that I dearly loved all my life and I know that many of you loved it, and it reported on the things that were happening in our community … And now, it’s a shell of a building,” DeSanto said.
“The First Amendment is absolutely a key amendment, our ability to speak and express ourselves, really meet, really communicate with each other, in whatever form of communication it is. It might have been a newspaper at one time and now it’s our cell phone, or it’s our computers. But it is not just about our freedom of expression. It’s about a freedom of press, but that press needs to be vigilant, intelligent, it needs to be unbiased, it needs to be aggressive. It doesn’t need to take sides,” DeSanto continued.
As DeSanto was speaking, a man named Geoff Mansfield walked around the corner and, seeing the crowd and their signs, raised both of his middle fingers at them. Protestors responded by telling Mansfield that Jesus loves him.
Mansfield explained why he reacted this way when he happened upon the protestors.
“First of all, they’ve appropriated things that belong to all of us. They told me Jesus loves me. They don’t know anything about Jesus, or they would not have the feelings and the beliefs they have, obviously,” Mansfield said.
“They want to use (Jesus) for their own purposes, and their purpose is to make sure that nobody else gets a leg up. They see everything as a zero sum game, where if somebody else gains, that means they must lose. That’s not the way the world works. A rising tide lifts all boats.”
DeSanto led the group to the Ashland County Courthouse next, where he gave his third speech, this time sharing a memory of representing a Syrian immigrant who did not know he had the right to a trial.
“I’m standing there, watching (Judge John Good) in a dialogue with this Muslim immigrant, brown-skinned immigrant,” DeSanto said. “ I was looking at the painting of George Washington addressing the Constitutional Convention, and I watched what was playing out in front of my eyes — 250 years ago, those men were making sure that 250 years later, this immigrant was getting the rights of an American citizen.”
The last destination on the marchers’ route was the Ashland County Office building across from Corner Park. Jane Roland, who is retired, spoke about the right to vote.
Roland talked about the H.R.1 Bill for voting reform and urged the protestors to work toward protecting their right to a free and fair election.
“How many of you feel that our elections in the United States are fair today?” Roland asked, and several people shouted “no” in response.
