And he blistered them again in Veteran's Day speeches in Arcata and Eureka. Civil disobedience does not involve breaking into somebody's place of work, wearing black clothing head to foot and it does not involve heckling or trying to shout down somebody else because they have a different opinion from you. They don't include the right to threaten others, the right to destroy public property. Riggs and his staff say protesters caused extensive damage when they spread sawdust around his office and joined arms inside metal tubes while sitting around a tree stump they dumped on the floor. No cost for cleanup or repairs was available.
Protesters insist they did no damage.
They plan to march on Riggs' office in Eureka again Thursday though he already will have returned to Washington. Residents were divided over the behavior of the protesters and the Humboldt County sheriff's deputies and Eureka police officers who arrested them. In Arcata, however, students waved signs and shouted slogans outside the building and inside the room where Riggs spoke. Afterwards, police escorted the congressman off campus with protesters chasing the car on foot, on skateboards and even pushing baby strollers. We're all veterans, we're all leaders.