The small city of Haven, Kansas, was bustling Monday evening as residents and journalists gathered for a City Council meeting. On May 3, council members voted to remove decals from police vehicles. The residents responded with great resistance.
The mayor said he received more than 100 emails from citizens opposed to the removal of the national motto from police vehicles. They packed the community center to voice their opinions and watch a re-vote.
FRC Action launched a petition last week to inform its nationwide readers of the matter and encourage civic engagement in support of Haven residents.
More than 20,000 people signed the petition and more than 500 of them were in Kansas.
Tim Throckmorton arrived at the meeting carrying a folder with the names of all the people who took a stand against the council's decision. Since he is not a resident of Haven, Throckmorton would not normally be allowed to address the attendees, but Wright gave up his time for the Family Research Council's representative to speak.
In his brief remarks, Throckmorton said that 250 law enforcement offices around the country have "In God We Trust" on their vehicles. He talked about the growing concern that God is being removed from the public square at every level and ended by delivering a stack of papers with the names of each of the 19,568 petitioners. The attendees applauded.
Throckmorton said that the attendees were grateful for FRC and that they made the trip all the way here for the issue.
Throckmorton said that the council members were hesitant to take action because of the large crowd. The citizens responded that there is always going to be pressure and that they should table the matter until there is less pressure.
The council members decided to keep the In God We Trust decals by a vote of 3-2.
I am very happy with the decision the council made. Haven resident Mary Andresen said in an interview that they didn't agree with the previous decision.
As situations like this illustrate, it's important that citizens are weighing in at every level of government.
The Washington Update was written with the help of Family Research Council senior writers.
A variety of perspectives are published by The Daily Signal. The views of The Heritage Foundation are not represented here.
Have you read this article? We will consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular feature. You should include the URL or headline of the article with your name and town.
Want to keep up with the 24/7 news cycle? Want to know the most important stories of the day for conservatives? Need news you can trust? Subscribe to The Daily Signal’s email newsletter. Learn more >>
All Rights Reserved © 2024
