I was dismayed by Selectman Brendan Tedstone’s comment in the January 13 issue of the Independent. While I applaud his condemnation of the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, I beg to differ with his there-are-fine-people-on-both-sides assertion that, “These actions [Jan. 6] are no different than the actions of antifa and the other militant, cowardly groups over the last few years.”

There are certainly violent extremists on the left side of the political spectrum, but their isolated acts of violence are vastly different from the planned attack on the seat of U.S. government incited by the sitting president in order to overturn the constitutional duty of the duly elected Congress certifying the results of a demonstrably clean election. If I were to look for similar actions, I would cite, for starters, last year’s armed occupation of the Michigan State House and subsequent plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor.

These incidents, and many more, are indicative of the poison of right-wing militancy and of the white supremacy that have plagued this country since its inception. The sooner we recognize that this is not the same thing as antifa and work to correct it, the closer this country will be to the ideals of its Founding Fathers and to the true intent of the U.S. Constitution.

— Jeff Reynolds, Hopkinton

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