Everyone knows the terms one-man band or one-man army, but driving by the Lewis County Courthouse on Monday morning, motorists might have seen a new phenomenon: a one-man protest.
Lewis County resident Brandon Tucker spent his Monday morning, Aug. 25, walking the perimeter of the Lewis County Courthouse equipped with a set of signs, an American flag and a bullhorn. As he walked the loop around the seat of Lewis County government, Tucker repeated a Bible verse along with snippets about his own family's time in Lewis County and other comments.
Tucker, who grew up in Adna and graduated from W.F. West High School, said some passersby made comments and some took out their phones to snap a photo, but by and large, it seemed that on the sleepy Monday morning, Tucker remained more or less undisturbed and free to share his message to those passing by.
On Tucker’s signs he called out Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope, Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza and President Donald Trump. One additional sign hung on a nearby post with check marks next to anti-immigrant, anti-unhoused, anti-addict and mala fides — Latin for “bad faith.”
The signs specifically call on Swope to “act more like Christ” and referenced Bible verse Matthew 25:40: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
When asked why he took to the street on Monday morning, Tucker said he happened to have the day off and decided to air his frustrations and call out politicians who he considers to be bad faith actors.
“Don’t act in bad faith,” Tucker said. “In bad faith, democracy dies. In darkness, democracy dies, and bad faith actors want to keep us in darkness.”
Tucker said that he was raised by two conservative parents, but that recent county policies violate the values his parents and family taught him. He added that he is not religious but chose the Bible verse and Christian symbols because he feels Christian values are at odds with recent county policies.
“I don't know what the solutions are, but I feel like starting by asking our local politicians, why do you support the things you do? And when people tell ‘because they're a Christian,’ as an atheist, who actually is out here saying I really kind of dig what this guy (Jesus) is saying, and like maybe we should all get more behind him, because frankly I think that he would vote the way I vote.”
