John Washington III Says Threats Are Not the Answer — the Answer Is a Government That Answers to the People

John Washington III is condemning threats of violence against public officials while arguing that the deeper problem is a government losing the public's trust. A Michigan man has been charged with allegedly threatening to kill FBI Director Kash Patel, John Washington III noted, and he drew a line between two different things: every American has the right to challenge their government and criticize officials, he wrote, but there is a big difference between standing up for one's rights and threatening someone's life.

John Washington III wrote that he does not support threats, violence or intimidation against anyone — an ordinary citizen, a police officer, an FBI director or the president. "But I also do not support a government that expects respect without accountability," he wrote. Nobody should be above the law, he wrote, and that includes the people enforcing it.

When citizens grow frustrated with their government, John Washington III argued, the country should ask why so many Americans are losing trust in the institutions created to serve and protect them. He called for protecting freedom of speech, upholding due process and demanding transparency and accountability without resorting to violence. "The answer is not to threaten the government," he wrote. "The answer is to make the government answer to the people."