Crowd protests speech

Kathryn Gariano / contributing photographer Students and Harrisonburg residents protest outside the College Center where former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore spoke Friday.

Showing support for the separation of church and state, about 30 to 40 people protested a judge's speech outside the College Center Friday.

The protest was led by Eric LaFreniere, a small business owner in Harrisonburg, who disagrees with the actions and views of Judge Roy Moore.

Protesters wanted to let the community know there are opposing views to Moore and the Valley Family Forum, which sponsored Moore's speech.

LaFreniere said he wanted to inform people about the separation of church and state and constitutional rights.

"When I heard Roy Moore was coming here, I decided to do something," LaFreniere said. "Not all people understand separation of church and state. These people here want religious law."

Moore was stripped of his judicial duties last November because he refused to remove his 10 Commandments statue from the Alabama state courthouse. This was in violation of the Constitution.

"He is an infamous individual," LaFreniere said. "He is equivalent of a dishonorable discharge from the judiciary. The [Valley Family Forum] is treating him like a hero. That's worse than ironic; it's perverse," LaFreniere said.

Senior Mike Taft, president of JMU Freethinkers, said that the VFF recently attempted to remove what it considered "pornographic" magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Guitar World and Maxim from local store shelves.

"We believe that the Valley Family Forum and Roy Moore are significantly trying to limit our freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment," Taft said.

Arnold Via, a Harrisonburg resident and an American Atheist, said his primary reason for being there was because he felt it was his duty as an American citizen to uphold the Constitution.

"The judge violated his office of trust," Via said. "I think he should be persecuted. It wouldn't be too bad if we brought back the firing squad."

Representing the American Civil Liberties Union, sophomore Briana Rose said the VFF is imposing its beliefs on the rest of the community.

"We want to open people's eyes and make them think," she said. "Lots of times, people hold an opinion, but they don't really think about it."

Senior Russ Martin, from Common Cause, said the protest was not aimed so much at trying to change Moore or the VFF's views, but on letting them know there are dissenters.

Sophomore Lauren McInerney, a member of the JMU Democrats, said that during the protest, some participants from the banquet and speech came and preached at the crowd.

"They were basically preaching to us, asking if we believed in God, and if we did, why shouldn't it be part of our life."