Dear Editor:

On March 22, the Wisconsin River Valley with Wausau at its hub suffered a violent tragedy of horrific proportions. The PTSD ripple from the murder of four innocent citizens, one of them a courageous law enforcement officer running towards trouble in order to save others, will last for many decades, especially for the immediate families.

This horrific act, founded in the hate and violence that poisoned the soul of one individual for a relatively short period of time, will continue to affect hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocent lives.

Recently a man who has been preaching hate and violence on an almost daily basis for a decade has been invited by the Wisconsin Valley Fair Board to come to Wausau and take the stage at this year’s fair. This man has loudly and repeatedly threatened the life of a sitting President of the United States of America and when confronted regarding this behavior has never attempted to walk it back or apologize. On the contrary, when confronted he only doubles down.

This is only one item on his list of toxic hate mongering and racist blather.

Can he actually play guitar? I hear that he can.

Will he actually personally cause anyone physical harm while in our area? Probably not.

Will some who come to his show on Friday night come looking for some kind of dark satisfaction, moved by his dark vitriol? Probably.

Is this idea of the Fair Board, to bring a man with this kind of inflammatory baggage here and give him center stage at our biggest family oriented event of the year … a good one? Seems pretty clear to me.

This is not, as has been expressed by some, a free speech issue.  This is a public safety issue.

Bad idea for our wounded and healing community.

Sincerely,
David B Keeffe, Wausau

Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review will gladly publish letters from local officials and members of the community. Anonymous letters are not considered. To submit, email [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name, city of residence and phone number for verification purposes. We welcome a range of viewpoints that stimulate conversation in the community.