By now you've heard about the violent attacks by counter-protesters last Sunday in our beautiful downtown Nevada City. I must admit it broke my heart. It was painful to see our community torn in two by a jacked up, flag draped gang, tearing through a non-threatening peaceful protest of local families, women, and young people beating tambourines and pots and pans. These tough guys draped themselves in ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags, as if in support of police,- but in reality they made our law enforcement's job even more impossible than it already is. Even police chief, Chad Ellis, said so. In the middle of a pandemic when everything is so fragile, these guys decided to play fight club in the middle of our historic Broad Street. These thugs actually threw a city council member off her bike to the ground, and she sustained injuries. And these self identified ‘Patriots’ justified their actions by screaming down everyone in their path, (with their unmasked mouths I might add), “Get out of OUR town! You don’t belong here!” It is strange to me because every one of those marching peacefully that day was from HERE. Where did this idea come from that everyone who disagrees with us is now so foreign that we can’t possibly believe that they could be our neighbors? When did this happen to us?

Covid is not just a disease of the body, but it’s also a sickness of the mind, and the soul.

Moved by these events to speak out, fifth generation Nevada City resident, Richard Baker, whose family has been in Nevada County since the 1840’s, shares his heartfelt thoughts on how Sunday’s turn of events has affected him and his relationship to his community.