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Council member in Ariz. draws heat for war protest that includes pledge

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 10, 2007

MESA, Ariz. - One person suggested that City Council member Tom Rawles be taken out back and beaten. Another said someone should put a bullet in his head, and a third that he should be buried in the cement his construction company uses.

Rawles began getting the threats last month after he started refusing to recite or stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during council meetings to protest the war in Iraq. He has sat out for the pledge twice so far.

His stand has angered fellow council members and constituents alike in this conservative Phoenix suburb of about 400,000, with several people demanding the first-term council member be thrown out of office. Police briefly provided him with protection before deciding the threats were no reason for alarm.

"You have disrespected our country and the symbol of it and the men and women who fought for it," resident Mike Thelan told Rawles through tears at a council meeting on Monday.

Rawles, 57, a lawyer who long ago decided not to run for re-election when his term is up in June 2008, said he will continue his protest "until the troops come home." He said he doesn't mind that he is angering some people.

"That's what political speech is supposed to do. It's supposed to infuriate and irritate and challenge and make people think," Rawles said.

Fellow City Council member Kyle Jones said it is not Rawles' opinion about the war that offends him - it is the refusal to stand during the pledge. "The privilege of reciting the pledge is just that, it's a privilege," Jones said.

But Mesa resident Joann Stewart said she is not offended by Rawles' protest. "I personally would never have picked that way to protest because that's the flag of the United States of America, and I honor that," she said. "But the main concern is what's going on with the war."

[Last modified February 10, 2007, 01:44:13]