Letter to the Editor: “Disruptive” doesn’t mean “destructive”

Published 1:00 pm Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Disrupt: To interrupt or throw something into disorder.

Synonyms: Break off, cut off, interrupt.

I’m sorry George, but I didn’t find anywhere in the definition, or related synonyms the words childish or petulant (“‘Disruptive’ protests are childish and petulant,” published Nov. 5).

And while you took great pains to cite several protests that, indeed, did turn violent, you somehow left out the one that was intended to be violent from the beginning and was instigated and condoned by our then president, Donald J Trump.

Yes, the January 6th insurrection, whose soul intent was to overthrow a duly elected government at the behest of a person who had lost the election, which caused $2.7 billion in damages.

An attempt, by the way, which Trump made no effort whatsoever to call in the national guard for a very long time but instead just sat and watched it unfold on TV.

While these other protests should never have caused the damage that they did, they were the result of citizens being fed up with police and government overreach such as the unwarranted killing of innocent civilians and other serious grievances that had failed to be addressed or dealt with.

So, to your charge of childish and petulant, I say, some of the things I actually meant by disruptive were things like national strikes, disrupting all of industry, and national boycotts of major businesses that support this totally corrupt regime that currently occupies the white house. And nothing could be more childish or petulant then a person who refused to admit that he lost and left the capitol without congratulating the incoming president. Just sayin’.

Larry Benson

Enumclaw