As a kid growing up in West Asheville, I loved public library, and every week my mom would take me and my sisters there to go back and check out books. Because of this free access to knowledge, I have learned many things over many years.

Now, because of what just happened at this library, news reports from around the world say that a number of Asheville anarchists are facing charges of physically assaulting three Jews who were there to live stream their event held in support of Gaza and the the Palestinian people, and what happened there did absolutely nothing to promote a ceasefire or help the Palestinian people.

Some advice to the people who started and promoted this event: What happened there is horrific and seems to me similar to an event that the North Carolina Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan group might have held, so if you don’t want have people at an event you sponsor, don’t have it in a public library, and don’t physically attack those who disagree with you if they show up and live stream your public event. Rent a private space and have organized security and let people know that those who show up who disagree with you are not welcome.

Personally, I have been a longtime supporter of the Palestinians and worked part-time for a New York civil rights attorney who did years of international legal work on their behalf, so this issue and the tragedy in Gaza now break my heart. Yes, that makes me angry too, but so does what happened at our public library in West Asheville.

As a photojournalist, I photographed many events such as the Unite the Right tiki march in Charlottesville, Va., where I was threatened by Nazis but was not assaulted by them and continued my journalistic work, which I later gave to the Charlottesville District Attorney to prosecute Nazi torchbearers who violated against the Virginia law in a manner similar to the Asheville “anarchists” now indicted. The Nazis attacked students who showed up protest them, and they openly protested the Nazis, not only live streamed and did not disrupt the event that the Jewish people did in West Asheville public library.

In closing, I welcome discussion of this letter and disagreement about my views, but please don’t bash me if I show up in Asheville to photograph a protest because you disagree with my letter.

—John Penley
Lake Havasu City, Arizona