Ilsa Minor | Daily Press Above, young Delta County residents between the ages of 16 and 20 protest outside the Delta County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday holding signs featuring slogans critical of commissioners Dave Moyle and Bob Petersen and screenshots of social media posts made by Moyle. The protest, which spilled over into the commission meeting, was sparked by comments Moyle made about 19-year-old Liam Love, center, on a Facebook post about standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

ESCANABA — A group of young people, ranging in age from 16 to 20, protested against social media postings by Delta County Board of Commission Chair Dave Moyle and other actions by Molye and commissioners Bob Petersen and Bob Barron before and during a statutory meeting of the commission held Tuesday.

While the protestors aired a number of grievances, it was a post made April 4 in the “Delta County Michigan Just the Facts” Facebook group that sparked the protest. The post was made after three young people, including 19-year-old Delta County resident Liam Love, did not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at the April 4 commission meeting.

“Like a typical politician, David Moyle speaks out of both sides of his mouth, one moment supporting youth engagement and freedom of speech and the next, uh, you know, attacking youth on social media like I woke up to on April 5,” Love said during public comment at the meeting. “I woke up to David Moyle making a post saying ‘If you can’t stand for the pledge, I can’t stand you…’ He called me out by name specifically in the comment section replying to someone who’s saying ‘oh, the youth hates this country,’ by saying, ‘my assumption is Liam told his contemporaries.’ End quote. On the contrary, I don’t have soldiers to bark to, unlike you Sergeant Major Moyle, with Corporal Barron and Private Petersen at attention.”

The post Love referenced had gone viral with more than 1,300 reactions, nearly 100 approved comments — many of which were by Moyle or from an account attributed to Commissioner Bob Petersen — and 38 shares as of Wednesday morning.

Love and those with him, did not stand for the pledge Tuesday. Instead, many of them kneeled and some raised fists in the air while holding the signs they had been protesting with outside before the meeting began.

During his comments, Love described sitting or kneeling during the pledge as “an act of patriotism to defy White Nationalism.”

Moyle responded to Love’s statements and the group’s decision not to stand during his comments at the end of the meeting.

“I think in my personal opinion, the pledge stands for our veterans, and there are many ways to show our respect to the veterans, I understand that, I reiterate what I’m saying, if you can’t stand the pledge I can’t stand you. Well, you can’t stand me. We can still, I’ll still sit down and have coffee with you if you promise not to spit it at me,” he said.

Resident Josiah Lawrence, age 20, who described himself as an agnostic and former Baptist, also criticized Moyle’s online behavior, pointing to the board’s practice of opening the meeting with a prayer of invocation.

“If you are an esteemed individual who decides to lead a prayer, I expect that you are a follower of Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus, I expect you to live like Jesus, like Philippians 2 tells you to do so. If Jesus were here today, I know Jesus wouldn’t cyberbully minors and people who wanting to engage with his work. I believe a certain county commissioner could learn a thing or two from Jesus,” he said.

Many of the other criticisms of the board revolved around the Moyle’s stance on the Second Amendment, which had fallen flat with the young residents in light of school shootings such as the one that took place at Michigan State University earlier this year.

In January of the 2021, said he “would strongly consider forming an active response militia of very well educated armed people to stand at (his) property line,” following pandemic lockdown orders, but later stated he had no intention of forming a militia. Prior to that, in February of 2020, Moyle led the charge to pass a resolution making Delta County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County, an action he intends to reaffirm in the coming months.

“Our Second Amendment sanctuary county does not erase state law. It never has,” said Moyle. “It’s symbolic, like the pledge. I have no authority as a commissioner to tell the sheriff how to do his job. I have no authority to tell the prosecutor how to do her job. I can not fund activities that are non-constitutional and that will be my intent and some of these red flags laws are non-constitutional.”

The last of the young men who spoke Tuesday was 19-year-old Brady Irving, who spent part of his three minutes criticizing Moyle’s behavior on social media and phone use during meetings. The rest of his time was spent criticizing Petersen and Barron, stating that Barron clung to “Red Scare paranoia.”

“They’re glorified toddlers,” Irving said of the three commissioners, “high on their own supply and incapable of realizing it. Like infants clinging to their mothers, they cling to a vision of the world that never actually existed, because they’re afraid. The world is moving past them and they simply can’t handle it. These men are weak, afraid and ignorant, and they want to make the people of Delta County weak, afraid and ignorant, because it’s the weak, the afraid and the ignorant who fall for their lies.”

Despite the negative comments from the youth at the meeting, the commission was not without support.

“I’m sorry that you have to listen to these personal attacks by people who are calling other people infants and appear to be closer to that stage themselves,” said Escanaba resident Bonnie Hokkala.

Hokkala also directed a comment at the youths in defense of the Second Amendment.

“I see tonight, a good reason why we have that amendment because a lot of these views, although you’re claiming other people are Marxist, look to your own views. And if you choose those views, that’s fine. Maybe you should go somewhere else,” she said.

The young protesters burst into applause following Hokkala’s statement.

While Moyle took issue with many of the statements made by the young men who spoke at the meeting, he did note the men were well-spoken.

“I don’t have to like what somebody’s saying to respect the fact that they’re saying it. So believe it or not, I encourage young people to come here and spill your guts and tell me what you think. For what it’s worth, I think you’re very articulate, the people that spoke.”

He also agreed to unblock Love on Facebook.