PEEBLES, Ohio – The Ten Commandment tablets came down Monday at four Adams County/Ohio Valley Schools after Adams County Sheriff’s deputies removed protesters standing in front of the monuments to prevent work crews from tearing them down.
The Adams County Sheriff reported 21 people were arrested for their efforts to save the monuments. Ministers of the county donated the monuments to the high schools in Manchester, Peebles, Seaman and West Union in 1997.
The people were protesting the June 2002 decision of U.S. Magistrate Timothy Hogan that the Ten Commandments violated the United States Constitution. For 10 months after the ruling, the monuments remained at the four high schools until a U.S. District Court Order, issued May 7, threatened to hold the AC/OVS school board in contempt if they did not remove the monuments by June 9.
A large crowd carrying signs and singing hymns gathered around the monument at Peebles High School at 9 a.m. Monday. A crane from Modlich’s Monument Company from Columbus, Ohio waited off to the side of the crowd as a parade of speakers addressed the protesters. The Rev. Ken Johnson, spokesperson for Adams County for the Ten Commandments, said the day marked a somber end to a long court battle.
“I have been in battle for four years, and I have tears in my eyes,” Johnson said.
People from all over the country showed up in Adams County to show their support for the cause.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the Christian evangelist organization Faith and Action based in Washington, D.C, asked the crowd to keep their vigilance in promoting their faith and putting pressure on politicians for what Schenck called acknowledgment.
“The war is still being waged, the war to acknowledge God and his message,” Schenck said.
After several speeches and prayers, Johnson somberly told the protesters the time for the crane to remove the monument had come. Many in the crowd bristled at the news and refused to move out of the way of the crane. Others joined them.
Sheriff’s deputies on the scene said they could not arrest anyone on trespassing charges or disperse the crowd unless the AC/OVS superintendent told them to. Many said they were willing to be arrested.
Scott Eaton, one of the protesters from Coshocton, Ohio, said he came down to Peebles with the idea that he might end up in prison as a result of his protest. Eaton, however, said he feels the sacrifice is necessary.
“I didn’t come here to limp off,” Eaton said.
Peebles resident Bill Ryan was also willing to risk arrest for what he said was the federal government’s intrusion into his hometown. Ryan said the people of Peebles should have a choice in erecting the Ten Commandments.
“I’m not going to be moving. This is my hometown,” Ryan said. “No one has the business telling us what to do.”
For the next two hours, the protesters sang songs and remained in place at Peebles High School. During the wait, Berry Baker, the Peebles man on whose behalf the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit to remove the Ten Commandments in 1999, walked up to the crowd taking pictures.
Earlier, the ministers in attendance prayed for Baker. Upon seeing him in the audience, Schenck, along with many protesters volleyed questions at Baker, who remained mute and started walking away.
While walking back home, Baker said he expected the monuments to already be down and hoped to get a picture.
“I walked into a hornet’s nest,” Baker said.
Baker said that by displaying the Ten Commandments on public property, the school board is endorsing a particular religion. Baker said he doesn’t find the Ten Commandments themselves offensive, but the government’s endorsement of religion. When he saw the Ten Commandments for the first time at AC/OVS, Baker said, he saw a threat to the constitution.
“I thought about 50 years of civil rights were going down the tubes,” Baker said.
While most in attendance at Peebles High School Monday morning didn’t side with Baker, Peebles resident Lely Palmer approached Baker and told him she supported his efforts. Palmer, a Catholic, said the school can’t single out a specific set of religious beliefs and exclude others.
“I wanted to see them be removed,” Palmer said. “It is not that I don’t believe in the Ten Commandments, but I feel other beliefs should be represented.”
Upon realizing the crowd was not going to disperse, the construction crew left for West Union High School at 12:30 p.m. to take down that monument. Protesters soon learned of the crew’s designs and split up to all four high schools to block the removal.
Dan Modlich, owner of Modlich Monument Company, said the protesters followed up right behind him.
“It wasn’t too hard to figure out where we were going,” Modlich said.
The first protester to arrive at West Union, Bob King of Peebles, said he arrived just in time to see the crew putting a brace on the monument to pull it out of the ground.
“I talked to them and asked how much it would take to get them to stop,” King said. “They didn’t want to fight.”
Within five minutes of his arrival, King said, car loads of other protesters filled out the area in front of the monument. By 3 p.m., superintendent Pat Kimble addressed the crowd in front of West Union High School and told them they would be arrested for trespassing if they did not get out of the way. Kimble said he didn’t want to see the monuments go, either, but could not disobey a court order. A peaceful protest would excuse the district of a contempt of court charge, he said.
Kimble expressed empathy for the protesters.
“This has not been an easy situation for anyone to deal with in Adams County,” Kimble said.
Before the Adams County Sheriff’s Office descended on the crowd, the Rev. Phil Fulton of Union Hill Church in Peebles asked that only nine people join him to stay behind to be arrested to make the situation easier. A group of seven of those arrested at West Union knelt and prayed before the commandments before the sheriff’s deputies escorted them to their cruiser.
While in the back seat of the sheriff’s car, Fulton and protester Kathy Hall said they had no regrets
“I didn’t come for any regrets,” Hall said.
Fulton said the arrest sent a message on how important the monuments are to many in the community.
“There would have been a many more arrests if I didn’t limit them,” Fulton said.
The monuments then removed at North Adams, Peebles and Manchester. The AC/OVS school board is not pressing any charges on the protesters and all were released Monday afternoon.
The events in Adams County will send ripples of activism across the nation, Schenck said.
“I think the people of Adams will be seen as heroes,” Schenck said. “It only takes a small number to encourage others to take action.”
