In her Feb. 17 letter, Ms. Nichols mistakes protesters for criminals when the opposite is true. My daughter, her husband and their 7-year-old daughter marched in the Women's March in Portland because they wanted to protest the actions of the government. Millions marched all over the country, starting in Washington, DC.

It is the right and the duty of citizens to speak up when they feel their democracy is threatened. The right of free speech is enshrined in our Constitution. Unhappily, protesters in other countries are not so lucky. They are killed or thrown in prison and subsist on a lot less than a bowl of rice a day.

We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, and much as Mr. Trump would like it to be different, he represents only one branch of the government and is bound by the Constitution which he publicly promised to uphold.

-- Judith Wyss, Southeast Portland

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