Libertarians lead anti-war protest
After tensions have risen between the United States and Iran, some Libertarians around Butler wanted to speak out against the recent actions of President Donald Trump’s administration.
They got the opportunity Sunday, June 29, when the Libertarian Party of Butler County hosted a nonpartisan protest in what it said was a “response to President Trump’s unconstitutional bombing of Iran, his response to campaign against Libertarian-Republican Thomas Massie for opposing the bombing and American foreign interventionism broadly.”
The protest was organized by Justin Konchar, a Libertarian candidate for Butler Township commissioner and former candidate for state representative in District 11. He also spoke at the protest.
The event featured two other speakers who ran for office in Pennsylvania: John Thomas, a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024, and Ken Krawchuk, a Libertarian candidate for governor.
Konchar said he was a bit disappointed with the turnout, with only a handful attending, but it failed to discourage him from delivering his message. He gave an impassioned speech against U.S. interventionism.
“I want to say that war is a racket,” Konchar said. “It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable and surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope.”
After his speech, Thomas gave his, hitting on the idea of enacting a “Defend the Guard” act in Pennsylvania. The act would theoretically limit federal control of state National Guard without Congressional approval.
“(National Guardsmen) are people who signed up to defend their national security. It’s not called the ‘corporate interest guard,’ it’s called the National Guard. Instead of guarding the nation, they are guarding corporate interests in the Middle East,” Thomas said.
Krawchuk talked on similar points, saying he would bring the Pennsylvania National Guard home if elected governor. He expressed his belief that interventionism in any war, whether in Russia and Ukraine or Israel and Iran, it’s none of the United States’ business.
“Is there ever a war going on in the Middle East? All the time. Do I follow those wars? No, I don’t follow those wars at all … I have no stake in them,” Krawchuk said.
Krawchuk said Pennsylvania will need its National Guardsmen in the state during an inevitable crisis, from natural to man-made, and they will have to scramble to get them home.
The protest is just one of the handful that have popped up in the county this year to stand against the message of the current presidential administration.
