Declarations

Fire Water

“I think it’s important for people to realize that being able to light your tap water on fire in many cases is a natural occurrence.”

—Owen Sherwood, lead author of a study that shows roughly 18 percent had methane that came from coal that can be found in northeastern Colorado tap water seams that underlie the area, and is not necessarily from oil and gas leaks.

Makes No Sense

“Doesn’t make sense to us, but that’s their right in Texas … For our officers, they were suspects … Someone is shooting at you from a perched position, and people are running with AR-15s and camo gear and gas masks and bulletproof vests. They are suspects until we eliminate that.”

—Dallas Police Chief David Brown, commenting after a shooter opened fire – killing five laws enforcement officers – at what had been a peaceful protest against police shooting of blacks. Brown estimated that 20 to 30 open-carry activists attended the rally in Dallas. He said some wore gas masks, bulletproof vests and fatigues.

Censoring Speech

“When a government entity opens up a space for public comment, it cannot regulate those comments based upon someone’s viewpoint.”

—American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana attorney Jan Mensz, who filed a lawsuit against Beech Grove, Ind., on behalf of two women who say the city removed their critical comments from the police department’s Facebook page.