Benedictines for Peace sponsored a free, nonpartisan election peacemaking training one week before the November 6 presidential election. Participants were presented with ways to de-escalate and defuse verbal or physical violence that they may encounter in any event or place—including polling sites in the city of Erie.
Sister Anne McCarthy, BFP coordinator, and Juan Llarena, BFP volunteer, coordinated the event that was held at the Erie Center for Arts & Technology (ECAT). They partnered with Sal Corbin, board chair of the DC Peace Team, who led the presentation virtually from Washington. DC Peace Team empowers ordinary civilians to become nonviolent agents of sustainable peace and justice.
According to Sal, the goals of active bystander intervention are to rehumanize the parties involved, defuse the situation or shift the energy, and to unleash the constructive power of the person who is being harassed. He also cautioned, “don’t assume the person needs your help – check in and ask if they are ok.”
Specific tactics to de-escalate violence include centering oneself, finding one’s best and most calm and peaceful self. Focus on presence, posture and eye contact with the other and use distraction and humor. Finally, engage with dialogue and empathy. Often saying “I hear you,” or “I’d be upset too,” is enough to make the person who is upset feel heard.
If someone is directing violence towards you, Sal cautioned, stay calm, seek to understand, listen, let them vent, ask questions, offer a solution. After sharing these techniques, Sal presented several election poll violence scenarios which the participants discussed in small groups.
Participants included sisters, Gannon and Mercyhurst University staff members and students, as well as members of the community.
Antoinette Villarreal, member of the Blue Coats who is volunteering at the polls this coming election day participated. “I realized the value of building a rapport when you are trying to de-escalate a tense or violent situation,” she said. “You have to have a mentality that no one is right and no one is wrong. We’re not taking sides; we are all here to do the same thing – to vote.”
Which is a good reminder for everyone: it is crucial we learn to accept people for who they are, even if their positions are different.
