From Daily Planet Staff Reports

Just prior to the start of an Aug. 16 march at Vance Memorial in downtown Asheville, local resident Aaron Penland boldly walked into the gathering and voiced his opposition to the march.

The march, which protested an Aug. 12 government crackdown on undocumented workers at a Woodfin plant, culminated at Pritchard Park with numerous speeches.

As the contingent was given a pep talk by protest leaders, Penland, a Desert Storm veteran, stepped up and loudly expressed his dissent.

At the urging of some protesters, undeterred by his comments, he reluctantly stepped across the street to talk to reporters.
“We have groups like this who are standing here fighting for illegal aliens while we’re trying to fight a war and our people are getting killed trying to protect our rights and rights for people to do that,” Penland said.