Readers React: #MeToo is mob justice, not social justice

To the editor: Columnist Virginia Heffernan is mistaken to think that #MeToo is breaking new ground.

She’s right to say the movement has gathered an impressive level of support for addressing genuine wrongs and rumors of wrongs. She’s right to say that crowds of women chanting in support of Christine Blasey Ford and demanding punishment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh are an impressive and intimidating sight. Lynch mobs generally are.

We’ve seen this before, large groups of people demanding punishment before the facts are in. We’ve seen demands for punishment because the accused, in this case a powerful white man, is the kind of person who would do something like that.

Let’s all collect ourselves before we do something we regret, because we have due process of law precisely to prevent us from flying off the handle. Let’s look for facts before we assume.

David Hendershot, Fullerton

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To the editor: Is Heffernan subtly suggesting that the #MeToo movement will take more radical steps if mere allegations are not enough to determine someone’s guilt? Is she whispering “fire” in the crowded theater of our fraught time?

Janet Weaver, Huntington Beach

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