To the Editor:

With National Guard and Marines being deployed in downtown Los Angeles, the scene is now ripe for serious and possibly fatal incidents. These demonstrations could spread to other large urban centers.

The rhetoric on both sides needs to be muffled, as every word or comment has caused a serious uptick in the confrontation.

I do not have any proposals for a quick solution, but those in authority should begin now to form a coalition of responsible federal, state and local leaders in an attempt a to initiate a peaceful solution.

Look back on other violent demonstrations and there is a similarity in that they started in one local area and spread quickly into many large cities, sometimes even without a reason for their outcry.

These incidents could be the beginning of a long, hot summer of discontent affecting vacations and travel among our other pursuits.

Bob Sweeney
Warwick