Let’s get two things cleared up: 1. Patrick Henry decried the death of law enforcement only in the sense that he agitated for the armed overthrow of the British Colonial government in America and equated the subjugation of the American colonists under British rule with slavery. At the time of the speech, 23 March 1775, we were a British Colony. There was no US government and no organized police forces in America in 1775. There were, however, British soldiers in the streets of our port cities. Patrick Henry was against British law enforcement only. 2. No, he was not affiliated with the Republican Party. After the Revolution, he was elected three times as governor of State of Virginia on the Federalist Party ticket. Patrick Henry died in 1799. The Republican Party was founded in 1854. He was republican only in the sense that he agitated for a republican form of government, vs a monarchy. Patrick Henry (1736 – 1799) was a failed Virginia planter—complete with slaves—and a failed shopkeeper who later became a lawyer, rousing orator, revolutionary soldier and Federalist politician. He stood firmly against monarchic rule throughout his professional career. At the time of the speech, the question had been put to the House of Burgesses as to whether or not Virginians would form an army to fight the British. His speech is said to have resulted in the decision to fight. If you read the three items below you will be able to answer the questions in your details and become much better informed than the protesters you described. The Speech About the Speech Patrick Henry bio