Thankfully, the rather ugly case of the out-of-town protesters who apparently rode into town simply to cause a stir is over.

In June, a group of representatives from the National Action Network protested outside of the Adams County Courthouse. They were trying to raise attention for the case of a Natchez woman who claims she was mistreated at the county jail, resulting in a miscarriage.

Unfortunately, the protest ended in an Adams County sheriff’s deputy Tazing a 55-year-old female protester.

Deputies claim the woman was resisting arrest, which would potentially be a valid reason for Tazing the unarmed woman.

Unfortunately, a video of the incident seems to indicate the woman didn’t seem to be much of a threat — to herself or the large deputies arresting her.

The sheriff’s office, in effect, played right into the group’s hands. The group aimed to show that the sheriff’s office was capable of overreacting. They managed to do just that and immediately claimed the Tazing incident was proof of “brutality.”

Clearly the woman wasn’t hurt — that’s the whole point of non-lethal devices police use — but had better judgment been used the protest would have died quietly rather than lingering on for two months.

In an effort to have her charges dropped, the woman apologized to sheriff’s deputies but said she didn’t think she had actually done anything wrong.

She broke the law by not following the demands of a law enforcement officer, but deputies would have been wise to avoid falling into the trap in the first place.

Hopefully, it’s a lesson learned for next time.