Fear is Not a Legitimate Factor
People who surrender to threats and refuse to take risk will rarely accomplish anything because progress in society depends on those who do what ordinary or docile people would be afraid to do, even when it's feasible and lawful.
Take our birds for example.
2 months ago (January 21) we got a letter from the Council.
We spoke to them, explained to them the situation, and carried on. They've been quiet since, knowing there's not much they can do because feeding birds is permitted and harassing people who feed birds would cause backlash. Since then more of our neighbours joined us in feeding the birds.
Each time they try to stop the feeding it merely results in more people feeding them or participating along with us (I spoke about this with a neighbour as recently as 3 days ago).
Smart people know that trying to prevent moral people from doing the "Right Thing" will backfire, as more people will become aware and then become active. █
Image source: Gargoyle Statue