“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”
Your right to speak loud, your right to practice what you believe, your right to fight injustice, your right to gather. The first amendment, and protection of such, is what makes the United States of America different from every other nation in the world. Our founding fathers fought 200 years ago to make certain we had the right to question our society.
Newly elected Donald Trump tweeted:
The issue being that many believe flag burning, violent riots, and inflammatory free speech to be protected under the first amendment. And to some degree, they all are. Depending on how you interpret it, the right to “peaceably assemble” means assemble in crowds and protest. The key word is peaceably. Not through attacking officers and blocking traffic. Your right to peaceably assemble should not end with riots in the streets.
Secondarily, the burning of the American flag. This issue has been hotly debated for a long time. It’s pretty straight forward. The people who died to keep that flag as a symbol for our nation did not die in order for you to burn their symbol of heroism. Keep the American flag out of your protest, unless it’s to wave it proudly. Besides being resoundingly disrespectful, it’s illegal to deface a flag. The flag should be held reverent in America as the symbol of a sacrifice made for over 200 years to make sure this country stays free.
Trump is wrong to remove citizenship simply for defacement of a flag. Removal of citizenship is almost resolutely for convicted domestic terrorists. There should be a consequence for burning or destroying a flag; fines or what have you. It’s a serious lack of respect for our fallen heroes and those fortunate to be home. Rioting needs to be removed from our protests. The goal of a protest is to promote change, not start a revolution. That’s a different topic altogether.
