Are threats protected by the first amendment? I think there’s a legitimate argument to be made that flying a nazi flag is inherently threatening. It says to me that that person wants to hurt me, that they will hurt me if I give them the chance. It is threatening enough to cause me fear, to cause me to change my behavior for my safety. Why should public declaration of their desire to hurt me br protected speech?
Tbh I’m not surprised at all. I’m well aware that, as a trans woman, I have no right to safety in America. Police, landlords, and employers have all made it clear to me that the rights of bigots to hurl slurs and threats at me supercedes my right to safety or freedom from harassment. When I worked at Walmart, multiple witnesses reported another employee specifically and directly threatening to cut me with a knife, a knife of a sort that was against company policy to carry on site to begin with. Because no member of management heard the threat and they couldn’t quite see the knife on camera, they did nothing. Wait, I take that back, they reduced my hours so I would be in the building with him less. So yeah, I’m not surprised at all that threatening minorities is protected in America. I’ve been threatened and seen those people protected…
Are threats protected by the first amendment? I think there’s a legitimate argument to be made that flying a nazi flag is inherently threatening. It says to me that that person wants to hurt me, that they will hurt me if I give them the chance. It is threatening enough to cause me fear, to cause me to change my behavior for my safety. Why should public declaration of their desire to hurt me br protected speech?
You would be shocked at what’s covered under the 1st amendment. The language has to fall under a “True Threat” definition in order to not be covered.
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1025/true-threats
More:
https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/core-first-amendment-rights-are-implicated-in-this-supreme-court-case-about-true-threats
Tbh I’m not surprised at all. I’m well aware that, as a trans woman, I have no right to safety in America. Police, landlords, and employers have all made it clear to me that the rights of bigots to hurl slurs and threats at me supercedes my right to safety or freedom from harassment. When I worked at Walmart, multiple witnesses reported another employee specifically and directly threatening to cut me with a knife, a knife of a sort that was against company policy to carry on site to begin with. Because no member of management heard the threat and they couldn’t quite see the knife on camera, they did nothing. Wait, I take that back, they reduced my hours so I would be in the building with him less. So yeah, I’m not surprised at all that threatening minorities is protected in America. I’ve been threatened and seen those people protected…