Hi, I just saw the current protests that surged due to Netanyahus speech in the US. I’m just curious to know why the authorities permit them burning the American flag and vandalism of monuments.
How do freedom of speech laws work in the United States and where’s the line drawn to the action one can take when protesting.
My goal isn’t to discuss politics, so abstain from taking the thread to that direction.
In: Other
Flag burning is permitted because if someone wants to express themselves through burning their property it’s their business not the governments assuming that the burning isn’t causing an extra hazard. Destroying monuments isn’t permitted as that would fall under destruction of property and graffiti laws depending on the extent. What happened today with the monuments will easily wash off as it was just “permanent” marker.
A flag is meant to represent the ideals that the country stands for if you feel like certain actions are a betrayal of those ideals symbolically burning the flag is a powerful message that should definitely fall under an Americans right to express their dissatisfaction with the gov’t and seek a redress of their grievances. A persons right to express their dissatisfaction with their government is a founding principle of America and core to the American identity.
If the flag stands for freedom government actions that aid and or support oppression are seen as a betrayal of those founding ideals and by burning the flag they’re using it as a representation of what the government is doing. As they see the government as essentially setting fire to what should be a core founding principle.
Latest Answers