Source: LA Times. By Robert Faturechi and Richard Winton
Date: April 18, 2010
Title: White supremacist rally at L.A. City Hall draws violent counter-protest
A white supremacist group held a rally on April 17, 2010 at a Los Angeles city hall. The group was protesting against illegal immigrants. Their rally, however, attracted its own counter-protest. The combination of the two protests lead to violence, leaving two men beaten and five people arrested for throwing rocks and bottles at the white supremacists and their police escorts. The counter-protestors included a wide assortment of African American, Jewish, Latino, immigrants-rights and anarchist groups. The neo-Nazi group had obtained a permit for its demonstration earlier in the week, and police prepared the rally area by taping off a section of City Hall's shaded south lawn. A group member denounced illegal immigrants, saying, "If the city supports illegal aliens and criminals, that is treason." Commander David Doan said the LAPD's objective was to defend free speech without using force. "There was a tremendous amount of restraint shown by our officers," he said. "We allowed both sides to exercise their 1st Amendment rights."
This protest and counter-protest ended up with both sides being allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment reads: “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.” The parts that apply to this situation are the freedom of speech and the right of the people to peaceably assemble. The police granted the neo-Nazis the right to peaceably assemble at the court house, and by protecting the rally allowed both of the groups so have their share of freedom of speech. I agree with how the police handled the situation. The neo-Nazis were allowed to state their opinions on illegal immigrants. They felt like they were clogging everything up and draining government funds. On the other hand, the counter-protestors were also allowed to protest against these neo-Nazis. The police did, however, step in when it was needed due to the violence that occurred. I agree that the neo-Nazis should be granted the right to protest, as they were, and that the police should protect them as they did. The counter-protestors have the right to protest as well, but I believe that they took it too far when they started physically attacking the neo-Nazi group.
LA Times Article
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-white-supremacist18-2010apr18,0,4043821.story?track=rss
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