Be Cautious in Targeting Nazi Protest. One Cannot Pass Laws to Curtail Speech You Don't Like Without Curtailing Speech You do Like.

Nazis March in Nashville

by Rod Williams, August 27,2024- Nashville has been plagued by Nazis protest recently. I know the terms "Nazi," and "fascist," and "Communist" are loosely thrown around to the point that sometimes it means nothing more than "I disagree with you, and you are a bad person." I am not using the term "Nazi" as a pejorative for some people with unpopular views. These are not neo-Nazis. I am talking about real Nazis. They proudly claim they are Nazi. 

They have thrown handbills around town, demonstrated in front of a synagogue, marched through streets with the Nazi flag, jeered the Black boys who bang plastic buckets on Broadway for tips, and showed up at a Metro Council meeting and spoke out of turn or somehow caused a disturbance.  A lot of people are demanding something be done.  

Mayor O'Connell has proposed several ordinances to counter these Nazi demonstrations. We need to be cautious. 

I think back about other protest in Nashville is recent years.  I was appalled that Black Lives Matter and Antifa protestors were allowed to spray paint buildings and monuments with impunity. Vandalism is already against the law, however, laws against vandalism were not enforced during those protest. The Nazis have not engaged in vandalism, but if they do, the law should be enforced, but it should have been enforced against BLM protestors also. Sometimes we do not need more laws but we need law enforcement. 

During the BLM protest, protestors took to the Interstate interloop and closed it, and they staged a set-in the street on Lower Broadway blocking traffic. That should not be allowed to occur and was already against the law and since then the State has increased the severity of the punishment for blocking a State road. I support that. Closing an interstate highway, where one is trapped in a car with no way to exit is dangerous and should absolutely be prohibited. Protestors should not be allowed to close roadways. The Nazis have not done that, but we have a law to handle that if they do. 

If you recall from some years ago, the Nashville version of Occupy Wallstreet, occupied legislative plaza for weeks or maybe it was month, denying its use to the public. Since then, the State has passed a law making it illegal to camp overnight on public property not designated for camping. If the Nazis go camping, we got a law to cover that. 

More recently, following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, several protests occurred advocating restrictions on firearms. One occurred in the House chamber and made famous "the Tennessee Three." If you think that protest was acceptable, you should extend the same right to Nazi protestors to disrupt legislative bodies. 

Students from Hume-Fogg marched from the school to the Capitol, without obtaining a permit, in order to make their anti-gun views known. I am unsure if the Hume Fogg students needed a permit or not. If we pass a law, or if we enforce a law, requiring a permit before a group can march in protest then the same law that applies to Nazis would have to apply to Hume-Fogg students protesting gun violence. 

I am not sure of the legal status of covering one's face during a protest. I thought there was already a law against that and had been for a long time, originally passed targeting the Ku Klux Klan. During the BLM/Antifa riots, many of the rioters identified as Antifa covered their face. Rioter or protestors could cover their face to protect themselves from criminal liability for crimes committed during the protest or they could cover their face to intimidate. I understand the concern, but I think people should be permitted to hide their identify when protesting. In any event, if such a law applies to Nazis, it has to apply to Antifa also. 

I think we have sufficient laws to regulate yet protect the right to protest. Illegally occupying building, vandalism, and closing a street are already illegal. We need to be careful in how far we go to prohibit protest. If you think pro-lifers should be permitted to protest in front of an abortion clinic, then you must support the right of Nazis to protest in front of a synagogue or pro-Palestinian students to do so too. 

If you want to ban handbills from being thrown in yards, then it must apply to everyone who does it, including that guy trying to solicit your business to spray for mosquitoes.  One cannot ban speech you do not like and permit speech you do. I do not trust our Metro Council to wisely consider these issues. We have seen the Councils lack of concern for free speech when it failed to approve a routine ordinance allowing a sign to overhand a sidewalk. The sign was rejected for no other reason than they did not like the person whose name was on the sign. That is not an opinion, Council members said so. 

I hope that before the Council passes and the mayor proposes laws restricting speech, they will ask themselves, would I want these same restrictions to apply to BLM protest, or anti-gun violence protest, or pro-choice protest. 

To read the Nashville Scene's take on this issue follow this link. 

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