For this post analyzing the freedoms of the First Amendment and its applicability to an article involving the Black Lives Matter movement I chose an article about a BLM flag that was torn down on tape in Parkville, MO.
The video, captured by the family’s doorbell camera, features a man approaching the house from the street, crossing the driveway and climbing the stairs onto the porch in order to reach the hanging BLM flag. He then tore down both the flag and the pole it was hanging from and ran off, abandoning the flag and attached pole in the driveway. There have also been reports of other incidents of politically motivated vandalism in the area, including the defacing of other BLM symbols as well as MAGA signs. Local law enforcement are looking into the matter but no arrests have been made yet.
I chose this article because I think it is a great example of the place where the FA stops protecting speech. This man was free to speak his opinions, and to post things endorsing his own views on his own property, but when he stepped onto someone else's property and then defaced it he lost the protection of the FA by incurring lawless action, including trespassing, vandalism and destruction of property. It should also be noted that some of the family was home at the time, including a 14 year old boy and his father.
Since its original posting, the video has gained traction on sites like Reddit, angering many and triggering cries of a “double standard” among the prosecution of acts of vandalism aimed at political signage.
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