Yesterday’s NYC Protest: A Model for Exercising Free Speech

*Warning: Some of These Protest Signs Could Offend.*

Yesterday I joined New Yorkers to protest the lawlessness of Trump and his cabinet. Classic NYC. You gotta love a protest that produces a sign like this:

We gathered in front of the New York Public Library main branch, the one with the famous library lions. It’s a great place to begin a demonstration for rule of law. Rule of law guarantees liberty, and librarians have been on the front lines of liberty for years. Whenever the government has tried to gather borrower’s data, librarians are more than likely to refuse.

The protestors came with diverging viewpoints and a variety of signs., but like the library collections, they stood side-by-side peacefully. Whether carrying a Palestinian flag, demanding a RICO prosecution or just calling the Donald an “ignorant slut” à la Dan Aykroyd’s SNL line, everyone remained friendly and respectful towards their neighbors along the march up Madison Avenue. Whatever anger the protesters harbored at the White House, it was vented in classic New York irony, profanity, and protest chants — not disruption.

Even the traffic going crosstown remained patient and kept their honking to a minimum — unexpected given the aggressiveness of NYC drivers. The protest marshals, clearly recognized in neon yellow vests, kept the protesters out of the intersection, and the marchers followed their directions. You can witness this for yourself in the following two-minute video:

This protest modeled unity in adherence to rule of law, rather than grievance and disintegration into uncompromising positions, and it has me asking questions about protests in general over the last year and a half. Were they truly models of peaceful protest, especially on college campuses?

I’m not talking about the specific topics of the protests, rather I’m referring to the methods and behavior. Are the following incidents and outcomes the peaceful exercise of free speech?

• Checkpoints to monitor differences of opinion or keep members of select groups from accessing public spaces.
• Spitting on people you don’t agree with.
• Defacing or tearing down posters calling for the return of those abducted and disappeared.
• Storming buildings and destroying property.
• Cornering and terrorizing bystanders.
• Assaulting bystanders.

I’m bringing up these comparisons for the future, not now. This essay is not a call for immediate action. It’s more important right now to band together to restore our democratic republic. Nevertheless, until the right and the left begin to confront how our Constitution and Bill of Rights have been applied selectively on both sides, the restoration will not be complete. It’s not just about liberty. It’s also about justice for all.