Using "White Nationalist et al" to rope in White nationalists, white supremacists, the kkk, the Nazis, etc. In part because they're being talked about all together, in part because various people wish to call the groups in question any and all of those names. So just take it as a big entity.
So far in the past few days I've seen individuals here and elsewhere...
Equating attending a White Nationalism protest to performing sexual assault as it relates to justifications of termination in employment.
That engaging in a White Nationalist protest is a form of "injuring" someone due to their message, and as such assaulting such a protesters is justified.
That people should be embracing the Captain America spirit and punching the protesters for being Nazis.
Suggesting the protesters are Nazis, and then later following that up by calling for Nazi's to die.
That because they are pushing a White Nationalist message cities should deny them any permits to protest.
That "silence is the real violence", and that the physical confrontations are more justified than those that prefer to ignore these protests.
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So lets cut to the chase, because I think there could be an actual conversation had here.
Should the U.S. institute some form of law that would prevent groups like White Nationalists from being able to gather and protest to spread their message. Something like Denmarks criminal code that criminalizes "expressing and spreading racial hatred"?
Should the tenants and views of White Nationalism be codified into law as a generalized style of "fighting words", thus making any speech supportive of various White Nationalist ideals to be unprotected speech? Similar to the dissenting opinion of Justice Alito in Snyder v. Phelps regarding some of WBC's members comments during protests?
Should the U.S. pass laws that would disallow individuals to wear or show symbols common within the White Nationalist movement like the swastika or KKK robes? Similar to how Germany has banned public display of Nazi symbols, or Hungary disallows the Hammer and Sickle?
Should not legal action be taken, but rather an organized effort via the public and law enforcement to essentially nullify the illegality of any actions taken against White Nationalists via choosing not to arrest, not to charge, not to prosecute, and/or ultimately jury nullification? Would such a systematic, orchestrated manipulation of the legal system to create a defacto amnesty for any such violation be acceptable, and would it's precedence have any significant issues as it relates to our legal system in the future?
I don't bring this up flippantly or tongue in cheek; as I noted, many of the things I've said are actions that have been taken or suggested in other countries. However, for quite some time now many of these things have tried and failed to get a foothold here due to the American Ethos as it relates to the freedoms of speech, of protesting, and of belief. I think the views of many of those uttering things like above are generally a minority. With how heated things are though, it may be an interesting conversation to be had if some form of criminalization would be reasonable/acceptable.
