Friday, June 02, 2017

After Violent Attack, Portland Mayor Calls for Abandoning First Amendment - Hit & Run : Reason.com

After Violent Attack, Portland Mayor Calls for Abandoning First Amendment - Hit & Run : Reason.com
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, has strong words for those who would sow fear in his city and attempt to shut down citizens' rights to free expression: "I surrender."
On Friday, two men were stabbed to death on a train in Portland while confronting and trying to calm down a man who was allegedly loudly harassing two young women with anti-Muslim comments.
Image result for Hate SpeechMayor Ted Wheeler's response to this brutal attack was to essentially tell the world that violence can successfully be used to convince the government to shut down civil liberties. 
In a rather self-absorbed speech Monday that treats this horrible but isolated event as though it were some sort of mass slaughter deserving of a permanent monument and some sort of "leadership" by politicians, Wheeler is demanding that the federal government cancel the permits for a couple of upcoming "alt-right" rallies in Terry Schrunk Plaza.
He flat out said in his comments that the city would refuse to grant rally permits to alt-right groups based on their views. 
However, the plaza right by Portland City Hall is actually federal property, and Wheeler is trying to get federal authorities to revoke the permits for the groups involved in a pair of June events..."

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