By Antonia Williams-Gary

“Impassioned speech” is now under threat by the DOJ because, well just because.

It is still unlawful to yell “fire” in a crowded theater if no such threat is real. That is an obvious violation of free speech protection in the USA; a clear danger.

One recent case in point involves Don Lemon, former CNN anchor, who followed a group of protesters into a church this past Sunday to, as he is quoted, “do journalism”. But according to the justice department, Lemon’s activity, showing up with cameras and commentary while following newsworthy activity, is now labeled suspicious. His response? “The freedom to protest” is what the First Amendment is all about.

This charge is just another salvo across a well-established liberty practiced in the free press; this latest threat is added to the growing list of takedowns by the current gaggle of storm troopers deployed by the federal government.

No one is safe from the jackbooted paramilitary stationed in one too many cities across America.

People have risen in protest; a time-honored tradition which was established during the early days of the American revolution to end rule over the colonists by Britain. Protests are a sacred part of the history of these United States, lauded in the history books and reenacted during annual celebrations of the country’s independence!

And since we’re beginning to plan for the 250th Anniversary (1776) of this country, it seems to be both fitting and necessary for the people to protest what no longer works for them, just like rebellions against “taxation without representation.”

Granted, our nation is deeply divided on several issues, but recent polls suggest that the majority disagrees with the administration’s response to protests; sending in untrained, armed, masked, and emotionally fragile troops is not the best answer to local challenges.

Minneapolis Mayor Frey made an emotionally charged and impassioned outburst to having ICE agents antagonize his residents; he used the “f “word and was threatened with an investigation into his administration and charged with supporting “domestic terrorists” in his city.

Minnesota Rep. Ilan Omar was emotionally charged when she used the “s” word in response to ICE targeting the Somali immigrant community in her district in Minneapolis.

Trump had already called her (and the Somali community) “garbage” and threatened to send her back to Somalia (she has been a citizen since 2001). She has been elected to Congress since 2019.

Threats? No, these people have joined the ranks of legions of Americans who are honored and recognized for their protests. The list is long.

Civil Rights protesters were proud to have been arrested for their acts of civil disobedience: Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, student participants in the sit-ins, marchers on Washinton, the multitude of anti-Vietnam war protestors, Muhammed Ali, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panthers, to name a few.

Imagine if they had not been so brave and not answered the calls for righting “unjust laws” and unfair policies and practices. Imagine all the impassioned words that were used during those heated protests.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly debated the protection of using certain “incendiary” words. Do words used by Frey and Omar constitute genuine threats or are they simply political hyperbole, like when Trump labels Mexican immigrants’ “rapists” or calls Omar and her fellow Somalis “garbage” or refers to much of Africa as “shithole countries,” or calls a female reporter “piggy”?

We are locked in a battle for the right to peacefully exist under a rubric of rapid shifts. The constitution is being shredded, and that might not be the worst thing given that the original founders were creating a country to protect their private assets and leading status, to the explicit exclusion of natives, all Blacks (still chattel) and all women. Don’t be fooled; free Blacks had no rights except for not being enslaved.

This battle began long before the Trump administration parts 1 and 2. Some argue that the Civil Rights era ushered in a renewed zeal for fundamentalist, evangelical White Christian nationalism. A mouthful, yes, but the shorthand version, White supremacy, is widely understood.

What was always festering underground, and in the hills and valleys across the vast expanse of America, planted with racism, separatism, and other “isms” based on hate and “othering,” has been watered, fertilized, and nurtured into full blossom; loaded with the fruits of violent rhetoric and action.

This is a scarry time.

The current street protests are the tip of the iceberg. And there will be more blood because the nature of man is to resist oppression, to deny falsehoods, to speak truth to power, to correct errant history, and to stand up to tyranny. And tyranny has never been abandoned quietly.

Remember the words of MLK: “Everyone can be great, because everybody can serve.” The revolution is being televised. Which side of the screen are you on?